Renca 1 #7

4.25.11

So, we had cambios today and I have a new companion!  Im with Elder Heath now from Massachusets!  He got here the same time as Elder Memmott so he just has a few more months then me here.  We should be having a great cambio here in Renca 1.
This last week went really well.  We found a family of 5 on saturday and they are pretty much just waiting to be baptized.  We taught them the Restoration and they all understood very well and were really excited to know that they could pray and ask if its true.  We have a few other people that are getting ready to be baptized within the next few weeks.  Another exciting thing is that Elder Larsen is in my zone!!!!  I´ll get to see him at least once a week now so that should be great.  We also had our english lesson with Roxanna yesterday and it went really well.  She told us that she still has a few doubts about praying and stuff and also believes in reincarnation so its hard for her to understand the plan of salvation.  We tried to explain it but I think she still has a few doubts about it.  We invited her to pray about it of course and hopefully she will do it.  When Elder Memmott was packing up today we realized that me and him never took any pictures together so we took one right before we changed with our new companions but sorry for not taking enough pictures.  I also found a pile of ties in the house they an old elder left here a long time ago and they are all really nice haha.  I found a suit too and I´ll try that on later to see if it fits me. 
Its sad to hear the Selfs are moving.  Hopefully I´ll be able to see Ryan at college or something like that.  It seems like whenever the ward gains a couple people more people leave.  Hopefully the Youngs or the Wilsons dont move out of the area.  Mostly because I need to beat them at Catan first before they can move. 
Anyways, thats about it for me this week.  We are going to be baptizing this cambio si o si.
Love Elder Ty Peck



He also sent me another email to answer my question about Easter, if they did anything special for it down there. He said no, it was like a normal day and the people didn't really get into it.

Renca 1 #6

4.18.11

Another week of walking for us  We have found a few more people and are teaching more often also.  We were going to have a baptism yesterday but our investigator came out with some doubts at the last second about coffee and tea.  She explained she doesnt feel like they are so bad that she will go to hell for it.  We tried explaining it better but we had a member with us who decided to argue with her about it so it was an hour long arguement with them two.  We kept trying to step in and say something to end it but they would just go right back at it.  It made us really frustrated and finally I stopped them both and said look we arent getting anywhere by arguing, lets end this lesson and we can get together another day to talk about it.  I also told her that if she wants to know that its a commandment, she needs to pray and ask.  We tried calling her yesterday after church to see why she didnt go and if we can get together another day and she just kinda said another day so we think she might be trying to avoid us.  It was a sad lesson to see somebody who has been talking to the missionariies for a few months now just give up on it all.  She was making a lot of progress too and now she just kinda dropped back.  We are going to try and have a more spiritual lesson with her later in the week too so that we can help her more.  We also had a lesson with Roxanna yesterday in english again.  We asked her how she felt when she read the BOM and she said good but had a hard time understanding the old english.  BUT the good thing is that she read more than we assigned and she told us she really has a desire to know if its true.  She said she reads metaphysics books so its hard for her to believe in God.  We read the story of Aaron teaching the father of king Lamoni and asked to her to pray to God and ask if He is God.  It was a really good lesson and shes making a lot of progress too.
For my bday last week we went to a non member family house and had a dinner.  I´ll send some pics but they made this big dinner and a really good cake and also gave me a big chocolate bar with almonds as a present.  It was a lot of fun and also Kanahele and Moore called me to say happy birthday which was good to hear from them.  Moore also told me that my last convert with Kanahele was talking to her dad about doing something on sunday.  She told her dad (who isnt a member) that she doesnt break the sabbath because its the Lord´s day.  It was good to hear she is still doing really good in the church and staying strong. 
Thats about it for me this week.  We are still working hard and seeing fruits from our labors. 
Love Elder Peck

Here are a few photos we've gotten over the last several weeks:

Ty's Birthday Dinner

Renca 1 #5

4.11.11

Do you Know Fugazi?

Last week was definitely a week.  We walked A LOT and did a lot of contacts in the street.  We talked with a lot of people and had little success throughout the week.  Saturday we finally caught a break and taught  lesson to a new investigator and yesterday was actually a really good day too.  So, during the week we walked by a member family in the street.  Their daughter isn't baptized and said that she doesn't want to be either BUT she is studying to be an english teacher or something like that and wants the lessons in english.  We set an appointment and went by last night to start teaching the lessons in english.  We decided to try really hard to have the Spirit with us so that while shes learning more english she can feel its truthfulness too.  So we went to the house and asked her a few questions.  Her family doens't know any english  so they had no idea what we were saying.  She actually speaks and understands really well also so it was fun.  It was weird speaking in english too because its been a while haha.  So, basically we taught the Restoration and really focused on prayer.  She kinda believes in God and wants to know more about Him and wants to know He is real.  The lesson was really spiritual and we could really tell she wants to take the lessons to come closer to God.  We kinda thought about it afterwards and the thought came to us that maybe she is doing it in english so that her family doesn't know she really is interested.  We think that maybe she doesn't want to be overloaded with all these people trying to help her.  She understood everything really well and is going to read and pray.  SHe has actually read the BOM once already but only to learn english from the missionaries a few years ago. 
Well, tomorrow is my 21st birthday.  Its weird that life has been going by so fast and I'm only 21 years into it.  We have plans to go over to this family's house and have dinner with them and a little party.  They are actually a family we found that aren't members but love the missionaries and want us to come over all the time. 
That's about it for me this week.  We are working hard and having fun. 
Love Elder Ty Peck

