Carta Semanal de Elder Conger

Hola todos mis amigos y familia, ojala que están la más feliz que es posible ahora en sus vidas. This week has been a week of learning and spiritual growth for me. I didn´t have many experiences that hit me like brick walls like I did last week, but I have learned a lot about myself and what I need to improve and do better in my personal life.

 

The week went by super fast despite the lack of tons of lessons or projects throughout. We have been focusing a lot more of our efforts on finding the people that live in our new sector and seeing if there is anything that we can help them with, and really we have had a lot of success in finding people that are less active members of the church or investigators that need help but don`t want it haha. This always seems to be the case in the mission, there are tons of people who need help with either the spiritual, emotional, or physical apects of their lives but don`t want it; or at least not from a couple of young men in the street. I have found the only time that we have been able to help people is when we involve prayer and the Spirit in this process. As my Mission President told us in a correlation meeting a couple weeks ago, "without the Spirit, missionaries are just a couple a young men wandering through the streets." Nevertheless, we have found many people as well who do want our help and have invited us to visit them during this week.

 

In my studies this week I have focused a lot on learning about patience (not sure if that is spelled right or not haha Spanish is destroying my English) and how I need to apply it more in my life. I have come to find that I need a lot more patience than I`ve had in the past. But as a missionary patience is invaluable, and you need it in every situation whether it`s with your companion, the people in your mission, or yourself. The fact is that none of us are perfect and we`re all doing to best we can to find some peace and happiness in this life, and during this process there are going to be a few points that are diffivult or that we don`t fully understand. As we develope patience, we come to trust that no matter how dark and dreary our circumstances are the Lord is going to make everything fine eventually, even if it`s not going to be in this life. However, we must not confuse patience with idleness, whish would mean we sit and do nothing waiting for the Lord to fix our problems and do nothing for ourselves. Rather we must anxiously engage in finding answers to our problems and doing everything that is possible to improve our circumstances. And when we show this effort this is when the Lord will show us the way, as we continuously and patiently search for the answers to our difficulties. The blessings of patience are many, and I can promise that this attribute will bless your lives and those of many around you as we all try to develope it more.

 

Another aspect I would like to talk about is Hope. During my time in the mission I have found several people without hope, who don`t believe that there is ever going to be a day when things are going to get better and there is only misery in life. I love the quote, "whether you think you can or can`t you`re right." If we don`t believe things will ever get better and our countanence is always pesamistic, things will not get better. But as we exercise hope in our trials, faithfully expecting deliverance from that which drags us down and doing all we can to fight agaist it, this is when we find joy and happiness. Let us all try to hope for joy in our lives, and patiently and diligently strive each day to do a little better and work a little harder toward that which we desire.

 

In closing I would like to share one of my favorite quotes from the infamous Yoda of the Star Wars universe, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." No matter how dark or depressing your circumstances get do not be afriad, there is always a way out. I know at times this life is difficult and it can be hard to believe that things will get better, but I promise that they can. As we conquer our fears and allow the Lord`s will to become our own we will find that we are stronger than we thought, and there is no reason to fear. The light will always penetrate the dark, the good will always prevail against the evil, and God will always be own our side. It`s my hope and prayer that you are all well and find joy in each of your lives. Until next week!

 

With love, Elder Conger

Terminado con 8 Semanas (wowowowowowoooahwooooooooooah) ¡Que Loco!

¡Hola a todos! Ojala que reciben este mensaje en los mejores condiciones y que todos están feliz y no hay muchas dificultades para ustedes. This week has been super good, and I am so grateful for the oportunidad that I have to share my experiences with you. A lot of this email isn`t going to focus on much of myself directly but rather on experiences and things that have impacted me throught this past week.

 

First however, I will share a few neat things that did happen. I got my second haircut in Chile and I can oficially say that Mom or Dad either one of you have cut my hair ten times better than anyone barber in Chile so far. Granted the first time was prolly my fault as I had no idea how to say I wanted my haircut, but this time I definitely understood the lady and she understood me it just wan`t too important to her how my hair looks hha. However it`s grown back fast the last week and it looks better, I`m super glad to have short hair again haha. Also I made panakes yesterday with some left over Just Add Water pancake mix that Elder Loveridge left in our house. With some chocolate chips thrown in and some Manjar on top it was pretty darn good haha.

 

On Thursday I finished the Book of Mormon (in English) for the first time in the Mission as a challenge from President Warne, my Mission President, to finish it before April 30. I can say that it was the most contructive reading of the Book of Mormon I have ever done in my life and I learned more from this experience than I could have ever imagined. I urge anyone who has not read this book to do so, and to ponder the message that it contains. I am now reading the Bible in English as well and hope to finish the Old Testament by the end of this change with Elder Silvestre. Also in my reading of the Book of Mormon in Spanish I started over (for the third time haha) and am currently in 1 Nephi close to starting 2 Nephi. But I really have come to love studying the sciptures, there is so much knowledge and teachings that we can learn from in them in the historical parts alone.

