Baptism in Chile, Members & Investigators are not Forgotten

Hello!  

I just talked with a missionary who was in my last ward, and it is for sure, Adolfo was baptized. The military leader who at first refused to accept any scripture besides the first four books of the New Testament, is now a baptized and confirmed member of the church.  The missionary I just talked to, Elder Medina, from Argentina, baptized him.  I just wanted to start my letter with this, because I know it is a miracle that Adolfo’s finally embraced the Gospel.  Little things like watering peoples plants when they aren’t home, having a family home evening with them, or even just going fishing on a Monday morning, really can soften people’s hearts.  Alma 36:6-7  I know that the this family can be sealed in the year to come if they do three things:  Daily scripture study. Daily prayer.  Go to church every Sunday.  I am so happy for Adolfo.

Things are going well here in the Lorenzo Arenas Ward, of the Concepción Stake.  We are starting to have more investigators, more lessons, and the members are really helping us a lot. The ward leadership is awesome about doing mini meetings and then going on splits with the missionaries.  Instead of doing it weekly with the bishopric, the Bishop has decided to make it a regular ward activity for every other week.  As many members as can will meet at the church, receive a list of names and addresses, and then leave with either a missionary or another member to find the ´´lost sheep´´.  It is like a home teaching party.  Then after about an hour, the members will meet up at the church to have refreshments.  It is exciting, and a huge testimony builder, to witness that the Lord is hastening his work.  

Thanks for all the love and support, thanks for the prayers.  Thanks for all the awesome letters, emails, and packages you guys have sent.  I will try to respond.  I love you more than the number of boxes of Kellogg’s cereals that will be bought by missionaries around the world today.

With a smile from ear to ear,

Elder Chad Carl Withers

Dear Family,

The seasons are officially changing, and its beautiful!  I wear a jacket regularly in the evenings, and I get to sleep with blankets and long sleeve shirts.  When I got here and summer was just beginning, it felt like I would never see the day when fall and winter would come.....and here they are knocking on the front door.  I bought hot cocoa powder today and I am excited to use it in the evening after proselyting.  It feels so much nicer to be cozy in layers of clothes instead of roasting in shorts and a t shirt.  The seasons are changing, the leaves are falling, and time is flying!

We were in a neighborhood we don’t go to very often because it’s about an hour walk away from our apartment, but the other day we were there and along the chain link fence were armadillo skins, it was interesting because it was something new.....but it was mostly gross.  And I also saw the biggest spider web ever, probably in my whole life.  The spider was the size of a deck of cards, and its web strung clear across the street.....from one power pole to the other.  It was horrifying, but I was also kind of sad I didn’t have my camera just to take a picture of it.  And there is one type of bug here that is big and green, and when it flies it literally looks like it is using a jet pack.   

This week we had lunch with one of the members, and the mom cooked for a freaking army.  When she put the platter on the table, I sort of cried a little bit on the inside because she is easily offended if you don’t eat a lot.  She could have easily fed the entire branch with the platter of rice and chicken and potatoes.  I ate 3 plates full with a few pieces of bread, and hit absolute capacity.  I was full after the first plate, but tried to have good manners make her know that I thought it was good.  I am just grateful it wasn’t a plate full of pasta, pasta is the worst.  Its noodles covered in oil, but it’s so much more filling.  And between you and me, pasta isn’t so yummy to me anymore anyway.  We eat it at least 3-4 times a week......so many noodles!  I never knew that Argentina ate so much pasta and bread until I got here.  Anyway.... moving on.  

It hit me the other day that I will be hitting the half way point of my mission in a few weeks.  9 months, half way.......can’t believe it.  

On Tuesday we called a member to see if she would be willing to go out and teach with us for a few hours, she said yes, we stopped by to pick her up and we were on our way.  When we started walking she started talking to us and explained that the day before she had been feeling very frustrated with Heavenly Father.  She was annoyed with the other members, frustrated with the leadership, sad that she couldn’t go to the temple with the branch this week, and exhausted with her own family and financial problems.  She said she felt like Heavenly Father had some how forgotten about her and that it didn’t matter if she kept going to church, because she couldn’t see any of the blessings.....so she definitively decided to stop going.  The next day (the day we called her) she was kind of weepy but hadn’t told anyone in her family about her decision to stop going.  She prayed again, and decided that if Heavenly Father could show her that he loved her that day, she would keep going.  She said not even a minute later.......her phone was ringing with us on the other end.  We gave her call, not knowing any of this before hand.  Just following the Spirit saying she would be a good member to take out with us that day.  Such a simple, yet incredible example of the perfect love Heavenly Father has for each of us.  Heavenly Father is so good to each of us, and also incredibly efficient.  He was helping us with the missionary work, but also helping this sweet sister remember how important and loved she really was.  Heavenly Father never forgets anyone.  No matter where they are in the world, what language they speak, how far away they live from big city civilization, or what they do for a living.  He remembers all of us, and all of the small, yet important details of our lives.  Its fun to be a representative of that love, and teach people that God knows and loves all of us.  

