Compania #1

12.19.11

This last week was CRAZZZYYYZYZYZ.  So tuesday night we got a random phone call from president saying that we had special changes because of other thigns that were happening in the mission SO we both got taken out of there and now Im in a trio in downtown Santiago.  Its pretty hard here because its like trying to knock downtown Seattle....pure business buildings.  We dont know the members that well either so we just rely on references from them.  We have been walking A LOT these last few days and its not too fun haha. 

Right not Im in a trio with Elder Garcia from Honduras and Elder Whitmer from Arizona.  Whitmer is actually changing missions here pretty soon to go to the family history center in Salt Lake.  Hes had a hard time with the language and health problems so he could be heading out any day that there is an opening for him. 

We have some great investigators here even though it is hard to find.  We are teaching a guy from Peru named Antony.  He was a reference from his uncle who is a memeber and hes progressing really well.  We taught him the Plan of Salvation last night and he was saying how he never thought that God had made a plan like that for us.  He takes notes during the lessons and is a greattt investigator. 

In my studies this morning, I was reading the the Gospel of Mark.  I read a scripture (i dont remember where) that explained one of the miracles that Jesus did.  He gave the blind their sight I think and he told them not to tell anybody.  The first thing they did was ¨publish the news¨ of Jesus Christ.  I was thinking about how much we dont do that today in the world.  We are told everyday to spread the Gospel and to publish the news of the restoration but we dont for fear.  Imagine the joy those two guys felt and then when Jesus Christ told them not to tell anybody they did anyways becasue they couldnt hold it back.  Now that people invite us to share the Gospel with our friends we always have a fear of doing it.  We should always remember that these people will probably never hear the Gospel or accept the missionaries knocking their doors becasue they dont have a good example or a good friend to explain the joy that comes from it. 

Thats it for me this week.  Have a great Christmas everybody bye!

Love Elder Peck

Lo Ovalle 2 #2

12.12.11 (This is really Ty's 3rd week in Lo Ovalle 2 but he didn't send a 'real' email his 2nd week)

I jus wanna start this email off by apologizing for not writing last week.  I TOTALLY forgot to write it haha.  I was traveling around the mission for an activity that didnt turn out too well so we last most of the P day lost in the north part of the mission.  So ill try to make up for it this week.

 

This last week I was sick for most of it so nothing happened thats it bye!

 

 

 

Just kidding stuff still happened but I was sick.  I just had a pretty bad head cold so we took it slow.  I also stepped on a nail towards the end of the week so that also slowed us down. 
Things here in Lo Ovalle 2 are good.  We werent able to have baptisms yesterday because the family hasnt been home a lot and the youngest one got sick.  They will be getting baptized most likely this coming sunday.  There are some good members here as well.  The ward is a lot bigger than any of my other wards, the average attendance is about 180 people and all my other wards were about 70 or 80.  I dont know any of the members because a lot of them live in the sector of the other misisonaries.  

I did some divisions with Elder Larsen this last weekend which was very fun.  He was my companion from the MTC for those of you that dont remember.  We went out and worked pretty hard and got into some houses together.  It was really nice being able to catch up and also make plans for after the mission together.  We got into a house and we taught this lady.  We started it off talking about happiness through obedience to the commandments.  It was so weird because we still had the same connection that we had from the MTC and we always knew what the other was going to say.  It ended up being a great lesson and afterwards we looked back on our MTC lessons together and how we used to like read each others minds in the lessons.  At night we had a little BBQ in his house and talked for most of the night.  I actually stepped on a nail at his house making firewood for a little campfire that we made.  

 

Sorry for the short email this week...not much happened because I was sick.  Thank you everybody for your love and support throuhgout my mission.  Have a great week!
Love Elder Peck 

Lo Ovalle 2 #1

11.28.11

This last week was a pretty good week for us.  I still don't know everybody in this sector and I'm just following my companion around everywhere but we are having a great time.  This sector is a pretty rich sector so everybody here has nice houses and stuff.  We are going to have some baptisms here pretty soon and we are excited for that.  Everybody here calls me elder besito which means elder kiss haha because I explained to them that Peck is like a little kiss.  Ive already got in pretty good with the ward and so we should be having a good time here.  Not much to report this week because I still don't know whats really going on here haha.

In my studies Ive been reading in the New Testament a lot.  I have been reading especially about the Pharisees and the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.  We need to always be sure that we can discern the right moments to follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. 

That's about it for me this week.  Sorry for the short email again.  Have a great week!

Love Elder Kiss

Vivaceta #19

11.21.11

Well... I got changed.  I honestly was destroyed when I got the news.  I really did not want to leave Vivaceta.  It was wayyyy hard saying goodbye to Marcelo and his family.  I honestly dont think Ive cried that hard in long time haha.  Im mostly just really worried because Marcelo got really upset and said he doesnt want to continue going to church now because the changes have affected his family too much and the kids are only getting more and more sad because of it.  I tried helping them but Im not sure whats going to happen.

Anyways, this last week was a good week in the sector.  We literally found a family that was the most prepared I had ever seen in my mission.  We went in and had the most spiritual lesson ever and when they went to church, they were crying all sacrament meeting.  The Spirit wa s very powerful in church and they are getting baptized for sure in the next few weeks.  

Now Im in the sector Lo Ovalle 2.  My companion is Elder Hanson from Idaho.  He has one more change than me so it should be pretty good here.  Im not sure how many investigators we have or what the members are like but hopefully its all good here.

Sorry I didnt have much to write this week.  Please pray for Marcelo and his family they really need it right now.
Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #18

11.14.11

Mas vale perder un segundo de la vida que la vida en un segundo

For those of you who dont speak spanish, the title says ¨Its more worth it to lose a second of life than lose the life in a second¨.  Its a chilaen saying and its been making me think a lot.

ANYWAYS, we had the most powerful lesson of my whole mission yesterday.  Let me explain....

