Monday, June 13, 2011

Faulta Poquito

Hey everyone,

This week was a pretty interesting week for us here. We had a lot of stuff to do as zone leaaders this week, which usually isn't that normal. But it was a good week all in all.
  Lets see. First off with the zone leader stuff we did and other random stuff that was done this week that wasn't related with the mission work...
  So Tuesday we went to the office, because on Monday Elder Sheahan got an email from his family saying that his grandpa was probably gonna pass away this week. So Tuesday we go to the office so he could call him and say bye and stuff. We got there, it took a while to get a hold of his family, but he finally did and sadly his g-pa had already passed away. So he talked to his family a little bit. But that took up pretty much our whole day, when you consider travelling and waiting and all that. Wednesday we got a call from the church offices saying that a representative from the church was gonna come pick us up and do inspections of all the pensions in our zone. So we did that Wednesday after lunch, the hermano drove us around to all the different pensions in the zone, he checked the gas and stuff, and we eventually finished that. One thing I learned though is that cars are so much more efficient than walking! It's crazy haha. You get around sooooo fast. Thursday we had a meeting with the Stake President to talk about the missioanry work in the stake, and to finish planning a stake mission actiavity we had on Sunday. And that was all the business we had to do this week.
  The sector is doing good, as is the work here. We are seeing some success and we finally got some people to church thius week! Hallelujah. We are teaching this family now, the moms name is Carolina, and she has two sons named Ramiro and Romario, who are baptized. the mom is inactive. but this Sunday both the kids went to church! the mom stayed with the sick daughter, but both Ramiro (16) and Romario (12) went to church for the first time. so that was really cool.
  Some more cool news. On Thursday we had a capacitation with president and he talked all about the book of mormon, it was really good. At the capacitation, I ran into the Elders that are in my old sector Los Platanos, and guess who got baptized yesterday? Carmen did, our investigator. How cool is that! So that made me really happy to hear that she got baptized.
  Yesterday we had the stake mission work activity and it went really well. There were about 80 people there. There was a cool activity about the book of mormon and the importance of the scriptures in our daily lives. Good stuff.
  And today we played soccer as a zone and it was a ton of fun.
And that was my week. Things are starting to get real though, and it feels really weird, that there's only 7 more times I'll be writing you on the missoin. 8 weeks left. I'm not trunky though, just slowly becoming aware of what is coming very very fast haha.
Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week! Talk to you soon!
Elder Mayberry

P.S.  I promise I'll send pictures next week, I had them all on the computer here, but there was a power outtage and its too late now to send them. Anyway. next week I promise.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Hey everyone!

