"i know the church is true, without a doubt"

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!

family and friends, i just want to say thank you for the support, love, and prayers sent to me and my comps in these last 2 years. its been long but its passed by so fast at the same time, i cant fully understand it but i am so grateful for all the help and comfort you have given me while i have been away. i know the church is true without a doubt and i know that serving a mission was the best decision i have made yet. thanks everyone, love you all so much, see you soon!!!!!

this week has been full of ups and downs but its been a great week and its going to be a great end to my mission. i cant believe that the end has come. its literally impossible to believe. but its here. crazy. 

so fernanda didnt get baptized this saturday. her mom talked her out of it and she deceded to wait for another fecha but we still have cristina who should get baptized on the 10th or the 16th of this month. were hoping for the 10th before i leave!! last week we got a call from the bishops wife telling us that an investigator wanted to get baptized out of nowhere. so we got the phone number of cristina and taught her that same day (tuesday two weeks ago) and put a fecha with her. her husband is a less active and her mother in law has been a member since the 80s and has been praying everyday for cristina to soften her heart and be baptized.

that tuesday cristina woke up and decided that she was going to get baptized. miracles are real. she has come to church with her husband francsico these past 2 weeks and is already committed to live the word of wisdom and is already married!! she is on track to be baptized in the next week or so! after pushing the fechas back with maria and fernanda, the lord blessed us with cristina and she should be baptized with no problems.

questions:

When was the last time you saw President and Sister Warne?  Did you have a testimony meeting with them?  Did they get to say goodbye to all the missionaries? 
i got to see him last tuesday i a final zone conference in rancagua. we had a conference and a final lunch with pres and hermana warne and then the week after president harris got here and we had conferences to meet him on saturday. pres warne told me thanks for my service and that they want to meet up in august when they come down to arizona!

Have you had a chance to meet the Harrises yet?  Where are they from and what was your first impression of them?
like i said we got to meet the harrises on saturday and they are incredible. i feel so much love already and i can tell that they are going to be great here in rancagua. im bummed that i cant stay with them but pres warne was also really great. they are from twin falls idaho.
Do you need us to bring you a jacket?  It's going to be chilly in the mornings in MP. yes please

What are some of the feelings you're having as you're sending your last email to us? i cant explain exactly how i feel, so happy, so sad, feelings of unbelief and shock. its crazy, but im happy to be coming home!

love,

elder pacheco                                      
                                         

Happy independence day from rancagua!!

Elder Pacheco with President and Sister Harris
his new mission president (for two weeks)

"i found an sd card with all the pictures i lost"

hey mom this week the internet was closed all day in requinoa and we dont have time to write, plus we only have one computer for both me and elder alcara to write on.

so quick update: fernanda should be getting baptized on saturday the 2 of july!!! ill send pics, she said shes ready this time. we found a new investigator (huge miracle, remind me to tell the story next week) and her name is cristina. we put a fecha with her for the 10th of july so we should still have 2 baptisms this change!!

things are going great, sorry there isnt much time to write but i love you and the fam so much. here are some pics from this week!!

and more good news to end the week: i found an sd card with all the pictures i lost from my usb!! thanks for the prayers.

love you all,

elder pacheco

our last zone conference/testimony meeting with Pres and Hermana Warne

Elder Alcara and Pacheco

"i have learned an important lesson for my entire life"

hello todos,

i didnt want to start my email like this but weve got some more bad news here in requinoa... the baptism of fernanda got postponed until the 2 of july. the wierd thing is that she is totally ready and even passed the baptismal interview last wednesday. she is just scared, thats all. she knows most of the members in the ward and is comfortable in church and with the other youth in the ward, she lives the word of wisdom and law of chastity and knows everything she needs to know and she even told us that she recieved an answer that the restauration is true, but she is just scared to take the step and be baptized. yesterday after church we passed by her house and put a new fecha for the 2 of july. we have faith and hope that she will be ready for this new fecha.

more not so good news. maria has been preparing for the 25th of june without problems and last thursday she told us that her husband wont let her get baptized. long story short, elder alcara have been praying and fasting to have fabians (marias husband) softened so that maria can get baptized on the 25th. we are going to see them tonight and see fabian will let this all happen still. its sad and hard to see these problems come up out of nowhere but i know this is part of gods plan for us and for our investigators. everything happens for a very specific reason and even though we dont know what the reason is, god does and god has it all under control. we are going to keep working to prepare fernanda for  the 2 of julio and maria as well for either this week or the following week.

