Happy New Year, 2010!

The Mision Chile Santiago Norte had a 3 hour 'Exercise Sports Activity" morning. This was held on Dec 31, 2009, as surprise to the mission, and Hermana May's birthday, to arrange the mission into three separate sections (combining 2-3 zones in each area) from 9am-12noon. The zone leaders helped orchestrate the events.

The zones leaders were given a little money to buy drinks, treats and plan for the sports they all wanted to play. Pdte May, Hermana May, and Sarah traveled from the field in Colina, to the community park in Zapadores, to the Stake Center in San Pablo. The missionaries were so happy as they played soccer, football Americano/touch, Basketball, frisbie, volleyball, ping pong, water balloons, etc. It was a delight in so many ways, and besides a bit of sunburned necks and upper arms, all were in good form and spirits. Many said that they hadn't run, jumped, leaped, etc so much in all their mission, as their typical exercise is much more confined to their rooms, usually. We saw that they were happy, enthusiastic and encouraged to have a great new year ahead of them.
Read more!

Mission Tour with Elder Carlos Amado

Our Mision Chile Santiago Norte was priviledged to have a member of the 1st Quorum of 70, Elder Carlos Amado, our Area President preside and instruct us during our
3 day mission tour. We held them Dec 15, 16, and 18th. This was a sweet introduction
to welcome in the Christmas season, as we learned more about Faith in Jesus Christ.

Elder Amado spoke to us in three sessions, dividing the mission into 3 groups of about 65 missionaries each over the course of 3 days. We felt his love for the Savior profoundly, as he powerfully shared his testimony of Jesus Christ, describing and teaching about His birth, the Atonement, the Crucifixion, and details of His life. He talked about Him as the Good Shepherd, sharing details about the job of a shepherd, and what is expected of a loving shepherd.
Other topics he discussed:
-Lehi's trip with Nephi.
-Having an eternal perspective, vision in this life.
-Love yourself to then love your neighbor.
-How can we find and grow our faith in Jesus Christ
--Leer, Orar, Meditar, Assistir (reading, praying, meditating and attending church)
-Not lying (mentiras)
-Why people don't obey: (Carnal, sensual, devilish)
-Alma 18--story of Ammon, Church is the Kingdom of God on the earth!
-Teaching doctrine, principles and applications
-When we testify, we teach, and when we teach we should testify.
-One specific day, he spoke about the Law of Chastity.(find ways to get rid of temptations in our lives.
-Power of the Book of Mormon....and much more.

What a gift we truly rec'd these three days, to be taught by a servant of the Lord and have our spirits thrilled and touched to change by the Holy Ghost. We are grateful for the sweet spirit that we had to start the Christmas season in learning
and loving the Savior, Jesus Christ more.
Read more!

Remaining Firm, Faithful and Immovable

Dear Sisters and Elders,
I would like to share the following with you that illustrates how much the Lord trusts each and everyone of you in your callings as missionaries:

“In a Priesthood Leadership Meeting with Stake Presidents held right before a General Conference, President Harold B. Lee addressed the brethren in the Tabernacle. He called on one brother in the congregation, who was seated next to a big pillar that held up the balcony, to stand up. Then he asked him to push as hard as he could against the pillar and see if he could knock it over. The brother did as he was asked, and pushed, and pushed. But obviously he could not push it over. Then President Lee taught the following lesson, ‘Most of you think that the pillar is there holding up the balcony, but it is not. It is the other way around. It is the balcony that is holding the pillar firmly in place. The weight of the balcony stops the pillar from falling over. Our young missionaries are like that pillar. When they are out in the mission field they have the weight of the Kingdom on their shoulders, and they remain firm and faithful.”

Thank you for being faithful in maginfying your purpose to help many people to come unto Christ y bring many souls to Him through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. You all are an inspiration for many people including Sister May, Sarah, and myself.

We love you and we are grateful for each of you,
Presidente May
Read more!

Tender Mercies of the Lord

Dear Sisters and Elders,
This morning I was studying 1 Nephi 1:20 and have some insights I would like to share:


20 And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

In a talk give by Elder David A. Bednar entitled, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord” from April 2005 General Conference we learn why the Lord sends “tender mercies” our way. He does it because He loves us and promised he would send the comforter and He himself would come unto us (John 14:16, John 14:18). His tender mercies are one of the important ways He shows us how much He loves us. We know that He atoned for the sins of all mankind and overcame physical death. We know that when we apply the atonement in our lives we can be freed from the burden of sin (PmG Chapter 3-Lesson 1 pg 32). But there is a second part to the Atonement which is “we can develop faith and strength to face our trials. I believe the Lord sends tender mercies in our life just at the right time to help us develop the faith and strength when we need it.

Elder Bednar poses the following questions:

What are tender mercies?

Elder Bednar defines them as the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

To whom does the Lord send His tender mercies?

In verse 20 its says that tender mercies are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith. In other words, He chooses us because we choose Him because of our faith unto action in obeying Him and serving Him.

My question for each of us is the following:

What are the tender mercies that the Lord has sent to me during my time as a missionary here in Santiago?

One of the greatest tender mercies the Lord has sent to me is the opportunity to learn from each of you as well serve alongside you. I gain great strength, assurance, and support from your great examples of faith, obedience, and diligence.

I invite each of us to pray and ponder and reflect to recognize the tender mercies that Lord has blessed us with. I invite you to share some of the “tender mercies” the Lord has bless you with during your time as a missionary here in Chile.

I know He love us all and is mindful of each of us. He knows what we need and when. It is my prayer that we can always ask ourselves the following question, “What more can I do for Him?”

We love each of you and are so grateful for you.
Read more!

Out of the mouth of Babes….November 8, 2009

This morning we had our ward Programa de la Primaria en la reunion Sacramental here in downtown Santiago, Chile. What a miracle it is to see the work of the gospel as demonstrated by the Primary in each ward of the church. Our ward had about 30 Primary age children on the stand, not to mention a few babes in arms out in the audience who were dealing with stage fright to have to perform in front, and also a few too young to be included in the nursery age too. It was still delightful.

Our ward in LaDesa is made up by about 45% single women, 20% of North American families who live in the area, work either for the church in various capacities, or mining, copper, or gold companies, or the husbands are mission presidents in the 3 missions here in Santiago, and the other 35% Chilean families, single men, or youth. With the mixture of children on the stand, it is easy to see what a melting pot our ward really is, including different cultures, countries, languages, and skin color. But they blend beautifully in this ward, thanks to the gospel and the Lord’s teachings of loving one another.
Today the theme was F-A-M-I-L-I-A-S, spelled out on individual darling big letters glued onto someone’s prized scrap booking papers, being held by the nervous and fidgety hands of the 8 chosen children to stand in front. Little “A” in the front of the line could never get his paper to stand up from holding it by the bottom, but as a young 5 yr old, he wasn’t too concerned either. After the Santa Cena, the theme was introduced by one of the adult Primary leaders, and then the program got underway, and it was the children stealing the show the rest of the time. They had beautiful primary songs, that we are familiar with; “I’m trying to be Like Jesus, (Estoy tratando de ser como Cristo) Love one another, (Ama a otros) Army of Helaman, “Where love is,” (Donde esta Amor) and “I feel my Savior’s amor” etc. They did sing one verse in English to everyone’s smiles!
Then as we listened to them give their parts, I thought it was the same in every ward. Parents craning their necks to get a better view of their darling son; with his hair slicked over, tie on crooked, but grinning ear to ear, or the precious little daughter with cute pigtails and ribbons, hair braided or down, or stuck up in a special-prepared ‘up do’ just for this BIG occasion! The children looked nervous as they would whisper and talk between themselves until a teacher within reach could tap them quietly to whisper the universal symbol of ‘Shhhhhhh” which they instinctively all know. However, it was also great to see the parents whispering and nervous too, “I hope little Juan doesn’t forget,” or “Maria, you’ll be great”—showing the thumbs up sign, or “Why is Silvana fiddling with her hair ribbon…Silvana, put your hands down, don’t touch your hair anymore!” It was a Primary sacrament meeting anywhere in the world.
However, what touched me most, as the meeting went on, was the simple doctrine that was being taught to all of us, by these innocent and knowledgeable young members of the church. These are some of the truths they taught so powerfully:
• Jesus wants us to love one another
• Jesus was baptized by immersion
• John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
• Jesus rec’d the Holy Ghost
• I can be forgiven of my errors if I really repent
• Our home can be a place to learn to love and forgive others.
• Heavenly father wants us to have eternal families
• Our family can be together forever if we are married and sealed in the temple
• Heavenly Father has a plan for me on this earth, to be happy
• We can help the Holy Ghost be in our home be showing love to others
• If we repent of our mistakes, the Holy Ghost will be with me to help me make right decisions.
• I want to have an eternal family when I get bigger like my Mami’ y Papi’
• We can all be baptized and have the gift of the holy ghost in our lives

When the program ended, I felt that we were truly nourished by the good word, that we had been fed by the spirit, and taught doctrine and truth. This was by simple testimonies from those who trust in their good parents, feel the Holy Ghost, and are not afraid to open their mouths and tell us about what they know. Great examples of wonderful missionaries, and I can picture them in 14, 12, or just 6 yrs, out serving full time missions sharing the same truths, and declaring bolding of the things they had been taught by goodly parents and shared bravely today. What a privilege to be in such a setting with these great young children and future leaders of tomorrow.

