AUG 25 - AUG 31 SEMANA 71 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL

¡Buenas tardes, familia, y feliz día de preparación!

It was a great week of the conference in Bío-Bío!

Tuesday night, we (missionaries) taught the ward about the importance of the family in la Noche de Hogar. We shared our testimonies of the tremendous blessings that are our families, drew the temple, and passed out copies of A Proclamation to the World: the Family. Later in the games, the ward made me attempt to dance la cueca! Wednesday and Thursday, my companion had la Conferencia para los Nuevos, and I left working with Elder Troncoso and Elder Robertson. Thursday night we enjoyed the ward social with pajaritos, delicious postries, and fresh bread, and Saturday evening helped the ward with an evening of talent. Us elders set up a small display with folletos, and participated in the show by playing and singing a song with guitar.

Sunday, the conference was well-attended with 192 present, with visitors from the stake! Although because of the schedules of investigators we were not able to bring a non-member with us to the conference, we went with a member to bring la hermana Blanca, an older less-active sister to the meeting. :)

This coming week is the sixth and last week of the cambio. Next Monday we will have word of cambios! Nothing is sure, as ever, but it is a possibility that this could be what is left of my time in Hualpen. ¡Allí vemos!

¡Cambios nos esperan!

I love you, my family, and wish you an incredible week ahead. ¡UN GIGANTE FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A LA CRIS!

¡Les amo!

su Elder Trent Sellers :)

Feliz cumpleanos Cris!

Ttoday we ate lunch with the family of Elder Fuentealba! And walking in centro, Presidente treated us to ice cream!

The Primary kids in la tarde de talento!

Marilyn and her boyfriend José Carlos - both from Venezuela

Marilyn was visiting here for a number of weeks, and we were able to teach her all of the lessons! ¡Chevre!

The mechanism which they used to rescue the trapped Chilenos in the mine accident!

From onboard the Huascar

From onboard the Huascar

AUG 18 - AUG 24 SEMANA 70 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL

¡Buena semana, familia!

¡Todo se encuentra bien en Hualpen!

Elder Fuentealba and I had a well-occupied fourth week in Hualpen! My companion has come to know much in the four weeks he has been here. He came to the mission as a very well-prepared missionary, and has only refined that in his first couple weeks. He came reciting scriptures, and has been a great example to me in many ways and challenged me in ways no other companion has!

In Hualpen, I am begining my 11th week! I feel like I have come to know so many of the ward, and the members, especially the returned missionaries like Victor and Anibal Neira, have helped us so much! For much of the past week, we were able to go out with more than one member during the day. This week, we are preparing for ward conference! Tuesday we will have a Noche de Hogar del barrio, Thursday a Mate Criollo (ward social), Friday an activity for couples, and Saturday a Tarde de Talento! We will be busy inviting all that we can to attend the activities, and the conference itself on Sunday.

This week we had a mini cambio, and Elder Hartvigsen (my old companion) came to Bío-Bío! I had had a mini cambio with his companion the last cambio, and so worked together with him on Tuesday and Wednesday in our sector here. It was awesome and yet strange to work with the same companion but in an entirely different sector!

Today, an elderly couple in the ward, Hermano and Hermana Vasquez, complete 65 years of marriage!

The end of this week, Marilyn, the daughter-in-law of a couple from the ward, from Venezuela, goes back to her country. We have been able to teach her so much in the last number of weeks and, although we will miss her, will do all that we can to see that she is baptized in her native country. :)

I know that although we may not see those fruits of our efforts here in Hualpen, everything we teach, and have taught, is for the spiritual well-being and eternal blessings of those we teach. The Gospel is true, no matter where we may be, and it blesses our families.

May my family be blessed this week while I am yet here serving the Lord. I know He is watching over each of you, and blessing you in ways that I can not imagine. 

AND A

¡¡¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A CRISD'LIZ!!!

¡Ella está de cumpleaños el 30!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRIS!!! Have a most amazing 17th birthday!

I love you, my family! Have an incredible week ahead!

Les amo,

Elder Trent Sellers :)

AUG 11 - AUG 17 SEMANA 69 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL

¡Buena semana, familia!

