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

My trip to lagoon! :D‏

The president let us all go to an amusement park! no. but i have still been on a rollercoaster aaaallllll week long [with Elder Jimenez].  "I hate you, stop talking, i love you, thank you, lets study, please just go away, never let me be silent, youre prettier when you dont talk, thanks for not giving up on me, i dont care at all, youre my first true friend, lets work, i have no desires, why do you care, im suffering so you have to suffer too, today was great, im grateful for my trials, "...", i want to go visit your family when i get home." its the most intense rollercoaster of my life! BUT! i have an excellent Security Bar.

Now that i have done everything that i can think of, or that others can think of, and nothing has really worked... i will just keep moving keep seeking the guidance of the spirit, being happy, being a missionary. loving my life and what i do, and giving everything i have to help my companion and to serve the Lord. 

This week has been fun! we had intercambios on tuesday and we basically just bounced form house to house! it was awesome! everywhere we went they opened up the doors for us! we found another lady to teach as well, she is the mother of a 13 year old boy who got baptized but doesnt have lots of friends in the church and stopped going a few months ago, we had an excellent lesson with them and we really felt the spirit, she commited herself to read and pray and we will visit with her again hopefully tonight! its kindof hard to get in contact with her because there isnt a man in the house and because she lives really far away, but she seemed really open to the message we shared, and i think she was interested in how it could help her better her realtionship with her son.

Then later in the week we were also able to visit a less active woman who actually made it to church this week! we had 2 less actives that we are working with come this sunday! that was rewarding. but we went to go visit her with an RM in the ward and she was telling us how aweful her life was and that she just wanted to die, and she started asking about the possibility of suiciding and still being forgiven... it was bad... so we just started teaching because she was going down dark paths and we knew that she needed the spirit. so we started talking about Christ and about the scriptures. we had a good talk about it and we challenged her that when she felt crappy, instead of just sitting there, she had to pick up her scriptures and she seemed excited about it, then at the end she told us another story about suicide... and the RM said something that i thought was cool, i dont now if its doctorine but it sounded good to me! as we know we will all be restored to our natural state in the spirit world. good to good, and bad to bad.... even a good person cant expect to kill themselves because of depression and show up happy in the spirit world. if you are depressed when you leave, thats how you will show up! i thought it was a cool thought! it seemed to help her a lot! but she came to church and we talked for a bit and she said she had been reading and feeling a lot better. that was good.

We also visited a family this week who have been having LOTS of problems... its kindof sad, but this has been like the theme of my week because of what ive been studying in the book of mormon and for what ive been seeing. The lord sends us trials to soften us up a little. The husband of this family hasnt been progressing at all. he hasnt really wanted a change hes just been content where he is. but after this... he opened up a TON! we had an excellent lesson with him and he commited to baptism, prayer, and yesterday night when we went back he commited to read the book of mormon! but all by himself! we didnt even challenge him to do it, he just said while we were teaching "wow! i need to read this book! i didnt realize it was so important" then promised us that he would read it without us even asking! that was cool.

Its been interesting this whole week to see all of the bad things that happen to people, but how they choose to take it. some choose to get mad and depressed or shutoff... and some people take the iniciative and try to get out of it and get over it. and the greatest blessing that we have is the Gospel! it shows us how to make it through everything, to carry every burden, to conquer every trial. it is truly everything we need. Christ has been through it all, if we CHOOSE to let him help us. he gives us what we need to make it through. that has been beautiful to see. God isnt ashamed when,in our trials, we look to him. thats what he wants! obviosuly that he wants us to look to him always, but theres no better opportunity for us to start than when we feel bad! how merciful is our Father in Heaven.

We also did a sweet activity this saturday in a little farmers market shpeel that they do in a plaza close to our house. we were inviting people to english classes and we had a big bowl of candy that they could win candy if they answered bible questions! we talked to LOTS of people! hopefull next week it can be even beter! i want to do it every saturday! we will talk to LOTS of people :) i know that the Lord is preparing people. i have seen it SO many times. we just need to be watching for them, and praying for the Lords help to be able to find them! Everyone should be doing this! i invite all of you to pray, EVERY DAY for missionary experiences! then just let the Lord do his work.

This whole rollercoaster week i have found incredible strength. i know that my Redeemer lives. I know that he is strenthening me. i know he is there for everyone. what greater blessing is there on this earth than to know him and follow him? there is none. We can. always, through Him.