Read more!

Positive Attitude makes a difference!

Dear Sisters and Elders,
How important it is to keep a positive attitude in our work as missionaries. We can never allow discouragement to enter into our thoughts because it will weaken our faith which leads to lowering our expectations, our effectiveness will decrease, our desire will weaken, and we will have greater difficulty following the Spirit (Preach My Gospel pg 10) We have a great example to follow in Nephi. In the very first verse of chapter one of first Nephi we read:


1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

As we read further into the Book of Mormon we find out some of these afflictions that Nephi experienced. How many of us would ever put together afflictions and having been highly favored of the Lord in the same sentence. Nephi gives us a great example of how important it is for us to maintain an eternal perspective as we face adversity and challenges in our everyday proselyting activities. Elder Zeballos taught us in our Zone Conferences in December of 2008 that the Lord loves each of us and He wants to trust us but we must earn it. Do we feel the sacred responsibility the Lord has entrusted in us? Can the Lord trust us enough to place in our hands the responsibility of teaching one of His sons or daughters that He has prepared to hear the Gospel?

We must earn His trust as did Nephi in facing adversity with courage and faithfulness. What are some of the things we can do to keep our enthusiasm and excitement for work as we face adversity? Here are some suggestions:

· Keep our covenants that we have made with the Lord. In Elder D. Todd Cristofferson´s address entitled “Power of Covenants” he shares the following:

The Apostle Paul understood that one who has entered into a covenant with God is both given the faith to face trials and gains even greater faith through those trials. Of his personal "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7), he observed: "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me."And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."Therefore I take pleasure in [my] infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:8–10).

· Praying, fasting, studying the scriptures, living the commandments, obeying mission rules, and immersing ourselves in missionary work.

· Express our understanding, love, and support of others.

· Strengthen our faith in the Lord by bearing our testimony often.

· Recognize spiritual experiences, and remember the times when we have felt the Spirit.

· Stop worrying about ourselves and lose ourselves in serving others, discouragement will be replaced by the joy of service.

In 2 Nephi 2:2 the Lord counsels Jacob that he would consecrate his afflictions for his gain. I testify as we face our trials and adversity in the mission field with courage and faith as did Nephi, we be highly favored of the Lord to bring many of unto Him is may prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Read more!

Wonderful insights from the new missionaries!

Our new missionaries in Phase 2/3 Trainings--October 16, 2009
(They have been here just over 12 weeks or 18 weeks and all of the meeting is in Spanish today)They share their success stories/relatos de exito with us:

Elder H: “A woman was very sad when we met her on the street. She had been raining (lloviendo), I mean crying (llorando). We didn’t think she wanted to listen, but then she did and now we have 7 people ready for baptism.”

Elder S: “We spoke to a woman who had been a bit against progressing, but when we came back and taught her, we found out she had been studying the Book of Mormon and praying. She told us she knew it was true. I know the Lord is preparing people for us to find. She knew.”

Hermana P: “We were teaching this woman, whose husband didn’t really support her studying the gospel and progressing. We were fasting for her, wondering what we could say to her and to him, to help them both. We returned and talked to both of them, and we all felt the spirit. Then we were so happy to see them both come to Sacrament meeting on Sunday. We returned to teach them both, and now he has also agreed to a baptismal date, like her, and he wants to learn more!”

Elder N: “We were teaching a man who didn’t want to leave tea, coffee, cigarettes, but now he has, and is listening and progressing with the lessons. He has been prepared.”

Elder L: “I loved my other ward, where I was with my trainer. We had many baptisms, we helped grow the ward, and I really loved the families. We fasted, prayed and worked with them. I heard of one of the men we had been teaching was baptized after I left and moved to another area, and I was still thrilled and feliz for him, because I really love him and want him to be saved. We are going to have that same kind of success and members in my new area too.”

Elder C: (This great Latin Missionary who was called on to say the opening prayer and he stood and prayed in English! I have to admit I didn’t know who was called on to pray, but as I sat listening to the sweet, humble and simple English prayer, my heart was overflowing to hear him and I had to peek open my eyes to see which tender -hearted Elder was praying with such sincerity, in broken English. It was a beautiful, tender prayer, and we could understand by the language of the spirit.)

Hermana B: “We were just walking quickly down the street and saluted/greeted a woman with just ‘hello’ but she stopped us and asked which church we were missionaries of and when we told her we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ, she asked, “Los Mormones?” We said that yes, some call us that. She responded that she wanted to learn more and have classes! Wow, we know the Lord is preparing them for us, enough that they are stopping US on the streets!”

Hermana B: “We found a family who had been less active/inactive for years. They now had two young daughters 8 and 9 who had never been baptized. We started teaching the girls and the family began to really feel the spirit again. They had their baptismal date and had been attending church. Last week the parents even bore their testimonies in the Fast and testimony meeting. We were preparing all for the baptism later that day, but the father came to us and said, “The girls aren’t’ going to be baptized today.” We were so sad, but then he explained that HE wanted to do the baptism, and felt he wasn’t worthy or ready yet. The girls now want their Dad to perform the baptism and they have a family plan to have him do it soon, and then a date to go to the temple together as a family soon, too. We are glad that they want to be eternal.”


Read more!

Christlike Attribute of Charity

True charity means truly desiring the salvation of others. In Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel, the Christlike attribute of charity states that, “you will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people.” Helping people make and keep commitments is one of the highest forms of charity and love we can extend to a person.

We are not only helping them prepare to return to their Heavenly Father after this life but also received the many blessings that come from repentance throught the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference, Elder Rusell T. Osgulthorpe taught asked the following question in regards to helping people repent:

Do I invite people to do the work that God has for them to do?

In other words, do I invite people to make and keep commitments so that they can receive the promised blessings associated with each of these commitments(D&C 130:20,21)? True love for those we teach involves inviting them to repent and change by making and keeping comitmments with the Lord. As we do so, they will begin to “feel the Spirit confirm that what they are doing is pleasing to their Father in Heaven.” Preach My Gospel p 196

Let us show our true love for all of those whom we teach by inviting them to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
We love you always,
Presidente May


Read more!

Charity

Our Christlike attribute for this change is charity and love. Our goal is to not only study this important attribute but more importantly develop a greater capacity to love and serve others as Christ did . In order to do this we must take the time to identify weaknesses that we need to overcome in our lives and also qualities we need to develop in our lives. It is a process of purifying and cultivating. We must remove disobedience, selfishness, laziness, pride, etc. from our lives and at the same time cultivate faith in Christ, hope, love and charity, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence, and obedience. Preach My Gospel says the following in regards to developing Christlike attributes:

“Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They come as you use your agency righteously. Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with these attributes; you cannot develop them without His help. With a desire to please God, recognize your weaknesses and be willing and anxious to improve.”

In Ether 12:27, 28 we read:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

As we humble ourselves before the Lord and come unto Him, He will communicate to us what we need to remove from our lives. He will also help us to cultivate the qualities we need to become more like the Savior. The key however is what we do after we pray. As we prayer to have more charity and love we must follow the counsel of Elder David A. Bednar in regards to prayer:

“I long have been impressed with the truth that meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work. Blessings require some effort on our part before we can obtain them, and prayer, as “a form of work, . . . is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings” (Bible Dictionary, “Prayer,” 753). We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say “amen,” by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father.”

In other words, as we kneel in prayer to ask for more love and charity, we need to get up and put it into action by demonstrating and showing more love and service to others. Do we consistently show love to our companions by serving them? Do we truly love our investigators by being bold and confident in inviting them to repent by extending invitations to make and keep commitments with the Lord ? Do we look for opportunities to demonstrate our love for the bishop, ward leaders, and ward members by serving them? Do we seek to love and serve all by going about doing good?

In order to help each of you develop more love and charity this week, I would like each of you to answer the following two questions and study the related scriptures found in the Attribute Activity on page 126 of Preach My Gospel:

1. Do I feel a sincere desire for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people? (Mosiah 28:3)

2. When I pray, do I ask for charity—the pure love of Christ? (Moroni 7:47–48)

I would like you to record in your study journal your thoughts and feelings in regards to answering these two questions. I would then like you to share with me in next Monday´s letter two things you are going to do to develop more love and charity in your life. Please also feel free to inlcude any thoughts, feelings or insights in regards to developing more love and charity.

Our love for our Heavenly Father, His Son and all of God´s children is the key to succes in this work. We show this love by the following the Savior´s example of service.

We love you and pray for your success,
Presidente May


Read more!

18 New Missionaries/ Elders, from the Provo, MTC

18 New North American Missionaries arrived from the Provo MTC on Tuesday. We love them already. I love to call each one the next day, to ask how their first 24hrs in the mission have been. The following are some of the comments we hear:


These are priceless thoughts and comments:

Q: What do you think of your companion?
A: “Muy buen” (N.American trying to say, ‘muy bueno,’ very good!)
A: “My companion is GREAT!:
A: “He is so great, I’m learning so much from him already!”
A: “Wow, my trainer is such a hard worker.”
A: “El es buenisimo!”
A: “I have to chase after him!”
A: “El es super bueno, muy capo.”
A: “My companion is so good. He had us make goals and we did them!”

