Hey hows it going for everyone? It was another stellar week here in the mission and although we didn't have a ton of time to work in the field we got a lot of stuff done here in the office and I feel like we really helped the mission out. Its kind of hard sometimes being here in the office because sometimes you feel like you aren't helping the mission out when you aren't having success in your sector in terms of baptisms and other investigators. It has also been difficult to have a companion who has back problems. We have had to cancel appointments and drop what we are doing on various occasions so that he can come to the office and sit down because his back is hurting him. He has a herniated disk and something else wrong with his back and will need to have surgery. He opted to do the surgery after the mission, but he downfall of that is that he is in a lot of pain here and it is really slowing him down. I hope all goes well with him and that he recovers quickly so that we can go out and work and have some more success in our sector but I know that I am with him, in the sector for a reason....so I am fine with it, but we are striving to get out and have more success.
Maria is doing alright but still hasn't came back to church since the first time that she came. She is an interesting lady and it has been really hard to get her to follow through with her commitments. We are really looking hard for a family that will listen to us that is really willing to put our message to the test. Something I don't get and I don't think I ever will is how people won't even listen to our message. What do you have to lose in listening to our message? When we enter houses, we teach them what we believe and then we invite them to pray and ask God if what we taught is true or invite them to read something or go to church on Sunday and find out for themselves what it is like and I have really come to the conclusion that there are 3 main types of "Christians" that we always find here. The 1st group are those who believe in their religion and sincerely are following it because they feel like its what they should do, they do what they do because they believe in God and believe its his will. The 2nd type is the Catholics who are catholic because....it is the "oldest church" and they somehow feel like they are saved because their parents baptized them shortly after birth and although they have done nothing to show their faith to God at any point in their lives, they are saved due to tradition, who may times don't even believe in God or know what they believe. The other group that I have run into is the smallest group of them all and its the group that wants to follow God and will do almost anything to know that he really exists and really, sinceremente are good people. We are praying night and day to find someone in the 3rd group. Someone humble, that will just give us the time of day so that we can give them the most priceless and precious thing that there is! I love being here and have really found myself....who I really am and the person I need to become. I love you guys a ton.
Con Carino,
Eldero Cody Dastrup
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
May 21, 2011
Hey guys!
This week was a little stressful and has been full of craziness so I will cut right to the chase. So we had transfers this last week and Elder Page left. The next thing that I found out was that I would be getting a Chilean companion that was coming straight to the mission from his house the next day. He had started his mission like 2 months ago but went home after having back problems and now is back and I have him as my companion. Lets just say he has potential to be my favorite companion yet! He is really funny and speaks decent English. We always joke around, I say something funny to him in Spanish and he then says something funny to me in English. He also is a really smart kid who worked for Microsoft before the mission and had a job where he sent viruses to people who used illegal software here in Chile. (He's the guy that send you viruses, haha) I also got another surprise on Monday that I had been called to be District Leader here in Conce. I was kind of nervous at first to have the responsibility but it is practically the same thing, but I have the responsibility to look out for the other missionaries and their investigators as well. I also will be interviewing the Zone Leaders investigators which should be fun and very spiritual. Nothing to crazy has happened during the week except for a few more protests downtown and we had a really cool spiritual lesson last night. I would go into details but...I don't have a ton of time. And that's what after the mission is for anyways!! I love
you guys a ton and hope that all is well back home. I am so thankful for the blessings that I have and ask you to just keep praying for our investigators. Para Que sepan Maria is progressing and promised she will be at church this week! We will see how that goes and hopefully she gets baptized this next week!
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
This week was a little stressful and has been full of craziness so I will cut right to the chase. So we had transfers this last week and Elder Page left. The next thing that I found out was that I would be getting a Chilean companion that was coming straight to the mission from his house the next day. He had started his mission like 2 months ago but went home after having back problems and now is back and I have him as my companion. Lets just say he has potential to be my favorite companion yet! He is really funny and speaks decent English. We always joke around, I say something funny to him in Spanish and he then says something funny to me in English. He also is a really smart kid who worked for Microsoft before the mission and had a job where he sent viruses to people who used illegal software here in Chile. (He's the guy that send you viruses, haha) I also got another surprise on Monday that I had been called to be District Leader here in Conce. I was kind of nervous at first to have the responsibility but it is practically the same thing, but I have the responsibility to look out for the other missionaries and their investigators as well. I also will be interviewing the Zone Leaders investigators which should be fun and very spiritual. Nothing to crazy has happened during the week except for a few more protests downtown and we had a really cool spiritual lesson last night. I would go into details but...I don't have a ton of time. And that's what after the mission is for anyways!! I love
you guys a ton and hope that all is well back home. I am so thankful for the blessings that I have and ask you to just keep praying for our investigators. Para Que sepan Maria is progressing and promised she will be at church this week! We will see how that goes and hopefully she gets baptized this next week!
