Better! (Sept. 22,2014)

Family! 

Sorry for the drama haha! This week i got a new comp! Elder Ontaneda from Peru.We new eachother form Arica, he started a tiny bit after me. 

we were together for 6 days and then... i got transferred!  i am  Zone Leader in Maray which is like 10 minutes form my old sector. i will be working with Elder Gines from Eagle, Idaho, who i know from Vallenar as well! so its gonna be really fun! the pension we live in is Way better! but on the fifth floor hahaha. we are gonna have a great time! there is lots to do in this new sector! its a super wierd cambio for me, because im in the same Zone, the same Stake... so its like im saying goodbye... but not really ha. 

My knee! is great! so dont worry about it. i basically took a full week off. then on Friday we were able to go work all day like normal. I am pretty positive that God healed me... because what i felt in that moment, and how fast it has healed... dont match up. God works miracles. I´m grateful for the Sacerdocio. such a blessing. it was actually Elder Gines who gave me the blessing when it happened haha! It gets a tiny bit sore when i walk alot but its just peachy now. i continue to ice it and raise it at night. 

This week we had the 18 of september... which is the independence day here that is MASSIVE so we ate a lot and then i got sick hahaha... worth it. deliscios deliscios barbecue. we also flew kites for a bit while we waited... you can tell me im like  3 year old but i LOVED it... plus i have cool new things that i can show you when i get back :) yay idaho wind!

It was a little sad to leave these investigators that we had worked with, they were basically all news from me and Elder Juimenez. but the work is really gonna take of in El Palomar. Elder Ontaneda is great so they are just gonna tear it up like crazy! im sure!

This sunday i gave a talk, i love feeling like i can basically just talk on demand now... i prepared it well, but i wasnt even nervous! i just got up and spoke! it was good! i felt happy about it, and i took advantage of the opportunity to announce that i was leaving... i said it and there was a big "aawww" through the whole congregation :) that made me feel good! i feel good about my time there. We worked hard and set a really great base for these next missionarys to work with! 

I love you all, and i know that God does too. He does everything just for our benefit. EVERYTHING. i saw that in a talk one, about how God in the Ancient Testament is just as loving as the God of the New TEstament... it was hard for me to understand at first, but as i have been reading the Old Testament (with alll of my down time) i have been able to see that, and i have seen how his ways are SO MUCH higher than our ways. it may look like punishment to us. but its just opportunity. I wish that EVERYONE had this faith, The hope of a better world. Im so happy to be here helping people to find this same faith. I have seen the gospel change people in incredible ways, they just have to be willing to let it. I love you all!

Have a great week!

Elder Gold

One More Week (Sept. 8, 2014)

Today. im tired. still happy! but tired.

We had a decent week! we were able to talk to a lady named Marisol on tuesday, which was cool because it was one of those people i had seen before and said hi to in the street, (because we say hi to almost everyone haha) and as we were walking by i just felt that we needed to talk to her! so we did! and she toled us to go visit her on thursday! so we did that... we had a great lesson with her. her husband was there as well but he didnt want to participate. we were able to help her set a baptismal date in the first lesson! then we went back on saturday and she talked to us in the entrance of her house crying... because she was hungover and had just done drugs.. basically just confessed like everything right there but then she kept telling us that she wanted to get better. She asked us to pass by on sunday to take her to church! so we did! and she went! she has a long race to run but she really wants to be better and she knows she needs to change! that was good.

We have been able to start working really well with the ward, gaining the confidence of the bishop and his leaders. they are helping us and we are helping them! we have had to work for it but happily its worked out well! we are starting to see the changes in the ward as we become part of the ward and start working WITH them. We also had an activity on friday with them... sadly we were busy helping out and getting ready so i dint take many pics... but it was fun! My comp and I sang Hero by enrique iglesias, but the spanish version... we had a good time with it hahaha... they gave us all sorts of crap for it on sunday. they kept telling us to sing and asking for autofraphs and asking us when our next performanc was... funny :)  But itt turned out well! we never even practiced the song... we just sang. and it sounded good ha. blessings! I didnt video it with my camara but i will see if i can get it from soeone to send it to you!

Also... remember how drunk men used to be the only ones who were attracted to me? well, here in copiapo thats not quite as true... soooooooooo many girls whistling and shouting things. My comp enjoys it a lot hahaha :) it always makes him laugh.

Thats my story for the week! 

Hope you are all well! Love ya tons!

