We live again

 Most beautiful skies you have ever seen are in Chile.

 Met up with some of my old friends

 Super cool views as we walk

 I knew before I came the kids would be my favorites, and I was right!  These guys are so cool.

 A golden Family.  I really am falling in love with these people.

What a fun week for you guys! Paul and Emma going to school dances, dope! Luke I'm so happy for you it's not even funny. The mission sometimes is hard because I miss my little brothers and sister so much, but it makes it easier when I hear how happy you are. Please be happy for me.  Thats all I want.

My first week with a Latino comp. It was awesome. We talk pretty much all day even if we have to make it simple. This transfer will really help my Spanish. He wants to learn English so we also speak a llittle bit of english. My comp is from Buenos Aires and said Marie is in the most ghetto part of all of Argentina! That is so awesome!

We found the coolest investigator this week, mainly because of his name. Maximiliano (insert applause here). He was super cool to us. He is about fifty and is an artist/painter. He honestly has some paintings that are amazing. We taught him the restoration and at the end extended a baptism commitment. He got all mad at us and started asking a bunch of questions. Honestly, I REALLY like when investigators get mad to a point and ask a bunch of questions. It shows that they are thinking and want to know why. Honest whys lead to honest answers.

Julio and Karen are our golden investigators waiting to get baptized but can't, because of divorce issues. For the first time Karen opened up to us and said that it is really hard because her brother died and she wonders how he is, and feels so sad without him. I read a talk from Elder Shayne M Bowen called Because I live, ye shall live also.  (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/because-i-live-ye-shall-live-also?lang=eng#d) First of all Elder Bowen is amazing because he served in Chile :) but he said that of his babies died when he was only 8 months old. It's the hardest thing that could ever happen.I cant imagine living through that. He wondered if literally his heart was going to break. Without all of his family being together, in this life, he cannot be truly happy. But he feels peace and comfort because thanks to our Savior, we will live again and if we are faithful God promises us we will live with our families together forever with himself and Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for this knowledge.

I hope everybody has a wonderful week. Thank you for your emails, they are such a boost :)

Race with Patience

Lukey I wish more than anything I could be at your baptism this next week! You look so good in your pictures :)

 September 18 is like the independence day in Chile. But of course it wasn't really just one day it was more like thursday and the weekend!

On the 18th we hung out with ward members all day. They cooked us the best food. So much meat. Like every kind, steak, chicken, sausage, pork chop. It was so good. In the night we made empanadas. It was cool because they showed us how to cook them. The food was so good.

Changes were this week and I have a new companion! Elder Jimenez from Buenos Aires Argentina. That must be destiny as Marie would say.  She would say 'See Max, we are so connected"  I think Marie is rubbing off on me because I think this comp is connecting me with Marie.   I've only been with him a little bit but he is awesome. It's his first time being senior comp so we'll see how that goes! He keeps telling me he has no idea what he is doing, which is making me a tiny bit nervous but hey, its all good.  We both are going to work hard and love these people. Sunday night Elder Pence met with some families from the ward to say goodbye. It was pretty sad but he got moved up to zone leader so he was happy about that. 

I love this quote this week I just want to send it back.

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey…delays…sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” 

I have a testimony of "the wait"  The wait is actually what we do most of our lives.  We are waiting for some prayer to be answered.  We are waiting for the language to come.  We are waiting to get better or feel better.  We are waiting for someone or somthing to change.  And life has given me moments when prayers are answered and I know for a fact God is there, but guess what.  The wait begins again.  Waiting for investigators, waiting for the new comp to learn the language, waiting for your little brothers  baptism, waiting for more money or more patience etc.  Im trying to be happy in the wait.  Im trying to even see the wait as the whole purpose of my life. I love love love the scripture in hebrews 12, Paul says let us run this race with patience. Just take it day by day.

Have an awesome week, Luke I'm so happy for you and your baptism.

Yelling the discussions is ok

Hola Familia! How is everyone?  Remind me again when Luke gets baptized?

                                      Tomato sandwiches.  Tomatoes everywhere!  So good!

