July 11, 2011

Hello hello!

Alrighty, so I don't have too much time this week. I'm sure you won't mind since we'll be seeing each other before too long. Today we went to visit my old sector Lican Ray to say goodbye to some people there. Saying goodbye isn't fun...I love these people so much, it's going to be hard to have to leave the mission. Can't I stay another two years??

Nancy and Jorge were confirmed yesterday! Jorge will be ordained a teacher next week and later this year when he turns 16 he'll be ordained a priest. Vilcún is growing rapidly! This weekend we'll be having three more baptisms! A good way to finish up the mission, I think :) The people getting baptized are named Daniela (16), Renee (14) (they're daughters of a member that haven't been baptized yet - they will be the first young women here in Vilcún), and Luis (24). Luis is the boyfriend of one of the members here named Dina. At the end of this year they should be getting married! Last week in one of our appointments they told us they had a surprise and they pulled out their engagement rings - I'm really excited for them. Luis should be ordained an elder by the next stake conference and then when he completes a year as a member he could be branch president! Vilcún is such an amazing place - I wish I could stay more time here.

Llaima hasn't been showing any signs of life recently - it did errupt a few years ago but nothing too serious. We almost had a volcano in the middle of the gospel principles class, though! One of the gas heaters had a leak in the hose that we didn't know about and in the middle of class it burst into flames, haha. Without thinking I jumped up, ran across the room, reached in and flipped the switch to cut the gas flow. Luckily it didn't explode! That wouldn't have been very pretty, haha. We called the stake president and the church should be bringing new stoves this week. Have no fear, Elder Vincent is here!

Our stove - if you look closely the burn marks look like the north and south american continents

There's always something new to see or learn each week, and I definitely saw something new this week. Everyone knows which is Anderson's Second Coming painting, right? (if not you can look it up on google) I saw that painting in the house of an investigator family! Elder Torres and I were looking at the pictures and paintings that the family had on the walls and before sitting down to begin sharing something with them we saw in the stairwell a familiar painting: it was the Second Coming by Anderson! They told us that they had bought it from a street vendor in Temuco and had no idea that it was from the LDS Church. How cool is that? The mother and one of the daughters came to church with us on Sunday as well, so looks like they were prepared a bit before meeting us, haha.

Well, we've got to get back to Vilcún. We're a little backed up because some of the visits in Lican Ray went longer than expected. Looking forward to seeing you all! But not too soon! Haha. I'll probably be able to jump onto a computer at some point next Monday, but if not I'll see you all soon! Don't forget to bring the red carpet to the airport! Hehe...is joke. But seriously...:)

We made cinammon rolls with Daniela and Renee

I wanted to grab its horns

Newborn lambs! They do poo....my hand is a witness

Mario has a new puppet

Love,
Trevor

July 4, 2011

(sing the tune to the star spangled banner while reading this)

Oh say can you see, the ice on my pillow. Oh how my face sticks to it, I might just throw a fit.

Frost in Vilcún!

I'll just leave it there so that I don't destroy the national anthem anymore, haha. I'm glad to hear that you've all had an enjoyable holiday! We've had a good one here so far as well - we had a zone activity with a barbeque, soccer, frisbee, the works. I was the only one with a flag, haha. In the morning I realized that I had a version of America the Beautiful by Wayne Burgeron (excuse my spelling errors!) so I safety-pinned the flag to my shirt and put my jacket over it, and when we got to the chapel I had Elder Torres put the song on full volume at the part where Wayne plays really high and I unzipped my jacket Jim-Carrey-in-Bruce-Almighty style. Everyone got a crack out of that, and then we all sang the national anthem. Cool day!

Flag of Champions!

Jorge and Nancy's baptism went really well on Saturday! We filled a van with members and investigators from Vilcún and drove over to Temuco. Jorge actually brought his uncle who said that he wanted to be baptized as well, so we'll be more than happy to help him out with that! I feel blessed to be able to work here in Vilcún - it's amazing! Something happened on Sunday morning that had never happened to me in my time as a missionary - Jorge got hit by a car on his way to pick up his uncle to go to church and they rushed him over to the hospital in Temuco. Nancy just about had a heart attack so she was hospitalized here in Vilcún as well. So they weren't confirmed yesterday, but the bishop from Temuco went to the hospital and visited Jorge - no serious injuries. They should both be back home today so we're going to go see them. What are the odds of something like that happening!? I'm just glad they're both ok.

Baptism of Nancy and Jorge

Jorge and Torres

Nancy and me

Not this weekend but the next (the 16th of July) we should have another baptismal service for the daughters of a member and also the boyfriend of one of the members. It'll be a good way to finish up the mission :) There are so many great people here in Vilcún that are prepared to recieve the gospel in their lives. I really wish that I could stay a couple months more to work with them and see their testimonies of Christ and the gospel grow. It's going to be hard to leave this...well, leave the being a missionary part. I'll still continue talking to everyone here through facebook and stuff, hehe. It's a huge blessing to be able to communicate so easily with people on the other side of the world. One day you'll have to come back here to visit with me. Maybe when the Concepción temple is dedicated.

Last night I was reminded of living out in the country in Virginia. There is a member family here that lives just outside of Vilcún in the country and their son turned 13 yesterday so we went out there to make some brownies and celebrate his birthday. There are no street lights or anything on the way out there, so we were walking in almost complete darkness. Really the only thing that could be seen was the sky and stars - there wasn't a single cloud! I was reminded of walks in Virginia when there wasn't any noise from the city or anything, just the silence of nature. I'm just amazed at how all of this could be created.

