QUERIDA FAMILILA Y QUERIDOS AMIGOS O SEA A TODOS USTEDES!!! CÓMO LES VA?!?!?! Hey guys, how`re things. SAM`S IN JAPAN! :-D Thats different :-) Thats awesome that he`s understanding people already :-D Sounds like his trainer is cool too. Elder Villalobos, take care of my bro alright. My trainer was kind of an idiot so I hope the same doesn`t happen to Elder McConnell. But I already like you since you speak spanish :-D We got to hit it up when we get home :-D So things here in the other Los Angeles are doing great. President Maritnez challenged the entire mission to complete with every key indicator and we had a fantastic week. We really pushed ourselves to do it. We walked, talked, contacted, invited, challenged, laughed, got rejected, everything :-D Met a lot of people, lots of stories. Here are some. Throughout the week we pass this street where all the children say hi to us and we teach them occasionally. One of them we`re teaching in her house too, the Coni. We helping her to read and to pray and to feel the spirit. We asked her this week if she had been reading and she said ¡Sí! and we asked if she had been praying and she said ¡Sí! and we asked if she had felt something and she sad Ya we asked her how she had felt and she said Bien(well/fine) and paz(peace) and we were like ¨Thats the Spirit¨ And when we said it I felt it too. That is the spirit telling you that what you are doing is good and true. Love that. Something sad but cool. We had been visiting this mother and her daughter and teaching a little. One day we passed and the mother wasn`t there but her aunt and daughter were. The aunt and daughter saw us through the curtains and then dropped them. We waited a second because unless they tell us no we don`t go. A little while later the porch light turns on and they let us in. We chatted for a second and then headed out. Yesterday we get there and Laura, the mother, tells us that we can`t come over anymore. She said that the aunt and her husband told her that we were only going to confuse the daughter with our religion because she goes to a catholic school AND (and this is MY favorite part) that the other day MArtina the daughter had had a¨bad reaction¨when we came over. When she said that I thought ´´What? Was she possessed? Did she get sick? What happened?´´ She explains to us that when we had come over the other day that the aunt wanted nothing to do with us whatsoever but that Martina started to tell her loudly ´´Let them in Let them in, they`re friends, I want to listen´´ and the aunt couldn`t convince her otherwise so she let us in. THAT WAS THE BAD REACTION. I almost exploded. I felt like when Jesus told the apostles ´´suffer the children to come unto me´´. I felt good though that the spirit had touched Martina at least. Maybe in several years she will remember that. LAst thing. We got attacked by an Adventist family Saturday. They invited us in all nice and smiley without saying who they were or why but we like to go INTO peoples houses so we fell for it completely. They then spent the next hour and a half explaining how the sabbath is saturday and then invited us to REALLY read the scriptures to come to know the true way of Christ. I gave them a 9 for the information but a 3 with the presentation. WE explained to them how we were grateful for modern day prophets and the Book of Mormon since there have been so many changes in doctrines and the Bible. Omar, the father, tried to convince us that we should have the same distrust of the Book of Mormon since it is more ancient than the New testament and so that it would also have lost a lot of its truths through all the years and all the translations. IT felt REALLY good to explain to HIM that the Book of Mormon had ONE translation to english and ONE MORE to Spanish. Scoreboard BofM 2, Bible (number undetermined). How does that taste? Bitter? Hard to get down? :-D I love the Gospel. They invited us over next Saturday to talk about Mosiah 13 and Revelation 17 :-D Wish us luck. Thats it guys :-) Somebody figure out when sam can call home so we can plan that well. until the next, Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace and Sophie, I love you all and BE HAPPY!! Sincerely Elder JAmie McConnell

