Jessica

Hey everyone!
Well, I found my companion on tuesday! My last companion on the mission... Weird. Well, his name is Elder Krewson. He is a gringo from Maryland. I asked him if his family was converted a long time ago by another Elder Westover that was serving in the east states mission, but unfortunately, their family only moved there a few years ago.
He is really cool and very humble. He speaks well, but struggles sometimes, just like all of us. I really don't know how I can tell him everything he needs to know about the mission. I thought that if I got a new missionary, I would just unload all kinds of missionary wisdom on him. I didn't do it, though. At least not yet. For some reason, I usually just stand back, watch with an encouraging glance, and let him figure it out on his own. I realized that that was the only way he was going to truly learn. I am willing to catch him if he falters, but the only way to be a great missionary is to know how to overcome those experiences by going through them yourself. Christ could have just known how to help us using his god capacitated revelation, but he knew that the only way to truly understand was to go through it himself.
Everyone in Gabriela is doing well. Juan José Arias, who was baptized on the 24 of april, passed the sacrament on sunday. The Family Quivira and us are planning a temple trip. Luciano and Shirly are doing well, as always. Matias and Nicolas have been more of a struggle, trying to get them to church while balancing an angry divorced mom who could snatch them away at any moment if she decided to press charges. The best news of this week is Jessica.
Jessica is a reference that we got from another ward. Apparently they had already been to church, and they loved it. We came to her house on Tuesday, not really knowing what to expect. We got to the house, and immediately the blonde hair woman who answered the door told us to come in. And there we were. Jessica and her three boys. Right now she is living with her friend, who is a member of another ward. We start to talk, and we found out that she studied in a catholic school, training to be a nun. She decided that it wasn't for her after a few years, but continued in the Catholic church. She baptized her children, went to misa, and was getting her oldest ready to do his first communion. That's when she realized: nothing filled her. Nothing about what she was doing made her feel like she was in the right church. So she began her search. She studied with the evangelicos, the testigos de jehová, adventistas, etc, each with varying results. None of wich filled that gap. Then one night she had a dream, dreams wich she never remembers. In her dream, she was with a man in a roman looking tunic. They were in a brightly lit room with white walls and neatly placed furniture. It felt nice. She said a little bit farther down a hall she saw a pool of some kind. Then the man took her hand and led her to a great door. He told her that she couldnt go in until she had cleansed herself. He began to leave, but Jessica grabs his robe and tells him not to go. He tells her not to worry, that he will come back. She asked him his name so she would know when he has come back. He said simply: "Helaman," and left.
I pulled out my book of mormon and read Helaman 5:9: O remember, remember, my (daughter), the words which (I, Helaman) spake unto (you); yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world. I added the words in parentheses.
The spirit could not have been stronger in that room. She whispered quietly: "This is it."
I am so glad to be a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. I am so glad to be preaching his gospel, and spreading the good news that our families can be together forever. I am grateful for the plan that he left us. For the love he gave us. For the son he so loved. It is in his name that I declare these things, as his representative. I am so happy to be a missionary :)
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
.....sprint to the finish

Snap!

First of all, to avoid the wrath of angry sisters, I want to wish my 15 year old sister a happy birthday! Good job Andi! Im sure you'll outgrow alyssa in no time :) Ill try and be back to get you an extremely belated birthday present from chile. Actually, all of you guys will get brithday/christmas/easter/whatever-gift-giving-holiday presents. Look forward to it!
Snap.
Things are different. It all starts out the same. We wake up the same. We do our exercises the same. We eat, talk, move, and act the same. But toay is not the same. Because today is the day when Elder Welling leaves the sector and I recieve a new companion. It was a surprise for both of us. Everyone, including me, thought that I was going to leave for my last change. Only Zone Leaders are in our sector. I supposed that I was going to die as one, but as it turns out, God had something even more crazy planned for us. At the change concilio, we found out that Elder Welling, as sad as he was to leave Gabriela and as sad as I was that he was leaving, would be going to San José de Maipo, the most scenic sector in the entire mission. He would also be training.
Then when they got to our zone, they announced a new zone leader, Elder Boyce. I looked at him. He looked like a good kid. He would be a good Zone Leader. Then, instead of announcing my name, they called someone else. Elder Bartlett, the old district leader in Por Venir. I was very confused at that moment. Last night they told me I was staying. I just waited.
"And now, in Gabriela B..." Wait a second... They wouldnt.
"Elder Westover." I stood up, waiting. "will be training for his last change." Everyone made noise. There were only a few trainers this change, and I would be one of them.
This is my last change in the mission, and I will be getting to know my new greenie comp tomorrow when his flight comes in. This is my last change, and I am going to sprint to the finish. I hope my new comp can keep up.
Snap. And everything is different.
Thanks for everything guys! Any requests on Chilean stuff, let me know!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

Progress in Gabriela!

