What a relief !

Haha the subject of the email refers to the cambios that happened, and after hearing Elder Mayberry, you're leaving after 3 times straight, they told me the glorious words, you're staying! Hallelujah! Haha needless to say I was very very happy that I didn't have to pack my bags. But more news about the changes later....

   This week was a really good one though. Me and Elder Saenz saw the fruits of our efforts por fin! The week also had some random cool things that happened. Sarting on Wednesday... We taught Mariela and Mauricio and taught them the baptismal interview questions and they were perfectly good! We were a little nervous because Mariela had smoked before but when we asked her about it she said that she had stopped when we first talked about it. What a relief. Then we got to go see a super cool castle, because we went with Mariela and Mauricio to go get firewood from her sister, whose job is to be groundskeepers of a castle that no one gets to see. But we got to haha :) It was super cool but I didn't have my camera on me, ugh. So I missed out on that one. But we'll see if we ever go again. On Thursday we were walking and our investigators Juan and Yazna happened to come across us in their car and they invited us to go with them to see the snow a little bit away. So we did and there was really no snow but some really cool scenery around a river, so I took lots of pictures. Friday we taught Mauricio and Mariela again and Mauricio invited us to go hiking and we hiked to the top of a big hill behind his house which was also really cool. And Saturday we had the baptismal interviews and they both passed! So, Sunday was the big day!
  It was a really really good baptism. Probably the best one I've seen on the mish. It was super spiritual and well organized and they were super ready and super happy afterwards. We had two members of the ward baptize them, which is the better option than if we baptize them. Because we as missionarys leave often but the members will always be there and they'll have that special realtionship. So it was really cool. The whole family went to see too. Mauricio the father and Catalina the daughter were there watching. Mauricio and Mariela were really prepared to receive the gospel. After their baptisms they gave their testimonies and Mariela recognized how after the minute she first talked with the missionaries in a mall food plaza that her life changed for the better. It was so good! They are gonna be really good members. In doctrine and covenants 4 it says that the field is white already to harvest, and asi es. God really has people that have their hearts open and are truly ready to receive the gospel, and Mauricio and Mariela were two of those people. I'm just grateful that I had the blessing to be here and experience it. The mission is so good!!
  On Sunday I also had to give a talk, which for me went surprisingly well haha. I don't get too nervous in front of people anymore, hallelujah. And I can give a normal 15 minute talk in Spanish without problems haha. So that's cool.
  On Sunday night, we had an amazing family home evening with the family of Mauricio and Mariela, and the family that baptized them. So now they have good firneds in the church who care about them and will always be there for them to answer questions, clear up doubts, etc. So that was really cool.
  And that was it for this past week. This morning we went to the change concilio (council?) ( i dont know if that's a word in english) and listened to President and got our new comps. Elder Saenz has left me (we wanted to stay together again) but now I have a new companion called Elder Deaver. He's from Las Vegas. He has six months in the mission. He's a pretty cool guy it seems like. He's a little overwhelmed for being in Pirque but that's ok, I know how he was feeling 6 weeks ago haha. So yeah, I'm now the senior comp, not something I was looking forward too haha but I knew it'd come. And I'm district leader. So we'll see how this goes. It should be interesting but it should be really really good. Elder Deaver is excited to work as am I!
  Well everyone that's about it for now. The church is true, without a doubt. And it really does bless lives and makes people happy. There's a saying here in Latin American countries and it's "ser Mormon es ser feliz" and that's really how it is. Being Mormon is being happy. I couldn't think of a better place to be at the moment other than here. Or maybe back at home playing some of the new video games that have come out......just kidding haha. They can wait a year. Holy cow time flies.

Love you all and have a great week!
Elder Aaron Mayberry
P.S. Pictures!

1. Baptism!

2. The hike with mauricio

3. Me and Elder Saenz at the river

4. PIRQUE

Good Week!

Hello again everyone!