Q: What do you think of Chile now?
A: "It's really great here!"
A: “I love it here.”
A: "Wow, this is like a great adventure!"
A: “It is so weird, nothing like I really imagined it would be.”
A: “I’m super excited to be here.”
A: "Loco here."
A: "Interesting...we are opening a new area, it's different than I thought."

Q: How did you sleep last night?
A: "Like a Baby, sound asleep when my head hit the pillow."
A: “Like a rock, hermana”
A: “I don’t remember anything.”
A: “I was out in like 5 seconds and dead to the world.”
A: “I woke up at 3am, freezing (he’s in coldest part of mission) and pulled another
blanket on and was OK then. I’m going to be fine, if I plan ahead.
A: “I’m tired. I have to run to keep up with my companion. He walks so fast.”
A: “I think I have a fever, plus I have a bit of a cough, but I feel great, no worries.”
A: “We can’t believe the time passes so fast and then it's morning.”


Q: What kind of things did you do here for your first day?
A: “I couldn’t believe it. We made 49 contacts in one day. It was great!”
A: "It's like being beat with a cold fish...hard work!"
A: "We made all of our goals for the day. It's fun making contacts."
A" "We ate lunch with members, soup, carne, arroz, all so delicious. I love the pan!"
A: “We had some lessons fall through, and other great ones where we really felt the spirit. It was so neat.”
A: "We met the Bishop, ward mission leader, members, and lots of contacts"
A: “We taught this perfect young joven. He is super, named Diego. He has a baptismal date now, and wants to come to church with us on Sunday. Yahoooo!”
A: “We taught some good lessons. The investigators are so innocent and want to believe. Plus the members who went with us are so faithful, it was great to see.”
A: “We visited some members, met some less actives, talked with lots of investigators. It is all interesting.”
A: “This is so good. We had some great lessons. We contacted for 2.5 hrs. Then we taught, then we teach more, and then gave more contacts. All is muy buen!” 

SAYING GOODBYE: “We love you, Elder…… Thanks for being here!”
“Tell the Presidente, hello.” “Give my best to the Prdte.” “Saludos a Prdte May.” “Have a great evening, Hrma, and tell Pdte I send my best.” “Gracias por llamar.” “Gracias por su amor y carino.” “I love you both too,” “Me too.” “Amor al Pdte.”

Read more!

What makes a Successful Missionary?

At time in our missions we may ask ourselves the following question, “Am I a successful missionary?” Let´s review the defintion of a successful missionary from Preach My Gospel:

A Successful Missionary

Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost. Avoid comparing yourself to other missionaries and measuring the outward results of your efforts against theirs. Remember that people have agency to choose whether to accept your message. Your responsibility is to teach clearly and powerfully so they can make a correct choice. Some may not accept your message even when they have received a spiritual witness that it is true. You will be saddened because you love them and desire their salvation. You should not, however, become discouraged; discouragement will weaken your faith. If you lower your expectations, your effectiveness will decrease, your desire will weaken, and you will have greater difficulty following the Spirit.

You can know you have been a successful missionary when you:

• Feel the Spirit testify to people through you.

• Love people and desire their salvation.

• Obey with exactness.

• Live so that you can receive and know how to follow the Spirit, who will show you

where to go, what to do, and what to say.1 My Purpose

• Develop Christlike attributes.

• Work effectively every day, do your very best to bring souls to Christ, and seek

earnestly to learn and improve.

• Help build up the Church (the ward) wherever you are assigned to work.

• Warn people of the consequences of sin. Invite them to make and keep commitments.

• Teach and serve other missionaries.

• Go about doing good and serving people at every opportunity, whether or not they

accept your message.

When you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself. You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you.

We love you and prayer for your success,
Presidente May


Read more!

Outpouring of the Spirit

Dear Sisters and Elders,

I had the privilege yesterday to attend the Zapadores Stake Conference. The chapel and cultural hall were full as we listened to inspired messages from the various speakers including Elder Garcia of the area seventy. It was raining outside and at times so hard that the sound on the roof was very loud.

It was truly inspirational to me to see the faith of those who attended the conference. They could have easily just stayed home and justified not attending because of the rain. The Lord will greatly bless them for making the effort to leave their homes and attend Church in spite of the bad weather. President Illesca, the Stake President of the Zapadores stake gave an excellent talk on the importance of being faithful tithe payers. He cited a quote from President Hinckley that impressed me very much:

1. Faith is the power.

2. Obedience is the price.

3. Love is the motive.

4. The Spirit is the key.

5. Christ is the reason.


In Alma 37:36 we read:

36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

We may at one time or another ask ourselves, “Why did I come on a mission?” There may various reasons such as “it was something I always planned to do” or “I know it will make me be better” or “my parents wanted me to do it” etc. However, after all is said and done, Christ is the reason we invite others to come unto Him and love is the motive. As we truly develop our love for the Lord we will come to a greater realization that this is truly His work and we are serving Him. We may ask ourselves, “How can I develop more love for the Lord?” The Lord has said the following in regards to this:

If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
In other words, obedience with exactness is the price we pay to develop greater love for the Lord. It is extremely important that we understand this principle. Our conclusion from this is the following:

1. Obeying the commandments and the rules of the mission with exactness will increase a missionaries love for the Lord.

2. If we are obedient to the commandments and the rules of the mission with exactness we will increase our love for the Lord.

3. I will obey the commandments and rules of the mission with exactness.

But as Elder Bednar has said on a number of occasions, “we do not always act according to what we know.”

Let us follow this counsel given in Preach My Gospel:

Live What You Learn
As you feel the joy that comes from understanding the gospel, you will want to apply what you learn. Strive to live in harmony with your understanding. Doing so will strengthen your faith, knowledge, and testimony. Acting on what you have learned will bring added and enduring understanding (see John 7:17).

Let us make our love for the Lord our greatest motivation in everything we do as missionaries so that we may be instruments in the Lord´s hands to bring may souls unto Him is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We love you very much,
Presidente May


Read more!

The Gift of Tongues in the Chile Santiago North Mission

Topic or theme for this time period/change, is HOPE, or Esperanza. We have the assignment each change to study and prepare 3-5 minute talks on the subject that Pdte. May gives each missionary. We may be called on to speak in any meeting, anytime on that subject, so all are preparing and studying this during part of their personal scripture/PMG study. Today we had one of our Latin Missionaries, Elder Millaquelo stand up and proceeded to give his whole talk in ENGLISH!

Our missionaries are working during their Language study time to help learn and teach English to our great Latin missionaries. We are so thrilled with the progress that many of our missionaries are doing to this regard. Their companions are practicing with them, they use it openly and without as much hesitation, and we are thrilled that they realize that the Lord promises all of His missionaries in PMG, chpt 7, that this is the time, as a missionary, where He can help them learn a language. Elder Millaqueo was a great example and strong influence for good in our conference, which again will set the tone for future missionaries to speak up and try to converse in English.
Read more!

Message from Angels

Zone Conference this change was on Aug 27th & 28th, in Alberdi/Huelen and then in Colina. The theme that Presidente May wanted to emphasize was the plan and purpose of the Chile Area Presidency's invitation, "PERMANECED" meaning Abide or Stay. It is inspired to help us find, teach, baptize while we are helping to invite back to the fold, some of the Lord's lost sheep who have not been on the path recently. Hermana May also spoke about Opposition, and then we had workshops throughout the morning and early afternoon where the missionaries were able to have hands-on practice with ideas for using and implementing Permanaced, as being directed throughout all of Chile.
Another highlight today was our music....Those parents of our musical missionaries would have been in tears to hear your sweet sons/daughters singing today.....

The first day we had Elders Stout, Ashby, Quintero and Simmons joined by Hermanas Ccanto, Spielman, Bowen and Padilla. They were truly singing like angels and we felt the Spirit in our meeting so strongly as they sang a beautiful, familiar medley of "As Sisters in Zion," and "Army of Helaman." The words are wonderful in Spanish, and the harmony and combination was perfect for the day. On Friday we had another sweet duet by Hermanas Mayhugh and Bair, who sang, "I'll go where you want me to go,"
which also brought tears. They originally had asked for accompaniment, but as they stood to the pulpit, with the microphone, they decided to do it simply, acapella with just their clear, sweet voices. It was very impactful, changing parts, harmony, counterpoint, beautifully blending and humbly singing to remind us all about our desires and reason to serve whereever we are called. We just know we are blessed to be in the best mission in the world; Chile Santiago North Mission! We have one Elder who is going home soon, and he had recently been serving on our Juan Fernandez Island, and as they sang, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord, over mountain or sea...."islas del mar"....this great Elder also had tears in his eyes.Thank you, thank you to these great missionaries for sharing their talents and developing them in the mission, where the Lord can make them much more. We love you!

Read more!

Permaneced/ Abide/ Stay...Rescue here in Chile!