 A few of us missionaries hit some golf balls for Pday.  It was fun to do somthing Dad and I always did.

This week started out really slow. We were doing a bunch of walking and didn't have a lot of success. It's funny how just one day changed everything. On Friday we taught more lessons than we did that whole week before. Missionary work is fun because you never know what the next person you talk to, or the next house you knock on, can lead to.

We met this older woman named Olinda. Olinda is probably 75ish years old. She is pretty deaf so we have to talk pretty loud for her to hear us. Sometimes my comp and I crack up a little after yelling at her for so long.  She is the biggest sweetheart in the whole world. She told us she read the Book of Mormon and believes in it. She feels huge sadness for her son. Her son, who is not probably over 50 is addicted to drugs and steals money from Olinda for his drugs. Olinda started crying trying to explain the situation to us. She feels so sad and so helpless about it. We told her we loved her and were here to help her in anyway we can, and we know that Christ and his gospel can bring her hope and peace. I also remembered my promise to find people who are really hurting who could really benefit from the message of the Savior.  Olinda seems like a beautiful answer.

We had a huge service project on Saturday with a bunch of the missionaries. We went and painted old buildings along this street. It was fun to see some of the missionaries from the ccm and also get to meet new ones. The buildings were looking a lot better when we were finished.

I hope everybody has a wonderful week this next week. Life is meant to be enjoyed, so enjoy it :)

I will help you, not the other way around!

Huge birthday week! Happy birthday Marie, Dad, and especially Lukey! I wish so bad that I could be there! I really need to get a baptism for the day Lukey gets baptized so I can experience it with you guys!

This was a pretty good week. We started off the week with interchanges. I went with Elder Aguirre from Argentina. It was really fun. I told him my sister was in his homeland so we were instant friends. I was kind of stressed about it because I just didn't know what to expect. I was with him for a whole day and slept over in their house. We taught a really cool family. It was awesome. It was cool to see what different sectors are like. 

One of the missionaries from the CCM came and spent an afternoon with us. He was super cool, and I knew him from when I was in the CCM. His name is Elder Dowdell from Saint George and played basketball for Pine View. He said he understood almost nothing, ha I totally remember my first time in the field feeling the exact same way. My spanish still kind of stinks ha but it is definitely getting better. I just have to stay diligent and keep working hard. This is the first time, I can see Im making progress. There might be hope for me yet.

Yesterday we were doing contacts and I was talking to this women for a little bit. She said she got baptized a couple years ago but works on Sunday so hasn't been to church in awhile. She invited us in her house. She was really nice to us. We are going back this week and talking with her whole family. 

So kind of a funny story. I was talking with this girl and was explaining to her I was a missionary and I was here to serve the people. I THOUGHT I asked her if she needed any help but I guess I said she NEEDED to help me. She went into her house and brought out some money. I felt so stupid, but bless her heart for offering money to some stranger!

A lot happens in the week, but I don't have time to write it all down..I pray for you every day.  I am happy.  I hope you guys have a fantastic week this next week!

Oil of Joy

 It was awesome to hear from you guys this week. I'm so glad everything is going well.

This week one of the Elders from the Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to us, Elder Viña. It was hard to understand what was going on, I must look like I got punched in the gut 24/7 because I cant get over the shock of never being able to understand a language Im studying so much,  but I could feel the spirit so strong.  Afterwards I met a bunch of cool missionaries. Honestly, Santiago North has the coolest missionaries. They were so happy when I caught them up on music this last year especially rap! I felt it was my brotherly duty to act some of the best music out for them.  I dont know why they were all laughing hysterically, because really it was some of my greatest performance.  Shouldve been a performer;(

We have been doing a bunch of contacts and found some new people to teach. I wish I could speak better because I want to get to know these people better and be really good friends with them. My companion is so warm with people and puts everyone at ease.  One reason he can do this is because he is so fluent.  I want that so bad it hurts! During teaching I have so many feelings in my heart but I can't really say them. By the time I rack my brain trying to figure out what Im going to say, its time for us to go! Oh well, just need to stay patient.