For me, this week was a little more difficult mentally.  About the same time I realized that I am almost to my half way mark, I also realized that I have seen so very little fruits of my work.  No baptisms.  And only a few less actives become reactivated.  Hundreds of lessons and even hundreds more contacts, and no results.  And after 9 months, still nothing.  Day after day, the same labor for the Lord, and all I have to show for it is a testimony that is a little bit stronger.  I really had to fight the feelings of frustration, and remember that the Lord hasn’t forgotten me either.  Just like the sweet member who went out with us, he remembers us all.  It took me a couple of days to wrestle through it all in my head, but I have come to peace with it.  I know the Lord is guiding this work, and he knows us all better than we know ourselves.  I am trying to be obedient, have faith, believe in people when they say they are going to read or pray or go to church, and more than anything work hard.  I know it’s all worth it.  Even though I can’t see any of the results right now, it’s okay, I might not ever see the fruits.  And that’s okay too, I don’t need to be rewarded with the fruits.  Being permitted to be a tool in this tiny part of the Lords field is good enough.  More than anything I was humbled this week.  Humbled to remember that I am nothing, that the Lord is everything......and that I shouldn’t have conditions or blessings that I expect to see for the work I give.  It will all be worth it in the end.  

Alma chapter 29 is the chapter that really caught my attention this week, nearly bringing me to tears.  I feel the exact same way, and want to rejoice in all of the miracles that are occurring around the world in the work of the Lord, not just focus on the progress (no matter how slow it may be) here in La Paz. 

Interesting cultural note.....if you ask a woman how many kids she has, she will tell you the number including miscarriages.  They count all of them.  Kind of cool.  

I love you more than all of the stores here in Argentina that sell only raw meat (welcome to the meat capital of the world!)

Hermana Withers

Hastening the work in Chile, Rebecca has a new companion

Hola to Everyone,

We had a pretty good rainstorm Sunday morning, but it didn’t stop Moses from coming to church.  Moses or Moíses as it is Spanish, is a homeless alcoholic man, but nevertheless, a son of God, and was baptized about 10 years ago.  In 3 Ne 18:32, it talks about the importance of rescuing the less active.  We´ve talked with him a couple of times, and we decided to invite him to church.  He came!  We let him borrow a white shirt and tie, and he walked through the rain to the church building.  He had the biggest smile on his face as we walked to church, and I thought that this is probably the most concern anybody had shown him in years.  

To answer your question - no, the Chilean calendar has a slight defect and doesn’t include St. Patrick’s Day. 

I would like to start out by saying that the Lord is hastening his work.  Last Tuesday we had a ward executive committee meeting, almost the entire meeting was about ´´what ward executive committee should be´´, and also about missionary work.  A few people sort of dominated all the conversation and I didn’t have much to say.  Towards the end of the meeting, I suggested that every Tuesday we could have a quick mini meeting, and then each missionary could go on splits with a couple of members, and then everybody meet back up in the church.  The idea was a hit and we will start tomorrow.  My zone leaders in Chillán worked really effectively with their bishopric in this manner, and I hope it will work in this ward.

This week we are going to have a Noche de Hogar, or Family Home Evening with a member family and a non-member family they know.  I am pretty excited for it because those family home evenings are such an awesome way to find great new investigators.  We usually bring a cheap store-bought dessert, and a short church video.  

I love you all so very much.  I hope you all can share the gospel in every opportunity that the Lord gives you.  Pray to have missionary opportunities.  Scripture for this week: 2 Timothy, chapter 1:7-9  

“7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and by grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

I love you all more than the number of people wearing green today.

You guys are awesome.  

-Elder Chad Withers

Dear Family,

This week was a terrific one!  It had lots of big changes, but it was so fun.  

Biggest news is that I have a new companion, and she is so cool.  Her name is Hermana Galan, from Mexico.  She comes from a humble home with a single mom and older brother.  She misses tacos a lot, and she can’t speak any English except for a few words or phrases. Someone taught her the word "fetch" at one point, and she uses it all the time.....ha it makes me smile every time.  She is going to help me so much with Spanish, and she has goals for English that I am excited to help her with.  She is a hard worker, and obedient, and so fun to have around.  Every one of my companions has been such a big blessing....they are all stable, normal, hard working, high functioning sisters....with great senses of humor.  It’s awesome!  

It was sad to say good bye to Hermana Sainsbury, because I had been with her for so long and we were such good friends, but Hermana Galan has been a breath of fresh air as well.  She is young (just barely turned 20!) and has only been on her mission for 4 months, but she has a solid grasp on the doctrine and fun methods of teaching.  Basically I am just soaking up my time with her and trying to make the most of it.  She was baptized when she was 12 years old, but then went in active for about 5 years, and then came back.  She is the only member in her family except for a few random cousins.  And we are going to see miracles this transfer! 

