Good Week

Hey!

This week has been long, but really good.
Fun stuff, we got to watch the Chile vs Brasil game again.  It was super intense and Chile ended up losing by one penalty shot.  The whole world was sad walking home.  Everyone was so sad. Also, we went to the gym last Monday too.  It is interesting having a Latino companion, because there is always a bit of miscommunication.  We went to the gym and just starting practicing.  I asked my comp why and what we were practicing for, but he just said to practice! I was confused.  Then a coach came out and started making us run around the gym and blowing his whistle, and teaching how to perfect my volleyball spike.  I was even more confused. I kept trying to find the missionary work related aspect it, but my companion didn't seem to know what was going on either, but he was just going along with it haha. Anyway, so we accidentally joined a volleyball team. I think it was tryouts or something but yeah, we are on the team! Haha I can't really explain it, but for me it was really funny and confusing.  It was one of those situations where everyone seems to be doing something that makes no sense at all and you just have to kind of go along with it because you're the only gringo in the city haha.

I have been learning more patience and diligence this week. Also about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I don't have much time and the internet here is really slow, but all I can say is that when we diligently strive to do little things right, the things that are within our power, enduring the trials with patience, God makes up the rest and qualifies us for what He has called us to do.  Jesus suffered and died so that He would know how we feel, how to help us in these situations.  Even if we feel dumb for stuff we have done and for thing we messed up on, he makes it up, because He knows us and how we feel.  He has provided away to help us take advantage of the sacrifice He made.  Thank Him for this gift and use it.
Thanks for the support.  Les quiero....

Elder Peck

Smells Like Fish

Hey

So a quick rundown of what happened this week.

On Tuesday I traveled about 4 hours to my new sector, which was awesome.  We drove by some beautiful Chilean countryside and I took a long nap. It was a nice and well needed break. I arrived in Concepcion and met my new companion, Elder U.  He is from Vina del Mar Chile and he arrived in the mission with me, so we have the same amount of time.  He's way cool.
 On Wednesday we went to zone meeting.  I saw a lot of great views of my sector from the bus.  My sector is on the beach, so I saw the coast and hundreds of boats.  After the meeting we went and bought the best empanada Ive ever eaten and then came home and ate lunch with a family.  Because of the Chile vs. Spain game, we had an extra hour of language study, as we can't really work during the game.  After the game we came out in the street.  Everyone was going crazy.  Everyone was out in the street running around yelling, everyone was honking their horns in their cars, there was a huge group of people in the plaza who climbed the fountain.  A group of guys with a huge Chile flag that spanned the street ran towards us and covered me and my comp in the flag and went crazy haha.  It was a crazy day.

On Thursday we worked and went to Gringo Express at the end of the day.  It's a bus that sells really good completos and stuff, as well as hamburgers and gringo food.  It's run by a Canadian guy who doesn't speak Spanish, so it was fun to talk with him in English for a little while.  Haha it was so weird to talk to someone in English haha. 

Friday on our way to lunch we stopped by the harbor and took some pictures of the ocean and the ships.  That night the top bunk of the bunk bed broke haha.

Saturday we had a wedding.  A member of the congregation here got married in the church and we were there almost all day helping with the wedding.  The members wife gets baptized this week, along with two more people that Elder U and I are teaching.  I'm really excited for that. 

Sunday was just good.  I love the Sabbath.  We went to Church and made some visits to less active members afterwards. 

Today we got permission to watch the Chile vs Netherlands game.  It was fun, even though Chile lost.  The whole world is sad here today haha.  But -yeah.  That was my week.  I love it.

Diligence works.  I have seen so much this week instances in which I have been diligent and receive direct help from the Spirit, as well as situations where I slip, and that helps leaves.  It's devastating when it does.  I see though that every act of obedience leads to power.  Sin is weakness.  Diligent obedience brings strength and power.  And it's not so much that we become powerful, it's more that God helps us complete the tasks He has asked us to do and that we have promised to do.  He makes us able to do it, using our efforts and preparation and adding His divine guidance.  It's wonderful.  Missionary work doesn't work if we try to do it on our own.  It's when we finally accept Gods help that we begin to see the miracles.  Its so great. 

Anyways, thanks again for the support.  You are awesome. 