So, last week I mentioned that we were going to do that big object lesson with Marcelo and his family.  The mom ended up avoiding us all week and it was very frustrating.  We would show up at their house and she would be ¨sick¨ or have some kind of excuse.  I finally told Marcelo how I felt and that I was getting tired of how she was acting.  Saturday night, Marcelo called and said that she wanted us over sunday night for an FHE.  We both looked at each other and thought here is our chance to finally tell her whats up.  So we showed up sunday evening at like 6.  We played a little bit of soccer with the kids and Marcelo outside and then we kinda just hung out with the family for a little bit inside.  The mom was in the back room AGAIN and didnt look like she was going to come out.  She finally came out a little while and later and started making us some dinner.  She came out with the dinner and we all sat around the table and chatted a little bit.  Then, Marcelo looked at me and told me to tell her what I had been thinking and feeling the week before.  So, I took a huge breath and the Spirit took over.  I started saying how we had been coming by a lot and never able to get much done with the family because there was always something wrong and it was hard to feel the Spirit in the house.  I told her that we were very frustrated and worried for weeks because we didnt know what was going on and she didnt even want to talk to us.  She went on to apologize and say that she felt bad because she was just really sad when my last companion had left.  She said she didnt think that the changes were fair and that she felt like her progress and the progress of the family was held back because of the big change.  

This is where it gets good haha.  So, I really wanted to do that chalk lesson like I said last week but it was already dark outside and one of their daughters was sick.  Then, I remembered that my companion had a little white board in his backpack with some markers. I went and grabbed it and then I drew a big box.  I told them that it represented eternal life and that they had to write what the expect it to be for them or how they want it to be.  They all wrote something about being with the family.  Then we went on to explain the 5 steps of the Gospel and how they can receive all their blessings if they are obedient.  The mom went on to kind of make some excuses (like most people) saying that one has to be ready for these things or that people cant be obligated.  A scripture from the book of James came to my mind at that point and I told her ¨Faith without works is death in itself.  You believe in God?  Thats great, so do the devils, and they tremble.¨  After that point she got quiet and I went on to explain that if they dont act now as a family, they will never receive the blessings that are waiting for them in the life after.  She started crying after that she said that she had been realizing that last week that she was the one destroying the family and holding them all back.  Marcelo had been talking with her a lot about how she hadnt been raising her kids with God in their lives and that now is their only chance and shes rejecting it.  She had been seeing a great change in her kids and her ¨husband ¨ (they still arent married) and how she kinda felt left out since shes not home much.  I felt the strongest impression ever to invite her to be baptized on the 25 of December.  I then told her that we want them to be baptized as a family on Christmas day so that they can all enjoy the blessings that God has waiting for them after this life.  I asked them all if they would prepare themselves for that date.  I think it was the longest 3 seconds of silence I had ever experienced in my life.  She finally looked at me and said that she knows she needs to but she is going to think about it and talk with Marcelo.  We invited her to pray about it and we left them with Alma 7 to read.  

This week will be a very hard week for me.  I already have 3 changes in this sector and its very possible that Im going.  Ive been 3 changes in all my other areas and Im just not sure whats going to happen next sunday.  Ive been praying very hard that I wont be changed yet because I feel like my work isnt done with this family.  Marcelo last week actually had a really hard time because he knew that changes were coming up.  One day he sat us down and he said that he will stop going to church if I leave because he doesnt feel like the changes are fair.  We finally calmed him down and now he knows why he needs to keep going to church but I its going to be really hard for all of us.  Ive been thinking a lot lately about coming back down to Chile after the mission.  These people that Im meeting here are sooo far away from home and its expensive to come down here but I want to do everything I can to come down here and see these people.  

Anyways, that was our sunday night haha.  Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #17

11.7.11

26 NUEVOS!!!!

This last week we found.....26 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really dont know how we found so many, but everyday we got into houses like crazy.  We were able to find some very good investigators and invite them to be baptized.  Of course, they all have their doubts but through the teachings and their commitments, they will get baptized.

 

Other than those new investigators we had a great week.  Michel and Tomas are doing really well.  They werent able to go to church because Tomas is struggling in school and might have to repeat a year so they were doing homework all day.  Marcelo and his family arent doing too good.  We went over friday afternoon and he told us that his wife told Camila that if she gets baptized then she will get really upset with her.  SO Camila was pretty upset and down about that. Ive been doing a lot of studies especially for this lesson.  We decided that we are going to play a game.  We are going to draw 5 stepping stones on the ground with chalk.  At the end is the Celestial Kingdom and all of them are going to write things in there that they want for after this life.  Of course they will all write family because it is the most important thing to them.  We will then go on to explain that Jesus Christ taught us that there are 5 steps to reach eternal life with our families.  We will start with Victoria, who is already baptized, and we will say that the first step is faith.  Faith requires action which is going to church, praying, and reading.  We will ask if she has shown her faith by doing these things.  She will take the first step.  After, we are going to describe repentance and that whole process.  We will then ask if Victoria has repented of her sins and she will say yes then take the next step.  THEN comes baptism and shes been baptized and then she will move on to the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end and then arrive to the end.  NEXT we will ask Marcelo, Camila and the mom the same questions.  Of course Marcelo and Camila will take the first step and the mom wont because they are going to church, reading and praying.  Then they will move on to the repentance step but then be stuck because the mom is holding them back from baptism and eventually being with Victoria.  Basically we want the mom to realize how much she is holding her own family back from following Jesus Christ. We are hoping the mom finally realizes whats going on with the family and that she will let them get baptized.  THe bishop is also going to help us in other appointment with them wednesday night and he will probably just talk to her about doctrine haha.  Hes pretty hard on people but he knows how to get it done.  He has help us a lot with investigators and helping them get married.

 

In my studies recently, I have been reading in chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel.  Its basically a chapter about how we can teach better so that the people understand and progres better.  Our lessons have been getting really really good lately and its all thanks to Preach My Gospel. 

 

Elder Quentin L. Cook came and spoke to our mission and the east mission saturday morning.  It was awesome to see an Apostle walk into the room.  He greeted all of us with a handshake and then we heard him speak.  He talked a lot about how we can teach better and be better missioaries.  He said the first thing we should always do is love the people.  He spoke of Dan Jones and how when he was a missionary wayyy back in the day, he would teach people sitting on the ground because he didnt want them to give up their seats for him.  He had so much success because of the love he really showed the people he taught.  He also told us that we should go out of our personality or our personal bubble to really reach out to the people we teach and the members in our ward. 

