Fotos! 07/22/2013

Ive come to realize I basically only take pictures of 3 things here in Chile... Baptisms, animals, and food. haha. This week will be pictures of food.

1. Well the lady that sells sopaipillas is dying on us... she`s never there on tuesday morning! So I had to take matters into my own hands... Thers a small store near our house that sells unfried sopaipillas... so now on monday on pday we go buy those and tuesday morning after district class we fry and make our own sopaipillas! THEYRE SO GOOD. hahaha. Heres the district with the finished results

2. Elder Neilson with his sopaipa

3. Preparing them to be fried! 

4. Elder Ainge frying! 

5. Today we spoiled ourselves and ate Dominos Pizza en el centro. It was so good.

A Week of Progression 07/22/2013

So ive got lots of stuff to do today and not too much time, so ill keep this letter short and probably leave out quite a few details... but there were a few things I wanted to share from this week.

So i've now been out on the mission a year and 1 month. And im happy to say that this past week I finally came to understand my purpose as a missionary. It was quite the search. but im finally coming to understand my purpose as a missionary! on the first page of chapter 1 in preach my gospel, it states our purpose. Each week we recite our purpose as missionaries. and after more than a year of all that, this week it finally hit me! That i am called as a servant of God to represent Him, to go and call his children to repentance and to come unto Him. And obviously those are things I already knew, but it finally just hit me in a new way this week. And it all just made sense and just blew my mind haha. And ive been able to apply what i learned this past week, and ive really been able to feel a difference in the work that i am doing. I dont know what it was... bueno. Obviously it was the spirit that taught me, but i dont know why it took me so long to realize it or anything... Anyway. I am very happy that i am now starting to understand my purpose as a missionary, and am so grateful for the gift of the holy ghost in my life, and for God`s perfect plan of progression that He has for us. Its an amazing thing. 

and really.... thats about the only thing I really have to share haha. Its super cold here. Thankfully it hasnt been raining to much, but its definitely really cold. But im dressed well so i keep warm. Things are going super well with Elder Panduro. He`s an awesome companion and we get along really well. I love him to death haha. He`s sper funny. Im also very much enjoying the companionship of the other two missionaries with whom we live. We also have a few investigators with which were working, and we hope to have a baptism the first week of August. Her name is Silvia, and the biggest thing that stops her from getting baptized is support and the acceptance of her decision from her parents. So pray for her so we can help her! 

But more than that... basically all is well. All is well and I can continue learning and progressing... so things are good! The biggest challenge is still finding the prepared people who are ready to be baptized, and were still working on our (my) relationship with the members, but basically all is well. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf and the support and love you guys have for me. It all helps :) but.... 

Like I said im going to keep the letter short. There are lots of other things but... Otro dìa serà. I love you and miss you all. This is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the only path to eternal life and exaltation. The true plan of happiness. and all we have to do is follow Christ :) I love you and miss you all. Have an awesome week! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Heyman

Fotos 07/15/2013

Today after we played soccer, the other elders went straight to go buy stuff and do internet... and we went back to the house. Long story short, the other elders had the keys. and the doors cant be opened from outside unless you have a key... This was our only way in. So I had to climb up to the second story window, open it and throw myself in. haha. I still got my gymnastic skills! :D 

2. awesome view from the house of the mission president and wife

What a week... 07/15/2013

Welllll what a week. With lots of ups and downs. It was a tough week. Id say it was mas o menos no mas haha. Of course, like always, there were LOTS of things that happend. But I will just highlight a few points. 

On Wednesday I got to do my first baptism interview!! Woo hoo. It was way awesome. And the guy getting baptized was way good. So it was a lot of fun and intersting to be able to do the interview and see how it is haha. And it was interesting the things I learned from it haha. But so I interviewed Johans. He``s like 33 and single but has his girlfriend who is a member and they have plans of getting married soon. haha. So that was good.

