Hello Friends and Family!!

Yes we have been dying of heat down here! It has been baking us. It has been so hot. It is really difficult to walk out of the house after lunch from sitting in front of a fan. 

We are so sick of the dog that we are seriously ready to kill it. It doesn´t matter if we throw rocks at it and yell at it... it still follows us. We don´t understand because it is blazing hot and the stupid thing still follows us. We have learned he doesn´t like water so we walk around with water bottles and throw it on him when he is following. 

This week went really well. It was kind of slow for us but we were able to have our 11th baptism. We have baptized every month since I have gotten here. It has been really awesome.

Our RC gave us a reference and he got baptized this last Saturday. We had him confirmed and the two other little kids. MP has asked that we save the two front rows in sacrament for our INVs. We had a family of three come yesterday and had them sit in front. It was really good because there was a bunch of crap happening behind them, kids crying, kids fighting, people talking and leaving every ten seconds. They said they loved church after. We ended up passing by their house and put them with a baptismal date. The daughter had a baptismal date with the adventista church. We were really excited because we walked in and now she has a different baptismal date in the true church. :) The mom loves us. We had a FHE with them the other day and she was busting up laughing. She said she didn´t know what it was about us but we are just crazy and full of energy and are always laughing and smiling. They loved  church though. They had a lot of questions and were wondering about the sacrament. 

I have one week left and I will be getting a new comp. There is a chance that I will either train a newby or get a new comp that will be able to take the sector over when I leave. I am really excited. I feel like I have been Kind of jipped off. I see all of the other leaders in the mission and they are with really good missionaries and are having success. and then here I am with a comp that doesn´t do anything, and i´m doing everything alone. I really hope President gets me a new comp that I get along with and really helps out. I´m so sick of having to just deal with comps instead of really get along with them like one of my friends. I kind of just put up with them until I leave or until they leave.

Elder Bracken is going home this next week. I´m really kind of bummed. He is the awesome ZL and now is leaving me with the one that is a jerk. We aren´t too excited about it. But I needed to send some stuff home and he said he is willing to take it in his bags. His parents are coming to get him and his dad is going to talk to the youth in the stake and the missionaries. He said that he is going to come by the house to meet you guys and bring the stuff by. 

I still haven't gotten the package from grandma. We had a conference this last Wed and didn´t get home until almost 10:00 at night. It was really good. 

Today we chilled with the two little kids we baptized the last week. We decided to go and buy water balloons and have a war in the street. There isn´t much to do here in Coihueco. haha but we had fun. We ended up going over to the INV´s that we have and tried to get them to come out of the house. They wouldn´t come out but the mom let us in a side garage thing and while they weren´t watching we drenched the kids. It was pretty funny. The mom absolutely loves us. She was busting up laughing when we got the kids. 

I know this week is going to be really long because all I´m going to be thinking about is getting a new comp. I´m really excited to get someone that can help me carry the load. 

10th Baptism in Coihueco!!!

Hello friends and family:

 

Well this week we had another successful week.

We have two weeks left in the cambio and I´m just about done with my comp. I´m so sick of doing everything alone. My ZL´s have come to the conclusion that they think he has a learning disability. I have noticed that he is really slow at reading... like really struggles to read. The ZL asked me if I knew anything. They are pretty sure he has a learning disability or something. He has certain things he doesn´t like doing. It has really been a struggle.

We had a mini cambio for only a couple hours on Thursday. I was really kind of ticked. I went to another sector with Elder Bracken and we taught about 6 lessons in about 3 hours. The other ZL gets to our sector, goes to the interview that was supposed to be at 7, does the interview and comes back to his sector. We ended up teaching a ton of lessons in his sector, and not getting any in ours. E´ Bracken was really kind of ticked.

This last week we had our 10th and a half baptism. haha the half is because the family is a part member family and the youngest kid is only 8 so it counts for the branch. We are still pretty happy. The actual baptism was one of the most spiritual baptisms we have had. The whole family came with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. It was really good because we ended up getting two new families to teach. It was really cool.

The family had a huge BBQ with all the family and they invited us. It was really crazy. The whole family was there and there was a ton of meat. It was so good.

Well yes... after exactly a week... The stupid dog returned. 1 Nephi 4:12 12 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands; has been running through my head all week. We have tried everything to try and get rid of the dog. We had heard if you give them Ibuprofen it will kill him... I´m willing to do whatever to kill this stupid thing. It smells horrible and we were doing great without it. Any ideas on how to kill it quickly and silently?

