March 11, 2013

This week was really short because we had a conference on Thursday and it meant that we had to travel alot. We did manage to meet up with Ivo again and now we just have to talk to his mom about baptism. I don't really know what is going to happen there, but we will see. From my point of view I don't see any downside for the mom, but sometimes people have very different views.

The bathroom looks really good and not at all what I had pictured in my mind. (We are doing some work on our main floor bathroom and sent some photos so far.) From what I understood there was going to be tiles on the roof. (No... ?? Tiles on one wall, floor to ceiling.) That being said, I really like what I see. Also, that new dimmer switch is sweet.

As your temperatures are getting warmer, we are getting colder.

The Cambios for this transfer are 2 weeks earlier - on the 25th of March. You can count 6 week periods until October and that is the day I leave. I think it is 20 something.

Elder Casas really got a lot more relaxed after the last Pday, so this whole week went really good. I think he is starting to loosen up with the people we are teaching, which I think will help him a lot because he teaches well (just lacks a little practice but that will come with time). I would find him a little cold at times, but this week was a lot better. Given that I am rarely really serious, it is bound to rub off a little bit.

That is really cool to hear about Paige leaving for her mission and her farewell talk. It should be cool to hear what is going on with that.

This week was pretty slow but the next should be more interesting.

Love you guys,

Elder McCaskill

Summary of audio clip...
This recording will probably be short as I'm on my way to the Cyber... I'm just walking right now.

As I mentioned in my email, this week we had a conference with President Bruce. It was really short, only about 2 hours. President Bruce spoke for a bit and then the Assistants spoke for a bit. I'm not really sure why they held it as it was so brief.

One good thing this week as that Ivo is back and there's more people in Diego which makes it a little easier. Ivo came to church this week so we were really happy about that. Now we just need to talk to his mom about him getting baptized.

... I'm climbing a hill... pant... pant...

El Salvador, one of the other sectors in my district - they're doing really well. They could quite possibly have 3 baptisms this  month. That would be the 1st baptisms in 13 months, so we're pretty excited about that.

This week seemed really short. We got some days taken up with travel and then it was challenging to find people to teach, so I don't have much news to share. Sorry for being so short.

Love you, talk to you next week.
Jordan

March 4, 2013

We are in Tal Tal again this week. We just finished our get together and are going to do Internet  before dinner if we have enough time. This week was kind of interesting as we never really got to work in our sector. We had more like a half week as I had to wait for Elder Casas to arrive. We started working mid-week - our first day of real work was Thursday, but we got a lot done. I was really impressed.

Elder Casas has been in the field almost 1 week - he's straight from the MTC. He's got about 2 1/2 weeks total because missionaries who aren't learning a language only spend 12 days in the MTC now. He's interesting... an interesting dude. He is really, really serious. I don't know if it's just because he's new and doesn't know me that well and doesn't really know how to get accustomed to a new companion... or any companion, but he's really serious about everything.

However... he's a good missionary. He teaches really well. He's a little bit of a know-it-all and doesn't really want to listen to me right now, but I think he'll get over that. He teaches really well and has a good knowledge of the gospel and that's really nice. He's super, super filled with faith. I can see how I've become a little jaded over time. Where I am pessimistic, he is optimistic, probably because I have had more people slam doors in my face, I suppose. But, it's really good actually. This partial week we worked really well and I'm looking forward to this cambio. I just need to get to know him a bit better, I think.

We didn't have too many in church again which is frustrating, but people are finally starting to come back this week. We had 9 people in church instead of 3 - we tripled our attendance. (It sounds good if you look at it that way!) Our branch president came back and another family. It's looking like we'll be pretty good now.

This week we're going to Copiaco for a conference. This will be my third conference in this zone - 1 per transfer. They do them often here. This transfer looks like it might be 2 weeks shorter because they have to make a change for the new missionaries coming in. They're coming in 2 weeks earlier than before. It appears they will end this transfer 2 weeks short to line them up and then back to every 6 weeks from there. At that point, I should be able to give you the exact date when I go home... if you guys want that.

That's about what's been going on. I don't know if you remember me talking about Ivo - the kid we were teaching awhile back who had been going to church with us before he left for vacation. He just returned yesterday - his sister told us. Now we should be able to continue teaching him and see if he can go to church again. That would be super, super, super cool. I just have to talk to his mom and I'm pretty sure he can get baptized. I'm pretty optimistic about that!