 

Im having an awesome time with Elder Donohoo right now.  THe ward loves us sooo much and it is soo much fun seeing the members and messing around with them.  We have a great relationship with the bishop.  The bishop has really loved working with us and sees the results of our work with him.  President Essig actually called us the other night to see how things were going with the ward.  The stake president had expressed some concerns because the missionaries before us didnt have a great relationship with the ward or the bishop.  I explained to President that we have been working really well wth the bishop and that he is one of the best bishops I have seen in Chile so far.  Missionaries usually just dont understand how to work well with the leaders and especially how to work well with the bishops.  I have seen many blessings from working really close with him and his counselers.  I love this ward and I hope I never get changed out of it but I know it will probably happen soon. 

 

Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #16

10.31.11

¡TUVIMOS UN BAUTISMOOOOOOO PO!

Katy got baptized saturday and confirmed sunday!  It was a really special ceremony where her husband was able to baptize her and she gave her testimony afterwards.  She was telling us the whole week before that she didnt want to give a talk or anything because she was scared so we made sure that she wouldnt be giving a talk or anything after her baptism.  THE N she asked for a few minutes after her baptism to say a few words.  She went up to the pulpitt with tears running down her face and explained how this is her third baptism but the only one that felt right.  We were actually kinda worried that she didnt have a very strong testimony of Joseph Smith yet or of the Book of Mormon but her testimony grew tons after getting baptized. 

 

The week was a good week for us.  We talked to a LOT of people.  One contact that we did was probably the best one Ive had in my misison.   When we were planning one night my companion mentioned knocking a street called ¨Aurora¨.  We headed that way the next day to knock some doors.  A lady came out to talk to us in the second house that we knocked.  She started telling us how she doesnt really want anything to do with the churchs in the world because she reads the Bible and none of the churchs are like the one Jesus had established.  We began to talk about the restoration a little bit but she kept wanting to talk and talk.  I started to get a little frustrated but I tried really REALLY hard.  As we stood and listened for the next twenty minutes as she basically taught us the plan of salvation and how the church of Jesus Christ should be, we felt the Spirit really strong telling us that we should tell her that she was basically teaching us our own message.  My companion started talking and told her that every single word she had just said was our message and that we were here to help her find the true church.  I gave testimony of what he said and told her that we invite people to read, pray, and goto church because we know that God will answer her prayers and she will feel the Spirit.  She was speechless afterwards and told us that we could pass by another day.  We are going to see what happens with her most likely tomorrow afternoon. 

 

Another story about Michel and Tomas.  They both have a baptismal date right now for the 20th of november.  Michel went to church sunday and in the Gospel Principles class he raised his hand with a quesiton.  We were talking about the family and how the parents should help their kids grow up in the Gospel.  Tomas has been preapring himself for the first communion in the catholic church.  The mom really wants him to keep going forward with it but Tomas doesnt want to now that he knows the church.  He went to play soccer with us on friday and he said even there playing soccer there was a different feeling with the people and just around the buildling.  Michel´s question was if he should go with the mom and force him to keep going with the catholic church or if he should let Tomas choose.  The mom doesnt live inthe house so she doesnst have any say right now.  The members started explaining to him that in the church there are youth programs and its a great way to help children grow up.  Michel and Tomas are progressing really well right now and we are expecting them to get baptized within the next few weeks!

 

Well have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

 

 (more pictures under photo page --see top)

Vivaceta #15

10.24.11


Ladies and Gentlemen! CHICAGO!!


WE HAVE AN INVESTIGATOR FROM CHICAGO!!!!  He went to church sunday which was sweet.  He doesnt speak spanish very well even though hes married to a chilaen and hes been here for 3 years.  Hes pretty cool and he said he has done a lot of ¨research¨ on the church so we will see what happens.

So, we didnt end up baptizing Camila sunday.  It came close and the mom started telling her that she needs to be older and decide for herself.  Camila is a mama´s girl and listens to everything she says so she told us that she doesnt want to get baptized but then we talked to Marcelo and he said that the mom is just putting that in her head.  We are going to have a FHE with them tomorrow night and we are going to try and have a chat with the mom.  The family is doing good other than that though.

We are going to baptize Katy this saturday!!!  She is ready now and we are wayy excited to get her in the water.  They are hoping to be able to go to the temple in about a year or a little bit later when they feel ready and Im pushing for 11 months so I can go with them before I leave haha.  We played uno with them last night and its really weird that in Latin America, nobody knows how to play uno.  It has a spanish name and people have no idea what it is.  

Carlos and his family are going to be moving to another stake next week.  Sunday night he called me to see when we could go over and do a family night and then after we hung up he called back to tell me that he loves me haha.  I love that family so much and Im really hoping that I can see them in the future.  The deaf kid, GianLuca, always gets wayyyy excited when we come over and he starts bouncing off the walls.  He is probably the funniest kid I have ever met in my life.  When he doesnt get his way he just collapses like a puppet without strings and then starts waving his hands around and nobody understands him haha.  The parents dont even know sign language that well yet so its pretty hard for them too.  My companion and I went over to hang out with Carlos yesterday and we decided to make some bread.  Since it was just us three guys we totally forgot about the bread in the oven and it burnt a little bit but it was still delicious.  

Last night we decided that we needed to knock some doors becuase we hadnt found very many investigators this last week.  We got into this really rich neighborhood and we were saying to each other how we would NEVER get into any of these houses because they were like mansions.  We got to one house with tons of halloween decorations on it (which is weird because nobody decorates houses in Chile).  It was probably the biggest house on the street and the nicest one.  We started talking about how cool it would be to baptize the family that lived there because then Christmas would be awesome for us haha and then we knocked the door.  At first, the daughter came out and said no they were busy and closed the door.  We wanted to take pictures of the house so we got our cameras ready and then the mom came out.  We quickly put our cameras away and she came and opened the gate and we started talking about her awesome house.  She showed us around and introduced us to the family and we helped her youngest daughter with her english homework.  We ended up talking for a while and they told us that when the older daughters were younger, they would go to the primary and other activities at church but nobody ever got baptized.  They said the missionaries used to go over and play nintendo with the family back in the day and they loved having the missionaries over.  We made an appointment to go back this week and hopefully everything goes well!

Thats about it for me this week!  Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Ty Peck

Questions and Pictures

1.        Do you usually or ever have to help bless or pass the sacrament?

yes we usually help pass it because there is one active young man in our ward.  ive never blessed the sacrament in spanish though so maybe ill try doing that soon.