HEY EVERYBODY!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!?! Sup guys, how`re things? I hope the best. ELDER SAM!! You`re on your way!! :-D GO BAPTIZE JAPAN!! I liked that story that Sam said of the missionary that said he could have been doing better things if he hadn`t had gone on a mission. Take THAT fetcher. Thats whats up. Missions rule. I wonder if I`ll ever meet someone that will tell me that my mission was a waste of time. It would not end very well for that person, I TELL YOU WHAT. Things have been going very well here in the Ohig. We were able to bring a bunch of people to church yesterday :-D One of them is named Coni and she`s really cool. She`s the 11 year old daughter of an active member actually and ,cutest thing, she asked us if she could see that baptismal font with her dad and I was like ''of course you can and maybe later we can fill it up and throw you and your dad in there, how fun would that be? :-D'' I didn`t say that but still. She`s really sweet. We taught a bunch of people this week and on Wednesday I taught them with the infamous ELDER DALLIN D GOMEZ!!! We tore it up!! Do you want to know about Jesus Christ? How bout your neighbors? Friends? Extended family? We can even teach your dead relatives:-D We`re everywhere!! It was really fun. I loved to listen to Elder Gomez teach. I can wait to talk about the mission when we get home. This week we also talked with a bunch of really uncharacteristically unbelieving chileans. They didn`t believe in God so we offered them the BofM saying this is proof that God exists, you can have it and read it and you will know if there really is god or not. Will you read it? and they were all like `` . . . nah, Don`t feel like it. Honestly I don`t care`` That got me for a second. I honestly wanted to say ``. . .Are you a idiot?`` But that would have been rude. So we bore our testimonies and wished them well. Sadness. BUT maybe God gave them an experience since we passed by so we`ll see :-D The gospel is true. There really is a God and he loves us. He`s perfect in every way and there`s a lot of ways. He really does talk with prophets. Blessings :-) THats it for me guys, Mom Dad Elder Sam Meri Grace and Sophie and Sweetie I love you all and BE HAPPY!! SIncerely ELder JAmie McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEy EVERYBODY!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!?!
Hey GUys, how`re things? I hope good :-) Things are going good here
too as always :-D
This last week was really boring :-P Not a lot happened :-P
Something cool, a baptism happened Saturday of some investigators of
the other Elders that I knew when I was here last year :-D a LOT of
work happened so that that could come to pass :-D A bunch of Elders
came to the Baptism too, to see Juan and Sissi get baptized. Very
sweet. I was asked to direct. I can do that now because if you
didn`t know, I speak spanish.
Honestly NOT a lot happened this week. Fetch :-P
TYLER!!! :-D CÒMO ESTÀ COMPADRE!!! I think you`re going to school
tomorrow right? Fetcher, you and Kevin had better live it up while I`m
not there cuz we`re going to have a blast when the ex Elder
McAwesomesauce comes to town. Write me man!! :-D
THats basically it :-p I do have two last things. ONE, I realized
that the reason that I understand that even though life gets really
hard some times, God still lives and things will work out for our well
being and I know that because I believe in the scripture D&C 122:7.
Cool story. Second: The reason I believe in a Heavenly Father is
because I know that the Book of Mormon is true and THAT is the
foundation of everything else. I have heard many things here in
Chile, many people who would like to disprove God and they have at
times been very convincing BUT NEVER have they been able to touch the
veracity of this wonderful book. If you are reading this and not the
BofM, please read it. Your life will be better-
Thats it guys :-) Pray so that my weeks a little more exciting next
time :-D ELDER MCCONNELL!!! :-D YOU`RE ON YOUR WAY OUT!!! DON`T BE
SCARED, DON`T WORRY EITHER, YOU`RE NOT SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND ANYONE
THE FIRST DAY :-D I AM SO PROUD TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ELDER OF GOD.
DON`T FORGET WHAT YOU ARE WHERE YOU`RE FROM AND WHERE YOU WANT TO GO
AND WHAT YOU WANT TO BECOME. LOVE YOU A TON!!!
Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace and SOphie and sweetie I love
you all and BE HAPPY
SIncerely
ELder Jamie McConn

Weekly Letter

HEy EVERYBODY!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!?!
Hey GUys, how`re things? I hope good :-) Things are going good here
too as always :-D
This last week was really boring :-P Not a lot happened :-P
Something cool, a baptism happened Saturday of some investigators of
the other Elders that I knew when I was here last year :-D a LOT of
work happened so that that could come to pass :-D A bunch of Elders
came to the Baptism too, to see Juan and Sissi get baptized. Very
sweet. I was asked to direct. I can do that now because if you
didn`t know, I speak spanish.
Honestly NOT a lot happened this week. Fetch :-P
TYLER!!! :-D CÒMO ESTÀ COMPADRE!!! I think you`re going to school
tomorrow right? Fetcher, you and Kevin had better live it up while I`m
not there cuz we`re going to have a blast when the ex Elder
McAwesomesauce comes to town. Write me man!! :-D
THats basically it :-p I do have two last things. ONE, I realized
that the reason that I understand that even though life gets really
hard some times, God still lives and things will work out for our well
being and I know that because I believe in the scripture D&C 122:7.
Cool story. Second: The reason I believe in a Heavenly Father is
because I know that the Book of Mormon is true and THAT is the
foundation of everything else. I have heard many things here in
Chile, many people who would like to disprove God and they have at
times been very convincing BUT NEVER have they been able to touch the
veracity of this wonderful book. If you are reading this and not the
BofM, please read it. Your life will be better-
Thats it guys :-) Pray so that my weeks a little more exciting next
time :-D ELDER MCCONNELL!!! :-D YOU`RE ON YOUR WAY OUT!!! DON`T BE
SCARED, DON`T WORRY EITHER, YOU`RE NOT SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND ANYONE
THE FIRST DAY :-D I AM SO PROUD TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN ELDER OF GOD.
DON`T FORGET WHAT YOU ARE WHERE YOU`RE FROM AND WHERE YOU WANT TO GO
AND WHAT YOU WANT TO BECOME. LOVE YOU A TON!!!
Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace and SOphie and sweetie I love
you all and BE HAPPY
SIncerely
ELder Jamie McConn