this week especially i have learned an important lesson for my entire life. that lesson is that god loves us and sometimes even challenges us because he loves us. when he gives us trials and dificulties its because he is trying to help us grow stronger and is trying to teach us an important lesson. trials are proof that heavenly father knows and loves us. 

questions:

Is your american cereal gone yet? When you get care packages from home do u usually share it all w companions or do u put it under your mattress?   

ya unfortunately its all gone. i shared the lucky charms and the normal captain crunch but i usually don't share the reeses puffs or the peanut butter cap. crunch. ha

What is the most beautiful part of your area? It looks like youre in some lovely countryside.  

there is a place called el abra that is straight campo and its super pretty. there are vineyards and orchards everywhere in the sector and tons of open fields with amazing views of the snow covered andes mtns. im gonna miss the views and country here.

Who do you look up to most in your mission?  

without a doubt the first person is president warne. he is so incredible. we had a zone conference with him this week and we got to hear his final testimony and it was incredible. he is so wise and in tune with the spirit and he is an amazing priesthood leader. i also love the branch president of centinela, i want you guys to meet him and feel his spirit and love for everyone he meets too. his name is presidente rodrigo urzua, try to find him and talk to him on facebook and tell him well be coming to see him and his fam soon.

What are some of your favorite memories of dad?  

every time i think of dad, i think of his great attitude and his example that he showed me as we worked together almost everyday in the summers for lobo. lots of the memories i have of him are while working with him and listening to his stories and while camping and doing things in the outdoors with him too. some of my favorite memories and times are the times i got to see him work without complaining in his church callings and for our family. i never realized how much dad sacrificed for us and how perfect of a job he did. more important than his words are his actions and his example. 

i hope all the fathers i know had a great dia del padre ayer and i hope that my own dad had a very special day. thanks for all you do dad, i love and appreciate you more than i  can express in any letter or email. 

keep fernanda and maria and their families in your prayers this week, thanks for all the love and support. love you all so much!!

love,

elder Pacheco

"i loved it when you would beat me up when we wrestled"

mi gente!

this week we have had lots of good news and just a little bit of bad news but ill start with the good news:

fernanda and maria are doing awesome. today we are going to do the pre interview with fernanda so that she can be ready for the baptismal interview on wedensday and then her fecha is set for the 18th! she has progressed so well these past 2 weeks and elder alcara the members and i all know that shes totally ready. she still feels a little scared and nervous but we are going to help her overcome that today. 

maria told us in our lesson on saturday that after 6 months of thinking and deciding, she is going to get baptizd the 25th si o si, no doubts. i now realize why i was sent back to this zone and specifically to this sector. i got to meet maria while i was in machali 6 months ago and i also got to teach her a few times but she didnt progress much due to family and work problems. when i saw that i was coming back to the same zone i was a little confused and not really happy about it but now i see the bigger picture and i feel so blessed to be with elder alcara and to help maria finish what she started so long ago. i know that the lord works in mysterious ways and i know that everything always works out according to his plans.

the bad news; on wednesday elder alcara lost his usb with lots of pictures and videos from his mission. two days later on our way to a lesson with maria my usb fell through a hole in my pocket and i didnt realize until it was too late. we looked for it for a while but no luck. i lost all my fotos from my entire mission, a bunch of videos i took, and a lot of good mormon messages we always share. pray for elder alcara and i to be able to find our usbs this week.

questions:

Tell us more about Elder Alcara and his family.
elder alcara has 3 other siblings, he is the middle child. they are all members and he was baptized when he was 10. his brother was baptized and called on a mission before the rest of the fam was baptized and because of that brother, the rest of the fam decided to be baptized. pretty cool story. his dad works in a metal manufacturing business and his mom works from home i think. both of his older siblings are married.

What did you pull out of your quote jar today?
"i loved when you would beat me up when we wrestled" love adam haha. gotta love that kid

Can you find me a recipe for the best Completo Mayo in all of Chile?  I was thinking about serving them for lunch after you report on the 31st.  Don't worry, I know what you're thinking....but I've been watching you tube videos and I think I got this! haha.
when we go to talca (the city with the best completos) ill take you to some places and get some recipes for all your completo wishes.

What was the stand out experience of the week for you? 
maria told us that the 25th is the day of her baptism si o si. she has had that fecha for the last 3 months and i didnt think she would fulfill that date, but when she told us with such firmness and determination, it shocked us and we got so happy.

