Last week, last letter

Hello friends and family

Well... not sure what to say... Last week here in the mission and I´m just about going crazy. I´ve got a mix of emotions. I want to come home but I´m going to miss the happiness and even the upsets of the mission. It has been something I have never felt before. The bishop made me give my testimony in sacrament meeting even though I  have this next Sunday to do it. And of course I cried... Every member after kept asking me if I seriously was going home in a week. I don´t feel like its coming to an end.

Well this week was a disappointment. The lady that we had with a baptism date for the day I left got sick and now can´t be baptized. We were really bummed that she couldn't go. Well... it has definitely taken some patience to work with my comp.

This week we had an elder get emergency transferred... lets just say flirting with girls in your ward in front of the stake pres... is A STUPID IDEA... He got transferred and only has a week left also. I had told the AP´s about it and they had given him one chance left... He went on ahead and did it still. He got transferred out and another gringo got transferred in.

I am finding it extremely hard to stay awake and not fall asleep. I feel like every day I have less energy. I don´t plan on waking up early, shaving or walking the week I get home. 

This week we are going to work the hardest we have ever worked. I realized that I will probably not baptize again. but I figured I´m going to do all I can to leave the sector the best I can before I leave. I have completely re done our map and put on it where all the members live and all the INV´s live. My Comp has no idea what he is doing and is still completely lost here in the sector. It is really kind of sad.

Well I have no idea what to say... I love you guys and will see you... Next week...

Elder Torgersen

Hello friends and family!

This week has been extremely hard. I have never been so mad, frustrated and just ready to come home. Problems with INV´s, comp, ward, and just about everything else. I wish we could serve a mission with how it was back in the day. Without so many goals and leaders watching over you and telling you what to do. I´m about ready to drop one of the AP´s with have and the two ZL´s here. 

Well...My comp is driving me nuts... still. He thinks that he is the perfect missionary but has yet to open his eyes and see that he is one of the problem missionaries. He is constantly saying stupid stuff and the members don´t like him at all. I have had a couple mini cambios and the members have asked a ton of questions. I have had to apologize to the members for the way he acts! I have to ask the members and INV´s to turn off the TV or he gets sucked in immediately. 

I have found a new hobby!! Something that not only is really fun but that is going to help me keep the spirit when I get home, maybe keep me out of trouble also haha. I have started Indexing and I freaking love it. I have been going every Thursday morning to help out a little ol lady in the church with indexing. I have been reading Chilean papers from 1890 and writing in all the info. It has been so much fun. I will for sure be doing it when I get home. I promised the little ol lady I would continue helping out with my Chilean brothers from the states. 

We contacted all week and didn´t have any success up until Saturday night at 9:00. Last house that we contact the lady lets us in and accepts a baptismal date and says she will go to church on Sunday. We ended up getting her to church and she loved it. If everything goes well she will be baptized the night before I come home. We were really excited. We hadn´t had any success and finally last minute we find someone. I had been really discouraged because my comp just doesn´t learn. He struggles talking to people and says the same thing in every contact. 

This week had been really tough though. The members know I only have 2 weeks left and keep bugging me about it. If we go to their house to eat lunch or visit they talk about home and stuff and we lose a ton of time. I have decided we are going to  take as little time as possible there in their houses. We did have a member take us to lunch today and we ate sushi. We all four ate over 40 rolls of sushi. It was really good. 

I am having mixed emotions about coming home. I´m ready to take the next step and get studying and working but don´t want to leave teaching the people I have come to really love. There are so many members and INV´s that I´m gonna miss a ton. I´m just happy that the technology will allow me to keep in contact with them.

Well I am excited to work my butt off these next two weeks. Love you all and see you really soon 

Elder Torgersen

One more baptism!

Hello friends and family!

This week has been really crazy. We have had so much to do. Well were to start at...

Tuesday we had interviews with the New president president Arrington. Interviews went really well. It went basically how I planned it would. I explained to him the reason why I was here and that I was the ZL in Conce but came to help out my comp. He basically told me that I needed to keep working hard and being an example for my comp. He said to keep working hard and finish strong... See you in 3 weeks... It went just as I thought it would. 

We had the interview for Tatiana and she passed on Tuesday. She had been smoking about 15 cigarettes a day and has completely stopped now. We are really excited for her. She was wanting to get baptized as soon as possible. She was literally crying during her baptism she was so happy. It was a really great baptism.

Thursday morning we went and got the couple married. Only bad news... the dad left and went drinking for three full days and was plastered for a couple days. We don´t understand. He had been doing so well... and then he goes and blows it like that. We were ticked. His wife told us if he showed up to the house she had a two by four in the back room that she was gonna swing across his head if he walked in the front door. She wasn´t happy at all.  

We were having problems figuring out when we could do the baptism. The bishop was giving us a little trouble with when we could do it. He´s not even in charge of the baptisms pres Arrington is. But Tatiana wanted to do it Saturday so we did it Saturday. He wanted to do it Sunday so there was more people... but then she was gonna have to wait a week to receive the spirit. She was gonna need the spirit to help fight back smoking temptations. She was confirmed on Sunday and her daughter ended up coming to see it. It was really cool.

Last night we had a mini FHE with her, her daughter and a neighbor. We are going to start teaching the neighbor and hopefully the daughter. The daughter comes down every weekend from Conce so she could come to church. 

It´s a bummer we can´t do the homecoming and farewell the same day. Dang I´m bummed now. See what you can all do.

Ask Baileigh if she read the book. The answers to the test are just common sense. tell her to read the book completely!

I´m feeling 80% better and the package did arrive. Pop tarts made it safely and the peanut butter is amazing. I have been taking the pills daily and they have been really helping. 

Glad the cousins made it to their new missions. That´s really exciting. Hope they are doing well. 

