Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Nov. 18

this week went by ridiculously fast haha. it literally feels like i just wrote you all yesterday! when i got here we actually didnt have any and now we have 6 VERY good investigadors and 4 others that could be good! 5 of the really good ones is a family and the husband and wife are married which is not very common down here. they were way excited to hear the lessons and 20 minutes after the first lesson they came to our activity at the church for the ward. its crazy! the dad even looks like he want to be baptized to which is even more rare than them being married! when we tract everyone has gate to we get to yell HALO! infront of the gates! the first time i didn´t it we got a contact. haha. i got lucky! we walk a lot but it doesn´t really bother me. all i did in golf was walk haha. and now im not trying swing a club so im pretty happy haha. the inserts are working way good and i can tell they will help even more when we walk more.
our first zone conference was pretty boring. wow. 4 hours of powerpoint. 1 brake. haha and i understood what was being said but i had to concentrate that whole time haha. it was in illapel. that is one thing that has clicked is that 80% of the time now i understand what is being said without concentrating and just listening and most of the time if i dont know what was said its because i dont know the word. very grateful for the gift of tongues. its my best friend right now!
well president is kind of a stick to the rules guy. haha. i dont know how many times i heard ¨your a representative of Jesus Christ so you need to follow the rules with exactness¨ it is important and im doing my best to represent Jesus Christ . after the first day of stuff i actually felt bad that i had my ukulele with me. haha but ive made the goal to learn how to play the hymns with it and maybe to a song or two with it. but he is a nice guy with a big heart. i like him!

yeah i wasnt able to sent the little army man doll thing but i will try to sen it again!
 i actually really miss watching football. especially going to games that was a blast!

well the people here are very backwards. they all have suped up honda civics and then they live in a metal shack. with a 50 inch plasma flatscreen tv. haha i dont really understand it but oh well!
 
we have lunch at a members house everyday except for our p-day. (lunch is the big meal here) and i have yet to eat something i didnt like so all is well! haha.
i actually played(the piano)  in church yesterday! i had to play for the sacrament a song i had never even heard of so that was interesting to say the least! that is one thing also, other than family and friends, i miss music more than anything. haha i really like playing the piano because i can do something that i actually understand haha.
for christmas if you could somehow send 4 things i will be happy! 1 chia. 2 coffee creamer, the icecream kind 3 ukulele chord book with chords strum patterns and if possible church songs. 4 a piano arrangement book for hymns!
thats it and i will use them quite often!
one thing here in chile that is delicious is MANJAR! you have to look it up and make some! it is great!
also could you send me the carmel popcorn recipe and also dads sodapop chicken recipe! and his sauce that he makes!
it feels pretty good to be a real missionary. haha i have waited a long time for these next 2 years.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100846156@N02/
 
Make sure to click on the flickr pictures on the right to see his most recent pictures!
 

Monday, November 11, 2013

November 11




i will send a letter next week with a postcard but it probably won't get there till like christmas haha! that mail is way slow!
sorry i haven't wrote we didn't get a p-day last week because we left the mtc! its was a somewhat crazy day and i made some really good friends in the mtc!
well halloween was pretty bland haha. except that night everyone was going around where we sleep and trick or treating and we started getting loud and so pres. allred came out and told us that we could trick or treat as long as we were quite.. and then a kid dropped his bag of candy, people started yelling and so did president haha. we didn't get to trick or treat for very long! haha. thats crazy that you hardly used that much scones! usually we don't ever have enough!
 
haha that is alot of toilets backed up all at once! kind of glad that i'm not the there to help with that! but it do wish i could have heard grandma say that! thats hilarious!

i haven't got the goodies yet but we have a zone conference on wednesday so i might get it then!
im excited to find more people like that lady and see who i can help!.

well everyone in my district is latino. haha so i hear spanish 24/7 but its good for me! my companion is elder artiga! he is very pacient with me which helps a lot! my spanish is slowly getting better! haha
my companion is very cool! he's from guatemala and is very nice! and pretty funny also! 
Im in illapel, los vilos. basically it looks like the town that nacho libre lived in haha!
ill try to upload pictures onto flickr! and the video!
everything is going well. i am learning how to have patience with just about everything. and learning to laugh at myself about 20 times a day!
 we went by bus (to get to the mission) and we are able to use some computer store(to send emails)  haha. its pretty ghetto!
 