The day of transfers was so long for me though.  Hermana Sainsbury left at noon, and Hermana Galan’s colectivo (bus) didn’t pull in until 7:30 that night.  I had to spend about 4 hours with the Elders until one of the members could be with me. While with the Elders we ate lunch and watched movies, and it was super boring. And then I went with a member to her house and it was a little more interesting, but really I just wanted to have my new companion and get to know her.  That’s the thing about being here in La Paz....is if transfers affect you, it involves lots of traveling.  We are clear up here in the boondocks, and it took Hermana Galan 9 hours in a bus to get here.  

Random note......Elder Hill is now serving as an office Elder, serving as the mission secretary.  Ha.... pray for him.  He is now in charge of all visa and passport paperwork.  

Random cultural note is that dogs are used as security systems here.  Often times if you walk past a business, regardless of what they are selling....if its locked and shut down for the night there is often a dog inside.  There is a car dealership that has a few, and I’ve seen a few other random places with dogs inside.  They have been trained too, because when you walk past them they follow you from the other side of the window and kind of growl at you.  It’s kind of funny to think of dogs as a security system, but people do it!  

Before I forget to tell you, the mission has told us to tell home that apparently the Argentine Customs isn’t letting any foreign food go through any more.  If there is a package and some candy thrown in, the whole package will be thrown away.  Just so you know.  Maybe it will change, but for now if you send packages, don’t put food in it.  

Anyway......things really are going well.  I am happy and healthy, and loving life.  I hope you know that I love you all!  I love you all more than all the people here in La Paz who have never seen snow before (I think I have met 2 people in all of my time here who have seen snow in person).  

Keep being awesome and know that you are all my favorites!  Until next week!

Hermana Withers 

5 awesome people in Church on Sunday... Chile & Argentina

Dear Family,

Well the cambios (transfers) got here, I and Elder Copling are still together so that is good.  I don’t know if I told you about ´´The Tie´´.  There was a missionary who was here during the earthquake, and he gave the tie to the person he trained, and then that person to the next, and so on, kind of like the gold plates.  I was the 8th person to have the tie, and now Elder Copling has it since he finished his training.  The missionary who has it writes their name and the year on the back of the tie.  It is a cool tradition.  

This was a great Sunday.  Five less actives came to church.  One of them brought his girlfriend, and she is a non-member, so we hope we can start the lessons with her.  

Here are a couple of pictures one we put with our testimony in the Books of Mormon before we give them away.  The other picture is the man who goes up and down the streets all day selling fruits and vegetables out of his large ox pulled wagon.  He advertises by yelling really loud, he is good at it though.  

We had some pretty cool experiences this week.  Yesterday, at about 9:00 p.m. we came around a corner, and we both felt a very strong impression to just turn around and go back.  We both, neither one saying a word, knew that God didn’t want us to be over there.  I don’t know what would have happened had we ignored the spirit.  I hope that you all know that God answers prayers, and that he is watching out for his children.  I love you all!

I love you all more than the number of grapes that Chile exports to the U.S.A.
Elder Withers

Dear Family,

I love hearing from you guys.  I just love the routine of reading your letters each week and knowing that all is well.... Life is so incredibly good isn’t it?  We have so much to be thankful for and so many fun things to experience in this life.  

As for my adventures this week.....it was a good one!  We had five investigators at church.  FIVE!  Every time one walked in my heart sang a little bit louder.  It’s so fun to have them there, because the members do a really good job fellowshipping them.  

We had another lesson with Alfredo, and he is still so cool.  He is reading the Book of Mormon lightning fast, and has the most admirable curiosity.  He really is just like a child in that sense....very meek and willing to learn. 

And we had a lesson with Marisa.  Which went well, she is still letting doubts float around in her head instead of acting on faith with what she does know to be true. She is a good lady and is willing to do the Lord’s will, she is just getting confused as to what the Lord’s will actually is.  We are working with her though; at least she is still willing to meet with us.  

We had zone meeting this last week as well, which was fun..... I keep praying and hoping that the Christmas package makes it.  

Fun cultural note is that we are sort of stuck in the 90s down here......in nearly everything.  In clothes, music (our neighbors are the worst in that sense.....they play footloose, and girls just wanna have fun, and so many more super loud....we sleep with the fan on the highest setting to drown out the noise and layer up the blankets....because it’s getting cold!)

I love that we are experiencing changes in seasons together, you guys on your way out of winter, and me on my way into winter.  It’s so crazy.  The time is flying by.  

Today we got transfer news, and............Hermana Sainsbury is going to Parana to be with Hermana Haynes (my MTC companion!).  Crazy!  I am getting a cute Hispanic companion named Hermana Galan (I still don’t know where she is from though; I get to meet her tomorrow!)  She just finished the 12 week program, and I am excited for the change.  Ha.....Hermana Sainsbury is devastated though.  She is going to a big city, and we have stayed at that apartment she is going to move to (when we have to travel long distances).....and it’s a real dive.  We will be buying ice cream this afternoon for sure.  

Really life is good.  I feel like my roots are firmly established here in this area, and it feels good to have a handle on the language.  Having a new companion here will be good to change things up too, and I can keep learning and growing.  