Weekly Letter

DEAR EVERYBODY!!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!?!?
HEY Jamo :-D Thats awesome Man! :-D I can`t wait to tell you about
the ONLY CELESTIAL MISSION ON THE PLANET!!! :-D Does that make you
jealous? I`d be.
Hey guys, how`re things? I hope good. The puppy`s adorable :-D I
can`t wait to meet her. Choro Sam seems to be having a little too
much fun in the MTC :-D I REMEMBER THOSE ROOMS!! I swear, time doesn`t
exist there. I wasn`t aware that Elder Rasband was my first Bishop.
I`d like to talk to him some time.
So things are doing good here in LOs ANgeles North. We`re leading
the Zone in teaching people. I`m not prideful, we`re just amazing.
We were able to challenge a bunch of people to Baptism, teach a lot of
families, really cool week :-D We just talked about Easter. THere`s a
cool part in the BofM in Alma 16:19-20 that we shared a lot with the
people this week. Its cool to think that everything stems off of the
Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
My companion. ELder Jared Zachary Attridge (THAT is a hard last
name for people to say here). He`s awesome- He`s smart too. I think
that had he been my comp when I started the mission I would have hated
him because he`s already really talented :-D Just kidding, I hate no
man. He comes from a family in Washington state of 7 brothers and
sisters and they`re awesome too. I haven`t seen picture but I have
faith. AND he`s never kissed a girl :-D Some people make fun of him but I think thats cool. He tells people he will only kiss who he thinks will be his wife. How romantic is that? :-D I thought that I finally found someone who was more awkward than me around girls but it turns out he`s quite the lady`s man, going out
and dancing and whatever. He just doesn`t kiss them :-D I`m still the
awkward Champion.
Cool experience, we were contacting, because, you know, we do that
sometimes, its a hobby of ours, and we were waiting outside this house
when this lady comes by. She also needed to get inside so we just
said hi. Then another lady came out and told us that the owner of the
house wasn`t home so we couldn`t share anything. We told her that
we`d like to share with her. She said no. Ouch. We turn to go and
that first lady that I mentioned says quietly and awesomely,"Yo quiero
escuchar. Yo quiero aprender" I want to listen. I want to learn.
That almost broke my heart :-D So we talked with her, about a lot of
stuff. She had some sincere questions and we had had some sincere
answers. The difference between our church and all the others is that
GOD MADE OURS. She seemed interested. She lives far away so we can`t
go and visit but we gave her a BofM and a number. HEr names Genesis
and ojalà que le vaya bien.
Thats it guys. Keep sending testimonies, Mom Dad Choro Sam Meri
Grace Sophie and Puppy, I love you all and BE HAppY!!
Sincerely
ELder Jamie McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEY EVERYBODY!!! :-D HOWZITGOING?!?! :-D
Wasn`t conference AWESOME?! SAM!! Why didn`t you sign up for the Choir fetcher!! Once in a life time opportunity and he blows it. Way to go. :-D Hope you had fun in Conference :-)
SO things are going good here in the O`higg except that we can`t find anyone :-P Everyone except for the faithful members :-D We tried to bring people to conference but nobody had time :-P So we`re just going to print everything off and give the talks to everyone. YOU WILL HAVE CONFERENCE AND YOU WILL LIKE IT. Ran into a bunch of people, basically the same story as last year, some better, some not so better. REGARDLESS, there will be miracles :-)
The Contreras Family is doing alright. They just need some help to remember some things. Bytheway mom, everyone LOVES my journal and so do I. There is a lot of stuff that the people here have forgotten that I wrote down and I will forever be grateful for a loving parent who wanted her son to write down some memories. Somebody said once that the word remeber is the most important word in the english language and I bet that person kept a journal.
The streets are the same, the people are the same, if they were awesome they`re still awesome, if they weren`t, then they`re still not but thats OK. There`s always time to repent :-D We`ll help with that. :-D I don`t need to know where anyone lives because I know them :-D We will get a lot of work done these next couple of weeks.
My new companion`s name is Elder Attridge, and he is actually from the same ward of Elder Lundgren in Washington :-D He`s awesome and very obedient :-D We`re going to have a lot of fun together. O`higgins is his first sector so I just replaced his trainer who apparently left a lot to be desired but THATS OK :-D So did mine :-D Small world. Elder Attridge told me that he got a bunch of calls from other missionaries telling him how awesome I am. I neither denied or accepted any of those claims, I just let the people speak :-D I`ll be sending pictures soon.
Elder Dallin Gomez is my Zone Leader, HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! :-D We can`t stop hugging each other when we see each other :-D He`s just a little fireball of awesome and we`re going to be having a blast here in Los Angeles :-D We`re the oldest missionaries in the Zone :-P I am SO OLD : So is he : TIme flies.
One of my favorite talks (ONE of, there are several more :-D) was Elder Rasband`s talk. I felt something really cool and I wrote it down as the first recorded time that I knew that the Resurrection is true. Occasionally I have felt things like that which have to be the Holy Ghost telling me about eternal truths and that talk was one of them. I hope that anyone who is having doubts about that part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ can know that I KNOW that it is true, and that I fight to defend it. I love truth. Don`t forget to keep your truths save :-D
Thats it for me my beloved Family and Friends :-D Don`t forget to send me your testimonies, (Thanks Grandpa and Grandma McConnell)(Bytheway Anyone else who reads these emails, I want your testimony too, WRITTEN). Until the next, Mom Dad Elder McConnell Meri Grace and Sophie, I love you all and BE HAPPY!!!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell