First Few days In The Field

Dear Mom, Dad, Preston, Ashtyn, and everyone else,

To answer some questions. Yes i can buy batteries here. I can buy pretty much anything. With the ties, it doesnt matter. You can buy some if you want if not just send me mine. Its hot down here. About 80 to 85 everyday. Im sorry you guys are all getting sick, que fome (thats lame). But on the other hand im glad everything is going well. Now for my week.

My new comp is Elder Shildan from Boise, Idaho. He speaks alot of english from me becasue he said i will learn spanish but he wants to help me learn the doctrines of christ and how to help people. We live a house with 5 other latino missionaries. The house is the oldest in the mission so its kinda run down but it works. I only spend about 5 hours awake i it, maybe.

The area is great and the people are really nice and helpful. I spoke in sacrament meeting and gave the closing prayer. Afterward the members came up to me and said that i speak better spanish then the last new gringo Elder. I have met with some of the families and they are awesome. I have also a few investigators and they are great too. The houses are tiny and some are just concrete floors with makeshift roofs. They basically live outside with wood slates over their heads. Not much else happened in my sector or with my ward.

On saturday we went to a sealing. My comp´s first baptism was geting married to his trainer. Wierd huh. But it was good. It was cool to see how the gospel can change lives. I got to witness my first sealing in spanish. The bad part was i didnt understand it all because he used some fancy words. But oh well. Then that afternoon we went to a baptism for two new converts in our district. They are investigators of two other missionaries. It was good to see how happy they were. SO my saturday was filled with covenant making instead of teaching. The teaching will come later this week.

The people here are so ready for the gospel. We had this one lady come up to us, tell us here problems and said she wanted us to help her. Perfect opportunity to share the gospel. Hopefully everything will work out with her.

I almost forgot. I tried my first churrisco and completo. They were good. A churrisco is like a roast beef sandwich, just way better. A completo is a hotdogs with tomatoes, onions, guacamole, mustard, ketchup, and mayonaise it was really good too. I dont know what else happened this week.

I hope you all are doing good and i love hearing from you. I think about you and miss you. Love you All!

Elder Ashworth

P.S. Preston driving. That is a scary thought. HAHAHAHA. Just kidding preston.

LAST WEEK AT THE CCM! 10/21/2013

Dear Mom, Dad, Preston, Family, and Friends,

To answer your questions. I believe that every P-Day will be on Mondays from here on out. Preston great job on decleating a couple of kids, im proud of you. Work hard and everything will work out. Another thing i would like is an actual picture of the photo i have on my ipod of the kid praying on his knees and that qoute that says "it doesnt matter how many times you fall, what matters is how many times you get back up." Thanks for the quote, it was good. Im glad you are all feeling better and im sorry i scared you mom i have no control over when my P-Day is they just changed it on us last week.

Now for my week. We went and got our BIP cards this week. They allow us to ride on the buses and the metro, so i got to ride on my first ever metro. The only words to describe it were: hot, sweaty, smelly, and crowded. But it was cool nonetheless. Then we went contacting during our little excursion on the metro and buses. Me and my companion talked to an active Catholic man but he seemed interested in the church so we got his information and address so the missionaries in his area can stop by his house. Then on Saturday we went contacting again. And we ended up talking to two Christian Preachers. It was a hard but good learning experiance. They didnt want to be taught only to swap ideas and beliefs. They also thought our time would be better spent talking to those who dont know Jesus. So we were just friendly, gave them a book of mormon and swapped beliefs. It was good because it is going to help us prepare for the field when we might have to do that.

Anyways we also went proselyting. We went to the Norte mission and went on splits with the missionaries there. We then went contacting while we walked to appoinments. I shared a scripture (1 nefi 11:17) and bore my testimony to a family then my companion did the rest. I also taught part of the first lesson. It was really cool. I have a long ways to go with spanish though when it comes to stuff outside of the gospel. But one of the best things was that the compnion i got split with is from REXBURG! his name is Elder Baden Ballard. i went school with him and graduated with his sister Blakley. We talked about Rexburg and i got him updated on some stuff he wanted to know. Also the houses are tiny and the people are really humble. Its hard to describe what i saw because we were in the poorer part of the norte mission. But i cant wait to see my mission.

This week we get to go to the temple twice this week. Then we have our farewell devotional on wednesday. Then on thursday we go to the field at 6 pm. It will be awesome and i will let you all know how it is.

Pictures are coming in a seperate email.

Love you All,

Elder Ashworth

 The elders, the tallest building in South America ( we ran to it, its about a 1 1/2 miles from Alcantara, we run every morning), and some other stuff.

It is so awesome to see him happy!!!! - Brianna

Last Week!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

     Sorry the pics didnt come through, I will send them again. Also sorry about you mom and preston being sick. It sucks being sick. Also, Ashtyn, about the bed bugs we really do have them down here and we have to be careful because they will live in our beds and bite us at night :). And the weather here is GREAT!! We are in the 80s everyday and the sun is constantly out. Its kinda weird to have it this hot in October. I have a couple more things. One I now have to stay in the MTC for 2 more days becasue of a mission president conference in argentina so our mission president wont be in my mission the day i was supposed to go. Second, my P-days are on monday from now on so you will have to send emails before monday.

