Well, that's it!

Wow.

I dont think ive felt so many mixed emotions at the same time. I really cant believe that its over. What ive been doing for the past 2 years is all of a sudden coming to a screeching halt, and its pretty rough, im not gonna lie. I truly am sad to be leaving.  Well, to be honest i really wasnt feeling like i was going basically until sunday.  On sunday i had my last interview with President Humphrey. Basically, all it was were counsels from him about studying when i got home, getting married and staying active in the church for the rest. That was pretty cool. Then we went back to the sector and i had to say bye to people. I said bye to Laura and Melanis family. And it was really then when i realized i was going to be very sad leaving. Its not to fun, knowing i might not see these people ive grown to love, but its whats gotta happen.  Really, i have a lot of bittersweet feelings. Im happy to be going home to see you guys, my old friends, yet im very sad to leave the new friends i have here.  Happy to go home and be able to see movies and whatnot, but sad to never be able to preach the gospel full time. Basically thats how im feeling. Im so, so grateful to have been a missionary though. I would never trade this time for anything. Ive learned soo much, and really have become converted to the gospel.  And ive seen other people do it too. Ill be very sad to never do it again. Me da pena just thinking about it. Basically it all just feels really surreal, then i remember how i wont be able to see these people again, or invite someone to be baptized, then i get pretty sad. I think itll be that way a while. But like i said, thank goodness i came on a mission. It truly has been the best 2 years of my life. And im really excited to share everything about it with you in 2 days!!!!! See you then!!!! :)

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Oh Gosh!

...One week left. AHHH how weird.  Im just gonna briefly go over what happened last week, seeing as how i dont have a lot of time to write. So like i said on last monday we went over and taught Laura in the morning, and everything was good. So that same day we decided to pay a surprise visit to her in the nighttime, just to try to talk to her mom. So we did, and Laura about died when she saw us come by at that time, but the mom didnt wanna share, but didnt get mad either. So then i got the idea to go back the next day and have once (like dinner) with Laura and the mom. The mom said shed try to be there. So we went back the next day and had the once. The mom did join us. So for the 45 minutes we ate all we did was talk about our normal lives and whatnot, not really the gospel. Then right as we were finishing the mom told us that after the once she realized that we're good people, and so she apologized for not letting Laura get baptized. So then we basically talked about that for like an hour and a half. At the end the mom made some significant progress.  She said she still wasnt gonna let Laura get baptized yet, but that she said she probably would in the future. Im hopeing that that future is within this upcoming week, haha.

 

Today we had a special zone leader meeting. We all went to Presidents house and he took us to a really nice indoor soccer facility and we played for 2 hours, then we went back to his house and had enchiladas for lunch. Then we had our meeting. It was a really fun last Pday.  A cool little logro (acheivement), the mission baptized 106 this month! Thats the most ive seen here in my mission, so that was cool to see my last month.

 

That was basically all the important that happened.  Well, the last week of the mission. Gonna work hard. Ill be writing next monday too, so dont worry. When people are like Wow, how do you feel ending the missio, i tell them, I dont feel it, cuz thats the truth. SOmething ive been doing for the past 2 years is gonna come to a sreeching halt, i know it will but it still feels like its gona keep going on forever. So thats weird.  Well, hope all is well back home. Man, i feel weird. I love the work! Talk to you next week (in email and in a very literal sense :)

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Cambio half over!

  Well, it's getting stranger and stranger to think, my time left here as a missionary is coming towards its end. It's starting to hit me more and more as time goes by. Well, this week was better than last week. It wasn't too eventful, but it wasn't a bad week.
  So on Monday we met up with Laura in Concepcion during our Pday. She's doing good, her animos still up. So we just kinda talked about what we'd do, and decided we'd fast on Tuesday.  Then, on Tuesday morning during district class, I got a call from Laura, telling me that her mom decided we could go teach her again!! That was a great relief. We hadn't even done the fast yet and saw blessings, haha. So on Tuesday after district class we went and visited Sebastian, he's doing great after his baptism. We also visited Laura in the nightime, and watched a movie about the life of Thomas S Monson. By the way, he truly is the prophet of God. I really see him as a role model. She liked the movie. Then we had a meeting with our new ward mission leader, he's 18 and preparing for his mission. On Wednesday we got some bad news, another one of our investigators decided she was done with us. That's like the 6th or something. But were not done with her yet, hopefully we can meet with her this week to at least share one last message and try to figure out why. So hopefully that goes good.
  And basically, for the rest of the week we've been trying to find some new investigators, but were not having much success in that aspect. We're trying hard to find new people, but it's just not working. Hopefully this next week will be better for finding. So, a side note, Chile's been in the Copa America, a big tournament between the American countries. And when Chile plays, the work bascially stops. Everyone, literally everyone, watches the game. Chile had 2 games this last week, so that was a little hard for the mission work.  
  On Sunday, Sebastian got confirmed, and Laura came. So that was good. Then in the night we had a family home evening with Melani, Carla, Darling, and their mom, and Laura. It was good, they liked it. Its just a matter of time before Laura gets baptized, were hoping it can be this next week. So have your fingers crossed (or pray for it, that'd probably be more appropriate). Another funny side note, we were sitting in the sacrament room during the first hymn, and I looked to the aisle, and a dog was walking toward the front. I laughed out loud, it was pretty funny. But quickly (and pretty nonschalantly) it was taken out.
  So, thats it! This week should be pretty good. We're working hard here. It's starting to hit me more and more, I only have 3 weeks left as a misisonary. It's a very crazy thought. But, for those 3 weeks I'm gonna work hard. Thanks for all you do! Love you all, the church is true!
Elder Ryan Mayberry

A pretty rough week.

