October 20, 2014

October 20, 2014 

Dear mom,

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GRANT's HERE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Congratulations Mel, Ben and Brock!!!!!!  Please tell them I love and miss them!!!

Well, now that I got that out of the way, looks like it was a good week both north and south of the equator!

We actually had a really great week. We had so many members go with us to appointments this week and WE HAD TWO PEOPLE ATTEND  CHURCH!!!  One of them is named Lidia. This sweet little old lady wants to get baptized on the 15th of November.  Please keep her in your prayers that she can keep progressing and feel ready to be baptized when the date comes. She’s 85 years old so I think the hardest part will be getting her literally under the water. Old people do not like to be completed submerged underwater. This is probably the best week I’ve had on my mission so far. Now just to figure out what we did different this week and keep it up.

I thought this was worth sharing. We found a single mom named Carol and her 4 year old Mathias this week. I couldn’t help but feel a strong connection to her. OBVIOUS REASONS. But anyways she’s progressing slowly.  She had a baptismal date for the 15 but didn’t make it to church so this week were going to focus on introducing her to members so she can make friends and feel more comfortable coming to Church.  Also we are hoping to relate EVERYTHING to eternal families because what brings her the most joy is Mathias.

Here’s some photos to make up for the drought. Elder Ospina left for Talcohuano and Elder Villarroel got here from the other side of Chillan. Also. NO we will not go HOME! Except Elder Jensen, who goes home at the end of this cambio. Ha, funny.

Got the Halloween package. We destroyed it. All gone in 3 days. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! You’re seriously the best mom.

Whatever we did this week I know we can be better. There is always, always always room for improve.

All my best, 

Elder Watts

 

 

I'll miss you Elder Opsina

 

My new companion, Elder Villarroel

 

No we won't go home!  We love the Chilean people!!!

 

October 13, 2014

October 13, 2014 

Mom,  

Full week! I got my new companion Elder Villarroel from Antofagosta Chile! He’s got about a year and 3 months in the mission. Katherine has unfortunately been very difficult to get a hold of, so we haven’t been able to teach her or help her this week. But we made a new effort to contact lots of people every day. Our daily goal is to find 5 future investigators (basically get 5 different addresses to visit). For the most part it’s helping.  We’re setting a lot of dates and we are seeing a couple people we found together this last week. Elder Villarroel is awesome.  We are basically complete opposite personality wise. He’s quite, I’m loud.  He likes to pretty up his sentences, I’m straight to the point. He’s SUUUUUPER patient and I lack in that area. But we balance each other well. He is still learning the new sector so I’m junior companion with all the responsibilities of senior companion.  The dude is a handy man. He’s already fixed like 5 different problems we had in the house that we had just chalked up to being like that forever.  

One thing that makes Villarroel awesome is that this last February, his father passed away and that was obviously very hard on him but he decided to stay and finish the work the Lord has called him to do.  He doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence and as you well know I probably have too much. So this cambio our goals are to try to strengthen our weaknesses by helping the other with theirs.  

One cool story we had this week is that we have been visiting a menos activa called Maria Lucia, about 60 years old.  She is a habitual smoker. She’s tried to quit multiple times and she’s been denying herself the sacrament because she doesn’t want people to judge her if she is smoking. We focused with her on the fact that if you’re trying, and I mean REALLY trying to quit the bad habit or addiction, the sacrament can help you.  It can help you have to spirit you need to finally kick the habit. But we also taught her the importance of making a plan as well as taking the sacrament. She responded "but isn’t it  more important that I have the plan in my heart and mind" and I said yes.  It is very important to have the plan right there, but I also know that we as humans are not the most concrete in our decisions, and that if you make a plan, something written down that you can see, when it comes to the point of temptation, you’re less likely to give into that temptation. She said "huh... when you put it like that, it sounds exactly what I need to do."  Now you have to understand that this woman is STUBBORN!  I can relate because I am that way as well at times. But it was awesome to see the Spirit work in her and us to help her understand the importance of what we were inviting her to do.  

We continue to work, walk, and  talk with everybody. Like literally everybody. I don’t want to possibly miss someone who might be being prepared by the Lord to receive us.  So we take every opportunity to contact people. 

I love you all and thank you so much for everything you do for me. You’re emails are very uplifting and I really appreciate all you’ve done for me.  

Elder Watts

October 6, 2014

October 6, 2014 

Hey mom,  

TAKE THAT NAVY!!!!  

Alright now that’s been said, on to the important things. Received your package of workout clothes and GARLIC HERBS!!!!  Very nice surprise. I guard that stuff with my life in the house.  

Thanks for sending something to Torrie and Tori. ALSO I have an idea for the ward but I would need a little stuffed teddy bear that looks like a missionary. Can you check into this?  Thanks.  

I got the letters from the Primary this week. please thank Sister Smith for sending them. Katie Walkers was especially hilarious. "is it Chilly in Chile? (the answer is a resounding NO now that spring has sprung), do you eat Chili in Chile? Are there Chilly Chilis in Chile?" I was very impressed with her capacity for humor at such a young age.  

This last week Elder Jensen (BYU PLAYER) and all were suuuuuuuper sick. Stomach virus knocked us right in the gut. We were sleeping by the toilet for a couple nights. But all is well now and were working again, lost a couple more pounds but they were coming off anyways.  

