Monday, May 31, 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

Dear family,

Hey so its been great here in Quilicura this week. Its definitely way different than Recoleta and it has its own challenges here but I´m learning a lot of new things and we´re working hard. Sorry I don´t have any more of an exact address but basically my area is just north of the hill in a little valley. We also have a small part north of the freeway also. Sorry I forgot to take pictures of our apartment and sector so I´ll have to get them to you next week. It rained a lot this weekend and now the Andes are covered in snow, its a pretty awesome sight. I´ll take some pictures. Its a different world here. The houses in the valley called Valle Lo Campino are huge compared to other house in Chile and I feel like I´m in the US again except every speaks spanish. The people are definitely a bit less accepting in this part but we´re having good growing experiences. We found 6 new investigators this week and they accepted baptismal dates but I feel its going to be a bit difficult with them, they don´t seem very prepared but we´ll still work hard with them. We´re working hard to find a family, we both feel there is a family out there waiting for us to find them that has been prepared by the Lord. Almost everyone of my baptisms has been really easy on our part because the Lord had prepared them beforehand. I know thats what we are expected to do, find these people. We´ve had some good experiences serving the members. We went over to a members house for this one guy thats about 45 years old but looks like he´s 70 because he has many health problems, he´s on dialysis and has cysts all over. He asked me to give him a blessing of comfort and we had a really neat experience during that. The ward here is a lot bigger than in Recoleta thats why we have 4 missionaries here. We´re trying to do everything we can to work with the members because thats how we baptize.

So glad that mom found the secret of monovision.. thats kinda creepy haha. You can only see good out of one eye? That would drive me nuts. And dad´s experience is pretty cool. I´ll be praying that everything turns out good with your missionary opportunity. Man tell clayton to stop sending me spam links. Every week I think I finally got an email from him and its just a spam link haha. Laziness. Well enjoy the heat there! The mission is amazing and I´m loving it more every week! Sorry if I didn´t answer all your questions, if you have any more just ask. Don´t forget to look for the patriarchal blessings of my grandparents, I would still like to read that and also if you guys can send me some more pictures of the family in email or in a letter that´d be nice :) Thanks, Les amo,

Elder Webb

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

Dearest family,


So this week was definitely an exciting one. We had an amazing lesson with a reference that we got from the church offices. She accepted a bautismal date so fast it made me tear up a bit. The spirit was really strong and testified to me that Andrea was going to be baptized and change the lives of a lot of people. Then two days ago we had another lesson with her and she told us that she had been praying so that when she told her parents she was going to be baptized, they would support her even though she´s 26 and can choose for herself. She told us she talked with her parents and they told her flat out that it is an awesome decision. They also said if she gets baptized they´ll also investigate the church and its most likely that they´ll be baptized too. That was such a great blessing. She is one of the most prepared people I´ve ever met.


Unfortunately I´m not going to be there for her baptism though. We had changes today and I finally got my turn. I´m sure gonna miss Recoleta but I know that the Lord wants me to help and find other people. I´m not in the part of Santiago called Quilicura. Its about 40 mins north and west of Recoleta. Our ward is called Lo Campino and we are in the sector of Lo Campino 2 because we have 4 missionaries in our ward. My new comp is called Elder Boyce and he´s from Idaho haha so I got myself another gringo. Our address is Los Condores 1214 Villa Tijerales, Quilicura, Santiago in case you want to look it up. He´s been out on the mission for 3 months more than me. He seems like a great elder and I know we´re gonna work hard together. Our area looks like its been having some hard times so we are gonna find those people that are prepared to teach.


I just want to say how I know Presidente May is inspired. I was in Recoleta for many reasons, I have had so many experiences and one day I´ll be able to share them all with you guys but for now I just know that he puts us where we need to go. I´m here in Quilicura now and I know theres many things the Lord wants of me here. It is my responsibility to recognize the opportunities that the Lord gives me. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives and he changes lives. He is the only one that can. Sometimes God puts others in our path to help but really everything points to Christ and His infinite atonement.


I hope everyone is healthy and doing good. Keep up the work Dad and stay out of trouble Clayton. Love you guys,


Elder Webb
ps, thanks for the story from your mission dad that was definitely inspiring.. and, Go Suns!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Monday, May 17, 2010

Dearest family,

Its good to hear that Dad´s working in the temple. Thats pretty awesome. Sounds like things are going really good back at home. Mom, I don´t know how you always get stuck with the stupid bosses but it´ll be good for you haha. Clayton´s gonna get a car, man, he better get a good one and not waste his money. Oh and it sounds like this series between the Suns and the Lakers is gonna be a good one. Its time for Steve to win a ring. That garden looks pretty good, lots of tomatoes. People eat so many tomatoes here, I think I growing to like them a little bit.

Well we had a great week here in Recoleta. Yesterday we had two baptisms. One was the 18 year old Katterine that couldn´t get baptized last week because she had the chicken pox. And the other was 75 year old Cecila. That was an awesome sight. She also asked another member that is also about 70 years old to baptize her. It was like slow motion when he baptized her but overall an awesome experience. They both are going to be amazing members. Katterine is really active in all the church clases and is already talking about how it would be nice to serve a mission. And to see a old lady have enough courage to change and be baptized was a miracle for me. I´ve never been able to be part of a baptism of anybody over 18 yet. Just proves how its harder to change when you´ve lived longer but its never impossible. It was an amazing experience.