Elder Peck

Cambios Transfers

Elder P and his new companion

Hey,

Another awesome week.  We are seeing even more changes in my sector.  We found out our transfers today and they told me I'm heading to a new sector! I'm heading way up north, almost to Concepcion, a sector on the coast.  All I know is that it is cool, smells like fish, and that my companion is named Elder U.  I'm  super stoked but I'm going to miss my sector here and my last companion.

This week was really good.  We had a conference of the whole mission to say goodbye to our Mission President.  I saw some some of the Elders I came with and others I have met since being here.  It was sad because we all love Presidente and Hermana Martinez, but we are excited for the new president and his wife to come.  We sang a lot and gave them a book and video featuring everyone in the mission entiled Gracias a Usteded, or Because of You (Y'all).  Also, they did something really cool.  They passed the microphone around and every missionary bore there testimony and shared simply what they knew to be true. The testimonies were short, but heartfelt and powerful.  It took almost three hours to get every one of the 250 more or less missionaries a chance to share, but it was a really great and powerful experience. 

Also, we had a big asado, or barbeque kinda thing, yesterday with one of the families here.  It was sooooo good.  Chileans are good with their meat.

Awesome huge ham and avocado sandwich thing!

Anyways, that's all the big news for me.  One thing that I have learned this week is the power of diligence.  A lot of times we do things to go through the motions.  We do them consistently, but not diligently.   But one thing I have found out is that if we choose the right through diligence, God blesses us in ways we can't imagine.  We do it because we want to, rather than have to.  We keep it up, we do not "weary in well doing."  We work and continue forward through trials because we know that that is what Gods want us to do.  If we work hard diligently, we are going to be able to do all things that Gods wants us to do. 

Love you guys and thanks for everything. 


Elder Peck

Michael Jordan posters that were in our house when we moved in.

 

View of Los Sauces

Los Sauces

Hey everyone!

This week went by quickly for me. 

We finally moved into the new house and it is SO NICE.  We have furniture, a working shower, a big wood stove that's super warm, and carpet! Its super comfortable and awesome. 
Moving was fun.  We moved last Monday night, and it was a crazy hour of trying to get everything from our old house loaded in the bed of the truck and driven over to the new house as fast as possible because it was raining super hard.  We rode in the back of the truck back and forth because it was just a big flatbed truck and we had to keep the stuff from falling out.  It was fun trying to keep each other from falling out too haha. It was crazy and all our stuff is kinda wet, but we are all settled in the new house now and all is well. 

We are still working hard.  One experience that I wanted to share is that for the first time this transfer we finally had someone commit to be baptized! We still have a lot of work to do with him and his family, but we had a really good lesson with him the other day.  We read with him the Book of Mormon and he felt that it was true.  He told us about his search for clarity and truth and we expressed what we knew was true.  The two just kind of fit. I pray that he will continue and will be able to experience the clarity that comes from the gospel and the purifying, cleansing power of baptism. 

Baptism cleanses us completely.  We leave our sins behind and have an opportunity to start again.  It is a step of faith, but more, it is the door to eternal life and happiness here on earth.  The gift of the Holy Ghost is the second, completing part of baptism.  We have the opportunity to accept the Holy Ghost as a guide and help for us whenever we are willing to be worthy of His influence and listen.   What a blessing.  If you are not baptized yet, I encourage you to do so, and to do so under the authority God has given to man here on earth.  I know that the members of this Church that I represent now have that authority.  You can find out for yourself.  As Christ came to John the Baptist, come to Gods servants.  Take the step of faith.  I cant imagine where I would be if I had not been baptized into this church, by someone holding the authority of God, and in His way. I thank God for that and my family for showing me the way.  This Church is true, and I am so grateful for the clarity that I now have that comes from knowing this truth.

Go forward in strength and in faith.  Take big steps if needed, but always remember to have God's will in mind.

Thanks for the support and emails and prayers and everything else. 

Elder Peck

Hey rapidito

Hey!

I'm out of time, but this week has been awesome.  We are working hard, the Lord has shown His hand in our lives here in Chile, and the work moves on.  We made pancakes for a family home evening.  It was kind of funny how the Chileans thought they should serve them, one pancake for each person on a small plate and they eat it with their hands, using anything but syrup to top it haha. We also played Jenga.  Everybody likes Jenga.  There were some really great things that happened this week, but I don't have enough time to write unfortunately.