 2.        Are there branches in your mission where the missionaries end up being in the branch presidency?

No not here.  There are branches but the missionaries arent the presidents.  Thats more of in Argentina because there are tons of branches.  The older couple on easter island is in charge of that little branch. 

3.       How’s your new companion?  How long has he been out?

Hes awesome!  We have a lot of fun together and its nice because he knows how to work well and hard.  He has like 5 months in the mission but if I didnt know that I would have though at least 9 or 10 months. 

 4.       Is Elder Larsen in your zone?  I think his mom sent pictures of you  in an email.

No he is in a different zone but I got to see him friday and saturday for that 50 years of the mission.

 5.       Is Marcelo going to get baptized?  When I was preparing for my update yesterday I realized you said he wasn’t baptized. 

If he could get baptized right now he would be his wife doesnt want to agree to marriage or leaving.  We might just ask for permission from Pres. because Im pretty sure they are just together for the kids.  His daughter Camila is going to get baptized next sunday and her mom will most likely go to that. 

6.       What would you like for Christmas this

Ummm....wow I have no idea haha.  I was thinking that you guys could just send me a little package with a couple thigns and save the rest of the money that you would have spent for when I get home or for coming down here to pick me up.  I´ll be thinking of some presents you guys can send me though.

These are pictures we got from Ty's MTC comp.'s mom of the 50th celebration:

The Tripan Elders Peck, Clark, Larsen

Vivaceta #14

10.17.11

¡¡¡¡¡50 AÑOS DE LA MISIÓN EN CHILE!!!!!

Like the title says... 50 YEARS OF THE MISSION IN CHILE!.  We were able to celebrate this special event in a big soccer stadium right next to our apartment!!  It was nice not having to travel at all.  It was a really cool show and we got to see as missionaries.  After the show we all ran down onto the field and took pictures with the performers and ran into some members from my other wards.  I got a big long train of like 100 people running around the field too haha. 

 

Anyways, this week was a good week for us.  We were able to find some good investigators and teach some really good lessons.  We are planning on baptizing Camila this coming sunday so that her mom can go and feel the Spirit there.  Katy will get baptized the week after that!  Things are going great with my new companion.  The ward loves us both a ton and its a lot of fun being with him.  Its a ton of fun just being able to talk about normal things again like sports, movies, music, girls, etc.  I didnt have anythig in common wiht my last 3 companions so this is a good break haha.  He has 5 months in the mission but most people think he has a lot more time.  He speaks the language very well already and is a machine haha.  We are working really really hard and having a great time doing it. We did a pre-baptismal interview for Katy last night but we did it like ¨who wants to be a millionaire¨.  It was a really fun night with them. 

 

I decided to start the Book of Mormon over again since I kinda got lost in Jacob 5 (the longest chapter in the world).  I was studying in spanish before and I will most likely continue in spanish but I started a new activity.  I am underlining 3 differnt things with 3 different colors.

1. I underline everytime it mentions Jesus Christ.  I underline all the different names and everything that refers to Him.

2. I underline his words.  Whenever he talked to a prophet or when he came down to the Americas.

3. I underline his attributes.  Things like faith, humility, hope, charity, love, diligence, etc.

As Ive been doing this new thing Ive noticed how blessed people really are when they follow Jesus Christ.  When they listen to His words and obey His commandments the happiness is cant be explained.  As it says in Mosiah 2:41 that the obedient saints are blessed with happiness.  I have seen that in the lives of the people I teach and also in my own life.  When I am obedient here in the field, I have more motivation and more desires to help people come unto Christ.  We were talking with Jose, Katy´s husband,  yesterday and he said that yesterday was the first time he had taken the sacrament in over 5 years.  He felt like a hunger and thirst was finally satisfied and he felt so much lighter.  The bread was also home made and delicious which always helps.  It was great to be able to see that blessing in his life yesterday.

One less active family that we have been helping lately is finally back in the church and doing great.  Its the family of the deaf kid that we were teaching.  Carlos, the dad, made the ward´s website this last week and he said that he had never down something with technology mixed with something religious.  He said as he was working on it he realized really how important it is that we get people informed about the church and how everything works.  Hes usually pretty closed when it comes to spiritual matters but it was great being able to see him announce the new website.  They are going to be moving this next month which is sad for me because I got to be really close with the family. 

Anywyas, thats it for me this week!

Love Elder Peck

Photos

Photos from the wedding

Vivaceta #13

10.10.11

I have some good news....NEW COMPANION!! haha.  His name is Elder Donohoo from Utah.  We just got together a few hours ago and we are having a great time already.  Hes wayy into sports and we have a lot in common so these changes with him should be really fun!

This last week was a little hard for us.  We still got pretty close to the Standard of Excellence but we just had some companionship problems everyday.  We had interviews with President friday.  In my interview, President told me he was really proud of the success that weve been having in this area. Sunday when they called us and told us about the changes I was sooo happy.  Elder Donohoo is way tall too haha. 

So saturday we had a wedding!!!  It was a miracle wedding too.  So we werent planning on going the whole time because we had a special devotional for the 50 years of the mission in Chile.  We got back to our house to change into suits and Jose and Katy were basically crying and frantic.  We stopped and talked with them for a little bit and they told us that the judge hadnt showed up and the cake hadnt arrived either and the wedding should have started an hour and a half before.  My companion and I looked at each other and got everybody together and knelt down to say a prayer so that the cake would arrive and the judge.  As soon as the prayer was over somebody came running over saying that the judge was on the street corner looking for the apartment building.  After the ceremony, the caked showed up just in time for the party.  We ended up staying all night since we didnt have much to do and so that we could spend a special night with that family.  I have hundreds of pictures so I´ll be sending them. 

Thats about it for me this week.  Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

 

 

Vivaceta #12

10.3.11

This week was once again a great week.  We were ONE person short in church so we didnt get the standard of excellence but we were so close that it was still a great week.

One of our investigators, Katy, will be getting married this weekend!  She has been living with an inactive member for about a year now and he finally decided that he needed to come back to church.  In that process she also got involved in the church and she will be baptized in a few weeks after the wedding when he is ready to baptize her.  She is progressing very well in the church, she understands everything very well and is ready for her baptism.  