What is the one really important thing young men can do to prepare for a mission?
talk to your bishop and take care of any past mistakes and become 100% worthy before leaving home.

Do the locals make cool leather scripture covers we can have made while we're there?
i know one hermana in my last sector that make scripture cases, but the best cases are made in santiago and are really expensive. i dont think it would be done before we leave though.. ill look into that. here is the contact info of the best guy: Sergio Di Fini, http//difiniartcreations.webs.com.  sergiodefini@hotmail.com. he has a ton of options and different pictures and models so talk to him beforehand and he can have it made before we leave santiago.

well that was the good news and the highlights of the week. ill send pictures of the baptism of fernanda on monday if everything goes as planned and the next week with maria! love you guys, 

love elder pacheco

    

"its a blast here with my comp. we get along perfectly"

hello!

this week has been super great. even though we are in a white-wash, we have been able to get to know the sector pretty well and have been able to find most of the people that were progressing before we got here. the sector is really big and spread out and has lots of campo (countryside) so we have bikes to get around everywhere. the sector is super pretty, big open fields and tons of trees and lots of bike riding in the middle of nowhere trying to find these people!

its a blast here with my comp. we get along perfectly and even though hes young in the mission he is a great teacher and a great missionary altogether.

on saturday we were able to teach on of our investigators with a fecha form the 18th of june and she is more than ready for baptism. her name is fernanda, shes 26 years old and she has been to church 4 times already. the whole ward knows her and she has lots of good friends her age in church.

we taught the word of wisdom after teaching lesson 3 on saturday and the spirit was strong in that small humble house. fernanda accepted to live the word of wisdom and is progressing toward her baptism no problem. its going to be so cool if i can have one last baptism and it will also be elder alcaras fisrt baptism in the mission.

we have been teaching other good investigators that the other elders left and this sector has all kinds of potential. requinoa is a ward of about 45-50 each week and its super united and strong, its actually the first ward ive been in my entire mission that has ward missionaries and almost every calling is filled and the members are already working a ton with us. thats huge for chile. i know that this change was inspired to help me work to the end and to help elder alcara and i to see the fruits of our work.

thanks for the clothes mom, that should be great. ive been thinking about the families we are going to visit and i think it would be cool to leave them with a small framed family picture that we can write on the back of or something like that.

the no expectations challenge went great as you can see. i realized this week that what you said last week is so true. when we worry about doing our own part and not focusing on the other persons part, everything comes together just fine. 

alright guys love you all lots, stop making me trunky though haha. have a great week! 

love,

elder pacheco

"today marks the start of my last six weeks"

this week has flown by insanely fast. i dont know where the time is going. today marks the start of my last six weeks and ill be spending them in a new sector. our district leader called us on saturday adn told us the changes and it turns out that president warne decided to close our sector and take elder benavente and i out of san francisco! elder salas is going home today and elder davis is staying in san francisco with an ecuatorian comp. elder davis has to cover his sector and now our sector at the same time.

im going to stay in rancagua, but im going to a sector called requinoa. its in the same zone as machali, the sector i was in with elder mesias about 4 months ago. pres warne loves to send me back to the same zones for some reason. im going to arrive in requinoa with my new comp named elder alcara, hes from brasil and has about 5 months in the mission. the craziest thing is that we are both going to enter the sector at the same time, otherwise known as a whitewash. these next 6 weeks are going to be fun and interesting for sure. 

questions:

are you getting transferred next week?  details please!
im leaving tomorrow morning at about 10 and its only like a 45 minute bus ride from san francisco

tell us about teaching english!  how many people are in the class, what materials you use, how long you've been doing this, etc.
not many people come to our clases, about 3 or 4 most of the time and sometimes they are young kids who just want to see two gringos, but its still fun. we do it once a week in san francisco, but it is different in other sectors. we can schedule it pretty much whenever we want and we use a program from the mission that is jsut basic grammar and conversations for younger people

are there any unusual bugs/creatures in Chile you haven't seen in the states?
there are tons of ddifferent types of spiders but nothing super crazy or wierd 

On a scale from 1 to 10 how well do you think you can write in spanish?
writing is a little harder but from 1 to 10 probably a 7 or 8.

Do you hear much about Chilean Politics?  who is the current president of chile?
no not really, we only hear about news form the states right now since its election time. chile doesnt have great politics or news programs, everyone here watches the world news or politics from the states. the current pres is a girl but i dont een know her name.