We´ve definitely had some crazy experiences contacting people. I´m not talking bad about Chile or anything but alcohol definitely has its problems here. We´ve had interesting experiences talking with the drunkards. I know one day we´ll be able to help someone give up drinking and change their life around. That would be unforgettable. Oh to answer your question about the dog, we basically just walked with the member down to the vet to put it to sleep then walked back with him, its just a great one liner to say we helped kill a dog for service this week. Everything else in Chile is going great. Its getting pretty darn cold and our little electric heaters keep breaking and so we basically just have to bundle up with three blankets at night haha. Also we got a lot of rain this friday and now the Andes mountains are covered in snow. I´ll try and take some pictures for you guys. Well keep me up to date on everyone in the family and try and send some pictures por favor :) I hope everyone is well and make sure you guys are praying as a family every night! ¡Les amo mucho!

Elder Webb

Monday, May 10, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

Hola familia,

So the Suns swept the Spurs... sweet revenge. Thats definitely music to my ears. Now we just need to sweep the Lakers. Keep me up to date with this series. I actually won´t be angry that I missed the Suns finally win it because Steve Nash deserves a ring. Anyways, it was nice to talk to you guys yesterday. The rule in our mission is that we can´t talk for more than 40 mins when we call so thats why I didn´t buy a card with more minutes. But at least it worked out good. Sorry that my english is bad. Man its really getting harder to remember certain phrases. You guys better learn some Spanish because next time I´m not speaking english! But anyways, I´m glad that mom and Clayton are happy, traveling to work together everyday and Clayton is staying out of trouble for the most part and Dad will be able to keep himself occupied at the temple. There isn´t a better thing that you could be doing Dad and I know that soon you will be able to spend even more time working there. So I do want to ask for something that I forgot to mention yesterday on the phone, I would really like more pictures of the family. I´m not asking for a package or anything but if you could send pictures of you guys, Jarem and Tara and the kids and Brendon and his kids and other family that you can find. Maybe if you could just send some over email and some other ones in a letter that would be really nice. Theres just a reason why I could use some more pictures and I know it´ll help out. :)

So this week was great even though we´ve had some troubles with Katterine, she´s finally going to be baptized this Sunday. We´re also going to baptize a 72 year old lady that lives alone but loves watching Rambo and Fast and Furious and plays the guitar. She is so awesome. She´s had a lot of struggles in her life but nothing stops her and she basically just wants to be baptized and be a member of the church with her son. She´s a great example for me and she always makes us happy when we visit her humble little home. I know that the Lord guides us in this work and we are always lead to the people that the Lord has prepared for us, for His gospel. I´ve never enjoyed this work more and Chile is the best place for me to be. Thanks for everything. ¡Les amo mucho! Cuidense y no haga tonteras Clayton Lloyd. Chau,

Elder Webb

Monday, May 3, 2010

Monday May 3, 2010

Hola familia,

How are things going? I´m glad you finally got my package. And dad I didn´t wrap it with tape, it was the guy in the mail room. I´ll probably ask to put more tape on the next one. At least it came through in one piece. And no I won´t be taking money out regularly and I do have plenty of money from the mission. I took some out for your package and to buy a couple things for some converts. And also I will have a nice surprise for you guys this Christmas.

So Clayton is finally dating. Its about time, haha jk. I actually know who Brandy is, thats kinda funny. Anyways, so I did hand out those pink stickers to these girls and they liked them. They didn´t understand them and we told them it means I´m a Son of God. Haha no we didn´t say that but I was glad to put them to good use.

So this Sunday is mothers day here. May 9th. I dont know if its the same there but we´re going to be calling this sunday. I´m gonna go hunt down an calling card which I think I can buy for about 6 bucks so it shouldn´t be too bad. But I´ll be calling from a members house and from a landline this time. I don´t know if it´ll be more expensive because I´m calling your cell phone but we´ll see. You should send an email with the land line from the house in case theres an emergency and it doesnt work with your cell phones. I´ll call you guys at about 3 or 3:30 Chile time which should be around 12 or 12:30 Arizona time if I´m not mistaken So you might have to leave church early. I´ll be calling from the number 02-7176343 so if I don´t call by 4 Chile time then something is probably wrong and you should try calling me. I´ve also heard that you can download the program Skype on Claytons laptop or your computer for free and call from the computer for really cheap. That could be an option also if my call doesnt work.

So this week has been a good one! Jonathan is an amazing convert. He was confirmed yesterday which was a great experience. This whole week he´s been asking about the temple and what he needs to do to be able to go and do baptisms. He should be getting the priesthood in a couple of weeks. He has a pretty amazing conversion story. Before he had pretty much lost everything in his life and had troubles with drugs but all of the sudden everything changed because he talked with his family that are members. And now if you look at him, its harder to find someone that is more humble than him. He´s a great example for me. Also, next week we should finally have the baptism of Katterine who was a Jehova Witness so that in itself is a miracle. We are also working with her mom who seems really interested and I feel like we can make an eternal family here. The work is going forward here in Recoleta. We reactivated a man who once was really active and alway helped out the missionaries but fell away. We just talked with him, shared our testimonies and committed him to church. He came to church and then after told us that he will never miss church again and will always be a faithful member. What a difference the gospel and the Spirit makes in the lives of the people.

This week we had a very interesting service project. We helped a member go put his dog down because it was suffering. As I´ve already said, theres millions of dogs here and a lot live in the street. I think Elder Coats and I have decided that dogs are Satan´s tools here in the mission because they always seem to distract the spirit in the lessons. But they help us learn patience.

Well thanks for the emails. I´ll be talking to guys Sunday, don´t forget! I know that this work is the work of the Lord and I love my mission. Thanks for everything. ¡Les amo mucho!

Elder Webb