1/30/2017

¡Hola Familia!  Things are going good here!  Every Sunday we would have lots of people commit to coming and nobody would show up, but luckily this last Sunday 6 of our investigators came to Church and we weren´t even expecting 2 of them.  It was so cool to see that many come to church.  They all went to the 2nd class too, but after they all went home.  The 3rd class, (because it was the fifth Sunday) was us teaching which was pretty scary.  I messed up a lot but no one really cared that much so I didn´t really worry about it.  Yesterday was a good Sunday, and it was the Birthday of Elder Saaralinen so we celebrated with the Ward Mission Leader which was fun.  

We had one investigator that is from the Evangelic church, which there are many of them, but basically it´s the church that baptize the same way as us.  Anyway she went to our church this Sunday and brought her Bible to see if we believed the Bible.  What was awesome is that week we had lots of people talk using scriptures in the Bible!  Then later that day we went to her house to teach her more and the craziest debate happened.  She asked us how many God´s we believe in, and we said, The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost.  She believed that there was only 1 God and that they weren´t all separate beings.  So we kept trying to say that the scriptures say that they are all one in purpose but there are 3 different Gods.  We showed how when Christ was baptized there were 3 personages, and it was a really long debate but at the end I just said the only real way we can know that this is true is through God.  Because you could bring someone to counter our scripture and someone to counter that, but the only secure way to know is through God, so she said she was going to keep praying and reading.

I have been learning a lot and it just feels really good to serve the people. My love has really gotten stronger.  I hope to become more and more Christ like in my thoughts and actions towards others.  I would invite you all to do the same, think of others as Christ would.  I really like to think about when he was on the cross and how he still said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."  That is just amazing that he still loved them even while they were spitting on him and mocking him.  Through it all he still thought of them and that they could be forgiven.  I wish I could be more like that, and I´m trying everyday to be better and better.

Also this week we saw the broadcast for all the missionaries which changes their schedule which was a very big change I think for lots of missionaries, however luckily we almost had the same schedule already.  They did say that we don´t need to focus as much on lessons with members which is something we were really good at so that was kind of a bummer, but I learned a lot from the words of the apostles.

Anyways I love you all and thank you for everything you do and have done for me.  It really means a lot, I hope you are all doing well, and I wish you all the best!  Until next week CHOW!

Love,

       Elder Hirschi

Answers:

Have you been able to fix your hot water for your shower yet?

1. Yeah we fixed the water, we just had to buy some gas but it´s working well now haha.

Have you got any postcards or letters yet?

2. I got all the letters and postcards from Christmas which was really awesome thanks so much!!

Have you heard about the changes in missionaries’ daily schedules and p-days being a little more flexible?  Do you think that will affect you guys much?

3. Yeah we watched the video, but it didn´t change a whole lot for us, I don´t think much is going to change.

What has been your favorite dessert you have eaten there or some you have really liked?

4. We have lots of fruit for dessert which is usually pretty good, but I think my favorite dessert has been some of the ice creams.  They have such good flavors and ice cream is just really popular here.  They also have flan and bread stuff with dulce de leche (which is a lot like carmel), and that´s pretty good.

Have you heard much about the fires going on in Chile?  Some people here are praying and fasting for rain or help to put out the forest fires that have been going on in Chile

5. Yeah lots of people have been saying to pray for the south, it was noted as the biggest fire of all time which is crazy.  I also heard that the wife of the son of the guy who owns Walmart paid for a plane to come from the United States to bring water to help them.  Yeah it´s really bad, and our Elder quorums leader´s son is on his mission in the south, and he said he doesn´t even know where he is right now.  So please pray for them if you can!

Besides the people, what has been something you have really liked about the area you are in?

6. I really like some of the shop things there are lots of little shops full of random stuff on the street which is cool!  I like looking through the mall on p-days for cool things, but I really haven´t bought anything because I lost my debit card in the CCM.

Do you do any service projects there for people?

7. We helped some people move and we offer to help people with other things or to teach English, but generally we just ask we don´t really have projects planned for service.

