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!!