I love you all lots!  More than all the things that go up in price each day!  I am actually not even kidding, everything inflates in price a little bit each day.  

Hermana Withers    

Stake Conference on Missionary Work and an Argentine Wedding

Dear Family,

Well, today was pretty cool.  Our zone went on a 20 minute drive to a trail head, and then we took a short 20 minute hike to a really pretty beach.  We played beach volleyball.  It was a lot of fun.  We had to make the court out of scratch.  The member and his convert friend cut down 2 small trees, and we dug holes in the sand, and then we put the trees in as the poles.  We brought our ward´s volleyball net.  We drew the lines in the sand, but after a couple hours the ocean started to erase the lines.  It was a really pretty hike, and the beach was nicely secluded and really pretty.  I brought my camera, and I got 1 picture at the trail head before the battery died.  

We are trying really hard to find new investigators.  Our Stake Conference was almost entirely about missionary work, and temples.  We had a Seventy come, and he was from Argentina.  His name was Elder Causse.  I got to shake his hand.  It was so nice to hear someone speak Spanish who isn't from Chile.  He was so easy to understand, and talked really slow.  It was like listening to someone from Alabama.  He talked about how right now, is the time when the Lord is hastening His work, and that the members and missionaries work together.  When he bore his testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that this is the true church, I felt the spirit really strong.  

Our mission president had a really great talk, and he had 2 missionaries do a role play of how a member can share the gospel in an everyday conversation.  Then he asked every member to talk with the person sitting next to them of someone they could share the gospel with.  Then he told all the members to do a 2 minute practice, and he had the missionaries go around and help them.  It was a really good conference, and I took some notes that I want to re-read during my morning studies.  The first talk was one of my favorites.  It was a convert who grew up in a really hard home, but found the church.  He shared that if people study for years and years in order to live comfortably in this short life, just a High School diploma is about 12 years of study, then how important it must be to study the gospel and prepare ourselves for eternity.  He himself knew about studying, he is some sort of doctor of radiology or something like that.  It caught my attention, that this life really is very short, and we better prepare ourselves well, because where we are going after this, we will be there for a long long time.  

I wish you the very best in all you do, you are awesome!  I love you all more than the number of grains of sand in the ocean.

Sincerely,

Elder Chad Withers

Dear Family,

Time really is flying by so fast!  I can’t believe it!  Today marks 8 months in my mission.  I hope last week’s email didn't make me sound sad or out of spirits, I am always doing great.  It’s just that last Sunday was sort of a rock bottom feeling with all of our investigators who just weren't progressing.  We have dropped the majority of the people we were visiting, and have essentially started over trying to find the people who are really ready......and the Lord blessed us so much in our efforts!

Last Saturday evening (2 weeks ago) we contacted a cute girl named Liza and taught her a quick lesson 1 on her doorstep.  We left her with the pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment for the next Monday.  We showed up Monday for the appointment, asked for Liza, and her dad came to the door.  He told us his name was Alfredo, and that he knew we had met with his daughter, and that he needed to talk to us.  Physically looking, he is kind of scary; with broad shoulders, a thick handlebar mustache, and a really deep voice.  My immediate thought, was "oh shoot.....he is going to tell us that we can’t come back to meet with Liza" (shame on me for so little faith!)  He went to get the Book of Mormon that was on the book shelf and the pamphlet...he took us to the kitchen, told us to sit down.  

He told us he had read the pamphlet (which is awesome.....so many people never read!) and that he had started to read the Book of Mormon, and that he was very interested in it.  His curiosity was interesting though, it didn't come out of negative speculation but instead out of sincere wondering.  He had never seen it before, told us quickly all the things he hates about his church, and that he just wants to know about this church.  We only talked to him for like 10 minutes because he had to go, but we set up another appointment with him for Friday.  We showed up on time for our next Friday appointment......and he blew us away.  

He told us that a few nights ago, at like 3 in the morning, he had a toothache so painful he couldn’t even sit still....it hurt so bad.  He walked around in his house, tried to go back to bed, and nothing worked.  He saw the book on the table and decided to read it to pass the night away....he started to read it and said he couldn't put it down.  He got to 1 Nephi 11 when he realized that his eyes were starting to get tired from reading.  When he closed the book, he realized his tooth didn't hurt anymore, and he was able to go back to bed and then to the dentist the next day.  We reviewed what he read, and he told us his favorite was chapter 8 which talked about the tree of life.  His interpretation of it was so spot on, it’s like he is a member.  He picked up that the iron rod is the way to God, the fruit is the gospel, the people out in the darkness are people who have fallen off the path and so on.  He picked it all up.  We went back to the first vision to go over that too, because we hadn't had the chance to really teach him about the restoration.....and he literally quoted back the First Vision to us.  He had already read the pamphlet a few times.  He says he is very interested in the church, and that what he has read so far he believes is true.  

I have never taught anyone like Alfredo on my mission before, and he is so fun to teach.  He asks us so many questions we have to draw him back into what we are talking about.  People who are progressing are just so much more fun to work with!  The intense contacting we have been doing so far is working and the Lord is really guiding us to where we need to go.  