Elder Gold

Turning over a new leaf?‏ (September 1, 2014)

I feel like ive said this a lot... but i think we are gonna be better now! We had another really rough week... but it was more real this time... he finally started putting forth the effort... so hopefully things will be better... after starting the no extra attention technique it took about 2 weeks to work... not the 3 days i was hoping for... but thats ok! Its just been a really really dramatic week... but weve been able to keep working and have some sucess. 

So this week we were told that on wednesday and saturday morning we were going to practice to have a missionary choir! so we went wednesday and it was a party! this was the first time i was one of the people who actually knew stuff about music, usually i just do what people tell me, but here i actually have skills! wow! but it was fun, we are singing come come ye saints. 4 parts... we struggled a bit trying to teach a few people to sing... but it sounded good... then on friday night, they announced that they werent going to do it anymore because the stake conference got rescheduled. DARN! but hopefully they still make the misionary choir. we also did some service on friday... that was interesting... poor people here are hoarders... i sent some pictures... lots of the houses here are just built out of left overs that nobody wants, and they dont want to chuck anything so it just piles up. so much junk... and its just stored forever... but we burnt a bunch of old sticks and stuff and helped out this older lady. 

We had a cool lesson with a less active member, and her kids... felt the spirit really strong, hopefully we will have more follow up lessons with them! but they are kind of partiers... its still hard for them to even imagine not partying, but thats ok, we told them to just think about one thing at a time, knowing if what we said was true, and from there they could move forward!

We ate some deliscious food this week... so good. Roman and Yanina who have made us lunch this month are awesome. they made papas a la guancaina wich is a famous peruvian dish... that is incredible. thats the picture of the sauce and potatoes on a lettuce leaf. and they have an incredible power to make rice and chicken turn into pure heaven in your face. yes. im lovin it... sadly... the month is over and they arent going to be able to continue... we also had aji de gallina wich is like hen pepper tanslated.. its this salsa with chicken stuff with rice... i dont know what they do to their food but its so good. love it to death.

Also, yesterday night we were visiting a person and a cat jumped up on me so i gently moved it off me... 5 minutes later i touched my eye... and in 1 minute flat my eye had swollen up to almost shut, i was crying (not frompain), my nose was running and i couldnt talk. and it flet like my eye was going to pop out of my head! this happened as i was reading sa scripture, so i just managed to finish the verse pass my comp the book, and put my head down for a second... after like 5 minutes it got better and i put my head back up and they all started to tell me i had something in my eye... duh. but they put oil on my eye and we finished... and my eye got a little better that night. i have been taking benedryl... but, my eye hasnt got any better since last night. so today im an ogre... so thats good!

This week i have had lots of "perfect timing" experiences... i love it when that hasppens. when people are suprised when we call them or pass by becasue they were JUST thinking about us, or they are never home at this time but today yes... i love that. The direction of the spirit thats basically just happens unconsciously. God directs our thoughts and words when we try to align our life with his will. lovin that. Sometimes hard stuff happens, but life really is great. im happy to be where i am.

once i gave a talk on alma 5:26  i didnt understand it in the slightest... it wouldnt be a bad idea to look that up and meditate on it :) have a great week! all of youe

Love

Elder Gold

Subject....ha (August 25, 2014)

I dont even know what to say... this companion is just... nuts. if it were like a real problem, like a disorder or something maybe it would be easier to just be patient and carry on... but i feel like i have been called to help him. not just put up with him for the next 4 weeks before he leaves. thats the hard part. i dont understand the child. but thats ok! so... this week i have given him the same amount of attention regardless as to his behavior. if he is mad. i act the sam as if he is happy. sooo... it been interesting to see his counterattack to this... man... its like a grueling game of chess or something. he threatened to go home on thrusday... well... not so much threatened as declared that he could no longer be my comp and that today he was going to calll president and right to his family to send him home. basically (with love and forethought as always... i cant act out of surprise or anger) basically i told him that if it was my fault that he should call president and ask for a transfer not try and go home, because going home was using a problem as an excuse to rebel against God. and that if he wanted to staylike he said he needed to cling to God not rebel against him. maybe that sounds harsh but i said it loving ly. promise. though he still hated it... freaked out at me for a bit. ignored me for a bit then it was better. though not a hundred percent. i think weekends and nights are jsut destined to be days when he hates me. i think the last monday that he was happy and talking to me was like my third week here... goodness. but thats ok. i love him... im just confused. so thats the update... not the cureall i was thinking, but i still think its right.... we will see how it goes with a bit more time.

