Hey hey hey,
Another great week down here in Chile. I am 100% convinced that these 2 years of the mission are and will come to be the best of my life and I am sooo grateful to be here. We had another great week with a lot of ups and downs but I feel really happy about my situation and all of the blessings that we have received. I am in a city called Chiguayante and it is very green. There are mountains on one side of the sector and on the other side we have the Bio-Bio River, which is huge. Our area has a lot of middle class people and a section of really ghetto houses where it isn't very safe after about 7 in the afternoon, haha. The ward has about 120 active members, but they don't help us out a ton, so we have been going around to every members house and sharing a 15 minute message with them and then inviting them to do a family home evening with a non member friend. Last night we had a FHE with a member and her friend who is atheist and it went well. We shared about the restoration of the gospel and we talked to them about how we have evidence that God Exists! We told him about the first vision and about the restoration of the gospel and then about the Book of Mormon. I have really grown a strong testimony of that book! It is amazing because if that book is true it means that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus and the he really was a prophet and not just some guy who claims to have seen angels. It is evidence!! haha.
I have been doing really well and my companion as well. We had another good week in the Zone and we reached our goal officially! We ended the month with 12 baptisms in the Zone!!! I was really proud of everyone and I think that we will reach our goals again this next month! It was a rough week for us because we had to drop a ton of people that we really love that just aren't progressing. we are kind of starting from ground 0 again but it is ok. I feel like we will be blessed in this week and I am sure we will find more new people.
It is always good to hear that all is well back home! I heard from David Hall and Devin Needs this week. They both seem to be doing really well and I told Dev to keep an eye out for David. I miss you all a ton and hope that you have amazing weeks.
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
August 22, 2011
Hey Everyone!
Whats going on? I feel really good today for some reason, so you should get a half way decent email out of me. haha The good news or the bad news first?....Ok the bad news, the prefect cambio goal went down the drain this last week and we didn't get to baptize anyone this weekend. The good news is, we shattered our baptismal goal as a zone this month and are looking really good for the next month. In our sector we are working with a couple of really good people and I honestly feel like we will be baptizing quite a few people in the next 2 or 3 weeks. I feel like I didn't work to my full potential this last week and this week we are going to put in the batteries and go to work! I am so grateful for all of the emails and letters that you guys send and for all of the support that I have. I have the best family in the world and I would not be what I am if it wasn't for you guys. Thanks, I love you guys a ton.
A couple of interesting things happened this week that I thought I would tell you guys about. I don't have time to write about everything but I will fill you in on the things I found most interesting. So we have 4 sister missionaries in our zone and they are AWESOME! They work hard , plan well and are always finding new people and are just...better than the Elders haha. Well last night I took one of our district leaders out to Hualqui (their sector), which is like 20 minutes outside of the city where we live. So we went there to train the ward mission leader and the ward missionaries and teach them about a program that we have adopted as a mission. The training went really well and it was really spiritual. At 9:30 it ended and we went to go catch a bus to go back home. We waited about 15 minutes and nothing passed, so we went to go talk to some people in the street as w were waiting and we ran into a member. Well, the man was baptized in the church a long time ago but hasn't gone for a long time. To make the long story short, he was drunk out of his mind and said he wouldn't be able to sleep that night until he knew we had caught a bus. Well...a bus never came and it was about 10:45 and we were stuck in Hualqui with a drunk member of the church and another 5 or 6 drunk people who were all waiting for the same bus as us. I called like 5 people to try to find a ride and nobody would answer. I was about to call president when the idea came to my head to call the sister missionaries and see if someone in their ward would take us. About 10 minutes later a member of their ward was there and took us home. (he wasn't very happy about doing it and made us pay him to do it but...we got home haha) And the only other thing I can really thing of is that this morning we had a mexican fiesta for the zone and made them all burritos and mexican food for reaching the goal! I love where I am at and I love the Zone with all my heart, they are all so awesome! (A zone is a group of missionaries)
Sounds like all is going pretty well at home! I hope Taylor passed her exam and I am glad to hear that Katie is doing well in High School. I miss you guys a ton and you are always in my prayers. Have a good one!
