Friday, December 27, 2013

Lost in the Countryside

Sector- San Filipe
Companero- Elder De Castro
Carta #16

Hey family!! Wow so many people are going on missions so weird how were all serving missions!! Its encouraging also to know that all my friends can be serving missions too so that I dont have to miss anything at home!! haha Where is Ty going!? You never told me that? And did you tell me that Heidi is going to salt lake Temple square? Bobby told me that!!! But sounds like you guys are having a blast at home with Bobby haha. Bobby told me that he surfs with Beau and Chandler and Kelsay and he told me that Beau and Chandler are wayyy better than him hahah, Wow he must be realllllyyy bad then...hahah just kidding! I'm jealous I don't get to surf..but everyone's got to do their time on the mission haha

This week has been pretty fun, a few fun things have happened... We have not found anyone to teach in such a long time and we only have like 6 investigators so we do contacts and knocking doors seriously almost the whole day long in the 105 degrees and its so hard sometimes!! Im literally dripping in sweat the whole day long. And at night I sleep with no covers and a fan in my face!! haha But there was one cool experience that we had; we were coming back from doing a baptismal interview in a different city like 30 mins away and in between the cities is like little small villages that have hardly any houses and two of these villages are called Rinconada and Curimon, they're both in our sector. We have only been to these places once before, so we were coming back and I was just dozing off and my companion just taps me on the shoulder and tells me that we should get off and go try to find a family that we taught, that one time before so we get off and were in the middle of nowhere and my companion tells me I dont know if this is exactly the right station to get off, but he said that he got a spiritual promting to get off and visit the family, so we're just walking down some random road in the country and we dont know where we are and all there is are farms and we turn a corner expecting to see the village rinconada and there's just the same road that goes on for like 2 miles and then turns. We're like uhhh okay lets walk and see where this goes so we walk for like 30 mins and get to the part where it turns and we see the village like another mile away so we make our way over there. We get to the city finally and we find out that we're in a different one of the small villages haha called rinconada but the investigators live in curimon, so we would have to walk for like 3 more miles, and we were like nooo so we decided to just try to find a taxi to take us back... But we were in the middle of nowhere! So we keep walking for a little praying to find some way to get back without having to walk the whole way back and we find a bus station finally. There's two women sitting there and they're waiting for the bus too and we talk to them and they were super interested in the church and we set an appointment and stuff!! We'll see if they get baptized!! If so then our long journey would be worth it!!! haha. We finally got back to san felipe at like 9:50, right before we have to be in our house haha. It was crazy... In the country its wayyy prettier than in the city!! It was cool, the mountains were like right next to us but i didnt have my camera and I was so mad hahah. But it was cool to see that we could find those two people in the middle of nowhere!! We're going to teach them every Tuesday because we have to take a taxi alll the way out there to get to them!!

For the Skype I'm going to be on my account and we're going to be on at 3 here in Chile so you guys should get on then and you need to call me!! I think that the time difference is 5 hours but Im not sure!!! But yeah, just call me at my account!!  I'm excited to talk to you guys!!!!

I love you Guys!! Have a great week!!!!!
Love, Elder Dirkmaat

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Feliz Navidad!

Sector- San Filipe, Chile
Companero- Elder De Castro
Carta #15

Hahah sounds like you guys are having a good week!!!! And Sounds like Dad is pretty committed to getting ripped!!! Haha I can't help not eating healthy, if we don't eat everything on the plate then the members get mad!! Like really, one of the missionaries didn't and the bishop talked to him about it!! But its all good because my companion and I actually work out in the morning and while riding bikes we try to burn fat there too hahah.

Bikes, Wooooo! 

Mountains!

I hope that you guys are excited for Christmas! Here they celebrate everything on the 24th so were allowed to have another Pday the 24th but on Christmas we get to Skype with you guys and then its a normal day...I hope we´ll actually be able to find people that day!!! 