Llaima from Vilcún

Well, that's about all for this week. I had better get some pictures attached before my time runs out. Have a great week! Love you all!

Love,
Trevor

June 28, 2011

Hooooooola!

Wow, last week went by really fast. Elder Torres and I are having a great time in Vilcún - the people are really receptive and love the things we teach them. This weekend we'll be having a baptismal service for Nancy and her son Jorge. This last week somebody from one of the local churches told them that we didn't believe in God and that what we had been teaching them is false, but Jorge stood his ground and told them that he knew it was true and that he wasn't going to change because of lies that they told him. Jorge has had a bigt change in his heart since he started coming to church and learning with us, and he realizes it. He's very excited to recieve the Aaronic Priesthood in a week or two and is very determined to magnify whatever calling he is given. I'm excited for them.

Last week my testimony of the Book of Mormon grew even more - one of our investigators, Jimena, that is also preparing for baptism tells us that every day she reads and has a spiritual experience. She told us that she had a doubt as to whether or not there were people on the earth still alive from the times of Christ and when she opened the Book of Mormon to read she read 3 Nephi 28, which talks about the three Nephites that were granted the blessing of staying on the earth until Christ comes again just as John. Jimena is fighting the addiction to cigarettes, but is making great progress and will be baptized very soon. I'm so grateful that the Lord has helped us find so many great people here in Vilcún.

Yesterday we had the last conference with President and Sister Swenson. They are leaving the mission tonight or tomorrow - the new mission president is President Martínez from Los Angeles, Chile actually. Many missionaries already know him; I've seen him briefly a few times. I'll probably see him two times before I leave - a conference in the next three weeks and for my last interview. So I won't get to know him too well at all. President and Sister Swenson are confident that he'll do a great job, though. We'll see within the next couple of weeks if he wants to change any rules, haha. Won't matter too much for me if he does, though.

The whole mission in white

Posterity of Elder Torres and me

It continues to get colder in Vilcún! The other day I found a surprise - my shower soap was covered in a thin layer of ice! We're grateful to have a gas stove to heat up our study room, haha.

Torres with his coat on backwards

cooking lunch

Well, that's about all I've got for this week. I'll look forward to hearing from you next week!

Love,
Trevor

June 20, 2011

Hello, hello! What's your name! (that's what many Chileans will yell at you if you come here)

I keep forgetting that you all are in summer right now! Down here it gets really cold in Vilcún - we can actually see the Llaima volcano very clearly from the town. It hasn't snowed here yet, but it has rained quite a bit. I've actually started to go and work in the black shoes that you sent me about a year ago because my other shoes just have too many holes to be working in them while it's raining. At this point it's not really worth the trouble to buy a pair of boots - I don't have the money to do that either! Haha. But it's ok, I've got enough to last me for the last month. I mean...for the next two years! Didn't you hear? Missions are now 4 years for missionaries named Elder Vincent. It's a pretty cool new rule (that sounds cool if you say it out loud), I think.

Llaima

E'Torres, Jimena, Mario, me, volcano in the background

My water-proof socks (our table hadn't arrived yet)

Last week we had our last training meeting with President Swenson - he leaves on the 28th of this month! So I'll be about two weeks with the new president (probably won't even meet him), and then I'll skidaddle. After the meeting President Swenson and Sister Swenson will take those that are leaving in July and August out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. It's been awhile since I've been in a restaurant like that! Yummmy, haha.

This week was amazing here in Vilcún. Elder Torres and I are really excited to be working and we do it very well together, so I'm happier than ever. On Sunday there were 24 people in church, 12 of which were our investigators (Nancy, Jorge, Luis, Natalia, Jimena, Mónica, Carlos, José, Daniela, Renee, and two of our neighbors that accepted an invitation last-minute)! Five of them have baptismal dates for July, so we'll probably be duplicating the number of members here in Vilcún in July. The people here are amazing - almost everyone lets us in (sometimes they think we're catholic missionaries or JWs haha) and is excited to hear about what we teach them. I really could not have asked for a better way to finish the mission.

Funny story:
About an hour before church yesterday Elder Torres and I decided to go out and visit some people to make sure that they were ok to come to church and everything, and we got into a house of some people we met a few days before...they had lunch on the table waiting for us! Apparently they had been waiting to celebrate father's day until we arrived! I felt bad that we had to pretty much wolf that food down and then RUN across town to open the doors of the house/chapel so that the people waiting outside for us could get in. Elder Torres didn't even have time to change into his suit, hahaha (I changed before we left just in case, played out well), so he went to church in just slacks and jacket.

Loading the car with stuff for the house

Donuts for the ride to Vilcún

The house-chapel in Vilcún

View from the second floor of our house

Hermana Herminia made lunch for us in the office

I am absolutely loving the last assignment I've been given out here. If I could I would extend my mission to be here longer. But as always it is what the Lord wants that is more important that what I want (Alma 29:1-3).

Well, that's about all I have time for this week. I'll get some pictures attached this week. Love you mucho!

Freddy, Carmen Gloria (pregnant!), and Darleny

Cutting down weeds to harvest potatos

Burning weeds and cutting up my companion

Getting a taste of farm life

Gotta get lunch somehow!

I'm Vincent, Elder Vincent

Love,
Trevor

June 13, 2011

Hello there!

I'll have to make this quick cause I'm really short on time. We got back late from our P-Day activity and I don't have too much time, haha.

