week 4 change 3

Hurray for this change! and baptisms! WOOOOOOO!!! haha We had two more baptisms this sunday and it was just fantastic! Also, Gabriel and Karla were both confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost! It was just a very happy sunday! I loved it! haha The only down side, we ate fish and rice for lunch, but thats alright! haha

So we have been praying to find three new families to teach, and let me just say that diligence and prayers will bring you SO MANY blessings! The firt family we started teaching this week have had some contact with the church. in fact, their daughter went to the Liahona school here in Chile for a few years and has friends that are serving missions now! haha But they have had their fair share of trials and difficulties! he told us about the open heart surgery that he had to have(the father that is) and he was awake for the whole thing! hahaha how cool is that!?! haha but they really like the church, and the way that it helps families. They are awesome and all of their kids are grown up, but a couplestill live in the house with them. We just shared twice with them, but we sang "when there`s love at home" and oh that song is just really powerful! We kinda practiced it so that its in parts, and it just works really well! The downside, Elder Alvarez never wants to sing anything different, and ALWAYS tells the SAME jokes before we start. "are you sure you dont want to put away some of your more expensive things? I hope we dont hurt your ears too much." but I just fake a laugh and practice patience... hahaha

The second family that we taught is another DOCTOR. wow. haha and the funny thing is they are neighbors to miracle man, the other menos activo doctor! but we went and sang to them too, yes, same song, and thyey also really like the way the church sounds. They are very humble though, which is great since both the parents are doctors, and their kids are the same age as Brody (12 and 13) both boys, and LOVE to jump their bikes! haha but they are good at it! I was very surprised! haha But we will be working more with them too, and I am excited to be helping these families come unto christ! I love to see the change and happiness that comes with these families! Its so awesome!

My one complaint for this week, I think I got some bug ( sickness) of a sort. 2 days ago I started not feeling very god at all, and I havent been sleeping the best. Today I still can do everything, but my head is funky, and my stomache doesnt let up. Its not very fun, but I just hope that I get better soon! But no worries, nothing serious. Im sure I will be better in a day or two. =D

One last cool thing, we sang to this couple today who are members here, and they said it meant so much to them, cause NO ONE had come and sang for them in years! It was kinda surprising, but really cool! Oh and one more thought, when francisco and Faustino were baptized today, they both left the font with the biggest smiles! I was VERY happy! Oh I love it here!

Well I cant think of anything else from this week! be safe and true to the faith!

Elder Marvin

January 23, 2012

Well hola again! Hows everyone feeling after the fun "hospital story"? haha no worries, I really havent had any pain at all, and we are just working hard with all these investigators!

I had my first two baptisms yesterday! right after church ended we got everything ready and I baptized a little girl of a menos activo familia, and Elder Alvarez baptized Gabriel, the 18 year old that I have been working with my whole time here in peña Blanca! It was FANTASTIC to see them have this event and thaty I could be part of it! oh, and whats that? I have a broken finger, how did I baptize? well, I just used my magical *bur dur dur dur*glove! kept my hand dry and I just was careful! all was well! and luckily my first time in spanish and no problems! yes! haha it was awesome!

The really crazy thing that happened though was during church. We have one investigator who has been with us for a long time! but he doesnt understand why we need to pay tithing, but something clicked and the bishop talked with him yesterday and then found us and said " call the zone leaders, we need to go have a baptismal interview" HOLY COW! just like that, we made sure our other 5 investigators had a class and then we were off! whenwe got there The zone leaders were like jumping with excitement and they did their interview. In the mean time we waited and talked with the Bishop, and it was just crazy how on such an instant prompting of the bishop, we went and in the end, HE PASSED the interview! YAYAYAY! So now we have 2 more baptisms planned for this next sunday! It was crazy! so we should have 4 baptisms in the month of january! and we are working hard with the other investigators to progress for their baptisms too! haha The really crazy thing, we were going to be shy a baptism for our zone goals, but this investigator that was a surprise will bring us up and we should be able to lograr our goal for january! It just comes to show how the lord is really always aware of what we are doing and if we will be persistent with our part and do all we need to, he will bless us! The power of prayer is miraculous! now we just gotta keep praying so that all this can llevar a cabo! (come to pass, or happen) wooo hoo!