On Thursday.... Oh man. Thursday was honestly probably one of the worst days of my mission so far. Everything just went horrible haha. Its a LONGGGG story... But we went to drop our clothes off to the lady who washes our clothes for us, and when we entered she said "We need to talk. Sit down." and basically I got yelled at for 30 minutes and the lady told me how much she didnt like me and how upset and frustrated she was with me and she didnt want to wash my clothes at all and im the first Elder she`s ever had problems with and on and on......... And so anyway. I honestly sincerely did not do ANYTHING. I promise. Im being a good missionary and respectful. The hermana is just very..... sick and fragile. And anyway I wasnt doing things ``her way`` so she got VERY upset. We were there with her about 45 minutes and seriously I had the spirit with me so much in that moment... haha. Its a miracle how calm I was able to stay in the moment and its even MORE of a miracle that everything turned out fine... gah. SO anyways it was real bad, but in the end we solutioned everything and everything turned out fine and shes still washing our clothes and we have a good relationship. Seriously it was a miracle. But then the rest of the day every one of our appointments fell through and the members pooped out on us and... wooooo it was a rough day. haha. 

Then on Friday we had our first interviews with President Arrington! That went super well,, but the interview was surprisingly short haha. BUt thats okay. We had interviews in the house of president because we live less than an hour away. They have a nice house. haha. ANyway, and on friday I had a mini cambio with the assistants! And it was way fun. and interesting haha. Because they showed up super late, and in our sector we had a Family Home Evening at the end of the night and in the other sector a baptism... so we didnt have much time to work. haha. But we did good. And it was interesting because I was with the Elder that drives. And we were short on time. So we worked in the car all the night and drove to the citas and everything. It was sweet. haha. But we had an awesome FHE and i learned alot and it was fun to talk to Elder Rees and learn and everything. It went super well. That was a high point from the week haha. 

And then today we played soccer against another zone for P-day. SO its always a good day when we get to play soccer haha. And it was a super buen partido. 

And thats the rundown of my week. WE``re still on the search for the prepared people that are going to get baptized... Right now we have 2 focuses. Silvia, who is the girlfriend of the second counselor in the ELder`s quorum, and Lilian and Boris, a refernce from some members. Silvia needs the courage to tell her parents the truth and talk to them about the pathway in life she wants to take. And Lilian and Boris just need to feel the spirit testify to them of the truth. SO pray for them AND for us so that happens por favor :) haha

ANyway I love and miss you all. I love being a missionary. Its the greatest thing ever. This truly is the work of the Lord, and there isnt any other work of the Lord. Every member a missionary. Because thats part of the promise you made at baptism :) So get out there and work! Go fight win. Love you all! Have an awesome week! Im extremely hungry and tired... 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Heyman

Fotos! July 8, 2013

1. IT RAINS ALOT HERE. If you cant note, my pants are SOAKING wet. the umbrella was recently bought haha.

 2. Me with Presidente y Hermana Arrington! :) 
  3. The entrance to the zoo haha. I find this picture funny haha.  
4.  I present... Elder Panduro!!! The day before we went to the zoo he told me he didnt really want to go to the zoo and would prefer to do something else. Why? Because he thought he was going to get bored really easily because there were lots of tigers and monkeys and other animals just freely roaming around right outside of his city at home. So it wasnt anything new. hahahaha. We live very different lives. hahaha.  

5. ...and he was only yawning. Those teeth/that mouth scare me a bit...
1. Passing the monkey a carrot. This was the best part of the zoo. Giving the monkeys food haha. 

2. The sign says that the monkeys bite. hahaha. 

3.  Our district! The best district ever! yaaaaa!!! 

4. And our house. Elder Panduro (Peru), Elder Craig (Idaho), me, and Elder Zanotti (Argentina).

5. The zebra tried to eat me. haha.

¡Hola hola! July 8, 2013

Hey fam and friends. how is everyone? I hope all i well. Things are going pretty good down here in my part of the world. My hair is shorter than its ever been and im dead tired right now haha. Those are the thoughts that are in my head right now. My eyes are way heavy. But anyways. Here`s a quick update.

So we had an interesting week. I had my first mini cambios as district leader this week. It was fun! Thats about all i have to say about that... haha. Oh actually I was able to do interviews of support with 2 investigators. And so I havent had like a real baptismal interview still, but it was fun to be able to talk with the investigators an figure out how things are going and see what I could tell them to help them out. Idk it was just a fun experience and I look forward to doing it more. 