What a great opportunity we have to follow the inspired vision of our beloved prophet, President Monson to reach out and rescue those who have fallen from the path of activity. We have a received an inspired document from our Area Presidency entitled “Abide-Stay” that serves as an invitation to all to remain faithful and stay on the path as an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints. In Matthew 25:1-13 we learn in the Parable of the Ten Virgins that five of the virgins took oil with their lamps in preparation to meet the bridegroom and enter into the marriage. The other five virgins did not take oil. In D&C 45:56,57 we learn that this oil represents “receiving the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been decieved.”



As we go forth and extend this invitation to come back and remain in activity, it is important that we remember that at one time these dear brothers and sisters did have oil in their lamps. They did receive the truth and did take the Holy Ghost as their guide. But for one reason or another, their “lamps are gone out.” (Matthew 25:8) Help these brothers and sisters reflect back on the time in their lives when their lamps were lit by inviting them to share feelings they had as they were being taught by the missionaries. Ask them to express the feelings they had as they came up from the waters of baptism being clean and pure and then receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them in their lives. These memories can bring the spirit back in great abundance and open hearts to accept the invitation to come back to activity in the Church.

One of the keys in helping these brothers and sisters return to activity is Sacrament meeting attendance. It is essential that they partake of the Sacrament and renew their convenants that they made with the Lord at baptism. This is a wonderful opportunity for all to feel the Spirit and be renewed and strengthened in faith and testimony. We can liken this to the marriage attended by the five wise virgins and the bridegroom. It must have been a glorious event. We have an important responsibility to help our wonderful bishops and branch presidents ensure that sacrament meeting is a place where all can add oil to their lamps by partaking of the Sacrament in a spirit of reverence and worship. This will be a great blessing in the lives of those who accept the invitation to return to the path of activity in the Church.

President Monson, in the July 2009 Liahona shared the story, “Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul”:

“Many years ago, Bishop Marvin O. Ashton (1883–1946), who served as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, gave an illustration I’d like to share with you. Picture with me, if you will, a farmer driving a large open-bed truck filled with sugar beets en route to the sugar refinery. As the farmer drives along a bumpy dirt road, some of the sugar beets bounce from the truck and are strewn along the roadside. When he realizes he has lost some of the beets, he instructs his helpers, “There’s just as much sugar in those which have slipped off. Let’s go back and get them!”

In my application of this illustration, the sugar beets represent the members of this Church for whom we who are called as leaders have responsibility; and those that have fallen out of the truck represent men and women, youth and children who, for whatever reason, have fallen from the path of activity. Paraphrasing the farmer’s comments concerning the sugar beets, I say of these souls, precious to our Father and our Master: “There’s just as much value in those who have slipped off. Let’s go back and get them!”

Lord emphasized the worth of each man or woman, youth or child when He declared:

“The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. …

“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (D&C 18:10, 15–16).

May the Lord bless us in this great work in inviting others to come unto Him and may we do it with great faith, power and authority. President Monson said that we are entitled to His help, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).

We love you and pray for your success,

Read more!

We want to thank YOU!

Dear Sisters, Elders and Leaders and Members,

Last week Sister May taught in our zone training meeting the importance of expressing gratitude and especially in written form in thank-you notes. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation to each of you, the missionaries of the Mission North, the leaders and members of the stakes and district, wards and branches with whom we have the great blessing of working together.

All are examples of great faith and dedication. I am so grateful for the service you as missionaries are giving in the wards and branches where you are serving. At the same time, I see the love and support the leaders and members are showing giving references, leaving to teach lessons with the missionaries, holding a family home evening with investigators, and also caring for the missionaries. I am so grateful to hear comments from the missionaries like, "President, I do not want to leave this area, the leaders and members support us so much, they are incredible! Recently I received a letter from a branch president saying the following:

"I am very grateful for the missionaries that we have in our branch, they are outstanding and radiate a special spirit. These missionaries have brought many blessings to the branch. They have left an imprint on my life that I will always carry in my heart. We appreciate everything they do, for the time and willingness to serve every time we need them. I would love to have them spend their whole mission in our branch, but I understand that it is necessary for them to serve in other parts of the mission.”

Again I would like to thank each of you for you love and service that you are giving to invite all to come unto Christ. It is a privilege to serve together with you in the work of the Lord.

With much love and appreciation,
Presidente May
Read more!

Latest comments from our Newest Missionaries!

Fase 1 Training/ New Missionary Comments
These are some of the great thoughts our missionaries share as they relate the
experiences of success they are having in the mission, what they are learning and how
they love the people in Chile. We always are inspired by their great faith and bubbly enthusiasm for this wonderful work....

• “This is like living a dream. We teach and we get right to the hearts of the people. They need our help; many are sad. We ask them if we can sing them a song, right where we are, and then after that, they want us to come and teach them. They begin to want to change, make commitments and come to church. Wow.”
• “We are opening a new area that hasn’t had missionaries for a while. We rec’d so many referencias, because they were waiting for missionaries again. We didn’t know people in the branch, but people started giving us names, wanted to help and gave us lots of ideas, followed by 4 more people, 2 families and then getting them to church was a great start.”
• “Speaking Spanish and now English here today is still hard for me!”
• “Our very first day we met 8 new investigators, and we were so excited. The next day, total opposite. We decided to fast and taught more. We felt the spirit more and we see the people want us to come back, they want to go to church and return to live with God.”
• “We are way out in Curacavi (1.5 hr west of Santiago)Brand new area, and starting over since there were no missionaries there for a while. It is humbling to see the people who the Lord has put in our path. They are being prepared and we have to remember the Lord knows who and where they are. We met a great family.”
• “We remember learning in the MTC, that if something falls through, and they don’t keep their appt., sometimes right after the Lord blesses us with another ‘little miracle,’ that we see his hand, right after, helping us to find someone else He knew was right there. I feel like I see a light of Christ right in them.”
• “We went to a new area to open it. There are members who are recent converts and getting to see their newest is incredibly new for me, growing up and living in Nevada with a strong ward and background. I’m excited to see how they love the gospel.”
• “We have 2 investigators in the same house. However, it is obvious to see the one more prepared that the other; he wants to read more, devouring the pamphlet we gave him and hungry for the Book of Mormon. He told us he wanted to live the Word of Wisdom, so he started doing it himself, cutting out tea. What a miracle.”
• “Put into practice what we are learning and did learn in the CCM/MTC. Now a woman we are teaching wants to go to church. We rec’d many referrals from the Funeral that was held in the Colina chapel. People respected and honored this man, and then were impressed by the church setting of the funeral and lots of members and others sharing and teaching those who came, to learn about the church.”
• “We had a baptism. This young teenager was into satanic things, now his whole heart and countenance has changed. It’s incredible. Another woman we are teaching is so ready to be baptized. She is very prepared, felt the spirit so strongly, hasn’t ever smoked, had drinking problem, café’ etc. We took one of our recent converts to go help us teach this woman, and her strong, new testimony was so powerful. We are grateful for the members’ help.”
• “I love our sector. We have people who are really supportive and I love my companion. He is bacan. We are making lots of contacts and they want us to come back.”

Read more!

Accountability

In Chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel we learn about the importance of accountability:

“Accountability does not come only at the end of your mission. It is a principle that influences how you begin, how you think and feel about the responsibility the Lord has given you, how you approach your work, and how well you endure. The attitude you have toward your mission experience is a reflection of your love toward your Heavenly Father and His Son and your respect for the priesthood. Accept full responsibility for your efforts. Never blame others for difficult circumstances or lack of progress.” PmG p 151

The following formula illustrates the importance of taking responsibility for all that we do:

E+R=O
(Event + Response = Outcome)

Sometimes when we do not achieve the outcome we want, we may blame the event or circumstance. This will never change the event or circumstance. For example, if our response to lack of success in proselyting is “well that is just the way this area is” will have no effect on changing the area. The key is changing the response to the event in order to change the outcome. So 2 + 3 = 5. If 5 is not what we want, the 2 of the event is a given. We then must focus in on changing our response to some other number, say 4 or 5 in order to get a different result. In other words, how we respond to the event or circumstances determines to what level we accept responsibility for our results. Our response is something that we have control over and truly shows the desires of our hearts. How we respond to opposition has everything to do with our success as missionaries.

“As you pray personally and in your companionship, seek inspiration on what you should do each day. As you follow your plans, pray and ask the Lord for guidance. Have a prayer in your heart throughout the day that the Spirit will help you know where to go, what to do, and what to say. Ask yourself, “What more can I do?” In your prayer at the end of the day, give an accounting of your work” PmG p 151

Let us remember what President Henry B. Eyering offers as counsel in times of adversity in his talk in the April 2009 General Conference:

My purpose today is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of Their infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Then our spirits will be changed. We will become able to want what God wants, to think as He thinks, and thus be prepared for the trust of an endless posterity to teach and to lead through tests to be raised up to qualify to live forever in eternal life.

It is clear that for us to have that gift and to be given that trust, we must be transformed through making righteous choices where that is hard to do. We are prepared for so great a trust by passing through trying and testing experiences in mortality. That education can come only as we are subject to trials while serving God and others for Him.