Still no package from Gma Torgersen. I will know this wed. We have another Conference. I guess all the district leaders are going to get an ear full because the district leader in every zone is baptizing but his district isn´t. I´m not excited about it.

Yes elder Coronado got his package his says thanks. He really thought the stuff in it was really good.

I had saved all of my 10 pesos since I got here in Coihueco and recently took them in to see how much was... I had about $15 in 10 pesos. It was so crazy. We had to buy some stuff for a family night and the people in the store needed ten pesos. I told them I had a lot and would bring them. After, The lady had to count them and she wasn´t too happy about doing it.

We went to chillan today and I found the wife of a convert from Los Volcanes. They are planning on going to the temple in November. Kind of a bummer I´m not gonna be here. I thought it was cool they were going to get sealed.

Well not much happened this week and I don´t have much time. Love you all and miss you tons. I will send pics next week. the computer is kind of a piece this week.

Elder Torgersen

I'm dying of heat!!

Hello friends and family:

Well it sounds like you guys are getting the opposite of what we are getting. It has been about 95 to 100 degrees here. We are dying from the heat. It has been so hot this week we literally haven´t wanted to move from in front of a fan. None of the houses have AC down here and all the houses are freaking hot. The other day we literally took our shirts off, soaked them and walked out of the house. My comp thought I was nuts but sure enough 10 minutes later he was doing it. 

I had my first interview this week. But... I went into the other sector to do it and right before I did it we found out the guy was already baptized. Don´t worry it gets worse. They had been teaching him for 3 months. He had told them he was a twin brother of a member and had never been baptized. All the members had told the missionaries and they didn´t tell me. So we found out he was really the brother... and that he was gay. It was quite the experience. I was pretty ticked off. They wasted time and now they don´t have anyone to teach.

 

This week we had interviews with the MP and he told me he knows that I have been working basically alone. He said he knows that it has been me doing everything. He said I will most likely be staying in Coihueco and my comp will go. He said he is going to get me a comp that I can hand off the sector to and then get me out into another sector to train a newby. He said prepare yourself to take the next step up. By that he basically means I will either get a bigger district or I will be a Zone leader. I´m a little nervous. It was good to hear that he can trust me and that I´m doing great. It was also good to know that he knows I´m doing everything. He said I might not be able to see it but my comp really looks up to me. He said he has had a really rough time and is just happy to be having success. He said I haven´t taken him out because I know you can help him out, and have already helped him out. He said even though I am really kinda struggling... I´m learning and I´m helping him out and he´s enjoying the journey. I felt a little better after I had heard that. He also said that the Stake President here in CHILLAN absolutely loves me. I thought it was kind of funny. 

I finally got our Christmas packages. They were really funny this year. They had a lot of good treats in them also. I was excited to get some of the weird gifts from you guys. I have decided I was going to give away a couple of the things to a couple kids. Hope you guys don´t mind...

We were supposed to play paintball today but MP said everyone has to say yes... guess who was the only one to say no... MY COMP. Yes I am still ticked off. The whole Zone is mad because we couldn´t play because he was a girl about it. But we decided to have a water fight. We bought water guns and water balloons and had a war with 16 elders and 4 sisters. It was really kind of funny. I did get to throw the football around though.

Funny story...  on the bus coming back into Coihueco I fell asleep. The people in front of me had a little kid that was crying, I didn´t think much about it and fell asleep. I wake up with the little kids face in front of me. He was probably 3 or 4. I looked at him for a second, and... stuck my tongue out and made a weird face... He looks at me and busts up laughing. For the next 15 minutes he would hide behind the seat and poke his head out. Each time I would make a different face. We seriously busting up laughing by the time we got off the bus. His mom couldn´t figure out what I was doing because he had settle down in her lap but kept looking over the seat. I didn´t have anything to give him but I was tempted to give him my name tag that has a magnet on it. They are really cheap and I don´t use it much. He was the funniest little kid. I´m really hoping we can find them again. I know that he lives in Coihueco and close to where we live. 

We are still trying to get on TV. We are going to do it this week. 

The neighbor we haven´t been able to talk to her yet...

In church Sunday we had 8 out of the 9 converts there. Two blessed the sacrament and one passed it. First week I haven´t had to do it. The branch is really happy with the new converts. They are awesome. I know that the young guy we just baptized is talking to our BP about a mission. And Juan the 17 year old wants to start working with us so we can help him prepare. I´m really pleased with them. It is so cool to see the change they have had. 