Well, as you can read in the title, this week was definitely a rough one. I'm kinda rushed in this email, but I'll do the best I can to write all that happened.  So basically, a lot of hard things happened this week, mostly having to do with our investigators.  So lets see...
  So the week started getting rough early on in the week. On Tuesday we went and saw Paola and Romina. They told us basically that they, after having gone to church again didn't feel anything special, and basically told us we could keep coming by, but that they were pretty sure they weren't gonna progress. We had a pretty long lesson with them, but their opinion didn't change. So there went 2 of our investigators. Then on Wednesday we went to the family we found that went to church. They also told us they didn't like church, so they weren't gonna keep sharing with us. 5 progressing investigators dropping us in 2 days, kinda rough. So basically then the week was pretty normal until the end of the week. There were good things that happened this week though. So on Thursday Sebastian and Laura had their baptism interviews, and both passed! Sebastian was gonna get baptized this Sunday, and Laura was gonna do it the 17th, because of lack of support from her parents. A cool other note, Laura gave us lunch on Thursday! That's cool when your investigators give you lunch.  So then yeah, things were going pretty normally. Then, things went downhill again. On Friday I went to go visit Laura with one of the assistants (Elder Morris, who was our district leader but then got changed last cambio, who was the one who found Laura). We had a super great lesson with her, and she basically took the determination to be baptized sí o sí on the 17th. As we were praying about the date, seeing if she should get baptized then, the phone rang. It was the mom (she's against her getting baptized). Then the mom after hearing that Laura was with us basically told Laura they would talk when she got home, in an angry tone. Laura came back and sat down and started crying. So we told her things would be alright, and we left. Then on Saturday night we got a message from Laura saying that she was punished by her parents, and that she could no longer meet with us and couldn't get baptized, but that she maybe would go to church the next day.  I don't think I've ever been so sad, frustrated, disappointed in my life. Really, the whole night Saturday I couldn't sleep well. Then we got to church on Sunday, and Laura wasn't there. Basically the whole day Sunday, I couldn't focus, I was really shocked/sad (it's hard to exactly express how I felt). Sebastian was baptized on Sunday, but for me it was really hard to be happy. It was kinda a bittersweet day. The baptism of Sebastian was good though.  So in the nighttime we called Laura twice, then the 3rd time her phone appeared off, so we were very very worried. But then we got a hold of her Sunday night. The good news is that she hasn't lost her faith or her animo. She's still reading the Bom, praying and everything. Today we set up an appointment with her in Concepcion and talked to her. She's doing good depsite the circumstances, which is a huge relief to us. We're gonna see what we can do to help the parents. So after finding that out I'm feeling considerably better. As long as she doesn't loose her faith God will help her.

Well, thats basically what happened, this week should be an interesting one. We're gonna find a lot of new people, and we're gonna focus on trying to get Darling, Melani and Carlas little sister, baptized. Despite the mission being the hardest thing I've ever done, it's definitely worth it, and I love it. This church is true. Sorry for writing such a short jumbled email, hopefully you understood it.  Thanks for everything! Please pray for Laura and that her parents will understand her a little better. Thanks. On a side note, a couple days ago my comp was like hey, you'll be home exactly one month from today... Still not trunky. Dont worry.  Pictures of Sebastians baptism will come next week.

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Weee!

Hey everyone!
   This has been a pretty good week for us this week.  We're seeing success! Oh yeah, and I have my new comp and everything.  So basically, here's how the week went. On Monday we were in Concepcion during the day and everything, then when Pday ended I said bye to elder Squires, then I went with one of the elders of my zone who was also alone, Elder Brown, and we worked in his sector for all of Monday. Then on Tuesday morning we went over to the terminal to wait for our comps. So we didn't have to wait too long, I was only there until a little before noon, then my comp got there. So we got his luggage, got on a bus and went to our house. So I'll tell you about just the interesting things that happened this week, then about the investigators progress. On Wednesday we had our district class which was good. Then on Thursday we had our zone leader council in Chillan. That was also good, I like having those smaller meetings with President. Oh, and president drove us there and back, so that was cool.  We had some good Peruvian food at a restaurant in Chillan after.   On Friday we didn't have a lot of time in the sector, we had to plan for the week in the morning, then had a couple hours to work, then I went to Hualqui with the district leader over Hualqui, and my comp went with his comp to their sector. I did a couple interviews in Hualqui for the hermanas sectors, and they went well.  Saturday was the first day of the week where we had a full work day, so that was good. And then Sunday. We had a lot of investigators in church on Sunday which was really good. I'll tell you about them. So at church we had: Laura, Sebastian, Paola and Romina, Darling (Melani and Carlas sister), and a new family of 3 Silvia, Carina, and Carlos.
  Laura's actually doing really, really good. She told us this week she's for sure getting baptized. The only thing is that her parents feel like she hasn't investigated enough, and want her to take a little more time. But other then that she's doing really really good. Sebastian is also doing amazing. He's just really gung ho for baptism. He's for sure getting baptized on this upcoming Sunday. Laura might too, we'll see. Paola and Romina are also doing alright as well. We had a couple good lessons with them telling them they have to be reading and praying every day so that God answers their prayers. So we'll see what happens with them.  The new family we found was kind of a cool story. So on Thursday we had just done a bunch of contacts and no one let us in, then we started walking to another part. We walked past this house and the thought came to my mind of knocking it. We walked a little further, then I decided we should turn around and knock that house. SO we did and the lady let us in right away! There were 2 ladies there, one of them didn't live there. So on Saturday night we went and visited the other lady who didn't live in the house we knocked. We got there then shared with the whole family (the husband too). 3 agreed to go to church the next morning, and they did! So that was really cool cuz that doesn't happen too often.  So those are the successes we're seeing here in the sector.  We're just working hard to really have a great month this month as a sector, and as a zone. I'm working hard and not trunky, don't worry. But it is starting to hit me more, that I only have 5 weeks left. Crazy! Well, this weeks gonna be a good one. Hope you have a great week too! Love you all, the church is true!

Elder Ryan Mayberry

The beginning of the end!

  Well, here we are, another cambio down. Its so strange to think that I'm in the last cambio of my mission.  only 6 short weeks left. Wow. Well, this last week was a really good one. It was the last week of elder Squires, and we saw a lot of good things happen this week, mostly having to do with our investigators. So I think I'll just explain to you the advances of our investigators. Lets start with Carla...
     Carla did great this week! She got baptized! It was excellent. She was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. Her baptismal service was really cool, Melani (her new convert sister) gave the talk, and at the end Carla bore her testimony. It was really a special moment. Another cool thing was that both of her parents were there to support her! We've seen progress with the parents in the sense that they are no longer against what their daughters are doing, but rather are giving a little more support. They even went to church for all 3 hours on Sunday. SO that was really good. 
    Next up will be Laura. Well, Laura was definitely a blessing from heaven.  She is just so great, we taught her a couple times this week and she is really willing to believe what we share, but wants and is looking for a spiritual confirmation. She went to Carlas baptism, and went to all 3 hours of church, and even said the closing prayer in the principles of the gospel class! She's so cool, I know she will progress.
    After Laura we've got Sebastian. He's just another blessing from the cielos. We met with him this week and to our surprise we got to his house, and found out that him mom and his grandma are both inactive members, and are all for him going to church and getting baptized. That was a pleasant surprise. So we taught him once or twice, and he also came to church for all 3 hours.  Excited about him too.
    Then we have our others. Danielas still really good, but she didnt come to church, aww. Paula and Romina are also in the same boat, making steps of progression, but didn't come to church this week.  So that made us kinda sad. But we are very excited for the future. It should be a great month in July, I'm very excited for it. Should be a great end to the mission. 
    So changes are today. The zone had considerable changes, 3 people finished the misison in the zone. 2 missionaries are gonna train now. One of our district leaders became the assistant. So the zones gonna be pretty changed this next cambio, but it's gonna be for the better, I can just feel it. So elder Squires is dying, and my new comp is gonna be elder Zarco. He actually got here with me, but goes home a cambio after. He's from california, but has Mexican heritage.  I've never met him, but I've heard good things about him.
     Well, I guess this really is the beginning of the end. I'm gonna work the absolute hardest I can these last 6 weeks I have. The only thing is that I'm 90% sure they're gonna fly by. Well, here's to a great last cambio.  Here's some pictures too. I love you all, I love the mission, I'm just really loving life right now. Have a great week!!!
Elder Ryan Mayberry

Exito!

