JUN 17 - JUN 23 SEMANA 9 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

Hola, mi familia!

I'm going to try sending a better, briefer update of the week so I can make sure I tell you the most important things before anything else!

So THIS WEEK...

¡AMADEO SE BAUTIZÓ! My first baptism in the mission! Amadeo Lizama Leiva, who we had been working with the past few weeks, was baptized Saturday, 21 de Junio, and confirmed the next day during La Conferencia del Barrio Lorenzo Arenas (ward conference). I had the great privilege and opportunity to baptize this 83-year-old man and guide him through the process. The service was humbling and spiritual. There were probably a total of 10 of us there for his baptism. Carlos Muñoz, 11 years old, sang a special musical number guided by his mom, and Obispo Rivas and our amigo Cristian Lopez gave discursos.

Just before Saturday I had caught a cold and lost my voice, but fortunately with the remedies of Hermana Lopez, a lot of hot water, and prayer I was able to be well enough to baptize Amadeo. It was an incredible experience and I'm going to send a lot of pictures in just a second.

TAMBIEN, ¡la noche de Sábado tuvimos un Mate Criollo! It's basically a ward social, with mate (a Chilean/South American drink that we're not allowed to drink in the mission) and SOPAIPILLAS! Sopaipillas are these fried dough things that are amazing! We had a great time and played MUSIC! We practiced a few times before and played an entire show of music, along with Karaoke. Rodrigo Inostroza is a recent convert of a few months and he's super kapo with music! We had a blast!

Ok, going on to other emails and sending pictures!

Elder Trent Sellers

Manuel, the man that works in our apartment building. He always says, "HOWWWWWWW" to greet us! haha and of course we say it back!

The people here go LOCO cuando Chile gana!

A stocked pantry makes a happy missionary!

Making MILANESA!

Making MILANESA!

AMADEO!

¡ANIMADOS!

Elder Withers and I love Amadeo's and Cristian's faces in this one! haha. Cristian is super awesome and comes out with us all the time! He is super nice, and a great friend to Amadeo.

¡Amadeo, después de su bautismo!

¡Amadeo, después de su bautismo!

We gave Amadeo a set of scriptures and notebook that Elder Withers, Cristian, and I had all signed

Los misioneros del Barrio Lorenzo Arenas

Haha I love this photo! From left to right: Rodrigo Inostroza (recent convert), Luciano (student of our English Class and potential investigator), me, Elder Harrison, and Obispo Rivas!

SOPAIPILLAS

¡Loco para los sopaipillas! Con Rodrigo Inostroza. He's awesome!

¡Loco para los sopaipillas! 

¡SOPAIPILLAS!

JUN 10 - JUN 16 SEMANA 8 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

Hola:

It's been a crazy week, and a great week!! 

I went on mini cambios a total of three times this week! The first time Tuesday night for 30 minutes when we met up with the Universitario elders to do a baptism interview, the second time for all of Wednesday morning in Centro while Elder Withers was at a training at the office for newly called leaders, and then for 24 hours with the Laguna Redonda elders the rest of Wednesday and Thursday! I'm getting around! Wednesday night I spent the night in Lagunda Redonda, working with Elder Shumway (one of our zone leaders). It was an awesome experience working in different sectors! It was cool getting to know the area better and meeting the investigators of the other elders.

We bought our second heater! Elder Withers and I got it at Lider last week and it's been working great! It's a small little electric heater. We used it to dry our clothes and shoes after Tuesday night, too, when we were working in the rain and treking through the flooded streets! It was crazy! We're all dried out, though. ;)

Today's BEAUTIFUL. There's practically no clouds in the clear, blue sky, and it's just cool enough to be nice. :)

Ok, have to get going, but before I go! ..

- we had to stay inside Friday night from 6 until the end of the night because of the partido Chile vs. Australia

- we have to stay in this Wednesday due to the partido Chile vs. España

-.the World Cup makes for a good time to contact people in the street, but I think it's going to get crazier as we get into the month!

MUCHÍSIMO AMOR,

Trent

Tuesday night it was pouring rain and many of the streets turned into ríos! Elder Withers, a member Cristian, and I waded through water way up past our ancles and came back completely mojados from the waist down! It was a crazy experience, and as I told them, a testimony of the reality of our message!

