10-26-09

It has been a really great week. Man, there is so much to say. The week went by so fast. I, too, am understanding more and more each day, which is great. Heavenly Father is really helping me. We had a Family Home Evening* last night for an hour and I just listened to it and I was able to understand a lot, so my comprehension is improving. My head literally hurt after listening to an hour of the fastest talking I have ever heard, but I am starting to understand more so that I can understand their stories. I understood the lesson really well- the brother who taught pronounces his words a little better than most. It is amazing that the Lord has helped me learn to understand so much Spanish in 11 weeks. But really, they speak soooo fast here. It is insane.

We are finding more people to teach, but sadly still a lot of people aren´t at the appointments we set with them, even when we leave a reminder for them. But I am so happy still, even when it happens, because this is the happiest work, and truly, sharing this happiness with others makes me happy. That is why I am here. But last week after I wrote you, we found some great people to teach, so Heavenly Father is definitely helping us.

We taught a really cool lady yesterday and we are going back next week to teach her family. We have lots of people that we are teaching but not many that are progressing right now.

My companion, Elder Reeder, and I are getting along so well, I love him. It is so great to have him as my trainer, I am learning so much from him.

We are always so busy on preparation day. Last week the kitchen was cleaned, the refrigerator, the microwave, and all. And today it is the bathroom that I want to clean. We were living with a lot of these little beatle bugs- they were everywhere. But I started sweeping them out the door this week and now we only see them every once in a while, and we sweep them out. There were quite a few before, they are harmless and just walk around the floor, but I won´t have that in my house! So the house is going to be completely clean after today, we are just going to buy food and then pay a bill after this and then go home.

Things are just going really well, and I am learning so much.

(*Family Home Evening is something we usually do on Monday nights. It’s a night we reserve for our families, to strengthen family relationships and create memories. We usually share a spiritual thought/lesson, play a game or some other fun activity, and have a treat.)

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

The message in this video is one that Brian and Scott share every day with those they meet, that Jesus Christ can help us with anything and everything.

The Best Way to Write Brian in Chile

Sorry this has taken so long. But here's the best way for you to write Brian in Chile.

1. Go to dearelder.com.
2. Where it says "Select Mission," go to Chile Osorno.
3. Click on "Write a Letter."
4. Enter your name and address, address it to Elder Brian Sheahan, then enter your e-mail address.
5. Write your letter and click "Send Letter."
6. You don't have to pay anything (you are not required to make a donation to the website). If you can, we'd definitely encourage you to do so at some point. I don't know who does it, but someone (probably lots of people) donates their time to printing out these letters each day. So at some point, if you are able, make a donation equal to the postage you would have paid.

If you ever have problems with your internet/computer crashing, it may be wise to write your letter in a word document (save it as you go along), and then paste it in afterward. You shouldn't have any problems, but that way you won't have to rewrite everything if something happens.

This is sent through the "pouch system." I don't know everything about it, but the letter is actually sent from Salt Lake City, along with lots of other letters to missionaries in the same area. Our church created this system because sometimes the mail in South America is unreliable, and things have gotten lost in the past. This ensures that your letter gets to Brian. (If you ever want to send a real letter or a package- which is really expensive to send, btw, leave a comment on this blog with your e-mail and I'll get you that address.)

Brian may get your letter anytime from one week to a month after you send it. It just depends when you send it, when the letter actually gets to Chile, and when he is able to get his mail from the mission office. Know that he appreciates your love and support very much. I know he would love to reply to everyone quickly, but remember that he's really, really busy.

Have a fabulous day! Happy writing!

10-19-09

Sorry I didn´t write too much last Preparation Day, we were in such a hurry, but we did get to do something super cool. We hiked through the forest above our city to see a waterfall! It was like nothing I´ve ever done before, I wish I could send you pictures. But it was like hiking through a rain forest, so cool, with members of the church, they used machetes.

This week has gone really well, my Preparation Day is Monday. We had Zone Conference last week, which was cool. President Lovell brings our mail with him to Zone Conference (which is every 6 weeks).

There is so much to talk about. My companion and I are getting along well, he’s cool. My Spanish is coming along, but it is still pretty tough. I am being patient- the people here talk soooo fast. It is crazy, but I can already understand much more than last week, the Lord is teaching me and helping me, and I really have felt His help here. The cool thing is that I have had experiences like Scott, like when teaching, where God really helps me speak much better Spanish than I know, and the people understand perfectly a story I tell or something, but then later after the lesson my Spanish goes back to where it was, not as good! But I have definitely felt help from Heavenly Father here. Like at Zone Conference, President Lovell taught in Spanish for over 2 hours and I understood 90 percent of it, I was able to learn all that he wanted to teach, because of help from Heavenly Father. Other times I don´t understand much, the people speak sooo fast here. But I am being patient and doing really well. It is really cool to be on a mission, an awesome experience.

A lot of the people here don´t really want to talk to us. Some people listen but they don´t keep their commitments (like being at the appointment they said they would be at), which is difficult. But I know that the Lord prepares people everywhere, and there are people here that we will meet who really are searching for the truth. I wish that I could write so much, but you can be happy knowing that I am keeping a great journal, and that you can read everything when I get back.

My momita is great, and her family is so nice. We are going to buy fresh made empanadas from her today! They are good. It hasn´t rained too much here so far. It is summer here, but the mornings still have been really cold! Very cold. But I am sleeping really well and doing great. My companion and I are working really hard and we are going to find someone amazing this week to teach about the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ. I am learning so much about missionary work here, and my testimony is as strong as ever, I just love this church and the happiness it brings me to know that it is true.

I am trying to think of some cool stories to tell you. We are going to clean the apartment today, because it is dirty and I am buying cleaning stuff. There was a baptism this week and two people were baptized.

