MAY 19 - MAY 26 SEMANA 5 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

Update contains two emails plus pictures:

Email# 1:

Hola toda mi familia y todos mis amigos!

Tell Bro Adkinson that I say hi and congratulations on receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood!

I don't know if I'm going to have time to mention it in a bigger weekly email, but I had the neat experiences of using the Melchizedek Priesthood this week. :) One night I annointed oil for a blessing for a sick sister, and two nights or so later (last night), I was able to give a blessing to a lady in our ward that has cancer. It was the first actual blessing that I've ever given, and in Spanish! It was a really neat experience, and I was surprised that I was asked to do it!

The Priesthood is a huge blessing and huge example of the trust that Heavenly Father has in us, and maybe you can share that with Joe. He holds the power of God to act in His name, and he has that trust of our Heavenly Father. :)

It's going real good, my dad!!

I had to go get my Chilean ID, visa, and residency stuff taken care of this morning! I got my offical RUT number and I should get my ID in two weeks or so!

After that we had an AWESOME lunch at this place called Tata Pollo. A quarter of a chicken, a load of fries, and a drink for 2200 pesos, or less than five dollars!! I haven't found a better deal in Chile since we tried it my first P-Day here! haha. After that we got handscooped ice cream cones, just before coming here to Full Planet to email! 

Good P-Day so far!! I'm going to try to send some pictures if I have time!

There's going to be so much to show you here! Chile is such a neat place!

Have to get going!

Love you, my dad!! Have a great week!

Elder Trent Sellers

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Email# 2:

HEY, MOMMA!! :)

My suit came out nicely from dry cleaning, and I got two of my ties drycleaned the week after that had gotten stains from the Comedor at the CCM. ;)

I haven't bought an umbrella yet, but I probably will soon. I've been staying dry in my rain gear (it's really cool how dry you can stay when you're wearing the right things!), but apparently June and July are the really rainy months and it's going to get more rainy and a bit colder. I'll see about buying an umbrella maybe next Monday once I get money again for the month. 

We can't visit the mall unfortunately. :( It's probably a good thing, though, since it'd be hard to walk through there if there was an Apple Store! ;) El Arco de Oro (McDonald's) is in the mall, too, but there is a small little McDonald's ice cream stand inside of the Líder building where you can buy two ice cream cones for 500 pesos, less than a dollar!!

YEAH, I felt el temblor (tremor) on that Friday a week and a half ago!! We had a zone conference and president was speaking to us when all of a sudden the ground shook! We all joked that it was the power of president's words!! haha. That is the second tremor that I've felt on my mission so far. One in Mexico, and one here! President and Sister Arrington and the senior couples are preparing 72 hour kits for every missionary, and they've been recommending for us to stow water in soda bottles, just in case. The mission is real good about safety. :)

THANKS for the Harry Potter pictures, momma, and dad!! It looks AWESOME!! When's it supposed to open?? Have they announced a day yet?

So today is Memorial Day?! Are you and dad at Uncle Bob and Aunt Judy's? Tell them that I say hi, and send them a big THANK YOU for the birthday card that I got from them!!! I'm going to try to send them a quick email and picture when I can to say thank you myself! I got birthday cards from them, Aunt Dee, Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy, Uncle Greg and Aunt Susie, Cris, and Travis! Make sure they all know how grateful I am. :)

Pictures:

Conferencia de Los Nuevos

Reunited and it feels so good! Together again with mis compañeros del CCM!

All of my CCM buddies reunited at la Conferencia de Los Nuevos! We had a two-day conference at the mission office for all of us who are new to the mission. We had Subway one day and Papa Johns the next, and learned a lot one on one with Presidente Arrington and Hermana Arrington, along with the assistants.

Un ratón y un conejo, hecho por la hija de una de las familias que están en nuestro barrio

Elder Withers and I made popcorn! 

Yum, popcorn!

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MAY 13 - MAY 18 SEMANA 4 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

¡Hola, toda mi familia y todos mis amigos!

¡¡Saludades de Chile!!

It's been a great week here in Conce! ONE MONTH IN CHILE! I'm coming to know this place better and better. I'm not quite Chileno yet, but I'm picking up more of the language everyday and walking the many calles and pasajes! It's a really humbling experience!

So THIS WEEK.. Elder Withers and I contacted 140 people in las calles. Thursday night we played basketball with members and invited investigators (there was one or two investigators, from another set of missionaries), which is an almost weekly routine and AWESOME. On Friday we had a Zone Conference together with one other zone, and I had the opportunity to play the organ (in the form of an electric piano) and play "Called to Serve" for the opening meeting with President Arrington and his wife. Saturday, we taught our weekly Clase de Inglés, where we had two students and taught the different sounds of the English language. 

All throughout the week, we taught people about Jesus Christ and shared the most important message in the world with other families. We've found some great families and individuals with awesome potential, and the one I want to share about this week is Amadeo.

Amadeo was a reference from Cristian Lopez, one of our member friends. We had tried contacting him multiple times, but he never was at home. Cristian had told us that this man had a Book of Mormon, but we hadn't been able to find him! Saturday night, after a lesson with a less active family and after running out of solid plans for the night, Elder Withers and I decided to try, once again, this man. We came to the front of the gate in front of his house, and I said a quick prayer that we might finally be able to share something with him. A few moments later, the man opened the door and a few more moments later, after convincing him to let us share something very brief with him, he came out to open the gate and invited us into his home. Amadeo, as we came to know as we sat down at his dining room table, is 83 years old. Looking like the American boys that we are, he was excited to have an opportunity to speak English. On his table was a notebook and some other material, to study and learn English. Here is this man, 83 years old, retired and content as we came to know, and he was studying! I was very impressed by that. As we enjoyed the time together talking and getting to know one another, we interchanged between languages, speaking Spanish AND English. We were there for over an hour, possibly closer to two hours. In that time, we shared the entire lesson of the Restoration with this man --- essentially in English! I did my part to practice some Spanish in what he could not understand, but for the mostpart we taught this man about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our own language. As we came to the end of our time together (Elder Withers and I were pressed to get home on time!), we bore our testimonies about the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. After, he shared his own. In English, this man, who retired from the Chilean equivalent of the FBI, told us that he believed that this book was true. He had read it. He told us that the Bible had gone through the hands of many and he wasn´t completely sure of it, but that the Book of Mormon he had read and believed it to be the truth.

What an experience that was! We left with a return date to come share more, after we had invited him to be baptized. We're going to be helping him prepare for that.

Like I told Amadeo, I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is, and it contains the greatest truth in all of the world. It's why I am here. I tell that to people a lot in the streets, and I mean it. I am here because what I am sharing has blessed my family. I want to share these blessings with other families, so that they can have the happiness that I have in my life. I can't type that without tears coming to my eyes. These things are true. There is so much joy to be had from the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the blessings that I have, the most important being the strong family that I have. I am so grateful for them, and even when I can't be with them during this time I know that I have the opportunity to give other families the opportunity to grow closer and to be together forever.

I'll end with that for today.

I love you, my family, and all of my amigos back home! I think about all of you so much, and you are in my prayers. I know Heavenly Father will bless and watch over you, even while I am away.

Mucho amor de su hijo, su hermano, y su amigo,

Elder Trent Sellers :)

MAY 6 - MAY 12 SEMANA 3 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

 MOM'S SUMMARY OF TRENT'S MOTHER'S DAY CALL/SKYPE WITH THE FAMILY:

Hi, All!

Trent was able to get on at about 5:00 today and we talked to him for about an hour and 45 minutes with Travis on group Skype.  Trent's pic was dark at first and he had to switch from the ipad to the computer and turn on another light for us to see him better.  His pic was still a bit blurry, but we could tell it was him!  He and his companion were Skyping from a member family's home.  The Munoz family is the family with whom he celebrated his 19th birthday.

First off, he did get his birthday cards from MI, IN, and FL, but the one from CA (Travis) hasn't made it.  Travis said he sent 4 candles and a birthday button in his, so we are thinking it may have been confiscated!!  Thank you to those that sent cards to him or birthday checks to us.  He knows of your generosity and additions to his savings account and thanks everyone for your thoughtfulness in remembering him.  The missionaries are kept super busy, so he only has about 90 minutes on Mondays (his weekly preparation day) to read e-mails and respond.  He would love to respond to every e-mail, but apologizing for not having the time.

I wrote down a dozen or so questions for him to answer and will share his responses and comments here.

1 -  He did not feel the tremor in Mexico City until they were directed outside and he saw the light posts swaying.  Trent said northern Chile had another during-the-night quake a few days after he arrived.  Some of the locals said they felt it, but Trent and his companions slept soundly and only heard about it later!  Good thing Chile has a 2500-mile coastline and he's better than halfway down it, huh?

2 - His first assigned area is in Concepcion, not more than 20 minutes from downtown (el Centro).  Two sets of missionaries share the apartment, and he has been told that this is the BEST apartment he'll see during his mission, so he's going to enjoy it while he can!  Although missionary transfers occur at 6-week intervals, the first assignment usually lasts 5-6 months because they have 12 more weeks of training and cultural adaptation in country.  Their apartment complex has 4 floors and they are on the top one.  They go through a locked gate and a locked door to enter the building so feel pretty secure and not likely to be burglarized.  Their joke is 1st floor - outer darkness, 2nd floor - telestial kingdom, 3rd floor - terrestrial kingdom, and 4th floor - celestial kingdom.  LOL.  They can get a peek of the Pacific Ocean from their kitchen balcony.  Being the newbie in the apartment, he's gotten the top bunk.  The saving grace in that is no flea bites for him!  Fleas seem to be a chronic problem in the kiddos' apartments down there . . . Don't know why that goes on year after year.

3 - Daily schedule changed to the winter schedule on his birthday.  Summer schedule was 7:30 AM - 11:30 PM and he is now 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM.  It is shower, breakfast; personal study from 8:30 - 9:30, companion study 9:30 - 10:00, and then they are walking, walking the rest of the day.  A member family will feed them for lunch and they arrange their own evening snack or light meal.  Their church allowance is 100,000 pesos a month (Trent guesstimates about $200 US).

4 - They drop off their laundry at a member's home on Mondays and each elder pays her 4,000 pesos/month for laundry soap.  Trent said she doesn't keep their laundry separate so he's already missing two pairs of socks and some of his temple garments in 2-1/2 weeks.  The boy will be sockless in about 3 months at that rate!   Any way, he put his Sharpie back to work enlarging his initials.

5 - Lots of rain and pretty chilly for late Fall.  He's making good use of his winter jacket with hood and his Gortex rain gear.  His waterproof Rockport boots have become his go-to footwear. No central heat in the apartments, just small space heaters and three wool blankets per missionary.  I would think it's COLD getting showered in the morn, but Trent said he's fine and makes it work.

6 - Yes, there are dogs everywhere!  Trent said the ones wandering the streets are pretty easy going, but the dogs in people's yards are another matter.  They must be a cheap security system  and are pretty snarly.  His companion got tagged the other day leaving someone's home, but it didn't break his skin or cause bleeding.  They have to report any bites to their medical nurse of sorts as that is a big thing and they want to ascertain that the dog is up-to-date on its shots, etc.
He takes the Dog Dazer I bought him most days, but not always.  Some dogs respond appropriately and others don't , so . . . It's still a crap shoot!

7 - All in all, Trent's very upbeat and excited to be serving The Lord.  They have a store called Leader (like with the Walmart logo) and it seems to have most everything.  He hasn't had much time to compare prices yet, but will get his suit back from the cleaners there tomorrow.  Hope-fully it still fits since the gray suit is his favorite.

8 - Each missionary has to have 10 contacts per day.  Trent said if they run short, they jump on a bus, ask the bus driver if they can share a quick message, pass out pass-along cards, and then get off at the next stop.  Sometimes, it 's a 20-minute walk back to where they started.  Sometimes, they pay the bus fare and at other times, the driver will let them board for free.

PLAYED SOCCER WITH ALL THE MISSIONARIES ON MY MAY 12, 2014 PREPARATION DAY (P-DAY).  I WORE MY BLUE "ORLANDO CITY SOCCER" T-SHIRT

APRIL 29 - MAY 5 SEMANA 2 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

Hey, my parents!!

It's going great, my dad! We've been busy and working really hard! Lorenzo Arenas is an awesome ward and there are so many nice families here. I'm going to send a bunch of pictures your way right now, since I'm a bit behind on that. ;)

I'm going to try to Skype around 4:30PM on Sunday!! We're on the same time now since Chile set their clocks back a week ago, so expect me to call around then! We're going to Skype from la casa de la familia Muñoz. They are super nice and awesome, and we're going to have an hour and a half to Skype!

I have to go, since I spent a lot of time sending pictures, but I will talk to you on Sunday!!

Love you, my parents!! Tell Travis I will talk to him on Sunday TOO!

Elder Trent Sellers

One of the LAN airplanes at the Santiago, Chile Airport

Our rescheduled flight to Concepcion, Chile after the "apple incident"!

Our welcoming to Concepcion, Chile!

The birthday package made it and I saved it for my birthday! :)

The pantry, a little fuller with PEANUT BUTTER!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Gracias, mi familia!

