The Spirit Works Miracles!

Sector- Lo Campino, Quilicura
Companero- Elder Huarca
Carta #63

Wowwwww the whole families in Utah allll together and your just leaving me here down in Chile...hahaha!  No, but sounds like Dad is suffering from being in Utah for just ONE week hahahaah I have to go to school there... that's gonna suck.  I totally forgot that it was thanksgiving this week. I'm just soooo out of the loop hahah But that's cool, maybe we'll do something with all the gringos for thanksgiving.  

And Dad about the getting fat thing, Its Soooooooooo So hard for me to work out well in the morning you have no idea haha Seriously the WORST part of the day is waking up in the morning.  It is SO hard for me. But I do and I try to do the best exercises I can, but they're really not gonna help that much hahah.  But when in 3 months, when I have 6 months left I'll get myself into shape, cuz I can't be FAT. hahahah 

This week me and my companion got a phone call at 2 in the afternoon on Tuesday and President said Elder Zapata is going to Colina so he had to pack ALL his stuff up in one hour and they took him to Colina.  I have a companion named Elder Huarca now. I don't know him very well, but it seems like he's cool. hahah!! he used to play professional soccer in Peru but now it's a mission rule that we can't play soccer.....  But he's cool, he's 23 and he's a convert to the church after he was done playing soccer, when he got hurt. 

 
But this week was good. We had some miracles happen this week. Cecilia, our investigator that just got baptized, has a nephew named Juan and before her baptism he did not want ANYTHING with the missionaries or the church. But one day we passed by and he was sitting at the table so we taught him also. And we taught him about the Book of Mormon and how the only thing he had to do was pray to know if it was true. And then we bore our testimonies of how true the book is. And as we were baring our testimonies, he told us he felt something special inside his chest that he had never felt before and that it was like a happiness or something that you can't describe. And we told him that was the spirit telling him that the things we are saying are true. Then the next day we went back and he told us that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that the church is true also. Were going to put him with a baptismal date, but we didn't want to pressure him. I seriously NEVER would have thought that he would say that. Because before he was sooo hard-hearted. But the spirit works miracles. And without the spirit as missionaries we would be nothing. 

 
We had another baptism this week!!! woooo!!!! but this computer won't let me upload pictures. But it was SUPER spiritual. Her name is Almendra and her brother baptized her. After the baptism they were both so happy and emotional, they couldn't stop crying. And now the whole family is active in the church and we are planning on going and doing baptisms with them. Its so amazing to see all the blessings that we as missionaries can bring to other peoples lives. Its a great opportunity we have for two years and I've learned so much from the time that I've been out, but I feel like I'm just starting to understand how to do missionary work.

I love you Guys!!!!!
Say hi to Grandma!!!!!
I miss grandma's house it's the bestttt!!!!!!!
Send me pictures of Thanksgiving.
Next time I'll be there!!!!!

Love you guys,
Elder Nate Dirkmaat

So Many Blessing For Such a Small Sacrifice

Sector- Lo Campino, Quilicura
Companero- Elder Zapata
Carta #62

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my goosshhh that beach house looks amazzzziiinggg!  That pic makes me miss surfing sooo much hahah!  We have to go there for sure when I get back!!! That's siiiiiiickkkk, I love Mexico haha, the food there is so much better than it is here.

Ohhhh wow thanksgiving is already hereeeee crazzyyyy!!! I totally forgot about thanksgiving cuz no oneee talks about thanksgiving or cares about it!! haah! maybe we´ll have to do something for it...that'd be sick. That's gonna be cool going to Utah. Its gonna suck though cuz me and Jaren aren't there!!!! hahaha

This week was a really good week. We had a LOT of success this week and it is all because the lord is blessing us SO much. He has blessed me soooooo much in my mission and sometimes I feel overwhelmed with allll the things he blesses me with.  Because he has literally blessed me in every single aspect of my life. I know that he loves me because of ALL that he gives me for the smallest sacrifice I could make, coming here for two years and serving him. 