Hey everyone!
This week has been pretty good to us here in La Pradera, we've seen a lot of unforseen blessings, especially towards the end of the week. Monday was a pretty normal day. Like I said, we were saying bye to people in Lirquen, then we just had a normal day. Tuesday was also normal, but during the evening we went to the sector Chiguayante, where the missionary has the bad leg, and I went out with his comp to teach. We taught a family who lived in Miami for 10 years, so we taught in english, which was interesting and fun, haha.  Wednesday was normal too. Thursday we did a minicambio with the sector Chiguay, and I went over to their sector. They really don't have any investigators, so we just knocked doors. For 6 hours! It was good. We got into one house of a semi drunk guy, but his wife was nice and we taught her. Friday was also normal. Saturday was when we started seeing the blessings.
     So we had gone to a new converts house earlier in the week to ask for a reference, and at first she didn't have anyone, then she said, wait you could probably visit my friend Daniela. Then she said she was gonna set up an appointment. So that was on Saturday. First we had a meeting at the stake center about the mission work, then Daniela and the new convert met us up there. So we taught her and it was a good lesson. At the end Daniela told us that at first she accepted to meet with us just to be a good friend, but after sharing she said she really felt good, that she was uplifted after sharing and that now she really was curious to find out more! She was really sincere, and I know she's gonna progress. Then we went in the night to Melani (our newest convert) and Carlas (her sister who didnt have permission to be baptized) house. So we got there and the mom was like, well, Carlas got something to tell you. Then Carla told us that her parents have given her permission to be baptized!!!! SO this Saturday were gonna have a baptism! Miracle! The other miracle happened while we were in that house. A couple weeks ago we had a girl, Laura, show up to church with her friend.  She really liked it, but we haven't been able to meet with her, or even get her address. So while in the house of Melani we got a call from the missionaries in Tierra Bella, the sector that borders ours. They were knocking doors and accidently crossed the boundary, and contacted and taught Laura!! So now we have an appointment to teach her. And from what the other missionaries said, Laura is golden.  Oh Boy! Were excited.
Uhh, I accidently sent that last email before finishing! Well to finish, on Sunday We only had Carla in church. But a new convert brought a friend and presented him to us saying Hey this is Sebastian, he wants to be a mormon. So we got a return appointment with him too! I'm pretty convinced that were seeing all these blessings because my comp isn't trunky. President keeps telling us that if we don't get trunky at the end of the mission, well be blessed. And we're seeing it.
      This morning we played soccer which was good as always. Today were gonna go say bye to another of my comps sectors.  So that's about it! I can't believe we're in the last week of this cambio. I'm super excited for this upcoming cambio. Next time I write I'll know who my new comp will be and my current comp will be going home! Hope you all have a great week! Love you!

Elder Mayberry

Not a lot of time..

Well, like the title says, I don't have a lot of time to write. Actually like nothing. We came to Lirquen today so my comp could say goodbye to members and converts here (he was here before I was), so that ate up basically like the whole Pday. Now we gotta get home quick, so that's why we don't have a lot of time to write, sorry! Hope all's well for you guys, things are great here, things are looking up. We're working hard. I love you all! Next week I'll write more!

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Work, Work!

Well, this week was a pretty good work week. Basically, we just worked hard the whole week, not too many new things happened. Lets see, one of the only abnormal things that happened was that we had consejo de Lideres (Leader Council). It's where all the zone leaders meet with the President and the assistants, and we talk about how we can better the mission. That was a cool experience,  the President talked to us a lot about how we have to be the examples to our zone..  The other cool part was I got to see a lot of my missionary friends, like Elder Christenson. Then after the council we went to eat at a Peruvian restaurant, and it was pretty good too. Then the next day me and Elder Squires gave the class to the zone, and with the zone put goals and plans as to how we do better.
  Really, other than that the week was a pretty normal one. We have steadily been finding new people, we've taught a couple of them a few times now, but no one came to church on Sunday. So we're gonna keep working with them, but it's good, now were getting a good group of investigators. On Sunday, we had Melani's confirmation, and both of her sisters came. The mom is still being annoying, but we might be seeing small breakthroughs with her. Also, we got a random blessing, someone brought a friend to church, and we talked to her after and she said she'd love for us to go teach her! SO we're excited for that. Oh yeah, and our investigator Marcela had her baby, so she couldn't come to church, but she said hopefully she'll come next week.
  So we're excited to keep working. We're gonna have success in our sector, and the zone looks like its gonna do pretty good too. The zone has a goal of 13 baptisms, and as of right now we have 4. SO were gonna keep working hard and get the goal. I love the mission! Everyday is passing by faster and faster. This cambios already half over! And I hit my 1 year 10 month mark yesterday. My comp goes home in 3 weeks and isn't trunky, so that's helping me not to be trunky too. Wer'e just gonna keep working hard! I love you all, have a great week! Heres some pictures!
Elder Ryan Mayberry

Pics)
One side of chiguayante is against some hills, (Pic 1),

and there I am at the base of the hills (2).

The other side of chiguayante is against the river bio bio (pic 3),

and me at the rio bio bio (4).

 

Very Nice!