In this education we experience misery and happiness, sickness and health, the sadness from sin and the joy of forgiveness. That forgiveness can come only through the infinite Atonement of the Savior, which He worked out through pain we could not bear and which we can only faintly comprehend.

It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. The Book of Mormon gives us the certain assurance of His power to comfort. And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience. Here is the account from Alma:

“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

“And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Our prayer is that you will have the strength to continue to press forward in the face of adversity. You are never alone because you are truly chosen representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and He truly loves His missionaries.

With much admiration and love for each one of you,
Presidente May





Read more!

Fase 3 missionary thoughts....learning moments!

These are some thoughts from our Missionaries in Phase 3 Training
where we ask them to share some “Relatos de Exito/ Success Stories” or things they are learning since they have now been here 3 changes,or about 4 months.This whole meeting is in Spanish, and the parents of these great missionaries who were North Americans wouldn't believe to hear their sons and daughters speaking so well in such a short time, but the thoughts and comments have been translated here into English for the blog. August 7, 2009

• “We’ve really been working with families. One house the mother was baptized but the others didn’t want to listen, and now all of them are coming into the room for the lessons and they want to be baptized too. The Holy Ghost is touching their hearts so much. ”

• “We went to a home where a man invited inside his home. He said he had been praying for us to come. He is blind, and he told us that he had lots of lessons before, we knew nothing about him, and he said he went to church but couldn’t be baptized because he was living with a woman, but now he is not. He felt like he was ready to learn more and was praying that we would come back. He told us then and there that he wanted to be baptized, and he was ready! It is like a miracle!”

• “When we have a conflict or problem with our companions, we have to be humble to ask our companion for help. This means we need to be teachable and humble. Also, we can’t just ask them to solve our problems, but we need to help THEM find the solutions for themselves. This is like what we do with our investigators. We are just teaching and showing the way to have faith, repent, and make changes in their lives for the better.”

• “We had not had any success getting into homes so we had really been praying for that. That day when we went out, we had lots of people with their front doors actually open! It was really like a miracle. Then the family that we first taught that day told us we were like Angels, and that they felt like Jesus Christ had just entered their home, when we came in. We invited them to church, and when we went by their home on Sunday, to walk them to church, the woman was in a skirt, and the man and his son both had on white shirts and ties, like our missionary ones. It was awesome!”

• “We were not being very effective, and we had been wasting lots of time in our days, not having planned very specifically. We repented, and really planned our days and time better, and the Lord started blessing us even more. We met a woman, and she set her baptism date right that day, and has now gone through so many changes, like no more smoking, leaving alcohol, and these things were hard for her, but she has done it. Obedience is a powerful principle I am learning.”

• “I’m learning we have to give our companions time to talk and share together, even if we think we have the answers. It is a companionship and teamwork as missionaries.”

Read more!

Good, Better, Best....Efforts

Today´s message is simple: “I love you and I am grateful for your dedication and service to the Lord!” I know that He expects us to give our very best efforts each and every day. Elder Oaks gave a talk in the October 2007 General Conference entitled, “Good, Better, Best!”. He used an example of shoes:


“There were three degrees of quality: good, better, and best. For example, some men’s shoes were labeled good ($1.84), some better ($2.98), and some best ($3.45).”

It is my prayer that we will always give our best efforts to the Lord each and every day in bringing souls unto Him. As we do so, the level of joy we will feel will always match our efforts.

With much love and appreciation,
Presidente May

Read more!

Mission Home Favorite-- Zuccini Bread!

Lion House Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe/Pan chocolate de zapallo italiano

Ingredientes
• 2 c all-purpose flour, all purpose . HARINA
• 1 c sugar . AZUCAR
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon . CANELA
• 1 c brown sugar . AZUCAR MORENA
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate (2 blocks) . 2 CDRA COCOA
• 1 c vegetable oil . ACEITE
• 1 tsp vanilla extract . VANILLA
• 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, semi-sweet . CHOC CHIPS
• 3 eggs . HUEVOS
• 1/2 tsp baking powder . POLVO PARA HORNEAR
• 1 tsp salt . SAL
• 2 c zucchini, grated . ZAPALLO ITALIANO, RALLADO
• 1 tsp baking soda POLVO BIOCARBONATO

Directions
• Step #1 Preheat oven to 325F degrees.
• Step #2 Prepare two 8x4-inch loaf pans by greasing & flouring or by lining with parchment paper.
• Step #3 Melt unsweetened chocolate & set aside.
• Step #4 Wash & grate zucchini; set aside.
• Step #5 Measure flour, salt, baking powder, soda, & cinnamon into a bowl; stir & set aside.
• Step #6 Place eggs in mixing bowl & beat.
• Step #7 Add the sugars, melted chocolate, oil, & vanilla; beat until creamy.
• Step #8 Add the zucchini & stir this together.
• Step #9 Mix in dry ingredients until incorporated.
• Step #10 Add the chocolate chips & mix inches.
• Step #11 Pour into pans & bake for 45-50.
Read more!

We just love these missionaries...

This last group of missionaries…..who arrived June 22, 2009

Just some thoughts from our new missionaries at the Fase 1 training they shared with us:(Elders, Hermanas, from Latin America and USA.)

• “I come from a big family back in the U.S., with 12 children at home. When we came into this humble home, the woman wanted us to bless her home. When we took out fotos of Jesus, she began to cry. That really touched me.”

• “It was awesome to bear our testimony. I really felt the power of the spirit helping to make up for my lack of language.”

• “I was an extreme biker in my country. I was offered a sponsor-ship, like a contract scholarship to ride for this company. It was for mucho dinero in my country. I knew I had to come on a mission instead. I know the Lord will bless me.”

• “I’ve only been a member for 3 yrs. I was introduced to the gospel from a member who I dated. She told me about it and I began to investigate it without telling her. My family didn’t understand why I would want to join with a church like this. My father was very sick, and my family thought I should be the one to stay and work, to help take care of my father, but I knew I had to leave on a mission. I know he will be taken care of because I am here, in Chile, serving a mission.”

• “My father learned about the gospel in our country because he dreamed one night about some beautiful music. The next day, he missed his bus stop, and then had to get off at the next stop. When we got off, it was in front of this beautiful church, and he decided to go inside to see what it was like. As he entered, he heard that exact same beautiful music being played inside. Of course it was our church, and the spirit touched him to become converted. He has been active all the rest of his life so far, and brought the gospel to our family.”

• “I am happy to be following my good trainer. We are having doors really slammed in our faces, and we’ve had some real challenges, but we are still making lots of contacts, and it’s great.”

• I am learning what it is like to help people commit to things. We are helping them to come to church, to take the Santa Cena, accept invitations to attend, and I’m learning from my good companion, the assistants in our tutoring, etc.”

• “I love being here. I have wanted to be here all my life. I am living my dream!”

Read more!

"Find them that will receive you." (DYC 42:8)

Dear Sisters and Elders,
One of the great opportunities we have as missionaries is to find “them that will receive you” (D&C 42:8). We have used the example of the three gardens to illustrate the three different phases of missionary work.

Without the planting garden, there are is no cultivating garden or harvesting garden. Our gardener here at the mission home, Raul, loves his work of taking care of the beautiful plants and flowers of the mission home. One of his favorite things is working with the rose bushes. We have approximately 87 of them here in front of the mission home. These are his “investigators!” His joy is full because he has so many to work with and cultivate. How would he feel if we only had 2 or 3 rose bushes?

And so it is with our work as missionaries. When our planting garden is full with new investigators, we experience the joy of teaching the Gospel to many investigators with the faith and hope that they will exercise their in faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and remain faithful members of the Church. When our planting garden is barren, we do not feel the joy of our calling to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are some important principles to remember in finding new investigators:
· Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to “find”, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost. (PmG pg 10). Our ability to magnify our calling and reach our potential as the Lord´s servants in the Chile Santiago North mission all begins with our level of commitment and dedication to finding people to teach.
· We must strengthen our faith that the Lord is preparing people to receive us and the restored gospel.(PmG pg 155) In our recent zone conferences we discussed the importance of recognizing that we are totally 100% dependent on the Lord for any success we achieve in this life. Increasing our faith to find comes from increasing our obedience with exactness in all that we do so that we can “find with exactness!”
· “Finding with exactness” comes by having and following the promptings of the Spirit. Finding by the Spirit is as important as teaching by the Spirit. As in teaching, your efforts in finding will be effective if you are guided by the Spirit. Have faith that you will know what to teach and what to do to find those who will receive you. (PmG pg 156)
· As you move swiftly to planned activities, pray for the ability to see unplanned opportunities to serve and teach those who may be “perishing in unbelief.” Pray for the spiritual sensitivity to recognize opportunities. You will find that God will place in your path His children who are being prepared to receive the restored gospel. (PmG pg 156) In Alma 40:3,9 we read about the power of “inquiring diligently”:

3 Behold, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead. But behold, my son, the resurrection is not yet. Now, I unfold unto you a mystery; nevertheless, there are many mysteries which are kept, that no one knoweth them save God himself. But I show unto you one thing which I have inquired diligently of God that I might know—that is concerning the resurrection.

9 Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this space of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know.

