Hey Everyone!
Well, another week has past and changes came again. I really didn't want to leave. I have a lot of people that are really progressing well here, and I didn't want to lose them. But changes came as they always do; just when you least want them to come.
Elder Chapman and I anxiously waited by the phone to hear what our changes would be. After about fifteen minutes of sweating bullets, someone from the office called us.
“Elder Chapman, Elder Westover,” said Elder Mexfield, the finance guy.
“I have your changes right here, are you ready?” Ready was a very pliable word at the moment, seeing as that was all we were waiting for, but at the same time, I didnt want to hear what was going to happen.
“Elder Westover and Elder Chapman, you both are staying in Tocornal.” A wave of relief washed over both of our faces.
“But,” he said, “you both need to come to the change meeting”
As it turns out, I am assigned to stay in the sector, but I am going to be training a newbie. I would have gone into more detail here, but Microsoft Word deleted my letter, so I am just going to cut with please pray for me. Thanks for all that you guys do!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Organizing Chaos
Hey guys!
Well, its nice to hear stories about how cold it is in California and in Utah, because here it is blistering hot! The other day the tempurature rose to about 90 degrees, which for those of you who live in Utah doesnt sound like much, but when you live in a city that lies right underneath one of the largest holes in the ozone and has one of the highest UV ray penetration in the world, it makes everything seem like an oven. The best part is tracting in it. We basically run from tree to tree, trying to find shade wherever we can. Its quite a challenge at times, but Im gonna come back from my mission nice and tan... well, at least I´ll have a super nice looking farmer´s tan.
Things here in Tocornal have not slowed down, and it seems like people just keep showing up, asking us to change their lives around. The only problem is that there are a lot of them. I mean, a LOT. We are teaching about twenty some odd people that are progressing, ten that regularly go to the chapel, and about five with batismimal dates. It´s every missionarys’ dream. But it has shown to be a challenge as well. God is always testing us, at times in ways we dont understand at first. He is poking, prodding. But more than anything, he is molding. Sometimes we dont like it and dont want to be molded that way, so we dont let him. We are molded however we allow ourselves to be. The big question pressing on my mind is this: Who is molding me? God? Or do I allow my circumstanes and external factors shape me haphazardly into some random figure that I dont even recognize?
Right now, God is poking me with his big celestial stick. We have way too much to do, so we need to manage our time and prioritize everything so that everyone stays happy and growing. God is trying to make me more organized. I know that after reading that sentence, both my mom and dad will kneel down in prayer tonight and thank the Lord for finally answering their prayers. Honestly though, I found out that when it is something that is really important to me, I’m pretty darn good at it. We have about five whiteboards listing all of our investigators, what their problems are, and a calander with times that are the most likely for them to be home. I write everything down now in my planner. I discovered that my thoughts were like balloons; I could only hold so many before a few of them floated away. So I write everything down, nail down the balloons, so I can hold more in my hand. We are really good at getting things done, and the pensionists, the people that com check our apartments, said that our apartment was one of the cleanest ones they have ever seen. Okay, mom and dad, before you break out in dance, I need to say that I am still the same kid who left on the mission in the sense that I am still super forgetful and my thoughts are still usually up in the clouds. One hermana in our ward called me a “cabeza de pollo” (chicken head) yesterday for leaving my hymnbook at her house. And it is still hard for me to focus on one thing at a time without jumping to another. Elder Chapman calls it my “leaving the station” look. I realized that I need to do something that I really love to be able to organize myself. Its a curse, but I just have to get over it. Elder Chapman though told me that I should really get into law, of all things. He says that I like to argue too much. His dad is a personal injury attorney who basically sues the companies that my dad works for. So there you go dad; another career path. Tell me what to do. Elder Chapman says that if I get into something like personal injury law, it wont be as much paper work, and I also get to help out people that have gotten hurt in accidents. The only thing is that eventually I would probably have to sue Wellpoint or something, so Im still in the air. But Im basically trusting 100 percent in what you tell me to do as my career path (patriarchal blessing).
Im sorry this email was more on the drier side this week. We have a lot of people progressing that I wanted to talk about (Omar and Veronica, Maria Jose, etc, etc), but I kind of went off on the organization thing for a little too long. Next week will be more entertaining, I promise.
Thanks for everything guys, I love you!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
PS- mom, para que sepa, I have lost weight on the mission, but I am still a 16 collar because they need to be long enough. And also, I would like peanut butter. Lots and lots of peanut butter. Thats my mission here in Chile besides converting people, sensationalizing peanut butter to the masses. Thanks, I’ll be looking forward to the Thanksgiving package, thanks!
Well, its nice to hear stories about how cold it is in California and in Utah, because here it is blistering hot! The other day the tempurature rose to about 90 degrees, which for those of you who live in Utah doesnt sound like much, but when you live in a city that lies right underneath one of the largest holes in the ozone and has one of the highest UV ray penetration in the world, it makes everything seem like an oven. The best part is tracting in it. We basically run from tree to tree, trying to find shade wherever we can. Its quite a challenge at times, but Im gonna come back from my mission nice and tan... well, at least I´ll have a super nice looking farmer´s tan.