Hey Everybody!
It was pretty cool to see my family yesterday! It made me miss home a little bit, but that's not going to stop me from keep going strong till the very end!
This week has been pretty good. The family Quivira is our strongest so far. Victoria is going to seminary at six in the morning regularly. It was hard to motivate her to go, mainly because I felt very hypocritical telling her to go. Her brother, the little earthquake with legs, is also doing really well. I can tell its going to be hard for them when we leave.
The family Arias is also doing very well. Juan José and Juan Pablo, the two that got baptized on the 24th, are really liking priesthood, and the parents feel that its a very good environment for their kids to grow up in, because mostly they just stay inside after school and play video games and have no real interactions with anyone. But now they are very outgoing and getting along great with the other deacons!
The family León was the big surprise.The family León is a young couple with a 3 year old daughter. They were always kind of wishy washy about setting a time to have a lesson. They were always busy, or they had something more important to do. We were on the verge of dropping them, but we went by one night, just to give them one more chance. They wanted to set up a noche de hogar (family night) with us some night, but it wasn't very set. We stopped by anyway to humor ourselves, and we found that they were sitting and waiting for us!
It was a great family night, and we talked a lot about questions that they had. At the end, we had susana, the mom, say the prayer. It was one of the best prayers I have ever heard on the mission. She said how she wanted to have god alieve her of her troubles, and to help fix all of the mistakes that shes made. Then she started crying, and the spirit swooped in and overtook the room. Needless to say, they went to church the next day and loved it. She had a lot of questions about eternal marriage and it seemed like she really liked the idea. The whole class was really great.
And that's Gabriela, right now. We are doing great. Sprint to the finish!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

Osama and Investigators

Hey guys!
Today elder Welling and I got money on our cards, so we took the journey down to Ejercito Libertador to charge our bip! cards (the card we use to ride the buses here). While we were waiting in line, a guy was reading the newspaper and seemed to be eyeing us as we walked up.
"Look, you got him!" he exclaimed. We stared at what he was trying to show us in the newspaper. The whole front page had a giant picture of Osama Bin Laden with a headline that read "Osama Bin Laden: DEAD." Wow. he died. they finally got him. As the guy started talking to us about how the Navy Seal team went in and took him out. So much pain. So much agony. all gone in an ignominious death.
It made me think about the other ignominious deaths in the Book of Mormon. Nehor was executed for establishing false doctrines, and introducing priestcraft to the Nephites. Korihor was struck dumb by Alma for denying the Christ and later trampled to death by an angry mob. Zemnarihah was hung from a tree. All of these deaths have something in common: They all die. All of these men were drunk with power, anger, greed, or any of the other astute ways that Satan drags God's children down to hell. Whatever the case be, they believed that they were above the laws and commandments of the Lord. In the end, they all go down the same way.
Like the crazy professor of Ecclesiastes says, everything is vanity. We cant take anything with us. Our power, riches, nothing. The only thing that we take with us is who we have become and what we have learned. If we arent strengthening that constantly, we are not doing anything to further our standing in the presence of God, we can forget adding the three garage door to our celestial mansion.
So far, Elder Welling and I have not gone one week this change without a baptism. I hope I can keep that up so that at the end of the mission, I can say I have put in my hundred percent. We were able to see many happy people who decided to turn their lives around. Matias, especially, has shown that he is willing to follow the will of the lord and not let pride drown out our words, like so many other people in chile have. I am grateful for the transforming power of the gospel and the ability it has to take something broken and make it perfect. It has the power, but only if we are humble enough to let it change who we are.
I'm sorry this email wasn't filled with as many stories, but I felt that it was very relevant to a lot of what the mission is like. Next week I will be sure to just include a bunch of stories about our investigators. Thanks for everything!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

Desires and Hopes

Hello Everyone!
I have been thinking recently about desires. Why do we do what we do? Why do we act the way that we do in the situation we are put in? Yesterday we had the opportunity to see Juan Arias baptize his two younger sons after being inactive for years. We came to his door and showed him that the world is filled with possibilities, and that we dont have to be trapped forever to our sins. After helping him recover from his addiction to cigarrettes, he talked to the bishop and set goals. And yesterday, his hard work all paid off. He could see the power that his desires had and the profound effect the gospel has had in his life. Desires are something that can lead us to do great evil, as well as great good. In the case of Hermano Arias, his desire to get his family back together outweighed his desire to smoke. Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a great talk about the power of desire this past conference, and I admit that I am taking a bit from his talk, but I feel that power of desire so much in the mission, that I felt I needed to pay it tribute.
I feel grateful to be a part of that change. I feel that I have been changed because of it. I'm not sure how, but I know that the Lord is looking out for me and is watching everything that we do. I am glad for the opportunity I had to be part of the familia Arias's journey in the gospel. I know that their desire to be an eternal family is what makes mormons different from everyone else. We can be together forever. That hope, that desire, has the power to beat anything that will come. It is the sure foundation that we can look to and know that we are safe. Ironically enough, I believe that faith is the most sure thing that exists in this world. Everything will change, but that hope won't. Being with my family for eternity is one thing that will never change, no matter what happens. That's the greatest desire we can ever hope to have.
Thanks for everything guys, I love you so much!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