Anyways, things are going good in the sector.  We have some other people that we are teaching that are also progressing quite well.  The deaf kid and his family are doing well.  They have been going to church and the parents are going to get married in december!  I didnt even know that they werent married until they had an interview with the bishop and he told them to get marrie dhaha.  

Something I liked a lot about this general conference was a talk given by one of the 70.  He mentioned that we shouldnt hesitate in sharing the gospel with others.  As a member of the church, it was always hard for me to tell people what I believe before the mission just because most people in the world these days arent ¨believers¨.  It was always hard for me to bear a testimony of Jesus Christ to my friends who didnt know much about Him.  In the mission Ive noticed that bearing even the smallest testimony has the biggest impact.  One time I stood up to bear my testimony in church and I mentioned how the mission is the best decision I had ever made in my life.  It was a very short testimony and not anything special or powerful.  I sat down and a few weeks later somebody brought it up in sunday school and said that it really had an impact on them.  They said that they want to share the gospel with their family now and even though they dont know how to do it, they know it will bring lots of joy into their lives.  I know that if we open our mouths and spread the good news that we will be blessed as well as the lives of our friends and family.  Try to imagine living the eternity without your best friend.  Even though that best friend may not realize that they need the gospel, they do and its our responsibility to let them know.  

Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #11

9.26.11

3 WEEKS!!

3 weeks in a row now that we have achieved the standard of excellence!  President Essig actually called us this morning to congragulate us and tell us that we are doing a great job.  During these last 3 weeks, we have been seeing a toooon of miracles and blessings but I think the biggest one I have ever seen in my life was this last week.

If you all remember, I told you the story about Camila and how she had stood up to her mom and was doing really well.  Well the mom was very VERY anti mormon and didnt want anything to do with us.  We went tuesday for a little family night and I made some french toast.  The mom got home from work a little early and joined in on the dinner.  She is almost never home so we were kind of nervous and we didnt really know what to say but we had a good conversation in the end and she invited us over for pizza the next day.  We got ourselves ready for the dinner and we headed over.  We had no idea what was going to happen but we knew that the Lord would help us with anything we needed to say.  We started talking about some things just trying to get to know her better and then we started talking a little about her family.  She started to tell us how that in the last few weeks she has seen a huge change in the family.  She said that the kids behave themselves better and are really starting to have a better relationship with God.  She paused for a minute and then started to cry and thanked us for everything we were doing.  She said that she would like to start learning more and maybe even go to church but she said in her own time she will come around.  She invited us over for another lunch and then she offered to start washing our clothes and feeding us whenever we needed meals.  She was also telling us last night that she had a dream.  In the dream a bunch of young people about our age had entered her house all in white.  She asked what they were doing there and an older man looked at her and said ¨I am John the Baptist.¨  And then she woke up.  We explained to her that most likely it meant that lots of missionaries were going to be coming by to try and help her along the way and that baptism is the way we need to take.  She kind of accepted that as a good interpretation but shes still saying that she will come along in her own time.  She told us that its going to be very hard to let other missionaries into her house because we are the ones that have gotten the closest with the family.  Marcelo bore his testimony in sunday school about how before when the missionaries would go by, they could never ever get the kids to come out and share a little lesson or go to church and now that my companion and I are here we have achieved the impossible with them.  He said that ever since I got here that things have been different in the house and that Im his favorite so far!  This family is a huuuuge blessing for me right now in the mission and I love this area.

I was talking with the bishop yesterday and he was telling me how hes really hoping that I dont get changed for a long time because we have been having soo much success here and all the members are very happy.  This is my favorite ward here.  All the members are a huuuge help and the bishop is awesome.  

Have a great week everybody (especially my family thats in Disneyworld without me!)

Love Elder Peck

 

New Pictures posted on the Photo page!!

Vivaceta #10

9.20.11

 

The Standard of Excellence part 2

 

That makes two weeks in a row achieving the SOE.  We are pretty much dominating this sector right now and loving every second of it.  Its all miracles too.  This last weekend was basically the biggest weekend in all of Chile and a lot of our investigators were out of town.  Somehow 5 people still showed up to church and we were able to once again achieve.  Like Andy Samberg says in the great movie Hot Rod, ¨You must believe to achieve.¨  We have been putting all of our faith in the Lord when we need a miracle and He always comes through.  We will be having a baptism the 1st of October.  Im actually shocked that she is going to be baptized.  Her name is Camila.  She is the sister of Victoria who we baptized not too long ago and she has never wanted to go to church.  She would always sit in on the lessons and go to all the activities but never went to church.  She has gone 2 times now and is ready for her baptism.  Her dad Marcelo actually told us what happened this sunday morning.  Basically the mom of the family is very very anti mormon and Camila always follows her mom.  Every sunday the mom would somehow convince Camila to stay home with her and go do something else more fun but this sunday Camila finally said no to the mom.  Marcelo told us that everybody in the house was just speechless when they heard that.  Marcelo said in Priesthood sunday that we are his favorite missionaries that have ever entered his house.  Lots of missionaries have gone by but we were the first to get his kids to go to church and they are getting baptized.  That family is a very special family for me.  The kids love us and are always wanting us to come over and play with them or do something fun.  We usually teach a little lesson then go outside to play some soccer in the street or some ping pong. 

 

Things are ok in the companionship.  Its still really hard to get along with this guy.  He has mood swings all the time so its taking a huge toll on my mental health haha.  Im trying to help him out but Im guessing there is not much I can too.

 

Thats about it for me this week.  Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #9

9.12.11

The Standard of excellence!!

I have good news and bad news..... WE GOT THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE!!  That means that we dominated this last week.  It means AT LEAST 7 new investigators, 12 lessons with a member, 5 people in church and 7 people with a baptismal date.  We had 9 new investigators, 12 lessons with member, 8 people in church AND 7 with a date.  I literally have no idea how it happened but the whole week was just a miracle.  The bad news is...I have less than a year left to keep dominating haha.