Elder Withers and I

Elder Withers and I

Si, a little damp!

La Laguna Redonda, and our apartment complex

La línea of the train, on the border of our sector! During mini cambios this week, Elder Shumway and I hopped on a train, each for about five seconds haha. Hitchhiking on a train in Chile!

Chilean sunset :)

Chilean sunset :)

Potentially the world's largest fire extinguisher!

The moon this morning, seen from Chile

JUN 3 - JUN 9 SEMANA 7 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

Buenas tardes. :)

Yeah, my monthly allowance has been lasting fine! We have $100.000 (I know, a lot!! haha) (about US$200) every month, and I've been allotting myself $20.000 (US$40) per week and a little more from the rest when I need extra (like money for haircuts and laundry --- we have to pay Hermana Lopez $4.000 (US$8) every month for laundry expenses). We got our haircuts here last Tuesday by a man named Emeterio who has a small shop close to our apartment for $2.700. Not bad for a haircut, and it was awesome! 

Yeah, for the most part I've been staying real warm! The big coat that I have has been working GREAT, especially in the rain! It's definitely getting a lot colder here this month and the next. Winter gets really cold here with the rain, and the apartment has been getting colder at night. I'm thinking about buying another small electric heater and getting it reimbursed by the office. We have a small one in the apartment now that another elder has bought a ways back, but the other elders use it more and we could use some more heat. ;) All is good, though, and I've been staying warm at night with my longsleeve shirt and my shirts and wool blanket. The wool blanket is awesome!

I still haven't bought an umbrella yet, but I'm going to see about that today. ;)

My waterproof clothes are working really well, and these boots are awesome! 

MAY 27 - JUN 2 SEMANA 6 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL, CONCEPCION, CHILE

Hola, toda mi famlia y todos mis amigos: 

P-Day's been great so far! We got news of cambios (transfers) this morning and Elder Withers and I are safe and staying in Lorenzo Arenas together! Elder Taylor, who was "born" in Lorenzo Arenas and who has been here for six months, is getting transferred, though. We'll be getting a new guy in the apartment, then, tomorrow --- Elder Harrison! I don't know him, but he's from a place in Idaho that is really close to Boise and Elder Withers is excited to meet him! Ah ya, and Elder Withers, my papa, has been called as District Leader! He'll be leading our district for at least the next 6 weeks, and that means that our days are going to be a little different. He'll be called by the other companionships every night, teach district class, go on mini cambios at times, and so on. Should be an awesome experience!

After our studies this morning, we came into centro and went to the office, where I helped the senior couples figure out a problem that they were having with accessing a database on the nurse´s (Hermana Balden) computer. We got it figured out, and then Elder Withers and I walked more into the city and had lunch at a place called Mamut. It's about the closest to an American restaurant that you can find here! It was awesome, and I had chicken tenders, fries, and a strawberry lemonade. Not bad for a missionary! The place is like a Chile's, but the design reminds me of Elephant Bar. I think they might be related.

Right now we're emailing and after we have to go shopping and get haircuts. I'll see about the umbrella! And I definitely need a haircut. I haven't had one since the CCM. ;)

So, I'm going to look for the sheets in my sleeping bag the next time we do laundry! We did a small load of laundry this weekend (or dropped it off at la familia Lopez) because of cambios, and we actually have to go pick it up tonight or tomorrow. Sheets the next time around!

Ok, what else, what else...let me see the other email.

           Sent as much as I could about today and a little about this week, but a little bit more.

      - Elder Withers and I contacted 156 individuals (por lo menos) this week

      - I was able to annoint oil for another Priesthood blessing

      - I'm coming to understand people more and more, and seeing (or hearing) progress in the language (including calling                            our district leader one night)

      And, as I said in the other email to mom, Elder Withers has been called as District Leader! These next few weeks will    be a little different than my first 6 weeks here. Ah yeah, and this means the end of my first cambio, or transfer, here! ¡LOCO!

       Alright, leaving with two photos of our zone (or what our zone is before cambios!).

       Great elders, here!

      Love you,

      Elder Trent Sellers

 Photo of our zone (or what our zone is before cambios!).

 Funny photo of our zone (or what our zone is before cambios!).