Weekly Letter

Everyone:

Many of you might get confused about Danie and what Jamie is talking about. We had Danie live with us since the first of the year as a nanny to help with the younger girls. Anyway, she became interested in learning about the church. Through her reading scriptures with us as a family and the love of the missionaries at Temple Square, she made the decision to be baptized. She was leaving on Sunday morning for new new assignment in New Jersey and decided to be baptized Thursday night! So, the elders interviewed her and we got it done Saturday night. We are sad to see her go as a family as she has become close as a daughter to Barb and me but excited for her new adventure back east. To give you an example of how the Spirit works, her new bishop in the area she moved to speaks Mandarin! So we are comfoted with that. Anyway here's Jamies Letter:



HEY EVERYBODY!!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!?! :-D
That is AWESOME that Danie got baptized!! :-D I apologize for the lack of faith, but I didn`t know if Danie was going to come through because one I still have yet to meet her and two I`m surrounded by people everyday that say ``Yeah come over later`` or ``yeah I`ll read tonight`` or ``yeah sure maybe i`ll get baptized on saturday`` :-P Thats wonderful that Danie wanted to do that. It`s like you said Dad, ``When she got here, she didn`t know who Moses was`` :-D I remember something Mom told me way back when, apparently when Danie read the story she said ``You guys really believe all that?`` ``. . . Yes`` :-D I suppose when you think about everything the Bible and Book of Mormon have, there are a couple incredible stories :-D I am really happy that Danie feels that this is all true :-) THAT is something that is really amazing, a testimony. I feel bad that I haven`t been able to meet her :-P but I`m eternally grateful that she passed through Utah and through the house of the McConnell family :-) You guys rule. (Bytheway Dad, Your hair is really white now . . . Love you :-D)
Sam that is really cool that you graduated. I apologize if that sounds sarcastic :-P :-D But seriously it was cool to see you in that weird dress thingy (I think its called a robe right? :-D Spanish is killing my english :-D) You`re all grown up now :-) Make sure to try and enjoy this last summer vacation :-D
Enough about you guys :-D Things here are going good :-D The scriptures and sweets arrived on tuesday and William, Maria, and Isis loved the scriptures :-D They are so happy to be able to read ALL of the scripture references :-D They are so wonderful. They kind of had a hard week :-P They tried selling some things in the week (which bytheway is how food comes into their house) and it didn`t go very well :-P We stopped by on Saturday to have a lesson and we tried to lift their spirits a bit. We sang hymn 228 (well in spanish) and Mathew 6 24-27 and Ether 12 4. I explained how rain falls on everyone but the righteous are secured :-) If you are doing the best you can to keep the commandments YOU WILL BE BLESSED. YOU WILL HAVE HELP. Exactly when, I have no idea, but it will happen :-) They seemed a little better after :-)
Something cool :-) Our District President, Pres Ulbrich, announced in church yesterday that we are going to throw a party next tuesday in the church (as far as one can throw a party in the church of course) to celebrate William`s and Maria`s marriage :-D Everyone got all excited and wanted to pitch in. It got pretty crazy. :-D Its awesome when the ward`s got your back :-D
Transfers are next week so we`ll see if i`m even here for the baptism but if not, i`ll know that they`ll be fine :-) And if i stay, more food for me :-D
Hopefully that package arrives safely :-P i`m kind of worried about that :-P let me know when it gets there :-D
Thats basically it for me :-) Until the next Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie, I love you all and Be HappY!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEY EveryBodY!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!?!?
I have to do this short cuz we are late today but to let you all know we are aight :-D The work is going and going good. Awesome note, You know how William and Maria Jose were going to get married on July 15th? For some reason they changed it to the 6th of June :-D No reason, Maria just wanted to do it sooner :-D I almost asked why but then I didn`t care :-D They are awesome. Out of the 8 weeks that they have know the church they have gone 7 times to the church. Consecutively. MEMBERS DON^T DO THAT. They are a wonderful family :-D They study, they pray, they ask us everytime we come what we brought to share with them :-) Very cool :-)
The rest of the week was good :-) But enough about me :-D Sam, You Graduated! :-D (seminary). Thats awesome :-D And you`re about to graduate high school man. Thats crazy too. Its kind of weird when you go to school for twelve years and then not everything after is all cut out and clear :-P But I suppose thats where the adventure is in life :-D Good job man.
I miss Rugby.
I sent a letter to Jon in the package if you guys could get it over to him.
Church is true.
Little thing before I go :-) If a person really WANTS to be happy in this life, that person will do his or her best to follow the teachings of Christ. That is the best way to have a happy life. To achieve that even more, we gotta create and help a testimony grow. There was something that Elder Scott said in the november conference about faith and character. He said (paraphrasing) Satan cannot take away faith, a testimony, or character from anyone. He does not and never will have the power to do so. The only ways we can lose those things are through doubt, laziness and rebelliousness. So if we`re being good, we won`t have problems :-D God promise :-D
Thats it for me :-) Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace and Sophie (and Dani if she`s home), I love you all and Be HappY!!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

HEY EVERYBODY!!! HOWZIT GOING?!?! :-D
Hey guys. how`re things? I hoping good. It was cool to hear you guys yesterday. In Paraguay they celebrate mother`s day the 15th of may so yesterday it was Elder Gomez`s turn :-) Just letting you know.
Things this week were kind of glum :-P We did very poorly with the numbers this week which was a combination of people not being home and poor planning on our part :-P We did however have 6 people in church yesterday which was great :-D We had a really cool lesson with William Maria Jose and Isis (well William and Maria Jose) about the law of chastity. I know that that is something kind of awkward to talk about BUT it can be a really cool lesson when the spirit is involved as it was :-D I used a scripture at the end of Jacob 2 which is awesome and it was just a great lesson. By the way (forgot) William and Maria Jose are getting married the 15th of July! :-D They`ve called their parents and they are setting up plans to come down south to see them. As well they`re going to be baptized the 16th of July, even better :-D I think I said this in another email but I`ll say it again, they bore their testimonies some weeks ago and it was so cool to feel how strongly they believe in everything. Thats not something you get to feel with every investigator. Yesterday, William and Maria brought in their Tithing :-D Very very cool.
Today we have interviews with Pres Swenson instead of P-day so that should be fun :-) You always feel you`re in a hurry though because of all the missionaries waiting so hopefully it`ll be better today :-)
Short spiritual thought. When we make correct choices everyday even in the small things (especially in the small things) at first it will be hard because people won`t understand but after people will come to you looking for help because they know that you know what is right and what should be done. Building this habit at first will be dificult but later it will be something so fortified that you will never not know what to do and you will always have the strength of character to pull it off :-D Amen! :-D
. . . THats basically it :-P I have not had the time to send or write anything but i will! :-) :-D Just you wait :-D
I`m sorry for the shortness of the email this week :-P Nothing really happened :-P Next week will be better :-D Until the next, Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace and Sophie, I love you all and Be HappY! :-D
As always
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell
p.s. Tell Jon things will work out and that he WILL be alright :-)