Who did you get emails from today?
i got emails from colton and cason, dylan, dj arnson, some mission buddies, dad, grandma, denice, tauna and braxton. me and brax have been writing every week back and forth for like the last 4 months, ill tell him to shoot you guys an email. hes doing great from what ive heard from him.

when was the last time you say Pres Warne?  Isn't he leaving soon? 
i actually saw pres today, about 2 hours ago when we went to drop elder salas off in the mission home since hes leaving at 5 tonight. pres warne heads out on june 28th or 29th.

these past few days we've been saying goodbye to the members in san pancho and are packing up to head out to requinoa. im super excited for this last change and i cant wait to get work done with my new comp. ill send pics of my new comp and the sector next week, love you all, talk to you next week!!

love 

elder pacheco

here are some pictures of my zone in rancagua and saying goodbye to san pancho and the branch presidency

"moms homemade biscuits and gravy with fried eggs and bacon"

family and amigos,

today starts the last week of this change and im ready for this change to be over now. it hasnt been a bad change at all, its just that im ready to move on and find some new people to teach. all the people that were progressing and that had baptismal dates last week arent really progressing anymore. we have passed from one appointment to the next listening to the people tell us that they either dont want anything with the church, or they are too busy with work and school and every other excuse imaginable. 

in response to your questions mom, i have noticed that if the entire family are not members it is very hard for the member in the family to stay active and string in the church. obviously there are exceptions like hugo and his wife patricia, she is super active and is a great member, but in general its hard for the member to stay active here if the rest of the family arent members. the medical attendence is terrible here in rancagua. maria doesnt really get much support from the goverment or the hospital, and neither do any of the older people here in chile. no one here in Chile has any kind of insurance, unless its for their smart phone or their flat screen t.v.

 surprisingly i havent been sad or discouraged from not teaching or not having many people progress. i feel like elder benavente and i are doing our part the best we can. i know that people have their agency and they dont have to listen if they dont want to. for example; hugo told us yesterday that he doesnt want to get baptized anymore and that even though he recognized the spirit and fulfills with his commitments, he told us that right now is not the time for him. its sad but the lord knows when hugos time will be. the same thing happened with maria. she still comes to church and enjoys it but she doenst want to let go of her catolico traditions. she also rejected a baptismal date and said she doesnt want to be pressured into baptism now. i know that someday both hugo and maria will get baptized. now we are searching for new people.

yesterday in church there were 14 of us in sacrament meeting. by the end of the block there were 28 in total!! new record here in san francisco. the branch president didnt show up since he has been sick the last two weeks, so everything was pretty messy ha. i got to lead the music (most awkward and embarrassing thing ever) pass the sacrament, give the opening prayer, my comp spoke, elder salas gave the elders quorum class and the gospel principles teacher didn't come so maria, our investigator left early. thats a pretty average sunday here in san francisco. even though its stressful and hectic speaking at the last minute or giving a last minute class because the teacher didnt show up, im going to miss all of it for sure.

questions:

What do you love about where you are living?
the house is huge and very nice actually. we just deep cleaned the house today and everything is clean and organized. the sector we live in is super calm and quiet. nothing really goes on in san francisco, just a few drunk chilean cowboys and a train that passes by every so often.Can you tell us a story about someone you are working with?
we were working with hugo and maria but now we literally have nobody. we are in the process of getting someone to work with though.

What does a regular Saturday look like for you?
we wake up at 7 just like every other day, study from 8 30 to 11 00 work till 1 30 go to the sector at 3 30 and then we teach english classes from 5 to 6. after english classes in the chapel, we go back out to the sector until 9 30, plan and hit the sack at 11 00.

What has been the best day of your mission so far?
there have been 2. one was the baptism of danilo in san fernando, and the other was the baptism of cata with elder marshall in talca

What is your favorite verse in the scripture this week?
1 nefi 18:3. i think of the mountain as the temple and how we can receive  revelations just like nefi received in the mountain
Is there anything (As a missionary) wish you were better at?
i wish that i could love my companion like i love our investigators/members/other people in my sector

If you could choose any meal for dinner tonight, what would it be?
it would be breakfast for dinner, moms homemade biscuits and gravy with fried eggs and bacon. 

shout out to grandma and grandpa, congrats on finishing up in the mtc!!!
hope all the cousins and uncles have a great time in byu basketball camp! love you guys so much!

elder pacheco