 It was another good week this week. More success and some great news! But more on that later.
So in terms of the week, nothing terribly exciting. Really in terms of missionary work and stuff it was a normal normal week. Lots of riding busses everywhere and some cold and all that good stuff. Also, we're nearing the end of the change (this Sunday) so me and Elder Saenz are nervous cuz we have zero idea of what'll happen. No one knows really. There's like 12 people leaving though so we dunno how that will affect everyone else and stuff. But we're pretty stressed out, haha. We wanna stay together another change here in Pirque, because Pirque is one of the best sectors in the mission, and becausae if we stay together we both celebrate a year the same day and we wanna throw a huge party haha. But we'll see. You shall know next week.
  A fun thing we did on Thursday was that we played soccer in the nighttime with the ward, young men vs the Elders quorum/old people. Our team of the Elders quorum was me, elder saenz, and three investigators haha and we ended up winning :) It was a ton of fun and we're gonna do it again on this Thursday.
  But now for the good stuff and why we're so happy here in Pirque. Investigators. So, remember Mauricio and Mariela, who we found from a reference two weeks ago? They were a nice little present to us from God, because He really prepared them for the gospel. Because they're getting baptized this next Sunday!!! We are so happy here because this is what this work is all about. Helping peple to find the gospel. And they are really happy too. Mariela, the mom, always tells us that she has really seen a difference in her and her familys life since she first had contact with us. And Mauricio, the son, is incredibly smart and understands everything. They both came to church on Sunday and stayed the whole 3 hours and liked it a lot. Last night we finished teaching them all the lessons so they're all set to go! This week we're gonna review everything and make sure they're familiar with the baptismal interview questions. But they're ready and it really feels good. This is why I'm here. So next Sunday will be a very special Sunday for us here in Pirque. And the rest of the family should be following suit. We're also teaching in the family of Mariela and Mauricio, Kata, the daughter, Mauricio the dad, Maria the sister of Mariela, and Sonia, Marielas mom. So it's been really cool having lessons with like 7 people listening. But yup. Baptisms!
The rest of the investigators are doing alright. Nothing exciting and no major improvements.
But yeah. Thats about it for this week here in Pirque. I'm loving it here in this sector and I love this work. Church is true! Hope youre all having a great summer while we're over here freezing (not too bad) haha. Love you all! Talk to you next week!

Elder Aaron Mayberry

It's bike time!

This week was another good one! And the time flies here in Pirque, its really weird.


  Yeah, so this week we started using the bikes and it's not as cold as we thought. But then again the weather isn't acting like its winter, it's weird. It was sunny out for most of the week, so we took advantage and went bike riding. But I am not used to riding bikes. It was pretty hard, but Elder Saenz says you just need to get used to it again. So I'm working on that. But I'm pretty sore haha. But it should be good. It's really fun riding bikes though.
  So this week was a really good and interesting one. On Tuesday though it was really winter. We leave our district class at like 12, and we have to head to lunch right away, cuz it's like an hour bus ride. And when we left in the morning the weather was nice. And when we got on the bus it started raining. A lot. And we weren't prepared haha. So we ate lunch and while eating it became a torrential downpour haha. We didn't have jackets or umbrellas or anything. So we waited it out a little bit. And finally it stopped. So we said alright, we'll go and walk to this familys house, like 35mins away (thats how the distances are here). So we leave the house, walk 5 minutes, and the torrential downpour starts again haha. So we walked for like 20 minutes in pouring rain with no way to stop it, so we just got incredibly soaked. It was pretty interesting. But what else can you do? But it wasn't bad at all.
  On Wednesday we had zone conference with president and that was really good. Got to catch up with alot of my freinds here in the mission. But at the same time it was kinda sad, two of my really good friends are going home in two weeks, Elder Evans and Elder Frost. It's crazy, it seems like so short ago I was comps with those guys. But that's how the mission is. People leave and people come.
  And on Saturday we went and did service as a branch and went and helped a family that is going to move into the ward. We're building their house haha. So that was pretty fun. I've never built a house before...
  The rest of the week was pretty normal though, lessons, bike riding, all that good stuff. Now, about our investigators. They're doing really good. Juan and Yasna are doing good. They still are a bit iffy on the whole marriage thing but they're really motivated about going to church and stuff. And the family we found last Sunday is doing really good. The son, Mauricio is really interested. On Wednesday we taught him solo and he had read and understood everything (something that normally doesn't happen after one lesson). So we're really excited to see progress with them. Him and his mom went to church on Sunday which was really really cool and they really liked it we think. Juan also went to church too. So it was a really good week for us in terms of investigators and stuff. So we're really happy here in Pirque.
  But that was our week. It's been doing really well here in Pirque and we are really happy. I love this work and it truly brings happiness to bring the blessings of the gospel to other peoples' lives. The church is true! Love you all and we'll talk next week!
Elder Aaron Mayberry
P.S. PICTURES
1. Me and Elder Sáenz on the day when it rained

2. When we went to the temple with Juan and Yasna and little Sebastian last week.

11 months old in the mission!