Things here in Tocornal have not slowed down, and it seems like people just keep showing up, asking us to change their lives around. The only problem is that there are a lot of them. I mean, a LOT. We are teaching about twenty some odd people that are progressing, ten that regularly go to the chapel, and about five with batismimal dates. It´s every missionarys’ dream. But it has shown to be a challenge as well. God is always testing us, at times in ways we dont understand at first. He is poking, prodding. But more than anything, he is molding. Sometimes we dont like it and dont want to be molded that way, so we dont let him. We are molded however we allow ourselves to be. The big question pressing on my mind is this: Who is molding me? God? Or do I allow my circumstanes and external factors shape me haphazardly into some random figure that I dont even recognize?
Right now, God is poking me with his big celestial stick. We have way too much to do, so we need to manage our time and prioritize everything so that everyone stays happy and growing. God is trying to make me more organized. I know that after reading that sentence, both my mom and dad will kneel down in prayer tonight and thank the Lord for finally answering their prayers. Honestly though, I found out that when it is something that is really important to me, I’m pretty darn good at it. We have about five whiteboards listing all of our investigators, what their problems are, and a calander with times that are the most likely for them to be home. I write everything down now in my planner. I discovered that my thoughts were like balloons; I could only hold so many before a few of them floated away. So I write everything down, nail down the balloons, so I can hold more in my hand. We are really good at getting things done, and the pensionists, the people that com check our apartments, said that our apartment was one of the cleanest ones they have ever seen. Okay, mom and dad, before you break out in dance, I need to say that I am still the same kid who left on the mission in the sense that I am still super forgetful and my thoughts are still usually up in the clouds. One hermana in our ward called me a “cabeza de pollo” (chicken head) yesterday for leaving my hymnbook at her house. And it is still hard for me to focus on one thing at a time without jumping to another. Elder Chapman calls it my “leaving the station” look. I realized that I need to do something that I really love to be able to organize myself. Its a curse, but I just have to get over it. Elder Chapman though told me that I should really get into law, of all things. He says that I like to argue too much. His dad is a personal injury attorney who basically sues the companies that my dad works for. So there you go dad; another career path. Tell me what to do. Elder Chapman says that if I get into something like personal injury law, it wont be as much paper work, and I also get to help out people that have gotten hurt in accidents. The only thing is that eventually I would probably have to sue Wellpoint or something, so Im still in the air. But Im basically trusting 100 percent in what you tell me to do as my career path (patriarchal blessing).
Im sorry this email was more on the drier side this week. We have a lot of people progressing that I wanted to talk about (Omar and Veronica, Maria Jose, etc, etc), but I kind of went off on the organization thing for a little too long. Next week will be more entertaining, I promise.
Thanks for everything guys, I love you!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
PS- mom, para que sepa, I have lost weight on the mission, but I am still a 16 collar because they need to be long enough. And also, I would like peanut butter. Lots and lots of peanut butter. Thats my mission here in Chile besides converting people, sensationalizing peanut butter to the masses. Thanks, I’ll be looking forward to the Thanksgiving package, thanks!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Coming to Church
In the line of work, there are a few things that are especially challenging.
1) your girlfriend dumping you
2) getting up in the morning and exercising when it's really cold
and the hardest of all....
3) getting stubborn investigators to go to church
Yesterday was a challenge of the third. In this sector, there are a lot of investigators that go to church, but the ones that don't regularly go are more of a problem. Omar and Veronica are some of those people. Omar works with a member, which is how he started investigating the church. Veronica, his wife, has some family members that are all Mormon. They like what we have to say, but it is very hard for them to come to church. We halfheartedly called them yesterday to see if they were going to come. They didn't answer. 20 minutes before church, a member calls us and tells us to get ready, Omar and Veronica were coming to church. We were basically in a panic. When they came, we try to accommodate them as much as possible. The hours went by pretty smoothly (it was fast and testimony meeting), and at the end of all the hours, both Elder Chapman and I were exhausted. But its what happened AFTER church that made us realize what had just happened.
We got back together with them to have 11 (like dinner). There they told us why they had come to church that day. That week, Veronica had a dream about us. we were telling her that she needed to come to church with us. She thought it was strange and so she told Omar about it. He said that if he cant work on Sunday (he sells stuff in the flea market on Sundays), then they will go to church. Saturday was one of the hottest days yet here in Chile. Omar was sure it was going to be a great day tomorrow. Saturday cam and went, and when Sunday came, clouds started to loom over the horizon. It wasn't raining however, so Omar got his stuff, and went out to work. Just as he got his stuff set up... BOOM! lightening and rain began pounding the little metropolis of Santiago. For whatever cosmic reason made it happen, Omar and Veronica came to church... and they are going to go next week as well because their daughters loved it so much. Omar related to us that he felt a strange sensation which sounds exactly like what the Holy Ghost is. Im pretty sure that's what it was.
