4/25/16 Interviews and Travels‏

Whats up Everyone,

This last week was well for the work in Calafate really tough. We were in our area for only two days to work. I emailed about interviews and the glacier last week but that is still in this week so that happened. My mission president talked about how wanting to obey and be obedient will change our lives. So I have made a new goal to start obeying just a little more than I have before. Yes obeying every rule is really hard but are going to give it a go! 

We were able to work on wednesday and thursday. Our investigators got all small doses of spiritual firebombs because we didnt have a lot of time to talk with all of them. However one of our investigators that has been in the hospital for over 9 months with two different broken legs gets to leave in a week! That means he can finally be baptized. He has a fecha for the end of May!

Then we went to Rio Gallegos for basically a little stake conference but for the district because we dont have a stake down here. It is four hours by bus so that was nice i guess. Haha in Rio Gallegos I was able to stay in a pension with all of my companions so far in the mission. Elder Whitehead from the MTC, Elder Cortes my first trainor, and Elder Peterson my companion right now! How crazy is that eh?? That was a really fun night and I will always remember that!

Then on Sunday we came home to Calafate. Yes I call my home Calafate now. I love this place and I dream of coming back here with my future family and wife. This is the best part of the world for real. We then just recovered from our travels and did a lot of pushups. Haha this week i did 200 more than last week so that is super cool. 

Well this week was pretty slow for the work but I was able to feel the Spirit a lot as we met with a large group of faithful members. I also had the oppurtunity to go on divisiones with my MTC companion Elder Whitehead and we taught a lesson to his upcoming baptism. We are just a little better at teaching now or should I say a lot better.

I know that this church is true. I know life is hard very hard, but I know that if we fortify our families we will be able to have peace in our life. I know the importance of the temple and my mom is the best example I know about going often. She is my inspiration when it comes to about well everything. This week I have just got a new desire to work hard and be obedient. This week is called " Super Semana", and we have put huge goals and are going to work extra hard and yes baptize the world! Haha thank you for all the support and love I can feel your prayers. I know the Atonement is real and I invite you to repent this week. Another word for repentence is change. Just pick one small thing and change. Just do it!!! I know it will bless your life in soooo many ways. I have felt the blessings of the Atonement and they are wonderful. I love you all and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do as well. 

Con Amor,

Elder Saunders 

  

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See it. Feel it. Trust it.

Devin with all his companions

Elder Cortes, Elder Peterson, Devin, Elder Whitehead

Elder Whitehead, Elder Cortes, Elder Peterson, Devin

Selfie because Mom wanted mom pics

And another selfie to please mom

4/19/16 Zone Conference and The Glacier

Hey Everyone,

I hope that you all are having a good spring back home in the States. Down here it is just becoming a winter wonderland. However we are making the best of it. I will say that I love the cold more than I would love the extreme hot. I just hate sweating and so this is nice not really ever sweating. Well, except when my companion and I do our 3366 pushups that we did this last week between the two of us. Yes, we are counting and yes because missionaries put goals we have a goal as a Zone to do 57000 push ups every month. Haha we think we are only kinda cool. 

This last week we were able to have a lot of lessons and talk a lot with the people that we have been working with. One cool story is with my first companion Elder Cortes we were teaching a teenager named Luis. He is 17 and he is the only one in his family that is interested in the church. Then the first day with Elder Petersen my companion now we tried to go talk to him but found out that he was in the hospital. That was about four weeks ago. Then on Sunday we were in a lesson by the house of Luis and this lesson was well awesome i almost cried but that is not important for Luis right now. Haha we then started walking to the house of Luis and he was right behind us the whole time. We knocked on the door and he came walking up the steps. It was awesome to just see him. We had an awesome lesson and then we talked about coming to church because we havent seen him there for awhile and he usually comes every week. He would be baptized but his parents wont let him. He then told us that he is not able to go to the church because his girlfriends mom put a restraining order on him. So ya one of the members is not letting my investigator come to church. That does not make a missionary very happy. But we are going to talk with the member and see what we can do! 

Anyways we also had our Zone Conference this week and we had to travel four hours by bus to 28 de Noviembre for the conference. We spent a day there and then came back to Calafate. I just learned that the best thing I can do as a missionary is to follow the promptings of the spirit and know even though I speak like I am five I can still do the will of the Lord. 

The best part of the week for well the 19 year old boy I am, was going to the Glacier. We had the chance to go and look at the beauty that the Earth offers for over four hours. I was just marveled that our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ made that for us to just enjoy. They really do love us. I know that this is the only true church on this Earth. I know we all can take the one we love to the temple and be sealed for time and eternity. I know that families are forever. We will be with our loved ones forever. Literally forever!!! The joy that that brings me is something that pushes me to share the gospel. To be honest this week was tough. We had a lot of time not teaching and just traveling. I thought about my family and my friends that I love. My thoughts turned to my future. Thinking about marriage and a family and just life. I know our Father in Heaven loves us. He helps me feel close to home when I am no where close at all. He shows me where I need to go and can show you. I the Atonement is real. I felt it a lot in my life and know Christ is there for us. Please read more and go to the temple. Please pray a lot! Involve the Savior in all you do and I know that you will be able to make the correct decisions in your life. I love you all and Heavenly Father does too!