 Fany from the Dominican Republic is one of our new investigators this week. When we went to her house she wanted us to say a special prayer for her new baby son. It was a really tender moment. I was so choked up I was struggling just not to let the tears flow.  Children are Gods most adored.

We made a couple trips to the temple this week. One of them was for our investigators and one was because one of the families that Elder Pence taught in his first sector were getting sealed. That was such a cool night. Pence was smiling ear to ear that whole night. I felt his joy of being able to watch a family he had labored so hard with reap such a huge reward. He had so much love for that family and was so happy that they were so happy. While I was there We went into the CCM and I saw Taylor Frossard. He is doing awesome. I got a picture with him.

For P day today we went bowling and played pool. It was actually really fun. The bowling was pretty ghetto though. A little reminiscent of the plastic bowling set Marie and I used to play in the entry way of our old house. 

I found that verse in Isiaha you always reference that says the Savior will take your tears and give you oil of joy. I almost jumped out of my seat when I came across it in personal study time.

Isaiah 61:1-3

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Awesome scripture. Right now I have a goal to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish before I'm done being trained. It'll be hard because it takes me awhile flipping back and forth between Spanish and English. After I'm going to go really hard in the Bible because I feel like there are so many verses about Jesus that are almost poetry. I want to find all of those and share those with these people
 I hope you guys have a great week this week! I love you guys!

Sea of Gold

First week of school how fun! Luke I loved your outfit, super fresh. Congrats Emma I'm so happy for you. Paul your a stud, jr. high will be a blast for you, I promise. 

 Tell Paul and Luke Im still a real live superhero even lost in the mountains in Chile!They'll believe it

So this week was a pretty good week. Santiago is a really quiet big city. It's almost surreal at times. Especially the part I'm in right now. It's a sleepy town, but I love it. My favorite investigators are Julio and Karen. They are so nice to me and have the cutest daughters. They both want to get baptized but have to figure out paperwork for both of their divorces. It would be a miracle if that got solved while I was still here.

There was a pretty big earthquake here this week. It was a 6.4 in Valparaiso, about an hour away. It was pretty strong. It felt like being in a car driving on a really bumpy road. We were in a house talking with a family and they had to get up and stop their TV from falling. It was pretty cool.

Yesterday was the most ridiculious day of my life. The plan was to go to the andes mountains in the snow, about an hour and a half drive. The car we took was so ghetto and went like 35 mph maximum.

The car broke down on the highway.

All the missionaries had to get out and push the car up the hill on the highway.

Cars were flying past us. Im sure it wasnt dangerous at all.   The man that was driving was in no rush to pull over. We pushed him for like a mile, he made two turns. HA it was insane. We got lost like  5 times.  If you are low on patience, your not going to survive here.

The best part of that trip was we drove over santiago at night. The view was incredible. I took a picture but it doesn't do it justice. The city lights looked like a sea of gold. That's what Santiago is, my sea of gold :)Sometimes I walk in the street and just think that someday this is only going to be but a dream. I can't waste anytime feeling frustrated.  I really do think that almost everyday.  I have plans on who I want to be and it's only possible serving two years for the lord. I need to be honest, the fact that we have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior in Jesus Christ was not completely real to me. I always believed but I didnt think I could prove it.  Slowly I feel how real it actually is. I've only been here for two months but I have so much evidence. The evidence of who the Savior really is and how he really feels about the children on earth, is growing so rapidly and overtaking my heart, I could never deny it.  I may be my best conversion story to date ;)

I hope you guys have a great week this next week. Enjoy school!

Yip, I live in a treehouse!

Hello my super missed and super loved family---

 This is my trainer Elder Pence.  He may be about the coolest human being Ive ever met!




My last week in the CCM was great. I got to go on splits with some missionaries from the East mission. It was really awesome. I got to do some contacts in the street with them. They had a list of all the people that were in there ward. They usually have about 70 people show up and they were supposed to have 900. That is really common here in Santiago. A huge emphasis in our mission is reactivation.

