The four elders in our apartment in Achupullas
The Achupullas Zone
Elder Tondevold (left)visits us in Ovalle before he goes homemy new comp: Elder Allen
New Companion: Elder AllenHey everyone how are things going? Things are going great for me. This past week we had changes and I ended up leaving Gomez Carreño. I am now back up in Ovalle in the Branch called Ovalle Sur (south). My new companion is Elder Allen. He is from Lake Oswego, Oregon. The bus ride up here wasn’t all that great. We left at 8:00 pm from Viña and ended up arriving in Ovalle at 1:15 in the morning. The ride was SOOO hot! They didn’t have the air conditioning going and all the windows were closed. I asked them to turn the air on so they did for like 15 minutes and then turned it back off. I found that it is a lot cooler putting your head right next to the window. That’s the only way I survived haha. My first day here it was unusually hot for this time of year. It got up to like 98 degrees!!!! It was unreal. All the rest of this week it has been enjoyable in the lower and mid 80’s.
This week has been a really fun one and I truly enjoy being here. I have already seen many people that I already knew from this branch as well as a few from Limarí. This coming weekend, we have district conference with all of the districts in Ovalle. Elder Jorge Zeballos of the 70 will be here as well as President Gillespie. Elder Zeballos is actually from Ovalle so that will be kind of cool.
Elder Ford, one of the assistants in the past, just finished his mission this past change. He finished here in Ovalle Sur and the people here had a going away party for him. His family came down to get him and none of them know Spanish so during lunch that day and during the party that night we served as translators for them. They really enjoyed getting to see some of Elder Ford’s converts and people from this branch. Elder Tondevold came up to Ovalle on Thursday morning with his family so I got to meet them as well. They are really enjoying their time in Chile. It is crazy to think that Elder Tondevold is out of here now….
Elder Allen and I really had success this week as our first week together. It really feels great having a companion that knows how to do everything instead of having to worry about everything that has to be done. We get along really well (even though he is a Blazer fan). We were able to find a family this week that invited us in to their house. We taught them about how the gospel blesses families. They had been having family problems or something but told us how grateful they were for the time that we spent sharing with them. They accepted another appointment so we will see how things go. We are teaching a lot of people and are expecting to have a few baptisms this coming month.
Really there is a lot going on here and I don’t know where to start. I did receive my package which was great! The jam is AWESOME!!! Thanks :) really enjoyed the great American Halloween candy as well. On Halloween here, there were little kids who came by the pension in the night. Good thing I bought a bag of candy. When one group of kids came up to the gate, my comp and I asked them what they were seeing that they were all dressed up and one of the kids said, “Chilenos”. Haha it was pretty funny. I wasn’t expecting that answer.
So I am now serving in downtown Ovalle. The main city is all flat and then it kind of goes up onto a hill and that is where all of the other sectors are. Our sector is really big and we find ourselves taking colectivos 2 or 3 times a day but I absolutely love it here! It feels so great to be back in Ovalle. Our branch is awesome and our Branch President is really focused on missionary work which is good.
Well that is what is going on for me. I have walked into an area that has things going on which feels great. We are filling our “fuente” of investigators as well which is helping us stay busy teaching.
Hope all is well at home. Take care and say hi to everyone for me :) chao Elder Nelson
This week has been a really fun one and I truly enjoy being here. I have already seen many people that I already knew from this branch as well as a few from Limarí. This coming weekend, we have district conference with all of the districts in Ovalle. Elder Jorge Zeballos of the 70 will be here as well as President Gillespie. Elder Zeballos is actually from Ovalle so that will be kind of cool.
Elder Ford, one of the assistants in the past, just finished his mission this past change. He finished here in Ovalle Sur and the people here had a going away party for him. His family came down to get him and none of them know Spanish so during lunch that day and during the party that night we served as translators for them. They really enjoyed getting to see some of Elder Ford’s converts and people from this branch. Elder Tondevold came up to Ovalle on Thursday morning with his family so I got to meet them as well. They are really enjoying their time in Chile. It is crazy to think that Elder Tondevold is out of here now….
Elder Allen and I really had success this week as our first week together. It really feels great having a companion that knows how to do everything instead of having to worry about everything that has to be done. We get along really well (even though he is a Blazer fan). We were able to find a family this week that invited us in to their house. We taught them about how the gospel blesses families. They had been having family problems or something but told us how grateful they were for the time that we spent sharing with them. They accepted another appointment so we will see how things go. We are teaching a lot of people and are expecting to have a few baptisms this coming month.
Really there is a lot going on here and I don’t know where to start. I did receive my package which was great! The jam is AWESOME!!! Thanks :) really enjoyed the great American Halloween candy as well. On Halloween here, there were little kids who came by the pension in the night. Good thing I bought a bag of candy. When one group of kids came up to the gate, my comp and I asked them what they were seeing that they were all dressed up and one of the kids said, “Chilenos”. Haha it was pretty funny. I wasn’t expecting that answer.
So I am now serving in downtown Ovalle. The main city is all flat and then it kind of goes up onto a hill and that is where all of the other sectors are. Our sector is really big and we find ourselves taking colectivos 2 or 3 times a day but I absolutely love it here! It feels so great to be back in Ovalle. Our branch is awesome and our Branch President is really focused on missionary work which is good.
Well that is what is going on for me. I have walked into an area that has things going on which feels great. We are filling our “fuente” of investigators as well which is helping us stay busy teaching.
Hope all is well at home. Take care and say hi to everyone for me :) chao Elder Nelson