Elder Saunders from the end of the world!

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See it. Feel it. Trust it.

4/11/16 Cold, Cold, and More Cold

Hey everyone,

This week was awesome... and really really really cold. Well it is just a lot colder than it has been so it feels really cold. I have taken my big winter coat out for the first time in the mission. So ya that is pretty fun trying not to freeze. Haha it is actually kinda fun because we have to run to stay warm so i get some good old cardio in. I also started working out with my companion Elder Petersen and well at one point I was soo sore and tired that I could not do a pushup!! haha 

The work this week was crazy we have been meeting with a family called Familia Lotitos and the mom and oldest daughter are members but the dad and youngest two kids Nasalino and Wanda are not. The two kids accepted and picked their own Baptism date for the 30!!!!!!! It is so awesome to see their desire and willingness to follow the example of Christ.

We also have been teaching an older lady named Rosa. She is like the missionaries dream. When we taught the first vision she told us she saw it in a dream before. She also told us about a dream where she saw her mom and she and her were wearing white so ya baptism time! Haha she came to church for the first time yesterday too, and she brought a friend so ya know I love this lady.

My baptism from a few weeks ago is doing alright. She has a lot of health problems and has Epilepsy Attacks a lot. However she always tells us she has faith and with this faith she will always go to church. So that is good I just hope she can get healthy. 

We also had Divisions this week with the Assistants and I went with Elder Derrick from St. George, Utah. It was way fun and we just had good time, and I learned how to just teach direct and with love. That day we also had a Noche De Hogar in the church and played a lot of foosball. I am getting pretty good. 

The last cool thing was yesterday at church it was soooo cold and the church does not have a working heater. So after the first hour which is Priesthood and Relief Society we just had the sacrament and everyone went home. Yes church was canceled because it was too cold. How bout that Patagonia weather!? Haha 

Well I just love knowing the peace and safety the Gospel can bring. I know that in times of hardship and struggle we can turn to our Savior and He WILL lift us and help us push through. I know how important families are and that they are eternal. I know that one day we will look back and see the hand of God in our lives. I invite everyone who reads this to look for this. Look for the hand of our Heavenly Father in your life and write it down at least once this week! I love you all and I know our Savior and Father in Heaven does too!!!

With Love from the End of The World,

Elder Saunders

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See it. Feel it. Trust it

4/4/2016 New Companion and General Conference‏

Hey Everyone,

I hope you all enjoyed the wonderful words that we heard this weekend from our wonderful prophets. The testimonies they gave and the power they speak with pierced my soul and for the first time I was able to take notes for every talk in every session. For me that was a huge success and I will hopefully be able to keep the habit up for my entire life. We were able to watch the conference in English which was a nice refreshing few days for my brain. We also got to watch   all of them live and  we got permission to watch the priesthood late and we just the four of us gringos huddled around a computer in a tiny room for hour after hour like the prophets said it was so sick to hear them give us shout outs basically. haha 

 In Calafate we now have four Americans. It is nice but it is really hard to not just always speak English to each other. My new companion is Elder Petersen from Quincy Washington. He loves sports like me, has ten months in the mission, is shortish haha, likes a lot of the same things as me, and we are just really close already. He has grown up in the church and we both have a desire to work hard here in Calafate! 

A few take aways I have from General Conference are... 1) No matter where we are or what we are doing we can change. We have the power and agency to make the choices that will move us closer and closer to our loving Heavenly Father. As we all heard from our dear prophet Thomas S. Monson, " Make the Harder Right choices, instead of the Easier Wrong choices." 2) Families are important. Really important. Even though I am a missionary I still have a family and knowing that we can be together forever is something I will treasure for my whole life. 3) We have a Father in Heaven and a Savior and They love us more than we can imagine. I know that our Savior lives and that we are all son and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Hearing prophets bare real literal witness of Them rang true in my mind that in times of need I have and you have two people that are there for you. In a whole as Elder Himes sais " Conference is like the Super Bowl for missionaries." 

Besides conference the week was pretty normal. I took over my area and showed my new companion Elder Petersen around beautiful Calafate. He was able to meet the Branch and all of our investigators. I am excited for these next two transfers and thank you for your support back home and around the world!

Here's a bit about our investigators lets see right now we have a family of four the mendoza family they are amazing but like everyone the mom works a lot so coming to church hasnt happened yet. we have another family of seven the dad works in chile and the rest are here they are the crazy kids ive talked about a bit. they are awesome but we dont have the dads permission to baptize the kids or they would be baptized already. we have a single lady named rosa who told us she saw the first vision in a dream and her mom who said she had been waiting for her. so that is crazy. we have a sweet old couple named oriel and orieta. they are awesome and are just needing to come to church. that is the hard thing in calafate getting them to come to church.

I also apologize for my spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We email on spanish computers and I am trying to learn spanish and forget english. Thank you for your patience and love! I know this Church is true with all of my heart!

From the End of The World,

Elder Saunders  

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See it. Feel it. Trust it.

Elder Himes an elder in my district and Maria our recent convert

 and  Hermana Otellado the branch president wife