I'm done with training!!

Transfer 2 

 So this last week has been pretty slow but it is really starting to
pick up! This week I have been cooking a lot for lunch, and I have
made Crepes, Flan, a Spanish dish called "Tortilla" and anything else
I can figure out how to make. I also cut my hair, which was extremely
difficult because the buzzer is not working right, haha so sounds
louder than a lawn mower so I had to really make it a speedy process
so that the neighbors didn't get annoyed. Haha so let just say a
rushed, self given haircut isn't the best thing ever. 

 Haha besides that, I have learned this week that there is real success
that comes from giving the mission your all. I feel like I am just
learning how to really give it my all and we are always blessed for
trying to give everything we've got. 

 This last week we have been working hard to find new ways to find
people. The zone is really pushing to get the missionaries off the
streets to find different ways to find and teach people, which has
been difficult but we are starting to see some cool opportunities show
up. I know there are people out there that the Lord wants us to find
and teach, we just have to do our part and show our faith to make it
happen. 

 We started an English class, and we have been handing out pass along
cards like crazy to get people to come out. We are super excited for
that and hopefully it will be a help in finding people. We are also
starting a food drive with the Red Cross here and that will be really
cool if we can get the permissions for that. 

 We are really branching out our ideas on how to find people, and our
mission President said we can even use sports! So Saturday we played
soccer with A guy from Venezuela we have been talking to and a group
of guys that get together every Saturday to play fútbol. Man was that
a humbling experience! Haha I fell in love with soccer at the CCM and
thought I wasn't half bad, but here there were like 70 year old guys
running circles around me with the ball. Haha but it's ok, because we
are really there to get to know the guys and to see if we can teach
some of them. 

 So we are basically trying tons of new stuff to see how we can better
find people to teach. In the past it has really been hard to talk to
people, or just to be what I would have called a "people person" but I
have really learned this week that God is a people person, so I want
to be a people person too :) and it has been amazing as I try to let
the Lord shape me to what he wants me to be. 

I hope you all have an awesome week! 

 Con Cariño 

-Elder Chandler

Hey Guys!

Wow, this week has been crazy and full! Haha one of the Elders here
just records his voice and sends the voice recording home because it
is easier than typing, and I'll admit I thought about doing that. Haha
so my letter may be short today because I don't have much time. But
this week we had some awesome experiences. 

 Our investigator Manuel has been continually growing in the Gospel. He
has come to church every Sunday, and he loves it! He really
participates in the lessons, and we sit in the back with him so we can
answer his questions when the members teach about something knew he
doesn't know yet, or when he is confused. He has also referred us to
teach his daughter and grandkids, because this is something that he
wants them to have. So we offered to teach them Ingles, and then we
were able to teach a little bit about the Restoration this last week
with his daughter. 

 We also had a zone conference this week and it was SUPER powerful. We
learned about the importance of the Sacrament, the Atonement, and
keeping the Sabbath day holy and how important it is that we teach
this to less actives. President Bamio, the District President said
that if the less actives understood the real importance of the
sacrament, they would be there every week. And it is because the
person giving the sacrament really represents Christ. And Christ truly
gave everything for the chance we have to repent and I am so grateful
for that. So we will be teaching about that this upcoming week. 

 They also counseled us in the conference to stop planning time to
contact. And I was like "what??". I had no idea how we were going to
find people to teach with no active members in the city, and without
contacting. They said that we are going to try contacting on our way
to things, and not as a choice for something to do. So we have really
been changing our finding techniques and what to do during the day.

 I know that God is truly in charge and he will help us in our time of
need, and in our time of struggle. I know that sometimes we pray for a
change and we pray to be free from our trials, but no matter what, we
need to look for "the refining process that the spirit can bring
through our trials if we face them with the Lord." I hope you all have
an awesome week! 

 Love you guys! 

Elder Chandler

A church made out of shells

The view from our ward mission leader's piso :)

Hey Everyone!

Wow, there was a lot going on this week. First off, with the
investigators everything has been going really well. We were able to
get a hold of Lina this week which was a miracle. We were paging her
piso, but with no answer we found someone to let us in the building
and went up anyway. Haha and right as we get off the elevator we
almost ran into her! She was heading out and in a big rush, but she
told us that her phone broke and so she hasn't been able to get a hold
of us. So that was awesome. Then, we taught some other people we found
in the area book, and we are excited for that. For one reason or
another they were dropped in the past, but this area hasn't had
missionaries for a year and a half and a lot can change in that amount
of time! 

 We had some great lessons with them, but the one investigator that I
want to talk about is Manuel. So we met with Manuel again this week
and he is so prepared. We will give him a reading assignment and he
will come back with the pamphlet marked and will have in depth
questions for us. Then in this last lesson we began teaching him
Lesson three, which is about faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of
the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. And after we always teach
"how can I know for myself" . We were testifying that he could know
these things are true, and after he tried to say something and started
to cry. He then, asked us if we could meet with his daughter and
grandkids and my companion asked him "Manuel, why do you want us to
meet with your family?". He then began to cry again, and after some
time he said with tears in his eyes, that for so long he had been
looking for an answer with his head, and meeting with us he felt an
answer in his heart that these things are true and that he wanted this
for his family. 