Yeah, finally finishing up, this week i met Brother Burton from Virginia... he was visiting Chile with his son! he learned spanish 40 years ago and still remembers it! totes my new goal. want that. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! i have been doing it for 1 year now. i love it. its hard sometimes, but i LOVE it. i feel the Gospel changing ME and changing SO MANY around me. i am just happy! i smile! i feel good! i love it!

Be happy! feel good! love life! choose Christ always! i love you all! be strong!

Elder Gold

God is great‏ (July 28, 2014)

Hello world!

I love you all!

well! this week has been super duper interesting! the challenges of this sector continue to be just so confusing and abnormal to me! but thats ok! i continue to trust the Lord to guide my paths based on my personal worthiness and effort! he has never failed me! and i know he never will! i choose to use the statement that i hated SOOOOO much a little less than two years ago when i had the accident with my knee... "everything happens for a reason" its the way it is. im supposed to learn from this situation. and i am! im learning lots and lots.

This week i am grateful! i have no idea what im doing! but i am grateful for the experiences that i have had that have taught me about life. especially for my mother who taught me constantly about communication and its importance in healthy relationships, and for experiences with friends that have only served to strengthen that knowledge. its at least a base to be able to work through it. i am also grateful that i have learned through many experiences that you cant and shouldnt try to control people, and that its important for them to do their thing. invitations are good, obligations are bad. and if the other person doesnt accept the invitation, all is well. I feel incredibly calm through this whole process, when i start to gt angry, God has given me the ability to swallow it almost imediately. not even my face has time to react to the emotion before its calmed and gone. Im also grateful that God will guide me. if i search for the help it will be there. im certain that the lord has prepared me to be able to handle this path.

All of that being said, faith without works is dead so... i have faith that i will be guided, if anyone has advice on how they have been able to deal with problems, it will be warmly welcomed! I thought that we were good, he had been strugling a bit but i felt that the companionship was good, but now... he wont talk to me unless it is completely necesarry. so planning, comp study, conversation about investigators... is all gone. he is there... but he refuses to talk to me at all unless he has to say a prayer or he has  something necessary. I would understand a bit more if we had fought... but we havent. at all. i literally cant think of why he would be so mad at me all of the sudden... i dont want to be all holy and such but honestly i have searched, prayed to know, everything. i cant think of what i did. with other people he is happy and talks, but never to me if its avoidable... and when we are alone... way less. so, i do know that he has a problem with me. but, i dont know what it is or how to fik it.  (mom, you have full permission to edit or delete this paragraph based on your judgement. i tried to be fair and loving and not bash at all, but i would like help with this so... yeah, if it sounds like im saying bad stuff about my comp. you can cut it. that is not my intention in the slightest.)

But yea! im super happy! i love missionary work! i am calmy walking forward with faith in Christ. i have had lots of time to pray and meditate while we walk... and i just want you all to know. God lives. he isnt just a figure. he is there. he affects our lives. he works us and molds us. Christ came to earth! he suffered for our sins! this is real! He knows how to help us through EVERYTHING. this isnt just something to believe in. this is REAL! if we believe it, we must live it, if we live it, we will believe it more. this is TRUE! i wish i could show it to you by my tone of voice and intesity but... i just know. passing belief. passing words. GOD IS! 

well, my comp just finished so i have to finish up right now :) love you all tons and tons! take care!

Elder Gold

Copiapo, Chile

semana 3, cambio 9, año 1‏ (July 21, 2014)

Hey fam! hope that all is well! hope that you are loving life!

This week has been good! we are still just moving forward with the missionary work. trying to find new people always and helping those that we have to move forward.  

I have really been loving the study of the book of mormon and have had some cool experiences with that as well. I finally thought up an organization plan for a study notebok and i have been writing down in one section al of the scriptures that i like and a summary, in another all of the "revelation" moments when i get something aweome out of the scriptures that comes from the spirit not the words, and the main section where i write down things i have learned and basically everything else! it took a whole 11 months to figure this out but hey! it finally came. i like to have it a little more organized as i study, because now i can look back on what i have studied and actually use it. but before it was a lot harder to look for stuff. 

