Christmas Letter and Video

Even though we spoke to Jamie yesterday, we got a letter today. Also, we (meaning Sam) videotaped some of our conversation with Jamie and that is included below. It's pretty funny with Sophie being Sophie for Jamie's entertainment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IipVUSfYiW4


HEY EVERYBODY!! :-D
Howzitgoing?! :-D Things are going alright here in ohiggins like I told you guys yesterday :-D That was awesome bytheway :-D
Hey Mom, before I forget, I loved all of the presents :-D I just didn`t know what to do with the cube and I didn`t have the time to say that they were all great cuz I had more important people to talk to :-D The candy is great because candy rules, and as well, its great to have enough for the entire zone :-D All of the missionaries in the house are very appreciative. Elder Colombo and Elder Bartel love finding out what REAL candy tastes like :-D That was one of the better moments of the week because even though it wasn`t Christmas just yet, I still got to get presents from the fam. Very very fun.
So what to say after talking to you guys in less than twenty four hours . . . Nothing much :-D Hey I was reading Dallins email just before now and I think its great how he`s doing in whatever its called, where he`s at :-D I don`t know who Elder Reeves is but I`m sure he`s a cool guy, and if not, I know enough people now that I can ``take care of`` missionaries with a few phone calls :-D Naw, just kidding :-) I`m sure Elders Gomez and Reeves are going to do great :-D
Something new, Elder Colombo and I are going to start a Choir in our ward :-D We think that this will be great for the ward cuz they kind of need a boost in morale (the beatings will continue until the morale improves) :-D and they are kind of off key, the members. We think this is good because people who don`t like to sing wouldn`t sing loud enough for us to hear them in the meetings :-D Sing ho for singing! :-D
I don`t know if I`ve said this but I think that Danny is going to be a great help :-D I feel bad that I`m not going to meet her ( I think you said that she`s going to stay for a year, mom), but I`m still looking forward to letters :-)
I`m just kind of rambling cuz, one its kind of fun, and I don`t have anything else to do and I have the time to do it :-D
I`m doing alright through everything :-) I was thinking the other day ``Why don`t people stop to listen to us, why is it so hot, why don`t people get baptized, why why why, whine, whine, whine`` and then my angry get things done side of my mind was like ``You wuss, you`re a missionary, its supposed to be hard! Get sunburned, get rejected, be tired, Do Your Best, cuz thats what you`re supposed to do.`` I am kind of sad that its a little more difficult than it has to be here in ohiggins but Me AND Elder Colombo are both determined to make a huge change in the sector. Elder Colombo told me last night that he wants to leave ohiggins so that all the missionaries after us will say ``Of course we can baptize here``. I was like ``Amen`` :-D He showed me a very cool talk from someone that I`ll get a copy from later but a part that I liked in it said something like ``We are here to do our best. We do not have the time to be afraid that we cannot make a difference``. :-) Let the sun fall, let the sky collapse, we have work to do and only a little while to do it. Vamos, No màs :-) Very inspirational I thought.
So I`m aight.
Hey I don`t know if I said this, but it was really cool to see everyone yesterday :-D Everyone looks good and Sophie seems to have gotten bigger :-D Nice camera and blanket sam, your hair is as fluffy as always. Grace and Meri, you both looked pretty and mom and dad, you both looked good as well :-) I miss you a ton but I don`t feel like the next Christmas is really all that far away :-) and all the months after that are all downhill :-D Sing ho. For real, it was really really cool :-) Elder Colombo says that seeing the fam isn`t something that makes missionaries miss home a ton more than it gives us a boost to work and I agree :-) Thank you all.
So Hey, I`m sending a little christmas package, the thumbdrives, and the Ipod. I decided today that perhaps you guys should hold onto the Ipod for now. I really REALLY like it, but I am horribly distracted with it as well :-D I was thinking that maybe next december when I have studied Preach my Gospel to the max so that I start studying the ensign and jesus the christ, and however hard and long the road, then I would be more able to listen to music while studying. I DO want to have it for december 2011 so don`t forget :-D
Thats basically it for me :-) SO until the next, Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie, I love you all, and Be Happy!
Sincerely
Elder McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEY Everybody!! :-D Howzit going?!! :-D
Things are going alright here on the other hemisphere. So this is the part where I tell you things.
So some news, I have a new comp! :-D We had emergency transfers last wednesday. The thing is that no one knows what happened. Nothing happened on either ends of the transfer. So yeah. My new comp´s name is Elder Colombo, and I actually knew him back in Camilo :-D He used to be in my old district. He´s a really cool guy and we´ve been tearing up here in Ohiggins :-) :-D Elder Colombo is from Argentina as well and he´s just always smiling and laughing and stuff :-D We should have a lot of fun together :-D We´re both kind of down about the sector cuz he had a bunch of baptism dates lined up where he used to be and I´m just tired but we´re both determined to leave ohiggins better than we recieved it. FUEGO!!!
Some of our investigators. Patricia we´ve had before I was even here in the sector. She´s recieved all the lessons except for la ley de castidad and la ley de diezmo, but she only needs those for the baptismal interview. The problem is that she doesn´t want to get baptized but doesn´t NOT want to get baptized. We´re pretty sure that she knows that she has to get baptized but she´s afraid of doing it. She says that she doesn´t want to start something that she won´t finish so we´ve tried to tell her that she´ll have all the help she will need when she´ll have the ward, the missionaries and the holy ghost but she´s still not wanting to get baptized :-P We´ll find something to help her eventually :-)
