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