Week 91 - Alonso's Big Day!

written: 9/26/2022

Week 91

Great start to the transfer here in Frutillar!! As always, the time flew before our eyes. The highlight of the week was the baptism we had on Saturday!!

On Monday, last P-Day, we were able to go as a zone to a ward activity of the hermanas in Puerto Varas and it was a PARTY! They had mountains and mountains of food and the entertainment was awesome as well. There were some youth that performed as a band and then to end the activity the dance floor was opened and at the end all the missionaries were out there having the time of our lives. As you'll see in the pictures, I was very happy and just living life to the fullest and enjoying my last "Dieciocho" here in Chile.

This week we were mainly focusing on preparing Alonso and making sure he was ready for his baptism! Every time we went over there he was the most attentive listener and always remembered the things he needed to. He passed the interview with no problems and he was super excited the entire week. Everything was going great including on Saturday as we were getting the chapel ready. Our branch president came at 3pm to fill the font, as the baptism was at 5pm. Around 445 I went to go check on the font with the branch mission leader and he pressed a button and it didn't seem right and then he realized he needed to just turn a knob a certain way to stop the font from filling more. I asked if the water was draining and it didn't look like it. Well... 10 minutes later we went back and the font was completely drained, not one drop of water!! We had to act fast and they started filling the water, although it takes almost 2 hours to fill. We started the baptismal service and just had the faith there'd be enough water in the font. Elder Mortensen and Alonso entered in to the freezing water and the water was only up to elder Mortensen's knee but thankfully Alonso is small and there ended up being 0 problems! Always some trial associated with every baptism but everything always seems to end up working out. Alonso has been a great example to me and it's been awesome teaching him the last month or so. I'm thankful I have been a small part of his process and he's going to be a great future elder!

Lastly, I have continued to read the New Testament and grow my testimony of Jesus Christ. As I near the end of my mission I am soaking up every opportunity I have to study and I am learning every day. I can definitely say my love for studying and the scriptures has grown a ton over the course of my mission. It is also really interesting to see the attributes I've gained or improved over my mission as well. I am seeing the person God always saw me as. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Alonso and his family; and Party time celebrating Chile Independence aka "Dieciocho"

 

Week 90 - Viva Chile!!

written: 9/19/2022

Week 90

A week full of celebration that ended with some wonderful news! We had the zoom call of transfers last night and I'll be staying in Frutillar with Elder Mortensen! However, we won't have Llanquihue anymore and we will be able to focus 100% on Frutillar! In the zone, only one missionary is leaving, I'm going to miss my friend Elder Quezada. I'm super excited to be staying and I know there's much left to accomplish here.

This week was jam packed! Tuesday we were in Fresia, a small town, to do a "blitz" or "invasion" where we just knock doors in a sector that isn't ours to try and help the companionship that works there. Afterwards, we did exchanges and I got to spend the day with Elder Morris and of course we also got to see Papito, I've mentioned him a few times. Always a good time to see him. It is refreshing to leave your sector and to be able to see things from a different perspective but a day or two is enough, I was glad to get back to Frutillar.

The best thing about Chilean independence, El 18 de septiembre, is that it isn't just celebrated on that day. At least for us, the celebrations started on Friday, and are actually still continuing today on Monday. The whole weekend we were able to enjoy lots of typical Chilean food and many empanadas. Our branch activity on Friday in Frutillar was the best activity I've had on the mission! There were 100+ people and many people that were not members of our church and we were able to meet a lot of people! A lot of them seemed very interested in learning more about our church and one of the people that attended the activity ended up coming to church on Sunday! We had Llanquihue's activity on Saturday and we were able to enjoy a ton of typical Chilean games and also a few games I had played before. Musical chairs was very fun and I ended up winning even though a member tried the old trick or trying to swipe the chair from under me when it was the final 2. All good, we laughed it out and I gave him a hug. Another awesome thing was the ability to finally be having these activities after the pandemic. They haven't been able to celebrate like this since 2019. A big blessing!

Lastly, we are super excited for this upcoming Saturday, as our friend Alonso is getting baptized! He is one smart kid! He has progressed a ton and as a result of him wanting to be baptized his whole family is coming back to church. His grandma has been the only active member in the family for years and we've seen her strong testimony but you could tell it was hard being the only member and now her daughter and grandkids are coming to church and she has been very happy!! Great things are happening and there are many more to come! 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Elder Pastene returned to Chile; Our new friend, Daniel; Salchipapa with Elder Morris; Papito!; Lunch "Post-Blitz" in Fresia; The tradition of Mango Loco continues; and Tug of War.