Yeah, this sector is probably the best sector I'm going to get because the ward here actually has a good amount of people in it. It has like 125 people attend every Sunday and the others have like 40 and this ward actually has a whole bishopric and a ward mission leader that has served a mission so this ward is really good!! And the activities in this ward are really good! We have to sing in this Christmas thing for the stake on Friday, like 5 missionaries and I'm horrible at singing so I hope it goes well!! Haha 

Is Bobby having fun working at Sun Diego? he's so lucky he got a job there its so hard to get a job there!! However, this week has been really hot! We're actually entering into the summer now and I just happen to be in the hottest place in Chile!!! I sweat so much and I have such bad tan lines from the shirt and my watch hahah its also hard because no one leaves there houses from 1 pm until 5 pm haha so its hard to do contacts and stuff.  Those hours are always the hardest but we just have to stay strong through those hours!!  After that everyone is out on the street because no one has air conditioning! 

Our view from the apartment 

My companion. Brazilians are crazy hahaha
He always tries to wrestle me but I always destroy him....hhaha

Here's the story for this week; so the stake president here invited us to a family home evening with a family that are friends of his and have been wanting to learn about the gospel for a long time. So we went and we show up to the house of the family that were going to teach and it was weird because we've been teaching everyone in their houses that are super crammed and have like 2 bedrooms but we show up at this guys house and he has like 9 cars and his house is Huge in the countryside and I'm just like super intimidated at first because he's super important.  At the beginning we just took a tour and he was showing us all of his stuff that he has like his cars and backyard and stuff and I was like what are we going to teach this family!!! And then we started FHE and we say the prayer and then they have like 3 servants that come out and start serving us food and drinks and stuff and its all super formal and I was super intimidated hahah.  But then once we started teaching the restoration they had so many good questions and they understood perfectly! Then the stake president bore his testimony and they want to get baptized, the whole family!!!! Wooo that will be good!!! haha  

Oh Yeah, we had another baptism too!!! 


The rest of this week has just been normal, its weird because there are some days where I can talk Spanish really well and then others where I just mess up all the time haha!  But I'm improving and I'm probably going to have a hard time talking English when I Skype you guys because I haven't talked English in so long!!!
For the Skype I will probably Skype you guys at like 3 or 3:15 my time (I have no Idea what time that is in California) haha! I will be at a members house sooo yeah, I think you guys have to call me and Ill be on my profile on Skype I think!!

Playing Soccer, woooo!! 


Love you Guys!!!
Have a great week!!!
Love Elder Dirkmaat!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Homeless Girl, Bikes, & Exploding Pens

Sector- San Filipe, Chile
Companero- Elder De Castro
Carta #14

Story of the week, Haha, Sooo we were in the church at an activity and then after the activity we left to do contacts on the street because this week our contacts we only did like 90 when were supposed to do 150 and we were trying to do a bunch hahah but then were walking down the sidewalk and there's this homeless girl walking the opposite direction and she stops us...she has nooo teeth in her mouth and she is just like the most messed up girl iv'e seen she has like 2 toes missing and her skin is like blistered all over and she has a KID and shes like can you guys spare me 500 pesos to buy milk for my kid and stuff and she's like I know you guys are servants of God and what would God do and stuff but we're not allowed to give money and then she's like I can't feed my kid because I got breast cancer and I couldn't treat it...and then out of nowhere she just whips out her breast from her shirt and its all scarred and like discolored and its just the most disgusting thing I've ever seen!!! And we just were like AHH! yeah, sorry we have to go!!! And I literally almost puked!! Im scarred for life, it was the most disgusting thing EVER!!!!!! IT WAS DISGUSTING hahahha Hah yeah, that's the story for this week!!!!!  Oh, one more story. We were riding in the street on bikes and my companion was in front of me and he was looking at his planner when the light turned red and he ran straight into the back of the car and his face like hit the window hahahah it was the funniest thing ever to see haha

Hey looks like you guys had a fun time at the Christmas concert and looks like Christmas is fun back there!! The place that I'm in is known as the hottest city in Chile haha.  And I'm here in the dead center of the summer! Its so hot every day!! Its horrible, we need to stop for water like every hour! And I have the worst tan lines..I look like a dumb missionary now hahah. But the mountains here are sooo huge and when its sunset they're so beautiful I'm glad that this place I'm in actually is beautiful hahah. This week was so hard and we did almost nothing this week because we had so many meetings and things to do for this ward activity that we did this week where we had to do a skit on family history haha.  My companion is district leader so we had to travel like 30 mins to a city called Los Andes and back like 3 times to baptismal interviews so that took away our time too so we didn't get any new investigators this week but we will be having a baptism this next Sunday for a girl named Joselyn so that will be cool... It seems like the people that I have baptized have been the easiest ever because they just accept everything about the gospel right away haha.  Like the word of wisdom and law of chastity they just accept right away and I'm so surprised..But Then again I've only been out for like 3 months hah. 