The other big highlight from the week is I got to met our new mission president and his wife!! It was awesome. On friday morning we had a conference to meet them. So we went to the.... I dont remember what its called in english haha but anyway we went to the big room for activities that all the chapels have? and all the missionaries were sitting in chairs in a big circle so that when president and la hermana showed up they could go around and greet us all. And it was way exciting when they both walked in. And it was funny because we were all sitting in silence, and they both walked in nd were also in silence. An then all of a sudden the hermana just said "Wow." as she looked and saw all of her missionaries :) hahaha and we all laughed. But so we got to meet them and got to know them and they are AWESOME! I love them already haha. Presidente is super funny. but so it was awesome to meet them and hear from them and hear their vision and thoughts and all that :) Im excited to work with them. 

And also today we had a zone activity and for it we went to the zoo haha. It was fun. I took  bunch of pictures so ill send some. 

And the last thought/spiritual part of the letter is that we had a roughhhh week this week in our sector/district/zone when it came to bringing people to church... and so I was frustrated with that. Still worried about it. But point is is that God loves us and when we need help and ideas and answers, he will answer us. Because its a super long story and hard to explain so I wont go into it, but basically I was looking for some help of what to do so that we can improve in our sector. And after much searching an thinking, I feel Ive finally received an answer! So were off to work this week to put it into play and have some success. Im really looking forward to it. 

But anyway, ill spend some time sending pictures now. But thats all for this week. I love you and miss you all. I love the mission and everything im learning from it and love how much I feel ive grown in this past year and some weeks. I love it! Have a great week

Con mucho amor,

Elder Heyman

Fotos! July 1, 2013

1. Finally! The baptism of the family Lemonau Linconau haha. here it is :) 

2. Me being a witness in a chilean wedding! hahaha

3. The wedding crew haha...

4. The river in my new sector! haha.

5. And i just realized I havent taken like any fotos in my new sector... Ill get on that! haha

July 1, 2013

Hey everybody! Happy 4th of July! hahah. I obviously wont be celebrating it here but... Still. Happy 4th of July this week! I cant really gather my thoughts super well in this moment.... and I dont know why haha. So Im just going to spill them out as they come!

I dont really have lots of stuff to update on, but I do have some thoughts from the week to share!

One thing is this past week I found myself for one reason or another thinking about life before the mission (im focused on the work dont worry...) and something that hit me really hard and was amazing to me was seeing how the Lord prepared me so much to come out into the mission. The whole year/year and a half before my mission... I thought back and just thought "WOW" as i saw all the things the lord had done to help prepare me to serve a mission. Going to BYU, being in that environment, playing on the lacrosse team, living on my own, having my own parents leave on a mission BEFORE me, just EVERYTHING. I thought back on so much stuff and was amazed at all the blessings the Lord had given me to help me prepare for the mission! It makes me think of one of my favorite scriptures in 1 Nefi 17:13-14. And how it says that the Lord will be with us and prepare the way for us. But it wont be until AFTER we arrive in "the promise land" that we`ll see and know that the Lord was with us guiding us. So yeah. ¿Pensarà usted en las bendiciones que Dios le ha dado y verà las cosas Dios ha hecho para prepararle para estar en el camino en que està ahora? haha. Bad missionary jokes. Theyre contaminating me. haha.

Other thought is that one of my favorite things about the mission is getting to see the miracles of God in my life! And getting to see LOTS of them. haha. Because thats what happens here. Lots of miracles. This past week we found another family of 5 that has rejected the missionaries for YEARS. But we found them and were able to enter their house and share with them a really powerful lesson, all because my compañero had the inspiracion to go tocar la puerta JUSTO when one of the members of our ward was there visiting with them, talking to them about HIS mission and how HE was preparing to leave for his mission in a few months. Again. The Lord knows what he`s doing, and he`s preparing everybody. Everybody will have their chance. Be it in this life or the next. Exercise your agency wisely! haha (unfortunately only 2 of the 5 in the family could go to church yesterday, but next sunday we should have them all there with us!)