This week we are going to focus on finding new people and getting the family baptized. Miguel Maria and Yolanda. pray that they get their answer to their prayers. They are really struggling. 

Well not much else happening. hope everyone is doing well. I love you all and miss you tons. 

Elder Torgersen

Well...4 weeks left

Hello Friends and Family!

Well this letter is going to be extremely short. I only have a couple weeks left here in Chile and I have a ton to do. I spent a lot of time making a going away picture card that I am going to give out to members and converts. 

Well this week I ended up getting sick. I have no idea why but I ended up getting sick on Thursday night and woke up Friday throwing up. Lets just say it wasn´t very fun. 

Well the family we are teaching is losing interest and we aren´t sure what to do. We are a little bummed.

Well we are still teaching Tatiana and she should get baptized on Saturday. We are really excited for her. She has stopped smoking and wants to get baptized ASAP. We are really excited for her. 

Well the things continue with my comp. I managed to hide his watch a couple days to see how it went and then he just constantly asks me what time it is.

Well I can´t believe how fast time has flown by. I don´t really have desires to write anything... 1 because nothing happened and 2 I will be seeing you all really soon. (not trunky) 

We have interviews with the new president tomorrow and I´m not sure what he is going to say... I think he will just tell me... ¨Well see you in three weeks... don´t be trunky!¨ Its a bummer I don´t really have time to get to know him.

Well We found out today that I will not be able to go back to old sectors to say goodbye to Converts we are all kind of frustrated because two of my sectors are in Chillan. 

Well thank you all for the support and prayers. I will write more next week.

Love you all and will see you soon.

Elder Torgersen

Flight plans already...Come on

Hello friends and family!

This week was a little better than the last week. Until I got here into the cyber and saw the flight plans...

I´m starting to be able to control my comp and the weird stuff he does. I swear he has OCD. He is always so tense and is constantly looking at his watch. He is so worried about being obedient that he isn´t. He is constantly calling others out on what they do wrong but thinks he´s perfect. It has been a struggle. He keeps asking why i´m here and cant find the way to tell him that he is one of the problem missionaries in the mission. 

He has a year and about 3 months and hasn´t changed at all. I´m not quite sure what to do with him. It´s driving me nuts because he is always saying i´m disobedient for the smallest thins. Like trying to calm down a screaming baby that our INV has in church. We visited a member the other day and you could tell she had just had it with her kids. She has three sons all below the age of 5. They were driving the mom nuts and while we were there I picked up a crying kid off the floor and sat him on the couch to calm him down and he told me I was ¨Chueco¨ in front of the family. It´s starting to drive me nuts. He is obedient in somethings and in others not. He is also scared of everything. He swears someone is always following us and that everyone in the street past 7 wants to kill us. I swear he walks worse than a drunk guy. He couldn´t walk in a straight line if his life depended on it. He is constantly walking into me. I keep thinking of D. &. C 121:7-8 where the lord says to Joseph smith.  

 My son, ^apeace be unto thy soul; thine ^badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a ^csmall moment; 8 And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy ^bfoes.

Sorry just had to vent a little.

Well this last week the new MP got here and went through the whole mission to meet everyone. He is really short but a really powerful guy. I swear he scanned everyone with the glare he gave us all as he met us. He is really excited to be here. I had to give my final testimony in the conference and of course I cried in front of everyone. Thanks dad for the lip tremble... Missionaries did the same stupid shout out to all of their friends and comps in their testimonies. Makes me want to punch people in the face. Ticks me off. Make sure and tell Ethan If he gives a shout out during his talk I will stand up during his talk and slap him across the back of his head. No Lie! :) I feel like that is just stupid that people have to do that. 

We went to lunch the other day and there was a parrot in the house. It would fly down and land on your head or on your shoulder. Let´s just say I felt straight up like a Pirate. It was so cool.

Well the house where we live has a wood stove and we have firewood... SO the house isn´t freezing, and i´m not dying during the night. It has been pretty cool. we get home and start it up and put bread on it to heat up to eat after planning. 

I have been so tired lately I have no idea what to do. I have been taking Multivitamins and getting enough sleep but i´m just so tired. I have no idea what to do... Suggestions?

Well we are teaching a family of three that is getting married on the 18th and baptized on the 20. We are super stoked for them. there names are Miguel, Maria and Yolanda. Yolanda is 15 and has a 5 month old baby already. She is really struggling. But we are helping them out. We got a reference from the other ward of a lady named Tatiana. We had been teaching her and the 3rd lesson we had with her she asked if she could get baptized on Sunday. All she wants to do is get baptized. She is smoking and that is the only thing that would keep her from doing it. Pray for her. She is awesome. The only thing is she lives alone and is often kind of lonely and when she feels alone she smokes. 

We had 5 people in church with 4 progressing to baptism. We are really excited. 

Still have not gotten the package. But did get Ethan's grad announcement. Tell people to stop sending mail. I´m not sure what they do with the mail If i´m not there to get it. 

Everyone keeps making zombie and death jokes. There are three off us in our Zone that are ¨dying¨ and everyone is giving us crap about it. It is quite funny though. 

Well I love you all and miss you tons.

Elder Torgersen

Baptims in Linares

6 weeks left....

Hello friends and family!

This week had some ups and downs. This week we went and confirmed the hour to marry the couple we are teaching. We had to go down to the city building with witnesses and we confirmed the hour. They are getting married on the 18th and baptized on the 20th. We are really excited for them. The whole family will be baptized on the 20th.They all went to church this week and loved it. 

We received a reference from the other ward that meets in our building and we passed by her the other day. Lets just say she was golden. She went to church yesterday and she loved it. She stayed for all three hours.

