August 30, 2010

(AJ what were you doing down in Chile??)

Hey how's everyone doing? I had an amazing week here in Chile and am loving the mission. We have conference here in my city tomorrow and Wednesday with the mission president and one other zone, so that should be interesting...(I am the newest missionary in the conference and it is training) I am a little nervous but I know it will be really good for me. A week from tomorrow are transfers and I have a distinct feeling that Elder Garcia is leaving me. He has been an awesome companion but I'm pretty sure our time together is almost done. I have learned a lot of things since getting here a couple of months ago but I still have a burning desire to be better, in the language, scriptures, spiritually and just to be an overall better person. We are working really hard and have a lot going on this week in the mission. We had 3 baptisms in our sector this month which is the most in the zone and I think possibly the mission. On average our mission baptizes around 80 people every month and there is 150 missionaries. We could be working so much harder and be doing better but I know we are doing a good job.

I don't remember any really funny things that happened this week. It is really cold here again and we have had a lot of rain, which makes it miserable to work, but no complaints here, I know it is better then the summer you all just had in Phoenix. I don't know if there is anything specific you all want to know about Chile or my mission, but if there is ask me (or email my mom) and I can write about it. I attached some photos of the baptism, Javiera, her dad, mom and brother Jaquin (my favorite family here) haha. and a picture of this kid in our ward Christian who is super funny and reminds me of AJ a lot. I have met a lot of people here that remind me of people back in the states so in a way I kind of feel at home here. I hope you are all doing well and having an amazing time, if you get a minute read our wards scripture of the month....D&C 1:12...It's POWERFUL!!! Love you all.

Choi,
Elder Cody Dastrup

August 23, 2010

Hey Everyone! I had an awesome week! How is everyone doing back in the states? Chile is hanging in there and we are having a lot of success. We had a lot of miracles this week...I had a mini cambio with one of the zone leaders, Elder Moulton on Tuesday and it went really good. We have a 16 year old named Andy who we visit him and his mom like once every week or two but he had a lot of problems so we never really thought he was listening to our messages. He likes to to go out in the night with his friends and rob people because his family doesn't have any money and stuff like that ....SUPER FLITE! (Gangster) but I know deep down he is a good kid and just needs some help. So Elder Moulton and I taught him a lesson that was really powerful and he has been praying and said he wants to change and be baptized. This is a huge miracle and I don't know if he will follow through with his words but if he does, it would be the best decision he has ever made. We had another miracle on Sunday too...Hermano Del Valle (the dad of Javiera) talked with the bishop and really wants to baptize his daughter before we have transfers (7th of Sept) so Bishop said that we could do the baptism this week! So we have Javiera's Baptism this Saturday. I am really excited and it should be really special.

I am a little nervous for this upcoming month because I don't know if I will have a change in companions or not. I think one transfer more with Elder Garcia would be perfect, but I have a feeling he is leaving. Our sector is strong right now and we have a lot of potential so I think one more transfer with Elder Garcia would be perfect. My health is good and I ate McDonald's today so I feel AMAZING!! It's weird to say, but if you live here and can afford to eat at McDonald's you are pretty well off. (I used my personal visa, haha) It's starting to heat up here and I am beginning to realize that I am going to have a really hot Christmas. I miss everyone a lot but time is flying and I almost have 5 months in the mission. I wish time would slow down but it is what it is and I need to keep working harder every day. The only struggle I am having right now is patience. I want to know the language perfect, learn the scriptures better and have everyone here love me, but I know that I am not ready for all the blessings the Lord has in store for me. I need to be patient and work hard so I will be prepared. I love the work with all my heart and I would die for this message that we have, it's true and I am witnessing it's effects every day. Hope everyone is doing well.... Love always Elder Cody Dastrup

Aug. 16, 2010

Hey! I am doing well this week, how's everyone else? This week we had a lot of new people but it was hard to get into their houses for lessons. We had a few investigators at church and it was a nice sacrament meeting...the other 2 classes were something like a train wreck. The church is young here and there is still a lack of good leaders in our area, but with time and hard work hopefully that will change. My comp and I are trying to find new ways to find people to teach so we got an idea....when we don't have anything to do and we need to find more people to teach we are going to go to the other churches in the area and sit in for their meetings and if we get an opportunity to teach or share a thought, we will. We feel like it will be a good experience for us and we will be able to learn more about the other churches and find more people to teach (that's the idea, we will see how it goes) haha. Today we had a zone activity and we went to a place called "Salta de Itata" which is a huge waterfall. It was fun and I got a lot of pictures that I will attach. I will also attach the pictures from our baptisms the last two weeks. Speaking of which...Javiera will be baptized in 3 weeks, the first week of September. She has a desire to be baptized but we just need a couple of weeks to prepare her dad to baptize her (amazing family). The work here is good and I am loving every minute of it. All I can really ask for is for everyone to keep praying for me and my investigators and remember how blessed you are to live in the country that you do. Love you all and have a great week! Chowww....the one and only Elder Cody Dastrup

August 9, 2010

The only good thing about Monday is that we get our letter from Elder Dastrup....lol

What's going on! It was an awesome week for Elder Garcia and I. We baptized Luis and are hoping to get his family involved with the church as well, but it will be difficult. We have another baptism this week for a girl named Javiera, she is like Katie but 2 or 3 years younger. Their family has a lot of money and we have family home evening with them every week. It is a member family but they were inactive for a long time, but Elder Garcia and I have helped them get back to church and Javiera is ready for baptism this Sunday! We are having a lot of success and I know it's a huge blessing because there was only 1 baptism in the last 6 months before I got here.

I witnessed a miracle today. Elder Garcia and I were walking to take our laundry to a lady in the ward who does our laundry for us and we were talking to people on the street while we were going and I asked a random lady how her day was and stuff and she said she had something for me...MY PLAQUE! The name tags that missionaries have, I lost it 2 weeks ago and she had it in her purse and said she found it in the street a couple of weeks ago. We live in a decent sized area so it was a little crazy for that to happen.

I finally got letters this week, I received a lot so I won't get back to everyone all at once but I wrote like 6 today so...yea in a week or so those should be arriving. Thanks for the package mom, I got it and have eaten all the candy! (American candy is so much better the Chilean). Thanks for the letters/candy from my friends in there also (Jess and Josh). This next Monday Elder Garcia and I have decided to go into the city and take some pictures in the morning so the next email should have a bunch. I am doing great, my health is great and it sounds like everyone is doing ok. I love you all and miss you like crazy, this week I have missed my family a lot for some reason and I think it's because I see how happy families are down here and how close they are one with another. I think that is one thing we can all work on back in the states, family home evenings are essential whether you are a member of the church or not. Set aside one night a week where you can spend 2 hours or so doing something with only you and your family, or with another family that could use some help. Show love for each other because you never know what tomorrow is going to bring. Have an amazing week and keep praying for my area and investigators, it's working!!! Love Elder Dastrup

August 2, 2010

Hey how's it going? I am doing good today, the weather is still pretty cold here but not unbearable. We played Futbol and I had 4 goals! I am dominating the Latinos down here, haha. Elder Garcia's back is fine, he had some inflammation with his muscles or something but he rested a lot this past week so we will be back to working hard tonight and the rest of this week. Stephanie got baptized! It was seriously the best experience of my life, watching someone come up out of the waters of baptism pure and clean....amazing. We have another baptism (Luis) this week but it is a little sketchy, pray for us this week please. We are over one ward because generally down here there is one building for each ward. Our building is nice and is close to our house. Our area is about 7 miles long and 4 miles wide (It's big), but some of it is pastures so we don't always have to go 7 miles a day. I have had some crazy food (like horse), but I never know what I am eating...I just eat it...FAST! haha This food here is actually pretty good but I feel like it all tastes the same. The weather here in Chillan (my city) is cold, it gets past freezing every night and I think the coldest it has gotten was like 15 degrees but I don't know because they don't use Fahrenheit here. I'm glad to hear dad has been working on my car and when it gets cooler outside you guys can drive it as much as you want. Sounds like the house is going to be different when I get back, and I am super excited. You all are staying really busy and that is good to hear. Anyways I am doing good and hope all is well, love you so much and pray for you all every day. Elder Dastrup


p.s. if you have sent a letter anytime soon I found out from the mission home it should be delivered this Thursday if all goes well. There is only 3 cars for the whole mission so that is why it takes so long for him to get letters delivered to him and our package that we sent 3 weeks ago just got to the mission home....thanks for all your support to Elder Dastrup .....love Cody's Mom)