Nicolas!! hes a ten year old hes super cool!! his dad is member now active. And his mommy is getting baptized the 25th of January because they're getting married the 21st of January.

 

Cecilia!!! she has been investigating for 30 years!!!! and finally got baptizedd...MIRACLES.

I have learned so many things over the course of the past few months and I think the MOST important thing that I learned is that without the spirit as people OR as missionaries, we cant do ANYTHING. And that is why I try to keep the spirit with me at alllll times. Because the most important thing in the lesson is inviting the spirit and saying the right things so that the spirit will be able to testify to the investigator. It is also the same in normal life, we need to follow the spirit always, and I have realized that the spirit is really hard to keep with us and requires a lot of effort. Well at least for me. But when I have the spirit with me I feel like I am on top of the world and so happy. But when its not, that's when Satan can get it and get me down. Make me feel like I want to go home and give up. That is what makes me most scared to go home. Is not knowing how to have that spirit with me at alllll times. Because there are so many distractions and so many other things to pay attention to. But I know that if I try really hard I will be able to do it when I get home as well.

I'm so grateful for this mission and the things it has brought me. Because the blessings are sooooo big. And the sacrifice so small. I love this gospel and the thing that makes it worth it is because I'm giving other people the opportunity to be with their families for eternity. And that is my biggest blessing. Being away has made me more than ever want to be with my family for eternity along with my wife and future kids. 

I love you guys!!!!!!!
Cant waiiiittt to shredddd with the fam again!
Elder Nate Dirkmaat

The Spirit Changes People!

Sector- Lo Campino, Quilicura
Companero- Elder Zapata
Carta #61

SO crazyyyy Jarens in the MTC, whattttt that's sicckk hahaah was he excited? or was he suuupperrr nervous? I feel like he was super nervous hahah, that's what I was like haha!!

 I'm going to start studying French instead of Spanish in language study now, I hope I can learn!!! haha the only problem is that I don't know pronunciation!!

Seriously, we have been sooooo blessed in this sector. We keep finding people that are just sooooo prepared for their baptism. We keep finding those people that the Lord is preparing to hear the gospel. This week we are going to baptize a woman named Cecilia. She has been talking with the missionaries for MANY years. A TON of missionaries have been by her house and invited her to get baptized, to make commitments with God, but she has rejected them every single time. But we decided to pass by like a month ago and teach her again. We became super good friends with her, and we started teaching her the lessons. And one lesson we had, we taught about the importance of going to church. And taking the sacrament. We taught her that as we go to church and that as we take the sacrament we are showing God that we love him. Because Jesus says in the bible "if you love me keep my commandments."  And she felt the spirit super strong during this lesson and went to church for the FIRST time in her time with the missionaries. And there in the church she felt the spirit sooo strong as someone testified of the truthfulness of the church. And from then on, our lessons have been filled with the spirit and she has been going to church. And to my amazement she's getting BAPTIZED this Sunday!!! haha when I met her the first time I would have NEVER thought. because she would say so many bad words, she would make jokes always, she just liked to have the missionaries around haha!!  Its amazing to see how the spirit changes people. I think that the key to her conversion was that she felt the spirit. but what the other missionaries didn't do was tell her that it was the spirit. And when we would point out that the spirit was there when it was, she would always agree and say yes, I know. And she would recognize that it really was true. Without the spirit the investigators will not change and they will not be baptized. 

Also this Sunday we have two other baptisms!!! one of a family that had been inactive for a long time but we helped them get back to church and they have gone like 7 Sundays in a row now.... AMAZING.   And the older brother is going to baptize his little sister whose 10 years old this Sunday. Its going to be a goooddd Sunday!!!  And the other one is a family from Peru where the dad is a member, but the wife and kid aren't. The kid is getting baptized this Sunday, and the mom in like 3 weeks more. So amazing how we are seeing so much success in our sector. After we had suffered so much in trying to find people to teach. I see miracles everyday, and my testimony has been sooo strengthened through the changes I have seen in the people.

This week we started to teach Yves wife. The Haitian that just got baptized. And she knows very little, but Yves wants nothing more than to get sealed in the temple!!! so we are working with her. 