We also went to a fiesta in the chapel for the wedding of the Elder’s investigators.  It was a cute party with lots of balloons, support from the members, and a great opportunity for our investigators to go to the chapel and meet everyone.  We met Ariel and Silvia there at the chapel (and they really came with their whole family and everything!) and it was awesome.  Pepe gave them a tour of the building, with a stop in front of the baptismal font, and they said they loved the chapel and members.  They were a family we were going to drop but they are still ever so slowly progressing, so we won’t lose hope on them yet.  If there is even the slightest sliver of a chance, we keep them.  If there is no movement forward, we move on to new people that are ready.  It’s sort of a sad cycle sometimes, and can be exhausting.....but it makes me really appreciate the true love Christ has for all of us.  

The wedding party was fun though because they have a cool tradition.  Instead of the bride throwing her bouquet of flowers of her shoulder to see who can catch it, they do something completely different.  They bake the cake with little coin things in the shape of random things (like a shoe, car, fish, house, bike, so on) with a string attached to it.  So the strings hang around the cake like aligned confetti (I hope this is making sense).  So all the single women gather around the cake, grab a string, and on the count of three everyone pulls the string.  The person who pulls the string with the ring at the end of it is the person who is going to get married next.  (Funny thing....the bride pulled the ring at this party.)  I pulled out a fish, and Hermana Sainsbury pulled out a house.  (We were reluctant to do it, but all the members thought it would be funny if we did it, so we did!).

The situation with Marisa has honestly just changed.  She sent us a text on Thursday saying she doesn't want to meet with us anymore, that she doesn't know what she believes, and that she just needs space from the church for a while.  We called her right up and asked what happened.....and honestly nothing has happened.  She just hasn't been reading the book of Mormon for 6 weeks or going to church in 2 months, and she has spaced herself enough from doing good things that the doubts Satan puts in her head have just become a little more difficult to overcome and get rid of.  She said she is going to pray this week to really see what the Lord wants her to do.  We fasted for her this Sunday, and we are excited to go see her this Wednesday for our appointment we talked her into.  She has just progressed too far to let us drop her so quickly.  We are going to fight for her as long as she will let us.  

We had a funny contact the other day, and they honestly had me walking away amazed.  It was a middle aged couple that came to the gate, and shared all sorts of information.  Apparently lots of missionaries have clapped that house before, but they still aren't interested.  They said that we aren't even part of a church because the only church that can exist is apparently their church, that we were on a bad path, and that we probably aren't going to be saved.  They talked on and on about how they have a higher chance of being saved compared to most people because of their Santos (saints), the virgin Mary, and Jesus. We just sort of said, "okay, good to meet you, we know this is the true Church of Christ that has been restored" left a pamphlet and just tried to get out of there.  They gave us a pamphlet thing with weird pictures and articles that make no sense.  I am just going to pick the path of Jesus and work to help others do the same.  Less confusing!  I hope one day they can come to understand. 

The Fall weather is still as beautiful as ever and I am excited for a new season.  I got out my sweat pants and sleeping bag to sleep just so I can feel cozy in the cool evenings and mornings.  It’s awesome!  Everything is still really green though.

Well....I hope you all have a great day!  We have zone meeting this Friday, so maybe I have a package waiting for me!  I hope you know I love you more than all of the Catholics who worship Gauchito Gil (Google him....he is like an Argentine Robin Hood who lived who knows how long ago and there are seriously shrines where people go to pray and leave flowers and stuff).

Stay awesome,

Hermana Withers

Still working hard, Progress seems slow

Dear Family,

This week was awesome.  It started off slow, but we decided to just be happy, have faith, and work as hard as we can.  We are doing something called “hablar con todos” (talk with everyone) and it really works.  The idea is that we contact as many people as possible as we go between appointments.  Last night there was an older guy who was going to buy some bread with his grandson.  We were kind of on the fence about wanting to talk to him, but we decided we would.  He was amazingly nice, and we are going to go visit him this week.  Also, we are teaching a guy named Ivan, and he has one of the most impressive beards I have ever seen.  It is big and evenly parted, and he has a huge handlebar mustache to go with it.  The week didn’t have any crazy stories, but it was still a great week.  It was awesome to see one of the recent converts come to church, after not coming for 3 months or so.  The members did a good job of welcoming him back.  I am happy, and I think Chile  is a pretty cool place.  I know that this church is true, and that God loves us. 

I love you all, more than the number of snowflakes that made the winter Olympics possible.

With love,

Elder Withers

Dear Family,

Truthfully this week was long.  There were also lots of bright spots in the week though too.  Best of all was that we had district conference.  So the branches of La Paz, Las Termas, Santa Elena, and Feliciano all came here to meet.  President and Hermana Giuliani came for the meeting, and it was soo good to see and hear from them!  We hardly ever get to see them and it was so fun to have them here.  (That is how I was able to get mail in the middle of the month because they brought it up with them in the back of their car).  