HEY EVERYBODY!! :-D REPORTING LIVE FROM SOMEWHERE ASKING HOWZIT GOING?!?! :-D
Hey guys, How`re things? :-D I hope the best :-) Mom I think for the call I forgot to say Happy Mother`s Day so here goes, Happy Mother`s Day :-D That card was actually for your birthday but since you were thinking that it was for yesterday I was going to not say anything but my conscience got the better of me :-D
So hopefully things on the other side of the world are going good. The pictures are hilarious by the way dad and that looks like a super fun tea party but is Sophie the only one thats dressing up? :-D As for me, things here in Gorbea are going good. Our family (William, Maria Jose, and Isis) continue to go to church except that yesterday Maria had to leave after the sacrament to go and sell some things. She and William had made some wooden plaques (English?) for mother`s day on Saturday but they used some varnish that needed all of Saturday to dry and so they couldn`t sell them :-P So Maria had to go out and try to a couple of them yesterday and fortunately she was able to sell a few :-D William hinted that he and Maria had argued a little in the morning and its possible that he told her not to go out to sell the thingys on sunday. That topic never came up and I`m not going to ask :-D We went over yesterday to explain tithing because they had been asking questions about it and as well fasting. They want to do everything before we teach it :-D You will find people on your mission (Sam) like this family, and they really are a blessing. The rest will be an interesting combination of people who wish you were dead, have a desire to know about the church but perhaps not to the point to commit to anything, have family in the church, or simply like to have your company and no words :-D These are the people that we need to WORK with. We need to always remember that God loves them as much as everyone else even if they are honestly awful people :-D All of these people just need to know some thing that will turn them golden because if you really UNDERSTOOD that you gotta get baptized with proper authority to get to heaven, you`d do it in a second. Thats where we come in to explain :-D Its fun too if you got a sense of humor (sometimes a twisted sense of humor but regardless the ability to laugh in a difficult situation). Its hard somedays but they really are the best two years :-D
Thats it for me for the week. I wanted to share something that Pres Swenson shared the other day and its really cool. He got up in front of everybody and wrote two words down, Route and Destination. He then asked what is destination of our investigators. We were like ``BAPTISM, GOING TO CHURCH, MAKING COVENANTS WITH GOD`` and he was like and what happens after that and we were like `` There`s another lesson?``. Then he said that this is the destination of our investigators. ``The destination and greatest gift of God is eternal life and to get there we have the greatest gift in this world, the supreme gift of the Holy Ghost``. We were like `` MY EYES!!! HE`S TOO AWESOME!!!`` but seriously I at least was very surprised and very impressed. As well I was disappointed that I hadn`t had that in mind in my lessons. Every lesson is just the route, especially baptism. I laughed when I thought of this but baptism is really the beginning of the straight and narrow path not the the end not even close, so heads up, there`s more on the way :-D As well when your goal for your investigators is ETERNAL LIFE you`re going to have a little more focus and a heck of a lot more power and authority in your speech and in your lessons. The lessons aren`t for baptism, they`re for the second part, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we have THAT gift so that we will eventually make it to the Celestial Kingdom. Gospel bomb. So that was what I learned this week :-D I wish everyone could go on missions and get this kind of information :-D
Thats it for me :-) For rills Sam, Read PMG and the Book of Mormon a lot before you go. I wish I did more. It will give you so much power when you ask people to read the Book of mormon because you`re doing it too :-) and knowing the lessons will help the spirit remind you of what you already know. For everyone one else . . .keep doing what you`re doing :-D So until the next, Mom Dad Sam, Meri Grace and Sophie I love you all and Be HaPPY
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell
p.s. I wanted to know if you guys could send me a good pair of spanish scriptures for this family to me. They don`t have a bible and they want to read everything. If you could, that`d be great :-D PEace