Barbara is a girl from a part member (and a little inactive) part family that want her to be baptized. They came to US :-D Merry Christmas to you too. We did have the date for the 25th but we changed it to the 26th so that a missionary that originally baptized the family could come as well :-) She is really cool but just a little quiet so we´re not sure if she´s learning and understanding everything but the family helps a lot too so nothing to worry about.
Moises (moses but spanishified) has been with the missionaries for a VERY long time and actually already wants to be baptized. The problem is that his family is like Crazry Catholic and hate us . . . Thats always fun :-D Sometimes when we go over the family lies to us and says that Moises isn´t home so we say goodbye very loudly and then wait outside for a bit unitl he comes :-) The problem with Moises is that he wants his family to at least be neutral about his baptism so that he won´t be totally rejected and we´re willing to wait for that :-) Hopefully we´ll be able to have a truce with the family with maybe a picnic or something, something cozy and not hateful. Something.
That´s really it for investigators :-P We don´t have much to work on but we´re still searching :-)
Thats basically it :-P Sorry about that :-P Little things, I found a gift today for you guys for christmas :-D Nothing really fancy or big but I liked it and it´s durable for sending as well :-D I haven´t yet gotten the package yet but I may or may not get it on wednesday :-) Hopefully yes. As for the call . . . I may just use our cell phone and ´´pinch´´ you guys and then you call me back and then we chat. I honestly don´t know. I don´t know about skyp if it is or is not against the rules, but it is cheaper. This is what I´m going to do. I´ll call the home phone at 2 o clock our time (I THink 10 o clock your time) and then you just call the number back. This is the base plan. If anything changes, I´ll let you all know.
Anyways, Thats it for me. Remember why there is a Christmas, cuz 2010 years ago we all got the best gift and so we should always Give the best gifts. The Church is true, Thomas S Monson is the Living Prophet and the gospel is the absolute best thing to make the family happy and strong.
Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie, I love you all, Merry Christmas, and Be Happy!
Sincerely
Elder McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEY EVERYBODY!! :-D
Howzit going?! :-D Things are going alright on the other side of el mundo.:-) I`m not sick and Christmas is coming :-D Feliz Navidad!!
So yeah, I`m alright :-) Recently its been kind of cold here in LA. This is weird here because our seasons are in reverse. Their summer vacation here is in December til march. Crazy stuff. I love the reactions on people`s faces when I tell them what we do in the states :-) They almost always say ``Why do you do it in reverse? Why are you all so weird?`` and I`m like ``No, Why are YOU ALL so weird?`` :-D Funny stuff :-) Since its cold here everyone else is suffering when I`m like ``Stop whining dummies, its December, its supposed to be cold`` then I remember where I am and keep quiet. :-)
Things here in O`higgins are still pretty slow :-P I think that I said this last time, but we do have a baptism date :-D Its going to be a Merry Christmas :-D We also found a family who want to have their 7 almost 8 year old daughter to be baptized in january :-) Happy Day :-D
Everything else is still pretty slow :-P Curses. BUT . . . I`m taking a stand against this Maldito sector this week and for all the weeks to come. I`m not going to let this sector ruin my Christmas by making us feel ``unable to make a difference``. You wait, STuffs going to be happening this week. :-D ¡¡Creedlo!!
Anyways, things that happened this week. We were able to teach a couple of people this week. Being a missionary is so much fun when people want to listen :-D One morning we recieved a call from a sister from the ward and she asked us if we could come over later on in the day and help her to begin quitting smoking. When we got there she was really really nice, as well as her family. Then we made a plan to help her to quit smoking. We wrote down all the things that she was missing because of smoking, all the things she could have and all the blessings she`ll recieve when she`s totally done with smoking. It was good to do. She and her family have kind`ve had it rough for the last couple of months :-P Unfortunately the husband wasn`t faithful to her and it has been very hard for them (her and the kids). They are all SO nice though. The Sister (Virna) told us that even through all this and the smoking and everything, she still feels that the church is true. She said it like that as well ``I can FEEL that it is true still``. Very very cool. I left her some scriptures to read (Alma 7 11-13 and John 14 18) and we left. Something that I wanted to point out, English and spanish scriptures are not exactly the same. that John scripture above for example in english says I won`t leave you ``comfortless``. In spanish (translated) it says orphaned or deserted. Its really really cool to study scriptures now :-D :-)
Another cool thing, we were able to meet a baby of a couple in our ward who was born on wednesday :-D She`s 5 days old!! We went over to the house (to see them before the baby came because she was due two days from now) and the mom answers the door and she`s like ``Hi`` and we`re like ``hi`` and she`s like ``come in and see the baby`` and we`re like ``. . . What baby?`` and she goes into the other room and brings this tiny little person out and we`re like ``BABY!!`` :-D The couple asked us to bless her right there so we did :-) Cool stuff
Anyways that`s it for me. I haven`t gotten any packages or letters yet and I don`t think I will til the 23rd or 24th :-) So they`re still on their way :-D Oh, a little note to dad, I use MY card usually at the end of the month when funds are short, but I`ve used them more this month cuz I lost my church card :-P No worries though ;.) I`m getting another one today :-D
So thats it for me. Until the next Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie, I love you all and BE HAppY!
Sincerely
Elder McConnell

