Sept. 27, 2016- Prepare now for conference

Well this was a pretty good week all in all. We were able to teach a lot of lessons (more than I have ever taught in my mission) and we continued finding new people. But one of those lessons stands out as the most important, though. We had a lesson with Jacob and his family and it started off kind of weird (they went out to buy food for us) and so we didn't have the time to teach what we had planned. We began to talk about the reading that Jacob was able to do and he hadn't read a lot, but he had read a little bit of Alma 7 and so we began to talk about that. I began to explain some things and then Elder Langston bore a quick testimony and the whole environment changed. The spirit of God was there and Elder Langston began to get emotional because of it. I barely kept it together as I tried to add on but Jacob stopped me. He said "No se preocupen. Me voy a bautizar" or in English- Don't worry, I'm going to get baptized. Definitely a big step but there's more work to be done. I really feel he could get so much from going to General Conference with us. Pray for him so he can make the time to come with us.

Overall it was a really great week. The struggle continues getting people to come to church, but the two people who will be baptized next are both coming every week without fail, so that's been a huge blessing.

Overall the focus of this next week will be General Conference, I'm so excited personally but even more for all the people here that can benefit so much from this special opportunity. To all the people at home, go into this weekend with some questions written down. Either the speaker or the spirit will answer them. 

I hope you all have an amazing week. 

Elder Birrell

Sept. 20, 2016- Zone Activity with President V

Elder Birrell with his mission president and Elder Langston

Here's an explanation of the pictures I sent last week. The picture where I'm wearing the striped shirt is because there was  a huge ward activity and the bishop needed my white shirt for a dance he was in so we traded shirts for like 10 minutes hahaha.

The picture of the Chilean flag was because this weekend was the Chilean independence day (i say weekend because the celebration literally lasts a weekend) and there's a law in Chile that says that everyone has to have a flag up on the 18th at least and so it ends up looking really cool with everyone waving their flags.That picture was the flag on our house!

Some of my favorite scriptures. I encourage you to read them!

The chapel in Galverino

As far as our investigators: we have a lot of them now and we've consistently found 7 new investigators every week- some have no real desire to progress but some for sure do. The problem really is helping them to progress. Especially Jacob right now, he`s always saying the right things, but something is wrong. They didn't come to church on Sunday, but we`ll see. I made him a reading chart of like 12 or so of my favorite chapters/sections of the Book of Mormon with my testimony on the back so hopefully that helps. I still feel very strongly that they`ll be baptized but for some reason they need an extra push right now. We have another investigator that will be baptized pretty soon and another one that most likely will be baptized the next day and then a couple more are set for the end of this change (the 23rd of Oct). There should be many more to be baptized the following change. The one that we really just don't know for this change is Jacob and his family. Fast for them and I`ll do the same. I know he wants to but he`s afraid of something even he doesn't know what it is.

Yesterday we saw a bunch of guys more or less our age playing basketball and we asked if we could play with them a bit. We played a solid game with them and afterward got into a gospel conversation with them and it was really cool to see how people`s reactions change when they realize we are actually normal humans too. They all expressed a desire to learn more and to go to church.

I think that`s been the key to finding people recently for us. We show we`re humans and we show that this gospel is something that really affects us, it changes us and we know that it can make us all better and happier if we let it.

Love,

Elder Birrell

Celebrating Alice's 1st birthday

With Jacob at Alice's birthday party

At the zoo on P-day

Penguins!

Elder Birrell with his greenie. :)

Two cougars. Go BYU!

At a zone activity in Santiago

They have a pool!

Sept. 13, 2016- Six more weeks!!

This week was a really good one, especially with the news that we´ll be staying here for another change together (six more weeks!). This change could be a really special one and we´ll do everything in our power to make that happen. 

On Thursday our zone won a day to basically hang out with our zone and with our mission president and wife for like 5 hours. We played basketball, volleyball, ping pong, and ate hamburgers and completos (hot dogs but better). 

Then on Saturday we had a birthday party for baby Alice. They didn't really celebrate her one year birthday so they celebrated the day that she would've been born if it had been a normal pregnancy. They invited a bunch of family members and us. It was amazing to see all the love that family has for Alice, really a special moment. 

On Sunday we couldn't even really work a whole lot because its the day people riot during the night so we had to go to the house early. 

Also, one of the Elders that´s become one of my better friends out here is Elder Johnson who´s been my zone leader for the last 3 changes. On Friday he called us to let us know he´d be leaving and we were all pretty bummed. We assumed he´d just be a zone leader somewhere else, in fact he told us what zone he was going to but I guess I forgot that´s the zone that the assistants were in. 

Yesterday we found out he`s the next assistant to the President. He still has 7 changes left in the mission which is crazy that he was made assistant so young, but it makes me feel old to be friends with the assistant haha.

The struggle continues trying to get people to keep their commitments, but we´ve also seen some people keep their commitments and it's amazing to see their progress. We`re really hoping to have a super successful (possibly) last change together here in Galvarino.

For now we´ll just do everything in our power to bring souls unto Christ.

Short thought

I was thinking about the two thousand stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon. Obviously we remember them for their strength and because not one of them died in battle and all of this is so true. I think most of us want to be like them in that respect.

We sometimes forget two things- they had a lot of help, and all of them were wounded. In our search to become better, to be more valiant, to be stronger in all aspects of life we need to remember that. Sometimes we need help, that´s ok. Everyone needs this help and the ones who become great are the ones that took advice along the way. We will also all be wounded along the way. Even for these amazing warriors they were all wounded. Everyone is struggling with something, even the great ones.

I have a bunch of photos that´ll send when I can. I also went to the zoo today so there's even more photos.

Love,

Elder Birrell

At the zoo in Santiago

Elder Birrell didn't explain why he's wearing this shirt. He looks confused about it too!

Missionary Work takes Patience

Well my week was good! Frustrating at times, but overall really good. We certainly don't lack people to teach, but at times it`s hard to help them to progress. A vital part of helping people to come unto Christ is to leave with them commitments-which could be anywhere from praying to coming to church. We could teach someone all day long but if they don't act on the message then if won 't have any effect. As of Saturday night we had 15 people committed to coming to church on Sunday, in fact we went to a few of their houses to bring them with us. Only 2 made it. 3 others came after the first meeting, but at times it is frustrating especially since I know that they will be so much happy if they just keep their word and do what they said they would do. I understand change is hard which keeps me from getting too discouraged, I know with time these people will realize that these commitments are just for their own benefit in every possible way. 

Jacob (Aguilar) and his family are doing really well. He, one daughter, and a neighbor girl all came to church late, but I can tell he really does want to get baptized. He and his family are working toward a date to get baptized but he still says there's a war in his head. For so much time he was far from God and I think he almost feels unworthy of this second chance. I have 100% faith that he and his family will be ready when the date comes. His 9 year old daughter, Leo, is SO smart. She always does the Book of Mormon reading assignments and understands everything. Also the baby, Alice, is doing really well.

Also some potential bad news with Nicolas. His mom wants him to live with her now and she has every legal right to take him. The problem is that she is often on drugs or selling drugs and everyone in the house does the same. Please pray for Nico so he can be watched over and hopefully be able to atleast keep coming to church with his grandparents.

Here are a few answers to your questions, mom. I haven't really had many scary experiences to be honest, usually the "scary" people are too drunk to even walk so it's not dangerous. Also the weirdest thing I`ve eaten is cow stomach (Watitas). 

Have a great week!

Elder Birrell

This was the sign on my door when I arrived at the MTC 8 months ago. 

Be Diligent - you will always find a better day

We hiked Cerro Renca on P-day

This week has been a good one!!!! We worked hard and have continued trying to find more people to teach and we've kept helping the people we already know as well. Jacob and his family went to church this Sunday and they loved it! The kids are going to dance with the ward for the Independence Day activity! During the Gospel Principles class Jacob started reading the book we use and I'll bet he probably read half the book by the end of the class and he really liked it. They're even sharing the gospel with other people which is awesome.

We also had moments this week when we had plans and appointments with a ton of people and everything just seemed to go wrong and everyone's cellphone seemed to be turned off. Today I complete 8 months in the mission and while I'm still not a veteran here, I've been here long enough to know that those who are diligent will always find a better day. Another investigator that was about to get baptized moved recently too, so we're just trying to share the gospel with as many people as possible.