Are we inquiring diligently each and every day to know what the Lord would have us do to find those that will receive us? Are we setting meaningful goals and making careful plans each day to find those that the Lord has prepared? Are we being accountable to the Lord for our efforts in finding new people? When we fall short of our goal to find, are we evaluating our efforts and seeking for ways to accomplish our goal to find those that the Lord has prepared?

· Work with members of the Church to find people to teach. The ideal situation is when members invite others to be taught and are present for the teaching.

As we diligently do these things we show the Lord our level of commitment to find those He has prepared and He will bless us with many new people to teach. May the Lord bless us in our efforts to bring many souls to the waters of baptism!

We love you and pray for your success,

Read more!

Seek Counsel from our Leaders

As I continue to study the Book of Mormon, I want to testify of the truthfullness of what President Ezra Taft Benson taught us, “There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.”


In my personal study of the Book of Mormon this week, I was reminded of an important principle that applies to all of us as representatives of Jesus Christ, the willingness to seek and follow the counsel from others, especially our leaders. In Alma 39:10 we read the following:

10 And I command you to take it upon you to counsel with your elder brothers in your undertakings; for behold, thou art in thy youth, and ye stand in need to be nourished by your brothers. And give heed to their counsel.

Alma is commanding his son Corianton to seek counsel and ask for help from his older brothers. Corianton had been struggling in his life to do the right thing mainly because of the following:
2 For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother, among the people of the Zoramites. Now this is what I have against thee; thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.

Corinaton was proud and relied more on his own strength and wisdom which led to many wrong choices and serious consequences. In the recent April 2009 General Conference, Elder Russell M. Ballard shared a story that emphasizes the importance to seek and follow the counsel of leaders and those that have experience:

“Years ago when I was in business, I learned a very expensive lesson because I did not listen carefully to the counsel of my father, nor did I heed the promptings of the Spirit giving me guidance from my Heavenly Father. My father and I were in the automobile business, and the Ford Motor Company was looking for dealers to sell their new line of cars. Ford executives invited my father and me to a preview showing of what they thought would be a spectacularly successful product. When we saw the cars, my father, who had over 35 years experience in the business, cautioned me about becoming a dealer. However, the Ford sales personnel were very persuasive, and I chose to become Salt Lake City’s first—and actually last—Edsel dealer. And if you don’t know what an Edsel is, ask your grandpa. He will tell you that the Edsel was a spectacular failure.”

Our ability to seek the help of our mission leaders, especially in time of difficulty such as lack of success, discourgagement, etc, shows our humility and are willingness to be submissive (Mosiah 3:19). We should not be compelled to do so as was Corianton because of his pride but rather we should follow the counsel found in Preach My Gospel, Chapter 8 in the section of Accountablility:

Seek to learn from your leaders, and invite them to suggest ways you can improve.
This implies that we should take the initiative to ask for help and counsel, accept it humbly and follow it. We should apply and have faith that over time, the Lord will bless us. Elder Uchdtorf shared a story about the importance of patiently following counsel:

A friend of mine recently wrote to me, confiding that he was having a difficult time keeping his testimony strong and vibrant. He asked for counsel. I wrote back to him and lovingly suggested a few specific things he could do that would align his life more closely with the teachings of the restored gospel. To my surprise, I heard back from him only a week later. The essence of his letter was this: “I tried what you suggested. It didn’t work. What else have you got?”

It is important that we not only seek the help and counsel from leaders but also understand is part of the Lord´s plan as taught to us by President Henry B. Eyering in the October 2007 General Conference address entitled, O Ye That Embark:

· The Lord will bear you up and will at times do it by calling others to stand with you.

· One is to recognize and welcome those whom the Lord sends to help us.

· We can expect in our service to have help sent to us at the right time who will see strength in us and lift us up.

· And we can look forward to being the one sent by the Lord to encourage another.

It is my prayer that we will humbly seek the counsel and help of our leaders in time of need and we will follow the counsel we receive with a humble and willing heart. As we do so the Lord will pour out his blessings upon us as we bring many souls to Christ through faith in Him, repentance, baptism, reception of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We love you,

Presidente May


Read more!

The mission experience

This is the anniversary of the day I started my mission, to Santa Cruz, BOLIVIA, back in 1977...


Queridos Hermanas y Elderes,
Hoy dia es el aniversario de cuando empeze y termine mi mision. Hace mucho tiempo yo entre en el CCM en Provo para empezar mi mision. Yo recuerdo aprendiendo tanto en el CCM en cuanto al evangelio. Yo era miembro un poco mas que un año y habia mucho que yo no sabia de la Iglesia. Senti un espiritu muy especial en aquel tiempo. Mi llegada en el lindo pais de Bolivia empezo una epoca de mi vida mas hermosa y especial. Aprendi y senti mucho de lo que ustedes estan experimentando diariamente aquí en Chile invitando a las personas a venir a Cristo. Yo recuerdo que uno de mis metas en la mision fue de tomar cada dia uno por uno y hacer todo posible de lograr lo que El Señor esperaba de mi. Yo recuerdo pensando si yo puediera dar mi mejor por siete dias, seria una semana buena, y cuatro semanas buenas seria un mes bueno. Nuestro tiempo es el recurso mas valioso que tenemos en la vida.



Me di cuenta de la importancia de nuestro tiempo al estar solo sin Hermana May por ocho dias. Como ustedes saben, ella asistio el casamiento de nuestro hijo mayor en los Estados Unidos. Ella volvio ayer!. Ella es una bendicion tan grande en mi vida. Ella ama al Señor y siempre me esta invitando a venir mas a El. Ella ama a cada uno de ustedes y siente tan bendecida de estar con ustedes.



Cada cosa que hacemos en la mision siempre tiene que nacer de nuestro objetivo de invitar a todas las personas a venir a Cristo. Si es nuestra fe, obediencia diligencia o tambien nuestros ejercicios, estudio personal,estudio del idioma, etc. Todo debe estar enfocado en ayudarnos a “magnifcar” nuestro llamamiento y lograr todo que El Señor espera de nosotros. Aprovechemos cada dia para llevar mas almas al Señor. Es mi oracion que cada uno de nosotros cada dia nos levantemos con mucho animo y energia pensando, ¿A quien podemos invitar a venir Cristo hoy dia?



Les amamos y confiamos en ustedes,





Presidente May


Read more!

Power of Book of Mormon

Dear Sisters and Elders,

The Book of Mormon provides great examples of the power of teaching and tesifying from our hearts so that the Spirit will carry our message to the hearts of our investigators (2 Nephi 33:1). Alma is teaching his son Shiblon about the importance of continuing to trust in the Lord and if he does so, he will continue to be delivered out of his trials, troubles and afflictions. He then shares his testimony of these things and how he had received this testimony. In Alma 38:5-9 we read the following:


5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

6 Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; for if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things.

7 But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.

8 And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.

9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness..

Let us all remember the importance of teaching and testifying from the heart so that he that preacheth and he that receiveth understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. (D&C 50:22)

We love you always and pray you will be obedient with exactness so that you will know with exactness what the Lord would have you do in carrying out His work each and everday to bring many souls unto Him.

Presidente May
Read more!

Great Ward with love of Missionary work evident

I want to share an experience that Sister May and I had yesterday while attending a ward in one of the Stake within the North Mission. The theme of Sacrament meeting was missionary work. After the sacrament was administered we were privileged to hear the song "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" sung by a choir of eight investigators and a number of new converts. It was the first I had ever heard a choir composed of investigators and new converts and sing in Sacrament meeting. It was beautiful!

Dear Sisters and Elders,
We then heard a wonderful message from a sister who talked about some basic principles of the Gospel such as prayer (D&C 10:5), scripture study (D&C 1:37,38), service to others (Mosiah 2:17), and being obedient (D&C 82:10). It was a wonderful message that reminded us that in order to help others become converted to the gospel, we need to be doing the basics in our own lives.

Next we heard a wonderful talk by the ward mission leader who shared a message on the importance of opening our mouths and sharing the gospel with others. He invited the congregation to invite one family member, friend, or coworker to learn about the gospel. We felt a great spirit throughout the meeting. Sister May and I attended the investigators class where there were eight investigators present with a number of recent converts and members to help fellowship them. The ward mission leader conducted the class which began with the hymn “I am a Child of God”. We then were privileged to hear from the bishop who delivered a powerful message on the importance of baptism citing the story of Nicodemus. He seemed to know all of the recent converts and was very encouraging to the investigators. We then enjoyed a wonderful class on the plan of salvation taught by a sister who was enthusiastic and full of the spirit. She taught clearly and involved the class in the lesson. The spirit was present in the class and all who attended were uplifted and inspired. (D&C 50:13-22)

What a blessing it is when the members and the full-time missionaries work together as a team. Consider for a moment what President Monson told the newly called mission presidents at the 2008 seminar for new mission presidents. He said: "There is . . . no substitute for a member-oriented proselyting program. Tracting will not substitute for it. Golden questions will not substitute for it. A member-oriented program is the key to success, and it works wherever we try it" ("Motivating Missionaries," June 22, 2008, 8). Let us do all we can to work together in unity in finding, teaching, retention and activation.

We love you and pray for your success,

Read more!