OTHER thought. Ive really learned the true meaning of "Pedid, y recibirèis" (Ask and ye shall recieve.) here on my mission. And its a frase that im very fond of and have a strong testimony of it now. In all senses of it, temporal, and spiritual. I dont know if that made sense. BUT, my example is that next to our chapel where we have district classes on tuesdays, theres ALWAYS this lady there who makes sopaipillas that are THE BEST EVER. But... she ALWAYS closes her little stand before we finish class and so we can never get them :( But anyways, I asked, I received. And so she is now going to make 6 extra sopaipillas before she closes (enough for everyone in my district) on tuesdays and wait for us outside of the chapel. hahaha. and they cost like...  40 cents. BUT THEYRE SO GOOD. So since im the best district leader ever and want to show my love for my district <3 I made a deal with the lady so now Ill buy sopaipillas for my district each tuesday after district class hahahaha. SO pumped. Theyre so delicious. 

And the last thing I wanted to share were some of the accomplishments from my first year in the mission! Like i mentioned last week. So For time Ill just list them and not be able to talk anything about them haha. Anyway. Here are some of my accomplishments from the first year of my mission! (In no particular order)

- Read the Book of Mormon completely in a week and a half

- Learned to fluently speak the spanish language

- Became a trainer

- Memorized 80+ scriptures (spanish and english)

- Learned to play guitar/didgeridoo

- Improved my soccer skills so I can now keep up with the Latinos

- Read El Libro de Mormon completely in 42 days, and marked/highlighted the name of Christ everytime it shows up

- Became District Leader

- Helped bring 14 children of God to the waters of baptism!

- Gained an immovable testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints so I can now say without doubt that this is the path to eternal life and exaltation.

Woo hoo! I count it as a successful first year :) 

Some focuses I have for the final year are: 

Improving in Journal writing, letter writing, and scripture marking (can you tell Im not a huge fan of writing?...) haha.

A goal I have for the final year of the mission: Teach piano to someone from one of the wards Im in well enough so that by the time I leave the sector, that person plays the opening, sacrament, and closing hymn of sacrament meeting at least once! and so the ward will have someone to play piano for them after I leave :) A BIG goal that I have... that i am VERY set on doing...

And im thinking of other goals. We will see. 

ANYWAY. That will be my letter for the day. As for investigators, keep that one family in your prayers please!! The husband, Jakelyn, Natalia, Antonia, Matias. Thanks! And keep me in your prayers :) haha.

Anyway I love you and miss you all. This is the only true church of christ that contains the fullness of the gospel and the priesthood of God to truly perform the ordinances of salvation correctly, so that we can receive eternal life and exaltation. And I love having that knowledge and testimony! So imma go share it with others! Brb.

Con mucho amor,

Elder Heyman

"One year older and wiser too..." June 24, 2013

Heyyyy! Its official! Ive completed a year in the mission! ahhh! Que loco... Its crazy how fast time flies. I cant believe its now been more than a year since I left home on this adventure... Its been crazy. Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. But ive loved it all. Ive learned and grown so much, and i am extremely excited about that. I love this church and I love this mission! I know that what Im doing is exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing. I have no doubt about that! Also, I made a list of accomplishments from the first year of my mission this past week, and was planning on sharing it in this email... But today was an extremely hectic, crazy, different day, and long story short, I dont have the list with me :( So ill add it to the next email next week! haha sorry :/ There was a TON of stuff that I wanted to share from this week... So ill just give you little clips of some new things from this week! 

So I am now here in Chiguayante! Close to Concepciòn. I am in the sector La Pradera B. Its a city with three major points to it. 1. a big ol river on one end of the city limits. Its a really really wide river. I dont know what its called but its big. haha. 2. a big train track running right through the middle of it. And trains pass by all the time. and its really loud haha. and 3. A big gigantic hill on the other end of the city limits. and thats basically it. haha. Its REALLY cold. So ive started using my thermals during the work day haha. And always have my jacket and scarf and gloves. And then Im warm. haha

My companion is Elder Panduro! hahaha. For those of you who dont speak spanish, his last name is translated "Elder HardBread" haha. He gets just as much "bullying" here for his last name here as I did in the USA with Heyman. "Hey man! Whats up?!" haha. Hes from the jungle of Peru! haha. So he speaks really funny. He`s got a funny accent and it took me about a day to get used to it, and now I understand him fine haha. But at first he would have to tell me things 2 or 3 times because I couldnt quite understand him with his accent. Hes a really humble guy and I like him alot. Hes super nice and only has 2 cambios in the mission. In fact Im finishing the last 2 weeks of his training with him! haha. So im still teaching him some stuff.

