Hello 09/09/13

Hellooooo friends and family. I had quite the week. It was FULL of stuff haha. Lots of little stuff so i wont give all the details but ill just tell some stuff.

Well first off, we had a really really good week! We were able to do alot of good work and do lots of stuff. We found lots of people to teach and were able to make good progress with some people we had been teaching. And I dont remember if I had talked about them before (i think i did) But the family Solis Barker (theyre menos activos that have their son who is still not baptized) We were able to help them come to church this week! They came to church! woo hooooo!!!! The WHOLE family! So it was awesome. Legitametly I dont think ive been happier to see one of our investigators/menos activos in church before haha. It was the best. Were starting to see lots of miracles and blessings in our sector and were super happy haha. So yeah, we had a really good week!

And also this week, I come sharing a testimony of service! haha. So, long story short, my companion and I are having difficulties haha. We are just 2 very different people, so theres alot of butting heads. BUT, we still work fine together, but its just lame to not like... get along with your companion haha. So each week we have our "Companionship inventories" where we talk about how things are going and if theres any problems between us. And basically we just talked about how we dont get along very much. haha. So... we kind of just ended up like that "we dont like eachother but were both dedicated to the work and that`s all that matters." But so after having that conversation I was just thinking about it and thought "well its just super lame to not get along with your companion" and thinking that "this is my hijo, im training him and im his first companion and I dont want him to have lame memories of his first companion/trainer!" So i was thinking about what I could do to help our relationship out, and decided the best thing to do would be to serve! So I just figured by serving i would be able to show my love towards him and that I WOULD like to get along and be friends and hoped things would be better. So during the week I just tried looking for opportunities to serve. For example one day I made his bed for him, another day I shined his shoes, if we bought a little snack or something to eat from a store I would buy one for him too... Just little things to serve. And it worked! We had a MUCH MUCH MUCH better week. We got along much better and fought less and things were just better. and I know it was that way because of the service. not to say it in a bragging way, but de verdad, it made a world of difference. SO. Serve! If theres someone you dont like, serve them! and the spirit of service will change things. It will give a 180 and be alot better. So thats was an awesome experience I had this week. Go out and serve others! It will make you and them happier :)

Another CRAZY thing from this week was my district... bajofjawepofkj oh man tuvimos cualquier problema. The whole week I was dealing with alot of district stuff. I had sick hermanas that couldnt leave to work. They were sick and throwing up and lots of other stuff and just ALOT of stuff. And my companion also this weekend discovered this crazy nasty blister/spider bite looking thing on his toe, so we`ve had to be figuring out what to do with that... I also had a mini cambio this week with one of the elders and so that was actually alot of fun, but just another District Leader responsibility I had this week, and we ended up leaving the 2 nuevos misioneros that have 1 month in the mission together in my sector (and they actually did a really good job haha) It was just crazy haha. So i was on the phone all the time during the week and making calls and checking up on people and calling other people to find solutions and on and on haha. It was loco. So that was crazy. Have I mentioned it was crazy? 

and also another crazy thing that has happened this past cambio is how busy the 30 minutes right after church ends on sunday have become. They are 30 of the busiest most chaotic minutes of my life. haha. Church ends and then millions of responsibilities come in all of the sudden. I have to talk to my district to see how it went in church, help clean up the church, the bishopbric is calling us to talk, members are calling us to talk and remind us about lunches or give referencias or just anything, people are asking for help with stuff. Its just so chaotic. haha. once again... its CRAZY. Thats just how i feel my life is now. CRAZY. Just so many things happening haha. Words cant explain it.

Andd lastly Ill been sending pictures today! I finally have some pictures to send. Today we had a zone activity and went to the beach! haha it was awesome! we had alot of fun, so ill send pictures and you can see it.

Wellll.... Thats about all for now. For this week. Things are good, im learning and growing lots, and i love being a missionary. I love seeing the miracles of the hand of the Lord every day, and feel so blessed for everything ive been given. If we just live the gospel, everything will be perfectly okay. They wont be perfect, but theyll be perfectly okay. I love you all and miss you lots! Be good people! live the gospel and share it with everyone! Help the missionaries wherever you live. This church and gospel are true.