Hello all! Well, this week to me was an amazing week. It was really full of the spirit, I loved it. Les cuento...
  So basically, we've been working with Melani for her baptism on Saturday, her sister Carla too (even though she doesn't have permission), and we're trying to find some other new people, and working with a couple others. One of them is Marcela, she went to church once before I got here, and was out of town last week. On Tuesday we got to meet with her. She's really good, she's for sure getting baptized this month. There is a catch however, she's very pregnant. Actually, we taught her at the beginning of the month, then when we went to her house on Friday to teach her, she was on her way to the hospital to have the baby! So she couldn't come to church this week, but hopefully she gets out of the hospital soon. She took her book of Mormon to the hospital to read, so thats good.
  Melani is doing awesome. She really has been more converted than ever, especially through the trials she's facing. She became a great investigator, reading the Bof M every day and all that, then took getting baptized seriously. And although her parents initially said they'd support her, now they've both expressed their disapproval of what she's doing. So it's been really hard on her. But she's pulling through. She's got a good support system of friends in the church. So her baptism date was for Saturday, and on Friday night we had a lesson with her at the Bishops house. Then we found out that if we had the baptism on Saturday, her sister Carla wouldn't be able to go, and she would be alone, so we decided to wait until Sunday for the baptism. Then came Sunday, the day of the baptism. It was such an amazing baptism!! It was one of the most spiritual ones I've had, Melani after also gave her testimony, and it was really beautiful, you can really tell that she has been truly converted. And then afterwards her sister came up to us and said "It won't be long til my baptism, today I'm gonna to have a really serious talk with my parents about it and make them give me permission!" She also was really affected by her sisters baptism, and its regiven her animo! So we're really excited about that. Other than those 2 we didnt have anyone else in church. Aww. So that was just a really great baptism. Now we gotta find more people to teach.
  So, a couple other things happened this week. On Thursday we went to Hualqui, the hermanas sector, and gave a couple interviews. Then on Friday we had a zone conference, my last one of the mission. Wierd. So it was an amazing conference, we watched a Jeffrey R Holland talk he gave to missionaries in the MTC in January. Amazing. He talked about how we have to be truly converted, and shared a story from the New testament about it. After christ is resurrected, Peter and the apostles aren't exactly sure what to do, so they go back to what they did before, fishing. Then the Lord appears to them on the shore, and talks to them. He asks Peter if he loved him 3 times, told him to feed his sheep. Basically, he was telling Peter that things couldn't go back to the way they were, they were called to be apostles forever. He related it to that once we're converted, we can't go back to how we were before. We must be changed. It was really good, it hit me good, seeing as how I'm going home in 2 hands (look at your 2 hands open and you'll figure it out).  Then, I realized I had to give my last testimony! So I basically just focused on 2 things: How I will be eternally grateful for my Mission, and how I'll always be thankful for the changes it's made in me and how I've grown in the gospel and become truly converted.
  Well, that's basically it! It was a great week, we're excited for this month here in Chiguayante, we should see a lot of success. Have a great week, love you lots!

Pics:
1)Me, Carla, Melani, i dont know who, Macarena (new convert), Elder Squires, Luis (Ward mission leader)
2)A view from my sector of the river Bio Bio, chiguayante is surrounded by hills basically.

3) The baptism

Greetings from the prairie!

Well, the first week of the cambio has ended. It hasn't been too different here as a zone leader, but I'm really liking the new sector I'm in. Lets see...
  On Monday I had to say goodbye to everyone, which was like always, it's always kind of hard. So then I had to go to the bus terminal at like 10 in the morning on Tuesday. Then I had a long trip, the bus left at like 10 and got to Concepcion at like 4ish I think. But I got there, my comp was there waiting for me, his name is Elder Squires, he's from around Sacramento, and dies this cambio. SO it'll be the first time I kill a comp. Fun.  So then we went to our sector.  We got there and went to lunch, then went out to work.
 Si my sector is La Pradera, translated,  The Prairie. The city is Chiguayante. Chiguayante is a pretty cool place, it's a good place to take pictures. It's situated right on the banks of the river Bio Bio and nestled in between some hills, so it looks pretty cool, I haven't taken too many pictures yet, but I will to send in the email next week. My sectors pretty cool too. From what it seems, in this zone there's usually a lot of success, so I'm excited about that, to help to zone have success.  In the zone theres 4 companionships of elders and 2 of sisters (who are in a city Hualqui, 30 minutes from Chiguayante.) On Wednesday we had district class and I didn't have to prepare a class (I don't have to anymore, yay!). Then we worked here in my sector on Wednesday. We're doing pretty good here at the moment, we've got a couple sisters who are gonna be baptized, Carla and Melani. Carla unfortunately doesn't have permission from her parents to get baptized (she's 17), and Melani (she's 20) has progressed a whole lot spiritually and will be baptized this Saturday! Then we have a couple other people we're gonna be working with too. So I'm excited, we do need some more investigators though, so we're gonna be working really hard to get new people. So far from what I've seen here, people are pretty receptive, ex. we got into quite a few houses last week, even though we didn't do too many knocking doors.
  Thursday I went on a minicambio within sector, Chiguay, and it went well. I was with Elder Sanchez. It was a pretty normal day, nothing too exciting. On Friday my comp and the sisters district leader went out to Hualqui, and I went with the Dls comp to his sector. It was also a pretty normal day, but it was pretty good too. Saturday was a good day too. Sunday was good, we had 4 people in church, 2 of which are progressing real good, the other 2 are new. During church I had to go to the DLs sector (Tierra Bella) to do an interview, and so that Melani would get interviewed too. The interview I did went really really well, she was super ready, but she wants her mom to support her before she gets baptized. And Melani passed her interview! So that was good. Then we went over to her house that day after church to talk to the dad to see if we could get the permission from the dad so Carla could get baptized too. We had a really spiritual lesson, but he still didnt' give permission! Ugh. Well, we'll wait a little longer I guess.
  Today was good, we played soccer nice and early in the morning. And now we're here in Concepcion doing internet! We're really excited to work here in La Pradera, and we're gonna have a really good month in June. I love you all and the missionary work!

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Changes!

  Well, there went another cambio. They're going by faster and faster each one. Now theres only 2 left...it's hard to believe. Well, things are doing pertty good here in Jardin del Valle. Well first I'll tell about what happened during the week, then I'll talk about the changes brought about by the cambios. 

   Well thinking about it, I gotta write about what happened last week too! Well, here it goes.

   Week 2 May to 8: Monday and tuesday were both hard days for us in the sector.  On Wednesday we decided to take the bikes out to visit a remote part of the sector, a neighborhood called the Carlos Gonzalez. We found it, and even went a little further to see what else was there, a lot of little neighborhoods. But it's so far from everything its kinda hard to work there, becuase it'd be pretty hard for people to get to church. And starting on Wednesday the week kinda turned around for the better. We started finding new people, and having success in finding some of our future investigators. One surprise of last week was that on Friday morning I got a call from the zone leaders, telling me I'd be doing a minicambio with one of the assistants! So all of Friday I did a minicambio with the one of the assistants, Elder Pitcher. I learned a whole lot that day and we had a really great day.  A cool thing happened on Saturday. The whole day Saturday was kinda not that great, and at 9:45 at night (15 minutes left in the day) we had to do some contacts. So I said a little prayer asking for the lord to turn the day around for us. So I felt we should contact a certain street, and sure enough, at 9:57 a man asked if we wanted to go in! OF course we did and shared something real brief, but it was a really cool testimony booster for me. Sunday was alright, we didn't have anyone in church really, aww.