1/24/2017

Hola Familia!  I HAD MY FIRST BAPSTISM THIS WEEK TA TA!!  I didn`t get to baptize him, but it was still super cool.  His name is Paulo and he is a super cool 13 year old kid.  He is going to be very firm in the gospel. I can just feel his spirit and how smart he is.  It was a really cool experience, I will send the picture next week because we forgot the camera with the picture on it.  The only thing that was a bummer this week is that the Hermano (brother) Juan Carlos said that he was having doubts and he didn`t want to get baptized and I thought it was going to be super cool to see him get baptized.  Hopefully we he can be baptized soon!

The new Elder for the cambio (transfer) is Elder Santos and he is super cool.  He is a Brazilian and he actually called President and made a deal that if we got 16 baptisms this month that we could watch Captain America.  Anyways he is just a really cool guy and he helps me a lot too.

We found a family the other day that is super receptive to the gospel and I hope that they will get baptized too.  They are from Columbia but they really like to listen to the gospel and let us in.  This family was super poor, and some of you know I hadn´t really been drinking soda since before the mission, and so on the mission I would always try to ask for water.  But this family was so poor and they got me some soda and it seemed like they didn´t have anything really so I just thought how cool it was that they tried to give me the things that they had when they had so little.  Of course I drank it because I could just see how much they were willing to give when they didn´t have much.  It was just so humbling to see how poor some of the people are, and just how amazing the people here are.    

The bishops son just got home from a mission and he is super coo.l He helps us a lot now which is awesome!  I have been trying to learn a lot from him, and he told me that I am a pretty good missionary for just starting.  He said I speak a lot, but I just need to make it more clear so I´m going to try to work on that.

Anyways it sounds like everyone is doing good! I wish you all the best and thank you all again for everything!  CHOW!

Love,

       Elder Hirschi

P.S. My trainer wanted me to say good things about him so...  Elder Carter is just the coolest guy on the planet like a solid 78 out of 10 you could not ask for a better companion ever!!!!  Nothing CAN COMPARE TO MY PAPITOO!!  

Answers:

How are things in the apartment there?  Do you split doing chores?  Do you have regular cleaning days? 

1.The apartment is a little small and messy, we all just do random chores at random times, but this P-day we might clean more.

Have you taught many lessons lately?  Are there a lot of youth in your ward?

2. We have been teaching everyday!  There is more and more, but still not that much youth.  Elder Cook actually came like a year ago and he said that working with the youth is the key to success in Chile.

 How is the language coming along?  Have you said any real funny things in Spanish on accident yet?

3. The language is good, but I just can´t quite understand the people.  One time I said I´m sorry for my English to someone on accident, and another time I started speaking in English for one of the lessons haha.  But not to many really funny things.

 Do any of the families there have trampolines or basketball hoops at their homes?

4. No they don´t have trampolines at all, they also don´t have basketball hoops, but the church does. 

Are there any different holidays coming up there?  

5. Not any that I can think of.

 What is the travel like there?  Do many people ride bikes?  Do most people have cars or walk?

6. We always walk everywhere, unless the members drive us.  That´s how my trainer said it is the whole time, but one missionary said he used a bike at some point on the mission.  But we all travel on a bus called TURBUS which is like a super big thing in the mission.  The people all have cars, but there is also micros and taxi things that they can take.  

 Is there anything we could send you that you might need?  When do you think the missionaries will go to the mission home again to pick up stuff?

7. No I think I´m good, I am low on money but Elder Carter has a lot so I think we should be good.  They get the stuff from the mission home every month so probably sometime in February.

1/16/2017

¡Hola mi familia fantástico!  This week has been good and bad.  We have 2-4 people that might get baptized this week, but we also had to say goodbye to Elder Court today for this combio (companion changes or transfer).  It was really hard to say goodbye, because he was such a good example and he helped me a lot.  I hope that I can see him again in my mission; he went to Antofagasta. We also had a lot of contacts with people this week, but very few of them wanted us to come back which was kind of a bummer.  I think this next week will be much better and we will have a lot more success.  