Being the 5th Sunday of the month we had to teach the 5th class... only problem is they told us in the second hour. about 15 minutes before the third hour. We ran into the secretary and downloaded the videos from the mission conference last Sunday and we watched a couple of the clips from it. Like the family sharing the gospel with everyone. The members were crying, including our reference that had gone to church. She told us after she was going to share the gospel with everyone. It was so cool. And of course during the class i bore my testimony of sharing the gospel from before the mission and started to cry and everyone was teary eyed. After the class everyone was offering to hold family nights in their houses and we got a couple references. 

On Saturday I got to travel back to Linares. I had thought the family I had been teaching had forgotten about me. But they wanted me to go and baptize them. I got there and they were really happy to see me. The youngest daughter didn´t want to have the interview but once they took out the baptismal clothes she wanted to do it. It was way cool to be able to stay in the water and baptize one right after another. It was so cool. The only problem is that the dad wasn´t ready but is slowly progressing. We ended up eating lunch at their house and leaving. The mom the last time was mad because I wouldn´t give her a hug. I figured since I was leaving soon and probably would never see them again I decided I would hug her goodbye. They were really sad to see me go. It was really kind of sad. They said if I ever come back they got 4 motorcycles and horses waiting in the campo for us. 

My comp is about to drive me nuts. i´m ready to take a hammer to his stupid watch. I really want to hide it for the cambio. Only problem is he always wears it. He is so worried about the time that he constantly looks at it. It drives me nuts because we are in a lesson for 10 minutes and he´s already looking at it. Members have called him out on it saying it´s rude and to stop. I have also told him to stop and he still does it. He keeps asking me why I was sent here to be his comp if I was a ZL. I have no idea what to tell him. I don´t want to say... Oh I was sent here to basically help you out because you are a trouble missionary. It´s a little difficult. He does a bunch of little stuff that drives his comps nuts. He´s like selectively obedient. He´s really strict on some rules and just doesn´t obey others. Its definitely the hardest comp I have had. 

This week has rained everyday. I got home on Thursday night and was soaking wet. My agenda was soaking wet and I couldn´t read any of the writing in it. 

So there was this kid that just finished his mission that is here in Chillan to learn Spanish. He served in Washington English speaking. We had been talking to him and helping him out with his Spanish. We found out he was from Park City. I just barely found out... his dad is the owner of Skull candy. He is going to go to BYU Jerusalem. I told him he needs to help me with getting into BYU. He said now... anyone can get in. He said campus is empty. He knows a bunch of ways to get scholarships and money and stuff and is going to help me and the other missionary here get into BYU. He´s really smart! I think you guys have changed my mind about BYU. I´m gonna try for it. 

Well this week we have a mini cambio with our DL and he is going to come and meet the family we are teaching. We are struggling to find new people. We found a family that is Adventist that we are hoping we can get to church. 

Well not much else happening this week. Love you all and miss you tons. 

Elder Torgersen

Well... quickly tickin down....

Hello Friends and family!

This week has also been a week of mixed emotions. Not sure what to think about it. 

Well lets start off at last Monday after I had written you... I got the cambios in the morning telling me that we were both being taken out of Conce. We had no idea why either. I was also going back to Chillan but not as a ZL. I was ticked all day thinking, what the crap did I do? Then I got a call from Pres saying he wanted to meet with me at 7. The whole time I was thinking what the crap did I do..? I got into the interview and he asks me how I felt. I told him the truth... I told him I felt a little jipped and screwed over. I told him All the missionaries in conce had been looking at me like I did something disobedient all day in centro. and that It was really ticking me off. He then explained to me the reason why... 

He told me my next comp was very humble. He is Mexican from Tijuana. He was abandoned by his parents when he was really young and only has a 3rd grade education, and has troubles reading. He was picked up by a bishop of the church and brought into his family. Pres told me he is really special and his comps have gone crazy with him. Pres had felt that he needed to put me with him. He explained to me that when He stuck me with Elder Coronado he progressed a ton. He told me that Elder Coronado was in a city where the missionaries are allowed to go to the temple. He ended up doing the temple work for his dad that had passed away and was working really hard. He thanked me for what I did to help him out. He told me... I don´t care what the other missionaries say you are going there because I felt a strong impression to put you with him. 

I have learned some great lessons this week. We aren´t only called to be missionaries to help out Inv´s and wards... We are also called to help strengthen our companions. I have been completely humbled this week. But I have still had some mixed emotions about the whole situation. President told me... It doesn´t matter what others think... You have been senior comp, trainer, DL, and ZL. You can still go home and tell every one that you were all of those. Don´t listen to what others say you have been called there for a reason.

Well this week has definitely been different. It has been a little difficult. New area, new comp, new house, new members. It really sucks to be changed the last cambio of my mission and have to get to know everyone again. 

Well this week we put 10 with baptismal dates, and are getting a family married so they can get baptized. We are super stoked. I also found out a family in Linares is getting baptized on Saturday and they want me to go and baptize them. The assistants are going to talk to pres to see if I can do it. I´m way excited because I knew they were going to get baptized.

Well not much else going on... Love you all and miss you tons. Tell dad thanks for the separate emails. It´s nice to learn about what he is doing!

Elder Torgersen

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1 Cambio left (1 transfer left)

Hello Friends and Family!

This week has been pretty crazy! Lot´s of stuff happening.

Tuesday we had a mini cambio with a DL and I had to go and do two interviews. We got to the sector and went to the first interview... We knocked on the first persons door and she didn't answer. We then tried calling her... didn´t answer. We were extremely frustrated because she had set the time and she wasn´t there. We then went through the day with lessons falling every ten minutes. We were so ticked. We ended up doing a ton of contacts and not having very much success. We then went to the second interview... We get there and one of the sons says she can´t talk to us because she is sleeping. We walk out and think what we can do... We decide to knock again and a different son answers the door and tells us to walk in. The lady comes walking down the stairs and starts saying she isn´t ready to get baptized and is freaking out at us. (I thought she was crazy) We finally get her to chill out and I finally get her to sit down to interview her. She ended up talking a ton and the interview went really long and she didn´t pass... She had been smoking and drinking coffee. I swear I always get the crazy people to interview. Let´s just say it was quite the day.

