This week has been interesting... It started raining (for the first time in my mission) on Wednesday, in the night.... right before we left Chañaral to go to Copiapó, for the conference we had with Elder Texeira (Area 70 of South America South Area.) It was extremely powerful! He gave us lots of ideas to have more progressing investigators, and talked a lot about our morning study as the ´´golden time´´. President and Hermana Ferreira talked a lot about exact obedience, and then Hermana Texeira talked a lot about the Spirit, unity as a companionship, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the desire to serve. It was extremely spiritual, and when we got back to Chañaral, we had just enough time to make it to our English class! It went great this week! We had 8 people come!!! That´s more than we´ve ever had, and we got several new investigators out of it!! Then on Friday, it rained off and on all day. (At this point, I was pretty sick of having my planner wet, when I tried writing). We found several awesome new investigators that worked in the stores that we ducked into to keep dry... and found some very interested ladies that had spoken to missionaries before!!! We´ll see how it goes with them. That night, it started pouring!! And despite having an umbrella, we got absolutely soaked, before getting to the house. Unfortunately, it only rains in the Atacama desert like every 5 years..... so the streets aren´t built for rain (they don´t have drains), and the roofs aren´t either. Luckily, our roof stayed dry, but shortly after, they cut the electricity and the running water. The electricity came back on... but the pipes stayed dry. The next morning, there were giant pools of water all over the streets, and we realized that a big group of people had gathered on the highway. As we approached, we realized that they were looking at the river. (The river of Chañaral has been dried up for years, by the way), but it was full of rapid, brown water, and had flooded several streets, including all of downtown, had ripped away a highway bridge. Chañaral is split into two sections: the north (called Aeropuerto), and the southern side that has downtown. The river completely separated the two, and no one could cross, unless it was in a helicopter. We received news that the church building on the other side, had been flooded as well, and when we had the opportunity to cross the river, once it had died down yesterday, we saw that the fence of the church parking lot had been completely ripped away and destroyed, and the giant metal gate in front of the church was forced open. The entire first floor of the chapel had been coated in mud (and that means carpet replacement)... but luckily the sacrament room is upstairs, and was unaffected. We can now cross the river, and helped clean the church a little, but they´re sending the church clean up crew to do a deep clean and replace carpet and everything. We are still without running water though.... Luckily we have several 20 liter jugs of drinking water, but we are forced to take sponge baths! hahaha! Anyway, we´re doing fine, and we´ll see what we can do for the investigators as well. Have a great week, everyone!

-Elder Checketts

p.s. (In reference to our Skype call on Mothers Day)...
It was great to see you guys! I´m glad you all looked so happy and are doing so well! And I hope you had a happy Mother´s Day, Mom!

HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

After waiting about 2-1/2 hours, PJ FINALLY called!!! Hooray!!!!! Because of a few challenges, it took a little longer to call us... They had the first rain there in about 4 years, and it flooded everything... The church, the roads, destroyed bridges, etc. Church was cancelled & they've been without water & power for a couple of days (they have bottled drinking water, and the power just barely came back on). They are fine & safe, just couldn't go anywhere, so had to figure out a few things... They were finally able to walk to a member's house to Skype. .  SO glad he was finally able to call!!! We loved seeing his smiling face & hearing his voice (and cute Spanish accent!). He is doing great & is happy & healthy! (He's lost about 25 lbs since he started his mission, but he is healthy & feels good).  When we were talking to him, he had a hard time remembering a few English words & mixed in a few Spanish words while we were talking...hahaha!   He hasn't spoken English at all for several months, because his companion & the other elders in his apartment are all native Spanish speakers.  It was SOOO great to see him & talk to him!!!!  When you only get to see & talk to your child twice a year, it's a pretty big deal!!!  :) It made our day!!! 

(In reference to the talk by President Uchtdorf, "Fourth Floor, Last Door.")  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/fourth-floor-last-door/?lang=eng

I love that talk!!! It was actually in my mind when I decided to knock ´´just one more door´´. It´s such a powerful story. And like you said, it has everything to do with the principle of faith. Because real faith always leads to action. 

We´ve had a very productive week! I was a bit discouraged, and we weren´t finding many people, but I decided to apply more effort, and teach all the people I could... and it really paid off! We´ve found some super interested and willing people, to listen to the gospel. I realized that I had slowly slipped into the trap of just working with all my might and strength, but witholding my heart and mind. And I´ve been a lot happier. :) Hopefully, we´ll get people to church this coming week. I don´t remember if I already told you guys, but we found a young mom named Maricel.... That talked a lot with missionaries before, came to church, and even recieved a witness of the Book of Mormon. The only problem is that her husband told her that she can´t talk with the missionaries. :( We´ll see if there´s anything we can do for her....

However, your questions really made me think deeply ;) .... so as for the greatest lesson that I´ve learned so far on the mission..... A lot of things crossed my mind: that I´ve learned to be a lot more patient with other people and with myself, I´ve learned how to better forgive myself of weakness, how to work hard, and press through discouragement. But all those things I´d sum up as having learned better for myself, how to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. I´ve realized better for myself the love that God has for every one of us, and how to express that love to the investigators... and how to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ for myself. I have truly seen the Lord´s hand supporting me in the hardest days, and carrying me on His shoulders when necessary. Through His example, I have seen how I can better carry those I teach on my shoulders. 

As for my favorite companion... That´s a hard one. Elder Francis, Elder Jennings, and Elder Burgos specifically have made a great impact on me. Elder Francis truly became my best friend for the entire time that I was with him as my companion, and Elder Jennings and I saw lots of miracles occur with many investigators, and the blessing of many baptisms. I also grew to love Elder Burgos like a brother... (because sometimes he tested my patience in the same way as Jonah)... but I learned a lot from him, and helped me a lot to improve.

As for the greatest blessing from my mission so far: I´d say definitely being able to see huge changes in the lives of others. Nothing makes me so happy as seeing the Spirit touch someone´s heart to make true changes in their lives!

I know I didn´t finish all the questions... but I have to go now. You can ask me all you want during our Skype call on Mother's Day.... and I´ll answer the rest next week. 

Have a great week everyone!  

-Love, PJ

Hey Everyone!

This week was slow, but ended on a good note. On Friday, we had a home evening in the church as a branch, that was super awesome and super fun, but earlier that day, all of our plans and appointments were falling through, and we decided to knock doors, to find more people. NO ONE opened their door!! So as it got close to the home evening, we were getting ready to head over to the church with little success in our efforts, and I decided that we'd try with one more house. So I picked a friendly looking one that said welcome, on the door. A young mom answered the door, and said, "Elders! Come on in!" It turns out she and her husband had investigated the church for a long time in the south of Chile... but lost contact when they moved... but now, she wants to start receiving the lessons again!!! ¡Hay milagros! (There are miracles!) However, even with this awesome little miracle, none of our investigators came to church :( Even if we pass by ten different people on Sunday morning, sometimes it's difficult to remember that each person still has their own choice...and we simply have to trust that God will touch their hearts, and help them get there...in HIS timing. Not always ours... :) Anyway, I'll keep working hard, and work on finding more people. :) Hope you all have another great week!

--Elder Checketts

Hahahaha!  So you want photos?  of ANYTHING!  Here you go.  Hahaha!  Sorry.  I should be better with taking pictures.  But I haven't really taken any more lately...

About Easter though... Chile doesn't have any traditions that are different from the US.  Just hide chocolate eggs and find them again!  But the lunch we had with the Peruvian family was potatoes, rice, and chicken... but the rice was prepared with cilantro, and was really good... and the potatoes had a really yummy cream sauce made from milk, cheese, saltine crackers, and hot peppers.  (It sounds weird, but is really yummy).  Anyway, I'll write to you later... hopefully later today, but the lady in the computer place has to go on lunch break.  Love you!

A few hours later...  (I'm so glad PJ was able to write more!!!)  :)

Hey, again!

This week we worked really hard to go on visits with the members. Yesterday, for example, we had the help of a young couple named Christofer and Yessenia. We had the opportunity to teach an investigator with them, and visit Zunilda as well (Catalina´s mom). Yessenia and Christofer have two young kids, and both Christofer and Yessenia have gone through incredible changes to become strong members of the church. Yessenia was baptised when she was nine, but left the church at a young age. She later met Christofer, and the both of them were extremely worldly, conflicted people with addictions and bad habits. The missionaries began passing by, to reactivate Yessenia, but Christofer didn´t want ANYTHING to do with the church. A little while later, their son, Jairo, began waking up hysterical several nights straight, and Christofer permitted that the Elders enter their home to administer a priesthood blessing. He told us that after the blessing, Jairo never suffered from hysteria, and Christofer was convinced of the power of the priesthood. The couple left their groups of friends, their addictions, got married, and Christofer got baptized. They are now preparing to be sealed as a family in the temple in Santiago. When we went to visit one of our investigators with this couple, they testified so powerfully of eternal families, and the power that the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation has had in their lives. It is not difficult to see when someone has reached true conversion, because their choices change, and they testify with true conviction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

As for the investigators, they´re doing well. It´s been difficult getting them to come to church (because they enjoy sleeping), but we´ll keep working on that! And as for you´re question about Cristian (the investigator that works in the jail)... yes, he did take us on a tour... and yes, it was kind of freaky... at first. For security, they had to take our phone, and lock this giant, metal door behind us... but all the inmates were working, and didn´t say anything to us. They were actually really respectful. I can only imagine what happens if they disrespect the wardons, or visitors...... But I thought it was funny... they can do more things than we can!!! They have televisions, and a library!!! hahaha! 

But anyway, hope that was a good bit of thoughts for the week :) Love, you! And since you want more pics... here´s one of my companion in the middle of a haircut ;)

hahahaha!

--Elder Checketts

Hi everyone!  Thanks for all the birthday wishes!  I had a good birthday and Easter. We ate with a Peruvian family yesterday, and the food was REALLY good! Chilean food is really plain, and so every time we get a little touch of Peru or Bolivia, its a nice little change :) Thanks for the birthday/Easter package, by the way! I´ve been studying the Portuguese book of Mormon now, which is cool. Thanks for that! It makes me feel really smart, because I can understand a language I don´t know! hahaha! I can´t speak it.... or pronounce any of the words, but the grammar and spelling is very similar to Spanish. Thanks for all the candy, too! The smart food disappeared in about 10 seconds ;)  I´m glad that you guys enjoyed Easter as well! 

As for the investigators, there´s a young mom that lives in our sector named Thiare, that is super receptive, and has a lot of desire to change, and be baptized!!! She´s super humble, and willing to follow the will of God for her. The only problem is that she has to get married first. Hopefully we can help her with that, but generally its kind of a long process. The family that we found previously... Hilda, Amaro, and Francisca, are super awesome and receptive, but have been hard to find. It seems that they are really busy people, so we haven´t had the opportunity to teach them again :( But we´ll keep trying!!! We also have an investigator named Cristian, that is Catholic, but has a lot of desire to recieve the truth directly from God,  so he commited to pray and read the Book of Mormon! He´s also kind of hard to find, but he let us teach him at work. It was interesting, as he works in the prison. He gave us a full tour and everything!!! ;) It was super cool, and he´s a really sincere person. 

I´m glad that everyone has been doing well with school, and prom, and work, and that Dad enjoyed his birthday! Anyway, i´m running short on time, but have a great week!

Love, PJ

Hey Everyone!

This week was transfers. I´m staying here in Chañaral, but Elder Burgos is leaving to Arica (the most northern city of the mission). My new companion is another Chilean, named Elder Silva, from Concepción. Hopefully this cambio goes well, and we have lots of success, and help the branch a lot.  About conference in Spanish.... I understand everything at this point, so it was fine.  

About Valentina... the baptism fell through, and her mom asked us to stop passing by for a while, because she´s having difficulties with depression, and essentially doesn´t want the hope of religion to mess with her brain more. (It doesn´t make a ton of sense, but better not to make her mom mad.)

However, this week we were blessed to find a super receptive, religious family, that loved the message we share, and committed to being baptized, if they read the Book of Mormon, and feel that it´s true!!! It was super awesome to get to know them!   Other than that, the week was pretty slow. We worked hard, but it was simply one of those weeks :) We´ll keep working hard, and Heavenly Father will bless our efforts.  Have another great week! 

--Elder Checketts

p.s.  Also, just so you know...we only have an hour to read & write all our emails on P-days, so I usually end up having to rush, and can't write a lot, but try to share the highlights of my week.  :)