 there is 4 compainonships (in the town) and we do have a mamita! she is very nice and she can even clean suits too! and right now its actually pretty cold! especially at night! like i have 3 blankets sweatshirt long pjs and socks on haha! and very windy!
 
haha during the mtc we saw a city bus that had been taken over by crazy fans. they had two flags out the side 4 people on top of the bus going 30 mph and smoke rolling out of the windows. haha crazy latinos! 
 
 word of the week is BACAN. its means freaking awesome!
 
Amanda's  BACAN Update:

The Vina del Mar Mission has a website and they are really great about posting pictures.  We found these great one's of Thomas and his group on their first day in the mission (I only cried a little when I saw them:) .


A little info on where Illapel is and what it looks like:

 
 

 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

October 30th

its really good! my spanish is 100 times better than it was last week because my new companion (that reminds me of Greg) doesn't dominate every lesson and now i have to speak! the gift of tongues is real! its crazy! yesterday we went contacting and i can understand 75% of what everyone says and if i don't its because i don't know the word they said! contacting is very nerve racking at first but it is so fun and even just talking to people in a park you can feel the spirit when you talk to them. its so crazy! and yesterday we went on the bus and metro! its a blast! and no i haven't seen any gypsies yet haha!
bro saunders is one of the best seminary teachers ive ever had!
if you see him tell him that he is going to do great things and he is there for a reason!
yeah my other comp left beacuse he is fluent in the language and now he is our zone leader.
there is about 20 of us going to vina and most of the are pretty cool!
well the completos are really good its basically just a hot dog with avocados and tomatoes and other stuff but they are really good!
thats cool that you saw katie! its going to be cool to have everyone in the field! ive talked to almost everyone so far! pretty fun stuff!
to Ely:
Good to hear from you bud! i heard you are missing me! don't be sad! just think of the day when i come back and get to see you! have someone take you to that big hill we longboarded down and ride it! when i get back we will go do that the first day i get back! that game sounds pretty fun! and thats awesome that you caught that many fish! we will do that when we get back! write down stuff that you want to do when i get  back and those weill be the first things i do when im home again! hope you are having fun!
love you bud!
so this week my district sang that How Can I Be song for family home evening for the whole MTC! i will have to uploard it when im out in the field beacuse its to big of a file! its was way fun and i've wanted to do that for a long time!
things are freaking awesome right now! thank you for the quote!
love you so much mom and i can wait to see you all again.
LOVE YOU!

thank you so much for that quote! (from scot My creed that I follow in life is a quote by Emma Wheeler Wilcox- "There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can circumvent, hinder, or control the firm resolve of a determined soul." When you add the power of prayer and the power of action to that it is awesome what the Lord can achieve through you.")
i know you could destroy those state records! that is the coolest thing i have ever heard! and i gaurntee that you will get even stronger because you are are way competitive and you have something to work for! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!! go destroy some old farts!
that is the inspiring thing i have ever been told dad. I have a page for the things you send me and I am shaking from writing it down and saying it in my head. thank you.
i was sent to chile for a reason and i found out one reason why yesterday. so we went contacting in the street. and another missionary started talking to a lady about the gospel and she said she didn't believe in god. but she did believe in The Secret. no one else in my district  knew what she was talking about. i was able to talk to her and tell her how i applied it in my life with the gosple. I should her in the introduction how it said Ask Believe and you will recieve an answer about the book of mormon and all things that you need from our heavenly father. we gave her the book and i have never been more grateful for your guidance in my life than in that instant. when you told me i had to read that in like 10th grade I didn't want to but i had a feeling that i should. you were inspired to tell me read that and i know it was because it was so i could talk to that lady about the gosple. THANK YOU!
I miss you guys a lot but when i look at the pictures of you guys i always am alittle sad but i make myself think of the joy i will have when i see you all again!
 keep the quotes coming they are something i look at when things get rough!
I LOVE YOU!!
Thomas