Well this week we got to ride in an ambulancia... My comp got really sick... No just kidding. Haha Valentina's sister drives an ambulance and we got to ride in the back of it. It was really funny. We took a bunch of funny pictures with it. It was a lot of fun though. 

So... this last week we had a lesson with Edith and her family. We had a really good lesson with her husband and her daughters. He still wouldn´t accept a baptismal fecha. He is too stuck on his catholic roots. We asked him when they got married what were the words they said... He said until death due us part... I think that hit him really hard. We asked him if he would rather stick to his roots or be with his family forever and he said his family. I think we were really bold and direct but I think It hit him really hard. I wouldn´t be surprised if he gets baptized here soon. We invited the daughters also but we think they are scared of what the dad will say. 

I have one cambio left and they decided to send me back to Chillan. We have no idea why they did all the weird cambios that they did. With the change of presidents and mission limits things have been crazy. Everyone is getting changed all around. I´m kind of frustrated about the change. A lot of missionaries are mad about the changes. 

Luis has a baptismal date for the 29th. He and a bunch of his family went up to the temple and he walked around the temple and really enjoyed it. He ended up buying EVERYTHING! BOM, Bible, Hymn book, etc... He even brought back a stack of the temple hour pamphlets with a calendar on it for everyone at church. It was soo funny.

I was surprised to see the pic of the cousins. Adam and Sam Are getting big. Adam looks like he´s starting to put on some meat. He looks pretty big. I still cannot believe how grown up India and Michael look! Michael Looks really happy though. 

Glad to hear it went well with the fam. Will send pics next week. Love you all.

Elder Torgersen

P.S. Will send pictures next week. 

Hello Friends and Family!!

Well... Where to start...

 

Tthis week started off really well. I´m really learning a lot from my comp. It has been a little difficult but I have been learning a lot. I really think there are benefits when you are Chilean. We have been getting into so many houses it is ridiculous. We contact a person and then start off saying ¨NO NO NO¨ and we ended up getting into the house and finish with them saying ¨SI, SI, SI¨ to a baptismal invite. I have never ever had so many things to do as a  missionary and have so much success in a sector. The lord really blesses us even if we are having to go to meetings and help other missionaries. 

We did have a really funny contact the other day though. We were contacting some apt´s and a lady with a huge cross around her neck is inside with the window open. We yell hola and she shakes her finger at us. We finally get her to come to the door and we offer her acard with Christ on it. She says no and starts ragging on us. My comp, being as direct as he is says, as believing in Christ, needs to be a little more humble and less of a jerk. She screams at us and she tries to close the door and my comp throws the card in the door as she slams it. We start to walk away and she swings the door open and crinkles the card and throws it at us and it lands like 2 feet from her. We had never laughed so hard. It is really sad how stubborn and mean some of the grandma Catholics are. 

We had a mini consejo with the DL´s included. President talked along with the AP´s. It was a really great experience for the DL´s. They really learned a lot. The numbers really took a spike up this week. We just gotta keep it going. 

 

On Friday, Valentina passed her Interview and She chose me to baptize her. Saturday we had the baptism and we had her whole family and her aunts and uncles there. We had the padrinos there also... I have no idea how to say that in English. The people when you get baptized catholic and they are there in place of your parents if something happens to them. I swear I am going to have to learn English again. The baptism went really well. She was really nervous though. The dad looks like he will be the next to enter into the water. Pray for him. His name is Adan.

We have taught some really good families this week. We found the brother of a convert of my comp from Chillan in Conce. His brother is going to help us baptize him and his family! We are really excited. There names are Roberto and Simonet. They have two of the cutest little girls. They look like a little Mormon family already. We also taught a lady named Dekty. She at first said she just wanted to hear the good word of god and we ended up getting her to commit to go to church. She came to church and stayed for the three hours... she absolutely loved it. 

It is really sad but in every ward I have been in they have had to beg people to do their Visiting teaching visits/ Home teaching. It is really sad how lazy people can be. It really ticks me off that a family can be really struggling and the H Teachers aren´t ever there for them. The bishop is really getting mad also. 

I sent home a package today... It had two PMG´s that I didn´t want to carry around a couple bags, and a couple Chilean Flags. There is a book on Spanish that Ethan can start to use to learn simple Spanish. 

I´m having mixed feelings about the wedding pics. I got pictures from a couple other people and he looked really happy. He just looks too young though. Still wish he would have served the mission first. How are the Browns doing? I´ve been talking to Cayden!

Well not much else happening. Well I gotta wrap it up here.. Time is about up. Love you all and miss you tons! 

Elder Torgersen

June 3, 2013

Hola Familia y Amigos

¿COOOOOMOOOO ESTAMOS!!? Well this week has been a blast! I have no idea why but it was. It has been raining all week and finally we have a little sunshine. We started the beautiful day off by playing a little friendly game of soccer. We had 18 elders Playing soccer. It was a blast. Not sure If I told you guys but we have a discount on the fields right behind our house and we can play really cheap. The soccer field is right behind our house and is a really nice Turf field. 

 

I didn´t have to do numbers today so I have a little bit more time. 

So the reason why the letter got there on Friday... On Monday night the cyber had problems and I was doing numbers and writing at the same time so it was freaking out. I clicked the send button and it said it was sent. Signed out, and left. We get a call from the AP´s saying we had to email them something on Friday... I sent the email and saw that there was an email in the drafts... Clicked on it and it was your letter. So I resent it... Sorry... Stupid computers down here are worse than the one we had in the family room. 

