October 25, 2010

Oops I did it again and forgot to put the letter on the blog...sorry about that...Sherri (aka Cody's Mom)

Hey everyone!
I am down in Chile in downtown Chillan (my city). I had another great week with a lot of cool experiences. A lot of the normal experiences that we have everyday are really so wonderful and we need to take advantage of this wonderful place that we live in. We contacted (knocked doors) for a big chunk of this week. It was a really good experience and we really met a lot of neat people. We are going to work with the people we found this week and continue searching for that family that is waiting for us to knock on their door. I don't think I sent you them last week, but we had an activity with the primary kids this last week and they are soooooo cute. They remind me of the kids from nursery in our ward. I will attach the pictures on the email, can you send them to the Yamamotos so they can show the nursery kids? Anywho....Elder Gil is my new companion (it's pronounced like hill). He is from a smaller town in Argentina and is a really good
guy. For any of you that know Latins, in general Argentinos are labeled by other Latins to be "big talkers" and he is! haha I absolutely love the kid though and we get along so easy. He isn't quite as obedient as the other 2 missionaries that I had before, but he is obedient and we are working good together. He is also a lot more loving with the people, which I absolutely love. He doesn't speak any English so sometimes we have difficulties communicating, but I am good enough that I understand pretty much everything that he says and can respond.

We are still searching a lot for the investigators that we can teach and that will progress and it is difficult but we now have a few that we are working with that should be looking at getting baptized some time in November. We found out that one of our investigators is helping her neighbors sell drugs so we are working with her and teaching her that even helping her is wrong. So...we are working our butts off and I know with all of my heart that we are going to be blessed for what we are doing. OOOO!!! I just love what I am doing, I can honestly say that I have never been happier in my life. I can also say that I have never been so stressed! There are so many good people in the world that show us a lot of love. Obviously we run into a bunch of people that want nothing to do with us but....THAT'S LIFE!! I am so happy when we find those good people and I have already found a bunch of people that remind me about people from back home.

Mom asked if they celebrate Halloween down here and the answer is kind of...It's really just a rip off of ours way toned down but, none the less they celebrate it. I am actually really excited to see how it is here and if they knock doors, I don't think they do. I sent out a letter to Gma and Gpa on both sides of the family so they should be getting there this next week or the next. I still haven't gotten either of the packages but I am hoping for this Wednesday because we have a special conference with a member of the first quorum of the 70. I am excited for that. Don't worry about me, I am doing good mentally, physically, emotionally...Everything! Love you guys and hope that you have the best week of your life this week.

Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup

October 18, 2010

Hey everyone how is it going!? This week has been a crazy one and I have a lot of stuff going on here right now. 1st off this week is transfers and I have had 3 transfers in this sector so...MY COMPANION IS LEAVING! He has been here for a little over a month and I have been here for over 4 months. I am super glad and relieved that I am staying here and that I am not the one leaving. I am getting a new companion tomorrow and he is from Argentina! Speaks no English. I think it will be good for me though and we will talk in Spanish all of the so I think in that respect my missionary skills will increase. The members in the ward here show a lot of love for the missionaries and they are so good to me. There is one lady here who is like a 2nd mom and another who is like a grandma to me. I love the members here so much and we are working with them a lot to find new people to teach. Also this week we had 2 young men that I am really close with in the ward receive their mission calls. One of them got called to Salta, Argentina and the other one got called to Peru. I got to see them both open their letters and it reminded me of when I opened mine. I have been working a lot harder this week and I have such a strong desire to find people to baptize. I am fully concentrated on the work and I love what I am doing with my life so much right now.

