September 13, 2010

*Note from mom: The first part of his letter refers to my sharing an experience with the BEST meeting I have been to in years, a 150-stake conference this past Sunday with Elder Holland -- landmark address as usual --, Julie Beck and President Packer.

Hey howdy hey!

Thank you for sharing about your spiritual experience, Mom. While I was up at USU...I don't really know what happened, something inside of me just wanted something. That hunger lead me to make the decision to serve a mission and I can say that I've never made a better decision in my entire life. Leaving everything behind has helped me to lose the life I had before and find one that is infinately better and with more purpose. Something one of my investigators, Carolina, said this week made me think about that. She said that nothing and nobody could take her desire to get baptized out of her. I feel the same way about my testimony - it's so important and vital to me that I would never let anyone or anything take it away from me. It really is the most important thing in my life - without it nothing really has a purpose. Sure I would have a family, but to what end? With what purpose? This gospel IS true. This IS the Lord's church. I just wish I could go to a fireside with Elder Holland! I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer for General Conference in October. I finally understand why those guys in the Singles Ward said it would be cooler to watch General Conference than monday-night football, haha!

Let's see, how is Elder Vincent doing this week:

1. Today we went to Saltos del Laja - hadn't been there in awhile. It's actually amazing the difference in water level there is in winter (or the end of winter) as opposed to what there is in summer. I took some pictures, so I'll get some of those sent to you. We went up there as a zone (all but one of the sectors was there) so there will be some new faces in the pictures.

E' Heiser and me by the river

Petting a sleeping dog (H' Bair, H'Barillas, me)

Sleeping dog by the waterfall

Waterfall

2. This coming week we should be having two baptisms - Edward (18) and Carolina (19). Yay for more young people in the church! That's what the ward of San Martín needs, haha. I don't know what I've mentioned about these two before, but here's a short summary: Edward is a guy we met knocking doors. He had some questions about if he could see his dad again or not (he died 2 years ago) and that got him really interested in the church when we said yes. For the last 3 weeks he has been meeting up with us every other day and has gone to church every week. He's a great guy - very innocent and very willing to accept Christ in his life. Carolina is someone we found by taking a look at the people missionaries had taught in the past. A few months ago, actually, she said that she didn't feel ready to get baptized or anything, and her parents weren't too fond of the idea. Now she's loving the church, participating, and she said that nothing could stop her. On top of that, her mom is also sharing with us now! The Lord prepares these people, I have a strong testimony of that.

3. Everyone is getting ready for the 18 - there have been parades of schools pretty much every day, everyone is having parties and, here's the best part, MAKING EMPANADAS! WOOOOOOO!!! They're reaaaally tasty :) I might be taking another wack at the cueca this year...we'll see how that goes haha.

Well, I think that's about all the updates I've got for this week. And my internet time is just about up anyway, so I think I'll go get some pictures attached and get this sent off. Thank you for writing me - I very much enjoyed your letter. Get that scripture studying going on a daily basis, and then when I get back we can have some group study :) I'll share some great things I've learned out here. I love and miss you very much and am always praying for you!

Love,

Trevor

September 6, 2010

Howdy y'all!

I guess if there's more than one person reading this it would be, ''Howdy all y'all!'' Haha, one of the many great things I learned while living in Virginia.

You're always such a busy little bee, mom! But I guess that's better than having nothing to do, right? I love being busy and learning new things, so keep on keepin' on I say. Just don't lose too much family time!

Alrighty, let's see, what's new in the life of Elder Vincent:

Today Elder Heiser and I took a trip up to Cabrero to visit, it was so cool to be able to see some of the people again! We had breakfast at Freddy's house and then went to see another family that is basically my Chilean family. Only the mom, Jaqueline, was there, so that was a little bit of a bummer, but I was really happy to see her. It was very...nostalgic...being back in my greenyville again. I literally felt bigger! Haha. Kind of like when you go back to a place where you grew up as a kid or something - Cabrero seemed pretty small to me, like I had been so much younger when I was there before.

The other day I saw something pretty interesting. We were talking to this guy and asked him if we could come back to meet his family and share a message about Christ, and he said no, I already know everything and I don't really need anything else. And ironically he had a shirt on that said (in english), ''Why do people with closed minds always open their mouths?'' Haha, so I thought that was pretty funny.

Elder Heiser and I are working ourselves to death here! And the Lord is really blessing us for it - this last Sunday we finished up with five baptismal dates, four of which are for September and then one more in October. The people here in Los Angeles are amazing - I'm loving this city. There's this one lady named Marianela that has decided to completely change her life to be able to do live in harmony with the gospel and get baptized. She stopped smoking, has decided to go to churtch every week and is telling her boyfriend that they can't live together anymore. She's going to kick him out! Haha. So she's got a date for the 16th of October. We're teaching a family of three named Angela (the mom) and her two children Gonzalo and Krishna. They have a baptismal date planned for the 17th of September, but it miiiight change. We'll have to figure that out this week. And then the other for the 17th of this month is a girl named Carolina who had actually shared with missionaries before and had gone to church and institute (she's 19). Before she had been going to church with one of her friends, and he got baptized, so she thought she was just doing it for him and decided that wasn't right. So she kind of stopped going to church, but then she said she started thinking that she needed to go back, and that SAME day we passed by to see her (one of the ward councelors gave us the reference a day or two before). So she's really excited to be sharing with us again and her mom is actually participating now as well - she hadn't been doing that before; miracles just happen every day! Gotta love this :) We have plenty more people that we're teaching that don't have baptismal dates yet, but I'm sure they will soon enough.

I think the last bunch of letters I sent out while I was in Curanilahue got lost in the mail, so here's a shout-out to all of the people who should have recieved letters:

Margot Crandall
Jon Baranowski
Rachel King
Serena Lever
Chauri Thurston
Sara McGhie

I may have forgotten a name...or not...but if each of those people could let me or my parents know if you got the letter or not so that I know if I should write another one or not that would be great. If you've already done so don't worry about it - I already know, haha.

The other night we watched Finding Faith in Christ with a family...and it made me feel so much at home - seeing the life of Christ and pondering about it. Christ lives...I know that. He loves me...I know that too. The more one studies the more one comes to realize the divinity of His plan. I encourage you all to really STUDY the scriptures and pray about it. Study without prayer is like going swimming without water (3 Nephi 26:8-10).

Well, I believe that's it for this week. I love and miss you all very much and am constantly praying for you all. This is the Lord's work, there is not a single doubt in my entire being of that. I encourage you all to increase your faith in Christ and I promise you will find things you didn't know and feel things you've never felt.

Anyone want this piece of land?

Best mission in the world - with Elder Hatch my old zone leader from Lebu

Elder Hall liked that picture...so I killed him, haha

Elder Heiser and his mattress mountain

Love,
Trevor

August 31, 2010

Hola Mama!!!

I don't think I'll be writing in spanish this week because the tilde (accent mark) doesn't seem to be working on this keyboard. So that would change the meanings of a couple words, probably.

Mwahaha! Enjoy that back-to-school stuff suckers! Well...I'll enjoy not having it while I can haha - this is my last school year not studying. But then again I'm excited to study again, so it'll all be good.

Congrats to Justin and Mandi! I haven't heard from them in a few weeks...hmm.

Congrats on your new calling! I'm sure you'll be a great choir director. Just look at it this way - if someone good comes before you it just gives you all that much more motivation to work harder and have even better results! That's something I like here in the mission - you always hear about good missionaries that have gone through certain sectors, which motivates us to work really hard so that we can be the missionary they talk about! Haha, just kidding - I don't love myself that much. But if a missionary does good things in a sector the members usually remember them.

So here's a random note - there's a new sister missionary in my zone who lived in Provo who I swear I had met before the mission. Her name is Sister Bair - ring any bells? She said she knows some people I went to high school with: Lauren and Maria Stone, the Crandall family, etc. Yeshhh...

My new companion Elder Heiser and I are working insanely hard. This sector hasn't baptized in about 9 weeks (which is a long time for a zone leader sector), but as of right now we have 4 dates for September - 3 of them are a mom, Angela, and her two kids Gonzalo and Krishna. Their dad r-u-n-n-o-f-t on them and is now living with another woman...scumbag... I should shouldn't say those kinds of things about God's children...son-of-God scumbag...better? Haha. But yeah, they're loving church and all that we're sharing with them and are excited to get baptized. The other lady is named Maria Nela and she's absolutely golden. After church on Sunday we dropped by to see her and she accepted a baptismal date and comitted herself to read the entire Book of Mormon by this Saturday! And the cool thing is I believe she can do it! Haha, so we're extatic about her.

Being a zone leader sure eats up any extra time I may have had at the end of days...we're always doing something, haha. But that's ok - it keeps me VERY much focused and I am learning a lot of new things - how to have success in life in general. So I'm very grateful to have this opportunity.

Well, I forgot my thingy to attach my camera to the computer, so I don't think I'll be able to send pictures this week. We had consejo with President Swenson this morning in Concepcion so I didn't remember to bring it. Funny story about that actually, before I finish up. So we had bought bus tickets from Los Angeles to Concepcion for 7 this morning, which means we were going to wake up at 5 to get all showered and ready, take the 2-hour bus-ride to Concepcion, and then take a micro (small bus) up to Talcahuano for 45 minutes to get to the chaple in Villa Cerro in time for the meeting at 10am. We went to sleep....11pm....wake up in the middle of the night...stupid dogs....SEVEN!!!! IT'S SEVEN!!!! Screams Elder Kamalu in his funny panic voice haha. The stinking alarm didn't go off! So we jumped out of bed, threw our suits on, brushed the teeth, got the hair wet, and bolted it over to the bus terminal. We were able to catch a bus...that left at 8! So we got to the terminal in Concepcion around 9:35...not enough time to take a micro. So we jumped in a taxi, told the driver that we were in a hurry, and he rocketed it over to the chaple. We got there before President Swenson and about half the other missionaries! Haha, so that was a pretty amazing story. Now I'm looking forward to getting back to Los Angeles so I can take a shower and then go visit some investigators. The end :) Hope you enjoyed that, haha.

Alrighty, I believe that's it for now. I'll make sure to get some pictures to you for next week - I have to admit I'm kind of lazy at taking pictures because I don't like to look like a tourist, but I'll get better at it and take more pictures from now on. I hope you have a good week! Love and miss you tons!

Love,
Trevor

August 23, 2010

*Note from mom: He made me laugh with the pouty "his flag is bigger" pic! The story is that he asked me to send him a small American flag for his wall. I sent exactly what he asked for, but this guy's is way bigger.

Dear Mommy,

Getting back into school already? Wow, I feel like just yesterday you were telling me how happy you all were to be leaving school and getting into vacations. I guess time passes by faster when you're not actually around to see everything happen, right? Glad to hear you all enjoyed the summer, though. It's actually been really warm here for the past 2 weeks. Yesterday it rained a bit, but nothing to complain about. When it rains here, though, it RAINS. Curanilahue turns into a giant puddle when it rains...or really all of Chile does. Los Angeles isn't quite as close to the coast, though, so it doesn't reain as much here. It's basically the same as Cabrero (climate-wise) so I won't have to adjust too much.