Most disappointing of all is that Marisa came back from Neuquen.......unmarried.  She went all the way down there, a 30 hour drive one way, and wasn’t able to get married.  We had a lesson with her on Wednesday.  (Actually we were on exchanges with the Hermanas from Parana so I felt a lot of pressure for this lesson since it was the first time since we had seen her and Hermana Sainsbury wasn’t there) and we also brought Hermana Obertello with us to be there as moral member support.  It was an interesting lesson to say the least.  We walked in and she is normally always so happy and inviting, but this time she wasn’t so I could tell something was up.  We get to talking to her and find out that when they went to Neuquen.....her "husband" didn’t even have to get divorced.  This whole time they had been telling us that "they need to go to Neuquen so he can get divorced and then they can get married."  He has been divorced this whole time, and just needs to go to some government office in Neuquen to pick up the paperwork.  And he didn’t do it.  Marisa told us that he got very bitter all of the sudden about her decision to get baptized and is now saying that if she only wants to get married so that she can get baptized....then he doesn’t want to get married.  Its soooo sad.....and she is so hurt.  She wants to get married and she is offended that he won’t marry her, even just to support her in her decision to be baptized.  I wish I could just go down to the office and pick up the paperwork myself.  The thing is though; even though we are on the southern end of the equator....we aren’t at the edge of the planet.  We are living in the 21st century where fax machines exist.  We are going to try and see what we can do.  We have to come up with a plan fast though, because she has been waiting so long to be baptized and she needs to be living the law of chastity.  She has family who live down there who can mail things.....but I don’t know.  We are going to visit her again this week and help her come up with a plan.  It’s just sad that all the waiting to be baptized hasn’t even paid off yet.....because she is still waiting.  The other thing that is frustrating is that Marisa has learned about plural marriage and how it used to exist, and it has been quite the testimony shaker for her.  We are working it through it with her....but man she has been a difficult investigator to help get to baptism.  

And all of our other investigators aren’t really progressing either.  We are dropping a lot of them lately and looking and contacting ALL THE TIME.  We are trying to find the Lord´s prepared people.....and help those who are ready to progress.  The thing is that people´s agency to choose the natural man over their spiritual desires is hindering their ability to progress.  This transfer has been kind of hard in that that way.....in that we are working hard and we have good numbers to prove to the Lord we are working, but we are seeing so little success.  We follow the spirit, are obedient, and trying to be grateful for the blessings we have......but the Lord is really putting us through a refiners fire right now.  The prepared people are just very well hidden right now......but we will find them!  It’s just going painstakingly slow right now.  

Other than slow progression here.....all else is well!  We were able to organize and help the branch president here hold his first ward council meeting...so that’s progress.  And a less active that hasn’t come in 2 years showed up to church.  

It’s starting to cool off and I have never been more excited for the autumn and winter seasons.  It’s going to be sweet!  

I love you all lots and I have a testimony of this work!  I know the church is true!

I love you more than all the ping pong games we plan on P Day!

Hermana Withers

Opening a new area, Sharing candy from USA

Dear Family,

Thanks for your amazing letters.  I really enjoy all the little updates each person has to share.  I can’t believe you had 60 mornings below zero. That is crazy, I wish I could send some summer over to you guys, because we have a lot of it. 

My companion is a really nice, genuine person.  We work together really well, and I feel like he would be a companion I will keep in contact with after the mission.  He was really into sports before the mission, and did just about everything (football, wrestling, basketball, hockey, motocross, and lifting)  His morning exercise is pretty intense.  One time he was benching his bed, with another missionary on top of the bed for added weight.  

The area we are in is a brand new area.  It was opened one transfer before I got here, so we are kind of starting this sector from ground zero.  We are starting to find investigators and inactives too.  We may or may not baptize during this transfer, but I know there is no shortage of work here in Lorenzo Arenas.  This ward has some of the first converts of Chile.  Missionaries got to Santiago in 1956, and there are some 1957 converts here.  There is an active member who served in the Chile Mission.  She was the first sister missionary to serve in Concepcion, and her mission covered all of Chile.  We had a family home evening with her and her husband, who also served a mission.  They served root beer floats (which is awesome because you can’t buy root beer in Chile)  The husband had a companion who brought root beer with him to the mission field in Chile, and he thinks it is the most amazing drink.  They have American Elders ask their families to send root beer concentrate with a package, and then they make the root beer.  I told them (the Mella family) that you guys could send root beer concentrate in the next package.  They would love you forever if you can send some in the next package.

I will try to put two weeks of adventures in one letter.  I ate horse meat last week.  It was a lunch appointment with the Lopez family, and they usually serve horse meat.  

I live with a missionary named Elder Ainge.  His father is Danny Ainge, of the Boston Celtics. Elder Ainge was playing basketball for BYU before the mission.  He is really nice and very humble.  