The Lady with the Sopaipilla

In Psychology, we learned about something called the Gestalt Theory. Its main focus centers around the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That you put something together and what you have created is not just the components, but something else entirely. This is what I was thinking about while I was pushing a sopaipilla cart through the streets of Santiago at 10:30 at night.
What had happened was Elder Welling and I, after having gotten back to the pension realized that our lunch for the next day had most likely forgotten, so we ran over to remind them. On the way back, we saw a middle aged woman sitting out in the street with a big tin cart with a little roof that people use to make and sell little fried tortillas, called sopaipillas. We thought it a little bit strange that someone would be selling sopaipillas so late, but it wasnt really abnormal, so we kept walking. Then I heard something in my head say: "She probably needs help." I stop and look at my companion. He had felt the same thing. We come over to the lady and asked her if she needed help. A wave of relief seemed to wash over her face as she explained how she had carried the 150 lb cart from to the metro station, about three fourths of a mile from where we were. She had been pushing the cart for almost three hours. We obligingly helped her out, and asked her where she was going. She explained how she was new to the area and admitted that she really didnt know where she was, but she had to get to Creta, a street three miles away. Compassion flooded my thoughts as I thought how this woman, disoriented and distraught, was going to push this heavy cart all that way.
We pushed the cart as we talked to her, asking her where she was from and if she had a family. She told us that she had two children. Their father left them and they moved in with a relative, but they had no money. She was selling these sopaipillas for about ten cents each, in the hopes that she could support her family. As we pushed, I noticed that everyone was watching us. People passing us on the sidewalk, passengers on the buses, everybody. I was never so proud to wear my plaque, representing the Church. When we finally got to her house, we set up a time to pass by and share a message of hope and joy that has blessed our lives so much. She gracially accepted, and with a smile, said: "Nunca olvidaré de ustedes, los angelitos que me salvaron." I didnt feel that worthy to be called an angel, but as with that poor woman who needed help, I wont ever forget being able to serve someone else, and helping them see the light in the darkness.
Our lives are compsed of actions. Tiny as they may seem, they have enourmous and eternal impacts. That opportunity, as small as it was, made a lasting impact in the life of someone else. What we become through our experiences and our service is much greater than simply the sum of our actions. It is the character defining elements that become part of our very soul and elevate us to be more like our Father in Heaven.
The woman is now listening to the lessons from the elders in her sector, and they tell us that she is progressing well. We are happy for her and for that opportunity to push a little sopaipilla cart through the bustling streets of Chile. The whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.
Thanks for everything guys! Im really excited to see you all soon! If you need anything or have any questions, let me know!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover

Countdown

Hey Everybody!
Things in Gabriela are going really well as always. We are getting really close to getting our goal of new investigators! We are trying to just push things through so that we can make it!
Well, I officially have three months left on the mission. But that does not mean that things have slowed down at all. We have 11 baptismal dates in our sector alone. Matias and Nicolas both have fechas for the 10 of april. We had the baptisms of Luciano and Shirley last week. They really are one of the most prepared couples I have had the honor of meeting. Luciano is so smart and knows so much, even though he is only 11 years old. His mom, Shirley gave a powerful testimony after her baptism, and really left an impression on me about the power of the work that we are doing.
At the beginning of my mission, I had a hard time loving the people I served. They were rude, inconsiderate, and would always make fun of us, or tell us to go home. I had a hard time loving the people, so I used the love I had for God to transmit it towards his children. Now as I have matured in the mission I have learned that the love I had for God came only from the gratitude I felt when I read all the things he has done for me in the scriptures and in my prayers. But I have never known him personally. So the love was at some extent limited. What I realized that if we want to increase our love for god, we must serve his children. I came to know God because I came to know his creations. I came to truly love God because I came to truly love his children. There are families here that I will never forget, mainly the family Gonzalez, Baeza, and Salas. Service is the key. Love, and love is returned. Serve, and you will be served.
I love this work, and everything I am able to do in it. Thank you for all of your prayers and the letters. I love getting Andi's letters. Even though they are short and sometimes pointless, it shows a level of care that I still hope to attain. Thanks, weirdo.
Con Amor,
Elder Westover