Letter and Pictures

HEY EVERYBODY! :-D HOWZIT GOING?! :-D
It was really cool to see the Cooks all together at last :-D Tommy was on my prayer list for the missionaries I know so let him know that if he feels like he`s not getting the same amount of blessings its cuz I`m not praying for him anymore :-D Just kidding :-D Sophie`s pictures were hilarious as well :-D
Things here in Gorbea are going good :-) We were able to bring 4 to church yesterday :-D The week was kind of a slow one for the fact that we needed to spend a lot of time in Temuco monday, tuesday and wednesday because Elder Gonzalez needed to get some xrays for his legs. Turns out that there`s nothing really wrong with his knees at least, except for a little inflammation which only a little rest from walking and playing soccer will help :-) He kind of got mad when they told him that :-P Besides that it went pretty well :-) We went to William, Maria, and Isis`s house several times during the week to put a date for their marriage and they finally did yesterday :-D but its for October 7th :-P We told them that we were very happy that they had a date set up BUT we encouraged them to continue praying about it to see if it`d be better to get married sooner. We explained how a blessing tomorrow or next week is still the same blessing at the end of the day except for when we receive it, and if the reason that blessings don`t come to us is because we are just waiting, then its better to do it sooner. Of course in a very lovingly way :-D They told us that they still hadn`t prayed really for the date so we told them that it`d help them a lot to do so. They said they would :-) At least there`s a date. :-D
Cambios are tomorrow, and I`m staying here in gorbea and Elder gonzalez is heading out. And guess who`s coming to gorbea . . . Elder Gomez!! :-D But this one is from Paraguay so its not as exciting as you all thought :-D I`m quite a little prankster aren`t I? :-D I don`t know much about Elder Gomez, but I`ve heard that he`s a hard worker :-) hopefully we`ll get stuff done and have fun :-D
I was able to give a talk yesterday, and I thought that it went pretty well. Apparently it went so well that a Sister Gabi came up to me after and told me that I had the gift of tongues. I nodded in agreement. :-D She said that I was using words that had two or three meanings in spanish and that I was using them perfectly. I laughed on the inside and thanked her. I can speak spanish but i`m not that cool yet :-) Good to know that at least she understood me :-D
Nothing really happened this week :-P Sorry for being boring :-P Next week should be good :-D
Yesterday was Easter :-) My major holidays have been rather pathetic here in Chile :-P I didn`t really feel the Easter spirit yesterday, but that doesn`t change my testimony. Something that I love about the Atonement of Jesus Christ (well two actually), is a talk that Elder Wirthlin gave called Sunday will come, and the knowledge that everyone has the ability to change and be better. There`s a line in Elder Wirthlin`s talk that I love, ``No matter how black our fridays can be, Sunday will always come, just like it did on that first Easter Sunday for Jesus``. and the second thing is that no matter how much we`ve messed up our lives (or how ever little), WE CAN CHANGE. We will forever have the ability to choose to be better. We will always be able to say I will try again. Christ made that possible and shame on us if we forget his pain.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Pres Thomas S Monson is the Prophet on the earth today :-) and we will always be able to find comfort in that because Jesus suffered everything, we don`t need to suffer anything.
Thats it for me :-D until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie, I love you all and Be Happy :-)
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEY EVERYBODY!! REPORTING LIVE FROM SOMEWHERE :-D HOWZIT GOING?!!!
Hey guys, how`re things? :-) How is the life? How are things going in Good ol`California (my second favorite state) :-D You know, I always loved the oakland temple :-) I loved the pictures with Sophie and the flowers :-D
So things are going good in the Concepcion South mission, the only celestial mission on the planet (that`s what our logo says). Yesterday we were able to bring 6 people to church which apparently doesn`t happen much in Gorbea as told to me by my companion Elder Gonzalez :-) We brought the family of three again (Will Maria and Isis), two husbands of long time members (Nivaldo and Ruben), and a sister of a recent convert (Valeska). It was a very cool sunday :-) This week with the family we taught them the Restoration which went really well. The Spirit was very strong. I love the feeling when you know that EVERYONE is feeling the same as you :-) Good feeling. They still need to get married but I think that that will come very easily :-) Pray for spirit pushes in the right direction. As well the wife of Ruben (Marixa) was called as the Primary President yesterday. This is perfect for her because her insane little two year old keeps her from staying for more than the sacrament meeting with her husband and 15yr old. Now she can take care of him herself AND start to build her self confidence. More than that her husband can stick around and learn from the classes and eventually get baptized and her son can learn more to prepare for a mission :-) We`re hoping for teh best with them :-D
I apologize mom that there are so many people talking to you on facebook. Constanza Rivas and Makarena Fernandez are of my baptisms, the others are members or possibly investigators. I`m looking for the email of my third baptism Barbara San Martin.
I did get the package :-) The ugly doll makes a wonderfully soft pillow and I feel invincible to the elements with my gigantic umbrella :-D As well I almost cried when I opened the bag of Goldfish :-D Thank you everyone so much :-D the pictures were hilarious :-D
I need to go but short truth, When you are trying your best to do good and taking steps to help that goal, even if it doens`t look like anything is happening or that you dont feel guided by the spirit, Know that good is being done and that it will be all right in the end :-) I promise
Thats it for me :-) Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and Be HAppY!!
Sincerely
Elder McConnell

Hey EveryBody!!! :-D Howzit Going?!! :-D How are things in the United States of A? :-D
I hope that everything is going good :-) Later today I`m hoping to FINALLY send off some long expected letters for you guys :-D As well, I don`t know when but I`ll be sending a package soon with some cool thingys so wait up for that :-D
Now more about me :-D Things here in Gorbea are going good :-) The work is kind of slow but its visibly growing :-D Yesterday we were able to bring a family of three to church :-D It was really really cool to see them there :-D Their names are William, Marìa Josè and Isis :-) They are really really cool people and very humble. They don`t have many things in their house but you wouldn`t say that they were poor or in trouble because of how happy and cheerful they are :-D They recently moved into the sector so we`re hoping to get them together with the members that live close by so that they can make some friends and coughgetbaptizedcough. . . :-D They really like what we`ve told them about the Restoration and Marriage (not married). Elder Gonzalez is very very blunt, but thats fine when you have good intentions and the Spirit of God :-D I already knew that he was going to lay down the law so I figured that I`d join him, so we went and told Will and Maria how they really need to get married and Isis joined us as well. They told us that they were going to pray about what we`ve taught them so far and about marriage and then takes the steps necessary to get married. Pray for them please :-)
A Happy anouncement. Carmen Gloria and Pedro (The Parents of the family back in O`higgins) got baptized on Saturday :-D I get a call from Carmen in the morning and she says hey McConnell (they never called me elder :-D) I have an announcement. They usually say good announcement so I was expecting the worst when she tells me that she and her husband are getting married at 6 :-D I was very very happy :-D I had honestly not thought a lot of ohiggins since I left. A little of course, I called sometimes and got called but I had forgotten that even when I left the sector, the work continues on. it was a very appreciated rude awakening :-D The work will go on with or without you Elder and hopefully YOU decide to stay on the ride because the work isn`t gonna wait up. :-D EGO SMASH :-D There`s something to learn everyday :-) It was really cool to hear that Carmen and Pedro were getting baptized :-) Their children have yet to make that decision but now that their parents are their hometeachers, it`s only a matter of time :-D
As well, an Hermana Rosa was baptized as well. We were doing contacts one day, weeks ago, and we found her. She was a very quiet lady and she has a lot of problems with reading and its possible that she never read a page of the Book of mormon when I was there BUT . . . she told us that she felt that it was true, and that she wanted to know more. And now she`s baptized. She told me that she was sorry that I wasn`t going to be there for her baptism :-) Little blessings.
Well thats basically it for me today :-) I haven`t gotten the package yet but I might Friday :-) Until the next one then, Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani(if she`s home still) I love you all and BE HappY!! :-D
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

