11-23-09

My first “cambio” or transfer is over now. It feels so good to have one under my belt. Here in the mission you serve in periods of time called transfers. In Spanish they call it a “cambio.” But you serve with a companion for six weeks in a place, and at the end of six weeks you or your companion might get switched to another city/town. I am staying here in Valdivia for my second cambio with Elder Reeder, which is great- we get along really well.

About being homesick, sure I get a little homesick when I think about all of you, my family, and how much I love you. I usually only feel homesick if I am writing a letter and listening to some soft music. So I stopped listening to music when I write letters home - I mean like pen and paper letters. But overall, when I think about being homesick, I just think about how much I am learning as a missionary and how much missionaries are needed in this world. I think about how happy this church of Jesus Christ has made me, and how others need this in their lives.

This week was the baptism of Arlette Bustos Delgado. She is a 14 year-old girl that we have been teaching. She knew that this church was true right away. She has a really strong testimony that this church is the restored church of Jesus Christ, the very same church He established when He lived on the earth. Her baptism was beautiful. And about thirty seconds before it started, I found out that I was leading the service. The member of the bishopric that was supposed to do it couldn´t make it to the baptism. It went well, and I only said one phrase that made the people laugh. I said thank you for coming, only I didn´t say it correctly. It was such a beautiful baptism. It was beautiful to see Arlette take this step in life that Jesus Christ wants all of us to take. Baptism is so wonderful, because through baptism we receive a remission of our sins. After baptism, we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us make the best decisions and receive Heavenly Father’s guidance in our lives.

Sorry, I don´t have too much time today. But things are going so wonderful. I really feel so blessed to be a missionary.

Scott, I like your tie too. I wear it a lot and think of you always when I wear it. I won´t ever trade it.

Well everyone, hope that you have a great and happy Thanksgiving.

11-16-09

We’ve had an awesome week. Arlete’s baptism is this Saturday. She is a 14-year old girl that we have been teaching. She is sooo great, and has a strong testimony that this is Christ’s true church. She shares her testimony with her friends and tells them how she knows this church is true.

I have some sad news about Bastian. He was the kid that we taught last week who wanted to get baptized. We went to teach him this last Monday, and I guess he moved. He is living somewhere else- we saw him later this week. The sad thing is that his mom, who he's living with now, won´t let him get baptized. He just told us when he saw us that maybe later, but not now. We kinda got the feeling that he just doesn´t want to go through all the trouble with his family, because they don´t approve. Now that he is living somewhere else we won´t be able to talk with him much. He won´t come back here to see his grandpa very often. It’s sad- he really felt something special when we first taught him. But hopefully he will run into some missionaries where he’s living now. Plus his best friend is a member of the church.

Oh so guess what, last Monday night we did splits with two members in the ward. (Elder Reeder went with someone to one appointment, and I went with someone else to another appointment.) I went with a man by the name of Victor Pena. My companion and I went with literally the two fastest-speaking guys in the ward (congregation). But the cool thing was that at the lesson, when the people couldn´t understand something I said, Victor did, and then he would teach them about it, or ask the question I had been trying to ask. It was sooo cool, because I could understand him pretty well that night, and he understood me when the other people couldn´t. He received help from Heavenly Father to understand my Spanish. In reality, he shouldn´t have been able to understand some of the things I was trying to say, and then he would ask me if this was what I was trying to say, and it was, every time. It was too cool. Things are getting better and better with Spanish. I am liking it- now I can understand and speak well enough for me and another person to be able to talk normally.

Sorry I don´t have time to write much more, but I want to tell you this now because I can. Earlier, it would have made you worry, Mom. When I got here, my very first week, I started getting these little red bumps all over my body. They itched. And I was finding fleas on me, so I was a little scared. I didn´t know if they were all flea bites. But as time went on, most of the red bumps got bigger and didn´t look like flea bites anymore. I just had a rash. We talked to a doctor. I don´t know why I got it, or what it came from. It was kinda like the chicken pox. But it’s going away and it’s almost gone now. It just itched a bit, not too bad. But I decided to tell you now because I am fine and it wasn´t bad at all. I didn´t want to worry you before. But I am still getting flea bites, which I guess I’m getting used to. They aren´t bad. But for a time there when I first was getting the rash I would imagine fleas on me, and start to freak myself out! Haha. It wan´t bad though, the rash was really just like having red bumps that itched a bit. I am in really good health and feeling really great.

Luisa came to church this week! And also a church activity! Things are going well with her and Arlete, but they are about the only two that will keep their commitments. Scott, we have the same problem here- a lot of people won´t read the Book of Mormon or pray and ask God if it’s true. It’s sad, because I know what I have received in my life, and they can receive it too, if they will just put forth some effort to ask God if it’s really true. But we are trying our hardest and working hard.

11-09-09

I am doing really well- it has been a great week! Lots happened this week but here are the highlights. Oh and I better correct myself, because I said before that Chileans only worked 6 hours a day, but that is wrong, actually only a few do that I think. The rest work more like 8 or 10.

So guess what. I gave a priesthood blessing in Spanish last Sunday. It went well, I felt really good afterwards, even though the Spanish wasn´t 100 percent correct. It was cool, just to a lady in our ward (church congregation) who is having health problems.