Vilcún has been AMAZING! The people here are so receptive and nice. This last week we got into 25 houses! Those are different houses, we returned to many of them more than once, so we were inside houses a lot. It is very cold here - it's close to the Llaima volcano. It rained just about every day all day this last week - perfect for me and my holey shoes! I'll have to see if I can get my hands on some boots or something. Or maybe I'll just use my black shoes that aren't dress shoes. If I polish them nobody will notice, right? Haha.

My companion, Elder Torres, and I get along fantastically. I've known him since I got to the mission so there wasn't a period of get-to-know-you things; we just got straight to work! It's been really great.

There are about 15 members here in Vilcún so on Sundays the leaders and their families from the Ñielol ward come out to support us. During the week they'll also be having the ward missionaries come out to work here in Vilcún - I'm glad the ward is excited to help out here.

This last Sunday we were able to bring seven of our investigators to church (Nancy, Jorge, Mario, Jimena, Luis, Margarita, and Ana) - we know we'll be able to bring many more this week! One of our investigators, Jimena, that had accepted a baptismal date couldn't come because she found her cousin dead in his house on Sunday morning. That was a hard hit for her because they grew up together. We were able to see a tender mercy in that situation, though. Just a day or two before we had taught her about the restoration and left her a chapter in the Book of Mormon to read: Alma 40. Perfect for what she needed in that moment. She told us that she read it and found some peace and comfort. Jimena is really excited to have us come back this week to visit her.

Today we went out to the country side to visit some investigators that I taught in Padre las Casas who are now living out here (Mario and Jimena). They are working on a farm, so we spent the morning helping them out take care of the cows and pigs and then we harvested some potatoes and cut weeds down in the field to burn them. Good old manual labor!

Shoot, I've got to get going. I'll send pictures next week. I love you all! Take care and be good! Enjoy that warm weather! It's freezing here in Vilcún, Chile! Until next week!

Love,
Trevor

June 5, 2011

Hey!

So I don't have much time - we're busy taking care of all the elders and sisters that are leaving on Tuesday and on top of that we've got to get back to our sector to say goodbye to some people, so I'll just drop a quick note to let you know about my cambio.

I'm staying in the office!

Just kidding! Haha. Nope, I'm leaving

So I'm going to be sent down near Temuco again to a little town called Vilcún. As far as I know there have never been missionaries in Vilcún - it's part of the Ñielol ward in the Temuco Ñielol stake, and once in a while the missionaries from there have gone out to the town, but it takes an hour to get there so it's not the most efficient use of time for them. Anyway, so President Swenson was going to send me there to train (which I was REALLY excited about), but then he realized that Vilcún should be a branch within the next few months and so it wouldn't be the greatest idea to have the weight of that fall onto the shoulders of a new missionary. So now I'm going to open the sector with another missionary that go there at the same time as I did: Elder Torres from Santiago. We're already good friends so I'm really excited about it. As of right now there are about 15 members in Vilcún, and President Swenson has given us the assignment of getting the attendance up to 50 people. There is only one less-active person there, so it's going to be pretty much all us working with the members there to sky-rocket that place. I'm SO excited! The bishopric from Ñielol will be traveling out to hold meetings in a house (where we will also be living) which will start at 4pm, so it's going to be INSANELY easy to bring people to church. I couldn't have asked for a better set-up for my last 6 weeks. I'm just itching to get down there! If you have a map of Chile Vilcún is north east of Temuco. I learned the other day that Vilcún is mapudungún (that's the mapuche language) means ''lagartija'' in spanish, which means ''lizard'' in english. So I'm going to the town of lizard!

Other quick note - I bought a new camera this week, so I'll be able to send pictures and stuff. I have a bunch from this last week, but no time to send them.

Alright, we've got to run. I'll write as soon as I can. Tomorrow I might have time after our consejo meeting with President and I'll try to write, but if not I'll just send a letter next MONDAY. That's right, my p-days will be changing back to Mondays for the rest of my mission.

Alright, talk to you later. Love you!

-Trevor

May 28, 2011

Greetings.

This week was really busy for us - it was the last week of interviews, so we were traveling through the north of the mission doing meetings and intercambios with the missionaries of those four zones (Talcahuano, San Pedro, Coronel, and Lebu). Both Tuesday and Wednesday I stayed in my sector, Hualpencillo, while Elder Rubilar went and worked with one of the companions in their sector. It's always fun to work with the missionaries that have a lot less time than I do because I get to see they're learning process and I get to learn things as well (you're never too old to learn something - that's a life lesson, haha). Elder Rubilar and I have challenged the entire mission to challenge at least three people to be baptized each day, so when we go out and work with the younger guys it's fun to see them overcoming the fear of doing that. On Tuesday I was with an Elder Palmer (who is now Elder Laurito's companion) - in the 4 hours that we were together we were able to challenge about 5 people to being baptized, two of which accepted the baptismal dates! So that was a good experience. We would have been able to put another one with an investigator named Scarleth, but right as we were heading over to her house with a member we got a call from the elders in Centinela saying that they had been playing soccer for a ward activity and one had somehow split his leg open to the bone. So I had to cancel the lesson and run over there to take him to the hospital. It was about a 1 1/2-inch gas that did, indeed, go down to the bone. Apparently he had slid into something that opened it up. So we took him to the hospital and waited until about 1 in the morning until he was done getting stitches and stuff. So we got home really tired and then had to drive down to Coronel in the morning for a meeting at 9am. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Coronel, so we left the house by quarter to 8. That night we worked with the elders in the sector of Lota Medio: Elder Jackson and Elder Allen. I worked with Elder Jackson and my companion with Elder Allen - they're good missionaries. Elder Jackson took me to an investigator they are teaching named Dog. Or at least that's what I understood his name was, haha. He's a man who is flipping his life around to live the gospel of Christ; he's got great faith and has just about conquered a smoking addiction, so it was nice to meet him. Dog's friend, Leo, showed up near the end of the visit, and we challenged him to prepare for baptism as well...he accepted! There's great people in Lota (which is the exact center point of Chile). So we got back to the house in Lota after a tiring day to find that there were no extra mattresses or blankets in the house...haha, what luck! I think I woke up every 40 minutes that night, and by the next morning I was more tired than I was when I went to sleep! Luckily I wasn't driving down to Lebu the next morning, so I took a nap - it's about an hour and a half from Lota to Lebu. Depending on how fast you drive, of course.