another experience i have had this week with the Book of Mormon was when i was reading in alma... that part when its basically all just wars and battles and stuff and there was this part that talked about how the wickedness of the nefite people brought upon them the curse of the war, and that if they would have been more faithful to the commandments of the Lord the lamanites wouldnt have even made it across the borders. and i was reading and thinking and i just felt pain for these people, that like us dont always understand the commandments that they have been given, and then they have to suffer the consequences when they break them. that if they would have just had a little more faith, and us as well, then they wouldnt have had so many trials. it would have been a trial that was easily vnquished and then over. but thats the way the world works. thats why we have to work hard every single day to get closer to god and to try and do what he wants. thats when he is able to bless us and protect us in ways that dont seem totally possible to human eyes, like defending the borders of the nefite lands from the nearly endless troops of the lamanites. just by obedience. 

this week i am tlaking about study a lot because we have been going through some interesting times with my comp, so keep him in your prayers. but i was reading again in Jesus the Christ... that book is just awesome. i want to talk about a few specific parts but im almost sure that if i do i will just want to say everything and then i wont even make sense haha. but i loved the part that talked about how Jesus talked about authority... because he had that authority, he didnt say "i have athority listen to my words" he just said it the way it was. with power. so im gonna try and apply that a little more. be more firm in the way that i know it is and let other people see that its the truth. just because im sure.

The church is true! the spirit is great! i love the mission! thank you so much for everything!

Have a great week!

Elder Gold 

STILL getting used to things‏ (July 14, 2014)

Man! this sector has been an interesting challenge! so much not what i was expecting or am used to. The missionaries here were just so ready to chill and eat and not do any work, and that is like the norm here, everyone is just content to chill and be happy. so... we are trying to get some new stuff happening, but people dont like it when you rock the boat... so... i may have some people who dont like me very much... but we have to work harder than we have, and we have to follow the rules. women do not like to be told that we cant come in the house unless there is a man with us. so yeah, new challenges. but its been good, lots of learning and growing. i wish i could say i was perfect but... still no. darn! people just dont see us as missionaries who are coming to invite them to come unto christ, they see us as awesome guys who they like to have around.

Anyways! good week! we found a few new people! hopefully we can amplify that and keep the momentum. We had an opportunity to clean up dog poop this wednesday in a really really really poor sector of our area. It is incredible to see how little these people live on, and at the same time, how content they are with it. its just like they get accustomed to living with nothing and they lose their drive to do better. they do the bare minimum and nothing more. just enough to survive. its sad really... we have been thinking about how we could help some of these people. obviously we cant just give them things, like money or houses, because that doesnt help them, what these people need is help changing who they are... learn to work, to take instruction, to contribute. The good thing is that we have the Gospel with us, that is here to help us in every aspect of our lives... moses 1:39. Thats what God is for. he wants us to progress. he wants us to gain eternal life.

We had interviews with the President this week as well. that was good, we did a bunch of practices on how to teach about the book of mrmon and use it help people to gain their own testimony about the church. it was good! i enjoyed it! The interviews also opened up a new door for us to be able to help each other out as a companionship and try to become stronger individually and as missionaries, my comp woke up the next morning just really... bugged and i knew he had been bugged so i was praying to know how to help him and i just felt impressed to give him attention without pressuring him and i was asking about his family and stuff and then he just opened up, and we talked about everything, how he was feling and we made a couple plans about how to help him out and what i could do to make his life a little easier... i was glad he communicated it with me, it was kind of an interesting chat at first and i just had to listen through a lot of things and not react but at the end it was really good.

WE had a sweet activity this week as well! in a little town outside of the city by like 10 minutes another ward had a talent show thing outside and they invited all the missionaries and our job was to g out before it started and just invite EVERYONE and then once it started show people around the little stands they had made about the auxillary... i dont know how its called in english but like young mens and womens and releif society... and then talk to them about the church a little bit. it was fun! it was cool to just stop caring and talk to EVERYONE, i feel like i have developed that ablity, i can start a conversation with ust about anyone who is willing to talk to me. and at the end i was able to give away 3 copies of the book of mormon and get a bunch of adresses... and get rejected a lot but thats ok! but it was a great experience! we want to try and have one down here soon :)

So super scattered email i feel like... sorry about that. i think im still just trying to find my system kinda... im just feling a little out of the zone... but its part of the process, i just need to keep working :) 

I still love the work! i still love all of you! thank you so much for everything! the church is true!

Elder Gold

also... not to be tunky but you were talking about dates and all so i figured out what day i will get home... the 15 of july maybe the 16