Well my first week as a zone leader was great. My companion Elder Hall was pretty trunky when I got there, so I took him out to work, resurrected him, and squeezed every last bit of juice out of him that I could, haha. He's really happy to have finished his mission strong - we had people with us in church and 3 baptismal dates. This sector hasn't had baptismal dates for about 6 weeks, so that was pretty cool. The members here are awesome! They pretty much just throw references at us, haha. This last week they gave us 14 references! That has never happened in any of my sectors before! Elder Hall said that they had never done that until I got here, so maybe they just like me, haha. But references are so much better to work with because they already have friends inside of the church. Elder Hall will be leaving for Concepción with another elder that's going home tomorrow, so I'll be with my new companion Elder Heiser, who is from Colorado. We've got some great ideas for the zone and will be working really hard to help everyone have success this cambio. This last weekend the zone had 3 baptisms and we've got 2 more for this week, looks like about 4 or 5 for the next week, and more coming. Just trying to do what President Swenson told me to do - ''Have the zone put goals, and hold them to those goals. Light it up.'' It's been a great experience so far and I have a little over 10 months left to get better at being a zone leader so I'm really excited to continue learning and participating in the Lord's work.

Heading Home

Saying goodbye to Fabiola and family

Saying goodbye to the Chamblás family

Here's a fun story for the week:

So there was this lady hanging around the bus terminal in Los Angeles the day of transfers (the zone leaders have to stay and wait until everyone has their companions and then we can go back to our sectors) that was just bugging the missionaries to death. She gave elders the finger as they were heading off on buses, tried to rob the monopoly cards we had, and even tried to grab a few suitcases hahaha. She was there from about 9 in the morning and was still there with a suitcase at about 3 in the afternoon, ticket in-hand. I don't think she ended up going anywhere, she just wanted to bug all the missionaries. People are fun, right?

Let's see...anything else for this week...Elder Kamalu is a district leader in my zone, and we're living in the same house, so that's actually pretty fun. It's kind of like the MTC over again, haha. He was my district leader and I was his zone leader and we were roommates. Deajavouuu....or however those crazy french spell their words.

Well, I believe that'll be it for this week. Nothing else really comes to mind. I'll go get some of those pictures attached now. I love and miss you very much!

Burning the 1st-year shirt

Love,
Trevor

August 16, 2010

Hola Mama!

*trumpet sounds* Hear ye, hear ye, the transfers of Curanilahue have been announced as follows:

Elder Tatasciore is going to stay as SENIOR COMPANION with another elder from URUGUAY named Elder Alvez. They will be baptizing, so they will be having fun! Haha.

Elder Galindo is bumping up to be a DISTRICT LEADER and will be going to the sector of Renaico in the zone of Angol with an Elder Wilkins. God speed!

Elder Laurito will be....STAYING AGAIN in Curanilahue! Haha. He's going to be CO-COMPANION with an Elder Bowthorpe.

Elder Vincent will be bumping up to ZONE LEADER in the sector of San Martín in the zone of LOS ANGELES SOUTH. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing! Haha, just kidding, it actually means a lot of things. President is trusting me with a big assignment, and I've got a lot of work to be doing. I'll be with an Elder Hall for 10 days, and then he's finishing his mission, so I'll be with an Elder Heizer who is also just bumping up to zone leader. So I've got to get to know the sector in 10 days, and do everything President Swenson told me I'll be doing. I'm a little nervious...not really, haha. Nah, I'm really really looking forward to it and all the things we're going to do in LAS (Los Angeles Sur) this cambio. I'll also be right near Cabrero again, so I'll finally be able to go back to visit. Yay! I called Freddy and Carmen Gloria last night to tell them the news and they were really excited.

Yesterday Gerardo and David (two boys that got baptized about 3 weeks ago) got the Aaronic Priesthood, so I was very happy to be able to be there to see that. It was great to see all the converts that had gotten baptized in church while I was giving a talk on Sunday. There were 87 people in sacrament, 7 of which me and my companions baptized :) Baptizing and seeing converts stay active in the church are the greatest joys out here in the mission field. Also the personal progress, but that sounds a little young-womeny so I'll just leave that part out of the letter, haha.

Gerardo and me with milk mustaches

Well, I don't really have a whole lot more to report for this week. I'm excited for this next cambio and all the opportunities I'll have to work and serve. It's going to be a great six weeks!

Alrighty, I'm going to get some pictures attached. I love and miss you all very much! Behave yourselves!

E' Frankson and me

E' Tatasciore drunk on creme and milk

Hermana Clarrrrrrk (pirate) and me

Zone de Lebu, 08-2010

Zone de Lebu loco, 08-2010

Stepped in a puddle of mud...

Love,
Trevor

Note: Trevor says he hasn't received letters from friends or other family in a long time, so if you feel so inclined, I know he'd love to hear from you. You can send an email to me and I'll just forward it, if you wish.

August 9, 2010

Querida mamá,

Jeje, lo siento por el chiste de los dientes! Pero puede estar tranquila porque solamente era chocolate ;-)

Well it sounds like you all had quite the trip in Washington! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I also had a really jam-packed week and week-end this last week. Elder Tatasciore and I worked our missionary behinds off (I say that like that's something different, haha) the whole week because we were going to be gone for all of Saturday. We took a bus to Cañete at about 10 on Friday night, getting there at almost 11. Barely slept on what you could barely call a mattress. Then we took a 4-hour bus ride south to Temuco at 8 Saturday morning. Fernanda's parents picked us up at the bus station and took us back to their house for lunch. It was really really cool being back there again - I've really missed that place and that family. After lunch we headed down to the chapel where I was able to see a lot of my good friends from the ward again. Then Robin and Bilha showed up (the couple getting married and baptized), who were really happy to see me, and I to see them (not really sure if that's correct grammar...but if it's not, tell Webster to talk to me about it later). The wedding ceremony was really great - they did it inside the chapel - and then the baptism afterwards was really great. I had found them with Elder Tonumaipe'a six months ago, so it was something...impresionante...to see them finally taking those two steps. At the reception in the cultural hall afterwards they both made toasts in which they bore their testimonies (very strong for recent converts) and thanked me for making the trip down to be there with them. I didn't really realize how important it really was to them that I was there. The Spirit was really strong during the few hours that I was there - a very enjoyable experience. At about 6 we jumped on another bus back up to Cañete, arriving at about 10:40, spent another sleepless night on that so-called mattress, and then made it to the district conference then next day without problems. Needless to say I'm pretty tired of buses, so Elder Tatasciore and I will just be staying in Curanilahue today, haha. Oh yeah! Before I forget to tell you this: before the baptismal service Robin and Bilha were both pretty nervious, so I decided to make them laugh...and I fell into the baptismal font...hahaha. Luckily I had already changed into my baptismal clothes! I planned it all...of course (I was cleaning the fog off the mirror above the font and didn't realize I hadn't taken the last step down...and...well...SPLOOSH!).

Jam-packed bus to Cañete with the district choir

In the bus terminal with Fernanda

Merrel, Me, Bilha, Robin, Barajas

Bilha got baptized!

Robin got baptized!

Marriage ceremony

They finally got married!

I did meet Cami's friend, Elder Merrell. He told me he would like Cami to write him...haha. Nice guy...we'll see about how things go with my sister when he finishes in another 22 months! Mwahaha.

Wanna date my sister, eh?

Well, I'm pretty sure that I'll be heading out of Curanilahue this next week (cambios are on Tuesday of next week). My zone leader Elder Hatch tells me that I'm going to be a zone leader this cambio. Also a friend of mine here in the branch, Madelyn Neyra, who is best friends with Sister Swenson, tells me the same story. If the call comes I'll accept it. It's crazy how fast time goes by...feels like yesterday I was just getting here to Chile, haha. But that's the way the cookie crumbles *says Elder Vincent while holding a brush up to his mouth* Rug! Jug! Duck! (hopefully you've all seen Bruce Almighty).

I've started making a tape for you all again - not sure when I'll finish, but I'll get it sent out in the next package I send back. I'm guessing the only request from home is more bon-a-bons? Haha, unless you would all like another Índio Pícaro (the little wood-guy).

As far as my requests...peanut butter...hmmmm...pictures...

church movies (is the new Joseph Smith movie out on DVD yet???)...not really sure what else. If I think of something I'll let you know next week.

Well, I think that's just about it for this week. The most exciting thing that happened this week was the Temuco trip, which I've already talked about. There have been some pretty strong after-shocks this week, but nothing serious. Just enough to wake me up in the middle of the night to say, ''Cut it out! I'm sleeping!'' Haha. Good times. Well, thank you for writing to me this week. I'll be waiting for those snail-mail letters from the rest of the family! *Points to each and every one with a scorning finger* I miss and love you very much!

Love,
Trevor

August 2, 2010

Hey howdy hey!

Sounds like you're all off having a great time in Washington! I have to admit I was a little jealous to hear about the camping and the boating...I want to take a nature trip when I get back. How's everyone doing?

This week went well for us here - we put a baptismal date with Fabiola's (the mom that just got baptized) mother for the 28th of this month. She hasn't really participated too much when we've been there sharing with the family, so I saw that as a huge blessing. I think the pivital point was when she saw the pictures of all the baptisms - she said, ''There's someone missing here! Me!''. So we told her we could help her prepare to get baptized as well and she accepted! We also found another girl named Camila that accepted a baptismal date for the 21st, but we're going to have to push it back to the 28th (she wasn't able to come to church because she was sick). We found her knocking doors, so to all those missionaries out there who think knocking doors isn't very effective...IT IS! I have found many people that have gotten baptized just knocking a door here and there...more like my WHOLE sector hahaha. I love it.

So I'll be heading back to Temuco this Saturday (all day in the bus, hehe, fun stuff) to baptized a couple that's getting married! I'm very excited - their names are Robin and Bilha, not sure if I mentioned them in a letter before. I found them when I was with Elder Tonumaipe'a in Lican Ray, so it's great to see that they're finally getting married and baptized. The Bishop in Lican Ray called President Swenson to get permission for me to go down there, and then President Swenson talked with me and gave me permission to do it - special request of Robin and Bilha. So that's going to be a lot of fun. The condition that President Swenson gave me is that I have to get down there and back in the same day, haha. And it takes about 4 hours to get there, so that should be fun: Leave early in the morning, get there for the wedding, go to the baptism, run back to the center to take a bus and rocket it back up to Curanilahue. And then the next morning we have district conference in Lebu...so lots of traveling! Oh yeah, and today we're in Concepción because I had an appointment with a foot doctor - those new shoes that you sent me did a number on my heel-ankles when I sent my Eccos to get fixed, and now my achiles tendon hurts while I walk even with my soft shoes. Bummer! But I'll have some implants for my shoes pretty soon here. They're charging me like $70...so I really hope that's reimbursible...if not, I might have to ask you for some money...sorry :( Gotta have my feet ship-shape, right?

Oh yeah, so I found out that Cami's friend Elder Merrill is actually in Lican Ray - so I'll get to meet him this weekend. Kind of cool how he was born in my old sector. It's a small mission after all.

Here's the funny story of the week:
So the other night we were walking through a neighborhood at about 8pm when a group of flaites called us over to talk to them. I had met some of them before, so we went over for a minute just to humor them. They started asking us a bunch of questions and then the one girl that was there asked us if we danced. I told her no, so she flipped on the stereo in the car (no idea where they got a car, haha) and then pretty much threw herself on me. In my head I was like, ''Get off me, Satan!'' Hahaha, and I backed away from her before she could do anything. Elder Tatasciore that it was pretty funny - we got some good laughs out of things I could have done...haha.

The capacitations were really good - it's a focus that the church will be applying in the MTC this coming May. I guess they want all the missions of the world to get some experience with it before they start throwing new missionaries out there. I don't have time to go into all the details and whatnot, but it was a really spiritually edifying experience and I'm really eager to apply the things I learned.

Well, I didn't really take any pictures this last week, so I'll look for some that I can send. Thank you for writing even though you were on vacation! I always enjoy getting letters. I love and miss you very much!

Crossing the bridge into Concepción

Curanilahue

Missing a tooth (not really...)

Love,
Trevor