With Lots of love,

Elder Heyman

Fotos 09/09/13

1. Found this bus the other night and I busted out laughing. No, it is not property of our church. But i wish it was.

2. Scenic view of the beachline (i dont think thats correct english)

3. Yo con mi compañero

4. The Tierra Bella roommates!!

5. Found a crab. Put my plaque next to it and took a picture. Art.

1. Me and my crab friend.

2. For some reason as a missionary it feels like we have very limited posing options. haha. Awkward pose.

3. I love chilean dogs..... NOT. (SO GROSS).

4. But THIS guy does :) hahaha even at the beach its LOADED with dogs.

5. So we found this rock. So we went out to the edge to take pictures...

1. And suddenly the waves starting crashing against the rocks really hard. haha so we all took pictures like this. and got really wet. It was fun haha.

2. Cool view from top of the cliff.

3. Last pic from top of the cliff. It was a good trip haha. 

It's Like I have Two Knees in One! 09/02/13

haha. So today for pday we played futbol (of course). Anyway it was way fun (like always). I didnt play very good but i still loved it. And so long story short during the game at one point i fell down really hard on my knee. and it hurt really bad. And now its super bruised and has a FATTY lump on it haha. BUT. Im okay. Nobody freak out. im fine. it just looks really weird. haha

well i had a super weird week once again this week. I did alot of NOT working in my own sector. So thats always good for the progression of my sector, right?... :(

So monday like i said i had a billion things to do. Elder Craig went home so we had to babysit his companion and we had to buy a billion things and organize the house and what not... and we didnt even finish. So monday we ended up working in La Pradera B once again since we were babysitting Elder Quiroga!  so that was fun. But I didnt work in my sector. 

On tuesday morning we had permission to finish up organizing... still didnt finish though. But so in the morning we didnt work in our sector. And in the afternoon i had to do an interview of support in Hualqui (one of the sectors in my district) which is 30 minutes away. so one hour-ish of travel, 45 minute visit to their investigator... we didnt get working in our sector until a little after 6ish. So we had VERY little time to work in our sector that day. 

Wednesday morning we had district class. So we didnt work in the morning. But also on wednesday my companion had problems with his visa, so wednesday he left on his own to santiago to go solution some of those problems. So wednesday afternoon i was in a trio with the other elders working in their sector. I was able to leave with a member in the afternoon to do 1 visit. Again, didnt work in the sector.

On Thursday I had a mini cambio with the zone leaders... in THEIR sector. I worked in La Pradera B once again, so that was fun. But wasnt able to see Silvia even though we had a leccion con miembro set up and she was going to accompany us. But it didnt work. So that was too bad. But... Thursday. Didnt work in my sector. 

And on FRIDAY we had the awesome opportunity of having a special conference because Elder Gonzales of the Presidency of the Seventy came! And so we had to wake up at 4-430ish to get up and showered and get to the chapel ontime (THAT was fun... haha) But the conference was SUPER awesome. It was cool to meet Elder Gonzales and hear him share. He talked for like 3 hours haha. with a 15 minute break at one point. Maybe im exaggerating a little. but he didnt talk at least an hour and a half to two hours. but it was still really good. With lots of participation and asking questions and stuff. So it was alot of fun. But so friday morning we didnt work in our sector. haha. finally on friday afternoon we were able to at least have a full afternoon of work. 

saturday mornings here in chile, are the least active times of life ive ever seen. Stores dont open until 10ish, and the population doesnt start waking up until that time, and dont start accepting people into their houses until... well never on saturday morning. haha. So proselyting is the most un-fun thing to do here on saturday morning. It just ends up being alot of walking and talking to grumpy tired people hahaha. But de verdad. So anyway, alottt of the missionaries in the mission aprovechar un poco and use saturday morning as a time to invite menos activos, miembros, investigadores, and everything and we play futbol saturday mornings! So we were able to have quite a few menos activos there this week (and some even came to church the next day! oh yeahhh!) so that was good. and so saturday morning we played futbol. And didnt work in our sector. Saturday afternoon we had a meeting with our leader misional and then a noche de hogar with the obispo and some investigators. So we were able to work in our sector that afternoon la mayorìa del tiempo. so that was good. 

and then sunday morning we had church in the morning, weekly planning in the afternoon, and so tampoco we didnt have a full day of work on sunday. booooo. 

and THATS the story of how i did alot of NOT working in my sector this week. Lamentablemente. But nothing stops the work of the lord, and we were able to aprovechar of the little time we had when we DID work in our sector, and the Lord blessed us with miracles in that little time :) So we WERE able to make a little bit of progress. so thats good. But it was terrible not working in my sector. for real haa. So that was an interesting week. 

and anyway... that was alot of my week haha. So i dont have a ton to report on because not much else happened this week.oh one random note is that one morning when i was showering i looked and their were all of a sudden four snails on the wall. So that was pretty gross. haha. andddddd..... I cant hink of anything more to add.