HEy EVERYBODY :-D HOWZit GOinG!? :-D
Hey guys, how´re things? :-) How is life in utah or as the members here call it ´´The Missionary Factory´´. :-D I hope that all is going well :-)
How was conference? :-D I thought it was great :-D I loved Elder Scott´s talk :-D Elder Nelson´s talk was really cool too :-D I loved what Pres Eyring said, ´´There was jimmy, he went to prison, and there was petey across the street, he went to prison too. . . It was a tough neighborhood´´ :-D as well as Pres Monson ´´If you haven´t read the Book or Mormon, Read it. I´ll not have a show of hands´´ :-D It seemed that half the talks were about marriage. I´m glad that I´m a missionary cuz I don´t have to deal with prophetic pressure to get married :-D Missionary Safeguard :-D I thought that it was a really good conference. Bishop Burton´s talk was great as well. When you guys get the ensign, make sure to send me one :-D (HEY short note, Conference is already online, go check it out :-D )
So things are going good here in Gorbea. This last week we spent a lot of time looking and FINDING people to teach so that was good :-D This week we should have a lot of lessons. Missionary work is a lot more fun with people :-D Two people that we found had had a family member and a friend die. They were both very nice and polite with us and they both needed a little bit of comfort for their recent loss. We´re hoping to give them the answers that they need this upcoming week :-) A question for you Mom and Dad, what did you two liked to teach the people you found who had had friends or family die recently? The plan of salvation of course but scriptures you liked to use and things you liked to say is what I´m asking about. Whatever you´ve got will be very much appreciated. :-D
Something that I´ve learned on the mission, unfortunately I feel because of the circumstances that brought me to the realization, is a person is who he is and does what he really wants to do when nobody cares or nobody is watching. It is very easy to sleep in when your comp does. It is very easy to stay on the internet for too long when your comp does. It is very to go home early when your comp is ´´done´´ for the day. These are only examples, there are others, but they show who you really are and what you really want to do through your choices. Elder Gonzalez told me yesterday that he hadn´t felt the same as he had when he begun his mission and he didn´t like that. I was going to say ´´ . . .Maybe you should pray more or something´´ but he continued to say that maybe if he got up on time in the morning, did exercises and his studies as well, maybe he´d get back his ´´newbie spirit´´. I said that was an excellant idea (I had been hoping to bring this up somehow) BUT . . . then he said that he didn´t want to do any of that and that he doesn´t like to do things that he don´t pleasure him (along the lines anyway). I waited for a sec ad then said, rather straightforwardly I thought, that a person will do what is necessary to get what he wants and if he doesn´t do the things that are necessary to get what he wants then he didn´t really want it to begin with. I ´´wanted´´ to learn spanish before the mission and did little to nothing to achieve that goal. Only when I needed spanish to survive did I learn. So the question is(are) who are you when no one expects anything of you? What do you do when no one is watching? What do you really want? When you can answer these questions and be content(I would hope happy as well) then you´re doing fine. If not, get better :-D
Well thats it for me. Thanks for everything everyone (The package hasn´t come yet but I´ll let you know when it does). Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and Be HappY :-D
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Props to Elder Cook :-P I hope he finds comfort in knowing that he did what he felt in his heart to be right :-D

Weekly Letter

HEY EVERYBODY!!! :-D HOWZIT GOING!!! :-D
Hey, How`re things? :-D How is life on the other side of the world? Things are going alright here in Gorbea :-D Its weird to say something else than Ohiggins :-D This week we weren`t really able to go out and work for conferences, Elder Gonzalez being sick and activities, so there`s not much to say :-P Some surprise blessings at the end though :-D Yesterday the husbands of two member mothers both came to church which apparently never happens :-D So that was cool. Ruben and Nivaldo :-) We were able to talk to them about the Sacrament meeting (because it`s the first meeting) and they both said that they really liked it :-) They`ve apparently gone to the church various times because their wives are long-time members, so they basically know everything. So later on in the day we went to have dinner with Nivaldo and his wife, Difrozina (Have fun with THAT) and their children. Elder Gonzalez told me that its really good to have people eating when you ask them to do things and he was perfectly right. Before the night was through, he set up a date for them to get themselves married, and for Nivaldo to get baptized :-D You can imagine that that is kind of a big deal. Let me explain the marriage thing. Chilaens ( and i assume the vast majority of south america) are completely fine with just pairing off with other people for the rest of their lives without even a word about marriage. Marriage for some people is like a shiny gift that would be nice to have but isn`t really necessary. That makes the Law of Chastity really fun :-P I remember one time, this lady, when we had asked why she wouldn`t get married with her ``husband``, told us that if she ever got mad or if he ever did something stupid, she could just go without any problems. She said that while holding her almost two year old daughter in her arms. That was awkward. So you can imagine that when Elder Gonzalez helped Nivaldo and Difrozina put a date to get married, that was kind of a big deal :-D A whole week of almost doing nothing and suddenly a baptism date :-) Something that Pres Swenson said in the conference friday made me think. He said that baptisms are GIVEN, not earned. I think that that is very true :-)
So thats basically it for the work this week :-P Bytheway things, I did get the package with the reeses and hymnbooks, and the one with socks and chapstick and letters from both Grandma and Grandpa Utley AND McConnell :-) I was able to write some letters today to some other people and I figure that I`m just going to send the birthday cards without a gift, cuz I`ve found nothing :-P :-) Something funny, Elder Gomez and my old comp Elder Merrill called me in the morning today to wish me a happy birthday :-D Its crazy to think that Elder Gomez is all the way out here in Chile :-D
Thanks for all the Happy Birthdays guys :-) Today I wrote some letters and then we went ``fishing`` for the rest of the day so that was a blast. Elder Gonzalez has a problem with accepting that he needs to practice with something because we didn`t catch ANYTHING ALL DAY LONG. He said that there was fish but they must have been really really tired all day long. All well :-) I still have candy at the house :-D
Something that Pres Swenson told me the other day was that when Nephi went to pray to the lord in order to make the ship, the lord AT TIMES answered his prayers. later while they were traveling on the boat the wind would push them along one direction and then at times stop, and then begin and push them in another direction. The lesson was that sometimes the Lord is gonna leave us on our own for awhile and we are going to sometimes feel abandoned when really we`re learning more about ourselves and developing a greater faith. The Spirit is always there when we are ready and worthy to have it. Thats a promise of God. Even if we don`t feel it, it doesn`t mean it isn`t there.
Well thats it for me :-) I`m twenty bytheway :-D Crazy stuff to think that a fifth of my life has just finished :-P :-D Until the next monday guys, Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, i love you all and Be HAPPY! :-D
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Happy 20th Birthday Jamie