 
Also, the other good person we found this week was a couple that are like 25 years old that just got married. The wife is a member and active. And the husband isn't a member. In the first lesson I bore my testimony to him how the deepest desire I have is to be sealed in the temple with my wife for all eternity and the spirit was there sooo strong. He also said that is what he wants in his relationship. and he has been progressing suuuper well also. 

 
Oh, also Elder Nelson from the twelve apostles came this week. It was pretty SICK. I was in the front row and I received the full power of his talk. It was a great experience. 

 
I hope you guys tell me more about whats going on!!!!!!!

I love you guys!!!!!!
Love,
Elder Nate Dirkmaat

Pictures!

We had transfers. Im staying in my sector!!!! SICK and I'm staying with my companion! we have 4 transfers together. Holy crap a lot of time with a companion!! hahah but I'm happy!!

This is Elder Ellis, we did exchanges it was SICK. 

He's sick you guys are gonna have to meet him hahah!

BAPTISM!!!!

This is Cajuste Yves. He's from Haiti. His wife is gonna get baptized next!

Hiking up Cerro San Cristobal!

La zona! in Cerro San Cristobal!

What Good Would That Do You?

Sector- Lo Campino, Quilicura
Companero- Elder Zapata
Carta #60

Hi Family!!!

This week was a pretty good week!!! We had a baptism it was siiiickk!!! Cajuste got baptized, it was sweet. We found him knocking doors like 3 months ago, and he's been progressing ever since. It was super cool because after his baptism he was just super happy and high on the spirit hahah! it was so cool. The Haitian people here in Chile are the nicest people! hahah! When you talk to them, they ALWAYS let you in the house. The only problem is that they have their own church called the Church of Haiti, but luckily Cajuste doesn't believe in that church and we were able to teach him easily. And normally the problem with the Haitians is that they speak creole or french. So I've been trying to learn some french because there's soooo many Haitians here and the just get super happy if your able to speak french. So dad, it'd be sick if you sent me like an English/French dictionary or a Spanish/French would even be cool. Maybe even teach me cause you know French hahah!

We have basically been looking alll week for people. We have a lot of people that are on the point of getting baptized, but I know that after they get baptized we are going to have NO ONE. So we've started to look and look for people. We get rejected A LOT. But Emily sent me a talk this week that really helped me with that. And it talks about an experience a guy had in his mission when he was in the same sector for 7 months, and they had NO success. Even though he was doing EVERYTHING right, being obedient and everything. And he was getting super discouraged because he would see all the disobedient missionaries baptizing a ton of people. But he wasn't getting any.  So he decided to pray. To pray out loud and during that experience he said he received an answer that helped him his whole mission. And it was that God knows EXACTLY where ALL the people that will accept the gospel and be baptized live. He knows where to send us, but WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT DO YOU if he sent you straight there. And he goes on to talk about how success in the mission, isn't measured by baptisms or numbers. Its measured by how personally converted you are on the mission. If we are able to save one soul how great will be my joy?  WE are that ONE soul. The most valuable. And he sends us to those difficult neighborhoods, so we can GROW. So we can PROGRESS.  because, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT DO US if we were sent directly to every person that will be baptized. So I have learned to smile when we get rejected, because I know God is leading us to these people and these neighborhoods. Its also changed my outlook on the mission, and not wanting to just baptize, but to become CONVERTED.  Because WHAT GOOD WOULD MY MISSION SERVE ME? If I'm not converted. That is the most important. And I truly know that I have become so converted on the mission. I have seen the answers to my prayers and I have felt the spirit as I testify of the things we teach. And that is what makes me happy to be here. Because I know it will be a blessing for me the rest of my life, if I truly become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I hope that we all can make that our goal. To become converted to the gospel, because that is what really changes us as people. That is my new goal on the mission.

I love you Family. Thank you for always supporting me!!!  You guys are a huge blessing.
Love,
Elder Nate Dirkmaat
Tell Jaren to email me when hes on the mish!!!!!!!