Wait remembered one more update. We asked for a list of 5ish familias menos activas in the ward from our obispado to visit and work with, and so we visited one of them this week, and they are an AWESOME family that has a lot of deseos de returning to church. AND their youngest son is 9 and still isnt baptized. GRACIAS obispado. Helping us complete with our purpose in the best way possible. Helping menos activos come back to church and baptizing at the same time. Theyre an awesome family of 5. Their only problem and impedimiento is that the dad of the family has some health problems, and so he gets nervous about going to church because he gets tired really easy and so he just feels more comfortable being in his house so he can lie down. So he wants to wait a little bit so he can get more strength. But he can still go to church now. There arent any problems. He just gets nervous about it. It looks like we need a little testimony from Brother Alvord! Maybe you can lend us your chair Brother Alvord? :D haha just kidding. I hope the Alvords are doing okay! You guys are awesome and I love and miss you! Eat some in n out for me! haha.

Okay. Now I shall go. I love being a missionary and the church is absolutely perfectly true. Have an awesome week!

-Elder Heyman

OH MAN 08/26/13

Well hey people. I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO. Seriously. I have ZERO time haha. So this will be a super short letter. 

So I would just like to send a letter letting you all know that im alive and well. Were making slowwww progress here in La Tierra Bella B... but progress is being made! Today is a BIG day of organization... And. Yeah. So I have to go to get that done. haha. I HAVE SO MUCH STUFF TO DO. Seriously. haha.

Things are going well with my companion. We actually butt heads quite a bit.... haha. But were working on it. In the end we get along haha. But we just have some moments... Its been hard because of all the stuff Ive got going on. But its all good haha. So were still working and working on progressing forward haha.

As for an investigator update, we do have someone were working with. His name is Gerardo! Hes awesome. Hes the husband of an active member. And he`s a little stubborn but he`s awesome. He is SUPER hard to get to go to church, we can already tell. But I can also tell he`ll be coming with us really soon :) haha. Were making progress poco por poco. So keep Gerardo in your prayers por favor! But more than that, we`re still searching some good people.

I had an awesome experience to share with you about Gerardo and my testimony of how the Lord knows his children and their needs and how lots of times we are the tools that the Lord uses to help others. But... for time Im not going to share it :( haha. It has to do with Dinosaurs hahaha. Next week ill try and share it.

But more than that... I have ALOT of stuff I have to get done and ZERO time to do it... So im gonna have to leave it at that haha. But I love you and miss you all! Im alive and well! Keep me in your prayers and thoughts! Tengan una buena semana! Hasta la proxima!

-Elder Heyman

08/19/2013 This is a Crazy New Experience

Hello people. How are you? I am well. And had a crazy week. With my new assignments and responsibilities... añlsdkfjs its hard stuff! But im pushing through and were doing good haha. So ive got a couple updates from the week! here we go.

UNO. On tuesday I got to meet my new hijo!!! Anddd... I am training Elder Gonzales! An 18 yr old from Colombia! haha so I was way pumped to meet him on tuesday and get straight to work! He`s a really smart guy. He`s been a convert for 2 years but left a lot with the missionaries in his ward in Colombia. So i was actually pretty surprised and impressed with how much he knew about the mission when he got here! He has a very large "take the lead and go get it" attitude..... So i have to slow him down sometimes and calm him down with some things haha... Theres lots of times where hes trying to take off running before he can walk. BUT! We`re doing good! Hes got lots of animo and a good attitude and is ready to work (AND he already knows spanish :P) So things are going real well! haha. Ill send pictures of him! But so thats a little bit about my new hijo de la misiòn!

SEGUNDO. My new sector! Well this week was a really slow working week haha.... We did ALOT of walking. basically just PURE walking and contacting haha. We were so lost in our sector. Luckily its not too hard to figure out, but still. Our first week and we had no idea where we were at or where we were going or anything. The 2 elders that were working in the WHOLE sector before us only had 2 investigators to pass on to us... so al tiro we went to visit them but.... they were notttt very good investigators. So. Basically were starting with ZERO. haha. So por eso... PURO caminar y contactar. Que divertido. haha. But no were doing good with it. The Lord blesed us with some people to teach and visit. So thats good. We`ll be visiting them this next week once again. Luckily I had worked in this sector once before on a mini cambio, so I actually know and recognize some stuff haha. But so yeah. It was an EXTREMELY disorganized week with lots of disorden and confusion and... yeah. Anyway. I digress...