Weekly Letter

HEYYY EVERYBODY!!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!!! :-D
Hey Guys, How`re things? :-) Hopefully things are going good :-) All the missionaries seem to be doing good :-D thats always good :-)
Things are going a lot differently here in Gorbea :-) Lots of rain, lots of green, very pretty. The mornings can be monsters of cold but thats what thermal garments are for :-D The people are a ton more . . . . nice :-D We`ve barely had any doors thrown yet :-D Thats so new for me :-D As well as lessons with some of them :-D I`m kind of out of practice :-D A guy the other day said that at the time he was kind of busy but told us he`d love to have us come by on Wednesday so Elder Gonzalez was like ``Yeah we`ll pass by`` and I was like ``DO YOU WANT TO GET BAPTIZED?!!?!? . . . I mean, yeah we`ll pass by``. My enthusiasm got the better of me :-D
Bytheway, My Companion is called Elder Harold Gonzalez from Colombia :-) He`s a pretty cool guy :-) He`s a really good teacher and really really fast. I don`t know if I`m going to be able to keep up with him :-P He has like 17 months I think and leaves in November. He`s kind of a clean freak so we have the house very very tidy :-) He`s kind of bipolar though, and not like he changes his mood quickly, he EXPLODES from doing one thing to the next. I have to mantain a good jog with his walk :-P I don`t know when to insert myself in the lessons cuz he moves so fast and he`s fantastic with the people. We completed with almost all of the weekly goals even with all the time in the house :-P He`s a freak .-D He`s a very hardworking freak :-D I`m doing absolutely fine but PRAY FOR ME.
Its weird to think that next week I`m going to be 20 and in another 2 weeks, I`ll have a year in the mission :-P :-) Crazy stuff. I almost have a fifth of my life done :-P Crazy stuff. It goes to show that the only things that we really have in this life that are completely ours is time (and not an unlimited supply of it) and choice. Sing HO for Albedrio (agency in spanish)(I speak spanish :-D). Elder Hales had a really cool talk on agency and I really like the verse he uses
Know this that every soul is free
To choose his life and what he`ll be
Know this that this eternal truth is giv`n
That God will force no man to heaven.
Crazy stuff. Something that has come to my mind and even more in the mission is the thought of ``Am I doing everything I can with what I have?``. Thats an awful question, I think that that question causes more stress to mankind than almost any other :-P We do have a guidebook though :-) The Apostles asked Jesus what kind of men should they be and he answered `` Even as I am``. Thats kind of a lofty goal, perfection, but its a goal worthy of us to try at least and like that saying says shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you`ll land among the stars. Perhaps a more mormon saying, shoot for the sun. We won`t make it all the way but God will bare us up after all that we could do, and he`ll take us the rest of the way to our heavenly home :-)
Thats it for me this week guys :-) Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and BE HappY!! :-D
Sincerely
The only Elder Jamie McConnell

HEY EVERYBODY!! HOWZIT GOING?! :-D
HEy, I`m leaving Villa O`higgins! It is kind of sad :-P I am glad that I`m leaving, to learn more about the mission and learn more about how to teach, but I will miss the O`hig. The ward is doing good, basically the same in attendance but they do seem happier now than when I arrived :-) Thats always good :-) I`m also leaving a baptism date for the 2nd of april so thats good as well :-) Crazy stuff.
So things went alright this week. We taught a lot of lessons which was good. We made it a point to share scriptures during lunches which was always good because they almost always have people over who aren`t members so that always a good opportunity to have a lesson with member :-D Something sad, the rains have started so everything is gray whereas everything before was burning red hot :-P By the way, the sector where I`m going is called Gorbea :-) which is one of the sectors most south of the mission, which is wonderful because winter is about to start . . . wait thats bad. Shoot. Thats one thing the missionaries here have made fun of me is that I had to spend a summer in Los Angeles and now a winter down south. Who loves irony?
Something different, the ward did a play on saturday and we were in it. Superman wanted to go on a mission so he called the Super Elders for advice :-) THe whole show was made up thirty minutes before so when I send it you guys you`ll understand why it was kind of . . . fome(spanish word), but our entries were cool :-D
Honestly . . . this week was very boring :-P Our investigators all said they were going to miss me and in fact we`re going over tonight for a family home evening to say goodbye to an investigating Family. :-) Its cool to see that you`ve made friends with people. But besides all that, there`s not much else :-P Disculpen.
Just a thought. Hope is an interesting word :-) In spanish its even more interesting. Esperanza means hope but it also means expectation. I feel that we use the word hope kind of like how we use the word maybe when in reality it is a much bigger thing than that. Two talks came to mind ``the infinite power of hope`` by Pres Uchtdorf and ``an high priest of good things to come`` by Elder Holland. You guys should read them :-) They`re very good :-) It just goes to show that hoping isn`t a weak thing that passively waits for the good to come, it goes and gets it, even if its hard, and even if it appears impossible. Cool stuff
Thats it for me this week :-) The next email will be from Gorbea so heads up :-D until the next, Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and Be Happy!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell
p.s. Did somebody tell me that Sam got into the U or did I forget?

Weekly Letter and Pictures

HEY EVERYBODY!!! :-D HOWZIT GOING?!
Hey guys, how´re things? :-) Sounds like everything is going good with you guys :-D I just recently watched Grace´s video and Sams seminary video :-D Hilarious :-D I´m crying. English humor is so much BETTER!!! By the way, I didn´t know you guys went to San Fransisco :-D
So things are going alright here in Ohiggins. We have people, they´re nice :-) They´re having problems with coming to church but we´ll be fixing that soon. :-D The Family Contreras is doing good. We´ve hit some snags, Carmen needs to quit smoking, her husband Pedro likes the church but wants to really feel that its the true church, Magglor has yet to pray about the Book of Mormon but is reading it and likes everything that we´ve taught, Cristian doesn´t want to ´´switch´´ churches because all of his friends go to an adventist church, and Niko who needs to read and pray. Fun stuff. Actually, Something funny with Niko the other day. We were explaining Prophets and Apostols and how when Jesus made his church, it had prophets and apostols and so to be the church of Jesus today it needs to have those two things (and of course other things but we weren´t specifying everything) and Niko pipes up and asks ´´Wait a sec. You mean that your church has prophets and apostols here in the present?´´ and we say ´´. . .Yes´´ and he´s like ´´WHoa are you serious? Where do they live?´´ And I said ´´Um in Utah but they travel a lot, its kind of their job´´ and then Niko says ´´The church is true! It has everything!´´ And we´re like ´´Thats right class, you´ll need to know that for the test after´´ :-D Funny stuff :-D We´re going to see if we can help´them all out with reading and praying. I feel like thats really going to help them.
Elfrides is an older lady, she lives with her husband alone because their family are all grown. Her daughter in law is actually a member (inactive but a member nonetheless) and The daughter in law was going to bring her to church on sunday because she´s older and has trouble walking long distances but the lady never showed up!! This has happened twice now. We´ve decided to bring her ourselves :-) We have another abuelita, Rosa, as well who didn´t come either :-P She´s really nice, she´s kind of forgetful and We need to be very clear with the lessons but she´s doing good :-) thats about it for peoples.
Something interesting yesterday, We were contacting in a plaza thats right next to the church and we start talking to this guy Nelson and he´s nice, we´re talking, we start talking about how there´s one God how he wouldn´t have so many churches and he asks us ´´well which church is true´´ I waiting for a second before pointing across the plaza and said ´´Its that one´´. I think that if i had recently arrived in chile I would have said something like ´´Well you can pray to our Heavenly Father and he will tell you the answer´´ which is true, but I knew what the answer was, and I wasn´t going to wait ´to let him know. I feel that not saying the truth (not lying, just not talking), is almost another way of lying when the truth should be told. As well, when someone keeps their mouth shut when words should be spoken, trust is lost. If people can´t tell each other how they feel and what they think honestly, trust is silently lost. Something as missionaries members and really anyone that we should make sure to do when the truth is asked for is tell it, without fear. People don´t have the time to hear us almost tell he truth, especially family and friends and whoever else we care about.
Well I got to go :-) By the way Mom I haven´t had any health problems so no worries. I´m sending ONE letter for everyone so heads up for that. Until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and BE HaPPy!!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Weekly Letter

Hey Everyone! Howzit Going?! :-D
Hey guys, how`re things? :-) Things are going good here in the Ohig :-D Unfortunately the missionaries that I`m with have no idea how to manage time so we were just giving juice all day long (Dando jugo means giving juice but its another way of saying hanging out but more like wasting time) So I have very little time to say how cool you all are and tell some stories from this week but I`ll try.
First off, I KNOW WHERE DALLIN IS!! :-D Found the little bugger`s sector in another missionaries phone so I`ll be calling him later tonight :-D He`s in a sector called Labranza :-)
Second thing. A little cooler. We were teaching this lady the other day, Elfrides, and we`re teaching the first lesson all about the restoration and we get to the part about Joseph Smith and I`m like ``So Sister, have you ever heard of Joseph Smith?`` and she says, I kid you not ``Oh yeah, You mean that prophet that God and Jesus Christ appeared to, in order to restore the true church?``
. . . And I`m like ```. . . . Yes`` (I`m thinking ``She ruined the story`` :-D Just kidding) We pause for a sec because we are surprised, and then I ask her if she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is ture, and that the LDS church is the only true church in the world, and she said yes to all of them. So we asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said yes but that her husband wouldn`t let her so we asked if we could talk with him and she said yes, so we did, and he doesn`t want anything to do with us with the gospel anyway because we really hit it off when we didn`t talk about religion but he said that we could teach his wife and help her get baptized :-D Thats tight :-D Elfrides couldn`t come to church yesterday but it`s still looking good :-) :-D
Thats basically it for me :-P I apologize again for length, I`m going to have to talk to these guys next monday cuz this is ridiculous :-) So until the next, Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and Be Happy!! :-D
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Weekly Letter

HEY EVERYBODY :-D Howzit going?! :-D How`re things in the United States of A? :-D Thanks for the heads up with whats up in the states mom. As well for that other thing :-) Sam, I couldn`t hear the soundon this computer but I did see it and that was gross. I bet it`s funnier with sound :-D Next week :-D Grace I saw your video too :-) Yoor teeth are all coming out :-D
So I don`t have a lot of time today because we`re doing the emails really late. Honestly there isn`t really a limit but I feel better with less time on the computer on mondays. I feel more . . . ready for lack of a better word. This week was basically the same except that we kind of tanked on lessons taught :-P It`s starting to get difficult to complete with the goals :-P But no worries America :-D We Get Better Every Day! :-D
Things that were different, A convert of ours went back home to Viña Del Mar. She was here in the sector for vacation and got baptized instead :-D She`s actually one of the best converts that I`ve ever seen. She never had problems with the commitments, never a problem with the doctrine, and she studies the book of mormon better than some missionaries that I know. She has a journal at her side whenever she reads so she can write whatever comes to her mind. And something that she said that made me feel that she was progressing really well is that whenever we taught something new she would say that it all makes since and every new thing you guys teach me makes everything you`ve already taught me even more real. Really cool. Her name`s Makarena fernanda tejos and if you guys to send her messages occasionally that`d be cool. As well if you could have Tyson Cook see if he knows anyone where she lives, that`d be great .-)
Yesterday we had a really cool meeting. It was a stake conference but our speakers were an Elder Mayne from the Seventy, Sis Elaine S Dalton, Elder D Todd Christofferson and Pres Packer. (It was a transmission by the way to all of the stakes in Chile) Pres Packer and Sis Dalton had interpreters and the other two spoke spanish. It was really cool because Elder Christofferson speaks really well and it was really cool to here him speak. Pres Packer tried speaking spanish for the first part of his talk but he speaks spanish the same way he speaks english so it was kind of funny :-D They all gave really good talks :-) I don`t know if there is a way to get copies :-D
A spiritual thought and then I go. I had a thought come to me the other day, something that I learned from another missionary and I used it for our inverstigatot family (who are good bytheway). It goes like this. There is a circle. Just a circle and in it, it has the things that we know. For example the sky is blue, grass is green, etc. Other things, Heavenly Father loves us. He wants us to be happy. Jesus Christ completed the Atonement for us. There are others but thats enough. Now unfortunately we don`t know everything and we don`t know can make it hard to be happy and optimistic in this life. Why do bad things happen to good people, Cant i find a job, Am I capable of finding happiness in this world? A thing that I have too many times, Can marriages last, happily? Now these things are things that assalt us daily, there is no way of avoiding them. There are unfortunately more things that we don`t know and that perhaps we can`t answer right now or even ever, BUT whatever the thing is outside of the circle, it cannot change a thing that is inside of the circle. Doubt has no power over truth. Fear is nothing in the light of Faith. If we remember what we know, what we don`t know won`t matter and we`ll be happy :-) I said that all in spanish by the way PERFECTLY. I`m a magician :-D
I gotta go but I love you all and I hope the best for you. Don`t stop praying and never forget who we represent, because we can`t lose if we do.
So mom dad sam meri grace sophie and dani I love you all and BE HAPPY
As always sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