Weekly Letter, Video and Some New Pictures

Jamie is trying to bake cookies at a members home. They didn't turn out very well.

Jamie with his bishop and his family

Jamie was teaching these boys to play baseball. This was taken before they played because after they started playing Jamie hit the ball so hard and far they lost the ball. He had to get the kids some new tennis balls!

The video can be found by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKYeW5t_OuA

HEYO EVERBODY!! :-D Howzit going?! :-D
Just so I don`t forget, I did finally get the package with the letters about the baby :-P Not fun :-P Thanks for the M&m`s though :-D Yum.
Anyways, I am doing fine here in Villa O`higgins :-) I`m ready everyday to go out dressed, tie, tag, everything and then its time for personal study until 9:30, then I would have planning for the day and then comp study but that doesn`t happen and as soon as its eleven and we`re not heading out to work I hit the books again :-) Sing ho for more study time. I`m basically Chilean now for all the spanish that I know :-D ¿¡Què Onda Gringos?! :-D Whats Up Gringos?! :-D Honestly the thing about learning another language is that you learn that everyone is really all the same at the end of the day. When you begin learning you assume that anyone else that can speak the language is perfect in everyway, word, act, thought, whatever. You come to realize that people can mess up in a different language just as you can in yours. A whole different view on other people when you realize they`re just like you.
Good things this week. Elder Saucedo turned 22 wednesday :-D That was fun. A bunch of other elders came over in the night and we had foods and pleasant conversation. There are some really cool people in the zone :-) Oh yeah :-D We went on splits on tuesday and I went with the newbie Elder Walker :-D I`m spanish savvy enough that I`m trusted with the newguy :-D So we did a bunch of contacts and my favorite was when he told a lady what we do in church ,``we pray, we read the scriptures, and we talk with Jesus``. I gave her a passalong and sent her on her way. Elder Walker got mad at me later, ^^^Why`d you let me say that?!^^ And I was like ^^Think before you tell people that ``we talk to jesus``^^ :-D Very funny. What else . . . Oh YeaH ! :-D A family came looking for US and asked if we could baptize a daughter of theirs and we were like ``Shoot, we might be really busy, I don`t know if we can . . . OF COURSE WE CAN!!`` (but with more reverence of course). Really cool :-) The date is for the 25th so I think I`M dreaming of a white Christmas :-D Don`t you just love puns?
Thats really it :-P For Grace`s question on what we eat here, We eat a lot :-) I never have anything big for breakfast cuz if I do then I won`t be able to finish lunch :-D Not only that, lunch is always ALWAYS more than one dish. There is always something after the first and occasionally the second. I can sum up everything that we eat with very little words; Rice, Chicken, Potatoes, Soup(various types but a lot of it), Fish, and Bread. Not to say that there is anything wrong with the food :-) The Food is great. I have not had to gag things down to eat them, they are usually very tasty. Its that there`s a ton of the all the same food :-P No worries though :-D
As for Elder Saucedo. It is not that he is lazy or chraico(crooked), he`s just really Really not liking the sector. He has a point too. When we had the transfers this week I went to the other sector and there is a huge difference between ours and theirs :-P There`s a ton more people, they`re not all old, and they listen a little more before saying that they are catholic or whatever. As well the sector is so tiny, theres no room for the missionaries not to talk to everyone, over and over again. :-P Not fun. I`m doing alright. I`ve tried to help him go out but I`m not having too much success :-P All well :-) Things can only get better.
I may or may not get the package you guys sent tomorrow. Speaking of the catholic stickers, I`ve been told that if you cover the package with them, the package usually makes it safe to where it needs to go :-D Sing ho for superstitious latinos :-D I`m also sending you guys some letters and a card for christmas today :-) I couldn`t find gifts :-P But i promise that I will :D
Anyways Thats it for me :-D until the next, Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie, I love you all and Be Happy!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell