This Week Happened, November 6, 2023

Hey everybody! 

This week a couple things happened, not much: an intercambio with my good friend the Australian, a zone conference with a general authority in the 70, and an unlikely miracle.

The intercambio was on Tuesday and it was my favourite day of the week! Elder Gomez is such a fun, positive, funny, hard working guy! He used to serve in the area I'm in right now, so our lunch appointment we had was very fun because the member recognized him. And guess what was served at the lunch! You will probably not be able to guess... just kidding tomato 🍅 was probably the first thing in your mind. And you are correct! Tomatoes yippee. Love 'em. Anyways I learned a lot from Elder Gomez. He taught me of two ways of helping correct someone that he was told by two mission presidents. The first is to be an example, you can't forcefully tell the person to change, or make them change. So you be an example and and try to push them gently to the better way because you love them. The other way is to be open and honest with them, it could make them hate you. But you love them enough to show them and tell them the right way not fearing them because you fear God more. So Elder Gomez recommended a healthy medium of those two. Trying to balance them.

Tuesday was also Halloween and it is pretty much like back home, costumes, decorations, candy, trick or treating (except here it's called buscando por dulces (looking for treats)), and thats about it. We got chased by a little kid that had a baseball bat, but he was just joking. Our neighbour gave us little bags of dulces and when we are unlocking our bunker to go into our crib a homeless man that was a little above the clouds opened up his bag of dulces. And Elder Gomez grabbed the top thing of his dulce bag from the neighbours and gave it to the man. That man got a cup of yogurt that night. Oh yeah our neighbours are always. I'll say that again; always. Giving us yogurt. It's like the only thing I've had for breakfast for the past 2 months haha. It's actually great!

The zone conference was really great! We had president walker and his wife talk to us! He talked about Jeremiah 16:15-17 and related it to missionary work. In the passage it talks about hunters and fishermen. Fishermen will cast their line and wait for someone to bite. Whereas the hunter will actively stalk and track his prey. It's related to missionary work in that I need to choose who I will be. Will I be the fisherman and sit around waiting for someone to contact me. Or will I be the hunter and actively work hard in seeking to find people to bring into the light of Christ. I am choosing to be the hunter. And then Hermana walker talk about the importance of teaching with power. And the way to do that is to be in tune. Be in tune with God, Christ, the Holy Ghost, my companion, the person being taught, the mission. When I have compassion for a friend i'll be more in tune with them!

The unlikely miracle was amazing! So we left Sunday morning to pick up someone for church, we left a little late. So we get there and the person didn't show, something was miscommunicated. Anyways we head to church and we are a little late, and we are right outside the gate about to go in and we see on of the people we are teaching; Lidia. She had work which was why she couldn't come, but then it got canceled. So we invited her to come to church with us and got so excited so she joined us at that moment. At the end of the meeting she told us she loved it and how all the members participate and it's not just one person lecturing. She asked if she could come back next week or if she need a special invitation. We told her she could come anytime without invitation! And she was so excited at hearing this. But she is also very very sick so please keep her in your prayers.

Questions of the week: how was everyone's Halloween festivities? And what is something you are grateful for?

Love you all! Elder Spencer

Elder Plane made biscuits and gravy which was flour milk and butter cooked one way with flour milk and butter cooked a different way. It blew my mind.

Our little Halloween dulce bags from our neighbours

A fish I might purchase for fun

Me and Elder Shell (my comp)

Me and Elder Padilla

Me and Elder Suarez

My study window view with the Andes in the back

                                                                                A dog

Another dog

Another another dog

Enos, October 30, 2023

Hola amigos!

This week was a bit crazy with some guy we met, I was given tomatoes... again, I had a great personal study, and one of my friends is going to get baptized!

So to begin I met a man who claimed to be the archangel Michal. He wanted to be baptized to be protected spiritually and to be able to work his way up in the ranks of the church and become an apostle to be able to make contact with a group called "Oh No" to be able to see the president of Chile to be able to stop his dad's black magic plan to take over the world with witches and magic. His dad had apparently been paying the government to say he's been dead. But he had a lot of papers saying he was still alive. If that was true he would be 104... anyways that was a little wild. All in all I think my spanish improved and I learned so many random words in spanish, so that was fun! 