Weekly Letter

So things are going good here in O´higgins :-) Yesterday we confirmed our baptism that we had had the other sunday which was a relief because member had told me that if you wait too long between the baptism and the confirmation, Satan still has time to kill the person who got baptized before they become members for real. So you can bet I was a little on edge during the week :-D The family is doind great :-) (Pedro, Carmen, Magglory, Cristian, Niko, and Pedrito so you know who they are) bytheway Mom, Magglory is mad that you havent accepted her yet on facebook. They are doing really great :-) We´re planning for the 5th for the baptism of Carmen and Magglory. There are some complications in that Carmen has a little problem with smoking, but I told her to knock it off and she said ok so we´re alright :-D Magglory has been baptized twice already in two different churches. She understands the line of authority and she believes that everything that we have said is true, she just doesn´t want to think that this next baptism will be wrong like the other two. She´s reading, she´s praying, she´ll be fine :-) Things are looking up.
Short note, The ´´earthquake´´ did nothing but scare people (I did hear there was one death but it was from a heart attack). Me and Elder Colombo were talking to an Adventist lady. A very Angry Adventist lady, and she and Elder Colombo began to chat in a less than cordial manner. Anyways, So I´m hanging out while my comp and this lady are yelling and the fence that we´re leaning on begins to shake and I for sure thought that it was Elder Colombo shaking the fence with his hands cuz he was mad but then I realized that all the fences that I could see were shaking as well, along with the windows :-D But it was only big enough to get your attention nothing else. So no worries, we´re alright :-D
I wanted to talk about faith. Yesterday we went to the home of an older woman who wanted us to give her a blessing. We chatted for a bit, she hasn´t been to church for longer than I´ve been here in the sector because of her health, so she´s kind of in bad shape. So we give her a blessing, and as we´re leaving she tells us ´´Me siento bien!´´ I feel fine. Not like when people say that they feel better that you passed by to visit them, she felt fine. She was genuinely happy and without her pain. For a sec I was like whoa, what happened but just for sec because I remembered ´´oh yeah, We can heal people with the power of God. thats why´´. I´ve always known that blessins help but I had never seen it work so fast. Another time we gave a blessing to another older lady who was in a lot worse shape. An intestine had ruptured or something and this lady needed to stay in her bed. We were actually just passing when the son sked us to come in and give her blessing. She was asleep when we did it and then we left. couple days later her daughter finds us in the street and says that her mom is fine and in fact her health and personality had changed to what they were like when she was younger. Crazy stuff. It makes me think. One happened very quickly. One happened later but the lady didn´t even hear or was aware of the blessing but regardless is better. Faith to move mountains. Faith to heal. Faith to be Healed. How much is needed to heal someone. How many people need to have it. Only a seed, very tiny seed, of faith is needed and only one person needs to have it. Perhaps what we wish to happen will happen quick, tomorrow. or perhaps much later, but I believe that if we believe that it can and will happen, it will. Only a seed :-D
Thats it for me :-) I´m sending letters to other peoples so heads up for those but the next week I´ll send some for you guys :-) SO until the next Mom Dad Sam Meri Grace Sophie and Dani, I love you all and BE HAPPY
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

SO things have been very good here in the Ohig. I don´t think I made this clear but I´m going to be here at least until the 15th of march. So that should be fine :-D I´m going to get know EVERYBODY :-D The other day we were told that God doesn´t exist and that we were wasting our youth trying to teach the scriptures. Another day we were told that ´´the latter day saints were going to be burned in the last day ´´(I may have misinterpreted that one but Elder Colombo says thats what the pastor said) :-) Happy day.
But for good news we had a baptism yesterday :-D It went really well. We had the baptism after sacrament meeting which was good because if we had done it on Saturday almost no one would have come :-P :-D So the ward stayed, I was able to give a cool little talk (I speak spanish by the way), we had the baptism, everybody couldn´t fit in the font room there were so many people, family and non family a like :-D It was a really cool baptism. All of the grandma´s gave Makarena (the girl who got baptized) hugs and kisses, and her Aunt said that she was going to make it a point to come back to church :-) :-D Very cool :-)
We´re still working with the family that we found a couple weeks ago (La Familia Contreras) and they are still doing very well. They were almost all not home during the week but we kept in contact over the cellphone and they told us that they were still reading the Book of Mormon and praying which was great. The daughter was the only one that was able to come to church but she brought three friends with her who are also beginning to listen to the lessons :-D Things are looking up :-D
So thats it for me :-) Letters are on the way :-) Grandma McConnell, I hope that you are doing alright with your sister. Grandma Utley I hope that you´re recuperating more and more everyday, and I Hope that all the rest of you are doing good and if not good, great :-D
A little note, I read Romans chapter 8, the last three verses, and they made me think that there is nothing in or out of the world that can take away the love of God from us. Even if we don´t want to have it, God loves us anyway :-) What a blessing. We can´t lose if we remember who it is that hopes the best for us and is doing everything He can for us to have the best. We can´t lose :-D
Now that´s it for me :-D Until the next then, Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, Sophie, and Dani, and All of you out there, I love you and BE HAppY!! :-D
Sincerely
Elder McConnell