  Twas a good week this week. We were pretty busy, but as a whole, the work was slower this week for some reason. People just weren't home and stuff. But we saw some good things happen this week.
  This week on Wednesday we had the special meeting with president and the zone leaders. Its always a really cool meeting cuz president talks to us in a different way. He talks to us in a different way than he does to the whole mission, more personal and stuff. He just basically told us what makes a leader and what makes a follower. He told us a bunch of cool quotes about the subject. Like "A loser and a follower brings a list of problems and dwells on them, a winner and a leader brings a list of solutions and implements them". That one was President himself. He talked about leaders in the scriptures, how when problems came up, they acted as opposed to whining or complaining. I forgot my notebook at home where I wrote them down, so I don't remember any more haha. Next week. But it was a really good conference.
  On Sunday we had stake conference and that was cool. The special speakers were the Stake President, who talked about the youth of the church, President Laycock, who talked about the need for members to open their mouths, and Elder Zeballos from the Seventy spoke and talked about how we just need to do the things right. It was a really good talk. He said something cool about the commandments, he said, "the most important commandment is the one that is hardest for you to keep". And there's a lot of truth in that. So conference was good this week.
  Investigators. There they are. We had some problems teaching some of them this week, not a lot were home and stuff. But oh well. We found this new family last week on Monday and they're really cool. They're a young couple, named Solange and Flavio. Flavio is a cop here, and they'''re have two little girls. They're evangelical, but very receptive. The cool thing when we taught them last week was when we invited them to read the book of mormon and pray about it, Solange, the more evangelical one (she goes to church each Sunday and teaches a class to kids), said, well if God tells me that I need to change what I'll be doing obviously I'll do it. So we know that she has the real intent and will get an answer. It was a great lesson and a cool experience, hopefully we see some success with them. Last night we also had a cool experience, and are gonna start teaching these two kids named Romario and Ramiro, who are the sons of a inactive hermana. We have an appointment with them tonight and hopefully it goes really well. Tonight we also have a family home evening with an active family in the ward and the hermano Ricardo Garcia and his family (Karina, his wife, and Matias, his son...who aren't members). So that should be good.
  At the moment, we have a lot of people to teach, but they progress slowly. But we've seen some good blessings lately and have more people to teach, who hopefully start progressing.
  Today for P-Day, we went to Santa Lucia, a hill in the middle of the city, and there's the swap meet outside with tons of cool artisan stuff. Luckily last night it rained, well, all day yesterday actually, so today the skies were super clear cuz there was no more smog. So the view was pretty amazing. I got a bunch of good pictures, but this internet place is stupid and isn't reading my camera. But one of my comps sent me a picture he took of a landscape of the city and I'll attatch that at the end.
  Speaking of the rain, last night we didn't know it was gonna rain and we went and did a sector slam, without umbrellas and stuff, so we just got soaked while we knocked doors for a bit. Twas fun. It was funny to knock and see what the people said though, we got some funny responses. As we're just getting drenched in the rain, we ask if we can go inside and offer a prayer in the house, and the person responded, no, I'm getting wet! haha. One lady did let us in though and listened, so that was good. and one lady told us that we were gonna get sick, and told us not to get too wet. good stuff.
  And that was our week. It was a good one. This one should also be good, hopefully we see progress in our investigators and get people to come to church. Love you all! Can't believe I hit 22 months in the mission. Crazy stuff. I'm not trunky though. Not yet anyway (just kidding). Talk to you next week! Nos vemos.

Elder Mayberry





Monday, May 30, 2011

se nos fue mayo!

Hey everyone!

  This week was a pretty good one for us here in Tobalaba. The investigators are doing good, but we're still having trouble with them going to church, ugh. But we've found some new ones and that is always good. We're hoping that some of these new people we've found will start progressing well. But we'll just have to wait and see.
  This week we had a few zone leader things to do. On Thursday we went to all the pensions in the zone and did pension inspections, to make sure that they were clean, that their fire alarm worked, that they had their emergency backpacks ready, and stuff like that. So that was pretty fun, especially seeing the looks on some of their faces haha, cuz we didn't tell them we were coming. So at like 9 in the morning the zone leaders show up at your house, and you don't really know what to think. Pretty funny. It all went well though. On Saturday we also had to do a baptismal interview for one of the zone leaders, and it was good. I actually did the interview, which was good like always.
  We did a bit of teaching this week, teaching the investigators, who are all doing good. But like I said already, no one came to church again, and that really is frustrating. We can do all we can to teach them and tell them to pray, read the book of mormon, all that good stuff, but in the end they are the ones who decide if they'll do it or not. And lately all our investigators have been deciding not to go to church haha, what can we do?
  Today for Pday, we played baby soccer as a zone at the stake center and it was a ton of fun, but I'm super tired now. We played for quite a while and it was an intense game. But sadly the game ended when someone kicked the ball over the fence...So then we came home, ordered pizza, and I took a well deserved nap. Good Pday.
  Then today at like 4:30, my mtc comp Elder Erickson calls me, and he said bye cuz his flight was in half an hour. How crazy. My mtc comp is going home. That just means that the end is near for me.
  And that was our week, nothing too fancy, just the same old same old. The work is good, I love the mission, it's crazy how fast it's coming to a close, but I still got time to get stuff done. Love you all and talk to you next week!

Elder Aaron Mayberry

Monday, May 23, 2011

Como estan las cosas?

Hey everyone,

  This week was a good first week to start off the change. We had a decent amount of success and are seeing some new fruits so thats good.
  The week itself went by a little slow, but that's normal for the first week of the change. The weather was also a little crazy, being pretty cold all the way up til yesterday, and it's been hot these days.
  The investigators are doing alright. We only had one person in church again. Our investigators are struggling to get to church, and it's wierd, because they used to go before. This week a guy named Carlos went to church. He's the partner of an hermana that recently got reactivated. He's been a few times to church already and he likes to learn and likes the church a lot. But the problem is is that they aren't married. So we just gotta see what can happen with that. We've been teaching all the others and they're still good, some had legit excuses to not come to church, some didn't. We also found a bunch of new people this week which was good. We just have to see if these new ones progress.
  Tuesday we had an English class that the Bishop signed us up for, and that went well. We went the four of us misionaries and we ended up splitting the class in two parts, beginners and advanced. Me and my comp taught the advanced group, but it wasnt really teaching, it was just practicing with those that already speak english. So that was cool.
  Today for Pday, we travelled to the south of the mission and I bought myself a pair of leather scripture covers. They're amazing. I'll have to show you pictures when I get the final product. Hopefully they turn out well! We're also down here and gonna go buy something else that my comp wants to get from some hermano that is in this ward.
  And that was the week. Nothing crazy, nothing too important. Life goes on here in Santiago. The mission work is amazing, our zone is doing good, and it's fun being with someone from my group and has the same time. It seems that we spend a lot of time talking about trunky subjects though ahha, since there's only 11 weeks left. Thats so crazy. I'm not trunky though, I'm excited for this last bit of time I have in the mission.

Love you all and hope you have a great week! Talk to you next week!

Monday, May 16, 2011

El empezar el cambio 15

Hey everyone!

  It was a great week this week, it was a pretty different one, so this letter should be a little more exciting. And I got some good pictures to put at the end, and also changes happened. So first with the changes. I stayed (obviously), and Elder White left (again, it was obvious). My new comp is named Elder Sheahan, he's from Montana, came at the same time as me, and guess what....he has a twin serving in the Chile Osorno mission haha. What're the odds? And then something even more interesting happened with the changes. So there was 4 of us here in the sector right? Me, White, and the other companionship, elders Vargas and Burton. So elders White and Burton left, and are now comps, in my old sector of Pirque. They're so lucky! Anyway...
  So this week was a good one. So last Monday, like I said in the phone call, we had an activity as a mission. We all got together, watched the movie The Other Side of Heaven, drank dr. pepper, and ate popcorn. So that was a lot of fun. The movie made evryone trunky though haha. Oh well, we got over it. Then on Thursday we did divs and an elder came to my sector to be with me, and the next day we did divs again and I went over to one of my old sectors El Valle. It was really cool to be in one of my old sectors, seeing familiar faces, and even seeing some of the stuff that I did. Before I left we had found this person, and it turns out that a little ago she was baptized and is the second counselor of the relief society. And then we actually taught one of the people I was teaching. So that was a really cool experience.
  Then on Saturday we had a service project as a zone. There was a stake relief society activity, and we thought it'd be cool if we served all the hermanas their lunch, like a way to give back the service they always do for us in giving us lunches. Not too big of a service right? Wrong. It turns out the people that were there to do all the work, prepare the food, pass it out, clean, and all the other chores necessary to make an activity work, was the stake president, an hermano that was the chef, and us 12 missionaries. It turned out to be a loooooot of work. A few hours later we were finally able to eat a ton of barbequed chicken, and everyone was happy. The stake president was so happy in fact, that he invited the whole zone over on Sunday for once.
  So Sunday in the afternoon, we went over to the stake presidents house, chatted a bit and ate some nice gringo food like chocolate chip cookies and brownies haha (the stake pres. lived in the US for like 12 years). So it was good. Church was alright, we didn't get anyone in church, but at the start of the second hour, an investigator showed up so it all worked out in the end. But we need to find some new people now, and see whats wrong with the rest of our people and why they arent coming to church. After church, we took pictures of the sector, cuz elder white figured it was gonna be his last time here.
  And that was basically our week. Today we had the change meeting, and went back to our sector, ordered pizza, I took an hour nap, and here we are. Today at the change meeting it was kinda a wake up call because it's coming to be a reality that the mission is pretty much over. Theres only 2 more changes including this one, people tell me I'm going home next change, and at the next change meeting I'll only have 6 weeks left. Thats just crazy. Just gotta keep pushing along for these last 12 weeks. It's not a lot of time, and it's the only time in my life ill be able to do what I'm doing, so you just gotta do it the best you can. And thats what I plan on doing. I love the work, the mission rules, and the church is true! Love you all a ton and I'll talk to you next week!

Elder Aaron Mayberry
1. Me and Elder Erickson(my MTC comp who goes home in 2 weeks to go back to school at Westpoint



 Me again

 
 
 Me and Colo Colo



 
 Trunkyness in my sector

Me and Elder White.
  Me








Monday, May 9, 2011

Feliz dia de la madre!

Hey everyone!

  First off it was great to see you all and talk to you yesterday!!! It really gave me a lot of animo to keep going for the rest of the 3 months. And since we talked a lot yesterday, this email won't have too much haha. Anyway, heres what happened in the week.
  We had one investigator at church, named Matias. Hes the son of an hermano who got active in the church a little ago. The hermano is the only one in his family baptized, and we've been working with matias for a month or so. Basically since I got here. And he came to church for the first time yesterday. So we were happy with that. But other than him, the rest of our investigators let us down because none went to church and all said they would. We honestly are really confused with some, especially Jenny, the investigator that read the BoM already. She hasnt been to church for like 3 or 4 weeks now. So we're jsut gonna take a secret weapon to our next lesson with her. and the secret weapon is......President Laycock :) So hopefully Pres gets the job done and makes sure that she gets baptized here soon.
  And thats all the progress with our investigators. Nothing really exciting happened this week apart from the phone call, which was great. Today we have a mission activity and from what we hear its supposed to be really good.

And thats all i got. Hope you all have a great week and ill talk to you on monday!
Elder Aaron Mayberry

Monday, May 2, 2011

El tiempo está volando sobre las alas de relámpago. Time is flying by on the wings of lightening.

Hello all!

  This week was another mediocre week. It was nothing special, just the same old stuff ive been doing for the past 21 months haha. But it was still a good week nonetheless.
  It all started out on Tuesday, we had a successful zone class. As the zone leaders, its basically our job to keep the zone excited and enthusiastic about the work. The district leaders give a focussed class on doctrine or how to be a missionary and stuff, and we just do fun stuff haha. This week we played a game to see how the zones knowledge is about the scriptures that one can use as we teach. It went well. After class we went on divs and i once again went with the elder thats having a rough time on the mission. It went better tyhis time, we didnt talk about home, we just talked about random stuff and it was good. We had some exito again and it was good.
  The rest of the week was just normal, working in the sector, teaching lessons, and walking like crazy in this huge sector. The only thign out of the ordinary that we did was do inspections of the pensions in the zone. We just had to go make sure they were all clean and stuff.
  Our investigators are doing alright. Once again, Sunday was rough for uys. But we did have one get to church, should've been a lot more, but oh well. Jenny is still with the same proiblem, she said that she'd already be baptized if she had the support of her husband. But now she hasn't gone to church in three weeks so we dunno what to do. We're just gonna take President Laycock to a lesson with her and she get baptized for sure haha. The investigator that came to church is named Angelica, she's the wife of a member. They just got married recently and she likes the idea of being sealed. So we think she's gonna get baptized soon, but we just gotta teach all the lessons. Our other investigators are doing alright, we just need to see more progress.
  We decided to do a bit of finding at the end of the week and it was good. We chose a street, and out of the first 4 houses we knocked, we got into one house and had two other really good contacts. So that was cool.
  And thats about all the stuff that happened during the week. Today was a great P-Day, we went as a zone and my last zone, nunoa, to San Jose de Maipo a place in the mountains. We played soccer and ultimate frisbee on a big field, then ate some delicious completos. It was a ton of fun, but I'm pretty tired.
  I can't believe how fast this change is going by, seriously, its crazy. We're already gonna be starting week 5, im turning 21 months in the mission this week, and on Sunday it's already my last phone call (skype call) in the mission. Can't lose focus haha.

Anyway, i love you all and hope you all have a great week. See you on Sunday!!!!
Elder Aaron Mayberry

1. The "shower" i told you about the other week.

2. Our chapel here in Tobalaba

3. The four of us missionaries in the pension with silly hats on (my comp Elder White is the second on the left)

4. San Jose de Maipo

5. The zone at the activity today