BIG NEWS... oh my gosh I almost forgot... WE GOT RID OF THE DOG! I was so sick of it that we walked out into the country and I killed it... NO JUST KIDDING. haha the assistants came out with the van and we threw it in and drove out of coihueco and dropped it off in a field by a couple houses. NO way he´s coming back. Don´t worry he´s got a horse and a cow as a friend. He was really happy when we got him out. He took off running. 

Well not much else this week. We do have another baptism this Saturday. We are baptizing two kids of a less active. They are really cool. Well love you all and miss you tons.

Elder Torgersen

Hello Friends and Family!

This week has been pretty good. Nothing much happening. We are in the process of finding new people to teach. We received news this week that we are now not allowed to baptized kids younger than 18 years old. I´m a little frustrated about this so i´m not sure what to do. Supposedly MP said that we are not allowed to baptized kids that we are now focusing on families. It is good that we are focusing on families but we are now rejecting the chance for kids to be baptized. They used the statistic that 85% of kids baptized under 18 years old are inactive.... But we have 5 missionaries from other countries that were baptized younger than 18 that are now serving missions. I feel like we don´t have the right to judge them like that. We could reject a kid from being baptized and that kid could go inactive but then comeback to be the next Branch Prez. we´ve got interviews on Thursday so I think I will be talking to pres.

I had my first mini cambio as a DL. It went really slow the first day because it was new years and everyone was wasted, getting wasted, passed out, or the had visitors. We really didn´t find any news. We are really struggling to find good news. I have had a hard time keeping the faith that we will find good news. But we have been doing really good with our obedience. We weren´t out with girls or anything serious we were just leaving the house late or getting home late. We are getting a lot better with it.

So the other day we were playing soccer with a bunch of members and INV´s behind the church in the soccer court when all of a sudden two drunk guys come stumbling by. All of a sudden we look up and one guy is squatted down next to a tree... WE could NOT believe it!! He was going to the bathroom. One of the Recent converts yells, Hey you need some toilet paper, he looks at us and keeps doing his business. Everyone that was there was busting up laughing. It was pretty messed up.

We were really happy Sunday in church. We had 4 inv´s in church and two of our RC blessed and passed the sacrament. Another one got up and shared their testimony. It was awesome.

We found out yesterday there is a inactive RM that lives right in front of our house. She served a mission two years before I was born and now is inactive. It was really funny because we were trying to find her and her husband said that she was working in Santiago. As we were walking into the house 2 hours later she was outside watering her plants. We laughed walked over to her and started talking to her. She said when her husband starts drinking he tells everyone she is in Santiago. She has the biggest house and three full fields of raspberries. We ate a ton of raspberries while we taught her. The coolest less active and she lives right in front of us.

We found out a member has connections with the TV here in Coihueco and also with the radio. WE ARE GOING TO BE ON TV AND ON THE RADIO! yes, we are in a little town but it´s gonna be funny. We are announcing our Activity and when our church is open. One thing that really bugs me is that all the churches in The states and in other countries it says the name of the church and visitors welcome. None of the churches have that here.

Well I have my first Interview tomorrow and I´m a little nervous. I´m really kind of excited though! It should be really good.

Well still no packages. We have interviews on Thursday so I´m sure I will get them then.

As far as my tooth it doesn´t hurt but it is sensitive.

Well not much else has happened. Love you all and miss you tons.

Elder Torgersen

Feliz año Nuevo

Hello Friends and Family!

¡Feliz Navidad y feliz año Nuevo! or Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!

This week has been pretty good. Last week was my second week as DL. I have had to teach our district class and check on the other sector in my district. It has been kind of a pain having to worry about them. I have a mini cambio with them tomorrow.

Saturday, we had the Baptism for Richy. We have now had 9 baptisms in 4 months. We are pushing ZL numbers. They are beating us by one baptism. President is extremely happy with us and what we are doing.

It has really bugged me but one out of the 9 baptisms that we have had is a little iffy. She changes her mind a lot and is just a little weird sometimes. We had a sister in our ward tell us that we shouldn´t have baptized her. She passed the interview and was ready to be baptized. It really drives me nuts and really ticks me off when people judge MY CONVERTS when they don´t know anything. She told us that we shouldn´t have ever baptized her because she is going to go inactive. I´m sorry but it isn´t our job to judge if they are going to stay active or not. Our job is to get them to the gate of baptism. and then hand them off to the branch. It really bugs me when people judge our converts. I´m sure no one ever thought that the ex president would ever go inactive but right now he doesn´t want anything to do with the church. No one ever knows what will happen.