One funny story is that when I got here I heard people call me a gringo, and I thought that meant a new missionary, because we call new missionaries greenies in the States. So I introduced myself like two times in the first couple days here as, I am gringo. What the word actually means is white man, or white boy. So I found that out and that is funny, I was saying, I am white man. But I only did it twice.

Pictures from the MTC

Scott sent pictures this week, but I don't think Brian is able to send pictures (at least through e-mail). So here are a couple Scott sent of the two of them.

10-12-09

Hola! ¿Como estan? I hope that all of you are doing really well. I am doing well, and now I´ll let you know how the last week has been. It has been good, hard, but good. The trip was so long, and by the time we got to Osorno I was so tired. The mission president and his wife are so nice and it was good to meet them. The first night we did a lot of orientation stuff and then we stayed the night in a hotel.

My first area is called Calle Calle, which means street street. I am in a town called Valdivia. My companion´s name is Elder Bryan Reeder, and he is from Mesa Arizona. He is soo cool and a great trainer. I am learning a lot from him. So this first week has been hard just because I can´t understand the people here. But it is getting easier. They just speak so fast, and I guess the speak the fastest Spanish in the world here, and they don´t pronounce very much, so it is really hard to understand, but mostly just because I am not used to it. But it is getting easier. We have a momita, who makes us lunch everyday and she and her family are members of the church, she also does our laundry and the church pays her for this. They are so nice. The food here is good, the bread is good, and we have eaten soup and pasta and meat this week.

So I have a cool story from the first week, from the first day. It is hard to understand people, but my first night we were tracting and I wanted to try to listen to what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. And then I just saw this guy and I felt like we should talk to him, and there were plenty of other people around. But we talked to him and it went well and he wanted to come to church with us this week, which sadly he didn´t, but a lot of people missed church because the time changed that night. But we are going to talk to him today, and hopefully it goes well. It just shows me that God really does direct us. I have had a lot of good experiences this week along with the hard ones. Some people are nice here and some are not just like in other parts of the world. But we found a family and taught them a good lesson the other day and we are going to see them again soon.

But I guess I don´t have much time today so I will write more details next week, but I am doing really well, I am learning and learning. I really like testifying of the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ.

I am sad that I don´t have much time today, we are busy but I love you so much and am so thankful for you.

Love, Elder Brian Sheahan

10-08-09

We got an e-mail today from Brian's mission president, Presidente Kenneth D. Lovell, telling us that Brian arrived safely in Chile. He is serving with Elder Reeder (from Mesa, AZ) in the Calle Calle Ward in Valdivia (about an hour north and west of Osorno).

Writing Brian in Chile

I will try to post info on writing Brian in Chile next week. Have a great one! :)

09-29-09

I am doing great. Today is my last preparation day at the MTC. This time has really just flown by and I feel like I really just got here, but I have learned so much and loved it here a lot. So this week we got our flight plans, and I had a little scare. Dad, I thought that I was going to come to Florida in a month and see you. I'll explain. We got our flight plans and it said that we were going to Chile and then in November that we were taking a flight back to Miami Florida. I was really confused. Everyone in my district had this ticket back to Florida and I didn't know why. No one did. I started worrying. I was thinking, what if they needed Spanish-speaking missionaries in Florida and so they transferred us there. We couldn't figure out why we would be flying back to the US a month after we got to Chile. But then some members of my district went and asked the travel office and it turns out that it was all okay. To go to Chile we need this extra ticket. Because we don't need visas to fly to Chile, but if we are in Chile for longer than three months then we do. And so since we are staying for longer and don't have our visas yet, we have to have proof that we have a ticket out of the country within three months if we aren't able to get our visas. They just cancel the ticket once we get our visas. I was pretty scared, I guess they call it a ghost ticket or something like that. But anyways this week has been really great.

I fly out from the Salt Lake City airport on Oct 5 to Los Angeles. We go from LA to Santiago, Chile. We get to Santiago the next morning. Then we wait for a few hours and leave the Santiago airport and fly to Osorno, Chile. So the whole trip takes around 30 hours is what I have heard. I am on a different flight than Scott, I think he flies from SLC to Texas or Florida and then to Chile. But we should be in the Santiago airport waiting for him when he gets in. He gets in to Santiago while I am waiting to fly to Osorno.

Well, I want to write more, but I am running out of time.

Elder Welling and I had a great experience at the TEC this week. We have been teaching there in Spanish for the last two weeks and this week we taught a lady in Spanish. We taught her about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our simple Spanish. But the cool thing was that we really felt the love of God during the lesson. It felt great and she was touched by the message. Our Spanish was simple, but good enough, good enough to have the spirit of God there and that is what teaches the heart what truth is. It was a great experience. We still have a ton of Spanish to learn and more to learn about being missionaries, but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are with us and that is what we need. It was soo cool.

I am excited to be going to Chile! So excited and nervous at the same time. I hear that they speak very, very, very fast there.

09-22-09

A couple of excerpts from last week's e-mail:

This week has gone awesome for me. I can't believe that in two weeks I will be in Chile! I have been going to choir, and so hopefully for General Conference they will send a missionary choir! But if not that is okay, I am getting really excited for General Conference (when we get to hear from the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, the twelve apostles, and other leaders of our church). Yeah, Elder Holland (one of the twelve apostles) came last week. It was so cool! I loved it. He is such a great speaker. When he was speaking, I could really feel God’s love. I just loved hearing about his mission from him and how it meant everything to him. I just want to make mine mean everything to me. I am loving it so much so far. Spanish is still coming well, we have learned all of the tenses now and we are working on teaching the second lesson this week! It is a lot of stuff to know. But it is coming.

It isn't really like school here, because I love all of the things that I am learning, where at school that isn't always the case.

Tenga un buen dia!