This week one time my companion, Elder Reeder, and I were talking to this guy in the street and then all of a sudden bird poop landed on us, and there wasn´t a bird in sight. The birds fly so high here, it was a lucky shot. It only got a little on me, but more on my companion, not any on the man we were talking to. Ha ha. But my rain gear has come to be so useful the past few weeks. It has rained a lot. And it is not supposed to be raining now, because it is almost summer, but it’s still raining a lot and thankfully my rain gear is the best stuff. I need it! I don’t get wet when I wear it.

Spanish is going well. I am understanding more. Actually on Saturday I talked to this guy about the Book of Mormon for a long time and answered all his questions about it. It was cool because I didn´t have to look to my companion because I didn’t understand something. Also last night we had had a hard day, it was raining all day, and cold, and we hadn´t gotten in to teach many people. All of our lessons had fallen through and so we said a prayer to find someone to teach, because we had been walking for hours and not taught anyone. And not 5 minutes later we taught this lady a great lesson. It was so cool, and it just goes to show that Heavenly Father really helps us when we pray and that this really is His work.

This week, things went well with our investigators. We taught this 19 year-old kid named Bastian and then we challenged him to baptism and he said yes. He is a great kid and really understood, and the best part is that his best friend is a member of the church. So hopefully all goes well there.

We had 8 people coming to church this week, and on Friday or Saturday, they all said that they were coming, but then no one came. We went around to get them and they either weren´t home, were sick, or had gone out of town. So next week hopefully they’ll come.

Leo and Susan were going to come, but then Susan left town and Leo said he would come and meet us at church, but didn´t. They are doing well though. We are going to have a great lesson with them tonight or tomorrow.

Arlete is a 14 year-old girl that the missionaries found a little before I got here, and she is getting baptized in a few weeks. She just needs one or two more lessons. She is amazing, we just need to help her family, who are members but don’t come to church.

We are teaching this guy named Luiz, who is around 40, and has a son and a wife, but he’s the only one in his family who listens to the lessons. We had an amazing lesson with him this week. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is in 2 Nephi right now. We just had the coolest lesson with him. We prepared the best outline for it, but at the lesson, we had a strong feeling that God wanted us to teach it differently- it went so well. He needs to come to church.

We are teaching another lady named Luisa and she is doing really well, she is really prepared to hear this message. She feels the Book of Mormon is true and that our message is true too, and so she just needs to come to church and gain a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the restoration of Christ’s true church.

We are working hard- it isn´t always easy with the rain and the cold, but things are going really well.

I am getting up early and studying Spanish a little each day, because we never have time to study the language. We only get a half hour for language study, but our momita is usually a little late with lunch. Our language study is right after lunch, so I have to study in the morning and then learn throughout the day. I am working hard on Spanish. I even study vocabulary in the shower.

Next week remind me to tell you about the lesson we teach to people when we start teaching them. It is great, our Area Presidency came up with it- it’s a great lesson that helps people understand why the restoration of Christ’s church is important for them.

11-02-09

So last Monday, I conquered the bathroom and now it is so clean and nice. It is enjoyable!!! Ha.

We taught some really cool people this week. We taught a lady named Luisa and it went so well. We will meet with her again tomorrow I think. It was just a really cool lesson, because at the end she just told us about how she was Catholic and then Evangelical and how they just weren´t right. She is reading the Book of Mormon now. We are also teaching a couple with a young baby, Leo and Susan. We met them two weeks ago. This week we had a really cool lesson with them. We watched The Restoration DVD, about 20 minutes, and then read in the Book of Mormon. At the end, Susan said that they would read it and pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true. When she said the prayer at the end, she included that question. They were going to come to church, but they slept in and so they will come next week. They are awesome people. We have been teaching some other really cool people this week.

I am learning more and more each day. I still have so much to learn, but I am working hard each day.

A little bit more about my area. We live north of Osorno in a city called Valdivia. About 130,000 people live here. It is a decent-sized city. Our area is not in the central part of the city, but is more on the outside. We are along a river, and I guess that this used to be a town that the Spanish had control of. There is part of an old Spanish fort here that they would use to defend the city from pirates, I guess. The people here are pretty relaxed. They don´t work a ton ton. But they work I think like 6 hours a day. Most people are pretty accustomed to the life they have and aren´t looking to change, it is hard for them. Some people are soo nice and others aren´t. It is sad, you see all sorts of people. The drunks make me sad, it is so sad to see them- what a miserable life. My area is just streets of small houses. There are small little stores everywhere, a lot just in the side of a house, small little food stores. There are dogs everywhere here. I haven´t had a problem with them yet. But they bark too much. The people here are religious. Mostly Evangelical or Catholic, all of them. Some go to church and some don´t, just like in the States. But most people aren´t too eager to talk to missionaries. They are funny, but I am doing my best to learn to love them. We are trying to work more with the members here. We have 4 people or so that go out with us every week, but we want to work more with the other members. There are about 40 people that come to my ward (congregation) on a good full day, but I guess there are 5 stakes here in Valdivia, which is a lot. My ward is just smaller, I think. There are some incredible members here.

For Halloween here, some kids dress up. Most kids will go out and go door to door for candy. At night when were came back in, there were kids knocking on our gate, but we couldn´t give them anything because if we did, more and more would come. They saw our lights on! I guess the kids just go out and play and go door to door for candy, but we didn´t see too many people outside. Hope you all had a fun Halloween and that everything went well.

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!