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Monday, May 16, 2011
May 14, 2011
Hey Everyone,
I am doing really well. It was really good to talk to the family this last week and I feel re-charged now to go to work even harder than I have been working. We were a lot more busy this week due to the transfers that we are going to have on Tuesday, but we have been able to get in a little bit of work in our sector as well. I talked with the Assistants this morning and although nobody else really knows, we found out Elder Page (my companion) is going to be transferred. It will be sad to lose another companion but I am sure that he will have success no matter where he goes and it will be good for him to get out of the office and start working n the field more. We have taught Maria a few times and she actually wants to get baptized in a week...but she can't because sh hasn't been to church enough yet. We are really excited about her and feel like she will get baptized by the end of this month. We really don't have any other great investigators but we are hoping that we can get another 1 or 2 in church this next week. I am really nervous/excited for this next part of my mission and I know that it will be crucial in my progress as a person and as a missionary.
Another cool thing that happened was that the new missionary couple just arrived. They came into the office this morning with the President and his wife and they are very similar to the President. The Clawsons are from West Jordan Utah about 5-10 minutes from Mark and Vonda and that's about all I know about them for now. Hermana Clawson especially seems really nice and Elder Clawson does too but he seems wayyy tired from the 14 hour plane ride in. I can already tell that they will do a great job and be fun to work with.
Me and my companion had an interesting Thursday this week. There were a lot of protests here in down town Concepcion and we had to leave the office to run some errands. Well, we left the office only to find out that the police had recently tear gassed the street and we walked right into it. My companion and I decided to turn it into a game, so we pretended like the tear gas didn't effect us because we were from the United States (we just walked normal and didn't touch our faces or cover our noses) while everyone else was running around and covered in scarfs. I thought it was funny, until my eyes started watering and I learned why they call it tear gas. Also later on the same day we were walking across the street (j-walking) and the girl walking right in front of us gets nailed by a bus! YES A BUS! She was like 5 feet in front of me and landed, almost hitting her head on the edge of the cement. She moved a little bit and then went back down like a sack of potatoes. Luckily a paramedic was close by and came running over, he called an ambulance and then administered to her. She was talking when they took her away but she definitely broke something and got some serious road rash. I am glad she didn't' die and I am so thankful that nothing like that has ever happened to me!
I hope all is well with you guys and I hope you are all nice and safe. I am so grateful to know the people that I know and have had the experiences that I have had and will have in the next year. I miss you guys a ton, but now more than ever I don't want to come home, I love what I am doing, and I love you guys a ton!
Yours truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
I am doing really well. It was really good to talk to the family this last week and I feel re-charged now to go to work even harder than I have been working. We were a lot more busy this week due to the transfers that we are going to have on Tuesday, but we have been able to get in a little bit of work in our sector as well. I talked with the Assistants this morning and although nobody else really knows, we found out Elder Page (my companion) is going to be transferred. It will be sad to lose another companion but I am sure that he will have success no matter where he goes and it will be good for him to get out of the office and start working n the field more. We have taught Maria a few times and she actually wants to get baptized in a week...but she can't because sh hasn't been to church enough yet. We are really excited about her and feel like she will get baptized by the end of this month. We really don't have any other great investigators but we are hoping that we can get another 1 or 2 in church this next week. I am really nervous/excited for this next part of my mission and I know that it will be crucial in my progress as a person and as a missionary.
Another cool thing that happened was that the new missionary couple just arrived. They came into the office this morning with the President and his wife and they are very similar to the President. The Clawsons are from West Jordan Utah about 5-10 minutes from Mark and Vonda and that's about all I know about them for now. Hermana Clawson especially seems really nice and Elder Clawson does too but he seems wayyy tired from the 14 hour plane ride in. I can already tell that they will do a great job and be fun to work with.
Me and my companion had an interesting Thursday this week. There were a lot of protests here in down town Concepcion and we had to leave the office to run some errands. Well, we left the office only to find out that the police had recently tear gassed the street and we walked right into it. My companion and I decided to turn it into a game, so we pretended like the tear gas didn't effect us because we were from the United States (we just walked normal and didn't touch our faces or cover our noses) while everyone else was running around and covered in scarfs. I thought it was funny, until my eyes started watering and I learned why they call it tear gas. Also later on the same day we were walking across the street (j-walking) and the girl walking right in front of us gets nailed by a bus! YES A BUS! She was like 5 feet in front of me and landed, almost hitting her head on the edge of the cement. She moved a little bit and then went back down like a sack of potatoes. Luckily a paramedic was close by and came running over, he called an ambulance and then administered to her. She was talking when they took her away but she definitely broke something and got some serious road rash. I am glad she didn't' die and I am so thankful that nothing like that has ever happened to me!
I hope all is well with you guys and I hope you are all nice and safe. I am so grateful to know the people that I know and have had the experiences that I have had and will have in the next year. I miss you guys a ton, but now more than ever I don't want to come home, I love what I am doing, and I love you guys a ton!
Yours truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Monday, May 2, 2011
April 30, 2011
Hey Everyone!
Sorry I am on late today. We actually ended up going to Chillan and seeing some of my converts and having lunch with a family in the ward. It was good to go back and see some of the people that I probably won't see again until the very end of my mission. I love the people from my first sector and really miss them, so it was really good to go back and see them. We also have had an amazing week and have had a lot of success in the sector. The lady that we found before the baptism the other week is named Maria. She is doing well and should be there in church this Sunday. We have taught her 3 times now and she is progressing rapidly and I have a good feeling she will get baptized here soon. We are going to try and set up a visit with President Humphrey (mission president) so that he an get to know her and help her get going and progressing a little bit more. We also have another 2 people who are Ecuadorians that have shown some interest in our message and could potentially get baptized in May or June. This week has been full of experiences and good times and I thought I would share just one of them with you because I am short on time...So this week we have made it a priority to get out and work. We have been contacting a lot of houses and people in the streets and having a lot of success. So, on Monday we were going around by the University talking to people and trying to share our message with them and we ran into these 2 kids that spoke English. We talked to them for a few minutes and then took off. Then a man came out and invited us back and asked us if we could share a message with them. Of course we accepted the invitation and walked in. Next thing I knew, I was in a house of 10 people who were part of some Reformed Catholic Christian group talking to them about our beliefs and inviting them to follow Jesus Christ. We had to be very respectful because of the circumstances, so I wasn't busting out a bunch of scriptures trying to show them why we are the right and they are the wrong, but rather we taught simply and testified strongly about what we know to be true. We got a return date with a few of the people there and we will see if it turns into something more then just an interesting experience. Last night I also had a cool experience (not super spiritual but nonetheless it was cool to me). We share P-day with the assistants and everyone else in the mission has their P-days on Mondays so last night my comp pulled his mattress into the assistants room and I slept on the extra bed that they have and we slept in their room. We stayed up really late talking and I go to know a lot more about each one of them, pick their minds a little bit and figure out what it is that got them to this point in their missions and in their lives. I really respect both of them and they are really solid missionaries. One of them is named Elder Pitcher and he ends his mission in 2 weeks. He has became one of my best friends here in the mission and has helped me mature spiritually and as a person since I have moved into house (4 weeks ago). He was talking about marriage last night and how he has received revelation on the type of person that he needs to marry and the qualities that they would need to have. I have put a lot of thought into it lately and am so glad that I am here on the mission. I have already learned so much about myself and I know that the mission has already helped me decide a few tings about my future and you guys will be surprised when I come back how much I have really grown up out here (at least I like to think so) I am also really excited for the rest of the time that I will have here in the office and for the opportunity that I will have this next year to work my butt off and leave absolutely nothing on the field. I love you guys so much and you are always in my prayers.
The One and Only,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Sorry I am on late today. We actually ended up going to Chillan and seeing some of my converts and having lunch with a family in the ward. It was good to go back and see some of the people that I probably won't see again until the very end of my mission. I love the people from my first sector and really miss them, so it was really good to go back and see them. We also have had an amazing week and have had a lot of success in the sector. The lady that we found before the baptism the other week is named Maria. She is doing well and should be there in church this Sunday. We have taught her 3 times now and she is progressing rapidly and I have a good feeling she will get baptized here soon. We are going to try and set up a visit with President Humphrey (mission president) so that he an get to know her and help her get going and progressing a little bit more. We also have another 2 people who are Ecuadorians that have shown some interest in our message and could potentially get baptized in May or June. This week has been full of experiences and good times and I thought I would share just one of them with you because I am short on time...So this week we have made it a priority to get out and work. We have been contacting a lot of houses and people in the streets and having a lot of success. So, on Monday we were going around by the University talking to people and trying to share our message with them and we ran into these 2 kids that spoke English. We talked to them for a few minutes and then took off. Then a man came out and invited us back and asked us if we could share a message with them. Of course we accepted the invitation and walked in. Next thing I knew, I was in a house of 10 people who were part of some Reformed Catholic Christian group talking to them about our beliefs and inviting them to follow Jesus Christ. We had to be very respectful because of the circumstances, so I wasn't busting out a bunch of scriptures trying to show them why we are the right and they are the wrong, but rather we taught simply and testified strongly about what we know to be true. We got a return date with a few of the people there and we will see if it turns into something more then just an interesting experience. Last night I also had a cool experience (not super spiritual but nonetheless it was cool to me). We share P-day with the assistants and everyone else in the mission has their P-days on Mondays so last night my comp pulled his mattress into the assistants room and I slept on the extra bed that they have and we slept in their room. We stayed up really late talking and I go to know a lot more about each one of them, pick their minds a little bit and figure out what it is that got them to this point in their missions and in their lives. I really respect both of them and they are really solid missionaries. One of them is named Elder Pitcher and he ends his mission in 2 weeks. He has became one of my best friends here in the mission and has helped me mature spiritually and as a person since I have moved into house (4 weeks ago). He was talking about marriage last night and how he has received revelation on the type of person that he needs to marry and the qualities that they would need to have. I have put a lot of thought into it lately and am so glad that I am here on the mission. I have already learned so much about myself and I know that the mission has already helped me decide a few tings about my future and you guys will be surprised when I come back how much I have really grown up out here (at least I like to think so) I am also really excited for the rest of the time that I will have here in the office and for the opportunity that I will have this next year to work my butt off and leave absolutely nothing on the field. I love you guys so much and you are always in my prayers.
The One and Only,
Elder Cody Dastrup
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