Hello everyone!
It was a good week this week, so I'll get started right away.

  On Tuesday we went to the temple as a zone and that was really a special experience like always. What a blessing it is to have a temple in my mission and to be able to go. We saw some good stuff with our investigators this week though. With Juan and Yasna we went to the temple and did a tour of the grounds and they really really liked it. They were really happy that they went and they felt the Spirit for sure. Yasna even bore her testomniy to us which was really cool. They both have testimonies and are basically members, but they aren't married, which is the hardest part for sure. So at the temple we really emphasized eternal marriage and asked them to pray and think about marriage, so we shall see how that goes. But that was a really spiritual experience. We also taught Alex, who said off the bat that he was gonna go to church, but on Sunday morning he called us and told us his mom needed help in the hospital cuz his little sister is there. So we are waiting to see the progress that he makes. Also, with investigators called Jenny and Carlos we had a good lesson 2. I just said that as if you know what lesson 2 is haha. Lesson 2 is the plan of salvation. It went really well. And afterwards was the best part. They asked if another night we wanted to have "once" (like a snack in place of dinner) and we said sure. They asked what we don't eat and we said we don't drink tea or coffee, just ecco (cereal based coffee replacement) and herbal teas and they said oh great! that's all we drink! haha, it was just a little way to show us how God really does prepare people to receive this gospel. And yesterday we found a reference and it turned out to be a good one!, which doesn't usually happen. It was a nice family and we taught them about the restoration and talked to them about how the gospel can improve their family life. They really liked it. Funny story though, here in Pirque the numbering system for addresses isn't exactly ideal. So we were looking for the number 4999. So we go down the street toward the number and it's not there. So we start heading up to the 5200s and we look and there it is. Number 4999, right between numbers 5251 and 5279.......we both laughed a lot at that. But we're happy with the things that are going on here in Pirque at the moment.
  Something cool about the sector, the stars are amazing here. There's like a bajillion. It's something I haven't seen in quite a while, especially not in Santiago haha. Little cool fact about Pirque.
  A ver, what else. Ahh yes, two important dates this week. Happy independence day to the United States. I wore an honorary U.S. flag tie that Elder Saenz gave me yesterdy to commemmorate haha. And today I turned 11 months in the mission......holy cow. I'm basically on the downhill slope home. It's intimidating. But good at the same time. I love the mission and am glad I still have 13 months to enjoy.
  Today for Pday we played basketball and soccer as a zone so that was good but I'm tired. And then immediately after, me and Elder Saenz went on the search for the aunthentic mexican food restaurant in the city. There's a place called Órale in the northern part of the city so we took the trek all the way up the entire metro and got there. And guess who accompanied us? The bishop from El Valle, my second (and favorite) sector. So it was really cool to catch up with him and hear about new stuff in that ward. But the food was also delicious. Elder Saenz says hes gonna become a regular over there now, even though its like a trip of an hour and 15 mins to get there- haha. You just gotta appreciate the finer things in life, o sea, mexican food.
  So here we are, ready to start another week in pirque. It should be a good one. We also have conference with the President this week and that's always good.
  Oh yeah, funny story time. So here in Santiago we use the busses quite a bit. And you never know what kind of surprise will be awaiting you when you get on. From people selling various pens, to CDs of all sorts, or nice wollen gloves (which I'm wearing at the moment :) or the entertainment people. And sometimes they're really good and it's cool when they are. Me and Elder Saenz have seen: a Colombian woman singing solo (not so good) a folk band using like flutes and a guitar and a big drum, they were really good, a clown who talked ridiculously fast and wasn't very funny, and even the most incredible accordian player I've ever seen. So it never gets dull here haha.
  But yeah. I'm loving it here in Pirque and in the mission. I'm really happy and can't wait for what's to come. I love you all and hope you're having a great week. Until next week! Oh, and I forgot my camera cord so next week pictures for sure. Love you! Church is true.
Elder Mayberry