Stake Conference

It was a good experience to have of leadership, searching out investigators, planning, organizing, learning to over come trials and we had a good results. 

 This week I will have been here in Mejillones for 5 months, making it be the longest time in one sector with the least amount of companions for that amount of time. Having 3 haircuts during my time here which is more than anyother sector (one being today) and teaching more classes than in any other branch or ward of before...I think I have taught more sunday classes, and given more talks here in Mejillones than in the Northridge 2nd ward. Good times

 Anyways back to the week that has passed by already. 

 Wednesday in our house the electricity went out...:(...right after we got back from our morning trot, and in the house they got it back for all of the rooms expect ours, the bathroom and the room above us, until Saturday morning are room became more and more messy...we couldn't see our stuff. But we have light again. 

 Thursday we were making our way to the church to do our weekly planning session and we saw some youth outside of the church fence messing with the lock and then to my bigger surprise they opened the gate. and moved in, I started to run to stop them because they were not youth of the church here in Mejillones, and then I discovered they were painters that had been highered to paint the outside of the church. So after that little panic attack I discovered all was well. 

Friday we had an activity were we played Disney's "Sinceit" good game for all ages. =) 

 Saturday we went to go invite everyone to church for the next day because it was stake conference and we had reserved a bus to take us, and I did not want to see that bus go to Antofagasta empty. Plus it was Daylight savings time so we slept an hour more Saturday night. 

Sunday we filled this bus with 35 members and nonmember of the church to go to Antofagasta and watch the Stake Conference with Elder Herrena (or something similar) Elder Miranda and I did divisions with to Priests of the ward to get everyone there, and it was disappointing at some homes and really exciting at others to have people come out and go. 

 Afterwords I was taking with Hno. Novoa who has lived here in Mejillones since the church arrived and he told me they have never had so many people go to stake conference before, he was quite excited. 

 Have a Wonderful day- because you can choose to

     Elder James O. Gillespie

Another week went by

-This week we had a fire in the branch so the church did quite a  bit of help there. 

-In primary we acted out the first vision, I hoped they learned what more about the first vision. 

- Sorry don't have much time today but I will write more next week. I'm doing well. 

 Have a Wonderful day - because you can choose to

     Elder James O. Gillespie

Another week goes by

It was all kind of a blur...and I don't have my journal close so I don't remember what happened when. 

Well my vision I have had for the missionary work here in Mejillones has been very based in the idea of reactivating and filling the chapel in that way, I have thought in that way since Arica for the second time because I talked to a exmissionary who told me that is what he did while he was in the mission and in a small city because if he brought investigators he thought they would come and just walk back out because they see that there is almost no one; however the vision of the mission/Pres. Bruce is  to baptize and confirm so I have always thought I will reactive people and then baptisms will come by bringing back part member families etc. and I talked with my Zone leader about it and he simply informed my that the vision is to baptize.

     Monday in the evening we were in Antofagasta so I went with Elder Miranda to visit a family that I met around Christmas time in the ward Las Arenas. They were baptized the 3 of them together Patricia, Patricia (Hija), and Alexis, and they are an amazing family and they were found by Elder Ruiz and Elder Fransworth (I believe, it was before I arrived in Antofagasta) through tracting and they blow my mind at their knowledge and willingness to serve. I would love to have another family like them in the branch here in Mejillones, we would put them to work so fast. 

     During the week I was reading and preparing for some classes on Sunday and I came across the scripture D+C 111:2 "I have much treasure in this city for you, for the benefit of Zion, and many people in this city, whom I will gather out in due time for the benefit of Zion, through your instrumentality." So a mix of all these things I came to the conclusion that I need to be searching more trying to bring more new people to the church and they will be for the benefit of Zion. Instead of trying only to reactive the families that are here. Because there are a lot of people and in Mejillones and it's time to find them. 

     Sunday we had a family come to church of Seven kids from 14 years to 6 months and filled the chapel so we just need to keep finding and teach new people. 

I'm beginning more to feel the tiredness of a mission, Pres. Shaw told me when I was about to get set apart that he loves it when he relieves a missionary and they fall asleep during the prayer because they have become so tired during their missions, and my thought was at the time, "It´s because they didn´t sleep very well in the plane" but I now understand it's a lot more than that. One or two weeks ago we had our interviews with Pres. Bruce and in the Office of President there exists a board with a picture of all the missionaries and the higher they are on the board they more time they have in the mission and when I walked into the office President told me that I am very high on the board. We talked and he told me that all the missionaries that get up that high on the board tell him that they cannot feel their legs anymore but they just keep on walking. My thought was that I can still feel my legs, but this Saturday was a day where I understood those words. 

 You learn on a lot in the mission. So go on it. 