 

As I said in the beginning of this email there were several experiences that I had this week which have greatly impacted me and I do whish to share them with you. The first was on Friday night. We went to visit the Family Milanco, who are in the new part of our sector that we gained in the last change, we didn`t know the family at all but we shared a scripture with the mother of the family about how "we cannot control the actions of others, all we can do is control our reactions and our own actions" that is found in 2 Nephi but I can`t rementer the exact scripture. After we shared the scripture she just started crying. I din`t really know how to react but then she said (in Spanish), "Everytime that there is something I´m struglling with or that is hard in my life, the missionaries show up and give me the exact message that I need to hear. I know you don`t know anything about us or our personal problems but this scripture is exactly what I needed to hear right now." This experience really fortified my testimony of my work here. I don`t know why this scripture impacted this woman so profoundly because she didn`t expound on it, but I know that my companion and I were guided by the Spirit of the Lord to this message and that our testimonies reguarding the message helped her to feel the Spirit and truthfulness of our words. I am so grateful that the Lord in His mercy touched this woman with our message.

 

The second experience I would like to share happened yesterday in the Primary. My companion and I teach a Primary class every week cause a lot of the teachers don`t come to church haha. However, we a an investigator (who has practically been one of the strongests sisiters in this area for the last six years) in the meetings with her two daughters, one 11 and the other 5. The family is super awesome and the kids are baptized besides the youngest because she is only 5, but the parents aren`t married and cannot be baptized until they do so. Anyways, we were finishing up the meetings and all the kids were leaving and the last one in the room was Michu, who is the 5 year old daughter. She is probably the cutest little kid I have ever seen, and she walked up to us and said, "I want my parents to be baptized." I don`t know why it impacted me so profoundly, but for this sweet and innocent little girl to say this in such a simple sentence when we had not talked about this with her or the family at any point in the three times that we`ve taught them or in the Primary classes was truly powerful to me. I am so grateful for this family and the words that this little girl spoke, because I truly felt the Spirit very powerfully after hearing these words.

 

I don`t have a lot more time but I would like to end as always by sharing a scripture. I wich to speak a little a bout charity this week. As I finished the Book of Mormon I was strongly impacted by the words of Moroni near the end of the Book of Moromon found in Moroni 7. In verses 46 and 47 it reads: "Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherfore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail, but charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." As a missionary, charity is so important. I am trying harder each day to focus more and more on what other people need of me and less of my personal desires for the day or week. As this scripture says, "charity is the pure love of Christ... and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day it shall be well with him." I encourage each of you to develope more charity, and promise as you do so you will find happiness that cannot be described. Until next week!

 

Elder Conger

¡¿Ya Tres Meses?! (Three months aready?!)

Woow, que loco el tiempo en el campo misional. No creo que tengo tres meses en el misión ahora pero por lo visto es la verdad. Necesito trabajar más duro y con más energía pienso. Pero ¡¿COMO ESTÁN?! This week flew by and I can´t belive that people say it´s just going to get faster and faster. I´ve already got three months in the mission and in a lot of ways it feels like I just started. Nevertheless, it was a really good week; possibly one of the best that I´ve had in the mission. 

 

This week started out really dificult, mostly because there are only two people in our house now and we don´t really talk a ton because we´re together all day and know exactly how the other person´s day was. We have some good laughs throughout the day, but in the house usually it´s just really quiet. But with our ENORMOUS sector that we have now there are way more people that we now have the oportunity to teach and help. So every day we´ve been super busy and have found a lot of people, which is super cool to me.

 

Probably the best part of the week was the oportunity for Capacitación with all of the misionaries that I arrived to the Rancagua Mission with. It was the first time I had seen a few of these people in nearly two months, and it was great to talk with them and see how they have progressed. It´s really crazy how much the mission helps people learn and grow at an incredibly fast rate. I´ve experienced this in my personal missionary service and seen it in the others here with me, and I know that anyone else who chooses to serve a mission or do anything similar learns a lot in a little ammount of time. One for me obviously is Spanish, but also how to motivate yourself each day, basic daily responsibilities, how to provide for yourself, and joy in learning and serving others.

 

Not really a whole lot more to share. I´m gonna go back to the buzz cut with my hair today thank goodness, I think I know sufficient Spanish to ask for that now haha. But I´m felling superb, and am filled with much joy today.... I´m starting to realize also that  sometimes I combine the gramar of Spanish and English when I try to write or talk English, and it sounds really weird to me haha. OH! yeah and I had my first dream in Spanish haha it´s was really weird and I don´t really remember what happened but it was definitely in Spanish!

