Well another week another letter.

Yes this is transfer week. Should be interesting, i may find out what my final sector will be. Or i may stay in Batuco City. But its whatever. Haha 2 more changes left. This next one will be 7 weeks long because of the MTC change. So this week we had a conference in Lampa (a close town) but it was a transmission with all of Chile and some general authorities spake including President Nelson, in spanish! Haha in our building, there wasnt the sateliete so it was through internet and it kept failing...but oh well. We were hoping than an investigator would be able to get baptised this month but he needs to attend church more times before he can and its probably okay because he should read some more and prepare himself a little more. But in Abril he definitely should get baptised. And we do keep visiting that family and we had a really good lesson with just the father last night and he has a few doubts but wants to know and believes in most of the stuff.

We had a ton of service this week. We were smashing some cans with a little hammer mallet thing to help someone that sells the cans, and then that same day we helped someone mix 3 bags of cement (they dont have cement trucks here and sometimes they have little machines but they didnt and we did it ourselves with shovels), and then we met an inactive lady in the night and she had a broken cement and brick pillar (a truck ran into it) and we put it back in place. Later this week we  went about and stuccoed it without having prior experience hahaha hopefully its all good. And we are going back to fix the other part and repair the wooden fence. Service is legit its so fun and we can  help some people that cant do it themselves. We also painted with Nayareth and her family in their house that they are going to sell. 

Its been a fun time here in Batuco. There have been a lot of good times and some hard times like the whole mission. I hope this Branch and district grow to become a stake and ward and that more people here can get baptised. We went to Colina (another town close) and did divisions with the young men from the whole stake and their leaders and visited people and made contacts for the whole morning. It was a pretty fun activity! Love this work and the mission and this country. Love all of you guys too and hope that you can do your part in your own wards and missions! 

Elder Farnsworth

Parable of the Fisherman

Wena wena familia,

Sorry i may have turned into a chilean flite (gangster) in these 20 months but what can we do. So ya Nayareth got confirmed and all good there. This week was cool like it always is haha. Maybe only got 2 more weeks here in Batuco but we dont know yet. 

So i dont know what new to tell you so im going to send a rough draft of the original Parable of the Fisherman (Author elder farnsworth) hahahaah. I was just thinking one morning and made up a comparison of the mission (or life) and fishing. So one fisherman goes out with the ambition to catch the whole lake but doesnt prepare himself. He goes with an old rod and the wrong kind of line and a reel that doesnt work with hooks made for the biggest fish in the world. He gets impatient when he doesnt catch anything so he changes to the other side of the lake thinking that there he will catch more. He isnt patient and only tries one kind of bait. The sun gets to him and he wanted to change to the shade. when he gets there, it starts to rain and wants sun but there isnt any more sun. He ends up going home and cant be happy with his day, even if he maybe caught a few fish. BUT, another fisherman goes out prepared. He fixes his rod and reel, studies what type of hook, line, weights, and bait to use for a specific fish. He knows its not going to be easy, but he is ready to suffer with patience. He might changed spots on the lake but only after giving all he has. He tries multiple baits and even changes his hook. He catches the same amount as the other fisherman but knows he did his best and that he cant force the fish to bite. 

We can decide to prepared ourselves and change our attitudes. If not, we are going to end up frustrated and give up and not even recognize our results. But like Nephi and his family lived after the manner of happiness (2 Nephi 5), even though the lamanites were angry under the same circumstances, our decisions and attitude can change everything. 

Sorry if you dont like fishing but it made a lot of sense to me haha love you all be patient in your lives or missions or trial. Be happy!

Elder Farnsworth

A Baptism!

MOM! im not writing early today haha. We went to Santiago and went to the Downtown basically to this really cool fair thing that sells a bunch of typical souviners from Chile and i wasnt planning on buying a lot but i did haha but i got some RECUERDOS and somes gifts for all of you! Got to go back to spend more money haha you only serve a mission once! But it was really fun but tiring and we are just getting back to write and then pday ends basically. Sounds like a great week, so glad you are liking being relief society. Well at least surviving it! The key i figure is just follow the handbook and the spirit! Wow katie and sid are the worst for going to mexico haha.

This week was legit. We had to do a ton of stuff like a Area wide conference with Elder Bednar (we watched the live transmision). Was that this week....i cant remember im so lost haha. And we went to do my visa thing so that was fun .....not. but oh well. And we had the baptism! it was legit. She got another week to prepare and she had such good questions. She understands so much. Someone told her that she had to look forward to wearing white again in the future in her sealing and she said uhh no im going on a mission first haha! Her mom and sister and friend went to the baptism. Shes inviting everyone and more friends are going to go to her confirmation the next week. (Here, people get baptised on Sunday after church normally so they get confirmed the next week). We met a new guy from Ecuador. He saw us going into our house in the night and called us out. He was a eternal investigator (his own words) in ecuador and he moved here to santiago 2 months ago and got baptised. He got to Batuco this week! He has already gone with us to a lesson! Pretty cool. I might get changed out of Batuco in 3 weeks but at least it is starting to progress a little more for the missionaries that come. Love you all and my Savior. Id be lost without Him.

Elder Farnsworth

Uhh technical probs with photos sorry elder halter is sending some so ask his mom!!

What up fam bam!!