Everything is great! I love this sector, my comp and I are great, and I am happy to just be a missionary.
Thanks for everything guys, I love you all!
Con amor,
Elder Westover
PS- mom, if you could, please send as much peanut butter as you can. There is none here, and the other jar is completely gone... I accidentally brought it to church one time...
1) your girlfriend dumping you
2) getting up in the morning and exercising when it's really cold
and the hardest of all....
3) getting stubborn investigators to go to church
Yesterday was a challenge of the third. In this sector, there are a lot of investigators that go to church, but the ones that don't regularly go are more of a problem. Omar and Veronica are some of those people. Omar works with a member, which is how he started investigating the church. Veronica, his wife, has some family members that are all Mormon. They like what we have to say, but it is very hard for them to come to church. We halfheartedly called them yesterday to see if they were going to come. They didn't answer. 20 minutes before church, a member calls us and tells us to get ready, Omar and Veronica were coming to church. We were basically in a panic. When they came, we try to accommodate them as much as possible. The hours went by pretty smoothly (it was fast and testimony meeting), and at the end of all the hours, both Elder Chapman and I were exhausted. But its what happened AFTER church that made us realize what had just happened.
We got back together with them to have 11 (like dinner). There they told us why they had come to church that day. That week, Veronica had a dream about us. we were telling her that she needed to come to church with us. She thought it was strange and so she told Omar about it. He said that if he cant work on Sunday (he sells stuff in the flea market on Sundays), then they will go to church. Saturday was one of the hottest days yet here in Chile. Omar was sure it was going to be a great day tomorrow. Saturday cam and went, and when Sunday came, clouds started to loom over the horizon. It wasn't raining however, so Omar got his stuff, and went out to work. Just as he got his stuff set up... BOOM! lightening and rain began pounding the little metropolis of Santiago. For whatever cosmic reason made it happen, Omar and Veronica came to church... and they are going to go next week as well because their daughters loved it so much. Omar related to us that he felt a strange sensation which sounds exactly like what the Holy Ghost is. Im pretty sure that's what it was.
Everything is great! I love this sector, my comp and I are great, and I am happy to just be a missionary.
Thanks for everything guys, I love you all!
Con amor,
Elder Westover
PS- mom, if you could, please send as much peanut butter as you can. There is none here, and the other jar is completely gone... I accidentally brought it to church one time...
Monday, November 1, 2010
Cambios
Hey Everybody!
I wanted to thank everybody for all that you have done for me and for your constant support. I think I am kind of hitting that point where I don't worry about how many emails I am getting or who is or is not writing me. I am just happy where I am and I don't want to change for the world.
Its very odd how that works. I am coming to a point on the mission where I am officially in the swing of things, I can go and say pretty much whatever I want, and people for the most part understand me. I am in that dead space of time between being out in the mission and getting everything ready to come back home. That sounds so weird and remote to me now, thinking of going home. It seems like a very abstract concept to me right now; everyone has just been petrified in space and time for me, even though I know that its not true. I know that when I come back, everything will have changed.
That's a common thread in the mission. There was an investigator names Jackeline who really didn't have any hopes of progressing. her husband drank too much and occasionally came back home and beat her. She couldn't progress in that kind of environment until things got set in order or something happened. The other day, I felt we needed to go visit her. She answered the door immediately. It turned out that her husband left their family the day before with no money at all. She is now one of our star investigators.
I shortened that story a bit because I'm honestly not sure if I've shared it before or not. It just thrills me how many changes take place in such a short period of time. I'm so thankful for where I am and who I have become because of it. Thank you everybody for everything. I love you guys!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
I wanted to thank everybody for all that you have done for me and for your constant support. I think I am kind of hitting that point where I don't worry about how many emails I am getting or who is or is not writing me. I am just happy where I am and I don't want to change for the world.
Its very odd how that works. I am coming to a point on the mission where I am officially in the swing of things, I can go and say pretty much whatever I want, and people for the most part understand me. I am in that dead space of time between being out in the mission and getting everything ready to come back home. That sounds so weird and remote to me now, thinking of going home. It seems like a very abstract concept to me right now; everyone has just been petrified in space and time for me, even though I know that its not true. I know that when I come back, everything will have changed.
That's a common thread in the mission. There was an investigator names Jackeline who really didn't have any hopes of progressing. her husband drank too much and occasionally came back home and beat her. She couldn't progress in that kind of environment until things got set in order or something happened. The other day, I felt we needed to go visit her. She answered the door immediately. It turned out that her husband left their family the day before with no money at all. She is now one of our star investigators.
I shortened that story a bit because I'm honestly not sure if I've shared it before or not. It just thrills me how many changes take place in such a short period of time. I'm so thankful for where I am and who I have become because of it. Thank you everybody for everything. I love you guys!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
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