Congratulations to my lil bro! Good job kid you graduated... ¨Your a big kid now!¨ Now time to get the stupid Eagle project done and quit screwing around!! GET IT DONE!! Time is ticking away. By the way... Why wasn´t I offered money for my eagle?  I´m glad to see Chris gave him a $100 dollars in change. Better than $100 dollars in ones. Looked like I was going to go to a ¨club¨... That would be a little difficult with Quarters! haha

Good news with Luis! His wife who is a member is returning to church and is planning to go to the temple! Now they are all really pushing him to get baptized. He now has a date for the 29 of June! We had a really spiritual lesson with a couple of the family members. The grandma that is 95 years old is going to get sealed to her husband that passed away. The whole family is now planning on going. Really giving a little bit of urgency to Luis. He is really excited to get baptized. 

So scary story for the week... Friday we are walking into our Apartment and we say Hi to a guy walking in also. He doesn´t pay any attention to us and keeps walking my comp walks faster and walks in front of him off to his side and says hello again. The guy finally responds and my comp looks down at him and starts to walk really fast. I jog a little to catch up to him and He says ¨Walk... Faster¨ He doesn´t speak any English but managed to say that. I ask why and he says ¨Do it¨ We walk faster and we get to our stairs and I look back at the dude and he´s got something in his hand. My comp tells me it was a pistol. We had no idea who the guy was and why he was there and why he had a gun. He snuck in through the gate where the cars come in past the gate guys. We were a little nervous.

So we have an hermana in our ward that every Sunday we have to give one of her family members a blessing. There was a week that the two sets of elders had passed by her house and she asked them and us for blessings for the whole family! We are trying to figure out how to tell her that´s not quite how blessings work. She is a single mom and has a 15 year old daughter that has a 1 year old baby. I thought that was crazy! but every time we go there we have to give blessings to everyone! Any advice on how to handle that one?

This week we destroyed! We had over 64 lessons, 7 with fecha, 5 in church, 23 new people and a baptism this Saturday! if you can pray for Valentina. She is part of the Catholic family and is going to be the example for the rest of them.

Dad is right I have learned a lot in my mission that I will be doing later in Life and with my future family! I have learned a ton! I have been a little frustrated lately because I feel like a get these promptings and then they end up backfiring. I feel like I should talk to someone and they end up being a jerk to us!

Well the husband of Edith went to a high priest activity and loved it. His wife told us he was dancing with his wife and laughing the whole time. I guess he really liked it. His name is Omar.  Daniela and Javiera (the daughters) have started working and Edith says they don´t have time but we helped her realize that what we are doing is more important and she is going to start being more direct with them. Pray for them!

We have a mission conference with everyone and President is having his last talk with us before he goes home. I´m a little ticked that I have gone 2 years with one MP and the last cambio I´m here he´s leaving! Kinda bummed. I might see Jason mitton... Depends on if he gets here right when I leave or if he gets here earlier. If he gets sent to the outside I won´t see him at all!

Well not much else happening. Still trying to get used to my comp! Thank you for the puppy postcard and the letters. Tell Ainsley to make sure she is happy also! Goodness I can´t wait to see that little stinker! She is so dang cute and funny. Her letters are really funny!

Well I love you all and miss you tons!

Elder Torgersen

P.S. Hope you like our picture!

New Comp, Lots of Sucess

We did not think we were getting a letter this week but this showed up on Friday:

 

Hello Everyone!

Well as of this week I have gotten a new comp. He is from Santiago Chile and is about as tall as me but a little bit more heavy. He played soccer professionally before the mission. Everyone knows him as the really stubborn one that is always dropping the hammer on people. He was the one that was really kind of a jerk to me in Coihueco because he was my ZL. It´s a whole different story being on the other side. Now we are equals. haha I have busted up laughing every time he has called our districts. The missionaries are almost scared to talk to him. It is really kind of sad but it´s kind of funny.

I found out this last week that they closed Coihueco to Elders. There are now only sisters there. They said once I left nothing happened. They didn´t have any baptisms and nothing was happening. It is really kind of sad. I really hope that they can get someone in there that can help them out. 

Í´m glad to hear Ethan got ordained an Elder. Welcome to the Quorum! Sounds like it was quite the week of callings. Just hope I don´t get home and they throw a calling on me. Tell Ethan we both are going to go and take the ACT together to get it up. I just don´t have the attention span to sit there for four hours and take a stupid test. 

Tell Bailiegh to keep it up with the Tennis. Tell her to keep practicing. I´m excited to see her play.

Well.... We had a lesson this week with the Family Edith. Family Navarrete Rozas. We had a lesson with some members and it was really cool. The wife is basically begging the rest of the family to get baptized. I think it´s just about a matter of time before they fall in also. The dad, Omar, says he´s catholic but never goes and Is there every time we share. I think we will start to see a change in him. They just lent us two bikes so that we can get twice the amount of work done. We were 4 here but they had more missionaries leave this cambio than what got here. They had to close a couple sectors and take the elders out where there was 4. We are now in a house alone. We have got a huge area to cover now and we just took all of the old inv´s of the other sector. It has been crazy. We taught over 35 lessons this last week. It was so cool but we were running all over. 

We had a consejo today and were in Chillan until about 5. We just barely got home. We had a really good consejo with Pres, AP, and all the ZL´s. It is really cool to be on the inside of everything. You get to know all the secrets. haha

We are still waiting for Luis to get baptized. He changed his date again but said he was going to get baptized on the 29th of June. He promised that he was going to do it then. 