SO, to start off I´ll describe a little bit of GREAT news.  We are teaching Katy who is dating a less active member.  They are living together and they decided to start going to church.  We went over there a few weeks ago and started teaching her and then last week we showed up and got a huuuuge present from them.  They asked us when our changes are and they are the 9th of october.  They said well thats good because we are getting married the 8th of october so you guys can come to the wedding!  We also talked about her getting baptized the 9th but she wants her husband to baptize her but he still have to work a few things out since he´s been living with her for a while now.  She´s doing really good too.  She comes to church, shes making a lot of friends in the ward and she wants to start giving us lunch on the weekends haha.  We actually went to their house thursday to celebrate my one year mark with hot dogs and some other members.  

NEXT, I am learning spanish sign language!  We ran into a less active family in the street and they told us to come over.  We got there and they have an 8 year old son who is deaf.  They want us to teach him so that he can get baptized and so that they can return to the church.  They are actually a really rich family too.  The dad was telling me how he works in some software business and he was in charge of making some new software.  He made it and it is sooo good that there are people from Brazil,Colombia, England, Spain , Germany and some other countries begging him to let them use it.  He said that he was in a web chat and he told them ¨Yeah of course you can all use it but....lets talk money¨.  He will be making some HUUUGE money from this.  They might move to France in a couple years if everything works out.  The little kid, Jean Lucas, is incredibly super active and so is his brother.  It was hard keeping them quite in sacrament meeting but its fun.  

Update on Marcelo.  Hes still going strong.  Hes pretty much a member already.  His daughter Victoria who we baptized a month back is doing really good too.  His other daughter finally went to church for the first time!  Shes getting ready to get baptized in a couple weeks and we promised her a pizza party if she does haha.  We had to promisse her a cookie party this week so maybe somebody can send me a recipe?  

My comp. and I are doing better.  I pretty much have to just sit him down everyday and work out the little things that bugged him that day. I think thats why we had so much success this week.  I pretty much just forgot about all the ¨mission drama¨ and really just worked hard to help people progress.  The week went by really fast and our investigators are doing great.  

I think thats it for me this week!  Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #8

9.5.11

ONE YEAR!!!!!!!!

This week was a great week for us!!  We did really well in terms of getting people to church, finding new people, and getting the members involved.  We have a lot of people that are really promising for baptisms soon so we are hoping to send some baptismal pictures soon.

My health has been a little bit better.  Ive been trying really hard to just ignore the pain and to also work out more to see if that helps.  Ive had some really good studies this week also.  Ive been trying to read the BOM all the way through in spanish at least once.  I sometimes get lost in the 2 Nephi chapters about Isaiah or Jacob 5 haha but Im doing pretty good so far.  My scriptures are all colorful from markings and the pages are nice and shredded haha.  Ive been learning a lot about just putting all of my efforts into the investigators.  Everything I do is for them.  If Im not 110% focused on them, then Im not working as hard as I should.  There are days when its hard when I just want to think about home or other things but Ive found that as I remind myself contantly about the people that the work is so much easier.  

Ive been having problems with the guy Im with.  We have been arguing over stupid little things but mostly because he will get mad over something little and get really angry and sarcastic with me.  Ive been trying really hard to stay patient with him and teach him how to be a good missionary but he usually doesnt respect me too much.  I finally just told him if he can get over the little thigns that I do or the things that bug him then he will never had a good companionship.  I dont think he fully understands that concept yet but Im sure it will take a few more hard companionships for him to realize that he was in the wrong.  Im hoping the best for him and Im trying to teach him well but we will see.

Ive been happy and Ive been working hard and Im going to continue working hard for the next year.  Im completing a year this thursday and it seems like just a few weeks that Ive been here.  The other day in a lesson I was teaching and I stopped and thought how amazing it was that I understood every word the person had just said to me and how I was ablo to respond right away.  I really have been blessed in being able to speak the language.  I may have an american accent just like all the other american missionaries but its just amazing how Im able to be a missionary in another country.  

Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Ty Peck

Vivaceta #7

8.29.11

This is...the big email!

That email title is a tribute to Steve Pratt and ¨The Swimming¨.  Anyways, changes were last night and Im still with my companion.  Not sure what to think about that haha but I´ll try my hardest to help him out.  I was kind of upset to find out I wasnt going to be training a new missionary and there are a lot of younger missionaries training.  I´ll just have to keep going forward and hopefully one day it will happen.

So, President has changed A LOT about the mission.  Before, the mission was like this.  There were two zone leaders that were companions and there were usually 5 district leaders in each zone.  The districts usually only consisted of 4 missionaries and the trainers were usually the district leaders.  Now, there are still two zone leaders but they also train new missionaries so they arent together as companions.  There are only 3 district leaders now and the districts have about 10 missionaries in them.  I am no longer district leader haha but mostly because all the trainers are also leaders so since Im not training Im not up there.  

We had a pretty ahrd week again.  Not a lot of success in terms of numbers but quite a bit of success in terms of learning.  Ive been learning a lot about obedience and really how important it is in our daily lives.  Ive never been the most obedient person in the world but here in the mission, Ive been trying really hard.  Before the mission, I never really understood the rules or commandments.  I always tried to keep the rules and everything but I never liked doing it.  Here in the mission, there are so many rules that are little and dumb and dont make a lot of sense but as you see other missionaries fall from the little mistakes your testimony really grows.  There are days when I think to myself ¨why should I even wake up.  If I sleep in I´ll have more energy and I will be able to work better.¨  But then I know if I get up on time and do all my studies that I need to, I will be ready for the lessons we have that day and I will have the Spirit even stronger with me.  Everyday is a huge battle against Satan here and he is doing everything possible to try and slow us down.  He knows everything we are teaching is true and hes trying so hard to win a battle he will never win.  In the MTC, we had a devational where the speaker told us to think every morning ¨how can I make Satan angry today?¨  Ive been trying to apply that everyday haha because I know hes happy when we give in to temptaion.  I know he gets mad everytime I knock a door or everything I go into a lesson.    

Anyways, thats my email for this week.  I challenge you all to make Satan mad this week.

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #6 (plus answered questions & pictures)

8.22.11

Hey everybody just a quick update.  This will probably be another short email since there isnt much going on right now.  Me and my companion are doing a little bit better.  I decided I just needed to sit him down and tell him how it is.  I basically told him that if he cant get over the little things in his companions and just be happy with people then it will be hard for him to have success.  Hes finally realizing that true success comes from happiness as a missionary so hes been working a little bit harder.