The other day was Valentine´s Day, and we had an awesome ward activity.  It was a karaoke night.  The bishop made it really exciting for everyone by dividing the ward into three teams, and putting one or two missionaries with each team.  The teams would compete for points by trying to be the best group in a certain category of music.  It was a close competition and everyone was a winner.  At the end of the activity they had the YMCA song playing, and nobody was really paying attention, most people were just getting ready to leave.  My companion thought it would make for a good grand finale, so he handed me the microphone and told me to jump up on the stage.  During the whole activity, nobody used the stage. All the singing had just been done on the floor.  I jumped up there and started to sing the song as I spelled out the letters ´´Y.M.C.A.´´  I got  the 20 or so people that were still there singing and dancing to it, then at the end of the song, my companion and Elder Taylor carried me on their shoulders and I kept singing the song and making the  ´´Y.M.C.A.´´ letters as they carried me around. The whole ward knows I have no idea how to sing, but I just decided to be really excited about it, even though I was about 10,000 miles outside of my comfort zone.  It was kind of like when Buddy the Elf (Movie Elf with Will Ferrell) got the mail room singing and dancing.  It was  a good ward activity, and some less active members and some investigators showed up.  Most of them participated in the competition. 

I can’t remember if I told you guys yet or not that the second temple in Chile will be built in my zone.  It will be down by the Bio Bio River.  I've seen pictures of what it will look like.  It will be three floors, with a fourth floor underground.  

The stake here is starting to put a huge focus on family history work.  Our zone leaders are expecting us to help the members use family history as a way to find new investigators.

I would love to share the awesome pictures that I have, but the blasted plug ins with these computers just don’t pick up anything.

I love you all more than the number of good people all over the world who would accept the gospel but just don’t know where to find it.  

Sincerely,

Elder Chad Withers

Dear Family,

This week has been BEAUTIFUL.  This whole summer has been impossibly hot throughout the whole thing, but this week it has cooled off and it’s even a little bit chilly during the night.  I have slept with a blanket for 6 nights in a row!  That’s a new record.  

I’m not really sure how, but the town of La Paz has this overwhelming smell like cilantro.  Not so much in the downtown part, but if you get out in the wide open spaces with fields and farms and acreage.....the whole town has a cilantro smell for some reason.  It just barely started...maybe its cilantro season?  I have no idea.  I don’t even like cilantro, but I can’t seem to get enough of this smell.  It is just so fresh and wonderful....it’s like I am living in paradise!  

We have an investigator named Tito (not sure if I have talked about him) but he is awesome.  He is 20 years old and working hard.  He doesn't actually live with his family though.  He comes from a humble background, is the oldest of 6 kids, and when he was little his mom would send them out to beg for food because they had no income.  He would always go to the Castella family....who are less actives in our branch.  The mom would give him lunch and let him stay to play with her kids.  Play out 15 years to where we are today, and that mom is a nice grandma, her daughter lives in the house in front of hers, and Tito is like the child they never had who helps out with nearly everything.  He helps take care of the paralyzed grandpa who can’t eat, go to the bathroom, get dressed, or anything. He runs errands for them, cleans stuff up, and it’s so cool.  This boy who was so little when his mom sent him out to ask for food is able to give back and help out.  So he has been living essentially with this less active family.  We have visited the family what feels like a million times and they know they need to come to church, but actually getting there is a struggle.  A couple of weeks ago we met Tito and started teaching him and he is so awesome!  He absorbs the lessons like a child....sincerely interested in learning and so quick to act on faith and believe.  His work schedule has made it hard for him to come to church, but he has progressed so much so far, that I know he can do it.  He told us that he met with the missionaries for a while about 4 years ago, and he wanted to get baptized but he was only 16 and his parents wouldn't give him permission.  Now he is 20....so baptism is his independent decision!  We are excited and hope he will get baptized. 

Tito is really the only investigator we have though that is pulling through and keeping his word.  All of our investigators keep meeting delays in progression....making up excuses for why they didn't come to church, or trying to explain that they are just so busy they didn't have time to read the Book of Mormon.  The best part is that when we have these conversations with people, we are usually talking to them while they are sitting there drinking mate telling us about how stressful and hectic their lives are.  

I’m working hard to not be frustrated though!  Because frustration just drives the spirit away, but seriously.....where are the people who are ready to progress?  Our teaching pool has been cycled through several times and it’s hard when all of them don’t want to choose the Gospel.  Maybe they still don’t get how important it is (even though we have explained it like a thousand times) but it’s okay.  Missionary work is all the same.  Some get to plant for a while, others may be in charge of weeding, and some get to pick the fruit.  It feels like I have been in the weeding department for a really long time, but maybe that’s what I am good at.  Ha, who knows.  Success isn't manifested by the number of baptisms but rather my desire to bring people to Christ.  