Well this week has been going really well. We are excited to get some people baptized. We are teaching a girl named Valentina that is really wanting to get baptized. Her whole family is catholic and we think she is a little nervous to do it. My comp told her that he was the first to get baptized and his whole family made fun of him and then they all started to fall in also.  We have been having lessons at Ediths house. They are really good friends now. I think The fact that Edith came to church 2 weeks and got baptized before Valentina is going to help her get to the water. Edith has got to be the best member ever. She has been telling all our investigator to get baptized and asking when they are going to do it... It has been so awesome!

 

 

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. It is so crazy. I feel really wierd knowing that I am one of the older ones in the mission. I don´t like it. It really sucks that We go two years and get to the last 6 months and feel like I´ve learned a lot and get good at what we are doing and then we have to go home.

I´m excited about this next cambio with my new comp. We are going to destroy Conce. We got a lot planned to have a lot of success. 

Well got to go love you all

Elder Torgersen

 

 

May 20, 2013

Hello friends and family!

This week has been one of the best weeks ever. We have completely destroyed Conce. We had had some of the best numbers I have ever had this past week. The week was really good.

I just sent Elder Baucom home. He will be home on Tuesday. I don´t like the feeling of having a comp that is finishing. It was really weird. Luckily he wasn´t trunky at all. He sure did go out with a bang. It was pretty cool. 

This week was crammed full of all kinds of stuff. lets start out....

 Monday I got an email from... Elder Brown. Yes I decided to write him last week and he responded right away. It was way cool because he acted like nothing had happened. We talked about what was going on in the mission and the success we have had. I am really hoping we can all get home and have it be normal again.

We decided this week to go and visit old INV´s. Almost all of them received us and now we have 16 new people to teach. We haven´t had 16 news in a long time. We were really excited about that. We had a total of 10 people in church. We had to go to pres. house to have my comps final interview and he asked us how it went and we said we had 10 in church... He responded with....¨REALLY?¨ It was way cool.

SO not sure if I told you guys but we got a reference from the office of a lady that lives in a really rich part of our sector. We never thought we would baptize any one from there because they are all really stuck up.... So we got a reference from this sector and we went to it. It was a lady named Edith. She had been traveling to another city in Chile out of our mission (south mission) and her cousin (a member) started to share with her. She got the (sister) Missionaries over teaching her. She then came back to our sector and lost contact with the missionaries. The sister missionaries sent in her info to the office and it took them two months to get the info to us. We passed by and taught her and she asked if she could get baptized. We didn´t even have to invite her. So the week passed and she was a little shaky on her date... During the week the sister missionaries taught her a little and we taught her lessons on the weekends. We got the number of the sister missionaries and the cousin and they really helped to get her to get baptized. We were really worried about her baptism date... until..... SHE CALLED us and told us on Thursday that she was getting baptized on Saturday. I have learned multiple things this week just like... There are awesome sister missionaries (just in the other mission). Thanks to these random sister missionaries we had a baptism this week. 

Her husband and her two daughters came to church and were really interested. Pray for them. The family Rozas. 

We had the worst numbers ever this last week. We had very little time in our sector and our numbers were horrible. We thought the zone would be better but it wasn´t. We had a district class and I had the idea to have each elder stand up say why they were there in the mission and a sacrifice that they have had while there. We talked about how we needed to step it up and work harder and how we needed to work to make that sacrifice worth it. We did it and it was a really spiritual experience. The numbers this next week were awesome.

Pres Humphrey came to a lesson with us to try and get a guy to get baptized. He has a baptismal date for this Saturday. His name is Luis. Pray that he gets baptized. 

I found out that my comp coming in is a professional soccer player from Chile. He was my ZL in Chillan and was also comps with Elder Bracken. He is really direct and at sometimes rude. I´m a little nervous for the next two cambios. I think his bluntness is going to rub off on me and i might get home dropping the hammer on all of you for no reason.

Comp was gone so I had to do numbers so I don´t have much time. I love you all and miss you tons. 

Elder Torgersen

May 6, 2013

Hello friends and family!

It was great to talk to you guys on Thursday. I can´t believe I will be talking to you all on Sunday! I can´t believe how fast the time is flying by. I´m excited to hear Ethan is going to Mexico! Should be really good for him. We will both be speaking Spanish. 

Monday we had the consejo and had to say goodbye to old Converts from my comp. It was really weird to know I will be doing that soon. I cannot believe how fast time is going. It is really sad. I feel like the days are passing by like crazy! I feel like I blink and there goes a week. 

This week really started out crappy. We were out of our own sector for about 4 days. We have really been struggling to find people. I think we condemn more people than we are actually saving. It is really sad. But we were having our worst day ever and we then get a call from the office... We receive a reference for a lady that lives in the Beverly Hills of Concepcion. Straight up cuico (rich) people. We didn't think much of it and then the office said she wants to get baptized and wants us to pass by now. We went by her house and she accepted a bap. date and came to church on Sunday. I thought it would never happen but We found ourselves a straight golden INV. It was so cool. She is so excited. We are really excited because she is one of the really rich people. We are excited to baptize her and work with her family and neighbors. We are really hoping this is the way we can get to the hearts of the stuck up neighbors. 

Well yesterday was fast and testimony meeting... I´m always nervous about bringing INV´s to it. It can be really good or really bad. We ended up having 4 people there. Luckily the crazy family with the two little kids weren't there. Every one loved it. 

I swear to you all that we taught the teacher off of Charlie Brown... I hate when stuff like this happens. We contact for awhile and happen to get into a house but the person is really old and doesn´t understand anything. We got into a house and the grandma didn´t look too old but she was missing teeth and talked like the Charlie Brown teacher. We didn´t understand anything. We left her with a pamphlet and asked if we could finish with a prayer... She didn´t understand anymore than we understood her. She kept saying... no after... when my husband gets home. I Feel like the devil puts people like them in our path so we just waste time. We were laughing pretty hard though. 