Tomatoes, I've had them so much. About 4 weeks ago we had a lunch with a member, and she asked if any of us liked tomatoes, the other 3 elders said no but I said yes. That was the first mistake. So during the lunch she brought out two salads. One was oil lemon lettuce and the other was oil lemon salt skinned tomatoes. So while everyone ate the lettuce I worked on the tomatoes, they weren't that bad. But they were two big tomatoes so it was a lot to finish, especially with the oil. Anyways the second mistake was the other elders cheered me on to finish both so I did. And now for the past 4 weeks I've had two big peeled oily tomatoes at her house. And the worst part is, word spreads like the fleas on the street dogs. And basically all the members now give me two oily peeled tomatoes. Every. Single. Time. Apparently there is this thing called refusing to eat all of it... but who wants to be that guy. So the lesson here is: yes mom I'm eating my vegetables or fruits whatever a tomato is considered to be. I'm not just drinking coke and eating bread haha. 

I had a really good personal study in the Book of Mormon on Tuesday. I had been having a tough couple of days. And I read a chapter in the Book of Mormon from the Book of Enos. And I felt I had put myself into the scriptures and was reading the exact thing I needed to do to help give me strength in my trial. It was incredible. I felt peace and strength. Later that night I was praying. And I was feeling disheartened again. And I felt a voice tell me that "it will be ok." And I asked why. And immediately the voice said "because I am here. I am with you." A verse in Enos 1:17 says "And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest." This scripture resonates with the experience I had with God. As a member of this church I have made covenants with God (covenants are like an agreement or a relationship; you promise to do something and in return the other person also does something). And I knew that I was being blessed in that moment for my work to fulfill my covenant. And like Enos my soul did rest because I knew God was fulfilling His part of the covenant. 

One of our friends, Lidia, is going to get baptized in Novemver! I am so excited for her! She is a very sweet old lady and is so passionate and willing to learn! And looks like a hockey player with her two front teeth missing! 

My new comp is cool! I've been connecting with him and getting to know him! I've had to get used to some things that are different, but it's a part of learning and adapting! 

Question of the week: when was a time this past week you felt peace?

I love you all! Hope everyone is well!

Elder Spencer

Transfer Time, October 23, 2023

Hola a todos!

This week was transfers! Elder Call, my old comp and first trainer, left. And I got a new comp, Elder Shell, to finish off my training! He is an awesome guy! And we have some similar interests! We are staying here in Renca, it's an awesome area so I'm excited! I'll miss elder Call though, he is a good friend.

One of our last days together, we were doing contacts (talking to people) and I saw two youth playing basketball and i told elder Call we needed to play 2v2 pick up! And he was excited about the idea. So we went and played! It was a lot of fun, I was with a 14 year old named Esteban and we crushed it! After we exchanged numbers. 

Then elder Call left and elder shell entered the picture! I am helping him get to know the area, and he is showing me some different ways to do the work which has been cool! Although it is kind of difficult because the way elder Call and I did things worked and had success, and it is what I knew and learned. So I've been going these past couple days with patience of the new change and praying to have peace.

We got a new zone leader, he is the only other Canadian elder in our mission and he is from Calgary. And sadly... a flames🔥 fan. But it's been a lot of fun, his name is Elder Lefler. The rest of our zone changed up a bit, and it is going to be a super fun transfer with all of them!

I met a new friend this week, he is a dog. I named him kachow because he had a lightning McQueen handkerchief on. We met him in the afternoon on Saturday and Elder shell petted him, I personally didn't because he was a dirty street dog. Anyways, he followed us for a bit, and then lost interest and we went about our day. Then that night we passed by that same area to visit someone ans as we were walking home kachow came and joined us. And he followed us all the way home which was over a couple km away. Which was actually quite dangerous for him because the street dogs all have gangs and territories and will chase and attack any dogs that enter their territory. But some how he made it all the way. And by then I had grown to like the dog and felt bad locking up the gate. But kachow didn't mind because he soon then slipped in through the bars, perks of being a stray dog you get skinny. And he started scratching at the door and whining and came up to the window. Anyways, elder Carlson (an elder that lives in the same house) took a stick and a dog whistle and chased him off. And then the rest off the evening we could see him in the street just watching our house. And since I haven't seen kachow... hope he's alright. 

Question of the week: how have you dealt with a new change this past month?

Love you all! 

É'Spencer

                                                            Photo shoot with a cool car I found

A stray mop

                                                                Safe spot for a trampoline 

Kachow

Me and elder shell

Unexpected Success, October 16, 2023

Hola!

This last week was my last full week in the transfer. A transfer is a 5-7 week long period of time where you are living in a specific area with a specific companion. So on Wednesday I will find out if me or my comp is leaving or staying! I'm excited to find out.

This week I got to go on a couple intercambios or exchanges. For one day I was with Elder Plane, he taught me to give it my all, and Christ will fill in the rest. For the other day I was with Elder Carlson, he came out at the same time as me. We were in my area so I got to lead us two newbies in the work! It was a lot of fun going around both of us combined being able to pass by with the language. Together we found 5 people and set up appointments with them! Normally Elder Call and I will get 1 or 2 on a good day in comparison. So that was quite rewarding and motivating when Elder Carlson and I did that!

One of the ladies that Elder Carlson and I found was super excited when Elder Call and I taught her the next day. She kept calling us her hijos, and the phone would ring but she would ignore it telling us we were more important in the moment. She was very sweet.

Not much else happened this week. I hope everyone is well!!

A scripture I liked this past week is Jacob 4:10 from the Book of Mormon. It reads "Wherefore brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counselleth in wisdom and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." I like this scripture because it shows us we need to humble ourselves before God to gain knowledge from Him. And we know his counsel is wise just and merciful. Things we can all work to attain through Him.

Question of the week: what was a motivational booster for this week?

Have a fantastic week!

Elder Spencer

A Couple Things + a Few more Fotos, October 9, 2023

Hola!!

This week has been a good week! A couple things happened!

1. One of our friends told us she is ready to get baptized, her children were baptized a while ago and now she is wanting to enter into the same covenants as them!

2. During church there was about 40ish people in the meeting (normally we have around 25-35 people attend) and then after the first hymn ended, 40+ more people walked in!! Resulting 80+ people that come to church! I was in awe and my heart was filled with joy and excitement! 

3. We finally got the Elders quorum (the guys group of our church) to have a weekly activity. And they chose to play fútbol every Wednesday and challenge the other ward to a game, it is fun because we are allowed to play with them. And the four of us missionaries were put on one team with one of our friends and we ran a play called "gringo swarm" where we would all go for the person with the ball haha! It worked 4 times out of 10 haha, but we had a great time!

4. We had a ward activity called "Master Chef", so everyone brought one dish that they prepared and set it up all nicely and there were three judges (my comp, bishop, and the young women's president) that tasted each dish and chose the top three winners. And well they were deciding that, it was everyone's else's turn to try all the food! It was sooooo good, all the best of the best! There were cakes, pies, donuts, rice with sauces, stuffed potatoes, coke (of course), asado (bbq) and more! But the best of all was what we brought (in my opinion haha) and that was.... drum rolllllllll.... pretzels! We made pretzel bites with a spicy cheese sauce! Everybody loved it as it was their first time trying it. When our bishop tried it he said it brought him back to the days of his childhood haha! Anyways we got first place haha, but who's keeping track. Our members in our ward are so great, fun and kind, and they feed us well; don't worry mom! 

5. It was Elder Carlson's birthday yesterday, so we got a lot of good food from members, and Elder Call and I surprised him with a cookies and cream cake we bought, and we ate it with the neighbours! And we made empanadas with them and it was really fun! Oh and bishop shined all of our shoes for us!

6. Today we hiked renca hill! It was super fun! When we got to the top we could see all of Santiago and the mountains that literally surrounded us. It was incredible! We went with our district and two other elders in my zone. It was definitely a more difficult hike but it was well worth it under the sweltering sun!

7. The great vaccine hunt. We have been trying for the past 2 weeks to get a vaccine that I need. The place the mission office told us to go to is 2 hours away, and when we went it wasn't there. And then we went to a clinic close to us and they had it! But only for little kids... sadly my acting skills aren't good enough to get that vaccine. So we are going to keep hunting around. At this point the office said just find one and don't care about insurance covering it and they'll reimburse us haha. 

I now realize that that was more than a couple things haha!

I'm now entering the stage of spanish learning where I don't really know how to speak it and I'm forgetting how to speak english haha, it is super funny and entertaining! I'm very grateful for spell check lol. 

If anyone is bored and doesn't have anything to do, you could send me a letter or a package! I probably won't send one back because I don't know how the mailing system works here... to be fair I don't really know how it worked in Canada as well... ignorance is bliss. But I will send an email in return at least! My mailing address is

Mission Address

Letters (in Mission)

María Graham 312

8420164 Recoleta

Region Metropolitana (Santiago)

Chile

Packages (in Mission)

Unit #2011379

María Graham 312

8420164 Recoleta

Region Metropolitana (Santiago)

Chile

Anyways, don't feel pressured to haha!

Elder Call, my companion, has taught me through example some incredible lessons. The man always always always has a smile on his face. BOOM rejection in his face, smile. BOOM friend cancels last minute, smile. BOOM someone pushes his buttons, smile. BOOM no food have to eat sleep for the night, smile. Etc... he is very patient, very cheerful has control over his emotions from an outside appearance. His secret he told me was: "I don't let things faze me if it's out of my control. Someone does something at home, sure I'll think about it for 15 min and that 15 min will suck, but at the end of the day, I'm here in Chile doing my work. If someone turns us down for an opportunity to meet and for us to share a message about Christ and they say no, we've done our purpose; which is to invite others to come unto Christ." I have enjoyed this transfer with him and I at least have two-ish more weeks with him. I hope we stay together for the next 6 weeks as he has become an example, a leader, and a good friend to me.

I'll stop before this gets to long, but before I go... it's time for 🚨question of the week🚨 WOOOOO. 

Anyways, what has been a lesson you've learned from a friend this past month? 

I love you all!

Elder Spencer

Elder Call and me

                                     The mayonnaise section in the grocery store, Chileans love their mayo

A BBQ, grace, salsa, queso sauce, all on fries, the closest I'll probably get to poutine

Neighbourhood

A shout out to all those that play handball, I found this random court with handball lines, the crease is a couple meters short, probably 4.5m but still a cool find!

Another neighbourhood 

Our winning pretzel bites

Making empanadas with the neighbours 

On top of the hill!

What a Weekend! October 2, 2023

Hello everyone!

This weekend was amazing! Why? Because I got to here the voice of the living prophet and other speakers! You may ask, who or what is a prophet? Well in ancient times prophets received knowledge from God to be given to His people (us!). Entonces, the prophet would speak the words of God and lead His church and work on the earth. Some prophets in the Bible were Adam, Moses, Abraham, Joseph etc. When Jesus Christ came to the earth and then left, he left behind a prophet just as times before. But soon the prophet and his apostles were killed off and the authority the prophets had were lost. And there were no prophets on the earth. But... we read in Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not" and in 1 Nephi 10:18 "For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever." God is unchanging, therefore God established His same church and same authority. And He once again called prophets to teach us and show us the words of God! And this is why I loved this weekend, I got to listen to and feel what God wants to tell me in this moment! 

A couple takeaways from conference were: 

- "Begin with the end in mind"- Prophet Russell M. Nelson

- "You cannot connect one time, it has to be again and again to feel Godly feelings"- Tamara W. Runia

- "Read scriptures not just to extract rules, but to extract love"- Robert M. Daines 

If you are curious as to what any of those mean, feel free to reach out!

The rest of this week was good, lots of hard work! Adopting the motto of "if the devil doesn't stop to rest, neither will I." I got that one from my good friend Elder Thompson. As a part of this, while walking I will try to feel who needs to hear a message about hope or peace or who's someone to talk to. And usually I'll get the feeling of peace when I looked at someone, and if I ignore it I grow uneasy. So we will stop and talk to them! Usually it ends with them not wanting to hear a message. But I don't get discouraged and always ask myself why I was prompted to talk to that person, and what lesson to take away. Usually it is something to build up my faith and trust in God. I'll walk away knowing I did all I could and that the person wasn't ready in this moment or time to receive Christ. And that hopefully later when they have the opportunity to accept Him. I invite each of you to accept and invite Christ into your lives! Email me if you need any ideas or help on how to do this!

Today for preparation day Elder Call had a dentist appointment to fix his broken retainer but the best location to go was in a different mission, in the east mission. So we got to leave our mission for that, and wow was the area we went to nice! It smelled good, the sidewalks weren't wrecked, it felt like I was in Edmonton, there was this huge mall, and more (Although the graffiti was kind of lame compared to the graffiti in our area haha). After the dentist appointment finished (Elder Call coming in clutch with 0 cavities making that a life long streak for my guy) I realized how much I have grown to love my imperfect yet perfect little area of Chile that I am in. I knew for assuring that I am where God needs me to be!

Question of the week: What's been a moment in this past month or so that made you grateful for where you are in life? 

And if you aren't satisfied with where you are in life, what do you need to do to change this? (Don't answer this second one to me, it's rhetorical).

I love you all! I hope everyone is well!

Elder Spencer

Fotos!

I ate very well this week haha!

Empanada!

The two fútbol teams the Chileans love and have a rival with (kinda like the battle for Alberta in the NHL, except this one doesn't make sense because the two fútbol teams aren't even in the same league... yet the rival exists.)

General Conference breakfast

The mall in the east mission

Jesus Street

                                                                Pizza with Elder Suarez

Conference breakfast again

Asado con the neighbours (bbq)

Ice cream!!!

Lemon Bars, September 25, 2023

Hola a todas!

¿Como están?

I made some pretty yummy lemon bars last night. I didn't know how they would turned out because the oven is a little faulty. But they taste great and are a hit with the other missionaries I am living with!

This week we had zone conference. Basically that means that my zone and two other zones got together to eat food and participate in training led by our mission president. All of it was in Spanish so I didn't catch most of it. But a take away from what I could understand was that as missionaries we need to try to find 1 new person to talk to each day. 

Time is starting to fly. The first week in Chile was long and confusing. But now it's just on times 5 speed. The days are blurring together and everything is starting to become more familiar. 

My spanish is improving a lot, I am starting to dream in spanish which is a fun experience haha. But it is the same in real life, someone in my dream will say something in spanish that I don't quite understand and I try to figure it out. But then my brain is actually trying and I wake up trying to figure it out haha. Or sometimes I can feel myself resign to the fate of not understanding in my dream haha. So hopefully when the moment comes when I can understand the spanish in my dreams will be the moment I can understand spanish in real life. For me that would mean better sleep, more confidence, gain the feeling of being able to actually communicate and share how I feel with my words, and be able to understand the needs and struggles of other people. These are things (especially the last one) that I greatly desire.

It is amazing how diverse it is here in Chile. People from all over South America and Haiti and Dominican Republic, everywhere! I hear so many different accents and ways people speak spanish! It kind of gets confusing but it is beautiful to the ear! One word in Venezuelan Spanish means a completly different thing in Chilean spanish and vice versa. I also learn which countries cook better food. I really love having venezuelan and peruvian food. Those two are my favourites. Chilean food is pretty good as well, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Today it was oddly clear outside, like I could actually make out things in the distance. Usually there is a constant haze of smoke and pollution just hanging everywhere. It makes your vision blurry.

Each monday I love being able to talk to my family and see how they are doing and what is happening in their lives. It allows me to feel connected as a family unit. I am super grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power it has to seal and bring families together forever. I know I will  never be separated from them even in death. Even though we sometimes annoy each other haha, I still wouldn't want to be far from them forever. 

Something I recommend not doing: Eating a big fast food meal then getting a 1L thing of ice cream with chocolate bar chunks and eating that while walking then getting on a crowded hot smelly bus with the driver driving like we were on a rollercoaster, and just feeling absolutly sick to the stomach. And then the heat melting the rest of your ice cream, but you want to finish it because why not, so you just drink the rest of it, then go play soccer and run with your friends. Yeah... wouldn't recommend that. Although it was quite fun, no regrets haha.

Question of the week: What is something you've done to use your talents to put a smile on someone's face this past couple weeks?

Love you all!

Cuídese

Elder Spencer