Dies Y Ocho

Hey Guys,

       
 How are you all and how's everything going?!!  So a lot happened this week. We just had our cambio (change) and one of the elders of the house, Elder Y., is being transferred to a different sector. His Junior Comp (companion) is now going to be a Senior Comp and trainer, so he's going to be very busy. This just means I'll have a new cousin (new roommate) on the mission now, so that'll be great. I got my contacts today so its going to be 120,000 Chilean pesos so I don't know the conversion, but probably 200 dollars I think or somewhere around there.

 

This week was the week of dies y ocho which is Chile's Independence day and it's a huge celebration that we were able to spend with the Bishop's family. We had a lot of assado which is just basically lots of meat on the grill. So, we had a ton of food and yes, I have gained some weight, just don't tell coach on me.

We've got a new family named the B.'s that we are teaching and were super pumped for them. Also, we have gotten a whole lot of new investigators and some of them have baptismal dates. It's hard to get them to come to church right now so its been hard to have a baptism happen. I'm so glad to have the chance to be out here and to preach His gospel to bless families everywhere. I love you guys and hope everything is great there.

 

 - Love Elder Haynes

 

 

 

 

 

Exchange to Santa Barbera

Rio Bio Bio

September 15, 2014

Hey Guys, 

 Just want to give you guys an update on whats going on in the last week. On Tuesday, I had a companionship exchange with my DL's (District Leader) companion, Elder T. I went to another sector called Santa Barbera for the night, which is amazing. It's about an hour in the mountains from LA (Los Angeles). You can see an inactive volcano and the Rio Bio Bio (River) which is huge and so beautiful. Don't worry I'm sending pics, so you guys will be able to  get the chance to see what I'm seeing. We're actually going to have another companion exchange this week so I'll be here with my DL, Elder H., who's a really cool guy. It's going to be awesome! I had to go to Concepcion for my eye appt so we took a charter bus to get there. I received my prescription so the appt will be around 50$ and the contacts probably 150-200. I'll let you guys know. 

Chile's Inactive Chaiten Volcano

We've had a hard time getting people to come to church but we've had a part member family attending where the Dad's a member but everyone else isn't. He has a son who's of baptismal age and he wants to be able to baptise him and his wife as well. We also have another family we are teaching and two of them have baptismal dates. They (the other members) are really searching for an answer and we are excited for them. Also, I finished Jesus the Christ which was an amazing book!!! Everyone is super pumped for 18 ordies y ocho which is the biggest holiday of the year with alot of grilling and empenadas, so well see how many pounds I can gain this week. You can tell its the 18th when you can't count how many drunk people you jump over. Everything's going great down here and I hope everything is great there with the new car and such. I call the 44, no questions about it and I'll wrestle anyone for it! I love you guys and hope that you guys stay safe and sound till the mission's over and then, well, safe and sound from a distance will no longer be used then. 

Love you all.

Elder Haynes

Note from Mom:  He has inspired me to read Jesus the Christ! I found it for free, including audio files on this lds media library website. 

Return and Report

September 8, 2014

This picture was taken inside
 the house we share with Elder Y. and Elder S.

We traveled to Concepcion for Return and Report today, that’s why I’m emailing late. It’s just to make sure we know all the rules and that our trainers are doing everything they can. I got to see all my MTC buddies which was awesome and I got to see my old comp Elder Clay. We were able to share some stories about our last four weeks. We've decided to have a reunion back in Utah a year after we get back, so we’ll see how that works out.

I talked to Hermana P today and they're going to let me know when I can get scheduled for an eye exam. It will probably be in Concepcion since that’s where they have a lot of medical contacts. I will let you know how much it is as well, so that way we’re all squared away.

It's all right about mailing the package later. Hopefully Maddie will see what I asked her to include in it and have it ready by then. I'd love to get my patriarchal blessing and if you guys could get that it would be amazing. I haven't gotten any dear elders yet but we’ll see how long it takes. My week has been packed.

Hey guys I also got some new pajamas that you guys might like so......what do you think? Everyone’s got a set of pajamas we’ve got Wolverine, Iron Man, and the Joker so were going to have some epic battle scenes with them. Lol.       

I had a great lesson with an inactive member this week whose wife was really strong in the church, but after she died they stopped coming. I shared with him D&C122:7-8 which is just awesome to read when we have hard challenges in our life. I think he really felt the spirit and he’s trying to get through this difficult time as well.  I want you guys to know that I love you and hope that the family is safe and staying strong.

                             Love Elder Haynes 

Everything is Awesome!

Hey Guys!

The Spanish is coming along but I need to still continually work on it. Zone Conferences are great except for the fact that they're always in Spanish and I miss some stuff, but I'm learning. My comp, Elder M., has been out a whole year so he's got the missionary thing down. We went to a waterfall last week and I'm trying to send pics again, so hopefully it works this week.

To answer your questions.........the food here is generally good and I only have to make breakfast and dinner because the members make us Almuerzo (lunch) everyday except for P-day, where we are on our own. Our laundry gets done by Hermana F., who is our Mamacita in the ward. I've been semi-working out but not a fan of getting out of my warm bed into a 60 degree house at 7 in the morning, but I'm working on it.The Jesus the Christ reading is great. I've gotten to page 400 in the last two weeks. It rains a lot down here so we need to generally always have a jacket. Everybody's pumped for September 18th which is the biggest holiday of the year because it's Chile's Independence Day-everyone down here goes crazy for it! Yes, we have enough money for our needs. So, no worries.

We've got 150 people in the ward generally and I've heard this is the best area in the mission. We teach anyone and everyone who's willing to listen to our message. It's been great! We'll sometimes come across a whole family of investigators, and I love it when they're ready and willing to participate in the lesson. Just the other night we taught an investigator named F. and he's really prepared to listen to our message. He wants to know more about why there are so many churches in our day and not just one church.  

Love you guys and can’t wait for Christmas!

                                                             Elder Haynes