Well, i would love to write a really long letter to you but this week will have to be short, he is already done... he took like 30 minutes on the computer. sometimes we just have to be grateful for trials right? :) 

Well, i love the mission still. i can see myself changing, i can see others changing, and its all for the better. We found lots of news! including a few who i think are golden! and an awesome activity this saturday gave us a bunch of AMAZING refferalls for the other sectors... including 2 people that were guided to us... when we were leaving to the activity i had a random feeling to bring the bible... so i did! these 2 bolivian people came and participated then startied asking me about tithing and a few other things, and we were able to read it there in the plaza together from the bible! it was awesome! they are PREPARED, sadly from the other sector... but in those 3 minutes that i talked to them, we all felt the spirit a TON. this week was a GREAT week for finding. we can totally feel the lord working in us, and the whole ward is starting to feel the conection. hopefully i have a bit more time next week! The church is true! i love my life!

I love you all!

Elder Gold

Just another awesome week (August 18, 2014)

Well! here we go! another awesome week! 

First off.... i think i may have found the way to help Elder Jimenez... we will see how it goes this week! i have been trying lots of different things with varyng efficiency but i think i found the winner.... everything kindof clicked this saturday when we were eating with a memebr family and we were asking how they were and everything and they said great except for their son... they took him to the doctor and they told them that he was on the point of malnutrition! and this is why... he is 1 and a half and still breast feeding (that might be surprising, bu i have seen 4 year olds so...really normal in chile). he doesnt like eating, just breastfeeding, but he doesnt get the nutrition that he needs from the milk alone, so he is really unhealthy. they were sad because they said that they did it because they loved him so much. so when he starts crying they immediately give him what he wants... and even now they have a lot of trouble saying no. and the kid starts crying because he want to eat and is hungry, but he wont accept anything that they give him, so at the end they give in anyway. i was thinking alot about that and the line that the dad kept using "we love our kids so much we sometimes make mistakes raising them" so this is what i have been realizing.... like i said lots of stuff kinda fell into place in 1 moment, but this is the end result. Elder Jimenez needed attention. (yes mom, this is what you said, but i didnt understand it or apply it right.) so he would get mad, or depressed and throw a fit and i would do everything i could to try and fix it and make him happy. sometimes to varying degress, sometimes i would just let him do his thing in the day but at night i would talk to him a lot about it. ive tried just bugging him to death until he talks to me, which also worked, but then he just would get mad like 3 times in a day... i would bug him about it for 2 hours until he broke and we were all good and then he would get mad at something else that i didnt understand and we repeated. so that just gave him what he wanted and didnt actually help him at all. in my head, he stopped "crying" so i was doing good and helping him. but it didnt help. so, im in the process of giving him what he NEEDS. Its HARD! he gets mad and i just treat him 100 percent normal, i dodnt give him any extra attention. i let him know i love him, but not any more than i would if he were happy. hopefully this works! we will see next week! 

Also, last week i forgot to mention, Fabian, from Vallenar that i taught for like 4 months, got baptized. and went to Santiago to tellhis parents and send the missionaries! how sweet is that! now! even sweeter! he found some missionaries in the stree and called them over and told them that he had just been baptized and wanted them to go teach his family. and one of the missionaries is named ELDER CANNON! how sweet is that! Elder McKay Cannon is now teaching this guys parents! Fabian sent me an email and i was able to talk a bit to Elder Cannon as well about them, he said that fabian said that he knew Elder Gold and he asked him to show him fotos and it was me! sweet connection right!? made me really happy!

Also this week i did and intercambio with Elder Hortua from Colombia, he is still pretty new in the misison, but he is awesome! we had an awesome day together, talked to Tons of people and found this lady on the street that called us over and asked us for help she said she needed to forget her only love because he was a horrible person... well it was a littl wierd but she told us where she lived and we set an appointment for saturday. We went and her whole family when we came in was just so happy to see us, they have tried everything they can think of to help her out but there is no solution. so they were very happy to see us there to try and help there daughter! they have a lot of problems in the family, but we will see how it goes with them!Also, Elder Hortua is going to BYU when he gets back from his mission! in august of 2016! that will be awesome! but hes a great guy!

We also found another person through the english classes this week, she asked us something about adam and eve and we told her that Adam had to fall, and she just about died hahaha. she was super interested, she had never heard that before, she always just heard that adam was the worst, but we gave her a book of mormon and marked a chapter to read and a pamphlet of the plan of salvation! hopefull we can help her, she is one of the many people in the world who say they believe in God but not religion, because the religions they have seen are... less than great. But all of those people just need to find the Church that is truly of Christ... because... well thats what everyone needs! what could be more important than that!

its been a great week for us! Things are starting to look up! we are finding new people, we are teaching. i love the mission! The weeks just fly by every time a little faster. its nuts, but i love it. There is nothing like it. i will serve the Lord forever. 