   Alright, so this week. Well this week was basically your pretty normal week. Monday was went to Constitucion, which was a lot of fun. We took the train there. And throughout the week, really not too much special happened. So there's not too much to write about. But the fact that cambios were coming was looming over us.  On Saturday morning I went with my zone leader Elder Morgan to Piduco (he was born there too, and he's going home) to say bye to people. I only got to see one family, the Cristi family, and Felipe. Good news though, Felipes working on his mission papers!!! How cool is that?? So that was a cool day. On Sunday we didn't have anyone in church either, aww. So Sunday night during planning I got a call from President Humphrey, telling me I'm getting changed. I'm going to Chiguayante! Its a city about 30 minutes from concepcion, so that means im going way back down there again, to end my mission there. Im going to be a zone leader there (Aaron explained about that already). My comp will be Elder Squires, he's from California, and he was also here in Talca with me a couple cambios ago.  So thats cool. I hear its got the strongest wards in the mission, and that it's a good zone, so I'm excited to go over there and start my new assignment. So today will be full of saying goodbye and packing(ugh) and tomorrow in the morning I'll be heading over there. Im super excited to work over there. Oh, my sectors name is La Pradera fyi.

   Well thats whats going on! Next week ill have a lot to talk about im pretty sure. I love the missionary work and love being here! Have a great week this week!

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

 

Pics: 1) Me and Felipe

2) Me at conti

3) the Zone

4) me

Happy mothers day!

Well, it was great talking to you guys yesterday. Well, to make things very short, we got home pretty late from the activity, and all I can really write you is just this little bit. Everythings going great here though. Don't worry about me, we're gonna have a great week this week. Love you!! Ill write a longer email next week!

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Good week!

Well, this week was pretty good for us here in Jardin del Valle.  It wasn't super eventful, but it was a good week. Wait, I just remembered something big (and not good) that happened. Well, basically all I'll tell about this week is the investigators and their progress.

   Rosana: this is where the big not good thing happened. SO at the beginning of the week everything was good with her, she was doing really good, she had all the teachings, started keeping the word of wisdom, and was all ready for her baptismal interview.  So on Thursday morning we had her baptismal interview. While she was being interviewed I was in the other room, and after 5 minutes of starting the interview they called me in. Rosana looks at me and says: "Well, it's all just gotta end here, I can't keep sharing with you, I can't go to church or be baptized, so it's best if we just end things right now". Now, I'll tell you right now, many of you have no idea how that feels inside, it's definitely the worst feeling ever. So basically her husband blew up at her, worse than ever before, and told her if we ever went by while he was there he'd kick us out. So she got scared and told us it'd be best if we just didn't go over anymore. So we talked to her for a bit and helped her see how important this was, and at the end things turned out alright. She's gonna keep sharing with us (while her husband isnt there) for now, but at the moment she can't come to church or be baptized. So, that wasn't that fun. Its something unexpected, but were confident that the Lord will do a miracle and change the husband. We fasted on Sunday for that, and we're praying for it, so we have faith that she'll still be able to be baptized.  So thats what happened with Rosana.

   Franco and Cristina are doing really good. They're both solid, Cristina has already told us she knows the church is true, but she's being hesitant about baptism. But were really excited about them, I'm pretty sure theyll be baptized on the 15th. They told us they were for sure going to church this sunday, then on Sunday morning we called Franco and he told us he was sick and didn't think they were coming to church. But then like 3 minutes after sacrament started, they both showed up!! We were so happy. By the way, it was really really cold sunday morning. Then in the afternoon we were in short sleeves. The weathers confused here in Chile. Anyways, were excited about them 2.

   Kevin and Keylas moms doing good, she came to church again, and wants to be baptized, but doesn't feel ready yet. Shes also not married yet, so we gotta work on that too. Our other investigators are just kinda there, progressing but slowly. 

   Well thats basically all that happened this week for us. There's only 2 weeks left in this cambio, and were hoping to see a couple baptisms before the end of the cambio. Please pray for Rosana, the her husband will soften his heart. Good thing is that were animated to work and working hard.  Hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you (in a literal sense) on sunday!

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Decent!

  Well family, as you can see this last week was just decent for us, but there were some good things that happened for us. So I'll just tell you what happened starting at the beggining of the week. Well, Monday was just a pretty normal day. Tuesday was alright though. We had a district class, and I focused the class on having animo, or rather, enthusiasm. Enthusiasm that we're misisonaries, that we can work, just because it(having the right attitude) really affects the work a ton. I think it was a good class. Then after we went to go teach Graciela real fast before lunch, she's the lady who randomly came to church last Sunday. So we taught her a bit, inside of the bus she has to sell juice. Then we went to lunch, then had an invasion in another sector of the zone, Talca Centro (Downtown Talca). That was good, then after that the day was pretty much normal. Wednesday was a good day too. We did a minicambio with the zone leaders, I went over to their sector with elder Ward our newer zone leader, and elder Huerta stayed here with elder Morgan. Elder Ward is a really good missionary, he's got 3 months less time than me but he's way cool, an excellent missionary. I learned a lot from him. The day we had was just mas o menos over there though. One of the best things about doing minicambios with the zone leaders is that in their sector, they have a completo stand named Donde Alex, and it is claimed to have the best completos in Talca. And let me tell you, it is. I'll include some pictures. Sooooo goood.  Also, my mtc comp elder Doxey is the Zone Leader of the other zone in Talca and lives with our zl's, so we talked a bit. thats cool.

  Thursday morning we talked a lot about how to help the zone, and my district. Thursday was just alright as well. And from then on it was rather rough for us. Friday was viernes santo, o sea, "Good Friday". a day of pure traditions like not eating meat (dont ask me why) and stuff. Also on the tv a lot it showed a lot about how they celebrate here, like having massive parties (...) or how in some parts they literally nail themselves to crosses. ugh, it just doesn't make me feel good that kind of remembering Christs Atonement. Why can't we just give it the reverance it deserves? So also because it's a 3 day weekend everyone either left Talca or relatives came over, making the work a bit hard. Friday we didn't get into a single house, except for at the very end of the night. we were doing contacts and a lady came up to the door and let us in right away. We found out that she's a member, but inactive for like 18 years. And her whole family was there too from Santiago like 5 other people, all members, all inactive for 18 years. But they're really nice people with desires to come back to church. So we talked a bit and invited them to church. 

  Saturday was also a rough day. We didn't get into a single house the whole day, except at the night with an inactive member and her non member husband. It was a good lesson. Then Sunday came around and it was hard, because no investigators came to church. But Kevin got confirmed! So we're sitting there at the beginning of the meeting and then all of a sudden a ton of people walk into the chapel, and it was the inactive family we taught on Friday! That was really cool to see. That was an exito (success) that really made us feel good. Only one lives here in this sector though, but we're gonna see if we can start working with her husband who isn't a member. Then the rest of the day was just decent.

   SO that was basically last week! WAIT! I forgot about a pretty funny incident that happened. So on Friday we were just walking down a side street, minding our own business, and a dog just runs up to me and bites me! Luckily he didnt get my leg, but he did get my pants. And he did quite a bit of damamge to the pants though, I'll attatch a picture (dont put it on the blog please, haha), but he basically ripped the stitching on the side from the waist down to the heel. So that was kind of awkward walking around like that, luckily a member lived close by and fixed it right away. 