My companions name is Elder Pence. He went to Sky View High School. We get a long super good. He is a stud. He has been out for a year. He lived in Mexico a little bit before he went on the mish so he has perfect spanish. My comp is so patient and nice to me it isn't even funny. I keep watching him thinking I hope I can treat a new person as well as he is treating me.  Im not even kidding you guys he is a saint with me.   The ward members make us lunch every day. For dinner we go back to the house and make like pbj's or mac and cheese or nachos something easy. We watch a church movie during once  (dinner) it's like one of my favorite parts of the day because we are not walking (oh my gosh, Marie is not kidding about the amount of walking you have no idea!). pancake batter is super cheap so we make pancakes a lot of the mornings. Milk tastes alright here I'm used to it now. All missionaries drink water out of the sink. It tastes kind of nasty but I'll get used to it. Because I have to ha.  So blisters and chaffing seems to be the worst things Im dealing with right now. There is just a very unique kind of body exhaustion that comes with walking eight hours a day.  Its different than sports.  My feet have never looked like this.  Please pray for my feet seriously!  I hope I build up endurance.  So I guess whoever pegged me as a whiner in Chile wins a million dollars.  Ok so Im not whining again about anything.  Did I mention I cant understand most of the language and I get insanely lonely?  jk.  I dont understand the language but honestly I am loving my life here and I love the people and every day that passes is one I know I will never get back so Im really trying to drink it all in and I just feel gratitude that I can be here, and serve, and learn with such a cool companion.  

I also have just felt unreal love for the family.  Im trying to remember why I acted like such a punk at home sometimes.  I wish I wouldnt have done that.  Thank you for loving me the way you guys did.  I hear family home evening lessons in my head while we walk.  Its funny I remember some of them so well, and I can replay them over and over, especially my last year at home, I felt like the lessons were geared toward me, and even though I acted like I was timing the lessons and how long you could talk, it turns out, they stuck in my mind like a movie that I can replay over and over again.  Thank you for sticking with it mom and dad.  We dont make it easy and you keep doing it.  So what Im trying to say here, is just keep doing it. 

Our zone is in San Pablo. I'm going to be honest it is pretty ghetto. Ha I love it. We live in like this tree house thing. It's small but works just fine :) Its literally a small house built in a tree.  Makes you a little nervous when the wind blows but mostly its just cool to live in a tree house!  I'm just trying to get used to the area and get to know all of the people. I love the people here. On Sunday I got to introduce myself. I don't know how much sense I made but I just talked about myself and our family and why I was serving a mission. I really felt the spirit in a very real way, when I talked about the atonement.
I want you guys to know of the very grateful feelings I have about Jesus Christ.  I know he is real.  I know he knows my name.  I know his plan is far more loving and healing than we understand.  Lately when I fall asleep at night I think about the people I want to teach over the next two years.  I hope they are hopeless in some area of their life.  I hope they have a great sadness that never seems to go away.  I hope they deal with heartache that no solution they have ever tried has worked.  I hope that I can speak of the Savior with total honesty from the bottom of my heart, and they can feel how much his love and mercy and carried me in my life.  I hope that the message of hope and acceptance sinks deep into them and for the first time in their life, that burning that comes to you to witness Gods love to you finds its way into every part of them.  I hope I can witness healing of Gods precious children.  I hope I can speak tender and healing words.  I hope I can finish a lesson with the same determination mom and dad finish home evening even if someone is looking at their watch or acting like they hate us.  I hope the same saving grace that I have felt from a loving Savior who speaks encouragement and love to my soul, can be rolled over into the warmest people I have ever met.  I know God lives.  I know he loves me.  I know he loves you.  He is all hope, all understanding, and all about carrying our suffering so that we can learn and grow to him.  

Chileans speak super fast and it's hard to understand everything! I just need to stay patient and keep studying. I'm happy I have a trainer that can speak in English to me when I need it.

I hope everything is going good for you guys. Doubt not fear not. The lord thy god is on your side.