Hola Everybody!

Wow, what a week! This week has been busy but good. So this week there was a worldwide training for missionaries and some of the quorum of the twelve taught, and some of the quorum of the 70. It was an awesome spiritual boost, and it really gave us some ideas of how to help the people here in our area.

Something that Elder Bednar taught was that; sometimes, "teaching is not talking. It's ears to hear, and eyes to see." And the "Holy Ghost is the teacher." It was super cool to hear from modern day prophets, and they are great examples to me. Then, President Pack came up for interviews and it was awesome to see him again. We were talking with him, and he told my companion and I that he would love to see Villagarcia with 15 people actively coming to church each week. So we set a goal of 15 people and we are super excited to take what we have been learning and apply it here in our area.

One thing I am learning more and more to do, is to listen to the promptings of the spirit. On Sunday we went to go and visit a less active family that didn't come To church, when I had the feeling that we should wait. I felt like it was good we were visiting them, but we should wait a little bit. So we sat underneath a bridge where it was dry and made phone calls for about half an hour and then went and stopped by. And what happened, was their little boy Adrian was sick and so as we were teaching the lesson it was hard to get anything across because he was making so much noise, and wanted the tv on really loud. Finally we were about to leave and come back some other time when he was feeling better, when Adrian fell asleep. And for a few minutes we turned off the tv and we had a really spiritual lesson on the importance of reading in the Book of Mormon. And the cool thing, is that if we didn't wait before we went, we wouldnt have been able to give them that message that I think they really needed.

So it was all good. Oh and we found out this week that our investigator Maria Jesús, who was super awesome is actually in Pontevedra's area :( . It was hard to let her go, But it's ok, she will be taught the same gospel by some awesome Elders!

Haha then yesterday a drunk guy stood right in front of us while we were making calls on a bench and it was the funniest thing. He was went off on a rant of how there used to be Collosiums here but they were turned them into Fútbol stadiums, and how he almost died in Mexico and it was weird because they are like America and they believe in God. It was kind of funny to watch. Then, after he gave us a fist-bump and told us he didn't need us because he believed in his own salvation.

It's been a great week and we are trying to always work hard! I hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Chandler

Hola Todos!

Wow what a week! This week we were able to teach Maria Jesus up in the pueblos which I love, because it is SO beautiful up there. We taught about the Plan of Salvation and about Repentance, and the spirit was there so strong! We ended up teaching the lesson on her back porch which was awesome with the amazing view and after the lesson she excepted (accepted, I think his English is fading ;) our invitation to be baptized! Then on Wednesday was taught our investigator Lina from Columbia and after an awesome lesson, she too excepted (accepted) our invitation to be baptized which just blew me away! We know it will take time, but I know they will see miracles in their lives as they continue following Christ.

 Haha speaking of miracles, we have seen some too! I left my bag with my ipad and all my stuff just outside of Marias house when we taught her, and we had no way of contacting her or getting back up there until late the next night. So I decided to pray and have faith that Heavenly father would help me out, and I prayed like crazy that my bag wouldn’t get wet. Then, the next night at like 8 when we got up there, she handed me my bag, and said she saw it at like 3 oclock the next day, and she grabbed it just in time, because it started to pour right after! My bag sat outside for almost 24 hours and was completely dry! It seemed like a lot to ask Heavenly Father to get it back dry, but it stayed completely dry!

 It was a cool blessing for sure. Then Thursday I spent the day in Pontevedra for a comp. exchange and learned a lot. And Sunday I gave a 25 min lesson in Spanish! Haha that was a miracle too! There were about 9 people at church this week, and we were really excited to get more people coming back. 

 I am learning more and more how to love missionary work every day! And my love for the Spanish people grows farther then I could have even imagined! I love serving on a mission for those brief glimpses of how much Christ and our Heavenly Father really love these people and all of us. I have been studying the attributes of Christ this week and trying to learn from his example because he is the perfect example. All in all it was an awesome week.

i love you guys!

-Elder Chandler

True Happiness is found in serving others

                                                       Equilibrium Rock con Presidente

Hey Guys!

Everything here is going great! We are working really hard and we are starting to find success! We are trying to work on reactivating the members this week but most of them dont live here in the city so we are praying we can find ways to make it out to visit and find them! It rains almost everyday here like crazy and some of the rivers overfilled one day and ran into some bars and cafes next to riverside. haha I am super glad for that coat I brought! We have been able to teach our Venezuelan family, and a couple inactives this last week and that was super cool. the Festivals are over now so now people can meet with us more which will be super awesome and we are excited to teach some of our investigators again. We are teaching a new Lady named Leena from Columbia who is just killer nice, and really interested in our message! Her little boy was diagnosed with Autism this week and it was really hard for her, but it was such a blessing to be able to help her and I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ will bless her and with it we can overcome any challenge and turn them into blessings! I am so glad for this gospel! I love you guys a ton!                               

-Elder Chandler

Happy New Year!

Wow things have been awesome in Villagarcia! This week has been one of our slower weeks for sure because of bad weather and Holidays but It has seriously flown by! The people here all get off work and stay inside and party for ALL the Holidays so with lots of rain, the streets have been empty and no one wants to meet. But it has been alright because we have been working as hard as we can and I know that as long as I we do that we will be blessed! We got to meet with our Venezuelan familia this week and they are the biggest blessing. They are the nicest people you will ever meet, but it seriously kills me inside when they dont keep commitments or do things like reading and praying to grow their faith. It is so hard because we know it works, and we want nothing more than for our investigators to know that! We also taught MariaJesus way up in the pueblos and we love her to death. She is a huge animal person, and it was kind of hard to focus on the lesson because there were 20 cats in the room, and a dog. haha we ended up asking her how many animals she has, and she said she has 26 in total. Thats our highest cat per investigator ratio yet! And then Sunday we only had about 7 members at church again, but we had an investigator come!! And the best part is that elder Barlow and I taught about the Book of Mormon for the second hour and the spirit was there so strong! His name is Hector and he is a real cool guy. We will be working with him more this week for sure. We also celebrated the New Year a couple of days ago during our MedioDia time, and they have a tradition here that you have to shove a grape in your mouth for every second of the last twelve seconds of the year as like the "last grapes" of that year. And thinking back on this last year thats how fast this whole year seemed to go by. I am really looking forward to this New Year as a missionary and I am so glad I get to spend it serving Jesus Christ!

I love this work! Alright, till next week!

Con Amor!

-Elder Chandler  
True Happiness is found in serving others

Thank you SO much for writing! Ill have to send pictures next week, because the ipad isnt working very well. And send lots of pictures! Love you guys! 

My ipad isnt working so I had to write before I read the emails which is really hard. Oh and me to! It will be the best thing he has ever done! sorry, i have to go. I love you! 

And thanks for the reminder of Livvys birthday!