Well I dont really have much more time, but yes, a week of MORE MIRACLES! That just seems to be the life as a missionary, and I am just loving it! I love you all! take care!

Elder Marvin =D

friday the 13th what a day

Hola everyone! hows it going? I just need to say one thing, I had a boring week, so Love you all!, Chau!.......
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Ya, so maybe it was a little more than boring. haha Actually it was a week of MIRACLES! EVERDAY! First off we increased our investigators with a baptismal date to 11! wooo hoooooO!!!!! and one of investigators had his interview on saturday and passed with flying colors! WOOOOOO!!!! haha and he actually works in a panderìa he makes dulces or cookies all day and we went and helped him and ate a bunch! it was really fun and cool! but ya, and we have another investigators interview tomorrow! so there should be 2 baptisms this next sunday! woohooo!!!!

First miracle of the week: marisela. So we were in cuiko landia, or the rich area and the familesi wanted to pass by were all gone. but i decided to pass by two other people when we were out there, I knew that they would be "busy" but something was telling me that we neeeded to pass by them. So we did, and yup, we got oso. so we continued to the other rich area and still the other two families were sick and in thier pajamas, lousy excuses, I know. but we finished and this very nice lady waved to us in a very friendly way, which is rare! Elder Alvarez asked me if we should talk to her and I said you betcha! So we rolled over on the bikes and said "hola" and she said "wanna come in my house and have some juice?" BINGO! so we entered and she told us how she was very curious as to what in the world we are doing! haha so we explained everything and left her with a restauration pamphlet!and she told us to pass by the following week and we could talk more. she was very receptive and never heard of our church before, and never was too religious, but when we were leaving she told us that she felt like a big change was coming, but she was happy with her job and was confused by the feeling! ya, I sure hope to write more about her later as we tach her! hahaSo awesome!

This whole week has been crazy! We have so many citas, and unlike my first two change, rarely we dont find someone in their house! we are working very hard, we ar very optimistic, and have lots of faith! That truly is the key! And its awesome to see the work just exploding here! We have even received references out the wazooo! Its been crazy but I love it!

Ok, now I am sure you all just want to know what happened to me on friday the 13th. Well, just working,and we were going to house and to another house on the bikes. we had just come out of a SUPER SPIRITUAL lesson with a menos active family (aunts and all) and it was just "WOW" and we went down to our investigator who has an interview tomorrow, and we did lik we always do, rode down the back alley. I was going, and I stopped halfway like usual because I dont like to get going too fast, and then I continued onward, well for some reason, (note* using different bike than when I almost died, the one with better brakes) my brakes were not working, and I was gaining speed, but I knew that I could just round the corner at the bottom and all would be well! so I took a breathe and went at it. well it happened really fast, but there was a little sand at the corner and my bike came out from under me, but I was still riding it out so I didnt get hurt too much, or at least I tried. I stood up, took a breathe and my comp comes over "oh it ok! are you alright? as I am sure that his heart started racing a little. Well I hit the wall when I slid, so I looked at the bike first, and my front tire was so chueko! hahaha My right arm was road rashed, I was sure of that! but my left thumb hurt way more. Not super bad, but it hurt. I walked into the investigators house and asked if i could sue their bathroom to clean up a little bit. My comp started calling member to come get me and bring me to the hospital and the zone leaders so that they knew. I just cleaned up, and my investigators dad was definitely more high stressed! haha he was sure my road rashed arm was the worst of it, but my thumb was big and ugly! haha finely I left and went over to the hospital of peña blanca.

The first hospital was ghetto! but fast and the docs were smart. they xrayed and gave me a shot in the butt for pain. They told me I had fractured my thumb and it was rallly ugly "bien feo" and I needed to go and get it operated on. So We called a member and asked if they could bring us to the hospital in viña Del mar. but first, we got all done at the first hospital and went back to the investigators family to sign some papers, cause I really wasnt hurting that bad and I wanted to get her baptism ready! haha then we went to the members and we drove to viña. The hospital there was much more clean and well nicer!although the first doctor didnt even know how to use the computer, that worried me a little. And we waited for a LONG time! but we had fun playing with all the stuff and taking pictures! haha oh, the membre that brought me thought I must be drugged up good cause I was laughing, but I have to laugh so that everyone would calm down a little! haha Finally anothr doctor came in scheduled s urgery for saturday morning. we probably left around 11 and drove to peña to get some clothes and stayed with the secretary of health and the assistents to the president and wow! they be livin nice! in a rich hotel and it was just awesome! Then sturday morning we went in and I got all ready. The doctor got all ready andmy goodness! who knew all you could wear was a dress for thumb surgery! what the heck! hahabut it took them 4 tries to get the in, and we all know how much I LOVE needles. not. but soon enough i got my nice little nap and woke up to a lady telling me I had to be there at least until 3. dang it. but I got some nice naps in! not many missionaries get that pleasure! haha So in the end I have two pins in my thoumb so it can grow back right! haha and we totally got a refernce for missionaries in viña from my nurse! yes!all in a days work. but you know what, it was my comps 1 year mark on the 13th, and I am sure he will not forget that day! haha

So yes, many miracles, but I do have tohave these pins in my thumb for a month now, and I found some wicked bruises on my legs the day after, but I can still walk, and the work will still go on! I am loving it here and now I can say I have been in a chilean operating room! better yet, I was operated on! hahaha first time with pins, and its just anooying not to have two thumbs. but I send my love to you ll! hope you enjoy my story of the week! chau!

Elder Marvin =D

Week 1 Change 3

Hola Amigos, comó estan todos? Espero que todos estan felices y que este año est empesando con milagros como aca!


Well My first week in change 3, and wow, I have really been gone almost 5 months? haha Alright, I am still missing like 19, but still!ª haha We had a very successful/energy DRAINING/exciting week this week! We went from having 0 investigators with a baptismal date to having 7 almost 8! WOW! ya, we pretty much talked about baptism with EVERYONE! haha Thats what we just gotta do! haha


The big thing I learned this week is the importance of PLANNING. We have had just half of peña Blanca the change before this one and with less missionaries in the mission, we now get to run the ropes for ALL of Peña Blanca! Well it turns out you can be tired and still runn all over half, even my HUGE half, but running back in forth from one side to the other, ya, I was TOAST! We both earned our sleep every day this week! haha I think that we are going to start planning days in one side and other days in the other!


So Elder Alvarez, (not sanchez) and I were just so excited to work together! I had tons of investigators just ready to be baptized and he had one with a baptismal date and we went out and taught the importance of baptism to like everyone of them! haha We just got them all excited for their own baptism and shared with them the importance! The only down side is Elder Alvarez likes to talk, A LOT, so if I dont fight for my two cents, I dont get nothing! But we are working out tthe quirks and we teach together quite nicely now! haha


One other Challenge was the lunch schedules! We have 2 schedules for one companionship, so now we have to call 2 different hermanas every night, and one we have to say we are eating with and the other not. I just hope no one gets offended, but luckily everyone that we have had to cancel with has said "oh good! I had plans and wasnt sure how I was going to do it!" Seriously, the lord is ALWAYS looking out for us! And its awesome just to see everything work out like that! haha


We have also had no bikes cause Elder Dipaz broke one on his last day and then WE had to pay to buy the new part and we are going to fix it today. but all is well. Also, we have seen Satan doing his best on the investigators. Between "I dont really want to go to church" and mothers who wont even talk to us for absolutley no reason, we are fighting to help these people enter into the kingdom of God! It is good to see a few of them fighting for themselves though too!


The biggest thing this week was sunday. Our first sunday with two missionaries and we had a meeting at 830 before church. Then we hadto go and get Ysolda, an Elderly Lady and another investigator. Although, Ysolda brought a whole new feeling to church yesterday. She has paralysis, and she goes at her own speed. We got there right when the meeting was starting and we sat in the very front and everyone sat in silence as we walked to our seat. When we sat down and sang the first song Ysolda started crying, and she said it was the most beautiful thing she had every seen. The bishop saw that she was crying and then BAM, Bishop Trol was crying. It was really powerful! She really wanted to go to church, but new that it would be hard. As the meeting went on the testimonies were very sincere and spiritual! We actually had an investigator bear his testimony! It was SO COOL! I just had the biggest grin on my face the whole time and he did awesome! The other good part that he bore his testimony, his in active wife came for the first time in a LONG time with him, and I think it touched her too! At the end of the meeting we stood up and turned around and we counted all the investigators there, and would you believe it. We had 9 investigators! WOW! Then the fun started, Elder Alvarez went on divisions with a member to bring Ysolda home and I had to get all the other 8 investigators to a class! Well I had some young women bring a couple of the girls, I brought some with me to gospel principles and the others snuck out. but we got most of them rounded and then we didnt have a teacher, so I got to teach gospel principles! and Elder Alvarez showed up and helped me teach. One of the investigators told us in the end that it was the best class he had ever gone to! yes! and then Elder Alvarez told me how Ysolda had said in her 75 years and after attending many different churches, she has NEVER felt like that before. I think that will help lots with teaching her sister too! It was TONS of work, but completely awesome! I loved it!