   Now, thats what happened last week. Today I found an email from the office telling me home I'm going home on August 9th telling me I gotta tell them stuff like the airport closest to my home and stuff.....trunky email. Time is disappearing, its crazy.  This cambios half over already. Well it's good that I'm not trunky.

   So I hope you all have a great week! Hope you had a great Easter and could think more about Christ, now I invite you to think about him more throughout the whole year! Love you all, this church is true!!

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

 Pics

1,2) The times are changing here in Talca.

3) Having fun here in Talca

4) the result of my 2nd encounter with a dog

Not included.... haha

 

5,6)Donde Alex completo (all that on the top is homemade mayonaise, yum. I ate 2 of those).

 

Jardin de Valle!

   Well, this week was a pretty good one here in Jardin del Valle. We're seeing some progress with some of our investigators.  Well on Monday we had a lesson with Kevin and Keyla. They're both doing good, both had a good experience.
  Tuesday was a cool day. On Tuesday we went and did what's called an invasion.  An invasion is when all the missionaries of the zone invade a single sector and work in there for a day. SO for the invasion we all went to the hermanas sector in Constitucion, a beach city. So we actually all lunched over there, had the district class over there, and then worked. It was good, we actually found a good lady there. Overall, it was an effective and fun day, and we got back home right at 10pm, so we had to just go straight into the house.
  Wednesday was an alright day. We met with Rosana, she's doing good, but we've found that there's a tiny problem. When we share with her, the husbands nice with us, and he says he'll let her do what she wants. But this time Rosana told us that her husband told her that if she gets baptized, they'll get separated. But we'll see, I'm pretty sure the Lords gonna ablandar (soften) his heart. So it's a tiny setback, but we're gonna do what we can to help her.
  On Thursday we had a miniconference with the President and Hermana Humphrey and the assisstants. And it was a really, really good conference, one I really needed. It talked about how to better fulfill our purpose as missionaries, and about working with the members better. It was very spiritually uplifting and good for me as a missionary. And to top it they gave us Mcdonalds for lunch! Yum. So after that we left with a ton of animo to work in the Lords work.
  Friday was a good day. I had to go over to La Florida to do an interview, so that was cool, I hadn't done one in a long while. She didn't pass, but we'll see what happens with her.  Saturday was also good. We stopped by Cristina and Franco. We couldn't see them throughout the whole week because now Crisitinas working. But we talked about church (they went last week), and she shared with us that she went to church expecting a sign or something, then she gets home and her husband got a job offer after looking for months!!! So that's really cool. They said they'd come to church on Sunday.  Oh yeah, and we started us an English class, it's just beginning but hopefully we'll get a lot of people to come. Last saturday like 6 came, this Saturday only 2. We'll see what happens I guess.  Then after that the rest of the night was dedicated to finding new people.  At the very end of the night we found a cool married couple that we'll see.  
  Sunday was good, but not in all the ways we expected. Keyla got confirmed (Kevin couldn't, but next week he is for sure). So the only investigator we had in church was Rosana! We actually fasted for her so she could come, and she came! So that was really good. Then right before the last hour a random lady walked into the chapel and wanted to find out more! So she stayed for the last hour and we got a return appointment with her! So that was an unseen blessing. Franco and Cristina didn't show, she had to work  :(  And after work basically all we did was work towards finding new investigators, and it worked! We had a good day of finding Sunday.
  Well, that's about it. Today we came over to Linares to play soccer against that zone. I was on fire! I scored like 6 goals or something. It was a fun game, and I got to see a lot of missionary friends.  Well, we're excited to work this week, it should be a good one. I love being here! Thanks for everything, have a great week!

Elder Ryan Mayberry

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Baps!

  Hello everyone, this week was a pretty good week for us here in Jardin del Valle. The main good news is.... baptisms! More on that a bit later. But other than that the week, actually thinking about it, was a bit hard. Mainly, what made it hard was that no one let us in their houses this week! We didn't find like any new people, so that's not good. Also, a lot of the newer people we found last week we couldn't see this week, so that wasn't good either. But we worked hard this week with Kevin and Keyla, Rosana, and Freddy and Gloria. Freddy and Gloria are doing good, but went out of town to this weekend so they couldn't come to church, aww. Rosanas doing good. She was for sure gonna come to church again, but because of the babies she didn't get to bed til 6:30, so she didn't make it to church. But we did get Cristina and Franco to church! That was good, so we're gonna focus on them too. But the best news of this week was that Kevin and Keyla got baptized on Sunday!!! It was really good. I baptized Keyla, and Elder Huerta baptized Kevin. Photos will be included.

   So the rest of the week was just normal missionary work. I did 2 minicambios this week, 1. I went over to the Zone leaders sector, where all there citas (appointments) fell, haha, so we did a lot of contacts that day. Then the next day I went over to La Florida, and got to talk to a couple of their better investigators. I'm pretty sure they're gonna baptize again this month, which will be really good for them.

   But other than that, not too much exciting happened. Oh yeah, the other really good news, Miguel got baptized!! We were in phone communication the whole time, so it wasn't a surprise, but boy am I happy for that!! This week should be a lot better, it should be pretty busy, so next weeks email should be longer. Oh, and by the way, I got the package! Thanks everyone! It's a delicious package. Well, the church is true. Oh yeah, I turned 20 months old in the mission. Yikes. Well, the good news is I'm not trunky. I love being here and I love being a missionary. Hope you have a great week! 

Pics

1)Happy birthday biscuits and gravy breakfast

2)Happy Birthday lunchtime cake

3) Me Keyla, Kevin and E Huerta

4) Us, kevin, keyla, and their mom and little brother

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Huzzah!

  This week was an excellent week for us here in Jardín del Valle. We saw a lot of successes after a long time working hard here. We saw success in basically all aspects of the work here, in finding, in getting our investigators to progress, and getting some to baptism.  So I guess I'll explain the week in terms of those.

   So in finding. We did a good job of finding some pretty solid people this week. We found 3 or 4 pretty receptive people who really are interested and want to follow the example of Christ. Among them there names are Belén (Bethlehem in spanish), Tabita, and Valesca.

   So in helping people progress and get prepared for baptism we had a lot of success with the people we've been teaching. Namely, because Rosana, Freddy and Gloria, and Kevin and Keyla's mom all came to general conference this weekend! They finally all took the first step to getting to church. Now we just got to get them to come back this next week. But were definitely excited for the future here in Jardin del Valle. Especially because all 4 of them are really, really good. I have faith that all of the can be baptized either this month or next month.

   And in the last news of Kevin and Keyla. They had their baptism interviews on wednesday, and both of them passed!! We decided though it would be best if they got baptized this Sunday the 10th. So this Sunday were gonna have some baptisms! Huzzah! It's a cause of great rejoicing to see people make covenants with God, the first covenants they need to live with Him after this life. yay!

   Other significant events this week: My birthday! It was good, I had 2 cakes, one for lunch and one in the night. It was a good birthday. I also was sick the day after, not that fun. Then the other event was general conference. Ahh, i love it! It was such a good conference, I think my favorite session was Saturday afternoons. It was just perfect for our investigators there. I love conference so much, I definintely took it for granted back in my youth (or rather up until 2 years ago haha).

   So yeah, I'm 21 now. And tomorrow I turn 20 months old in the mission. Uhhhhh.......where's time going? I have no idea.  So everythings good here. Oh yeah, cambios! I'm staying here! And so is my comp. SO here we are ready to put forth a good cambio of work.  Well thats it! The church is obviously true.  Have a great week!

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Here we are!

Well this week was another pretty good week. The animos still up here in Jardin del Valle. We see good things with our investigators.

   On Monday we had some appointments with Rosana and Freddy, both are still really good.  Tuesday was also a good day. we had our district class. I'm pretty used to giving classes now. The class I gave on Tuesday was about how we as missionaries have to be Christ like missionaries, not just do missionary things. It's something I thought about a lot this last week, about how if we just do missionary things, and aren't christ like, we really don't get the full success that we should. On Tuesday we also taught the sister of a new convert of like 7 months, and she's really cool! And we also taught Fany Kevin Keyla who are doing really good.

   Wednesday was a pretty good day. We found a mom (cristina) and her son Franco whos 10. The cool thing is they lived in the states for like 3 years. The mom never really learned english, but Francos fluent! So it's cool talking to him in english.  And they've shared with misisonaries before, and Franco loves it, but they leave every weekend so they can never come to church. Aww. 

   On Thursday I went and did a minicambio with La florida again and it was a pretty good minicambio. We got to teach Carolina, and she's  amazing. She's sharing the gospel with her friends and her family. She's awesome. so it was a good minicambio. Friday was good too. Halfway during the day we did a quick minicambio with the zone leaders so they could get to know our good invetigators. And on the way back to the Zls sector we stopped at a completo place named Donde Alex. I had heard of it before, that it's the best completo stand in Talca, and it really is! It was a vey very good completo.

   Saturday we kinda ran around all over trying to get our investigators to church on Sunday. Rosana was a for sure, Freddy and Gloria were probables, and Kevin Keyla and Fany were for sures. But the only ones who came were Kevin Keyla and Fany came for the first time too! And she liked it! One thing we did find out this week is that Fany's not married to her spouse. Aww. But she's  really good. So we were kinda disappointed that our other investigators didn't come, but excited because Kevin and Kayla and Fany came. That means this next week should be super good.

1) General conference. Yes! im pumped! I love it. and

2) We should be havimg the baptisms of Kevin and Keyla! Should be an excellent week. And it's my birthday too! How lucky for me.

   In other good news, we borrowed a bike from a member, so now were up and running on bikes! Thank goodness, now everthings so much faster.

   Well today has been pretty normal. After internet we're going to like this fair thing called Fital, it should be pretty fun. They sell a lot of cool things so hopefully I'll find some nice stuff there. Well that's about it. This upcoming week should be pretty good. And it's the last week of the cambio! It's possible I'm changed, I'll find out next week. So here we are just seguiring adelante (spanglish).  Thanks for everything! I love you all, have a great week, I'll try to if you do!

 

Elder almost 21 years old Mayberry

 Some random Pics.

1)From the zone activity we had between Talca and talca centro

2)Suset in Don Pablo ( a population/part of town)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Elder Huerta in action with his canine companion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) haha. The e means no parking. Firgure out what cant park there.

Decent week!

Well as you can see in the title, this week was decent. Not too good, not bad either. But we did have good parts though. 

   The first part of this week was just kinda mas o menos no mas (not to great). We had a hard time finding our investigators, and just an overall rougher time. So that wasn't too good. (I forgot my agenda so I don't have an exact recollection of what we did :(   But at one point in the week, Wednesday I think, I did a minicambio with La Florida. Remeber Carolina, the lady who we found and brought to church twice then had to pass over to La Florida? She passed her baptism interview to be baptized this last Saturday! That was cool to see her after she's progressed in the gospel a lot more. SO it was a pretty good minicambio.

   Then on Friday we did a minicambio with the zone leaders. I went over to the ZL's sector, and it was a good minicambio. I got a lot of good pointers from the ZL Elder McDonald. So then after that it was Saturday, and that's where we started having a better week. Saturday morning we went to Carolinas baptism, which was really cool. Then we tried getting people to chuch. An update on the investigators...

   Kevin, Keyla Fany (mom) are all doing super good. They love when we come over, we love going over there. The're so good!!! They love learning and love church. All 3 have baptismal dates for the 3rd of April, and all 3 commited to go to church on Sunday.

   Catalina, she's still slowly progressing. She's more open with us now, and pays attention. SO were still hoping for a miracle with her.

   We couldnt meet with Rosana or Freddy and Gloria the whole week!! Lame. Fome.

   On Sunday Kevin and Keyla came to church again! (Fany had to work, ugh!) but they just love it. We've been really blessed with them. Catalina also came and the best news is that she has friends in the primary now, and doesn't hate it anymore! Then we found a couple more people on Sunday afternoon, I'll keep you posted on them.

   SO then today we had a zone activity with the other zone here in Talca. We played dodgeball, basketball and football and ate completos. It was a lot of fun.

   So me and elder Huerta are pretty excited. We've got a lot of good people at the moment, and were very, very excited for April. We think we can see a lot of success then. 2 more weeks in the cambio, it's crazy how fast its going by. But we're excited to be working. This sector's just gonna explode!

   Well that's about it. I feel like the letter was very sporadic but oh well. es lo que hay no mas. Well I hope you all have a great week!!!!!

 

Elder Mayberry

Good Week!

  Well, this week was pretty good.  On Monday we went over to Rosana and taught her about the book of mormon. she's really good, we have a lot of hope for her.  Then the day went pretty normally. Tuesday was good, we had district class in the morning, then we went to lunch and started to work. It was a pretty decent day, and in the nighttime we went to go see a guy named Freddy. We taught him like 4 weeks ago but then couldn't find him, but we found him finally on Tuesday and taught him and his wife. They're both super cool as well!

   On Wednesday we had interviews with the President. It was really good, I learned a lot and left feeling really excited to work. We got a lot of good metas (goals) to make us improve. We're working here on being more inspired and more obedient, and we've been seeing results this week. For example we plan and pray for a specific street to do contacts, and the majority of the people we talk to there are really cool. That's what's been going on this week. SOThursday was good too, nothing to special though. 

   On Friday we did a minicambio with La Florida, and I went over there. It was overall a good minicambio, we found a really good lady over there doing contacts. The best news is that the we're gonna have a baptism on Saturday! SO that's good for them. And meanwhile back in our sector, Elder Huerta found a really cool family. 