Renca 1 #4

4.4.11

This is not an email

This last week was a great week.  We are still finding people and teaching a lot.  We have a baptism coming up on the 17th of april and another for the 24th.  We are hoping to put another family with fecha this week for the 24th as well. 

In between sessions on saturday, we went to an investigators house to teach her.  She wasnt there but her son was.  He was actually the original person we were looking for when we found his mom.  He had talked with missionaries a couple years ago and really likes the BOM.  He actually said that hes already prayed and read and knows thats its true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  We taught the Restoration and it went really well.  Hes probly late 20s or so and hes a big guy with some tattoos. 

Conference was realy great.  This was probably the first conference that I actually paid attention to haha.  I learned a lot from the talks too.  We missed the first couple talks saturday morning because we had to go do some stuff for the missionaries in our district across town so we were late.  My favorite talk was the one the Pres. Monson gave at the end of Priesthood session.  For me, I learned more from the way he is than from the words he spoke.  His humility and love for all taught me a lot about the type of person we should be.  I also liked what he said about reading the BOM.  He said ¨Read it!¨.  Ive been learning a lot in my studies in Alma about how to be a better missionary too.  We are having a lot of success here now and we have the Spirit with us.  This sector used to be a ¨dead sector¨ I guess but I learned in the MTC that there is no such thing as a dead sector.  There are always people waiting for us it just depends on our faith and diligence to find them.  I also liked the idea from Lynn G. Robbins to make a ¨to be list¨.  I decided that I want to start my own to be list so that I have constant goals for my whole life.  A lot of speakers also said a lot of stuff about not delaying marriage *cough* Amanda *cough*. 

Anyways thats about it for me this week.  Im having a great time here and I love it.  Have a great week everybody.

Love TyPeck

Renca 1 #3

3.28.11

Who wants honey, as long as there's money.

So this last week was a great week.  We found 4 new people to teach!!!!  We are very excited about that and they are all really good too.  We had some good contacts and actually one of them is a nonmember husband of a member family.  When we handed him the BOM he started reading the intro right there and was really into it.  All the people we have been teaching have all said that they always felt something was missing in the churches theyve been going to and that it says in the bible there should only be one church.  We then go on to explain the Life of Jesus, the great apostasy, and then the restoration and it all makes a  lot of sense for them.  Im really excited for these people.

We have been visiting this inactive family too that are really good.  We showed up one day and they have like a few little kids running around screaming and stuff and tons of people in the house.  We sat down and started talking to them about life and going to church and stuff.  They said they really want to go to church but its hard with the little kids because they are soooo hyper (reminds me of our ward).  We told them that they shouldnt worry because there are little kids in every ward and there will always be those moments when the children are loud and stuff.  Sooo....they showed up to church yesterday!  We didnt expect it but they came and it was really good to see them.  All the members in our ward are super good too with greeting people and getting to know people plus this family is already pretty well known around here so it was easy for them.  Then last night we went over to do a FHE with the family and then said that having us over and being able to go to church, read and pray as a family has really brought the spirit back into their house.  I was very happy to see that they are turning things back around and wanting to raise the kids in the church. 

Sad story of the week....So our investigator that was supposed to get baptized yesterday didnt.  We talked with her last week about how its going and how she feels and she doesnt feel ready yet.  She is still slowly trying to quit smoking and its hard for her to do that but shes progressing.  We asked her what date she would like to be baptized and she said 17th of april.  At first we both though thats its so far away and tons of things could happen with her but its best for her to feel prepared and comfortable to stay active in the church.

The new sector is great and the members here are great too.  They help us out a lot and are really nice.  Im having a lot of fun in this sector and time is flying by!

Love ElDeR tY pEcK

Renca 1 #2

3.21.11

This last week was definitely a hard week.  In this new area, we dont have a lot of people to teach so we have been doing a lot of contacts and stuff like that to find people.  We have one lady with a baptismal date coming up soon but we might have to wait for a little while because she isnt completing with all of her compromisos yet.  She is trying to quit smoking and she didnt go to church yesterday so its going to be hard.  My spanish though has been improving a lot.  Me and Elder Memmot speak spanish all day long since both of us are newish so we are both improving.  He got to Chile in august so just a few months before me.  His spanish is really good and hes understands more than me too.  Ive been getting a lot better with teaching and stuff like that though. 