¡Saludos de la misión!

The last week ended very different that we might have foreseen, but Elder Fuentealba and I worked our tootsies off this week! I mean that quite literally, as my compañero had to have his in-grown toenail taken care of on Thursday in a visit to the doctor's office! Elder Fuentealba was asked by the doctor to rest his foot on Thursday and Friday, and is now doing much better and is much alleviated from the pain that he had. We were bound to the house those two days, but we were able to arrange times for me to go out with one of the other elders to contact people. On Friday, two returned missionaries, Raul and Alejandro, helped us so we could make a visit. Raul stayed with my compañero while Alejando and I went to visit a less-active sister who later came to church on Sunday! A few commitments were unkept and many plans fell through, but we did nearly all that we could to bring others unto the Savior this week. Not only did that less-active sister, Hermana Blanca, come to church after we had gone to pick her up with a member, but three recent-converts, Hermana Marcela, Angel, and Thalía, all came as well after having not seen them in church for weeks.

The Lord blesses us and the efforts that we make are evidently answered. Although we may not achieve to exactness what we might have desired, not one effort is wasted in the Lord's service.

May we all have a wonderful and blessed week, wherever we may be, and may we recognize the many answers to our prayers.

Welcome home, my parents!

Mucho amor de su misionero,

Elder Trent Sellers :)

AUG 4 - AUG 10 SEMANA 68 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL

(I refer to 1 Nephi 17:6)

¡HOLA!

¡Muy buenas tardes, familia mía!

Time has found us very occupied in the last week in Hualpen! Elder Fuentealba and I have ran between appointments at a faster pace than he would be accustomed to! This cambio has presented one of the very greatest challenges of the mission, and the responsibilities have kept me very focused on the missionary fun perhaps yet more than any other time in the mission. There is so much to give, and I am truly striving to use the time we have as wisely as I can. We are in the Lord's service, and doing all that we do to bring others unto the Savior.

Today, we spent the morning at the beach! As a zone, we took a micro through Hualpencillo to Lenga and, after a half-an-hour hike, found ourselves at the beaches of Ramuntcho. It was an awesome paseo and, after the fog had cleared, presented a most beautiful day!

The mission is yet the most incredible experience of my life. I am continuously grateful to be here and to have seen so much. The time we have is short, but I wish you, my family, a most incredible week as I think of you here. 

I love you, my family. :) I hope you had a wonderful birthday, momma. Enjoy the trip, yet, and send my saludos!

Mucho amor de su misionero,

Elder Trent Sellers

JUL 28 - AUG 3 SEMANA 67 EN EL CAMPO MISIONAL

Elder Fuentealba!

¡Buena semana, mi familia!

¡Se lo presento, mi buen compañero, Elder Fuentealba!

I present to you, my good companion, Elder Fuentealba!

After an incredibly trying wait during the assigning of the new missionaries on Tuesday, I got to meet my companion new to the mission field! Elder Fuentealba is Chileno, but comes from Natal, Brasil, in the north after having lived there for some seven months. He was born minutes from our sector, in Talcahuano. He was raised in one of the other wards in our stake until he was five and, between moves to another part of Concepción, Antofogasta, Santiago, and Natal, has made his way back to his native land!

He is a great missionary, very spiritual and one who knows the people here, figuratively and literally. His grandma lives one ward over, and an uncle not to far away! He has been a good example to me in the few days that we have had together, and we have come to learn a lot from each other in such a short amount of time. It is an incredible responsibility leading in the sector, helping the other elders, being district leader, and training Elder Fuentealba, but I am very grateful for it. This is quite possibly the greatest responsibility that I have had in the mission, and I am going to do all that I can to balance it well and teach my companion what he has not already taught me.

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Elder Holt, today, and a tremendous FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS to my momma, this coming weekend!!!

I love you, momma, and wish you a most amazing and special birthday this coming Saturday! Thank you for being the loving mom and shining example that you have been all my life, momma. :)

Continue a most incredible trip, my parents, and have a semana fructífera, mi familia!

¡Les quiero!

Mucho amor de su misionero,

Elder Trent Sellers :)