Chilean Christmas

Hey guys! Merry Christmas!!!
Well, its here: the first time that I am going to away from my home for christmas!
I have been thinking for a while what this christmas is going to be like for me. Obviously it is going to be a stark contrast from the christmases that I have had at home. But I am realizing that the more and more that I am pushed and molded, I am becoming what God wants for me. I know that I say stuff like this almost every week, but its not for repetition sake: I have been gainign a stronger understanding of what thet means each time I say it. The mroe I learn and study about the gospel, the more I am amazed by it, by how expansive it is, yet how simple it can be. We are told the the gospel and every principle we teach should be able to be understood by even a five year old, which means that the gospel is for EVERYONE, not just for a few scholars who have dipped their head into books and unrighteously donned the title of authority upon their heads. One of the greatest gifts that I can give this christmas mgiht very well be myself. The more we align our will with the will of god, we understand what it means to find true happiness. We become what He wants us to be.
My companion and I have been stuck in the pension for a good part of the week when I got sick one night after eating an entire jalepeño (yeah I know mom, it was dumb). But while I was there, I thought a lot about what I was doing here and why the heck I even wanted to be out there in the hot sun (yes, its very hot out here!). I realized that I was in some small, minor way, wanting to just do what God wanted me to do. I am becoming more obedient! yes!!
Okay, to contrast the self righteousness of that paragraph, I wanted to let you guys know how Chile does Christmas down here. I dont know if I have told you about Chilean impatience, but its pretty famous down here. They want it now, and I mean right now. So... putting Christmas, presents, and a deadline to be able to open those presents, and you get this tradition. On Christmas Eve, all the families have dinner... at like 10:00 at night. We are already invited to go to one :) Then after dinner, everyone gathers around the clock, and waits until midnight. The second the clock strikes twelve, its officially Christmas, and all child squealing, wrapping tearing, fun frenzy hell breaks loose. So at around 3 in the morning, all the little chilean kids are running around with their wierd looking skateboards and their pretty pretty princess dolls in the streets, annoying all the american kids that are trying to sleep.
Its pretty interesting and Im gonna be excited to see it and to be woken up at three in the morning. there you go, mom and dad. You have your revenge.
Thank you everybody for making this christmas great for me and everybody else here in Tocornal! Elder Bowen and I wish you all a merry Christmas!!
Con Mucho Amor!
Elder Westover

New Companions and a Return to Cleanliness

Well, the time has come again for emails, and I couldn't be any happier! We had a baptism yesterday, and one of our converts baptized her. Her name is Yoselin Sepulveda. She is 21 with a bright happy personality, and, before she had a dream of an angel telling the exact date that her baby would be born, she was athiest. Since then she has turned her life around completly. She has a real spark that will be put to great use here in the ward.
In other news, we moved back to our old gas-filled pension. Luckily the gas had all left when we got back and we lived through the night. The only thing that worries me now is my new bunk-mate: Elder Burgeous (Elder Chapman's companion). He is a great guy, but at around 270 pounds, every time he turns in his bed, I pray that the frame holds. Everyone is getting along great. Elder Burgeous is a lot like me in personality and my companion, Elder Bowen, is a lot like Elder Chapman. I dont know why it is, but I feel like I am one of those japanese fighting fish; I only get along really well with people that are totally opposite to me. I dont know, I can really get along well with just about anybody. Thats definately been a blessing of the mission. A lady told me the other day that I had the gift of expressing myself. Im not exactly sure what she meant, but I feel like the Lord is definatley helping me out here. [Editor's note: Paul is still waiting for the gift of spelling] I love just talking to the people here!
Do you guys remember one of my last emails that I said I had gotten mroe organized? Well, I guess God wasnt finished with me yet, because I recieved the shock of my life when we went to go buy things at the store the other day. My companion bought almost all cleaning supplies and just a hint of food. I informed him that Chlorox did not mean milk in spanish, but he insisted that it was necessary if we were to clean up the pig sty that was our pension. When he said that I almost did a double take to make sure it wasnt my mom that had said it. By the way mom, you know you aren't allowed to bribe the mission president to give me certain companions, right? Well, however we ended up together, I feel like he is going to bring me up to a whole new level of cleanliness. Dont worry, Im sure my personality has an emergency brake somewhere around here if I start getting too organized.
I am starting to think more and more about the end of my mission. Seeing as it is only 6 months away, I feel like I should be wrapping up what I came here to do. The only problem is that I dont feel like that at all. I feel like I procrastinated a term paper again, and now I am running around like a mad man, trying to accomplish all the goals I have set for myself. I guess in a way, I have done all of them, but I dont feel like slowing down; I just started speeding up! I dont evern want to know how I am going to be at the last month-- I will be running to peoples' houses at that point. I see my new companion and I think of saying "appreciate the time you have now, it slips away so fast. Every moment is an opportunity in this short two year window to officially represent the Savior and testify of his divinity. The time we have flies on the wings of lightening, use it as wisely as you can." But usually I just say "So, what new movies are out?"
I feel like this is my chance to be able to say all the things I have learned on the mission to my new companion so he is able to enjoy a greater satisfaction on the mission. If I could boil it all down in two words, it would be "No Regret". Just as the liklyhood of getting inot a head on collision on the freeway is infinately higher if we only look through the rear view mirror, we cant look back longingly at what was, knowing that the future is just around the corner.
I am very glad that Chistmas is just right around the corner, and I am looking forward to getting your packages. I would like to congradulate Ashlee for winning the best Christmas present so far (that I know of): two big beautiful jars of peanut butter!! Thanks AJ!
Thanks for everything guys!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

Gas Leak, New Pension, New Elders

Hey Everyone!
Sorry you guys didn't get an email from me last week! Things got a little insane. Allow me to elaborate.
So on Tuesday of last week we got our new companions. My new companion´s name is Elder Bowen. He is from Salt Lake City, Utah. Yup, hes from Utah alright. haha, he is actually a pretty cool guy. Elder Chapman, my old companion, stayed in the sector but he is also training a new elder called Elder Bourgeous. They are pretty hilarious together.
Anyway, we were getting them all situated, and while we were up in the bathroom, I smelled something that smelled a lot like gas. I called up Elder Chapman and he confirmed the smell. We called the pensionists and they came over. They also confirmed the smell and said that we couldn't sleep there that night. Gas had been leaking into our pension the whole day. So at around 3 a clock in the morning, we had to move all our stuff to another pension to sleep.'
Since that day we have been living in another pension. Seriously, we haven't had any time at all to do anything because we live so far away. But things have been good regardless and it has been very interesting training my kid. It seems very strange that I am getting older in the mission. I don't feel old at all. I feel really new! I don't know what happened to the time. Well, I guess that's why they say to utilize every moment that you have. I'm sorry that I didn't email last week, and this email was really short this week, but Elder Chapman is really sick, and cant really stay out for a lot of time. Next week Ill let you guys know if we are gonna be back in our old pension, and how everything is going with the training. So far its been great! Im just amazed at how much Ive improved since the beginning!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

Training Cambios

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

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!

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...

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