Otherwise we have some investigators we're teaching, and some that aren't progressing. They'll listen to us, but they aren't going to church. I mentioned the family we went to see and some guy was at their house and was yelling at us. They were a bit ashamed at the time and didn't really want to look at us, but they don't have any issues with us, so we are still going over there. We have a few things going on, but probably need to look for more contacts. That's my news for this week.

I love you guys. Talk to you later.
See you,
Jord

February 25, 2013

So we had cambios and I am....staying in Diego. I have some mixed feelings... I actually really like the sector eventhough it is a little bit hard, but I don't know how General Conference is going to work. I am pretty sure that Diego does not have a satelite feed. As far as my current companion goes, Elder Royas, he is going to Antofagasta to a sector called Angamos. I don't know who my new companion is, not even his name - that's because, just like the missionary in your ward, I will be recieving a new missionary. Yep, I´m training. I will let you know later who it is.

My transfer was really weird because for a day and a half I was about 95% sure that I was going to be training in Diego. The poor new missionary has to do all his cooking and cleaning right off and is in a little pueblo where the membership is small in the church.

We only had three people in church this week. I really had no idea what to do. Summer vacation really takes it's toll.

Besides the cambios not too much happened this week that I didn't talk about in my recording.

The sacrament meeting for the miners is going good. We have some that are really active members here and a couple less actives. The miners really want to try and get people from the mine to go so that they can get references for us, and also for other sectors. It works for us too because it gives us more time to take more people. It is also nice because there is a less active memeber that is coming back to church because of all the time he is spending with the miners.

Well, I have to go now but I uploaded the recording.

Love Jord

Summary of audio clip...
Big transfer day... missionaries leaving today or coming today. I thought I'd be leaving, but am actually staying and will be training a new missionary. I don't know who yet. Usually when you train, you go to Antofagasta to get your missionary and bring them back to your sector. They got so many missionaries this transfer that they aren't doing that - they are just sending them out. That sucks because I really wanted to go to Antofagasta and eat American food... ha, ha! I heard that they are going to hold a newbie meeting pretty soon and they will send all the trainers to Antofagasta along with them. It sounds like that's what they have planned.

Transfers from our zone - Elder Royas is going to Antofagasta, but into a different sector than I served in. I'm not sure when my companion will get here so I'll probably go to Chañaral until he arrives. Elder Farnworth is leaving, Elder Heart who is in Tal Tal and Elder Smith are leaving. The other 2 missionaries in our district are staying. I'm excited to be training because you get an extra hour in the morning for companion study time. That's really nice because getting things done in the mornings here is difficult.

Last week we did a "zone attack" in Diego, where the whole zone meets and contacts. It was good although we didn't really find anyone new. Aside from that we had 2 investigators that were coming to church, but when we went by to get one of them last week, another Chilean man was at their home. He had been drinking and started yelling at us and slammed the door in our faces - it wasn't even his house. He was very angry and seemed to have some bad feelings about the church - we're not sure of the history there. We're a bit worried about our investigators and how they will react to that influence.

It's been a pretty normal week. We did some service for a less active sister. It was not what I expected. We were told we would be painting - when we got there she wanted us to paint a mural... I was like, ok. I don't know if we're the best ones for this job. She was super cool though. I'm really glad I'll be here for another transfer. I'm hoping we can get her to come out to church again.

I cleaned the Pension and folded my clothes before the new missionary arrives. I'm going to try and be very diligent with rules and routines so he has a good example to follow. I'll even try and do my exercises each morning.

That's all for this week. I'll let you know who my new companion is. I might be able to send a short email mid-week as they let the newbies email their families to let them know they arrived safely.

Love you, see ya!

New companion update... Wednesday...

I told you that I would probably be able to write something short about the transfers mid-week while my companion writes his family. So, here it is.

My new companion is Elder Casas from Peru, the city is called Peura. I really don't know anything about him yet. I think he is just trying to take it all in right now, but I should probably have a little bit more to write next week when he gets settled in and opens up a bit.

Well, I just wanted to let you know that real quick and I'll send you something more on Monday.

Love you all,

Jord