Like I said before today we have combios (companion changes or whatever it is in English).  Elder Saarelainin is getting a new companion who is going to die (die is the term they use for finish) this combio.  His name is Elder Santos and apparently he is super famous.  Because he was the assistant for a long time and he invented the word TA TA which is what all the missionaries use now to show excitement.  Anyways I`m excited to meet him and see how cool he is!  As for Elder Carter and I we are going to stay in Copiapo and finish my training.  Oh also Elder Rupe which is one of the Elder`s that just finished his training, and he is super cool just has so much animo (like excitement and energy).  He helps me a lot because he is just new and he tells me what helped him learn the most.  Anyways he is going to be training this combio which is just insane!    

Anyways I love you all and thanks again for all the support and prayers it really means a lot.  I can feel all of them so thank you so much.  I hope you all are doing well!

Love,

       Elder Hirschi

Answers:

How did transfers go?  Any new changes?

1. Transfers are going well it was a little bit of a bummer to watch Elder Court leave.  Other than that I`m just excited to meet the new member of the crew.  Elder Santos is a Latino so that will also help us to speak Spanish more.  

Have you met any new fun people lately?

2. Juan Carlos the investigator that let me borrow his rubix cubes!!  He is super cool, and really chill, like he said the other day that we can come into his house and take stuff whenever we want even if he isn`t there haha.  Obviously we can`t do that, but he is just so tranquilo (like calm and easy going).  

 Do you have headphones you can use when you email to see if the videos work?  If not I can send you some if you want me to.  Let me know.

3.  I still have the headphones that I brought, but I forgot to bring them again to email.

Should I send you an extra cord for your camera to keep in your bag so you will always have it to get the pictures off with when you email?  

4. You don`t have to lots of the other Elders bring theirs I just forget the camera sometimes.  Elder Court left and Elder Carter is going to buy a new camera today so I think they should be fine.

 Can you only read emails on your p-day?  Can you only take pictures on your p-day?

5. Sadly I can only read E-mails on P-day.

Do you teach English classes there?

6. They used to but they didn`t seem to get a lot of success from that, but the other day someone wanted to learn English and we said we can teach them sometime so we`ll have to see how that goes.

  Do we need to send you another water bottle?  Was that the cup that got stolen?  When do you think they will be back to the mission office to get your debit card? 

7. I still have my water bottle?  The cup was something else not really important.  I don`t know when they will send my debit card, but I`m sure they will keep it safe until it gets to me, and I will take good care of it.

Have you shared your photo album I made for you with anyone yet?

8. Yeah lots of people have seen the photo album you made, thanks for making it.  Also everyone thought that the tie you sent was pretty cool haha.

 How has your health been?  Is there anything that you need?

9. My health is up and down.  Some days it`s worse and some days it`s better, but I haven`t really ever been super sick.  I think I should be good I can buy pretty much everything I need thanks though

1/9/2017

¡Hola mi amada familia!  How is it going?  It sounds like the holidays went well for you guys!  I got all the packages from home this week so thanks for all the letters and all the goodies haha.  All the Elders in my apartment said that protein shake is like very valuable amongst the Elders haha.  Because they have it in Chile, but it´s super expensive so no one really wants to spend all the money just to get it.  So thanks for all the gifts they were awesome. I loved it.

I was the leader of my sector this week because we had to do intercambios (exchanges) and I stayed in my sector Copyapu while Elder Carter went to Chañarsilla with Elder Dionicio.  So Elder Reedy and I were in our sector and I had to take the lead.  I was a little nervous at first, but after a little while I realized it wasn´t too hard.  Also it was a really successful day, because we had Steven (the 13 year old member), and his friend Ranae.  Also they had a friend that was our investigator that we invited to come with us and he said he would.  His name is Diego and he is a super cool kid that came with us.  So we had a lot of lessons with him, and we also had a lesson with a new family so that was cool.  So the day wasn´t too bad, and I had to do it again yesterday, because Elder Carter had to do an intrevista (interview) with an investigator.  It was alright too, so I got some good experience leading the sector.

We have a new investigator named Juan Carlos, and he is extremely chill.  My favorite things about him, is that he is trying to learn English, is really receptive, and he has like 5 different types of rubix cubes!!!!  It´s so cool, I learned how to solve a 2x2 and he lent me a 4x4 so I started learning how to solve it without help, but it´s really hard I can only do about half of it.  I might have to ask for help haha.  Anyways he accepted a baptismal date, and he went to church with us last Sunday.  He also has a son that was almost baptized from other missionaries and he accepted a date to be baptized too.  I think they are just really awesome dudes.