TERCERO. The ward. The ward is really good! Its way cool. I like it alot and theyve got some good animo and are really nice and excited to have 4 misioneros in their ward now. I like them alot. So im excited to work with them! we`ve already received a few references from them and so we`re ready to get to work! 

CUARTO. The responsibility. WHOOOO. I got alot of stuff under my belt now haha. I have to be completely 100% honest. Im pretty sure this is like... the most responsibility ive ever had in my life hahaha. And its rough! Actually DOING the things i have to do (train, open a sector, lead the district) isnt too hard... but the hard thing is figuring out how to use my time wisely and effectively and balancing it all. THATS the hard part. Because I have lots of organizing I need to do to get the sector up and running, and make sure Im explaining everything to Elder Gonzales, and take care of other matters with the district. So individually, I can do those things no problem. The new desafìo is balancing it all! haha. But its good! It keeps me busy! And even though sometimes ive felt the stress of completing with all the duties this past week... Im happy! haha i love what im doing and it pushes me to the next level. It helps me progress! Progress and become more like my Heavenly Father. And when were doing THAT, THATS when were happy! So im happy! haha. 

QUINTO. The baptism of Silvia!! Silvia got baptized on saturday! WOOT WOOT!!! I was happy because im still right next door so i was able to attend the baptism! And it was an awesome baptism! Full of happiness and joy! But ohhhhh man it was an interesting experience for me.........

So its a LONG story full of details, but ima try and keep it short. But so I said my goodbyes to these people on monday because i was leaving the sector... But so I showed up again in the ward on saturday for the baptism. So I was greeting Marcelo`s mom (Marcelo = BF of Silvia) at the beginning of the service... and she said "Well Elder now that youre not an elder in our sector I can give you a hug to say thanks for all you did to help us with this! I could give you a kiss even if I wanted!" and then after saying that she grabbed me to hug me and I freaked out and jumped away... but she was just joking and laughed and let me go. So... that was weird... But then before the service began we all got together to take pictures outside. And so we were taking pictures, me with silvia and Marcelo, and de repente Marcelo`s mom said "Wait one more! Yeah elder stay there for the picture" So were all in the picture together, her standing next to/behind me, and they counted "Uno... Dos..." and right on tres the mom grabbed me and gave me a huge hug! And I was NOT expecting it! so once again i jumped away and said "Que esta haciendo hermana?! Eso no se hace!" (What are you doing?! You cant do that, hermana!) So everybody was laughing and I was like "oh great......" But then that was the worse... because that just launched an attack. And then everybody started to chase me trying to hug me. So then I was just running around dodging people as they were trying to hug me. Gosh dang. But so finally people took a chill pill and we went back into the chapel to start the service. But the hermana and silvia said "Elder you cant escape our hug!" So then I was thinking "oh gosh i hope theyre not for real...." 

Anyway The service went on and it all turned out great. Full of happiness and joy because Silvia was getting baptized. It really was an awesome service!!

But so afterwards we had some refreshments... And the attacks started again. The hermana and Silvia were STUCK on hugging me to say thanks. But we explained "NO. YOU CANT DO THAT." But they didnt give in. They just kept chasing me and trying to sneak up on me and what not.... and they kept saying "we just want to thank you!!" And i kept saying "Thats fine! Just do it in a different way!!"  And so it was just loco and out of control and just kinda lame at the end because it was like my final goodbye and I couldnt exactly say goodbye tranquilamente because I couldnt trust them getting close to me cuz they would just attack me with hugs and stuff. So I couldnt take any good pictures saying goodbye. So that was kind of lame. But hey! She got baptized. haha. And no hugs were given. So its all good.

And lastly.... I cant think of much. haha. But I love being a missionary. Im having fun and working hard. I got lots of stuff to do so me quedo bien ocupado. But im loving it. Im happy. And life is good. I love you and miss you all and hope you can have the spirit in your life. The church and gospel is true, and the only way to true happiness. Have a good week!

-Elder Heyman

Pictures! 08/19/2013

1. I sure hate dogs here in Chile... But i kind of like this tradition im starting of taking pictures with the peoples dogs like this before I leave the sector. Idk why but it makes me laugh. haha

2. Saying bye to (part) of la familia Sepulveda Salinas 

3. Me and my hijo Elder Gonzales! :D

4. Me with Silvia and Marcelo

5. Marcelo and Silvia getting ready for the baptism. (Foreshadow to future temple marriage)

1. The sun was bright this day. And silvia tried to do bunny ears but I dodged it. 

2. The elders who "finished" the baptism since I left the sector haha.