This week we had our conference and we had a total of 24 people leave this cambio and the next. They all had to give there testimony and the conference went really long. It was a really good conference but it went really long. My comp had to give his testimony. We were all giving him crap because he goes home soon. He then reminded me that the next Conference I would be giving mine. It was really funny. President had an AP in the back with a hymn book and if they went over two minutes he would hold it up. 

While I was waiting for the call on Thursday I was looking at the email you guys have sent me that I had never seen...I had seen pictures of the yard and other stuff. But...I thought I would never say this.. I might look into going to BYU. I guess if there aren´t as many people going it would be a little easier to get into and being an RM would be better... I thought I would never say this but... See what you can do to get me in....

Well I´m excited to talk to you guys this Sunday. I think we are going to do it at 2:00-2:30pm your time. 

Well Had to do numbers again so its short... Love you all miss you tons!

Elder Torgersen

April 29, 2013

Hello Friend and Family!

Today has been really crazy! We woke up at 6:00am to come back up to Chillan to come to Consejo. We met with the Mission President, Assistants, and all the Zone leaders to talk about the mission. Now we are still in Chillan so that my comp can say goodbye to his converts. He has 3 weeks left in the mission and we thought we would take advantage of coming to Chillan to say goodbye. 

This week has been really good for us. Wed and Thursday we worked with new elders in the mission. It was one of the craziest days we have ever had. We had about 4 interviews and luckily they came so we could split up and go to all the interviews. We also had to wake up super early to get them to the stake center on the other side of Conce! 

Monday I almost got deported. We had to do my second visa and my ID card here and they kept sending me back and forth to other places. I got to the right place and told them what had been happening and the lady said I would have had to pay about $60 but she was going to drop it. Luckily now, Elder Torgersen in now legal In CHILE!! WOO

We had problems with every person that was interviewed. Every single one of them had problems. We could have met our goal for the month but they couldn´t get baptized. We than had to sit in front of everyone today and explain why we didn´t meet our goal. Lets just say the whole mission is doing about as well as we were. It was really sad. Pres kind of put on his football coach voice and told us we need to step it up. 

I´m really getting sick of the stuff that happens in our sacrament meeting. We have a family that has two little kids, Felipe (4) Matias(2). They are always running crazy around the sacrament meeting and we can´t do anything about it. We have so many problems in sacrament. The deacons basically crawl over people to give them the sacrament and it is really irreverent. We also had an activity and the only people that came were about 5 new converts and 3 INV´s. It was really sad. We have been getting really frustrated with the members. 

We have been getting a lot of lessons and people have been going to church but they aren´t wanting to accept a baptismal date. It is really ticking us off because in other sectors they get them with a date and don't go to church. We can't ever mix the two together. 

We had a lesson with a lady named Cecilia. She had a member friend from about 30 years ago. We got her to go to church and as we were walking there she started talking about her member friend that served a mission and she lost contact of him. As she was walking out... guess who she found.. yes the member. We have started to have lessons with the two and we told her that he is able to baptize. Her whole idea about church and everything has changed. It was so cool!

We had a small miracle yesterday. The family Ferriera has been really catholic and the only one that has wanted anything was the daughter. We ended up sharing with the whole family and the dad was really excited to share with us. During a lesson he said, I don´t know what it is but about the time that you all came by... our house has been a lot more peaceful and we have completely stopped fighting. They said they fought every day. He said that and the wife and daughter completely agreed. I had been thinking about how we could help them out... Then all of a sudden a members family came to my mind... We had a lesson yesterday with them with the members. It was amazing how well they mashed together. They ended up having the exact same doubts and a lot of the same problems. I was sitting there listening to the situation and the scripture in Alma 34:31-33 came to my mind.

 31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and ^aharden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the ^bday of your^csalvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and ^dharden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

 32 For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors.

 33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many^awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not^bprocrastinate the day of your ^crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the^dnight of ^edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

In the end of the lesson She ended up praying that she would have a change of heart and feel the spirit. It was one of the most spiritual lessons We have had in a long time! It was so cool!

We had consejo and now we have a zone conference on Thursday. Guess who gets to go early to set everything up... Yep you´re right... Elder Torgersen and Elder Baucom. 

Each month the ZL´s meet with the stake pres and he told us some interesting stuff the attendance in conce is about around 300 in the stake... We baptized a total of 100 in 2012. The math came out to only growing 3 people. It is like we have a glass filled with water and we just keep adding more... The more you put in... the same falls out. It is really sad that we can´t seem to maintain these people in church. 

Well not much else happening. Keep praying for me and my comp and especially for the families we are teaching. Love you all and miss you tons!

Elder Torgersen

P.S. Luggage is amazing. Every ones luggage sucks, the wheels keep falling off... Mine are perfectly fine! I rate it a two thumbs up!

April 22, 2013

Hello Friends and Family!

This week has gone a lot better. I have been doing numbers so I don´t have much time. I´m glad to hear Ethan´s papers were sent in!! I´m so excited!  We have been getting some of the other elders to finally step up. It has been quite a fight. I´ve come to find out that you cannot force anyone to do anything. We have been having trouble with elders just kind of going through the motion but not really doing what they need to. It has been extremely frustrating because they are getting baptisms but they really aren´t working that hard. They spent 4 hours at a wedding and they didn´t do anything there. There were 100´s of people and they didn´t contact anyone... A Mormon church filled with 100´s of non members and what did they do... Nothing!! So frustrating. 

We were walking in the street the other day walking home to find a group of three kids. All of a sudden they started talking in English. It was really funny because the first thing they say is ¨Sorry, I´m a little drunker¨ Not only do they kind of speak English... They were a little ¨drunker¨ Me and my comp started busted up laughing! We started talking to them in English and invited them to our English class.