PRAYERS HAVE FINALLY BEEN ANSWERED!!! WE HAVE A NEW MISSION LEADER!! He is the RM that his family moved from Los Volcanes where I was before. He is still motivated to work and is really excited to help us. He told us I´m going to make it so that you guys will never have to knock a single door again. We are really excited! We have some good activities planned and are really excited to work with him.

We are working with a 13 year old kid named Felipe. He is the son of a member but hasn´t wanted anything to do with the missionaries or the church. We have started inviting him to play soccer and he actually came to church this last Sunday. We are going to keep working with him. The Missionaries before kept pushing and pushing to get baptized and he got scared and wouldn´t do it. We are going to work really slow with him and see what we can do.

Yes while trying to cook sausages, Charcoal and cement exploded sending hot ashes and chunks of cement into my face and eyes. Couldn´t have happened 5 seconds before, had to happen right as I got there. Luckily nothing got in my eyes and I didn´t get hurt. I did have a pretty crazy burn close to my eye. But I´m all good. I will not be cooking those again...

I had a mini Cambio with my ZL so that he could show me all the things I have to do as a DL. During the mini cambio we were walking in front of a house that I had felt we needed to pass by for awhile but could never find the time. We were walking in front of the house and all of a sudden He walks up to the house and knocks on the door. A young mom, Sandra, opened the door, We didn´t even have time to say anything and she tells us to come in. We took a look at each other, shrugged and walked in. We sat down on her couch and she says that she has seen us pass by multiple times and that we are always happy with huge smiles on our faces. She said that she had seen us passing by playing with the kids for a couple minutes in the street in front of her house and she said that she noticed something different about us. She said she knew we were from a church but didn´t know which but we always seemed to have a light about us. She said We just looked different, Happier and brighter than anyone she has ever seen. Then walks in the two daughters. Camila, 15 years old and Katherine, 13. We started teaching them and the older daughter tells us she has been going to the adventista church. I have never seen someone so young know the bible like she did. Luckily I had just put a Scripture guide in my bible backing up our doctrine. We shared with her the Restoration and about baptism. She had a baptismal date with the adventistas and we came walking in and put her with a new one. My ZL asked her if we have the authority to baptize, would it do any good getting baptized in the other church, after a second she said No and accepted a date to get baptized. It was one of the coolest lessons I have ever had. The next day they were actually in the plaza doing some paperwork and they came to the church to do a tour. I have no idea how but the doors to the font were opened and we were able to show them the font. They were really fascinated with it. they said they had never seen anything like it. We are excited to help this family. The mom has had a rough time. The dad just left her and she had just separated from him. We are hoping they continue progressing.

I found out that Chile is supposedly a 3rd world country. Not sure if it is true or not. I have really started to think about the different classes here. It is really kind of sad. One neighbor has a four door jeep with a huge house and the next is sleeping on dirt floors with barely enough money to buy bread. I feel really bad for a couple of the people I have been teaching. We have been teaching in a sector that the government has given people houses because they are too poor to buy one or because their house was destroyed in the Earthquake. There are really humble people and also really kind of trashy people that are doing drugs, smoking, drinking or whatever completely wasted inside the house while the kids are running around outside half dressed and without food. From what we have heard the new sector in Coihueco has brought a whole new group of people into Coihueco. We have heard there are a lot more drunks, drugs, and robberies. It is really kind of sad.

I just got another email from President and he said, ¨You are doing great and will be a very good leader. I can't believe the progress you have made just being in this sector. Don't worry about the dog. It isn't' yours and tell the lady to call so they can come and pick it up. That would solve the problem Congrats with all you are doing and keep working hard. You have been a great example to your companion. He will be eternally grateful to you.¨ I guess when he did the cambios he decided to keep us together because he said he wasn´t going to put me with another great missionary because he wanted me to stay with him and help him get better. I guess there is something more I have to learn from him.

Today we did something that I have never done before... We straight up killed a lamb, skinned it, cleaned it, and we are going to cook it later on today with a family. for lunch we ate lamb liver, heart, and lungs. I didn´t really like the lungs but the liver and heart weren´t too bad. I also braided intestine, cooked it and ate it. I also tried tongue. definitely the weirdest, grossest thing I have ever done.

By the way I do not have an accent!! I will find out tomorrow if I have more packages. Pants are a 32 x 29. If you can find Grey and light weight it would be great.

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

Elder Torgersen