 He wants so badly for his family to believe the things that he does,
but he said they are not very religious. So we will meet with his
daughter this next week and I am super excited because I know the
gospel can change people's lives forever if they let it! 

 I gotta go, but thanks Dad for the pictures! I'll try and send some.
Have a great week! 

 Con Cariño 

-Elder Chandler



Santiago Cathedral with Elder Bennet

Milagros! Traslado 2!

Hola! 

Haha this week has bien great! So this was my first week with my new
companion Elder Bennett and it has been super awesome. We were able to
work hard this week and it has been amazing to see the miracles all
around us. 

 This week for some reason has been super hard to meet with our
investigators. There was always something in the way, like they were
sick, had work, or just havn't been answering their phones. We
couldn't even get a hold of Victor and Eric all week which was rough.
And then, we got a text from a less active family that has been having
some marriage issues and it was really rough. They thanked us for all
we had done for them, but they said they decided that they don't want
to come anymore. Hearing that from them really hurt because I have
really grown to love them and we have been trying so hard to help
them. 

 So to make up for it we have been really looking for more people to
teach, and we have been so blessed. We sat down this week and combed
through the area book, and for three or four hours we just sat down
and called and called old investigators until we found people to
teach. 

 The first guy we found was Antonio, an older Spanish guy who ran one
of the elementary schools around here and we were able to sit down
with him and we taught some of the Restauration. It was a lot harder,
because Elder Bennet doesn't have much more time in the mission then I
do, and our Spanish isn't that great yet. We can't speak everything we
want to, or wish we could, but it really doesn't matter because the
spirit is really the teacher. We have been learning to rely on the
spirit 100% and have seen such miracles from it. 

 One of those miracles was an old investigator we found named Manuel.
Manuel is a 72 year old guy who has had some hard times, but through
it has held on to religion. He studied for two years to be a priest in
the Catholic church "between four walls" and after all the work, and
prep, and everything they told him he couldn't be a priest, because he
had once been a part of another church. So he knows the bible really
well and has a lot of questions. The first lesson we had with him the
spirit was so strong and in the first lesson we set a date for him to
be baptized! I was blown away. Wow. But then he came to church this
week with us! He has obviously been really prepared. We only had 7
people at church this week, but it was ok because Manuel was there.
Haha we have more work to do with the members and less actives this
week. 

 This weekend has been Carnival so it has been pretty interesting. Haha
carnival here is a like a 3 day party where everyone dresses up and
they play music so loud you can hear it all over town. Adults, kids,
and everyone. my favorite was either a really decked out Jack Sperrow,
or our friend Borja in a giant penguin costume. Haha oh man.

 It has been a great week, and I hope you are all doing great! 

 Con Cariño
Élder Chandler

2nd Transfer!

Familia and Friends!

I am officially into my 2nd transfer! It amazes me every week how much
I am able to learn and how fast the time flies. Today, Elder Barlow
took a train to Madrid to be a zone leader in Barrio 2 so I am getting
a new companion, Elder Bennet! He is from Idaho, and from what I have
heard he is a great missionary. I am really glad for getting to serve
with Elder Barlow, and I have learned a lot from him.

Something that I have learned this week is that we need to smile.
"This small action can help those who are overwhelmed or burdened."
Hugo Montoya of the seventy gave a great talk on this the last General
Conference, and I have seen myself grow a in leaps and bounds as I
have tried to lift those around me. And it is amazing how far just a
smile can go!

The missionary work this week has gone by really well. This week we
taught an investigator named Victor, and he is a solid guy. The first
time we met him, and when we first taught him it was really hard
because he had very solid beliefs on what he thought God was, and had
very Catholic ideas. He was super nice but he really just didn't want
to accept much of our message. Then this last lesson, something
changed. As soon as I saw him, I noticed a difference. There was a
light about him and a peace that is hard to describe. So before we
began teaching him we asked if he had read in the Book of Mormon and
he surprised us by saying yes! He had downloaded the app on his phone,
and he read 6 chapters the first night! I think Heavenly Father is
just waiting to bless us, and he loves us, but sometimes we have to
use our agency and decide to do what is right for those blessing to
come. And he has really been blessing Victor for making these first
few steps.

We also met with Lina, and we had a great lesson the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and after we challenged her to be baptized in February.
She said she would need more time, but she is progressing well and we
are excited for her. And then, we met with a guy named Erik, who is a
Biology professor who is looking for work. He is super nice, and we
taught him about the Restoration and our Heavenly Father. He doesn't
know if God exists, but it was really cool to bear testimony to him
that I know God exists, and that he could know too. The spirit was so
strong, and we hope and pray that he prays to know for himself. But
it's been a great week! I hope you all have a good week!

Con Cariño
-Elder Chandler