hey guys!
this last week has been really good, full of work, activities, planning and
organizing all kinds of zone meetings and branch meetings/activities and
helping my comp get used to the zone leader stuff we have to do. Elder
Salas is s awesome. we clicked right when we met. hes super happy and
outgoing all the time, and loves to laugh and just be random all the time.
super great elder, worker and example to me and out zone here in santa
cruz.
as far as the work in the sector goes, we have been knocking doors for at
least 5 hours everyday and its really really cold and the days are long,
but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world doing anything else. i
love it. even though we don't teach many lessons or even get into many
houses from the initial contact, its a very humbling, and great learning
experience. im learning how to keep a positive attitude in this sector. by
the time i get home ill be perfect at staying happy and motivated ha.
i was studying in Preach My Gospel this week ( and i encourage everyone to
study PMG, because we are all missionaries) and i found a part on page 11
in spanish about the differences between the success of Ammon and Abinadi.
Ammon was able to work and see the fruits of his work right away. he worked
hard and baptized harder and was able to witness firsthand all of the
things he accomplished. that would be a great mission story, but i feel
like my mission story is more like the prophet abinadi.
abinadi taught to a group of hardhearted people that didnt want anything to
do with him, including the king and all of his priests. but because of the
faith,obedience, and diligence that was in abinadi, he was able to convert
the heart of one single person, alma. he didn't even get to baptize alma or
see alma get baptized or even hear about his baptism because he was put to
death for his faith, but thanks to abinadi, alma the elder was able to
baptize thousands of people and alma the younger was converted and later
converted thousands more.
i realized that abinadi never saw first hand the success he had or the
impact he made on the people (or person) he taught,
but he was obedient, diligent, and patient and was able to plant the seed
of faith that caused a huge domino effect of conversion. i love the story
of abinadi and his example because i feel like i can connect with this
story really well. obviously im not going to get killed for believing in
god or sharing the message we share, but i might not see the results of my
work right away, which i learned isn't bad if we keep working, inviting,
serving, and listening to the lord. that's what i learned in a nutshell this
week.
questions:
When was the last time you had a chilean hot dog?
we had some good
completos last week. the only cost like a dollar and they are sold
everywhere. a completo is hot dog bun with a hot dog, avacado on top, with
tomato on the avacado, home made mayo, mustard, ketchup and hot sauce
called aji.
Do you spend more time tracting or working in your calling these days?
we spend a lot more time contacting.
What is the craziest phone call you've received the hermanas?
the hermanas called us two times in one night because their lights
wouldn't turn on when they got home from the sector, but they dint think
to screw the light bulb
in all the way and actually flip the switch.... they also told us that the
police came over to their house one night asking for documents and stuff
and the hermanas were freaking out. we just told them to calm down and do
what the police officer said and it all worked out just fine
Have you seen any of your old companions besides elder Garcia?
i saw elder muñoz right before he went home last month and a few other
comps, but not very often
Are any of them in your zone?
no
Can you please send us a picture of your zone?
ill get you one next week
Do you always get a good night sleep? Are you comfortable or does it feel
more like camping?
there are always stray dogs barking and parties next
door and all the chilean thugs are always racing their souped up fake race
cars, but other than that its a great night sleep
Tell us a little more about Elder Salas. How many kids in his family, does
he come from a family of members, are they supportive? Are there lots of
elders from chile that serve in chile?
its just him and his mom and his
brother and his brothers wife. his dad passed away a while back but they
are all members and super supportive. he is from down town santiago, so hes
a city boy ha. there are about 10 chilean elders in the missoin right now.
the most elders are gringos, then peruanos then central americans
What do you eat for breakfast and dinner? do you ever cook and if so, what
do you make?
we eat pancakes or cereal with yogurt and always drink mate.
for lunch we make a bunch of rice with mashed potatoes and eggs whenever we
don't have lunch with a member. we don't really have time to eat dinner,
sometimes just a pb and j sandwich with more mate and whatever we had
leftover from lunch, but don't worry mom im eating plenty and am doing just
fine
How are you doing?
im doing great, things are super awesome with
elder salas, its really cold all the time now. its like 35 in the
mornings, 55 in the afternoon and 40s at night. don't like winter much but
its just the mission! gotta love it.
thanks for all the info and updates, hope everyone had a great week last
week and hope that this week is even better. love you guys, talk to you
next week!!
love,
elder pacheco
a couple guys from the streets
"the coolest"
me and Elder Salas playing poker at the biggest chilean casino