The weather is warming up here and it's starting to get a little warm here, but nothing like Arizona heat. I was sick earlier this week and thought that it was really bad but...I am better now and back to my normal work. More than anything I am just really focused on what I can do better as a missionary to improve the lives of the people down here. I struggle sometimes on humbling myself and really putting myself in someone else's shoes. I am trying to find that unconditional love for everyone that I meet and run into on the street and I feel like when I find that a little better I will be a better missionary, but more importantly a better person. I love you guys so much and am trying so hard to change this place but I pray that you all are doing the same back wherever you are. That you can humble yourselves and think more about others because that is when we are really the happiest. LOVE YOU ALL!!! Yours truly, Elder Cody Dastrup

October 11, 2010

Hey everyone hows it going!? this week was a good one for Elder Bastow and I. Our goal was to find as many people as we could and spend less time with the ones that arent progressing very much. We had 4 mini cambios this week which means for 4 out of the 7 days this week I was with a different missionary from the zone. I like working with the other missionaries but at the same time it is nice to sleep in your own bed at night and work with your companion in your own sector. We have this one lady taht we have been teaching that finally came to church this week! It was a miracle!!! let me give you some background on her (and how bad the lives are of some of the people down here)...So she lives in a really ghetto street in a really really rough neighborhood and she has been living there fro 5 years. She said she hears gunshots and yelling in the street every night and taht she hates living there, she has 3 sons and their father (who she isn't married to) is in jail for robbing a store. She doesn't have a job and she is getting kicked out of the house if she doesn't pay soon. Her house is small...really small and it has ll kinds of bugs and fleas in it. This lady needs a lot of help and I can honestly say it has been one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences taht I have had in my life to be able to give her hope, to let her know that God exists and that if she will do her part, he will bless her in this life and in the life to come. It is really early still but I will keep you guys updated on what happens with her.

I am doing going and I am probably in some of the best shape of my life. We walk so much every day and this week we knocked so many doors. Today is our P-Day and we had an activity with the zone at the stake center. We walked a lot of the way so I took some pictures of the sectors "Art". Let's just say that hands down I live in the most ghetto sector in the mission! I am so excited by the potential that we have in our sector and I love the poeple here. The families in our ward are so nice and they have so much love for me and my companion. We are working hard but we could always use your prayers. Thanks for everything,hope you guys are enjoying everything life has to give! Love Elder Cody Dastrup

October 4, 2010

Hey everyone! This week was a really good one. I don't really remember much of what happened at the beginning of the week but later Saturday and Sunday we got to go the the Chapel and listen to General Conference, where the prophet and apostles talked to the world. The Prophet announced 5 new temples which was really cool and also he said that it is an OBLIGATION for young men to go and serve their missions if they are worthy. NEW COMMANDMENT! I liked all of the talks and I like how they focused a lot on modern day revelation through a living Prophet. I liked a lot the talks that were given and I especially liked the one given by Boyd K. Packer. If any of you missed it look it up and read it. He pretty much said that no matter how many times men vote to change laws that effect moral standards here in this world, we cannot vote in the next life. God has set his standards clear and no matter what the laws are, we know morally what is right and what is wrong and we as members of the church will live the higher law. In Argentina Gay marriage was passed about 2 months ago and will probably be getting passed in California soon. Men are successfully changing the laws of the land but the doctrine is clearly stated and Gods law will stand in the next life. It's frustrating to see what the world is coming to but ....that's why I am here.

I am really digging in and getting a feel for the work and my language is picking up as well. I would say that I understand about 90% of what people say and I can say about 50% of the things I want to say in the way that I want to. It's tough to have to always be talking so simple, but I am working hard so that I can express myself fully. My comp is really good and although we aren't best friends, we get along and have a lot of fun together. One thing on the mission that is difficult that I have learned is that we won't always be best friends with the people we are put around but we have to love them. I think one thing that I am working on that we can all work on is casting the beam out of my own eye before I judge others. I feel like we judge a lot in this world when in reality we ourselves have a lot of flaws. I am really enjoying the time that I have out here and becoming a little better with every day. Thanks for all of the support that I have received and for everything, I love you guys so much and will send some more pictures next week. LOVE YOU ALL!
Yours truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup