week #65 -- bautismo!

How´s is going?!

My week was great like always! Just another week of working hard in the Lord´s vineyard! This Thursday Chile played against Argentina. We have permission to watch the world cup elemenatory games so we were able to see the game on Thursday. We can see the games because everyone is watching the game and we would just be walking around doing absolutely nothing so we can watch the games with investigatores and share something at halftime. Chile plays again tomorrow against Bolivia! Chile lost against Argentina but they played really really well! Vamos Chilenos! Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le Viva Chile! We actually found a new investigator to start teaching. We watched the game in the church. We did an activity in the church and invited people to come and watch the game in the church. We had a convert come to the game with one of his friends. So we´ll see what happens with the friend but he was cool and receptive!

Then Friday we had to do companion exchanges with Pozo Al Monte again because they needed an interview for their investigator and Elder Schmid had to go down to Iquique to go see a doctor. So my comp went to Pozo to do the interview and I went down with Elder Schmid to Iquique. It was a pretty chill day. I sat on a couch for like an hour and a half waiting while Elder Schmid was in his psycology appointment. Got a good study in of the scriptures which was good lol.

Saturday we also had another baptism! Martha got baptized! She was an investigator that has been going to church for like a month now but couldn´t get baptized because she wasn´t married to the dude that she was living with. Like 3 weeks ago he left the house and left the family. This dude is just a mess. Just left his family and everything....  But for something it happened and Martha had the faith to move forward and also to get baptized! She promised that if he came begging back at the house that she wouldn´t let him back in unless they get married. So we all good! And if he really wants to be with her then he will do anything to be with her...

Also this week I contacted a girl in the street with Elder Schmid. We talked with her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and about baptism. She said that she´d like to get baptized and go to church. So I was like "well permiso, vamos a bautizar". Well I think and talk in spanish so I thought it would just be right to put what I thought in spanish because idk how well that translates into english lol.. So this Sunday she came to church with her husband(THEY ARE MARRIED IT¨S A MIRACLE) and their 2 daughters. One has 8 years old baby!! TA! They are super awesome. They loved the church and everything. The only thing that keeps them from getting baptized this week is I think that they might have a problem with a couple things in the word of wisdom. But we are going to confirm and help them to change the things that they need to change to get baptized ASAP! But it´s awesome finding the people that the Lord is preparing every single day. That is why is it so important to always keep a look out and talk with everyone that you come into contact. I just imagine not stopping to talk to Candy(her name is candy lol) and missing out completely on a entire familiy that the Lord has been preparing to recieve the gospel in their lives! Always just have to keep working and keep trying to find the people that the Lord is preparing! If we do everything that we can and are being obiendient there isn´t any way that we shouldn´t have people coming to church and recieveing these gifts of the gospel!

But yeah that was pretty much my week this week. Nothing too interesting! Today we actually went to a place in Iquique called the Zofri. It´s pretty much just a huge black market where there are so many stores that sell pretty much everything that has to do with everything lol. A lot of technology type stuff and they sell everything for like super cheep because they are a lot of products from outside and stuff like that. It´s crazy how big the place is and how cheep they sell somethings. So today I bought an electic shaver with my personal money so I hope that, that´s alright... lol. I´m sick of having to shave everyday so I found a nice cheep shaver so that it´s a lot faster and easier lol. Should serve for quite a while as well. But honestly if there is something that you guys want from a black market just let me know lol.

I´ll have to ask Elder Wheelwright about that lol. Maybe we´re family.........lol

Yeah the scripture for my plaque is in Mateo 28:19-20 19 Por tanto, id y haced discípulos a todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo;
20 enseñándoles que guarden todas las cosas que os he mandado; y he aquí, yo estoy con vosotros todos los días, hasta el fin del mundo. Amén. If you can put it in Spanish that would be dope but if not english is all good as well!

I´m super excited for general conference this week to be able to listen to our leaders and what they have for us this conference. The conference are always super good and there are things that we can learn in every single talk! I will also be able to watch it is english! Gringo room baby!! Yeah we go to the ward building to listen to conference!
Good luck this week Hailey in your cheer competition!! Hope you guys have a good time!
Love you guys a ton!!

Love
Elder Newkirk

Pics: BAUTISMO

week# 64 -- lots of training and conferences this last week

Hello.

This week has also been a pretty packed one as well because our mission president was pretty much here all week long and we had a couple things that we had to do while he was here in Alto Hospicio!

Tuesday we had conference pretty much all day long. We had a conference with the zone in Iquique and with our zone with president. He talked a lot about suffering with joy and how we will come across times in the mission that are hard as well as in life and that we just have to always have joy even when we are in rough times. Suffer with joy! We also talked a lot about our savior and the importance that he has in our lives first. It was a really good conference that we had! I missed parts of it though being zone leader you have to make sure that everything is going well and have to prepare lunch for everyone and stuff like that so I missed out on a couple parts of the conference. Also Tuesday at night when we got back to our sector we found a family that we started to teach. They are pretty catholic but they´re nice. There are a ton of catholic´s here in Chile!

Then Wednesday was a pretty normal day. In the morning we planned out a zone attack in a sector that needed help finding new people to teach. So we all went there to go work in their sector and find new people to baptize! I went out and worked with Elder Wheelwright from Utah. He´s pretty cool and we found a few people to help out the sector of Las Americas! Then from there Wednesday was a normal day of just working and having meetings with out branch leaders.

Thursday we had interviews with President. He told me that I need to smile more and not look so serious lol. Better start smiling then 😁 But President is super cool! He´s awesome! Then we had companion exchange for the day and I went to work in Pozo Al Monte which is a small city outside of Alto Hospicio like 30 mins away. There are 2 elders there working. It´s a pretty cool but pretty small city. It was super windy there as well. I went and worked with Elder Schmid from Arizona. He´s got little time in the mission but he was fun to work with. As a leader you always have to give the example and give the other missionaries the vision of what they need to do and their purpose as a missionary. Especially the newer missionaries. It´s always good being able to go and work with other missionaries!

Friday I honestly don´t remember what happened.........................

Saturday we had a super important meeting with our mission president and every branch president and the distrct president and all the leaders from here in Alto Hospicio. A lot of the leaders had a ton of questions and stuff that was happening with all the new changes that have been happening here in the mission with the new mission president and with the changes of everything. It was funny, president told them "Here are the Zone Leaders to answer all of your questions". So we had to answer a lot of questions that they asked us. A lot of the questions were about the asistence that people need to be baptized and a few other things about the investigators and stuff like that. But then at the end with like 30 mins remaining president took the time and pretty much just roasted everyone lol. It was super good. I got to see president is action and in his fullness. I felt like I was trasfigurated in his presence when he started to talk. It was really really cool. But the good thing is that the leaders want to do what it right and they were willing to listen and get rid of their doubts that they had and clear a few things up. There were so many different things that happened in this meeting that I could just sit and talk about but I don´t really have the time to do so but it was really good and I also learned a lot from President. Also after the meeting we talked for like a minute and told us that he loves meetings like that because he knows the church and how it works and everything and knows how to control things and roast people lol. It was super good. He also asked us a question that really touched me a lot as well. He asked us "What is the main objective as a mission president?" We told him to baptize or something like that but his answer was a lot different than I thought. He told us "My main objective is to save you guys"(you guys as in the missionaries). President is super awesome!

Then Sunday we had district conference which is stake conference but it´s not a stake yet. President also talked there, president is super powerful! But the conference was pretty good. All the missionaries had to watch it from a different room on the television because it was packed that there wasn´t room for everyone to sit so all the missionaries went out and we watched it from the tv that they had setup with the camera in the sacrament room. Then from there it was pretty much just a normal day of working. We went out with Brother Marcos at night. He took us around a couple places around his house to visit people that the missionaries used to pass by or people that he knew around there. He knows a ton of people! We seriously found a ton of new people to start teaching thanks to Marcos! He is super awesome! I wish that all the members were like that!!

And that was pretty much my week just another week here in the field working in the lords vineyard!

Yeah our area has a lot of less actives! I feel like in every single area around the world there are a lot of less actives. Especially here in Chile there are a ton. Like for example there are like 850 members in the system and only like 110 go to church lol so there are a lot of less actives here. And that is only in our sector! But we have to start working a lot more with the less actives and then we will have more baptisms!

No we didn´t break the beds tossing them out the window lol. We had a couple people below that caught them as we handed it to them from the second floor. I probably got a good 10 new ties lol. They are actually really nice ties. They are skinny ties which I didn´t have a lot of before. I actually really like skinny ties. They look a lot better!

That´s awesome that you were able to confirm this Sunday!! Keep it up! Share the gospel with everyone!  Remember that no one can be saved, only through covenants like baptism! There are a lot of people that listen to the message of the gospel but only listening to the gospel won´t save them. It is those who take the steps to baptism! I´ve had to confirm quite a few people in my mission! It´s a really cool experience and it´s awesome that you were able to do so! Now your goal is to baptize someone!!

I have no clue... maybe my hair is getting lighter because of the sun. It could also be because I haven´t been using gel now. I don´t really like using gel now. I just put my hair up with water then just let it go pretty much. Maybe it could be that but I have no clue.

Well I´ve got to get going! Thanks for everything and for always keeping me updated with things! Love you guys a ton! Good luck in everything this week! Hope you have a great week!! I should have a pretty chill week I hope! Maybe some baptisms as well!