So hey, WHoa Grandma. So everything went well I heard which is good. No offense but I wasn`t all that worried about anything because I didn`t hear about open heart surgery until this morning, and then after I heard that grandma was fine. Before I had only heard of angioplasty which is either not really a big deal or I wasn`t aware of how big of a deal it was. Its cool how everything worked out in the end :-)
So things here in the ohig are going really good :-) We`ve done a lot of things here to help with the ward and sector. I don`t think I said the last but we had a Baptism on the 29th :-) It went very well :-) It was kind of impromtu because we had to do everything but it was good nonetheless :-) We hope that this baptism will help her family make their way back to the church because they are a little inactive. Here`s to hoping. It`s good that we had a baptism because the last time that this sector had a baptism was in March 2010 :-P Sing Ho for not a year! :-D Another cool thing that has happened recently is the family that I was talking about the other week :-) We`ve been teaching them throughout the week and they have accepted everything that we`ve said and they even say that it makes a lot of sense :-D TAke that Satan, Gospel Props! We had a ward activity on friday where we had all the members that came bring a cake(or something sweet to share) and then we provided a spiritual message and games :-D A plus was that the family was able to come and get to know just about everyone in the ward and THEN on sunday they already knew everybody :-D Yesterday after church they told us that they loved everything and want to hear more. So we`re going to leave them alone for a little while . . . . Yeah thats not happening. They`ve been a real blessing for us and I feel that when they become members (When not if, because THEY`ve already been talking about the temple) that they are going to be a great help for the church :-) HAppy Day, all is well.
Another cool thing this week. The Area President, Elder Carlos Amado, came and had a conference with us on thursday :-D It was really fun and he`s a really funny guy. It`s weird to think that if I didn`t know spanish, I wouldn`t have been able to talk with him or listen to what he was teaching. Crazy stuff. Something that he told us was that at the time we may not feel that we are being guided by the spirit but when looking back, its obvious that we were. Cool thought.
Something funny, so we were contacting the other day cuz we do that sometimes, and we run into this old guy and we`re like hey sir how`re you doing? and he was like good good, and we were like Hey were missionaries and we have this special message for YOU, and some other things about the importance of our happiness in this life, and until this point he was being polite until he asks ``What are you guys, Catholics, Evangelists?`` And we say ``We`re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints`` and he asks ``What?`` and we say ``. . .The Mormons`` and then he flips out and he`s like ``No I dont want anything from you guys, you need to leave`` so we stand there awkwardly for a sec and I`m kind of sad cuz it`s always sad when they do that so I say ``Here`` and I give him a little passalong card of Jesus and he gets all surprised and says ``What is this?`` and I`m like `` . . .Its Jesus`` and he`s like ``But you guys follow Satan, the Devil`` and I`m like ``. . . Nope`` :-D After that he got all happy and smily and thoughtful for awhile and we told him that we can only follow Jesus because anyone else is wrong. He stopped talking to us at this point onward but he was still smiling :-) We told him we`ll pass by someother time when he wasn`t busy and then we left. Funny stuff. Its amazing what people think sometimes.
So hey that`s it for me. I`m mailing some letters today but they`re all for other people but I`m sending letters to you guys next week with pictures so hang tight. (By the way I`m still going to be here in Ohiggins until MArch 15 at least. Forgot to mention that ) Until the next Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, Sophie, and Dani, I love you all and Be HAppy!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell

HEY?! :-D HOWZIT GOING?! :-D
I didn`t know that Cody got home already :-D I thought that he was going to get home in like april or something. My Bad :-D And Brock`s heading out as well :-D Crazy stuff :-D
So how`re things? How is everybody? Hopefully your shoulder is getting better Mom :-P Its funny hearing about Sophie watching tv because I can imagine perfectly how she`s in the chair :-D She`s kind of the shape of a potatoe :-D
Its good to hear that everything is going alright at home :-) Actually one thing Dad, Grandpa sent me an email the other day that he had slipped and fallen in his driveway like on sunday I think sometime at 6 in the morning. He didn`t say that he had told anyone so if you could go and check that he has all his parts that`d be cool :-D
So things are going good here on the other side in Chile :-) We were able to bring a lot of people to church yesterday (3 which is a freaking ton load thank you very much). We found a really cool family LAST monday and they are all really cool :-) We arrived and they invited us in with smiles and everything. We were able to have a really cool conversation and share some scritpures with them. We also gave them a Book of Mormon and they`ve been reading it :-D Cool stuff. The kids (3) came with us to play soccer on saturday which was cool :-) It`s only a matter of time and the spirit now :-D VAMOS CHILE!!!
Things continue to kind of slug their way with the ward. Now that I`m with a comp that isn`t really down on himself it isn`t as bad as it was but its still hmhuhm, word. I don`t worry too much because it will have to improve eventually, even if its after my turn here :-)
Thats basically it here :-P :-D Hey dad, I wanted to tell you that I might buy a new luggage bag next monday and it isn`t inexpensive. The biggest bag started falling apart the last cambio. There was a bar that was between the wheels of the bag and yeah, that`s gone now :-) As well I packed the walls of the bag to tight the last cambio and they are all cracked. If I can fix the bag in the week, I let you know on monday but if not then I`ll have to get a bag. The bigger bags range from 100 to 140 DOLLARS not pesos so heads up :-P I think that there is a way that I can fix the bag but just so you know if I can`t.
So thats basically it for me :-D Until the Next Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, Sophie, and DAni, I love you all and BE HAPPY
Sincerely
THe only one
Elder Jamie McConnell

Jamie talking with us on Chirstmas

HEy EverYBody :-D
Howzit going?! :-D Things are going alright here on the other side of the world.
So some interesting things this week :-) We ALMOST had a Baptism :-P And we almost did it in a River :-D but it didn`t happen :-P So we had everything ready, she has been taught all of the lessons and she passed everything in the interview, BUT she told us that she didn`t want to do it. Actually she never said yes or no. The thing is that she at this time can be baptized. There is no problem with that. She however has this really big fear of not enduring to the end. The problem is that she has this ex pareja. The closest word in english that I would use is a husband or wife that live together almost exactly as if they were married but aren`t. Right now there is no problem, but she is afraid that in the future this guy`s going to come back and they`re going to live together and then the baptism would`ve been for nothing :-P She knows everything, she knows that its important, she knows she has to do it, but she wants to be sure that this won`t be a problem for her later :-P So me and Elder Colombo both felt that we shouldn`t push her on this. We knew that this idea was really sad but we also knew that it was the best thing to do. When we got home we didn`t feel too bad :-) Elder Colombo said that If we had baptized we wopuld have felt worse :-D I agreed. So theres that.
Nothing much really crazy happened this week. I gopt the hymnbook and bugstuff on tuesday. We had a capacitacion which is just a big spanish word for a big meeting with los angeles south zone and Pres. Swenson :-D We learned a lot. he talked about how on the mission we are every decision that we make and its the same for the rest of your life :-D Cool stuff. I gave a talk yesterday :-D Darn Bishop told me the night before thatI needed to do it and then 15 minutes before he told me twenty minutes. I whipped out some old talks that I had in my english scripture case and just translated it :-D I gave a talk on forgiveness. It reminded me about when you would call me in the morning Dad and tell me I had a class later on in the day. Thanks for the practice. I also got to giver a blessing in spanish the other day. The thing in Spanish is that there are two different ways to say you, tu and usted, but for some reason blessings and prayers are usually said in tu form. The sad part is that I almost always talk in usted so I hardly know how to speak in tu :-P I did good I thought :-D It was a mix of the two :-D
So yeah, thats basically it :-) I`m sending letters today so heads up. I`m doing great with everything. Really the ward is really really cool :-) I`m going to miss them a lot when they take me out of here. That might happen in February first but I`d be totally fine until the middle of march :-) Sing Ho :-D
ANyways, Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, Sophie, and Danny, I love you all and Be Happy!
Sincerely
Elder Jamie McConnell
p.s. Whats in my hand? Nothing, Nothing, I`m a magician