Con tanto carino,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Whats going on? I feel really good today for some reason, so you should get a half way decent email out of me. haha The good news or the bad news first?....Ok the bad news, the prefect cambio goal went down the drain this last week and we didn't get to baptize anyone this weekend. The good news is, we shattered our baptismal goal as a zone this month and are looking really good for the next month. In our sector we are working with a couple of really good people and I honestly feel like we will be baptizing quite a few people in the next 2 or 3 weeks. I feel like I didn't work to my full potential this last week and this week we are going to put in the batteries and go to work! I am so grateful for all of the emails and letters that you guys send and for all of the support that I have. I have the best family in the world and I would not be what I am if it wasn't for you guys. Thanks, I love you guys a ton.
A couple of interesting things happened this week that I thought I would tell you guys about. I don't have time to write about everything but I will fill you in on the things I found most interesting. So we have 4 sister missionaries in our zone and they are AWESOME! They work hard , plan well and are always finding new people and are just...better than the Elders haha. Well last night I took one of our district leaders out to Hualqui (their sector), which is like 20 minutes outside of the city where we live. So we went there to train the ward mission leader and the ward missionaries and teach them about a program that we have adopted as a mission. The training went really well and it was really spiritual. At 9:30 it ended and we went to go catch a bus to go back home. We waited about 15 minutes and nothing passed, so we went to go talk to some people in the street as w were waiting and we ran into a member. Well, the man was baptized in the church a long time ago but hasn't gone for a long time. To make the long story short, he was drunk out of his mind and said he wouldn't be able to sleep that night until he knew we had caught a bus. Well...a bus never came and it was about 10:45 and we were stuck in Hualqui with a drunk member of the church and another 5 or 6 drunk people who were all waiting for the same bus as us. I called like 5 people to try to find a ride and nobody would answer. I was about to call president when the idea came to my head to call the sister missionaries and see if someone in their ward would take us. About 10 minutes later a member of their ward was there and took us home. (he wasn't very happy about doing it and made us pay him to do it but...we got home haha) And the only other thing I can really thing of is that this morning we had a mexican fiesta for the zone and made them all burritos and mexican food for reaching the goal! I love where I am at and I love the Zone with all my heart, they are all so awesome! (A zone is a group of missionaries)
Sounds like all is going pretty well at home! I hope Taylor passed her exam and I am glad to hear that Katie is doing well in High School. I miss you guys a ton and you are always in my prayers. Have a good one!
Con tanto carino,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Thursday, August 18, 2011
August 15, 2011
Hey,
Another week under my belt and I have to say, I haven't felt this good in a long time. I am so glad for the opportunity that I had to work in the office with the Clawsons and to work alongside with President and Hermana Humphrey but I am even more happy to be out in the field working my butt off. First things first, our house is awesome. I live in a house of 4 missionaries about 3 blocks outside of our sector. The house is really nice and it has the best shower that I have had the opportunity to use in my mission. I live with Elder Rapalo (Honduras), Elder Weston (California) and my companion Elder Zarco (California). My companion Elder Zarco is a mexican kid from California that speaks the language really well and is always happy. I knew him before coming here but have gotten to know him a lot better this last week and from what I have seen of him he is a really good missionary and we are going to have a lot of success together.
The name of my sector is La Pradera and we are in the city of Chiguayante. We have 12 in our Zone and for the 1st time in my mission I have sister missionaries in my zone! They are awesome and are really good hard workers. My companion and I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve in leadership positions in the zone and we are having a lot of success right off the bat (which feels really good haha) In our ward 133 people came to church last week and they all seem to be really nice. We worked really really hard this week and were able to find and get investigators to church this week as well and we had a baptism of a 21 year old named Eduardo. My companion and I have set the goal to have a "perfect cambio". A perfect cambio is when you baptize at least 1 person every week of the transfer and I have heard of 1 companionship doing it a long time ago in this mission but it is very rare that it happens in this mission. We are being blessed like crazy with people to teach and I already have grown to love a ton of people in my new area. I feel really good about this new assignment and feel like this will be the area where I have the most success in terms of baptism and personal growth.
How is everyone doing back home? I hardly ever get letters from friends and stuff but from what I have heard everyone is doing well and nothing too major has happened. It is crazy to think that Katie is now in high school and that she will be starting to drive by the time I get back! CRAZY! As for me I am doing well. Sooooo happy and really enjoying the mission.
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Another week under my belt and I have to say, I haven't felt this good in a long time. I am so glad for the opportunity that I had to work in the office with the Clawsons and to work alongside with President and Hermana Humphrey but I am even more happy to be out in the field working my butt off. First things first, our house is awesome. I live in a house of 4 missionaries about 3 blocks outside of our sector. The house is really nice and it has the best shower that I have had the opportunity to use in my mission. I live with Elder Rapalo (Honduras), Elder Weston (California) and my companion Elder Zarco (California). My companion Elder Zarco is a mexican kid from California that speaks the language really well and is always happy. I knew him before coming here but have gotten to know him a lot better this last week and from what I have seen of him he is a really good missionary and we are going to have a lot of success together.
The name of my sector is La Pradera and we are in the city of Chiguayante. We have 12 in our Zone and for the 1st time in my mission I have sister missionaries in my zone! They are awesome and are really good hard workers. My companion and I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve in leadership positions in the zone and we are having a lot of success right off the bat (which feels really good haha) In our ward 133 people came to church last week and they all seem to be really nice. We worked really really hard this week and were able to find and get investigators to church this week as well and we had a baptism of a 21 year old named Eduardo. My companion and I have set the goal to have a "perfect cambio". A perfect cambio is when you baptize at least 1 person every week of the transfer and I have heard of 1 companionship doing it a long time ago in this mission but it is very rare that it happens in this mission. We are being blessed like crazy with people to teach and I already have grown to love a ton of people in my new area. I feel really good about this new assignment and feel like this will be the area where I have the most success in terms of baptism and personal growth.
How is everyone doing back home? I hardly ever get letters from friends and stuff but from what I have heard everyone is doing well and nothing too major has happened. It is crazy to think that Katie is now in high school and that she will be starting to drive by the time I get back! CRAZY! As for me I am doing well. Sooooo happy and really enjoying the mission.
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Saturday, August 6, 2011
August 6, 2011
Hey!
It sounds like you guys were a little short on time when you emailed me today and...I am super short on time too, so this will be a quick one. We had a good week this week and we actually did baptize someone named Franklin that we are teaching that is really really good but it looks like he won't be getting baptized until after I leave. I am now 100% positive that I will be leaving on Tuesday and goin to a new sector. I know where I am going and who my companion will be and I am really excited to get out there and start working my butt off. I really miss being in a sector full time and having a good relationship with the members of the ward and having the time to teach more people. I am not "Trunkie", but in case you are wondering, I have already packed my bags and they are out in the hallway.haha I will be sad to be leaving this sector and it will be weird not seeing certain people as much, but I am really excited for the new challenges ahead of me. A lot of leaders in the mission will be going home this cambio and it is looking like there will be a lot of young leaders in the mission. I love change and am really looking forward to it. Today we went out to Chillan for our P-Day (my first sector). I went and ate lunch at the house of the 1st person that I baptized in the mission. They couldn't believe how well I am speaking the language and how much I have changed and I couldn't believe how much they had all grown as well. We also went and bought some more souvenires and I bought some really neat things mad out of Chilean copper. I am glad to hear people showed up to Davids farewell and that he is now in the MTC. Could I get his Email address??? And I was glad to hear that Austin got married...so much has changed since I left! I miss you all so much and hope that you are doing great. Pray for me this week, it's going to be a big change going to my new sector! Love you guys!!!
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
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