Love
Elder Newkirk

Pics: Elder Howe and Elder Gali! I was in the MTC with them. They are from my group!

week #63 -- zone training and leadership council - baptism of Vial family

Hey what´s up?

This week was super crazy! It has been just go go go with so many different things to do this week. I´ll try to take you guys through a run through of my week.

Tuesday was actually a pretty normal day for us. Started off the day with zone training so we taught the zone what president taught us in leadership council. He has been focusing a lot on the members and the importance of working with them. Also working with the simi list where all the members from the branch show up. Working with the less actives or as they say the "gold mine". Because normally less active still have this fire but we just have to light it again then baptize their family members who aren´t members or baptize their friends. President promised us that if we work with this list to find less actives that we´ll baptize every week! So let´s go for weekly baptisms!! It is definitely possible! There shouldn´t be a reason why we can´t have a baptism every week! Then from zone training we went around and visited a few people and also the Vial family who got baptized this week!!!

Then on Wednesday we had a meeting with the district leaders to talk about the sectors and the baptisms for the week. At the start of the week we had like 14 baptisms as a zone ready for Saturday which is really awesome! We ended up with 9 baptisms this week as a zone but maybe I´ll talk about what happened later in the email because Satan also does his work. Then after the meeting with the district leaders we had a skype call with the asistent to talk about our zone and about the work and everything that it happening in our zone. Then from there we went to do a service project for a sister(branch president´s wife). We went to go and paint something but ended up that she wasn´t home..... Kinda lame when people ask us to do stuff and aren´t there when we pass by.... From there we went to lunch and everything normal. Then in the afternoon we had to help a couple missionaries move houses(Elder Pezo and Elder Fernandez). So we went there to their house and helped them move all their stuff out. We ended up pushing the beds out the top window because we couldn´t take them apart because we didnt have the tools to do so, so we just pushed them out the top window lol. Also while we were moving we found a suitcase just full of ties. There were probably a good 100 ties in that thing maybe even more! So I got a few new ties this week, they are actually really nice as well! Then from there we had to do a companion exchange because I had to do a baptism interview for the Elders and my comp had to go to coordination with the ward mission leader and then had to go to ward council meeting. Did the interview then helped finish the moving and got back with my comp and went to bed. Pretty crazy day with a ton of stuff lol..

Thursday was also a pretty crazy day. I honestly don´t remember exactly all that happened on Thursday but all I remember is that I didn´t have any plans that day but we were pretty packed with interviews just pretty much all day long. Also the Vial family had their interviews to be baptized that day! Just a ton of traveling to other sectors to do interviews and try to help people to get baptized this weekend.

Friday in the morning the whole zone went to a little city outside of Alto Hospicio like 30 mins to a place called Pozo Al Monte, which is a sector where 2 Elders are in our zone. They have been struggling a little bit so we planned a zone attack where all the missionaries went there and just talked with people to find new people for them to work with. I actually went to a place called Pica which is another part of their sector which is like another 45 mins from Pozo. It is a really small city but it is super green and really awesome. I went out there with Elder Pezo, Elder Mckinley, Elder Schmid, Hermana Castillo, and Hermana Villanueva. It was a pretty cool place and was able to talk with some cool people there in Pica. Then the rest of the day was just pretty crazy with just doing more interviews and trying to help out other sectors so that they could baptize!

Then Saturday was Baptism day! The Vial family got baptized! John, Kevin, Matias, and Lorena! They have another son called Cristian but he got baptized like 2 weeks ago! It was super awesome to be able to baptize a family! We had some troubles with the clothes to be able to baptize them because John and Kevin are a little bigger so the shirts that we brought didn´t fit too well. So we had to wait like an hour to start the baptism because there were a couple of elders who left to find clothes for them. It was pretty crazy but everything worked out! I feel like something always happens or something is always in counter especially when it comes to baptisms. But I´ve learned that you just have to do all that you can so that the person can be baptized ASAP! I really like that we can baptize after 1 attendance at church because you never know who is ready and when they will be ready. It could be 1 attendance, or 2, or 3, or 4 but you never know! There is a talk given by Elder Corbridge to the mission presidents called the vision to baptize and it is super good. Have to have the vision to baptize or you will never baptize!!

Sunday was also good but Kevin didn´t go to church so he didn´t get confirmed..... for the next week then.... I don´t have all that much time to write so I´m cutting off Sunday here!

I honestly didn´t have like any time to work in my sector this week because it was pretty crazy. I honestly can´t even write the half of what happened this week but it was a really great week. Also this week coming up we have conferences with president and also interviews which should be good. Also we have district conference because it is a district here not a stake! But we are working for the Stake!!! Also today we played soccer with president and the zone from Iquique! It was a lot of fun! I even bought a new shirt to be able to play today lol. I´ll send pics of the shirt!