Recent Zone Conferences May 28 & 29th, 2009

All of our missionaries know that during each change cycle we have a theme of study, usually Characteristicas de Cristo, from Chpt 6 of PMG, or other type of Doctrine. This change we were studying Knowledge/Conocimiento. It was a wonderful to hear these fine missionaries in their preparation. Each know that anytime within the change, they may be called on to share a 3-5 minute talk that they have individually prepared themselves, in their personal study of the subject. They can be called upon to share at zone classes, zone training, and especially zone conferences, when we hear from 3-4 each day. This is some of what they shared....

We had a spiritual message from E. Baum, using DYC 28:21, reminding of Unity. Then Elder Bolentini, originally from Argentina, volunteered with permission from Presidente May, to give his talk in English. What a great example to all! He had put together his thoughts well, told of his personal impressions with Knowledge and learning about it, then share and read scriptures and spoke with power and authority, even in English. The spirit was their we were all touched with his humble and effective testimony.
We also heard from Hrma Marinos, which also was sweet to hear. The next day, E. Pollard shared a spiritual message to start, which is good for our new missionaries to hear from a great, seasoned missionary, speaking powerfully and with conviction. Then we heard from E. Melancon and H. Sears, but really touching again, was Hrma Mendoza, who is actually from Argentina, and as she ended her talk on Conocimiento, she began sharing her testimony in English too! Slowly, deliberately pronouncing each word as she had practiced, so that she could saw what was really in her heart. It is amazing how the spirit has touched her, helped her blossom and given her courage. Months ago she would not have ever wanted to talk in English, and now here she is doing it with the spirit. The Lord works miracles in the lives of these great missionaries, and they are all being converted to Him.
Read more!

New Missionary Training... Fase 1 and 2

We had great sessions with our new missionaries. Fase 1 training we hold after they have been here about 10 days. They come back the next Friday after they arrive, so they now know what questions to ask, how to do things, and what they need help with since they have arrived. We have an interactive meeting and then followed by nice lunch for each of them and their trainer/companions too. The following month, when they have been out for 1 change or about 6 weeks, then we have the new ones come back for Fase 2, this time the whole meeting in Spanish, and without their trainers/companions. They are fine by now, getting around on the metro, buses and can really converse fine and understand the majority of what people say. Here are some of their comments and thoughts about what they are learning, saw, heard, experienced in their first change here in Chile Santiago North:

1. "One woman said she had never heard of the church before, but when we started to explain about Jose Smith we felt the spirit and powerfully, as if someone else where teaching her about it, so she paid real close attention."
2. "Our investigator had a very strong prejudice against Peruvians, but she told me that even though I am from Peru, her heart was softened towards me as she always saw me smiling, and being helpful. That was what made her want to listen to us, where my companion said she wouldn't listen to just him before."
3. "A teenager started gaining more trust and confidence in his parents, after he began having personal changes in his life from the gospel. He used to be a deliquent but the gospel helped him express more love and appreciation to his parents. I did the same in my country, after I learned about the gospel. I was much more obedient and unselfish with my parents' requests after I joined the church."
4. "I really feel the power of prayers here in just these short 10 days. The Spirit was really powerful, and sometimes this is the only time I really can understand what is being said, during the prayers, by the spirit."
5. "I can't believe I'm really here, finally in the mission field. I feel like I've been waiting for this all of my life. I talked to a man yesterday who told us many things he needs to repent about, including crimes and serious stuff. But it touched me to see him crying and wanting to change."
6. "The first night we arrived, we bought some groceries, put my suitcases in the house, and we went out. It started raining, I was drenched, by my companion and I both didn't mind, we said what a great way to start out, because the people felt sorry for us, and everywhere we knocked, people let us in! I remember Pres. May telling us to go the extra mile, and then it is true...we were more than blessed!"
7. "I was not used to riding a bike like we need to in Los Andes, and I fell off 4 times when I first started, but I kept trying and now I am better at it."
8. "My trainer is so great, he practically runs to the appointments, but he knows everyone in this area, and now my leg muscles are really strong! One lady put a baptismal date and then after we were teaching her, she wants to move it up and do it sooner! We are having lots of lessons with whole families and see miracles in them."
9. "We were talking to a woman who said she was busy, and then she told us she would give us just 5 minutes. Then she soon let us in her home. Then she told us that she has attended or tried many churches all around the neighborhood, but never been in ours. She was excited to hear that we are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, because she loves to talk and learn about Him. She was thrilled we invited her to come and attend out meetings this week. She must really be prepared!"
10."I read DyC 11:12,15--This made me really feel that when I am testifying and trying to share my thoughts, the spirit fills me too, with joy. Just like the scripture says, and I can understand how it makes us want to share it more."

Read more!

Powerful Experience with the Book of Mormon

(Please excuse this story in Espanol. It was too good to not put in just as it was written, in Espanol...Thanks to Elder Dunshee, Asst. to the President.)

El poder del Libro de Mormón
Hace casi un año encontré a Octavio. Tocamos su puerta y nos contestó, pero pareció que no nos quisiera ver. Nos dijo que estaba ocupado y que pasáramos otro día. Anotamos su dirección para pasar otro día.

Unos días después estuvimos pasando por su calle y decidimos tocar su puerta de nuevo. Fuimos allí y golpeamos su puerta. Su mamá nos contestó. Ella se animó en vernos y nos hizo pasar inmediatamente. Al entrar nos explicó que ella misma no tenía interés en nuestro mensaje, pero su hijo Octavio estaba muy mal con muchas cosas, (depresión, alcohol, violencia) y quería que pudiéramos ayudarle a él. Nos explicó que justo había peleado con su novia y por causa de aquella pelea él fue echado de la casa de ella y se separó de su novia. Estaba mal porque no podía ver a su hijo, el cual vivía con su novia. Al escuchar a todo esto, su madre nos pidió que compartiéramos con Octavio, porque sabía que necesitaba a Dios. Sacamos una cita para volver otro día.
Cuando volvimos pudimos pasar y empezamos hablar con Octavio. Él estaba viviendo en el garaje de su Madre, y no tenía nada. Estaba muy triste y nos expresó que no estaba feliz y que quería ver a su hijo de nuevo. Supimos que él tenía solo 25 años, que no estaba trabajando y que tomaba y fumaba. Por tres citas escuchamos a sus problemas, y al regresar para la cuarta cita nos dimos cuenta que su alma se había vaciado y que estaba listo para llenarse del Evangelio restaurado.
Empezamos enseñarle mucho. Poníamos mucho énfasis en el Libro de Mormón. Cuando se lo enseñamos a él le encantó. Nos asegurábamos de que siempre leyera el libro, y después conversábamos sobre su lectura. Poco a poco vimos los cambios que se llevaban a cabo mientras que él leía el Libro de Mormón. Leía él cuando estaba sólo, y después de unas semanas ya iba en Alma. En poco tiempo, ya no tomaba, ya no fumaba y quería vivir el Evangelio completo. Veía a milagros en su vida. La situación con su novia se arregló, y su felicidad crecía cada vez más que leía el Libro de Mormón.
Mi compañero y yo analizamos un día los cambios que se llevaron a efecto en la vida de Octavio. Él se había cambiado 100 porciento. Nos dimos cuenta de que no habíamos hecho mucho nosotros, sino que el Libro de Mormón, con todo su poder, había hecho que un hijo de Dios reconociera la verdad, y en muy poco tiempo. Cada vez que pasábamos por él, nos hablaba del Libro de Mormón. Daba las gracias en sus oraciones por el Libro de Mormón. Después de su bautismo, el Octavio pudo dar su testimonio al barrio. Dio fuerte testimonio del Libro de Mormón, y dijo “Si esta iglesia no es verdadera, entonces no hay una iglesia verdadera. Si Dios no existe, entonces ¿porque y me siento tan feliz?” Fue un momento espiritual que jamos olvidaré.
El Libro de Mormón pudo cambiar la vida de Octavio. Y puede hacer lo mismo con cada persona que deja que ocurra en su propia vida.
Elder Dunshee
Misión Chile Santiago Norte

Read more!

"I feel like nothing more than a Toddler!" (Recent arrival)

"Hola Presidente May! Aye yi yi. What a week. Just to be clear I´M LOVING IT. But good grief! this is the hardest craziest thing I´ve ever done in my life. And by far the most wonderful. I love Hna ____. It is amazing to recognize how well the Lord knows me and my needs as I look at where I am and who I am with. I am full of a gratitude that words cannot describe. Ha!

But I believe conference was the first thing in 4 days where I completely understood what was going on. Other than that, I´m doing a lot of wondering and guessing. I´m pretty clear on who a couple investigators are (because, I was there when we found them, or I have taught them once/twice now and understand), and I know who the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader are, and at least one memeber. Other than that, I have no idea who´s who or if we´re being reunited with someone or if we´re making a new contact until we´re in the process. -sigh- I recognize that I am weak and simple and I feel like nothing more than a toddler, clinging to my mother´s skirt trying desperately to do what pleases her when I think I understand what she wants. It´s hard. It´s fun. It´s tiring. It very much wants to be discouraging. It´s scary. It´s frustrating that even when I do understand what is going on, I cannot yet express what I feel and know in my heart and am forced to stumble around tossing out simple words and not being able to get where I want to go. But I have the Lord, and a loving and patient companion, and I recognize I understand far more than I did when I got here (which was nothing). It will come. I have no doubt. I must simply maintain patience and work really really hard." (author is unknown to this writer as the Prdte sent this to be included without author's name.)
Read more!