Interveiws with Lebu went really well. For the two weeks of interviews we've been teaching about being self-disciplined when it comes to planning. Usually what happens at night is a companionship will get home tired, hungry, wanting to sleep, etc. But planning at night helps the work be more efficient, and on top of that you already have everything fresh in your mind when you get home, so it's easier to think of productive things to do. So what we did to help teach self-discipline was have each missionary hold his/her hand straight up in the air for as long as he/she could. There were three rules: 1. You can't lower your hand. 2. You can't support your hand on anything. 3. You can't talk unless you are participating in the discussion or answering a question. They were to keep their hands up for our entire training, which lasted usually about 18 minutes. During those 18 minutes we would have them add things to their hands, like their triple, the bible, and their backpacks. Some zones were really impressive, and some just dropped like flies, haha. But it was a good exercise to illustrate the principle. Anyway, I kind of got side-tracked there. After the meeting was over we did an intercambio with some elders from Lebu (there are two companionships): Elder Gibbs and Elder Lamoreaux. We finished that up and then went up to Curanilahue so that I could say goodbye to some converts. That's also what we did this morning. Seeing all the people that I taught and saw get baptized just filled my heart; they've progressed a lot. I can't explain how much I love these people - they really are my family and I'll miss them.

That's enough talk about leaving, though. I've still got ages left in the mission :)

This coming week we'll start working on the cambios with President Swenson. He has told me that I'll get to finish the mission..er...continue working forever, back out in the field. That is, working in a sector all day every day. So I'm excited for that. I've wondered about if he'll ask me where I would like to go, and I don't think I would be able to choose! I love every part of this mission - I feel blessed that I was able to see each part of it. So I think I'll just leave that decision up to him and the Lord if he does ask me. I'll be happy to go wherever I'm sent.

Well, I think that's about it for this week. Oh! You asked about the protests. There are actually a lot of different reasons why there have been protests. It's kind of disorganized, I think. They're just like, ''Oh! There's a protest! Let's go complain about this!'' And then other people say the same thing and then it all just gets mixed. From what I've seen, though. The topics are about some hydroelectric dams that they are going to make in the south to power the bigger cities (it won't lower the price of electricity for everyone so that's why they don't like it), something about the government not wanting to give the students some kind of public transit discount, and various other things. Personally I don't think much will come of the protests just because stupid young kids get involved and start throwing rocks and junk at the police and then just randomly attack them. Not the smartest thing to do. But I'll stay out of it.

Anway, I'd better get going. Thank you for the letter! It's good to hear from you! Love and miss you tons!

Love,
Trevor

PS. Pictures included are of me saying goodbye to converts/friends in Curanilahue.

Familia Medina

Gerardo, me, Jocelyn (Yoshi), Javier

Hna Morales, me, Paola

Me, Angela, Kamila, Oscar

Me, Fabiola, David, Fernand, Agustina

May 21, 2011

Heylo!

Wow, that is a lot of music stuff you've got going on there! The most music I've got going on in my life right now is what we listen to in the car/while studying and choosing the hymns that will be sung in our meetings.

This week was really busy for us. We left early Monday morning down to Pitrufquen for interviews with the Nueva Toltén zone (it's about a 4-hour drive). That night we went to work in a small town called Gorbea with the elders. That was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to work in that zone, so it was nice. However, I didn't get to see much because there was a really dense fog - the furthest point I could see was the other side of the street. Anyway, so I didn't see much of Gorbea, but I did meet some great people that they're teaching. The last appointment of the day especially sticks out in my mind: Elder Gómez (who I was working with) felt that we should pass by to see a man that they had met named Israel. When we got there he opened the door and just looked at us. We asked if we could come in, he said yes, so we followed him into his room. Three things told me that this man was having problems - a pack of cigarettes on the bed, a container of alcohol on the floor, and a knife on his pillow. We sat down and talked with him for awhile and he was just torn up inside, he had been contemplating suicide. Turns out he had just found his girlfriend/wife cheating on him that night or the night before. Israel was absolutely furious, so we talked with him and helped calm him down. We offered him a priesthood blessing which he accepted, and it was incredible to see the change in him afterwards. Before we left the house he was feeling very optimistic, even laughing about some things, and was very excited to have the missionaries over again the next day. So I'm glad we were able to pass by and see him - who knows what would have happened if we didn't.