 

To end, as always, I´d like to share a spiritual thought. I have come to love studying the epistle of Paul (if anyone hasn´t noticed from previous emails) and I always find instruccion, encouragement, and super cool messages in his teachings. I have previously shared Romas chapter 8 (my favorite chapter from the Bible probably) but I want to focus on it again this week. In verse 18 it reads: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be  revealed in us." okay wow. There is some pretty tough stuff that goes on in the world today and sometimes I cannot comprehend how some people could do some of the things they do to others around them. But her paul says that the sufferings we have in this world are NOT WORTHY to be compared to the glory we will have after this life. Never forget that as hard as this life can be, the blessings to come are far greatter than that which we will suffer here.

 

It is my firm testimony that as we focus more on the will of the Lord, and the blessings he will grant us in eternity, and we focus less on the trials and extreme dificulties we have in this life that we will come to find joy in our darkest hours. God will always be there for us, waiting with open arms to recieve us. All we have to do is decide, right now, that we accept Him and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ, who is our Savior and Redeemer, and there is no thing in Heaven nor earth that shall keep us from the blessings He will pour down upon us in His great mercy. We can do all things through Christ, for He is strong even though we are weak (kinda from Alma 26:12). I promise each of you that God loves you, and that no matter what your struggles are right now He wants to and will bless you if only we all demonstrate a little bit of faith in Him. This is my firm and unshaked testimony, in the name of our beloved brother Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

I Pray you are all well and happy, and will continue to do so now and forever.  

With much love,  

Elder Conger

Terminado con Primer Cambios

¡Que loco fue este semana! Estoy un poco cansado hoy día porque tuvimos muchas cosas hacer durante la semana. Pero todo es bueno, y estoy tan feliz hoy día. How are all of you guys doing? This week was crazy and incredible, and with General Conference this weekend I`m just on some kind of a Spiritual high. 

 

This week I have my first changes (where missionaries get companions and areas switched) but I`m going to be staying in Graneros with Elder Silvestre to finish my training this next change. However, Elder Loveridge and Elder Quito are leaving to Talca, and we`re not getting new missionaries to replace them haha. So now we`ve got only two sectors in our ward, and tons of people that we are now teaching. But it`s cool to get to know a new part of Graneros and to work with diferent people. But I have a feeling that after the other two Elders leave and it`s just me and Elder Silvestre in the house, it`s going to be a lot more lonely haha. But Also I will get distracted from studying a lot less than I usually do from studying and writing in my journal at night, so ther is a positive too.  

My guitar skills have come in handy of late as during my time here we have taught three families who have guitars, but they have all ben extremely out of tune. I figured out that I can tune by ear fairly well and tuned them for them, and now I know how to pick a few hymns on them that I`ve been practicing on the pianol, so it`s pretty sweet! also all the guitars are really, REALLY, cheap and junky. But the people are really happy with them haha.

 

Conference this weekend was SUPER BAKAN!!! I feel so fortified and ready to work after all that we heard and were taught. I always love the talks by Elder Holland, and his story about the two brothers on the cliff hit be so hard. The comparision was completely perfect and drove home the point that Jesus Christ is our loving brother, and that He is waiting to grab hold and catch us to keep us from falling after we jump. Also the talk by Elder Bednar about the difference between Fear of the World and Godly Fear drove home points about what fear really is and how we can overcome it. Many of you know that really there isn`t much that scares me anymore, and as I grow in the gospel this becomes more and more true. Godly Fear doesn`t mean that we are actually afraid of God, but rather that we know there are dire consequences of transgressing and breaking eternal laws with a knowledge of doing so. One thing that was very cool was hereing from Elder Zeballos in the last session on Sunday. That`s now the third time I`ve heard him speak on my mission; once in the CCM (withe Sister Burton who spoke in the first Saturday Session) and then again at a conference that we had a couple weeks ago in our mission.

 

To close I`d like to share a scripture in Matthew that hit me this week. In chapter 6 verses 20,21 and 22 it reads: "...Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine ey be single [for the kingdom of God], thy whole body shall be full of light." It is my firm testimony that as we make what`s most sacred to us be the kindom of God, we will be "full of light". and then we will be able to share that light with the world, and we will see miracles come to pass in the lives of others through our actions. I know that this Gospel is true without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, and that our Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ, was risen over 2000 years ago on an Easter Sunday just like the one we celebrated yesterday. And because of HIs victory over death, both Spirritual and Physical, every single person and this earth, now or at any other point in time, can be saved in the kingdom of God. It is my testimony that we can overcome the Devil and his evil ways through our Savior, and I say this in His name, even the name of Jesus Christ. Amen  

With love and prayers for each of you,
Elder Conger  

P.S. the pictures are of our sector, just of some houses and the power lines (whish are insane and very unorganized here haha they usually go through tons of trees)