I hope you all can search for a connection a little stronger with Christ, and find the renewed desire to give everything you have to him! (mathew 10:39) arrepientanse! ;) les quiero

Elder Gold

NOTE: The following is a portion of a letter from Elder McKay Cannon, SHS Class of 2013, to his mom, Jennifer Cannon, on August 4, 2014.  He is serving in the Chile Santiago Mission.

well this week was one of the sickest weeks that i have had on the mission... tons of miracles...   but honestly the coolest story of the week was when we were working and a kid stopped us and was like hey i got baptised a week ago... but my family isnt members sooo can you guys some teach them? of course we got over there as soon as posibe but did manage to have a lesson before haha... but we got there and we had a good lesson but the CRAZIEST thing was the HENRY GOLD taught him for 5 months hahahaha he showed me pictures of him and everything... gosh i couldnt believe it actually henry gold wrote me today and we were freakin out.... we are going work with his parents... acutally we were able to find 10 new investigadores...

basically i am sooo very blessed to be a missionary!!!! i love having the spirtit with me each and every day!! i know we are going to see some miracles in this sector... i am soooo very grateful to know that god lives and that i have a savior and that i am a member of the church of JESUS CHRIST of latter day saints

I love you all so much

Elder Cannon

Peace, be still (August 11, 2014)

I am so thankful once again to the Lord for his overpowering and impressing influence on my life. The song says it perfectly, "they all shall sweetly obey Thy will". i can feel that. sometimes its just a lot of life to try and live with, but He is there to calm it perfectly to what we can handle, and what we need to grow. but only with Him, are we able to have the strength, and the vision to do that. 

This week has been fun! we were able to find a new family through a member this week, its a 65 year old alcoholic woman and her pregnant daughter and the man she lives with. we had a good lesson with them, Hopefully we can help them out with what they need, which is a lot but they are looking for help with their family relationships. thanks to the gospel, we have that! yay! 

we also found another lady the other day... i sent a couple pictures but heres the story. so we had basically run out of things to do, so we looked at this list of old investigators we have and decided to look ofr a couple of people that lived on this hill we had never been on. the thing is with chile is that people just do whatever they want basically... so they took this hill, and SOMEHOW turned it into a bunch of houses! now, this isnt a soft dirt hill. this is basically like solid rock... but they went and built a maze of pathways and stairways to get to the houses and found a way to get water up there and electricity and just built themselves houses! its impressive! but the funny thing is most of these houses come up to about my ear... so im crouched a lot. so we were trying to find our way in the labrynth of houses and pathways, when we found this lady in here little house trying to throw some pallets around, so obviously we stopped to help her. well, she was building this little storehouse thing for her work, because she is trying to get a governement grant or something, but she had to raise these walls she had created to make it more safe... i wish i could just show you all how it went because there is no way i will have the ability to explain what went down. but basically we found out that she built the whole house thing that is in the picture by herself. so we helped her put up a few more pallets into the walls (she was a pro with the hammer! she made me look like a fool! and shes like 4 and a half feet tall and almost 60!) and make them sturdy then  we also helped her move this cart thing from her house at the top of the hill down to the road to take pictures and then back into her storehouse... we got covered in paint. and thats why i have these pictures. she says she shows them to the governement and they give her money to keep working and surviving. but its impressive that she does these miracles!

 i know that wa really jumbled, but basically. shes kinda crazy. so we will see how things go with her! shes nice!

We also had 2 activities this saturday, we went to the park again to try and contact some people and got uber bombarded by testigos... jehovas witnesses, trying to prove that they new the bible and stuff, but i like the stile that they teach us. Testify, and invite. they  cant say anything else. just testify that you know its true and invite them to learn more. but we had a fun day. the english class continues to be the main attraction for them. then at night we watched 17 miracles with the ward... i dont knkow if you have seen it, but it is fantastic! watch it! we had a great time with the ward. 

And cambios.... im staying here with Elder Jimenez. everything happens for a reason :)

I love the Lord, i love knowing that He is there. i love serving Him for this time. im very grateful for everything He has given me. I feel his love and guidance. i know He watches me.

I love you all very much! thanks for everything!

Elder Gold