The next day we had interviews with the Temuco Ñielol zone and the day after that with the Temuco Cautín zone. I had the opportunity to work in Lican Ray again! That was really enjoyable because I was able to drop by converts and say goodbye to them (who knows if I'll be able to go to Temuco again) and meet some of the people they are teaching now. One guy named Frank (he actually lived in Chicago for a number of years) insisted that we speak english the whole time. He's working his way out of depression and smoking habits and is preparing to be baptized. In the half an hour that we were with him it looks like he took well to me, haha. He calls me whenever he's feeling down or tempted to smoke and wants me to call him in the morning on Sundays to make sure he gets to church. He's a great guy. Oh yeah, something I noticed during those two Temuco days - my right shoe has a giant hole in the bottom, haha. How did I miss that?! I'll tell you one thing, though, it's hard to miss a hole in your shoe when it's raining outside and there's puddles everywhere. So what I've decided to do, since it's not even worth buying new shoes at this point, is just try to use my older shoes (if I can get my feet in them) and use the newer ones on days that it isn't raining.

The day after that we had interviews with the zones of Angol and Victoria, and then we did an intercambio with the elders in a sector called El Mirador (Elder Hong and Elder Nelson). Elder Hong and I had the opportunity to deliver a free DVD about Finding Faith in Christ to a family who called for one (that almost never happens here in Chile - happens quite a lot in the states, though). SUCH a good family - they're worried about how the way the world is today will have an effect on their family, so they want to get closer to Christ. They made a GREAT decision. Elder Hong and Elder Nelson will be going back to teach them.

Yesterday we had our last day of interviews for this week with both of the Los Angeles zones. We finished the interviews at about 7pm with Los Angeles South, and it just so happened that the San Martín ward was having an activity that night, so I was able to see all my friends from that ward, including an investigator I found with Elder Heiser last August, Patricia (I believe I've mentioned her before). I actually spoke with Patricia for a little while and she committed to being baptized in June! That made my day :)

This morning we woke up bright and early...well, dark and early because it was raining...and made our way over to the Antuco volcano. As I mentioned it was raining, so we couldn't actually do too much volcano-hiking, but there is a lake up there as well, so we climbed all over the volcanic rock and got some nice pictures of the lake and some other cool things around there (one of the office elders let us borrow their camera).

Cliffs by the Antuco lake

Rubilar and me in front of the lake by Antuco

Me by the Antuco lake (it was raining)

Waterfall near Antuco

So that was pretty much my week in a nutshell. We got back to Concepción today to find that there are more protests going on. Fun stuff! Last time there were a lot of injuries, so hopefully it doesn't get that far this time.

Protest downtown Concepción

Alrighty, I think we're going to head back to the house, get all cleaned up and then go get the car cleaned - on Sunday and Monday there is a conference for the sisters of the mission and Elder Rubilar and I got roped into playing taxi-driver for them. Thank you for the letter! I'll look forward to hearing from you next week!

Elder Rubilar, Ivone Villalobos (good friend from LA), me

Maikel and his family

Verónica, me, Pedro, Cristina, Pedrito

Love,
Trevor

April 23, 2011

Note from Trevor's mom: Trevor and I have been, as he says, back and forth all week getting him registered for USU in the fall. His itinerary actually arrived in my email the other day, too -- time is getting short! So I didn't get an actual letter written to him this time, but he still wrote us a nice letter.


Well, we've been back and forth all week, so this week's letter may not be so special, haha. But I guess I could tell you about some things that went on during the week.

First things first, the cambios...dun dun dun! President Swenson decided to keep Elder Rubilar and I together again here in the office so I won't be going anywhere for another six weeks. I'll definitely be leaving the office for my last cambio, though, so that'll be good. This week we've pretty much just been working on cambios for the mission. The last two weeks have been draining - interviews and lots of intercambios with the missionaries of the mission, the volcano llaima trip, so it was nice to get back to our own sector. Also, it was nice to get back to my own bed :) There's something we tend to take for granted.

The other day we had a pretty insane wind/rain storm. It just so happened that Elder Rubilar and I also had an appointment out in Lenga (a tiny little coastal village about 15 minutes outside of Hualpén), so I got to see raging ocean for the first time in my life (in person, anyway). The wind was so strong that I could feel it pushing the car off-course. The sand from the beach was also pelting pretty hard against the car. Well, we got to the house and found that the family wasn't home, so we decided to go out onto the peninsula because there was a house up on the hill we hadn't contacted yet. We drove up the hill until we got to a closed gate and then forced the car doors open against the wind so we could walk up to the house. I'm fairly sure that it's a summer home because there was no sign of life when we did get to the house. So we walked back down to the car, backed down the hill (the road was a thin Agner's-Mill-Road-esque thing with ruts in it) and started heading back towards Hualpén. Just before leaving Lenga we noticed a number of houses on the edge of town that we hadn't contacted either, so we decided to pull over and do it. Elder Rubilar needed to get his rain jacket...which happened to be in the back of the truck - meaning that we would have to get out, run to the back and open it up to be able to reach it. So we parked with the back of the truck facing away from the wind so as not not get the back of the truck filled with water. I pushed the door open against the wind and rand behind the truck to shelter myself from fierce wind and pelting rain. Elder Rubilar, on the other hand, jumped out with his umbrella. Instantly the wind pulled him out of the car and all I heard was a yelp and then a few seconds later he appeared behind the truck with a massacred umbrella. I got a good laugh out of that. We got his jacket out and then we went to knock a house - the lady inside opened up the curtains and looked out at us...and did absolutely nothing else, hahaha. She refused to let us in, so we just ran back to the truck, now soaked, and drove back to Hualpén. It was like being in another Hurricane!