 

Week 89 - The Calm Before the Festivities

 written: 9/12/2022

Week 89

Great week here! This upcoming week is September 18th, the most important day of the year for most Chileans, and I'm excited to spend my 2nd September 18th here and the party will basically be all weekend, I don't know if my body is ready for all the food but thanks to Shaun T and Insanity Max 30, hopefully it won't be too bad.

Tuesday and Wednesday Elder Mortensen got sick with a stomach virus so that knocked us out for those two days. Being sick stinks on the mission and also being the companion that isn't sick and wondering what to do. But after those two days we were motivated to make up for the stuff we couldn't get done. It has been tough finding people recently but things have a way of working themselves out. The member we live next door popped by Friday morning and said he was going to Llanquihue. We had planned going 1 hour later but took him up on his offer to take us and we would take advantage of our time before lunch to knock doors. We also are playing a bingo with the zone and the challenge was teach 3 people in the streets about temples. The 3rd person we met we ended up talking to him for a little bit and talked about Jesus and what happens after this life. He also said he had a great relationship with elders from Utah many years ago. We were happy to finally be able to find someone, especially in Llanquihue! Yesterday our challenge for bingo was invite 10 random people in the streets to come to church. We invited 6, not a lick of interest. We invited someone working on power lines and he said he's from Santiago and was busy. We walked away and heard someone say come back come back. He motioned us to him, and he was another person working on the power lines. He asked us which was our church and he said do we have meetings next Sunday and he said he wants to go and hear the word of God! We got his number and we will hope he shows up!

I have enjoyed working hard and it's all a process. We feel good with the work we are doing. I have really enjoyed reading the New Testament and learning and re-reading all of the miracles and amazing things Jesus Christ did when he was on the Earth. My testimony has already grown after not even finishing Matthew. I am excited to continue reading and learning from the New Testament. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Best District EVER, Papito, and good times with good food.

Week 88 - So Long Chile Osorno Mission, and Hello Chile Puerto Montt Mission!

written: 9/5/2022

Week 88

 September begins and the wonderful weather is becoming more common as the days pass. What a wonderful way to continue working hard and it helps keep the enthusiasm up. The work hasn't been on fire but that's alright, we are keeping our spirits high and there still is lots to do. This week we received news that our mission name and headquarters will change. So long Chile Osorno Mission, hello Chile Puerto Montt Mission! 

We started the week off with an awesome experience. On Tuesday we had planned to stop by three people we had recently found knocking doors. We didn't have success with our first person but the next two people are a couple and we felt good about it. We stopped by their house and they came out with a lot of enthusiasm. They told us they had been waiting for us! They were the people I mentioned in my email last week. We were able to get to know them a little more and share about the plan of salvation. They really seemed to like it. We also were able to meet their son, Drake, and find out he's named after Nathan Drake from uncharted, what a great video game. When we finished the lesson they asked to take a selfie with us and then they went to the kitchen and said "hey we bought you guys cookies we hope you like them" and they are the cookies we buy almost everyday!! Gotta love coconut cookies.

Another update from people we found last week, we were able to have contact with our friend from Casma! Our one and only friend we met the day we went. We called him and wanted to see how he was doing and we told him we had been calling him last Saturday to confirm he wanted to go to church and didn't answer. He said he was waiting for us on Sunday and was sad he couldn't come. What is hard is he lives 30+ minutes away in car, but we were able to coordinate with a member to go pick him up and he attended church yesterday!! He said he loved it and he wants to keep coming! There was definitely a reason we went to Casma. Everything is on God's timing.

On Friday, Elder Renlund had a special zoom call with our mission and it was a special moment! His message was short but I could feel his love and I could feel he knew about us and that we mattered. He made sure we know we have been called to be in this exact mission. 

A few rapid fire things that happened. We played a 5 v 5 basketball game between Frutillar and Puerto Varas with 2 missionaries on each of the teams and we destroyed them. Last Pday we were able to go to the Saltos de Petrohué which was absolutely beautiful and an awesome experience. This pday we are having a cookout with the district and Papito from Fresia, it is going to be a blast!

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: #elderenergy, Elder Mortensen and me, and thrift shop finds.