Todays a pretty sad day for me because Elder Moore is going home next week.  I lived with him in Los Conquistadores when I first started the misison and we set up a big bbq with him and some converts of ours.  It was great seeing him and all our old friends but hard saying goodbye.  I cant imagine what that day will be like for me.  Im going to finish a year in the mission in just a couple of weeks so Im trying hard not to think about the end and Im trying to focus on today but it can be hard sometimes.  We have been having a lot of success lately in getting references from members but we just need to get these people to church.  We are hoping to have a couple baptisms this next month but the people here are just a little too lazy haha.  I have a personal goal of 16 baptisms before I go home so that I can have 20 as a total.  

Anyways, thats about it for me this week.  Sorry once again for the short email but not much to write about.  The end of this change is coming up this next sunday and a lot of new missionaries are arriving so Im hoping to train a newbie!

Thats crazy how Eli is leaving already for college.  Im pretty excited to see him leave for the mission then come back a grown man haha.  Hes already grown up a lot but as we all know people grow up on the misison....except for elder zander he went backwards.  I definately love this work.  There is nothing better than these two years I am experiencing right now.  There are days when I just wish I could go home or that time would go faster but then there are other days when I wish time would stop here so that I could do this forever.  Im sure every missionary knows how I feel haha.  Im pretty excited that time is going by fast though.  I never thought before the mission how hard it really was to leave everything behind.  Its pretty crazy that Ive been in a foreign country for almost a year.  Speaking a different language is fun too plus all the friends Im making in the mission is awesome.

Love Elder Peck


1.        What was your favorite thing from your last package that we sent?  (I sent you a jump rope because you said it was hard to get in exercising so I hope that helps a little).

 I really liked the glasses haha but yeah the jump rope was nice even though Ive been pretty lazy with my excersise time in the morning

2.        When are transfers?  Do you hope you can stay where you are for awhile?

 Im hoping to stay here for at least 6 months.  Ive never been in a sector that long but they are starting to do that more often so that missionaries can create a good bond with the ward.  transfers are coming up this next sunday and im hoping to train!

3.        How’s teaching going?  How many investigators do you have right now?
 We have quite a few investigators but they dont progress!!  they never do haha so we are contantly finding more.  Marcelo (his daughter got baptized last week) is awesome.  Hes pretty much a member already but his wife just needs to leave so he can get baptized
4.       Have you ever used that building block (or cups) idea I sent to teach about the restoration?  If so, would you like more ideas like that or not?
 No I havent beause I havent had a lot of time to put it all together and stuff but maybe if you guys have any cool plan of salvation stuff you coul send?
5.       Tell us one cool thing that happened this week.
 This week.... We walked in to ask this kid to come out and do some appointments with us and hes the only member in his family.  The family is really nice and stuff its just that they are too lazy to go to church or they would already be members.  we walked in and his little sister whos 7 wanted a blessing.  she also told us that she turns 8 soon and wants to get baptized!!  so we will be teaching her sometime today or tomorrow.
6.       Do you ever bless the sacrament there?
 We passed it this last week because there are NO youth in this ward.  Ive never blessed the sacrament but Im guessing I will have to pretty soon cause this ward is getting smaller every week haha. 
7.       When does Spring/Summer start there?
spring is starting right now.  its usually still cold at night but its getting pretty warm during the day.  it sucks cause we go out without jackets and it gets really cold at night and we have to go back and pick them up.

Also some pictures:

Ty with his first Chile Comp.

looks like he must not walk much....

Picture Update!!

I've created a new 'page' where we will post photos from his mission. They won't be in any sort of order but if you want to see pictures, that would be the best place to go. I'll still do occasional picture posts but there will always be pictures on that other page.

Ty and his first companion from the MTC Elder Larsen

His bed area

His study desk

the view from their apt. window

Their apt. kitchen

4th of July BBQ

Vivaceta #5

8.15.11

WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!! WOOHOOOHOHOWHWOHWO!!!!  This week was very hard for us though.  Marcelo was going to be baptized also but he couldnt because his ¨wife¨ refuses to marry him beause she hates our church.  She is going to leave at the end of the year so he can finally get baptized but hes been really down lately.  His daughter Victoria got baptized though and he was very happy to see that.  Hes one of the greatest investigators I have ever heard of in my life.  He is about halfway through the BOM and goes to church and gets there on time.

Anywyas short email sorry but I dont have a lot of time today since Ive been pretty sick.  Have a great week!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #4

(Sorry I got behind...)

8.8.11

Ok!  This week was a good normal week haha.  Not much to report other than we are still working hard and having a great time.  My companion had a rough weekend though.  He was saying how he didnt imagine the mission to be this hard and he was thinking it was because he wasnt ready.  I tried telling him that I had worse weeks before but he was still pretty down.  I told him basically that a successful missionary is always happy no matter what happens and if he´s happen that success will come to him.  He got really excited after that haha so he´s doing better.  He kind of has 2 personalities so its pretty hard sometimes haha.  He likes having Jedi battles with himself in his sleep and makes the sound effects while he is sleeping.  I like hearing the lasers and lightsabers and the screams haha. 
We didnt end up having our baptism yesterday but we will for sure this saturday.  Marcelo is getting married wednesday and then baptized saturday with his daughters.  Well, hopefully both of his daughters haha one of them is really lazy sometimes and doesnt go to church so I will have to make sure shes ready.  We have had to drop a lot of investigators beacuse of lot of people dont progress but thats just kind of how the mission is here.  Someday they will be with the missionaries again though and hopefully they will come to their senses then.  Ive been learning a lot this week about how to focus on peoples needs and not on my wants.  Ive been trying a lot to change the lessons according to what they need so that they can progress.  Ive been seeing a lot more people progress that way.
Well, sorry for the short update again but not much going on.  Have a great week!
Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #3

8.1.11

 

We had a very good week.  We worked hard and we saw success from it.  Not much interesting to report haha so sorry if this one is short.  This ward is a lot better than the other wards I´ve been in so Im a little bit more happy.  We are going to have 2 maybe 3 baptisms this coming week!!!  Its my frist baptism since feb. so Im pretty excited.  Its my companions first baptism in the mission so hes pretty excited too.  Me and him are doing really good.  Its just weird talking spanish 24/7 haha.  Hes a little bit shy in the street sometimes and doesnt really know what to say when we visit the members or at meals with the members so I usually talk the whole time which can be hard since its a second language haha.  Ive been learning a lot about diligence this last week.  As we continue working hard we continue seeing success.  Sometimes that Kanahele told me was ¨When you do what you´ve done, what get what you´ve always got.¨  It kinda means to me that when we work hard, we continue seeing the success that we had before.  If we ever let up just a little bit, the success will slow down.  Ive been trying to set a good example for my companion since he is very new in the mission and sometimes he can lack a little bit of motivation haha. 