The ward... The ward is an interesting one. Its hard because theyre a really good ward and the members are really good and willing to help the missionaries... but the members are kind of hard to get along with :/ I dont know why it is but they are ALL just jokesters! Theyre the most sarcastic group of chilenos ive ever met. haha. And thats why its hard to get along/work with them. Cuz they just joke and make fun of and tease you ALL the time... And they dont much limits... ha.Theyve already gotten on my nerves a few times with it... So Im gonna have to work on my patience with that. haha. But I definitely am still excited to get to work with them! Because theyre way good to work with the missionaries and help haha. 

Embarrassing story. On sunday (my first sunday in the ward) I was excited because I heard they didnt have anyone who played piano, so I was excited to be able to play piano again in the new ward. We showed up late to sacrament because we were searching out an investigator (who didnt even end up coming...) and so we missed the opening and sacrament song. But so I was able to play the closing song. Well turns out the closing song was that one song where it sings a verse, and before going into the chorus each verse you sing "Yessssss" or "Nooooo" or something like that. haha... I hope you know what hymn im talking about. anyways. Its kind of a difficult song, my hands were freezing cold, and the chilenos dont know the songs super well, and sing their OWN version of the hymn.... haha. So it was SOOOO embarrassing and I felt terrible after, because when I went to play everybody was watching me like "ohhh a new elder to play piano for us!" and the song turned out TERRIBLE. SALIÔ TAN FEO. I kept messing up, and they were singing something weird, and so it was just TERRIBLE.... ughhh. It was embarrassing and i felt terrible after because I just thought "ahhhh now they all think im terrible at playing and wont want me to play again......" and it was just bad. So now i have to wait until next week so i can get redemption. and thats an example of the sarcasticness of the people. Because they kept making comments to me about the song and how bad it was and how I need to practice........ They were "innocent" comments just trying to be funny... but still. It got on my nerves. So... stuff like that. ha. 

andddd the last thing I would like to share, is that today was a crazy hectic day because we had the final goodbye of President and Sister Humphrey!! We had a mission conference and all 200+ of us missionaries got together for a conference! Fue tan bakàn! But.... extremely sad :( It was way sad to say bye to president and sister humphrey :( Theyre like my temporary parents here in the mission! haha. theyre super awesome and ive learned so much from them and theyve helped me out so much. So it was super sad to say bye to them. And after the closing song of "God be with you til we meet again" and the closing prayer, we all kept a moment of silence for them as they packed up their stuff and left. And THATS when I shed some tears haha. Yes i admit, i cried. The Humphreys are extremely special for me. They have truly been a huge blessing in my life and it was very sad to say bye to them and watch them go. Also because it made me think of my own parents and the work THEYRE doing in this moment as well. Thank you for your work, example, and sacrifice Mom and Dad! I love you! I always think of my own parents when I see my mission president and his wife! haha. But so anyways, we had that conference today and it was really fun but really sad too. Here come the new mission presidents!! Im sure theyll be just as awesome as well! :) haha. Im excited to meet them and see what President Arrington and his wife have in store!

Buttt.... Thats about all Ive got for now. To be completely honest we dont really have any investigators at all in this new sector... haha. So no updates on that. 

BUT! I love you and miss you all! Lots! Its been awesome and an honor to be serving the lord here in chile concepcion the past year. Crazsy how fast the time goes by..... I know this church is true without a doubt and I love the lord. I know He loves me! Hes got a perfect plan for me and im excited to see the things that He has in store for me in this life. I hope EVERYBODY who reads this email takes a chance to reflect on their life and set some goals for where theyre headed to next. I love you and msis you all! que este bien! Tengan una buena semana!

-Elder Heyman