Me and my first company and trainer, Elder Withers!

Mi cumpleaños a la casa de la familia Muñoz, con mi amigo Elder Taylor (from Utah) and tambien mi amigo Hermano Del Río

Mi cumpleaños a la casa de la familia Muñoz, con mi amigo Elder Taylor (from Utah) and tambien mi amigo Hermano Del Río

Tortazo!

A small park outside the wall of the Concepcion cemetery.

Trying to stay organized! Missionary apartments can get a little messy.

Nuestro cuarto, and my desk.

My first birthday cake in Chile! Yum!

The cross at the top of the hill, above the cemetery. We have an investigator, Isabel, that lives up there.

Cementerio General de Concepcion which is in our area.

Walking up the hill!

A "chow".  This one lives up the hill and I call him Chew-baca!

The cross on top of a hill overlooking Cuidad de Concelcion

Cuidad de Concepcion

Cuidad de Concepcion

Me with Cuidad de Concepcion in background.

The Bio Bio River

Old ruin on hill above Cuidad de Concepcion. It's a little further up from the cross.

The Ocean/El Mar

Me and the cross on hill above Cuiidad de Concepcion.

Ruins above Cuidad de Concepcion.

Back from playing futbol!

Our mission apartment kitchen.

Received my birthday package. Thanks momma, and thanks my dad!

Birthday present to myself!;) We're allowed to have musical instruments in our mission! Yippee!

Our maps and schedules! Busy, busy!

Mission office

APRIL 23 - APRIL 28 SEMANA 1 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

¡Hola, mis papas, toda mi familia, y todos mis amigos!

¡ESTOY EN CHILE! 

I've made it to el campo misional! Man, what a week it has been! First, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! I love hearing from my family and friends, and I'm so grateful for the awesome words this week. Thank you, first and foremost. :) 

Ok, ok, so I made it to Chile!! Oh man, what a story that is, though. After an AWESOME flight and dinner and breakfast on LAN Airlines, we arrived in Santiago close to 7:00AM and went through customs. One of my companions, Elder Archibald from Alberta, Canada, brought an apple from Mexico and forgot to declare it, and got CAUGHT. Hahaha my poor companion got stopped by the authorities and we had to wait for OVER 30 minutes so he could explain his intention with an apple. Long, long story short, including an encounter with his brother who is serving in Chile also, we MISSED OUR FLIGHT TO CONCEPCION. We had just arrived in our new country and we were stuck! haha oh man, what an experience. Fortunately, Elder Kemner, Elder Archibald, and I were able to hop on a flight an hour later and contact our president that we'd be arriving a tad late. ALL WAS WELL. We arrived in Concepcion an hour later and were welcomed by a whole welcoming party from our mission. It was so awesome, and pretty soon we made it to the mission office and in a little bit more time were assigned our companions and sent out to work!!

My companion is Elder Withers, from Boise, Idaho, and he's a great guy! He's my trainer and senior companion, and he's been here for about 10 months. He knows his Spanish, and I can't wait to pick it up like he has! It gives me more and more hope! I love the language here. It's so weird being truly surrounded by people that speak a completely foreign language to me, but I've been able to use everything that I know and learn more and more every day. It's a really fun challenge, and I'll pick it up with time.

Ok, so this week SUPER SUPER FAST. WOW, so much happens in a week here! We've eaten at members houses every lunchtime, had a correlation meeting, had a mission conference, contacted over a hundred random people in the streets, gone out with members to knock doors, and more.

SATURDAY was awesome, and such a great birthday! It ended at la familia Muñoz, and we had completos and torta (CAKE)! It was a really special night, and it included a tortazo (abrazo (hug) plus torta (cake) = cake in the FACE)! It was a great day and night, and I'm very grateful for all of the love that the people here have shown me, even this week.

I know I'm really going to come to love the people here (I already have!), and I'm going to have so many opportunities and experiences to share. Most importantly, I am going to be able to share the most important thing in my life with the people here. It has blessed my family, and I want to share the same blessings with the families in Chile. 

I know it's true. It's important that I say that, because I know it. It's the reason I am here and the reason I am so happy. My life has been blessed so greatly because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful, so truly grateful, for all that I've come to know and to feel because of it. 

I love you my family, and of course all of my friends, too. It's hard being apart, but I know Heavenly Father will watch over both of us for this time that I'm here.

I love you all. Have a great week and see ya when I see ya. :)

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Trent Sellers