Zone Leader Concilio

Sitting in on part of the Zone Leader's Concilio/ council meeting is humbling as we see the great strength of the leadership the Lord has placed in our mission from these wondeful zone leaders. They are like the Team Captains of the mission, and lead with love and concern for their missionaries in their own zones. They come from all different areas, backgrounds, histories, etc, but here they are united in the work, and one purpose here in the mission. They have taken the challenge to memorize in their native language, DyC 121:34--to end, which teaches about the Priesthood, but in detail, about leadership and their responsibilities. They are so faithful and eagerly want to talk to Hermana May, to have her listen, while they recite the scriptures they have learned, often in their 2nd language also. So impressive are these fine Elders of Israel. When Presidente May asked them for some insights and improvements they think we can use in the mission, these are some of their ideas:


-Be more reverent in appropriate times.
-Be punctual in every case, meeting, visit, appt., etc.
-Representing the Lord in EVERY MOMENT.
-Be efficient in our lunch appointments, sharing a message and leaving within the hour.
-Have pure motives and not aspire for assignment or another position.
-Being more humble, more obedient.
-Urgency in doing the work.
-Listening to the RIGHT types of music, only Hymns and Primary songs.
-Staying focused and not getting distracted with neighborhood balls, music, etc.
-Keeping confidentiality in our communications amongst missionaries.
-Maintaining 20 contact per day, MINIMO so we continue to work hard.
-More unity in each level, companionships, districts, zones.
Read more!

New Missionary Training

These great new missionaries, 11 in total, who just arrived on Mar 31st, came back to the Mission Home for Phase 1 training. We thought this was for orientation and training, but these are thoughts we learned from THEM, as they discussed what they had learned and experienced in just their first week:

"We trust much in God, and He gives us what we need."

"We were really praying for this man, and his needs, and then the Lord blessed us
with the answers, through his wife!"

A fellow missionary went to the hospital and had surgery and yet told his zone he would still follow through with his 20 contacts daily. He did that and was a great example to his zone. This new missionary was touched by this valiant example of another in his zone. They are eager to learn and follow counsel.

"We had great success this week, and I was so impressed with my trainer, who just challenged someone to baptism right at the door. They accepted right then and there and I stood with my mouth open, so impressed with my companion!" (great missionary to praise and compliment his companion right in public and give him the credit)

"I went on exchanges/divisions with a missionary who went home this past week. He taught me how it would feel to be making my last day of contacts in the mission, and I really felt his urgency. I don't want to ever forget how that feels."

"We can't really judge our contacts or investigators' hearts. The Lord knows their hearts and He is preparing them."

Read more!

Youth from Colina District come to Mission Home

Presidente Yanez had a great activity for his youth who were Laurel/Priest age. They met at their chapel on Friday, March 27th, had some missionary activities and then surprise the 20 youth and had drivers bring them to the Chile Santiago North Mission home.

We enjoyed having them here in the Mission Home, where we could take a few minutes and give them ideas of how to prepared for a mission. Hermana May talked about preparing by learning how to cook simple things, tend to their own health issues, fix their clothes, do their laundry, learn how to work, having part time job, to also develop their own testimonies of Tithing, so they can teach and personally testify of that principle too. Also, how to meet others, develop social skills and also learning to serve and think of others. Presidente May talked about developing their own testimony, what to study, Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon, specifically. Also, he gave them an overview of the typical day in the life of our missionaries. They could ask questions and understand the process of a mission call.
Afterwards we took them into the dining rooms and had refreshments together, while they took some fotos inside and outside with each other. It was a delightful evening.

Read more!

Standard of Excellence

We have established a Standard of Excellence in the Chile Santiago North Mission to raise our vision, increase our level of faith, help us stretch, work effectively, and reach higher levels of performance. We should never lose sight that our purpose in achieving the Standard of Excellence is to baptize by water (Redemption) and by fire (Power of Holy Ghost) each and every week so that our converts will become clean and have the Gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives to remain faithful in the Church throughout their lives. Last week Elders Gunnell and Pini were the first companionship to achieve the Standard of Excellence in our mission. This should serve as a “Model of Success” in our mission so that every companionship can achieve the Standard of Excellence consistently each week.

We have used the analogy of “The Three Gardens” in our illustrating what is needed to be done to reach the Standard of Excellence. Each and every week the we must be diligent in working in the “Planting Garden”, “Cultivating Garden” and “Harvesting Garden”:

Weekly:
Planting Garden:
10 New investigators
10 Investigators with a baptismal date
8 Referral received and contacted
20 Contacts daily

Cultivating Garden:
6 Investigators attending Sacrament meeting
10 Lessons taught to an investigator with a member present
10 Other lessons taught
10 Progressing investigators
5 Lessons taught to recent converts and less active members

Harvesting Garden
1 Investigator baptized
1 Investigator confirmed
1 Investigator prepared for baptism next week (Fase 3)

There are many blessings that come from working as hard as we can in each of these gardens. (D&C 18:15-16) We can choose to receive all of these blessings for ourselves or we can bless the lives of the members of our wards and branches by inviting them to work alongside of us in each of these gardens. As we work in unity with the ward leaders and members, the harvest can be multiplied many fold. President Monson has said, “We will never achieve the success we seek in the Mission Field without the help of the members." We must gain the trust of the leaders and members so they will have a desire to work together with us in these gardens. The following is a list of suggestions that can help us achieve this:

1. Working hard all day and every day. Develop a reputation as an obedient, hard working missionary.

2. Making personal calls to stake presidents, bishops and ward mission leaders to keep them informed on the progress of the work and to thank them for their support.

3. Inviting members to have a discussion in their homes with their families with an investigator present.

4. Being on time for all meetings, especially with leaders.

5. Going on division to teach investigators, work with inactives and part member families, find new investigators, etc.

6. Occasionally teaching Sunday School and priesthood classes.

7. Teaching good lessons in Gospel Essentials class.

8. Inviting members to participate in baptismal services well in advance.

9. Inviting members to tell their conversion story at baptismal services.

10. Having the bishop, ward mission leader, or other members baptize your converts.

11. Bringing quality families into the Church that are well taught and committed to the gospel.

12. Blessing their house and family during visits.

13. ALWAYS BEING POSITIVE AROUND THE LEADERS AND BEING ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE WORK. DON'T TELL THEM THE PROBLEMS OR THE FRUSTRATIONS. LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE.

14. Looking sharp, dignified - a step above the crowd.

15. Smiling - greeting members on Sunday - being friendly

Read more!

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Dear Sisters and Elders,

In Amos 3:3 the Lord asked, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Unity and teamwork in missionary work is powerful in bringing salvation to many souls. It can be applied to a companionship, district, zone, and a mission. It is also essential in the relationship between full-time missionaries and stakes, districts, wards and branches.


When two missionaries work as two individuals, the results will never equal what two missionaries can achieve working in unity as one. A basketball teams that plays as five separate individuals will never accomplish what five players can achieve playing as one. A missionary companionship will never achieve what they can if they work with a ward or branch as united team. When they do work together it is no longer a team of two but rather a much larger team that can accomplish so much more working together.

When a group of individuals work together as a team, their results will be multiplied and the end result will be greater than the total results of each individual working separately. This is called synergy. When companionships, districts, and zones work together in cooperation with wards, branches, districts, and stakes, the results will be greater in bringing many souls unto Christ. In Philippians 1:27 it says, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that they stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith in the gospel.

May we as missionaries work together in unity with our great and faithful leaders and members here in the Chile Santiago North mission that we may truly multiply our efforts in bringing many souls to the waters of baptism, that they may receive and enjoy the precious Gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives so that they may walk in His path, even Jesus Christ.

We love you,
Presidente May
Read more!

Medical Maladies in the Mission

Sister Burnett oversees the medical issues in the mission as they arise. She does the triage, and gives our missionaries good, sound, veteran-mother-experienced advice or sends them on to see Dr. Dave Dixon, our member Doctor who works out of the Church offices on Temple Square/Obispado, where he oversees all medical maladies for ALL of Chile in regards to missionaries. Here is PART of 2008 year end summary;

Allergie-3 Athlete's foot-4 Blisters-4 Chicken pox-2
Dog bite-3 Appendicitis-1 Bloody Nose-7 Constipation-3
Ear Ache-5 eye infection-5 fatigue,weakness-15
fleabites-8 fractured bones-5 hemmorrhoids-4 hernia-2
headaches-7 ingrown toenails-7 heartburn-6 parasites-4
stress attacks/panic heart attacks 13 rash-13 rat fear-2
scabies-3 sore throat-13 Spider Bite-3 sprained ankle-2
tumor/cyst-3 urinary infection-4 swollen glands 2 swollen eyeball-1
water in ear-1 cramps, vomiting, diarrhea-88 sore feet-155....all?!

Read more!