We contact a lot of apartment buildings and we have come to the conclusion that all the chosen people are always on the last floor... and no there aren´t elevators. We have to climb 5 floors to find someone to teach. It is really quite funny. We are determined to contact every top floor because that is were every one is that wants to listen to us. 

We did a mini cambio during a meeting we had with the Ward mission leader so that we didn´t lose all the time of us 4 being there. During the cambio I was with elder Diaz from Columbia. We were walking and all of a sudden we found a guy laying on the ground. He had blood all down his front covering his shirt and tie. He was around 60 years old. He wasn´t moving and then all of a sudden he sits up and asks where he was. He was completely wasted! He couldn´t even stand up with out our help. We ended up having to take his phone and call almost every number in his phone (didn´t have any contacts) We finally got a hold of a grandson and had to wait 15 minutes for him to come. The guy gets there and is this huge dude with a wicked beard. They guy speaks in English and says he was a member. It was a really funny deal. 

We ended up getting a whole family to church this week. Please pray for the family Ferriera. They are awesome. We are really excited because at first they were ¨Really catholic¨ We have gotten them to church twice and this time the dad came! We ended up doing service for them and I got to run a chainsaw... haha we were cutting firewood and he was surprised at how well I ran the chain saw and an axe. We cut all of the firewood in about an hour. Thanks for the training Dad!

I finally had to go and buy a smaller back pack. I suggest to Ethan to not get a big back pack. Tell him to find a smaller back pack that is just big enough to fit scriptures. I have felt a lot better having a smaller back pack. It is so much lighter and is a lot easier. 

I found out this last week that 3 people I had been teaching in Linares got baptized a while ago. It is really cool to see the fruits after I had left the sector. It was really cool to hear about that.

I´m sorry for having complained about the sister missionaries. It just seems I always am having to deal with the bad ones. We had to go to a meeting today because now every mission in the world is going to have sister missionary leaders. There are sisters training with 6 weeks in the mission. It´s amazing because Pres has no idea what to do. There are more sisters coming in then we already have. It is going to be a huge change. 

Well we have a lesson this wed at 6:30 in the morning. Never thought that would happen. Pray that Luis will want to get baptized. We have a lesson with the bishop and that´s the only time he could meet with us!

Well gotta head out. Well I love you all and miss you tons. Looking forward to seeing where Ethan goes!

Love,

Elder Torgersen

April 15, 2013

Hello Everyone!

Sounds like this week has been tough for all of us! 

Monday we were in a threesome with the other elder in our house and we only had half the time to work in our sector. We ended up having a lot of success though. We ended up teaching a lot of people.

Tuesday... Guess who got to be station managers for cambios... OF COURSE.... WE DID!!! That means we had to run all of the cambios and make sure everyone got on the right bus at the right time for the transfers. We had to make sure all of the people had all their bags on the bus and leaving. We were at the Bus terminal from 8:00am till almost 5:00PM. It was so crazy! We were so sick of sitting around and waiting and just sitting in the terminal. We also had a sister missionary that had two huge bags, a medium sized bag that the wheels were broken, three back packs and two purse kind of things. We ended up having to carry it about 5 blocks so she could get on a bus. A bunch of the missionaries were yelling at here to lighten the load. It was ridiculous. We finally were able to leave but not before getting back before 6:00. 

The other day we were walking outside of an apt building and my comp was looking at something and wasn´t watching where he was walking. I looked up just to see him walk straight into a pole from a clothes line. The bar was running horizontal and was just high enough to cross square with his forehead. The sound was awesome. Luckily the bar had some give and just moved back and forth. I had seriously never laughed so hard in my life. I was laughing all day long. I couldn´t stop!! It has been so funny working with him because he is always falling over or hitting something. It has definitely been pretty crazy with him. 

So I was thinking about conference and I was thinking about how you guys could help. I want you guys to invite Landon and his family to come to a ward activity or to read the BOM. I figured you could all help with the work and be member missionaries. I want you all to invite someone to read the BOM. I think it would be a really cool experience for all of you.

So this week we had literally talked to everyone that we could have. We talked to everyone in the street and we are really struggling to find new people. We have been pretty frustrated because we haven´t found any news and we´ve talked to everyone! We have been kind of in a slump. We are working really hard but we aren´t seeing any success. 

I just got a letter from Grandpa Kratchen. I was glad to hear from him! It was really cool that he emailed me. Tell everyone that president has now authorized email for all communications. We can even write RC. Tell Grandpa thanks!

The new missionary that just came to our house is an elder from Honduras. His name is Elder Sosa. He is a really clean person. He cleaned the whole house the first week he was here. It has been really cool. We all feel bad because he keeps cleaning everything. It has been really nice though. We have even got my comp to clean his stuff up. Me and Elder Sosa are the cleaning nazi´s. I had my hair cut again... An elder in the house did it. I know you all are shocked right now but it looks really good just short. My comp ended up doing it too and president said we look really good. 

 

Dad! How do you get the elders in your quorum excited about doing visits and stuff. We have a bunch of elders in our zone that are completely just dead... they don´t want to do anything. They are working but don´t have any excitement. We are getting really frustrated because they come to the District class and don´t take notes and just kind of sit there. What would be your advice?

We are still trying to get a couple people baptized. They come to church every week but want to ¨wait to get baptized¨ We are going to try a couple things this week to try and get them baptized. 

packages got here and the pants fit. 

We are visiting them this week. The family Cantero is doing great!

No Patience for the sister missionaries is getting slim...

Release date is August 12 I think... Quit reminding me. 

Well I´m gonna try and write Ethan back. I´ve also got to do a lot of other stuff... Well I love you all and miss you tons.

Elder Torgersen.