That was pretty much my week! lots of work, but lots of success! I love how that works out! and I was dragging hard, didnt sleep well but I woke up this morning feeling LOTS better! So all is well again! I plan on taking my preparation day easy and just doing what I need to! haha


That was my week for ya! feliz año a todos and I send my love and comfort out to all those in need of it at this time along with all the love and comfot that Chile can send! I love you all!


Elder Marvin

Happy New Years! Feliz año a tí!

Hello World!

I dont even know what to say with such a crazy week and with so little time to talk! but bare with me cause my keyboard is dumb and I just gotta fly through this! haha

SO this week ELder Yost left on monday morning, it feels like that was 2 or 3 weeks ago now, but nope. I gave him one last hug and now he should be studying at good ole BYU· I do. haha I told him he was going to be married in 3 months, so we will see! haha But I joined up wiht Elder Petersen for the week and we did work! We switched from peña and Villa Alemana every other day and it was just a crazy week with lots to do!

We had a misson goal for everyone to make 140 contacts that week, the first time we had a goal for contacts in my mission. Clearly we do it, but you really gotta do it to get 140! haha By the end fo he week we had pretty good numbers together and still gt 112 contacts! Good solid contacts, n ot just to talk with the people but to truly try and help those that we talked with! We also taught some pretty good and powerful lessons! We actualy taught one yesterday and we just need his investigator to read and pray, he has he desire and he knows the things of the world will not help him, and he said a VERY sincere prayer to end and he was crying cause the spirit touched him. We could all feel it vry strongly! It was crazy! We also had a very good lesson with one of my investigators, he is 14 and wants to be baptized and is very smart! we taught him the plan of salvation and he was right there the whole time! it was cool cause you can really tell that he has been prepared, but we gotta get his whole family into it as well! His mom is hard to work with, but thats they way it goes!

Threre were so many miracles that we saw, time and time again! It was awesome! we also experienced some really hard things, one of which i shall explain a little. So we were visiting menos activos and this guy we passed by said we were atthe wrong house and he went back inside and slammed the door. not many people slam doors here! we waited a second and Elder Petersen wrang it again! and after a minute or two, he came out again, we got to talking and he said how he just got the ok for his name tobe removed from the church records and he didnt want anything to do with us. But we asked him why. And he said it wasnt important, but we truly started to just feel sad for him! We felt this love and only after about 5 minutes of talking. We came to find that he had been a stake president, a bishop, and more, but he said he dosent like the church because there are some people who dont live the way we teach. SO now he is going to leave and atke his family with him. He who once taught people ho to forgive and understand as a bisop and stake president, now has problems with the same thing he dealt with. How does that happen? he knows what he is doing, he knows how stupid it is! He knows that he willl not help himself to the slightest! and it just broke our hearts how he could do that. All we can do is pray, but let me be the first to say: members, treat others with kindness and love. This is the church of Christ. I know different areas of the world have different problems, but the gopel is forever the same! We can all testify to the truthfullness, but we must live by what we say! Thats it! Love the Lord, and do what is right!

On the plus side I got my new companion! *^drumrole* It shocked me so much! I am staying in peña Blanca, and my new comp is Elder Alvarez!!!!! How does that even work?!?! haha So the mission is lowering in numbers, so now Elder Alvarez and I have ALL of peña Blanca and we are SO EXCITED! its going to be so awesome, but a little weird with only 2 missionaries in the pension! its way big for only 2, like luxury land! hha I am so excited though! Its going to be so awesome! I cant wait to see how many baptisms we get this change, cause peña is ready to explode!

Well thats all that I have! I hope there isnt too many typos! I love you alll nd always remember your testimony!

Elder Marvin! :D