Other wise this week was good. Katherine our investigator is finally living by herself but now she doubts that she’ll be able to keep the law of chastity or Word of Wisdom.  So she doesn’t want to be baptized soon. We just need to kind and encouraging and find out which spiritual tool we need to use to help her see the light (following President Uchtdorf’s talk from conference) 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/receiving-a-testimony-of-light-and-truth?lang=eng
 

Elder Ospina is leaving me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He heads off to Talcuano centro tomorrow and Elder Villaroel will be coming to replace and be my new comp. it is a bery bittersweet feeling. Elder Ospina and I got along very well together and it may be difficult to adjust to Elder Villaroel but the Lord gives us challenges for a reason right?  

General Conference was amazing. 10 hours never went by so fast. I really liked the talk given by Jorg Klebingat about the 6 things for peaceful assurance. It’s fairly obvious that I am not having the most baptism or people progress, but I know that by following the 6 steps he talked about and by applying the Atonement in my life and the lives of my investigators, I will be more self-assured  of the good that I’m doing in the world. 

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/approaching-the-throne-of-go-with-confidence?lang=eng
 

ALSO IF ANY NON-LDS (not mormon) person is reading this, PLEASE watch ELDER DAVID A BEDNAR from the last session of general conference.  Please, it’ll take 10 minutes but it might change your life. 

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng

We have a lot of changes coming up, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to experience them. I love all of you and remember from the very deepest part of my soul....  

Elder Watts

 

Elder Jensen's last Sunday

We will miss him!!!

Chillan Zone farewell to Elder Jensen

Chillan Zone PDay

My new companion, Elder Villaroel Almorzando

 

September 29, 2014

September 29, 2014

 

Hey mom, So glad to hear that the party for Ben went off without a hitch!  

MORE EXCITED TO HERE WE BEAT BOISE STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Should find out if I got the package tomorrow, zone leaders are down in conce today. Elder Ospina finally requested sour candy. ,Like the sourest stuff you can find if you haven’t already sent the Halloween box. How is the photo book coming along? :)  

So these last two weeks I’ve learned something of utter importance. Chileans are busy! Almost everyone we talk to is "really in a hurry" or has "something to do" like watch TV for example...or perhaps watch a kid watching tv.  

One of the few Chileans we talked to this week that wasn’t busy really didn’t like gringos. His name was Ramon, and we was convinced that God was punishing the US because we had hurricanes. He said that i should "tell your friend Osama (he meant Obama) that we shouldn’t be taking the Palestinian’s petroleum" Elder Ospina and I had a great laugh about that later on in the day.  

So this week we had a mini cambio and a mini mission. Mini cambio basically means we switch companions for a day, and a mini mission is when we teach some of the priests from the stake what a day in the life of a missionary is like. My companion was named Oscar and he had just got baptized like 3 months ago and he really wanted to go serve a mission. He lacked a little bit of the finesse in talking to people in the street but that comes with time. We worked in a "city" called Quillón about an hour south of us. STRAIGHT FARM LAND. and it was raining and we forgot all our rain stuff. It was a really good experience for him. He said he learned a lot and I was happy to be able to help him get a taste of the mission life.  

In the mini cambio I was with Elder Chuctaya, a Peruvian that has been with me since the CCM in Santiago. We had a great day and I learned a lot about how to get members to accompany us. Chucky (his nickname in the mission house) can literally get a member at any hour of the day. or at least it seems.  

This week i was studying a lot about the Plan of Salvation and how God is our Heavenly Father and he really loves us. HE LOVES US.  He puts up with a lot of our crud too. We know that the plan applies to everyone, and that everyone will be saved, hence the plan of salvation. But I like to think of it as the plan of Exaltation, because that’s the goal right? It’s like the difference in aiming high or aiming for the minimum. Heavenly father wants us to have Exaltation, but because he loves us, he knows that it should be our choice.  

Other than that, another standard week here in Chillan Chile. Cambios are next week. We shall see if Elder Ospina and I will remain together again or if there’s a change. Elder Jensen, the BYU linebacker is heading home this Sunday so well be having a mini cambio together this week. I think it’s gonna be a good time.  

All my love and So much more, 

 

Elder Watts

 

 

Elder Chuctaya

 

Ramon

 

Ramon CTR (Choose the Right)

 

Quillon

 

Sep 30 Zone Meeting

 

Lunch with Elder Opsina

 

Zona Chillan

 

Quillon

 

 

September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014

 Independece day are was actually kind of disappointing.  Sorry no pictures this week. The computer I have doesn’t have a USB port :/  

This week I finished studying the first lesson with an emphasis on using the BOM to answer questions about the Restoration. We know that Bible lost key parts and that the BOM is the evidence of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

We had an awesome activity with Kites but again, no pictures.  It was awesome. We got our kite like 450 meters away… or more… but lost it.  Hopefully it’s still flying out there somewhere.  

Brock’s birthday is this week!  Please give him something from me. :) I’m gonna bring stuff back for him but obviously that won’t get to him until he’s almost 4.  

Elder Ospina is doing tons better. It’s like he was never even sick.  

Sorry not have much to update.  Not a ton of lessons this week. We gave a lesson to a member’s less active friend.  The member really knows her scriptures. It was a first lesson so she kind of confused the guy we were trying to teach. It made me think about how Christ taught, using stories, using situations that people already understood,  than applied it to their own lives.  

Anyways, Katherine finally got a weekend off and made it to church.  This week we’re going to focus on how it’s more important for her to move out to keep the commandments than to just move out cuz she wants to. I’ll let you know how that goes.  

I too am reading Jesus the Christ and let me tell ya, that book makes ya think.  

I love ya mom!  

Love you tons mom. Please know that despite the lack of progressing investigators I’m still my happy goofy self.  Kind of annoys Ospina a little but he can deal. LOVE YOU!!!!!! 

 

Elder Garrett Watts