The Spanish is definitely coming along, I can understand almost everything now unless the person is super ghetto cuz they use so so much slang I can't understand haha.  But I can understand everything I read in Spanish now except for some things in the Book of Mormon because they use like not normal words but I'm coming along in the Book of Mormon. It feels so much better now to be able to actually contribute to the lessons and actually feel like i am helping the people haha. The heat is killer but soon enough it will be like 0 degrees so I'll try to enjoy it!! 

I'll be able to Skype you guys on the computer!  There's a super super nice cyber cafe here so we'll be able to Skype! I have no idea the details yet..Wow, Creed and Reagan are leaving!! Woo, wish them good luck!! I hope that Creed can learn Spanish fast cuz its so hard at first!!! Thank you for sending the package.. I actually need garments because the freaking laundry lady lost like 4 pairs of mine!! And then also my pen exploded in my pocket from the heat so it destroyed another pair and now I'm left with a very limited amount which really sucks hahah so you should send me some!! Thanks for the E mails!! I cant wait to talk to you guys on Christmas!! It sucks being away from home on Christmas so that will make it better!!!

I love you guys!!!
Love,
Elder Dirkmaat

Monday, December 2, 2013

Temples & Transfers!!

Sector- San Filipe
Companero- Elder De Castro
Carta #13

Hi!!!

Thanks for the updates on everything sounds like you guys had a great Thanksgiving!! Haha We forgot it was thanksgiving and I didn't even remember until the next day!! Woooooo were so celebrative hahah Haha And your thanksgiving surf sesh sounds sickkk Ill be back there soon showing all of you up haha I hope that Oliver is still learning!! I expect him to be better than me!! Haha 

So I got changed today but we still have time to Email so that's sweet I got changed to a place called San Felipe! Its farther than Los Andes and is a small country town in the Andes Mountains!! Its beautiful!! The Andes are hugeeee! But I just got here like an hour ago so I didn't take any pictures yet!! Haha I will though its the farthest north we can get from Santiago in our mission and its like 3 hours from Santiago so I slept for like 3 hours on the bus and that was amazing because I haven't had a nap in forever!! So my new companion is named Elder De Castro and he's from Brasil and only speaks Portuguese and Spanish so I'll not be using English very much at all this next transfer!! When I was asked to say a prayer in English by one of the investigators I already couldn't do it!1 I was thinking in Spanish and translating directly to English and that just doesn't work! haha So I hope that I don't forget English too much that I'm awkward when I talk!! 

This last week has been good, we were going to have a baptism this Sunday but then I got transferred so I'm not able to be there! Their names are Katherine and Jared and Jared has been inactive for like 15 years and Katherine is not a member. They are getting married in like 3 days and then getting baptized Sunday!!! Woo! Hahah But I wont be there..But we took Emilio and Tomas (Other Investigators getting baptized in two weeks) to see the temple too and taught them about temples and about the importance of temples! This is probably my favorite lesson to teach because this truly is the goal we want to get to! We don't want to just be baptized, we want to get to the temple and to be sealed to our family for time and all eternity. Baptism is the beginning! Its not the End and I think that teaching about the temple is probably the most important lesson!! It's the most important thing we do and its everyone's goal! It was good teaching about that because Emilio has a girlfriend and is now considering trying to bring her to the church so that he can have the blessings of being married for eternity. 

 I learned in the bible dictionary this week that the word Condemned means: To be stuck in a state and not be able to move forward. And Without a temple marriage we cannot receive the fullness of glory and the fullness of all the blessings that God has for us, yes we can live in the celestial kingdom but we cannot receive the fullness of blessings and we are stuck. Temple marriage is important!! Haha its the most important thing and we shouldn't just want our investigators to get baptized we should get them to the temple!! Haha 

I hope that you guys are having a good week! And I hope that you guys had a great time with everyone for Bobby's homecoming!! Thank you mommm! Oh, I get to Skype you guys soon! I hope your excited!!! Woooo! Cuz I could care less.. hahah Just kidding I'm excited!
I love you guys!!!!
Have a great week!!!

Elder Dirkmaat