Anyways, now for my excperiences this week. We went contacting out on the street last Thursday and got turned down sooo much. In fact one lady laughed in our faces and just walked away. But when we were about to quit because we had to go to class we talked to a man. He was really interested in the church and liked the idea of prophets. So we talked to him about profetas y invited him to church. We also gave him 3 folletos, a Libro De Mormón, and got his address so that other missionaries can go to his house and teach him more. Can I say that it was AWESOME!! It was really cool to see how some people are just prepared and others are not. I hope he went to church since we as missionaries in the MTC have a different time for church then the rest of the people.

This last Sunday was all in Español. It was really cool. We watched the movie "The Testaments" and since it was all in Spanish I had to listen with the spirit iinstead of my ears. I got sooo much from it. It strengthened my testimony more. I even understood the spanish in the movie and in all of the lessons. But after the movie they had us write down our testimony of Jesus Christ so that our posterity can read later on in life. Then in sacrament meeting we had fast and testimony meeting. My entire distrito got up and bore their testimonies. It was the first time ive bore my testimony in sacrement meeting for i think forever. I did it in spanish and it was really cool.

Elder Gilbert, the elder who takes care of Alcantara, is doing great. His open heart surgery went well and everything will be ok. We also went to the temple again. And i did in all in Spanish too. I once again had to listen with the spirit and i undertood it all. It is so spiritual and really awesome in the temple. Its cool to see just how far ive come with spanish in the last 5 weeks.

I got to talk to my mission president yesterday for our interview before our missions. He is an awesome guy. He said the only rules we have are the white book, Preach My Gospel, and the spirit. He said i will see lots of poverty, The people basically live in little huts with dirt floors. He said that we will have baptisms but alot of our work is reactivation. But he made me soo excited to get out in the field.

Yesterday we also practiced lessons with Latinos. They are so awesome. They are really open to help you with your spanish. They helped me alot and they are really spiritual. One of them was baptized when he was 13 by the missionaries.

Well, i dont think i have anything else for this week. So i  hope everything is going good. Im sorry your football team didnt do very well this year.

Love you all!!
Elder Ashworth

Here is a picture of the front of Alcantara. He is the second from the left on the back row. :)

Crazy, Awesome, Spiritual Week - Week 4

Wazup Everyone,

First to start off I will answer all of your questions. Concerning my admission into Byu-Idaho the fall/winter is fine. Next, Preston im sorry isnt doing great this year but i hope you are having fun and i think about you all the time and hoping you are doing great in school and dance. With Conference I got to watch all sessions. They started at 1 for the morning session, 5 for the afternoon session, and 9 for the priesthood session. And they were all AMAZING1 I will go into detail later. With pictures, yes seeing some pictures every once in a while would be awesome. Thanks Ashtyn and Aubrey for the pictures you two wonderful ladies sent me. Ashtyn im sorry you lost your baby girl Kaiya, she was a fun dog and really sweet. Im glad my letters made it to you because i havent gotten any. But if you sent them to my mission home, i will get them all  in 2 weeks.

Now for an update on my happenings in Chile. We got new roommates, they are pretty cool. Then this morning we lost our family of Elders at Alcantara, they left for their missions. It was like my family was leaving me again. We had grown so close, but i know they will do good. Also me and my companion committed two of our investigators to baptism and are doing good with our lessons. Spanish is coming and i learn more each day, I can give a full lesson and hold a conversation now, its pretty sweet if i do say so myself.

These next two weeks will be crazy. I only have two weeks left!!! Then its off to el campo. We get to go street contacting twice, then get to go on the metro and go on splits with the local missionaries for a day and help teach real lessons. I cant wait! im excited and nervous all at the same time.

Im sending you guys another letter today. It is going to Ashtyn. There are a few pages in there for her and mom so I am asking her to copy just those pages and give them to mom. They just have a few spiritual experiences on them that would take to long to email. Not much else in the letter since everyday is about the same. The letters will be better out in the field. I know you guys are going to send me a Christmas package even though i told you not to, so when you send it to me will you include my mp3 player stuffed full of songs (EFY, Micheal McClean, Disney, Nashville Tribute Band, Hymns, Martins Cove, any spiritual songs you can find) and the charger for it? That would be great. I have realized that music helps to lift our spirits while here.Also that picture that i have on my ipod of the man who is kneeling on the ground and the qoute says "it doesnt matter how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up" i would like that pic sent to me too so i can have it in my room. Thanks. :)

Now for the BIG stuff. Conference blew my mind. Who knew that if you actually paid attention and went into conference with questions that you would get sooo much out of it. My testimony has grown about Conference. I know that if we have questions and prayerfully go into conference looking for answers to those questions. They WILL be answered. I have quite a few quotes I would like to share with you all that i got from conference.