We got ROBBED this morning!!  It was super crazy, I just woke up and everyone was like saying stuff, but I didn´t really understand.  Then jefe (our land lord dude) knocked at our door and told us that all of our stuff was just found.  So I woke up super confused just like what is happening right now, then I went outside and my scriptures and my bag and my stuff had all been dumped out on the ground.  The person took our stuff and started searching through everything!!  We went back inside to see what else was stolen, because they guy just left that stuff on the ground.  We looked in our apartment and luckily it seems like the guy got scared of something last night or he felt guilty with all the pictures of Jesus on the walls, but he didn´t take very much stuff.  He stole Elder Court´s wallet, but left all the important cards like his mission card and other stuff, and his camera!  He also took Elder Carters camera, but he didn´t take anything from Elder Saarelainin or me (except my cup I don´t know why though).  It was super crazy. I felt really bad for Elder Court and pretty bad for Elder Carter, because they lost all their photos that they hadn´t saved or sent.  Also Elder Court lost all his money.  Anyways luckily he didn´t take anything else though!  We are going to lock our back door from now on, and hopefully it won´t happen again.  We didn´t lock it before because it was on a balcony and you would have to have a ladder or be reallllly good at climbing to get into it.  I am still not sure how the robber got in, but we are going to be more careful from now on.

Anyways everything here is going good, my Spanish is improving and I´m learning a lot about the gospel.  I hope everyone is doing well, and I love you all so much!  

Love,

       Elder Hirschi

Answers:

Do any of the missionaries in your apartment like to cook?  Is your apartment warm enough at nights?  Do you have plenty of everything you need?

1. Elder Saarelainin can cook and he likes to do it, but we don´t have lots of time so we usually don´t cook stuff.  It´s warm at night in fact it´s kind of hot, it´s just the mornings that can get super cold for some reason.  Yeah I have all I need for now I was just wondering about my debit card.

Did you get your packages okay?  Have you seen your debit card yet? They said it arrived at the mission home on Jan 5^th but I am not sure if you just missed it if they got the stuff from the mission home before that day or not.  Let me know when you get it.

2. I did get my packages, the chocolate melted for the truffles and the reeses, but I still ate them because they were super good. So thanks for all the stuff (Elder Saarelainin and I really liked the Takis)!  I have not got my debit card, but by this question it sounds like you sent it already.  Oh it sounds like I just missed it then. 

 Have you been sightseeing lately on any of your P-days? 

3. We mostly do sports all of P-day, but we haven´t really gone sight seeing. Elder Carter suggested going to a free petting zoo today, but we haven´t gone yet so I don´t know what is going to happen.  

Did you set some new goals and how are you doing with them if you did?

4. I did put the goal to write in my journal every night, but with all the cambios (exhanges) we had I sorta messed that up, but I´m going to try to start again now that the cambios have stopped.  

Do you ever get the chance to play the piano there?

5. I have had the chance to play piano and guitar.  A lot less of guitar which sucks because I feel like I am becoming worse and worse.  Although I did get to play piano at the Church, and I even learned how to play a different part of Clocks from Elder Saarelainin.  So that was pretty cool.

What are the sisters like in your area?  Are there many of them?

6. There are 2 sisters in our district and they are pretty cool, but I don´t see them very much.

Do you know when transfers will be?  Do you think the missionaries will stay the same in your apartment?

7. This Friday they send us the list of transfers, but I don´t really know what is going to 

happen.  I think I will at least stay with Elder Carter for 12 weeks, because he is training me, but I don´t really know what the process is, also I think the other guys will stay too.  

P.S.

I LOVE YOU GUYS TOO!  Sorry! no pictures forgot the cord again!