 Have a Wonderful day- because you can choose to

     Elder James O. Gillespie

Be careful with your Abril fool's jokes

So I played three jokes, One: I called my Zone leaders and told them my backpack was stolen which mean I lost all the baptismal records of our district and Elder Hales was distrait. But then I told him it was a joke and that I had arrived to our location to pass the records. Two: I wrote home telling everyone that my companion was sick. Three: broken Camera

     Now what happened this week as pay back. One: Elder Hales calls me and tells me I have a special transfer and my heart sank to the floor and then he told me he was lying to me. Two: Tuesday my companion woke-up, throwing-up. Ewww- but it was all good because he made it to the bathroom and I didn't have to see anything. But he ate something or something attacked for Tuesday and Wednesday but we are good now. 

      General Conference was coming and so we had to see if we could watch it in the chapel and then invite all of the city of Mejillones to come watch it. (Next time I'm just going to call the radio station and have them announce it) So on Sunday was the first time that the city of Mejillones watched all of the sessions of General Conference in the chapel there, (with expecting of Priesthood, I wanted to watch at least one session in English [and Priesthood session blew my mind (we have such a cool church)]) But it was an entertaining week, Saturday we had the morning session at 1:00 PM and then ate lunch together as a branch and then continued to watch the next session at 5:00 PM from then we left to Antofagasta to watch Priesthood, then came back to Mejillones arriving at about 12:00 at night so we had a full day. Then Sunday we arrived at the chapel a little after 10 in the morning just in case someone arrived for normal church that didn't understand about the conference well. 

Friday we had our interviews with President Bruce. (Which concludes all my interviews with President Bruce, the next one with President Dalton) While we wait for the other missionaries to have their interviews Sis Bruce and the Assistants always have something prepared for us to do. Be it watch a movie about the importance of learning English or 17 Miracles or one time we had a lesson with the assistants etc. This activity was much better we played Preach My Gospel Jeopardy and I'm proud to say that our team won, and that I was surprised had how well I competed against everyone else. 

 Today I finally got to know la Portada of Antofagasta after 17 months in the mission I finally saw it. (It's a lot bigger than I thought it was) but here comes the joke three back at me, my camera ran out of battery so I only got a few pictures because I robbed Elder Miranda's batteries. 

 Well that's all for now Folks!

 Have a Wonderful day - because you can choose to

     Elder James O. Gillespie 

 Captions with Photos, 1: look at President Monson in Mejillones! Doesn't he look so good?

2: Lunch Conference

3: La Portada, Man I'm tan!

4: Look you can see my collar tan line! 

Well one more day and another month completed in the mission

    How time has flow, and yet seemed to have go so slow, this week seemed like it lasted a year. So many things have happened this week. First at the beginning of the week my camera broke when I fell the other day and smashed both the memory card and the camera itself, so they are both dead, but the bigger news is that Elder Miranda has become quite sick that Pres. Bruce is considering sending him home for a time, Sunday I had to go to church with a Priest from the branch because Elder Miranda is in the hospital in Antofagasta. We are all pretty worried. I hope it wasn't the pizza that I made. It's been hard as well because I haven't been working in Mejillones at all because of the medical problems. Pres. Bruce is trying to work things out so that I will have another companion shortly

     Nevertheless we continue onwards because it's April Fool's day and it's all a lie. Everyone is fine and my camera still work. =) As well it's the first of the month and so I say Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit, Happy Easter and 17 months in the mission? (I lose track)

 So here is the real story, I did not lie when I said that it seemed like a year has past by since the last time I have sat infront of a computer to write home. We went running a couple of times this week again to start being more healthy because now Elder Miranda's feet aren't hurting so much from walking all day.  We had the baptism of Emanuel Benjamin Pegueroles Vaca. Who has 9 years old and we have been reactiving all of his older siblings, it was a nice service which included the refreshments by yours truly, Elder Gillespie, of Pizza and also another member that we have been reactiving made a cake which was very good. 

     Sunday we had 35 people in church which was nice to have it filled again. Easter wasn't as big as I thought it would have been here just that it came and went, but the people here don't eat red meat during the weekend. (Is that a thing in the states too?) They it fish. So if you are ever in Chile for Easter it is a great time to have a BBQ because the meat is cheap. 

     I'm quite excited for General Conference this weekend it will be a nice break not having to teach the Primary for a week. However, in primary I do feel I'm having success that the kids are learning parts of the lesson but it takes a lot of energy, and now we have changed Wellington to go with the Young men and asked Sis. Acuña to come help me and we divided the class into Valientes and HLJ and so I'm wiht HLJ and I asked another less active to come help me teach and she accepted and came so we are going to keep going with this method because it seems to work. We are definitely more focused here in Reactivation and sustaining in Mejillones

Have a Wonderful day- because you can choose to.

     Elder James O. Gillespie