-"Here you WILL find peace"

-"Never be afraid, only believe"

-"Men and boys must stand for truth and righteousness, Stand with women"

-"Square Shoulders and Positive Thinking"

"Trust that one day dawn will break brightly and the shadows will dispearse."

-"Doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith"

-" It doesn´t matter how many times we stumble, but how many times we get back up."

-"Jesus Christ is our Champion"

-"Press Forward!"

_"Rise Up!"

-"Always look up!"

-"We truely need him every hour"

-"Sometimes all we need a hug"

-"Hold fast to the Rod of Iron"

-"Instead of solving our problems the Lord wants us to develope the faith we to trust in him"

-"Past is to be learned from and not lived in. And when we have learned what we need we must apply it to our future"

-"May Heaven´s Blessings Be With You!"

I know this church and true and I know it more every day.

Love you all,
Elder Ashworth

P.S. Here me and some of the crazy Elders in my district. The temple. My district and two of the best teachers ever. And i hope i got everything in this email. :)

For some reason his pictures didn't come through this time. Maybe next time. - Brianna

October 1, 2013 - Week 3 and more progress

Dear Family and Friends,

First off to answer your questions about how tall that Elder is he is 6 foot 11 inches tall. His name is Elder S. (name changed for privacy) and he is from California and has a scholarship to play volleyball at BYU Provo. And, yes, that is my whole district and we are all going to santiago sur except for one of the hermanas who is going to santiago norte. Also we eat rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, fish, and beans. Sometimes we get beef, chicken or turkey and pastries, which are really good. I cant believe it is so cold there. When we got here we used a heater every night because it was cold but it is hot during the day and it is always nice weather. I hope it doesnt snow soon because that would be a bummer. Sorry but i have no pictures for you this week. Ill be sure to take some this coming week for you. Also where is Sem going on his mission and has Trey recieved his mission call yet?

Now to fill you in on my week. After we finished emailing we went out on the streets for P-Day. I mailed a letter to you Mom and Dad and one to Ashtyn. While im in the CCM i will only mail one every two weeks. After we went to the post office place we went and explored some more then ate at McDonalds.  It still tastes the same here as it does in America but it was nice to have a change in food from the CCM. Then we stopped by the Distribution Center and bought new scriptures in spanish and will be buying cases for them today. Also there is guy here who will make me cases out of leather like Christian has.

On Wednesday we got new roommates. An Elder Tinney from Utah and an Elder Valdez from Texas. Then we taught an investigator and it was the best lesson we have taught so far. In fact the teacher told us we did a great job and said something that he told the real investigator. It was cool to feel the spirit workinig through us. Then on Thursday is was just more studying and learning. We did an investigator that night who is really shy. But we rocked that one too. Our Friday was a full day. We taught 3 investigators on top of all of our studying and they went well also. Saturday was an eventful day and we rocked the lessons we taught then too. We got to go out to the Temple grounds and share our favorite scriptures and our testimonies with native Chileans. Its crazy just how fast they speak. But it was a cool experience and it showed me just how much spanish i have learned.

Sunday is one of the best days here. It starts out the same except we dont excercise. Our first class was a recording of a talk Elder Ballard gave at a devotional at the Provo MTC. He talked about how to do real missionary work and look for families becasue they have a higher chance of staying active. And he talked about how we know the teachings of the Gospel all we have to do is put all our effort in and the Lord will help us teach and speak the language. Then we watched Legacy which is always a good movie. Then for sacrament meeting i got to pass the sacrament, which was pretty cool. And listening to all those testimonies really helps to strengthen yours. In priesthood we learned about prayer and how to help investigators with it. Last we had family night. We just went over rules and manners in the mission field, then had cookies.

Monday we taught an investigator and did really good. We went in and our entire lesson plan went out the window. So we had to follow the spirit and it still came out good. Im loving down here. All the people are really nice and the big city isnt all that bad. They close down a main street in the morning on Sunday just for families to ride there bikes down it. Also the weather is pretty good. Spanish is coming and so are the lessons. Everything is going good so dont worry about me. I just wanted to let you know that Elder G., the Elder of the senior campanionship that is in charge of Alcantara, has to have open heart surgery tonight becasue a valve in his heart is just flapping. The power of the priesthood is amazing. I just wanted to let you know that.

Oh, and today we get to go to the Temple, AGAIN! It so cool and i love it.

Let me know all about whats going on up there in Rexburg. Share what you would like to with me becuase its nice to hear from you guys. If you have any more questions about what its like down here dont be afraid to ask.

This week I studied Charity a little bit. We all know it is the "Pure love of Christ". But it is also a GIFT from God. We must ernestly pray with all the fervency of our hearts that our hearts may be filled with the Love of Christ. Charity, like faith, leads to action. I know that if we have Charity we can change peoples lives. We can help others and become more Christlike so that we can return to live with our father in heaven again.

Love you all,
Your son, brother, and friend,
Elder Zachary Ashworth

No Dudéis; No Temáis
Doubt not; Fear not