That´s awesome dad that you get to confirm someone this week!! Congrats! You have the vision to baptize! lol! Have to help all of our brothers and sisters to be able to go back and live with our heavenly father. Because only through this covenant of baptism one can return to live with him. Not the people that just listen or converse! The ones that step into the baptismal font and endure to the end!

Things down here are still pretty hot. It´s been going down a little bit at night but not a ton! But we will start to be going into winter soon! Also the time does change here! Idk when but it changes!

Well that´s that time that I have to write today! Love you guys a ton and hope that you guys have a great week!!

Love
Elder Newkirk

soccer activity

Traveling with Elder Pezo to Pica! There is a giant dinosaur park close to Pica as well that has like life size dinosaurs to play with lol! It looked pretty cool!

Traveling with Elder Pezo to Pica! There is a giant dinosaur park close to Pica as well that has like life size dinosaurs to play with lol! It looked pretty cool!

Baptism of the Vial family

Baptism of the Vial family

new shirt

week #62 -- busy week travelling -- learning and teaching

Hey! I think if we spoke in just spanish you wouldn't understand any of the conversation lol!

My week was actually really really good. The most tiring of my mission but really good! Well it started with Monday when I got here to Alto Hospicio. We did all the things that we needed to do on P-day then we went and picked up the remaining missionaries getting to the bus terminal. Then on Tuesday was just a normal day of work. We left with a youth all day, his name is Kevin, but he's really cool and left all day with us. We did a lot of good visits on Tuesday and was just a day of getting to know the sector and a few people. Wednesday was another day of normal work. In the morning we had to go down to Iquique to pick up some medicine for a missionary in another zone then we had all the afternoon to work which was just another day of just getting to know more members and investigators! Then Wednesday at night we had to head down to Iquique at like 11pm to head off to Antofagasta for leadership council. So we left with a member who took us down, Brother Rocha who is super awesome! It was me, my comp(Elder Cordova), and Hermana Lorenzo(the sister leader of the zone). Then our bus left to Antofa at 1am. Then I got like 4-5 hours of sleep and we arrived to Antofa at like 7am. In the middle of the trip we had to take out all our luggage at like 4am to put them through a machine to see if anyone had drugs or stuff like that which was kinda lame lol. Then we were in conferences all day long until like 4pm. I learned a lot from President and what he wants us to do as missionaries. He wants us to work a lot more with the members and be good friends with them! Now we have zone training that we have to do with the zone tomorrow and have to share what president wants of the missionaries for all the zone. Then we left Antofa Thursday at like 9pm and got back home at like 330am..... So I was pretty tired lol. Then right after that on Friday we had companion exchange. I went to another sector with Elder Atagi, from Ogden, in the sector Las Americas! It was a good day of work. Elder Atagi is a giant! His shoes are size 17 or something like that! But he's really cool missionary and it was fun to work with him! Then Saturday the sisters from the sector Tarapaca had a baptism(which was the only baptism of the zone) that we attended as a zone. Then from there the weekend was just to work in our sector. This week we should have 4 baptisms for sure! It is a family that all came to church this Sunday!! They are super awesome so if you could pray for them so that they can get baptized this week and nothing will go wrong! It's the Vial Family! I wish I had more time to write and talk about them but I think I'll hold off for the next week because I really don't have like any time because I want to go and cut my hair after this as well! Sorry! But that was like a really short version of my week and what happened kind of! It was a pretty crazy week but a lot of fun!!

My new comp as well is super good! Works really well! It's a lot different than the other comps that I have had! But here is Alto Hospicio is super awesome! I like it a lot! I'm in a branch here that has like 100-110 attendance so they are super awesome! Right now the branches are working to get a Stake here in Alto Hospicio! There are like 5 different branches here and there are 3 branches in our building! This zone is the promised land baby! There are 16 missionaries in total! 4 sisters and 12 Elders!

Yeah the pizza had advocado on it but it actually wasn't all that great. I like pizza a lot more in the States. But in some places there are Domino's lol!

The eternal investigator was pretty weird... Idk... I didn't really talk to him all that much, I didn't do his interview so I didn't really get the chance to talk to him.

Good luck in Sacramento!

Yeah I got the 2 minute mark until I have to be off the computer! Love you guys a ton and miss you!! Have a great week!!

Love
Elder Newkirk

P.S. Thanks for the updates with NBA! VAMOS THUNDER! Even though they aren't doing so hot this season!

Pics: After leadership councel I went with Elder Harris another missionary that served in Las Arenas and we went and visited a couple of people before our bus left