The grandparents of Nicolas (the kid who got baptized recently) have a son who found out he may be serving up to 15 years in Jail (He's 21 years old) so please keep them in your prayers.

One thing that I tried to make a focus of recently is to have members with us in lessons. It just makes the teaching so much more powerful. Sometimes it's hard to believe what two young Americans are saying enough to act on the message and read, pray, come to church, keep the commandments etc., but with a living breathing proof of what we are saying it's so much easier for the investigators to see the potential blessings of the restored gospel.

Have an awesome week!

Elder Birrell

Hiking Cerro Renca with Elder Langston

A few weeks ago I was helping a member clean his attic, when I lost my balance and fell through the ceiling.
 Here is the hole I made!!

Playing soccer on P-day with Elder Langston

With Elder Fortuna

Camilo the kid who lives right next to us and his dog Toby.

Elder Langston is really good at darts. ;)

Aug 23, 2016- Another good week

Well I don't really have a whole lot to report this week it was pretty ordinary, but ordinary still means awesome. Every week we continue finding new people to teach in addition to the people we already know, so we're certainly keeping busy. We did have a really spiritual lesson with the Aguilar family (Jacob), like the spirit was there so strong you could almost cut it with a knife it seemed. I feel really good about their progress and the progress of another investigator named Jesus who was about to get baptized but then he fell and broke his arm. He's pretty funny, he told us he wants to get baptized in the water thing next to the Salt Lake temple and that he`ll call the President of the US to get permission haha. The Haitians are good too, many have been able to find jobs recently which is super awesome too. Elder Langston`s doing super well and he's definitely getting better at Spanish. He's a smart guy so he'll have it down in no time. 

Love you. Have a great week and enjoy Emily's birthday.

I Fell Through the Ceiling!!

Training is actually a lot of fun, it really is like having the opportunity to start the mission over again, but with the experience of 7 months doing all this. We´re doing really well and we hope to find a lot of success within these two changes.

So this week was super good! First: a story.

So yesterday we were doing a service at a member´s house. We were cleaning out his attic, organizing and then putting some things back up there. So as we were putting stuff back up in the attic I went up to organize the stuff up there. As I was starting to make my way back down I started falling and before I knew it I had fallen through the ceiling and into their bathroom :O Fortunately no one was hurt but that definitely woke me up haha. 

On Saturday the other Elders in our ward had a baptism and it was really cool. He's a really cool person.  He was actually going to be baptized on the 31st of August, but he had a stroke on that Thursday before and was hospitalized.  The day he got out of the hospital he came to church and the the Elders talked to him about maybe getting baptized at the end of the month and he said, "No, I'm getting baptized this Saturday. I know this is true and I can't wait until the end of the month". It was really cool to see how much he had changed since the end of May when the missionaries started working with him. 

Finally, a thought I had this week. So in our mission we have cleaning inspections every change and the person that´s in charge of the cleaning checks makes it pretty difficult to get a high score on it, the cleaning checks are also surprises so you never know exactly when it's going to happen. My first two changes they were done usually toward the end of the change for our house. As I left my first sector the person in charge told me that they were going to do it on the 3rd week of every change from now on but in my head I guess I kinda doubted it. Sure enough the 3rd week came and our house got checked-the house wasn't dirty, but it has to be really perfect to get a good grade. Next change I decided I would be ready so I had the house really clean entering the 3rd week, but after the week was almost over I figured they just wouldn't be doing cleaning checks this 3rd week for whatever reason and I started getting lazy toward the end of the week. Sure enough, the inspection came at the last possible moment of the week and we got another bad score. We are now in the 3rd week of this change and we already decided that it doesn't matter when they're coming over, we´re going to get the perfect grade on the house. Why do I share this?

I was thinking about the scripture that says wickedness never was happiness.

Sometimes we are easily deceived into thinking the other way around. We may think back on a past experience and think that "oh that didn't turn out too bad for me" or maybe we actually want to do the right thing but facing just a little bit of a trial in doing the right we justify a little bit of wickedness. 

The inspection was always going to be the third week. It didn't matter what had happened in the past or how late in the week it was, it was always going to happen.

Wickedness never was happiness. We can either be like me and need 3 changes to figure this out, or we can choose righteousness now.

Have a great week!!!!!

Love, 

Elder Birrell