1/2/2017

Feliz año nuevo

Hola familia!  Feliz ano nuevo!  We had a really cool experience this week with one of our investigators, but other than that we haven't had much success this week.  Most of the people were pretty drunk and sleeping because of the new year.  Also lots of family were celebrating because of the holidays (Christmas and New Years).  So when we would knock on the houses, most people said that they were busy and didn't have time to listen to us.  Although lots of them said that we could come back another time so it wasn't too bad haha!  Anyways we knocked on one house the other day because Elder Carter felt like we should just start knocking on doors.  The people immediately answered and invited us in and said that they really want to join our church and be baptized.  It just made me feel so happy, because the people seemed like they were just seeking for the right gospel and they were almost just waiting for us to show up.  Also you can just tell that God was blessing us and showing us the way that we needed to go to help these people.  Also this last week we met a really cool kid who was really receptive to our message his name is Paulo and he is an awesome kid that really knows a lot about the gospel.  We asked him to pray at the end of the lesson and his prayer was so profound I would have guessed he had been a member his whole life and I could just feel his spirit it was bacan(cool).  Also he went to church on January 1st!  Just think about it, he was a new investigator, just celebrated and stayed up late, and he still wanted to go to church with us and he said that he liked it a lot.  He is just an amazing kid  

This week was also a struggle because we were planning on baptizing an investigator named Franco and up to this point he was really receptive to the gospel. Well one day we called him the week of his baptism, and he said he thinks that he was faulting.  So we said we would stop by later, but we were so busy for the whole day.  As it started getting late we met up with the other Elders, and we were about to go to the apartments for bed, but we had about 30 minutes before we had to get to the apartment so all four of us ran to Franco´s house so we could see what was up.  We got there and we asked why he thought he was faulting and he made up some lie that was obviously fake, or else he was just to scared to admit it.  Then we taught the most spiritual lesson in my whole mission I could just feel the spirit so strong, and I know that it was there because I said things that I didn't even know what I was saying.  And it just made me so sad because after the lesson he still didn´t want to be baptized even with all that spirit.  I just felt crushed, because I know that if he couldn't feel that amazing feeling he must have forced it out of him.  

I hope all of you had an awesome New Years!  I know that we had a great one even if we did go to bed at 11:30 haha (got to be obedient)!  I love you all and I´m grateful for all the support and prayers you guys give me I can feel my blessings every day!!  

Love,

         Elder Hirschi

Answer:

Did you guys do anything for New Year’s Eve or New Year ’s Day? 

1. We had to go home a little early because the President didn´t want us out while people were partying and getting drunk, plus not very many people would be receptive to us.  So we played Uno and Presidents/Scum in the apartments.  We still went to bed at 11:30, but really we just stayed up in bed until midnight.  

How are things going with your investigators?

2. Investagators are doing well, although Elder Carter said with his last companion they had 6 baptisms that month and we haven´t had one all month :(  We´ve come close, but Ines had to leave before her baptism because her sister got sick, and Franco just wouldn´t accept, it´s kinda been a bummer.

Did they say when zone conference would be or when they would be picking up packages at the mission home?

3. Tomorrow they are grabbing the packages, and they said that I have 3!!!  I won´t get it till the next day though, because Elder Carter is leaving for a leader conference thing in Antofagasta, and I have to stay with a different Elder during that time.  Then he will bring the packages back when he comes back.  

Is there a way to send videos to you?  Do the computers you email on have speakers so you can hear the videos?

4. You can actually bring headphones to the Cyber and listen to things, so I´m going to start doing that, but I forgot them today :(  So I think you can start sending me videos and I should be able to watch them.

Are you starting to feel more comfortable about being there in Chile?  Is it easy to get around the city?

5. It still feels weird sometimes, but I am starting to get the hang of the direction and were things are located, because our sector really isn´t that big so it's a little easier to navigate.

 Have you been writing in your journal?  Do you feel like you have what you need there?

6. I´ve been slacking, but on the 31st I tried to feel in all the days I missed and now for the New Year I have the goal to write ever day.  I haven´t messed up yet so it´s going pretty well haha.  Yeah our cards just got a lot of money put on them so I should be really good for the next little while.

  What have you liked the most about the holidays there in Chile?

7. I really liked listening to Christmas music, and singing in the hospital for all the little kids.  I also liked seeing the joy in all the members and just the people during the holiday.  Oh and of course I loved getting to talk to my family!!

P.S. Que le vaya bien!!!

The picture at the top is with Elder Dionicio. He is the first Elder I did intercambios (exchanges) with.  The other picture is one we took when we were at the mission home.