Thats about it for me this week, sorry about the short email.  Have a great week everybody!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #2

7.25.11

We had an amazing week this last week.  So I actually found out Im technically training my companion since he was with his trainer for only 6 weeks.  My companion is awesome and we are having a lot of success.  Its fun watching a new missionary develop because I remember how it was for me.  Hes very humble and a great teacher.  We were able to find 17 new investigators this last week!!!  We got into a lot of houses asking if we could just share a short message with a song and a prayer.  A lot of people let us in because they feel something different and dont know what it was.  We got into one house and the guy opened up about how his wife died years ago and how he feels like we are sent from God to tell him that his wife is ok and waiting for him. 

Now for the biggest miracle of my mission.  So last wednesday in our zone class we received a reference from Peru (which hardly ever happens).  I wrote down the name and address and made plans to visit the people saturday in the night.  Saturday morning we went to do a couple different services for members.  One of the services was moving huge greasy auto parts around so we were wayyy dirty and gross.  We were walking to our house but we were way far away.  I asked my companion if he wants to take bus or walk and he looked at me and said Im not sure.  I thought about it for a second and decided that it would be better because I was wayy tired haha.  We went over to the bus stop and there were a few people sitting there.  My companion talked with them and asked if we could visit sunday.  They said sure and we wrote down there information.  We went home, showered, and changed then went out to work.  We didnt have a lot of plans so we decided we would knock a lot of doors.  Then I remembered the reference that we got and I said lets go visit these people. We walked over to the house and we saw it was the house of the people we talked too after service.  We knocked the door and confirmed out appointment for sunday.  We went sunday after church and the mom told us a story.  They have friends that were members in Peru and they used to always try getting them to church.  They had gone to church once or twice but then moved to Chile and lost contact with their friends.  The mom had been praying for guidance in life and when she saw us walking towards the bus stop she had the weirdest feeling that something big was coming in her life but didnt know what.  When we went into their house she really felt like what we were going to teach was going to change her life.  We taught the Restoration and talked about baptism.  There are 8 people in the family!  I feel really blessed to be finding a lot of investigators and to really have the Spirit with us.  I can´t believe Im almost halfway done with the mission already.  It makes me really sad because I know everyday is one less day as a servant of our Lord.  I really hope the last day of my mission never comes because its just too amazing out here testifying to everybody everyday what I know is true.  I know it will come someday and it will be the saddest day of my life but I will continue testifying everyday to all my loved ones.  I love this work and its so unreal that Im here in Chile.  Im having a great time with my companion and we are ready to baptize lots of people!!  Its been too long since my last baptism.  Almost 6 months ago when I was with Kanahele was when we batized Valentina.  Im ready to baptize more and I cant wait to see people dressed in white ready to swim.

I challenge all of you to enjoy the little things in life this week and really think about what life is for you.  Have a great week!

Love Elder Peck

Vivaceta #1

7.18.11

Well I had changes today.  They changed both me and Elder Heath.  I am now in the sector Vivaceta with Elder Saravia from Bolivia.  I have my first latin companion and Im very excited to work with him.  He just got into the mission about 2 months ago so he´s very new and excited to work.  I also became district leader for the first time here in the mission field.  Im very excited to serve here in this new sector and with a new companion.

Last week in our zone class, we had a lesson from the assistants of the mission.  They talked about how about a year ago in the mission, we were setting goals of 20 baptisms per zone and actually completing those goals but now in the mission zones are putting goals of 6 or 7 baptisms and not achieving.  They asked for a few personal reasons why from each missionary written on a piece of paper.  A lot of the answers were obedience or just ourselves and how we hold ourselves back from our potential.  They had us split up with a random missionary and think in silence for 5 minutes and then share what we learned about how we can make ourselves better.  As I sat there in silence I started thinking of general things that I can change and then the thought came that we always focus on the general qualities of a missionary.  I started thinking about how I can do better with the members and just with the people in general.  As I was thinking I looked down at my little note taking folder and saw a picture of Eli Pratt and I when we were very young.  I started thinking about how much I miss that guy and things like that then the thought came to my head that I should treat every person here as if they were Eli.  As my best friend, Eli has always been somebody I can talk to openly and he will understand everything I tell him and give me good advice.  Also, I´ve been somebody he can talk to openly.  I decided that I should be more personal with the people I serve.  I should treat everybody as if they were Eli expressing their trials or fun times to me.  Ive been learning a lot more about how I can talk with people by putting that in practice.  Today in the taxi I started talking to the taxi driver about the soccer game last night and how Chile lost and then we started talking about music and then eventually we arrived to his family and his kids.  He was telling me about how one of his goods looks like a gringo with blonde hair and white skin.  Even though I was only with that guy for about 20 minutes I really felt like I got to know him better as a person and I was a lot more happy.  Id like to thank Eli for being the person that makes me a better missionary and who keep me really motivated. 

So, last night we went around visiting a few members from my ward because I figured I was leaving.  We took some pictures and then they started talking about our ward there and how it can be better.  I realized a lot of the members themselves dont even like the ward they are in and how they all look for excuses to why its so bad.  They were saying about how the leadership lacks love or how the youth arent motivated to do much.  I was thinking about how if every single member sucked it up for a few minutes and really realized that nobody is perfect in the world, then member they would realize how they can help the ward be better.  Everybody in the ward has so much potential but there is a lot of pride holding them all back.  I love them all and I miss them all but The Lord wants me here in this sector now.  We have a lot of investigators set up for baptism soon.  Last week in this sector they found 22 new investigators!  We will definately be dominating here but in a humble way.

Thank you all for all your support, love, and examples in my life.  I challenge you all to think about what you can do to help your ward.

Love Elder Ty Peck