   Saturday was a good day too. We went around to our investigators trying to get them to church. We also went to La Floridas baptism, which was really good. SO on Saturday we had 6 investigators who said they were coming to church: Catalina, Freddy and his wife Gloria, Rosana, and 2 kids from the family elder Huerta found.

   SO Sunday came around and Catalina, and the 2 kids elder Huerta found came. They're names are Kevin and Kaylee. Yeah, super gringo names. But they both loved church! so were excited about them. Catalina also looked like she had a lot better time this week than other weeeks. She is playing the rebel card with us though, for example, she went to an evangelical church with the nanny of their house on Saturday night...ugh. But were still seeing progress with her. We even flat out talked about baptism, and she knows its important but she wants to be sure to do it in the right church. Remember, she's 10 years old! Shes like super mature and kinda a brat, but progressing a bit. So well see how it goes with her. Also on Sunday we found 6 new investigators, one was real good the other were just decent. But that's how it goes I guess.
  So we're working hard here in Jardin del Valle, and starting to get some progress going, if all goes right we should have a very successful month of April. This week should be good, especially working on getting all of our good invstigators to church.

   Well, thats all I guess for this week.  Hope all is well back home, and that your having a good week. Oh yeah, and today we went to Linares and played soccer against a differnent zone. fun stuff. Have a great week!

 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

Pretty good!

  This week was pretty good here in Jardin del Valle. So I'll run through the week, I don't have too much time here at internet. 

  Monday was a pretty good day. We did a noche de hogar with Jaime, Luisa, and Catalina. It went super good! After, Luisa said that Catalina had never participated as much. So were seeing progress with Catalina, so that's good. 

  Tuesday we went on a minicambio with the zone leaders. I stayed here, and Elder Morgan, who was also my ZL in Penco, came over here. The highlight of the minicambio was teaching a lady we found the other day, named Rosana. She was super good! She has a 4 year old kid named Joaquin, who is actually super crazy. Right before we were gonna start the lesson, Elder Morgan got up and took Joaquin outside, and stayed there the whole time! So I taught the lesson alone, but it was good. She is really nice. I have a lot of hope for her. 

  Wednesday Carolina, our progresssing investigator, came back. She told us she is now living with her parents, that her and her boyfriend broke up for good. The only bad news is that now she isn't living in our sector, so we gotta pass her to the other elders. So we shared with her a bit, and she actually confessed to smoking, and said she didn't want to be baptized until she stopped. She's soo cool! 

  Thursday we did another minicambio, but this time with the other elders in my district, La Florida. I stayed here and Elder Diaz, from Chile, came too. It was overall a good minicambio, we taught Rosana again, and she's soo good. This time we taught Lesson 1, the restoration, and she really liked it. Also, we were walking and Elder Diaz said we should talk to a lady and her daughter sitting on a porch. So we did, and they let us in. It turns out it was a girl, whose mom died 5 months ago, and her aunt, who watches her during the day now. And she was super nice, we shared something small, then got a return appointment. I'm excited to teach them again this week. 

  Friday we had mission conference with this half. I got to see a lot of friends, including Elder Strong! He got sent up here to this half. Overall it was a good conference, I learned a lot.

  Saturday we met with Carolina in the chapel of La Florida, with the La Florida misisonaries, and we passed her off. We taught the word of wisdom, and she now has a plan to stop smoking and be baptized the 20th. And I really think she will. Yeah, I was a bit sad to pass her, but I've been doing a lot of thinking about Gods will here in this sector. Maybe I was sent here to help out La Florida, and not to baptize todo el mundo. But if that's what the Lord needed of me, that's fine. He knows better than I do. 

  Sunday was alright, Catalina came to church, but no one else. This week we kind of killed a lot of our not so great investigators, so this week were focusing on getting some new ones. I'm excited to work here in this sector. We have interviews with the President this week, so that should be good. 

  Today we played some soccer 3 zones together, which was fun. Well thats all I got for this week. Have great days and a great week!

Elder Ryan Mayberry

One year after the Earthquake!

  Well this week was a pretty decent one.  So Monday as is the common practice when a missionary leaves a sector, it's spent saying goodbye to members, new converts, investigators, etc. So thats what we did on Monday, Elder Demann went around saying bye.  So the orders we had were to be at the bus terminal at 10am so Elder Demann could take the bus. So we got there, he left, and I was left to wait with the other missionaries getting new comps, for our new comps. Now, unfortunately my comp was coming all the way from Concepcion, so I knew it'd be a long wait. So we waited, and waited. Then we waited some more. Finally, the bus with my comp and the other people from Concepcion got there, at 5 oclock! It was a pretty long wait, usually it's not that long.  So Elder Huerta got here, then we took a collectivo to our sector. Then we went over to the Lider (Wal Mart) to eat (we both hadn't eaten lunch) and buy our groceries for the week.  Then we went out to try to visit some people, but no one was really there.

   On Wednesday we had our district class in the morning.  Then the day was pretty normal. We went over to attempt to get Katalina to listen to us, and she did! It was only like 10 mins, but hey, its progress, it's the first time she's listened to us.  So that was good. Then, in the night, President Humphrey came over to Talca and talked to all the bishops, ward mission leaders, and ward missionaries about the new plan we have as a mission. It got them pretty excited, so we should see a lot more help from the ward now. Thursday was a pretty normal day, found a new person, taught a few lessons. It was the first like average day of the week. 

   Friday in the morning we went to go fill up some little pools for an activity they did in the church that night.  So that day was pretty normal, right before the talent show activity in the church we were doing contacts over there, and invited a couple kids in the street. Then 2 of them showed up at the activity with their aunt! So that was pretty cool.

   Saturday was different. So in Constitucion, the city on the beach that the sisters are in, a year ago got messed up by the earthquake, the chapel did as well.  So on Saturday they finished renovating the chapel, and had all of the elders of our zone go over there, because they had an "Open Doors", basically people could tour the newly renovated chapel. So we went to help get people there. We were there practically the whole day doing contacts in the plaza trying to get people to go. It turned out really well though, and it was fun to be a part of it.

   Sunday was kind of a disappointment, we didnt have any investigators here in church. But this weeks gonna be a good one. We have some people with a lot of potential we found this week, so we're excited to work hard. Me and Elder Huerta are getting along fine. He's from Texas by the way, in case you wanted to know. What's funny though, is that people have started saying that my spanish isn't as good anymore, but that his is really good.  We think they see a dark elder Huerta, and even though he's a gringo, they hear what they see. O sea, mexican. A funny observation we made.

   Well, here's to the start of a new cambio. This next week another month will have passed by (yikes!) it's passing by way too fast. Today we played some.. Well, have a great week! 

Elder Ryan Mayberry

 Pics: 1) The sweatshirts we got made as a zone

2) Me with Felipe (convert from Piduco) and Rafael (also from Piduco) at stake conference

3) Me and Elder Demann

4) Me with Elder Huerta at the astroturf field we play at on Mondays