SO news for the Week....Batuco fat failed us. We get to church on sunday at 845 (church starts at 10) to fill the font up them close the church then go get an investigator. We get there and there isnt WATER! You cant have a baptism without water!! But we called some people (branch pres etc) and we left it in their hands and when to get our investigator. He wasnt there..we went back and Pres Christensen just says sorry elders. No water, no baptism. And actually for safety reasons they only did sacrament meeting! haha So we told Nayareth but she was chill, we got it this week! Actually the original date but she was so prepared we moved the date up lol. But the week was legit still. We did a lot of service and a lot of things that werent normal lessons and everything but still necesarry and cool. Wow i dont even know what to write about haha sorry ive been in the mish for so long now and i dont even know how to write letters. I have to go do paperwork and stuff this week for my visa...we have a broadcast with elder bednar this week too. tomorrow actually.. sorry guys im the worst for this letter but i love yall and the mission and im with bitter sweet feelings about only having 4 months. i wanna see all of you but its just gonna be a bummer when i cant be a full time missionary with the authority to preach the gospel and promise blessings. Keep doing your part whether a missionary, bishop, home teacher, member, or someone trying to find what you need to do in life and God will help all of us. 

Elder Farnsworth

Random pic with the moon

A Great Week!

 So i told elder halter to send pictures but i failed and dont have any this week..too much hard work haha nah! But for real the week was super legit. We had all sorts of lessons with investigators and members helping us. thats the best, its so much easier. The members can explain better than us for whatever reason, because they live normal lives i guess. We are gonna have a baptism this week finally and we should have more to come in march hopefully. We gotta pick Batuco up and became a stake here in Colina! No i didnt see Samuel but that would be awesome. this week in church we had a family of investigators come for the first time they are so legit. The husband told us last night he asked about the church and what he should do and had a dream and feels like he should get baptised. And he was the one that told us that he didnt like going to any church or anything, just listening to the Word in his house. But now he went, loved it, his wife loves it, and his kids wanted to go back to primary. They are so legit, i cant wait for them to get sealed eventually haha. Thinking in the future.

We had some dumb lesson with this Christian guys that was trying to prove us wrong and all sorts of stuff. Before in my mission i got so heated and argued and tried to prove them wrong. Now i can stay calm and just testify and control the situation. There is no point in arguing, the Spirit leaves and nobody wins so we just have to leave. We are helping a guy get over some problems he is having with his family and he legit wants to get baptised and start over. I love this, we can just start over and be free of sin. Thats why i love baptism. Love all you guys!! Share the gospel with everyone, its free!! 

Elder Farnsworth

Hello family.

Mom, im not using crutches your dream you had is not true dont worry haha my companion makes me run in the morning and sometimes i want to use crutches after because im so tired haha. And for your talk, read the howard w. hunter lesson 3 from the book they use in the 3rd hour this year! we just read it and also D and C 122 or 136 is pretty cool. hope i got all that info right...Dont know why pday got changed to tuesday, mom we dont go to the temple anymore that only lasted for one transfer. We had transfers pass but we both stayed. two Hermanas in my district changed. This week was legit. We have like 3 new families and we have started teaching more with members. One girl (that showed up alone to church last week) already is stoked for her baptism and wants her mom to get baptised too and she invited her friend to the lesson. And another family said they would go to church (when we first met them they said they dont want to go to any church) after we talked about the Sabbath day but this week they couldnt. We are having meetings with our leaders and working well with the branch i think. I was sick of batuco 2 weeks ago and this last week i was hoping not to leave. so luckily im still here at least for 6 more weeks! Please work with the misionaries and give them referrals and let them teach in your houses or go with them. Its so important if we want to have success. Love you all and im glad everything is going well there!! 

Elder Farnsworth

The district and a pic with elder halter while chilling with the zone leaders for p day.

What up fam bam, So this week was pretty chill. Batuco is tough not gonna lie, and we have the whole town when 4 missionaries used to be here but its better because there arent that many people to visit. We had problems with our investigators, one left us, another is working way too much, another is out of town, one we left because she doesnt really understand why we are going and she doesnt really want to learn and so on. But we tried to talk with as many people as possible to invite them to the activity that we had on Saturday. We watched meet the mormons. We ended up contacting 100 people in the week when the goal is 70! so that was something at least haha. I have a strong testimony of the blessings received for being diligent. Contacts dont really get investigators..but i know the Lord blesses us when we do them haha. Thats what happened in my last second with 2 baptisms. But we worked so hard, long days, luckily a teenager from the branch was willing to go along with us and he talked with literally everyone he saw haha hes gonna be a boss missionary some day. We were stoked for the activity thinking at least 1 investigator had to show up. Not 1 was there...but quite a few members and it was still really good! But, heres the good part. On sunday, we go to pick a inactive member up that wanted to go for the first time in many many years and he wasnt there. We get to the church and we are talking with the members and we sit down. The meeting starts, and a girl walks in and sits close to us (we dont have pews, just plastic chairs and she sat in the same row). I shook her hand and asked her name. I asked if she was a member and she said it was the first time she had gone to our church but she had a friend that taught her a few years back. She wanted to go to church a little while back so she called this friend that used to teach her years ago. He is now unfortunately inactive and she decided to go alone. We are going to teach her this week with a member! It was so sweet! and another referral we received from a member told us 2 weeks ago that she was gonna call us when we could go (which normally means they arent that interested) but this morning she called and asked us to go over on thursday!! She already has a Book of Mormon and is reading it!! Batuco turned cool this week haha this next change is gonna be legit. Its all about working with the members seriously. we cant do it alone. I love the work and my Savior and all of you!

Elder Farnsworth

 

Mi hijo elder haltercito