So I got another box.  I think your theory about the boxes being faster is true.  I know they are more expensive, but I still haven’t got the padded envelope you sent in October, but I got a box sent January 30.  It doesn't add up but it makes me feel closer to you guys when I can get notes and a package that isn't three or four months out dated.  I opened the box up right away and gave a tootsie pop to each of the Elders.  The one from the Jungle of Peru loved it.  I also gave one to Pepe our missionary leader and in Spanish he was like, "candy from America?!"  Ha it was fun to share.  Don’t worry, I am keeping the rest for me.  From the other package I let the Hermanas from Santa Elena try a tootsie roll.  One is from Chile and the other from Peru, and they were so funny.  They kept asking if it was gum or if it was chocolate....and I was just like......"uh...neither.  It’s a chewy sweet called a tootsie roll with chocolate flavoring"  

I love you all sooooooo much and hope you know I pray for you every day.  I am so grateful you are all doing well.  Keep up the good work and know that I love you more than all the plates of noodles with bread I have eaten since being here!

Hermana Withers

Packages in Chile, Bus crash in Argentina

Dear family,

I got a wonderful package from home.  I also got a package from the Victory View Relief Society.  It had candy, letters, oat meal, and ramen noodles.  It also had a lot of CTR stickers. Please be sure to tell them thanks for me.

Did I tell you they have Subway here in Concepción?  And Dominos pizza too.  It is awesome.  

That is awesome that the Olympics are up and going.  I love you all more than the number of peanuts it would take to fill an Olympic ice rink for these games.

Love,

Elder Withers

Dear family,

We are writing a little bit early today because we have the Hermanas from Santa Elena who spent the night over at our place (our zone is having a special P-day today.....volleyball on the beach of the Parana River and a member is BBQing for us.....sweet!)

This week really was so typical I struggled coming up with things to write about.  But don’t fret!  There is always something to write about :)

Earlier this week we were riding a colectivo, which is bus system that EVERYONE uses. Interesting to note is that there is no capacity or limit they have for the amount of people that can be riding it at once, they just keep shoving more and more people on when its rush hour.  Anyway we were riding the bus from the furthest part of our area (about an hour walk) back home for the night, when the bus pulled over at the next stop, to let some people off and others on.  The new passengers got on, the bus driver put the thing in gear, and seconds after that a car going decently fast slams into the back of the bus.  In my head I was thinking, great this is going to take forever....now we have to wait for police to come and check everything out, make sure everyone was okay, and so on....considering that it might be better to just walk home at this point The bus driver got out to go check out the situation, was gone for about 30 seconds, got back on the bus, and kept driving as if nothing happened.  I was floored..... thinking.... don’t you need to exchange information for insurance purposes in case of necessary repairs or liabilities?!  Ha!  Oh well.  The laws are clearly not the same here.  May God Bless America.  

On Tuesday we had a rainstorm that would put Portland to shame......it was raining SO HARD when we woke up, and was like that solid all day until 4 in the afternoon.....it didn’t even stop or let up once.  It flooded some houses and made a mess of all the roads, but it cooled everything off and everything looked so pretty with the gray clouds for a backdrop and the moisture in the air.  Funny thing though.  You know how we say in English that it’s raining cats and dogs and how even though the expression makes no sense, you still know what it means?  Well in Spanish they say it’s raining pitchforks.....an expression that also makes no sense but everyone here knows what it means.  You should have seen us talking to the member about it, he was trying so hard to explain what a pitchfork was, and we were trying so hard to figure out what the heck he was talking about.  We gave up, wrote down the word and looked it up later.  We get it now :)

This week we had a small adventure at the doctor’s office for my companion.  Hermana Giuliani gave us a list of doctors we could go see.  My companion looked at the list and said, "I want to go to Dr. Lawrie.....his name looks the least Argentine and most reliable."  I was like.....ha okay.  All these docs are going to be Argentine, but pick whoever you want.  (It’s not that we don’t love this country, we do....but when it comes to medical things sometimes being in a foreign country is scary.)  We made the appointment for that afternoon, showed up and ended up waiting for 2 1/2 hours.  When the doctor finally got to us....he read her name and then in English says, "she speaks English, come on lets go into my office!"  We got into his office, and he goes onto explain that he was born and raised in La Paz but that his grandma was very strict and that every time they went over to her house they had to speak in English or they didn’t get to eat.  He said, "You can talk in English or Spanish to me....it’s all the same concept" and I think he was right.  His English was incredible, if not fluent.  He said he learned English with a British accent, and it was kind of funny to hear him speak british english with an argentine accent....but he really does know English.....it was so cool!  My companion starts to explain what has been happening, and he gets a wicked grin on his face and says, "you know we have a little problem.....I would love to help you but I am an orthopedic surgeon....I have no idea how to help you"  Haaaaa...........what a bust.  The list of doctors Hermana Giuliani gave us weren’t all general practice ones like she thought they were.  He gave us our money back and we were on our way out.  We have an appointment with the doctor’s brother (who works in the same office but is general practice and can also speak English!)  It was just a huge waste of time more than anything, but we are working on making it all better!

This week really was a great one!  All is well and life is good.  We have visitors over for today and its going to be a great day with volleyball and barbeque and zone meeting tonight. 

I’m doing well and love you all.  I love you more than all the glasses of chocolate milk I have consumed this summer!  

Hermana Withers