In other news...OBAMA IS HERE!  He is actually downtown today I think and wednesday he will be coming to our sector or something like that.  At least thats what everybody is saying.  OH and before I forget (great song btw) they are changing the office so send all packages and stuff like that to

Misión Chile Santiago Norte

Sucursal correo patronato casilla 60

Santiago
Chile

We invented a new lesson too that we have been doing with members.  We bring all the pictures we have from home of family and friends and we share them with the families.  They get a chance to look through our pictures and get to know us better.  Than we start talking about family and friends and how important they are to us and how we all want to live with them forever.  Then we get to the point where we talk about some people that we know that are close to us but arent members.  We then talk about how much more happier we could be if we had all of our loved ones with us forever.  Its just kind of a way to show them that we arent pestering them for more people to teach but trying to show that if they help their friends, they can be with them forever. 

Something I had the other day as a snack in a members house was crackers with some dip the lady made.  It was cream cheese with sesame seeds and soy sauce.  It was really really good too. 

Thats about it for me this week.  I hope all is well at home! 

Love Elder Ty Peck

Renca 1 #1

3.14.11

 

Hey everybody, Im in a new area with a new companion!  His name is Elder Memmot from California.  We just did changes this morning so we still dont know each other that well yet but it should be fun. 

So this last week was a great week.  It was definately really hard saying goodbye to members and the other missionaries in my house.  We had a baptism yesterday!  Valentina is 11 yrs old and was baptized with her sister yesterday.  It was a really spiritual experience seeing a part member family become a full member family.  They are all really great people.  We also found a family of 9 not too long ago and it was hard leaving them too.  There is a pretty cool story to how we found the family too.  We had planned a bbq with the ward a couple weeks ago but nobody showed up.  We were all pretty mad but then 9 random kids from the street wanted to come in and play tag and stuff with us.  We played some games and took some pictures and told them to meet us at the church again later in the week so we could print out the pictures for them.  We went back and some of the kids brought us to their house to meet their faimily.  We went in and talked with the mom who is really nice and we set up an appointment to go back.  We went yesterday and there were 9 people there!  All family and all ready to hear the gospel.  We talked with them for a little bit and had a lot of fun with them.  I had a lot of fun playing tag and a bunch of other games with those kids.  Even though I only knew them for about a week it was hard to leave them too. 

So, my area now is Renca 1.  In my zone there is an elder from sammamish and he is a really cool guy.  Not too long ago me and him were going off about Radiohead so this zone should be a lot better than the last one.  In our house Diaz left and so did Kanahele so its just Moore left over there and hes going to be training.  We all had a really good time together and it was really really hard to say goodbye to them this morning.  I felt like I was saying goodbye to some of my best friends again.  I´ll see them soon enough hopefully on p days around town. 

 

Thats about it for me this week.  Im excited to work in this new sector!  Les amo mucho chao!

Love Ty Peck

Los Conquistadores #16

3.7.11

Wow, its been 6 months already.  I cant believe how fast this has been going so far.  I really have been learning a lot about the gospel, myself, people, etc...  This last week was a very stressful week for me.  I would like to start off by saying I wasnt able to email everybody last week because we had a really busy p day and I didnt have a lot of time to email so I just emailed some family. 

So, my ward is pretty much dying.  Its really hard to see them growing weaker and weaker every week.  Almost every convert from last year is inactive already and a lot of the active members have started just dropping off like flies.  We went to one family´s house to have a little FHE with them and we realized they dont even really know who God is.  We started off just talking about God and then we asked them who He is to them.  The mom started talking and said that He is a great spirit and is the Son of God.  She said a lot of other things that didnt really make sense.  Since that day we have realized that a lot of the ward is like that.  We have noticed a lot of things that are going wrong in the ward and we are trying to fix it.  Its hard for us right now because we are trying to keep the ward moving forward and the work at the same time.  The bishop this week in priesthood actually got into a huge arguement with pretty much all the other priesthood holders.  It was his last week as bishop and I think he was fed up with some of the people.  He had told us before that the members are lazy and dont know anything so he wasnt that great of a bishop anyways.  Anyways, every sunday us as missionaries give talks and teach the sunday school class.  We are pretty much running the ward.  Its definately hard but Im learning a lot. 

We are most likely going to have a baptism this week!!!  Her name is Valentina and is an 11 year old granddaughter of a member.  We have been teaching her and her sister for a few weeks now and they will be baptized this sunday in stake conference.  We have found a couple other people too.  There is one guy who we came across that speaks really good english and wants us to teach him more and said he is also interested in the gospel.  We set up an appointment with him for tomorrow.  We have also been getting some references from members and will start working with them. 

I have been really humbled by the experience I have had in this ward.  Coming into a place like this where people dont have much to begin with and still try getting to church every week is a great thing to see.  They have a lot of faith even if they dont understand everything completley.  Im grateful for the experiences Ive hard in this ward and it will be hard to leave them someday. 

Love Ty Peck