Elder Rubilar and I had a fun lesson this week that taught us a lot of patience. We're teaching an older lady that is a little bit slow, and just when it seemed like she was understanding we asked her questions to make sure and she either went blank and said I don't know or gave an answer that has nothing to do with anything, haha. My feeling is that she hears us, but doesn't listen to us. Two different things. Anyway, so we were very patient with her during the lesson, and when we got out to the car Elder Rubilar said, ''Wait a minute.'' He bowed his head and started to breath deeply (I thought he was going to pray or something). And then out of nowhere he flipped out and let out a good yell (the car did shake from side to side, hehe). We were afraid that she might have heard us, so when we got home Elder Rubilar stood about the distance from the car that the house was and I let a good yell out and shook the car a little bit. Couldn't hear a thing, so we're good :) We love the lady, she's very nice and very humble. I'm glad I have had so many opportunities to learn patience.

We are teaching a really good person in Lenga called Marilín. At the end of our first appointment we asked her to give a prayer, which she did. By the end of that prayer she was crying and she told us that she knew she had to come to church. Yesterday we invited her to be baptized and she said she would be baptized when she knew that the Book of Mormon is true and that the Church was restored. She also introduced us to her boyfriend last night and he was a REALLY nice guy. They'll be coming to church this Sunday, so we're excited for that.

Well, I think that's about all I've got for this week. Today I'll be going down to Curanilahue for a baptism of someone I taught while I was there. It's nice to see everyone down there again. I don't have any really cool pictures for right now, but I'll be sure to get some over the weekend and next week to send to you.

I hope you're all doing well. I'll look forward to hearing from you!

Love,

Trevor

April 18, 2011

Hello there!

Well, looks like the Disneyland trip ended up taking away writing time, but that's ok - it's bound to happen every once in awhile. I didn't have time to write on Saturday nor Sunday, so I guess we're a little more even.

Last week was craaaazy. We left Concepción on Monday evening and didn't get back until Saturday evening. Each day we had a meeting with the zones of the middle and south regions of the mission, and then following each mission Elder Rubilar and I did some intercambios with the missionaries of those zones. I really enjoyed working with all the missionaries - it's a great learning opportunity on both sides and it gave me a chance to get to know some parts of the mission where I had never been before. The focus I had in my head when I was working with the missionaries was to get into houses and teach families, so each day we worked really hard to do that. I would say each intercambio we got into at least 4 houses and found a lot of good people that are willing to listen to and hopefully accept the gospel.

On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to go back and visit one of my old investigators in San Martín - her name is Patricia Provoste. I believe I actually sent a tape to you all with a short story about teaching her when I was with Elder Heiser. After I left San Martín she had continued to go to church and had even tapped into genealogy a little bit, but for one reason or another had stopped going to church and reading the scriptures a few months ago. I didn't call her to tell her that I was coming to visit her (I actually went with Elder Harper, my MTC companion, because we did an intercambio with him and his companion Elder Bustos) so when we showed up her mom let us in and then went to get her without telling her who was in the next room. She was really surprised - didn't expect that I would ever be back there to visit again. We talked for a little while about what was going on in her life and why she had left her spiritual progress to the side (she had been making REALLY good progress), and I could just tell that the Spirit was teaching her because she was thinking a lot and kept saying that she knew that she had fallen away a bit. When we left she told me that she knows now that answers come from the Lord in one way or another. I didn't really know what she meant by that (could have been a lot of things), but when I opened my e-mail last night she had written me telling me that the next day she received her answer and had decided to go back to church and to be baptized. That made me SO happy! Elder Heiser and I worked so hard with her; I had to learn a lot of patience, but I'm glad I did. Patricia is a miracle - the Lord prepared her and helped her to gain a firm testimony - she'll be a great member.

Another cool bit of news: An investigator I left in Curanilahue named Paola Morales is getting baptized this Saturday! She was actually supposed to be baptized the week after I left, but for one reason or another she stopped her progress for a little while. Last week I was able to go visit her with the elders in Curanilahue and she committed to baptism again. She asked that I be there so I'll have to get permission from President Swenson. Maybe this peanut butter that you sent me will help out with that....haha.

This last Saturday was probably the most adventurous p-day I've had in my whole mission. Elder Rubilar and I spent Friday night in a little village called Cunco (we stayed with the missionaries), so that we could wake up early the next morning and drive out to the Llaima Volcano. So we got up at 7, left at about 7:30 and got to the volcano at about 9 am. Earlier in the week it had rained for two days straight, but on the volcano it didn't rain, it snowed! So we got there and everything was covered in snow. As you may already know, missionaries are always equipped for all weather conditions - so for mountain climbing we pulled out our trusty ol' sneakers, put on a coat, borrowed some ski poles from the base camp, and made our way up. Obviously we wouldn't be able to reach the top of the volcano without climbing gear and a guide, so we just went as high as we could on one of the neighboring peaks. The view from the top was gorgeous - you could see the entire valley and even the Villarica volcano off in the distance. When we were going down we decided to hike over to another peak (we later found out that the peak is called the Japanese Hill), and there we encountered a military Sergeant - Sergeant Muñoz. We talked with him for a bit on top of the peak and then he took us down to the barracks and gave us an apple before we headed back up to Concepción (about a 4-hour drive). I'll be sure to include pictures. We did take a little time to eat a snack on top of the highest part we got to, I took a video of it so I guess you'll just have to wait until I get home to see that.

Llaima

Llaima (again)

Rubilar and me by a cross they put up when Juan Pablo 2 died

Rubilar and me on our high point

The valley below (there is a drop-off behind me)

We decided to ski down

I'm also going to include pictures of when we went to Collipulli - what is so important about the little town, you might ask? Well, the biggest bridge in South America is there, it's called Malleco. We were going to go out to the middle of it, but it was a rainy morning and the planks were all wet so we decided that would be a bad idea. Maybe next time! We did get some good pictures, though.

Gettin' a little queezy on Malleco

Well, that's about all the time I've got for this week. Better get back to work now. Love and miss you tons! I'll look forward to getting your letter!

Love,
Trevor

March 26, 2011

First of all, I'm sorry to hear about (name omitted for privacy)'s girlfriend. It's always sad when things like that happen. In moments like these it really helps to have an eternal perspective - internal peace can be found in God's words communicated either by himself or by His past and present servants. I love the comforting words of Christ in 3 Nephi 9:14 - ''Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I recieve; and blessed are those who come unto me.'' Anyone can come unto the Lord. Naturally this will require repentance (key word, come), which can be a difficult process, but just as it says in Psalms 147:3 - ''He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.'' It is my hope that (name omitted) and all who are hurting may search the comfort that comes as a result of the healing power of Christ's Atonement. I know it will help them achieve internal peace.

This last week we were traveling the mission, once again. I feel like I've driven more here than I ever did back in the states! Except for that one trip from Nebraska to Utah...and from Utah to Virginia... It's a good experience, though. This week we had three multi-zone conferences in the north, middle, and south regions of the mission. Elder Rubilar and I prepared a message about focusing on teaching people, not lessons. We started out by picking a missionary and bringing him up in front of everyone and then had Sister Swenson buz a line across his head, haha. After she did the hack job she said, ''Alright, done!'' and sent the missionary back to his seat. A nice shock factor, don't you think? The message of that was that there isn't a ''one-size-fits all'' in missionary work; every person is different and has different needs so we must adapt how we teach to make sure that the Spirit is there and testifies to their hearts of the truth. To demonstrate a good example we spliced a few scenes from Patch Adams (the four scenes with the terminal cancer patient), and that got everyone thinking. It was a good experience - the missionaries seemed like they had a lot of good ideas to put into practice in their sectors.

Oh wow, it's almost conference time again! I LOOOOOVE conference - Kelton better not skip priesthood session! I've decided that I will make sure I have work off and studies planned so that I will never miss another session of general conference. Could be a little difficult...but not impossible, right?

We had a cool day this week - Elder Rubilar and I hardly had any time in our sector because we were getting everything ready for conference and all that jazz, but Monday we did manage to be there from about 6:30 to 10 pm. We only knocked about 5 doors, but we got let in to many of them! One of them was an ''athiest'' guy named Franco. He actually ended up being really receptive and cool (Ian would get along with him - he's a metal head with long hear, haha). Before leaving we left a picture of Christ in Gethsemane and he told us that whenever we wanted we could come back. So we'll take him up on that offer! The next person who let us in was just amazing. Her name is María José, and she just barely moved to Hualpen for work. We got into hear house by offering her a picture of Christ and asking if we could come in and share a short message about Him. She said yes, and after a little while talking to her we found out that she had gone to an LDS church with an LDS friend before and loved it, but had never decided to continue in any religion. For awhile she has felt confused and a little lost spiritually - or maybe just not so decided. She does know that God exists, but nothing much past that. We decided to give her a Book of Mormon, which she said she would read and then she said she'll come to church with us on Sunday. It's so refreshing when you find someone like that! And then that night we had a FHE with a family in the ward, to which they brought a non-member mother of a member-girl. The mom is battling depression and doesn't really know where to turn. Something cool that happened with her is that after the FHE while I was saying goodbye to her I asked her if she was going to come to the ward activity on Saturday (today) and to church on Sunday, to which she said ''no''. I asked her why and she asked me what good it would do her. Peace in your life was the only thing I told her, and I knew that she felt the Spirit and wanted more because her attitude changed immediately. She, Edith, said that she would be there with her daughter to learn more about it. So yeah, that was an amazing day!

Well, I think I've blabbered on for enough today. I didn't really take any pictures this week...should have done that...but I'll get on it for next week and get you all some good ones. Sorry! Love and miss you tons!

Love,

Trevor

PS. When does registration open up for USU? I hope everything is being taken care of there - I can't do too much from here. Thank you!

PPS. CUMPLEAÑOS FELIZ!!! TE DESEAMOS A TI, CUMPLEAÑOS FELIZ!!! QUE LOS CUMPLA FELIZ!!!! That's for all you old fogies that had birthdays recently! Love you!

March 20, 2011

Hello Mammy!!

Alrighty, sorry about not writing last week! Things just got really busy and then Elder Corbridge came to visit the mission so we were busy with that as well. But here I am, starting out another cambio with my new companion Elder Rubilar. On Tuesday I took Elder Moreno to the airport along with some other elders. Elder Heiser is also going home this cambio, but is now touring the mission with his parents, so I didn't take him to the airport. It was a really crazy sensation when Elder Heiser's mom ran up to hug him when we brought him to the hotel. It was also a weird sensation to see parents of a missionary here in the mission period, haha. It would be cool if you and dad could come down here when I finish, but I think we already decided that it's not possible. Oh well, you can come down with me when the Concepción temple gets dedicated! Sound like a plan? I thought so.

Let's see, what's new in the life of Elder Vincent.

The baptism we had last weekend was awesome! Nataly asked me to baptize her, and after the ordinance she just stayed there standing in the water with her eyes closed and said that she had never felt anything like that before - she had the biggest feeling of peace come over her and knew that God was pleased with her. When we got back into the tabernacle the ward councelor asked Nataly to share her testimony, which she did. It's been a little while since I've heard such a strong testimony coming from a recent convert. Hearing someone you taught say the things she said just fills your heart with joy - it's those moments that make every bit of the work worth it. The promise is real in D&C 18:15-16. One of the ward missionaries told me that Nataly went out with her to do some of her visits to recent converts and less-active members, so she's getting really involved right away!

Nataly's baptism

coming out of the font with Nataly

I've got a funny story to share with you all. Well, first of all you should all know that Elder Rubilar and I work hard and play hard. And well...we also make the work fun, haha. I'm really enjoying working with him - he's a great missionary and a great leader, so we're going to get a lot done for the mission this cambio. Anyway, so the other day we were driving in our sector to go visit one of our investigators, Katy (she actually has a baptismal date now!), and I decided to take a little short cut. There's a small dirt field between two roads, and instead of taking the long way around to get to the other side, I decided to just drive through the little dirt field. The cool thing about this dirt field, though, is that it is just FULL of potholes. One other key point of information: I didn't mention this to Elder Rubilar - best to just find these things out for yourself, right? So there we were going through the pothole field, Elder Rubilar and I were talking, and then the truck begins to shake side-to-side. Just a little at first, but then it got pretty violent, hahaha. Elder Rubilar let out a little yelp and then smacked his head against the window! PRICELESS! I'm still laughing about that one! I think I'll make that the official initiation process of Hualpencillo - gotta get your head smacked against the truck's window :).

I think I should explain a little bit about one of the pictures that I've attached. So this cambio three new missionaries got to the mission. After the first meeting with them in President Swenson's house Elder Rubilar and I decided to take them all to their sectors: one went to San Pedro, the other close to Coronel, and the other to Curanilahue (I LOVE that place). So we dropped the first two companionships off with no problems. Then on the way through the curvy roads along the coast to get to Curanilahue one of the trainers, Araya, got motion sick or something and painted our car with lasagna. Hahaha! I got some nice pictures of it - including one with the artist - so I hope you enjoy!

On a more spiritual note, I'd like to share with you a portion of my studies from this last week. I'll translate it to english for you (names might still appear in spanish):

I was reading Alma 47 (the story about how Amalickíah conquered to king of the lamanites and gained power over the kingdom) and I realized that I was being taught about how the devil uses sin to TRY to destroy the kingdom of God on earth.

*In verses 10 and 11 it is seen that Amalickíah subtly tried THREE times to make Lehonti come down from his refuge. Each time Lehonti said no, but Amalickíah persisted. Likewise, satan persists with his temptations.

*In verses 12 to 14 we see that Amalickíah tries in another way to get to Lehonti - he goes a little closer, thus making it appear as if he were making himself weaker to make Lehonti feel more comfortable. Amalickíah even says that if Lehonti joins forces with him that he will make him the first chief, and that he (Amalickíah) will be the second chief. Satan lies to us and makes his plan seem harmless, when really he has no intentions of fulfilling what he says.

*In verse 16 we learn that Amalickíah only used Lehonte as a means to get to the end he desired. And just as is evident in verses 18 and 19, satan does the same: he uses us while it is convenient for him, but when he no longer has need of the us he will leave us in an instant to despair (known as spiritual death).

*In verses 20 to 35 we see that Amalickíah continued to conquer the whole kingdom with his lies and frauds. And all of this because Lehonti went HALF WAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN. Satan leaves ruin and heart ache in the lives of people and nations when they let themselves be lead by his influence. Key word being LET. Lehonti did not have to go down, rather he CHOSE to do it. The key to avoiding this is virtue and righteousness - doing what is right, even when nobody is looking, and searching diligently for what God wants us to do. This will, as Nephi wrote, ''give no place more for the enemy of [our souls]''.

* Verse 36 shows us that an entire civilization, even one that has been taught the ways of God, can dwindle in wickedness if they apart themselves from Him.

*Read verses 11-13, and 17-18. It talks about the example of Moroni.

I feel that this could be applied to our lives in more ways than just sin and temptation, but those are my feelings and thoughts, so I'll have to leave it up to you and see what the Spirit tells you. I hope you can enjoy this chapter as much as I have.

Well, this coming week we'll be going on another road trip - we've got mulit-zone conferences in the north, middle, and south of the mission. We should be back by Saturday, though. So hopefully I'll be able to write.

Update on letters: none have gotten to me, I'm guessing that's because nobody has sent any, haha. I am going to be sending one out today and that should get me all caught up on letters. Taadaaa! Magic.

Alright, I think that's just about it for this week. I'll get some pictures attached to this and send it off. Thank you for remember to write! Love and miss you tons!

leaving Elder Moreno in the airport

The office - Rubilar, Brimhall, Moreno, the Sullivans, Me, Arskey

this is how we see how much we weigh

Love,
Trevor

PS. Thank you for getting in touch with USU. When does registration start? I need to get all that stuff figured out. I think I've decided to keep my music major and then double minor in spanish and political science. So if you could talk to USU and figure out what I need to do to get all that put together I would really appreciate it. Let me know ASAP!!! Thank you!