Patience is a virtue, one that we all need to work on I think.  Ive been studying it a lot, and Ive learned that patience is an attribute we can develop and one that brings happiness.  Like always, when we develop attributes that are similar to Christ's attributes, we always find more happiness. 

Elder Peck

Cambios

Ill make it short this week.  This week has been really crazy for me and really great in many ways.  First off, I got a new companion! Elder N.  He's super awesome.  He is from Utah and has eight months in the mission.  He is a fantastic missionary and is so excited to work.  We worked really hard this week and accomplished a lot.  He is not a native speaker like my last companion was, so we are both working together more and teaching about equally. 

But anyway, the week started off with the transfers, where the four missionaries in my sector piled in the back of a truck with all their suitcases and headed for the bus station.  We picked up my new companion and the two new elders that are also working in my sector now.  We are still living in the same house, but we are going to move in with the other elders in the nice house next week. 

We have been working a lot more with the members.  We had a correlation with our ward mission leader, Mario, and we did splits two days between the four elders and three members of the ward to go find inactive members of the branch. We are having a lot of success in finding and reactivating, and the work is accelerating. 

Now were are still trying to work as much as we can with the members as well as trying to organize the sector.  There is a lot of work to do and I'm stoked to keep it moving. 

The secret to feeling the Spirit is work.  When we are stagnant in our spiritual progression, I think Heavenly Father waits a bit for us to start moving, and then He blesses us with answers to questions and the blessings we desire.  Work hard.  That's the key. 

Anyways, love you all and thanks for the support.  Go hug someone and smile.  Life is good.  Lets make it better. 

Elder Peck

Crazy Crazy Week

Hey Everyone

Anyway, this week has been super crazy for me and super long.  Big-ish changes in the missionary work for me.

But Ill start with the beginning of the week.  After our PDay, we did an awesome family home evening with M and our friend G.  Tuesday, we went to our weekly district meeting, our last one before the transfers, and we had a Zone Splits, or Gran Intercambio, with the whole zone.  I got assigned to work with Elder S in Renaico.  Elder S is awesome and we were in the same district in the MTC, so we have the same amount of time in the mission. I think they set it up that way just for fun, but it went great and was super fun, because we both speak at about the same level of Spanish.  We taught some interesting lessons, ate lots of cookies, and got some good missionary work done in his sector.  We both knew we were kind of hopeless, which made it more fun I think.  But it was nice to kind of be on our own without our trainers and going and doing missionary work.  I felt more like a missionary than I have up to this point.  It was awesome.

While I was on the intercambio, our mission president came to our sector to make some big changes.  In my sector, we have two elders and two sisters who work this same área.  He came to close the sector for the sisters and until today wasn't sure if he would leave only two elders or add two more elders.  But all I knew was that my trainer and the two sister missionaries would be leaving this transfer and I would have all their investigators with a new companion. And I would be moving houses.  I'm pretty sure I'm moving into the sisters old house, which I'm stoked about because it is way nicer than ours.  And a lot warmer haha.  Its raining a ton now, almost every day, and its getting cold.

Today we got the call from the district leader about who would go where.  Yeah, the sisters and my comp are leaving and I'm staying.  My trainer is going to the zone closest to the beach and will be training again.  I'm staying here with an Elder N.  I cant wait to meet him tomorrow and I'm stoked to see what kind of work we can do here in the sector.  No one really knows him and I think he is pretty new in the mission as well, so tomorrow will be interesting getting to know him and how he works.

Anyway, something I have been learning more about this week is repentance.  I have been learning that the principle of forgiveness and repentance is a gift of God, a true gift to make life better and easier.  We walk around all day with certain burdens, good and bad.  Some we can control and some we cant.  We have all kinds of responsibilities and often difficulties that we cant control.  One thing we can control is how much of our sin we let weigh us down.  When we let the Savior take the load, the other burdens of life become easier to bear.  Performing well in our job, caring for the family, keeping up with school, and other tasks of life become easier to bear when we don't have the weight of past mistakes on our mind and in our heart as well. The Savior has given us this tool to use.  He has already paid the price for use it, and I'm sure He feels sadness when we do not take advantage of it, like if we paid the price of a tool for someone else and they left it neglected in the corner unused.  Use it and feel the weight lift.  Go and sin no more, as Christ said.  I love this góspel.  Christ lives.

Thanks guys for everything.  Que Dios les bendiga....