the one with the first easter

Hola everyone i hope you all are awesome and you all enjoyed your easter egg hunts and Robin Egg candy and that you all had a wonderful Easter. This week was full and awesome and overall really short. While i did go on easter egg hunts or anything of that sort, i was sure busy with showing people the restored church of Jesus Christ and what we're all about and invite them to learn more, thats the job.  but ill explain a little more...

So this week was full with the open chapel activity that we had at several church buildings around Santiago and other things here and there. We had the activity at our chapel friday night and it was a solid turn out all and all great and now we have new people to teach! so thats always excited to have new people who want to learn more and grow closer to Christ. And then antoher chapel that we had it at was in Santiago central where its total city with skyscrapers and all that jazz. there we went around invited everyone we saw on the streets. now im not the best at just going up to anybody and talking and all, but after about 10 minutes i got used to it. its always exciting what youre gunna get. i talk to a man that doesnt believe in Jesus Christ but in Avatars, i talked to an old man that took 5 minutes to answer what his name was, i talked to this weird other Christian church nun kind of lady who tried to invite me to join her church and so i invited her in return and then we ended up just getting about 15 random people off the streets to come with us and check out the activity, pretty fun and successful. so that was a great activity and it took the rest of the night haha and plus it was Elder Carrizo's birthday! so we at least spent it in an interesting way saturday night. 

The good old Easter Sunday came around and here in Chile....they dont do anything special. haha its all good just another day in the business and i was actually okay with it! They just dont eat meat here because of some Catholic tradition or something like that. 

anyways thats about it, im healthy im happy and im Chilean these days. I hope you all are doing well, that your families are well and that ya'll know how much i love ya. Take care all and have a great week!

Love, Elder Carlos Cabrera

facts of the week:

1. Here in Chile you dont even hear a "Happy Easter" on Easter, its like it doesnt exist

2. if youre really lucky, a Church member will sneak you a easter chocolate egg candy during church to celebrate

3. they dont eat meat on Easter so they all eat fish to substitute, in turn the venders raise the price in fish like double, those clever guys...

the one with the steph curry socks

HOLA HOLA A TODOS MI SERES QUERIDOS!!! How are we these days??? i hope we're all doin well and i know we're all gearing up for the easter festivities and what not during many spring breaks. so as you guys are filling your easter eggs for the hunt i just wanna update ya'll on whats been going on down here in the big CHI-LE. Lets gets started then...

So this week was nearly as jam packed i think as the weeks before, for the most part all is pretty normal we are working hard to help our investigators get to the waters of baptism, but occasionally, its not that easy. But we have an activity coming up that i think ive mentioned before in the past called "Capillas Abiertas" or like an Open Chapel Tour where the ward gets together and we give a tour to those that arent members that way they get to know the church, what we're all about, what it is that we crazy mormons do on sundays and some of the basic principles in what we believe in. that will be held this friday in the evening so we're hoping on a big turn out to further the work. im stoked so we've got lots of planning and invitiations to give out so thats what im up to this week. 

we also had transfers yesterday and.......IM Still here in my same sector, no changes for Elder Cabrera, but its cool it just means ive still got some work to take care of here before i move on to new things. gotta tie one shoe before ya tie the other am i right? hope that metaphor worked...

anyways thats about it, im healthy, im happy, im a clean, mean door knocking machine. 

Thats about it so i love you all very much and a big Happy Easter to you all. Hope the Easter Bunny takes good care of you guys this Sunday.

Love, Elder Carlos Cabrera

facts of the week:

1. so theres this chilean word here which is "weon" and it has two meanings one is the simple "buddy" and the other is the stronger form of "dumb butt"...you can imagine the difficulty in the figuring out which form theyre using when people are talking to you....

2. there are stores here that put names such as a shoe store with the name "Shoes & Shoes" and they think they are so clever just because the name is in english...im not impressed

3. Apparently here Starbucks is only for the rich, upper class citizens, while back in the states i know of middle school kids that refuse to go to school in the morning without their vanilla bean frappachino...

oh and a big shout out to Elder Harper who hooked me up with the sweet Steph Curry socks...theyre so sweet im in love, go warriors!

The one with conferencia genial (thats a pun in spanish)

hola hola everyone!!! i hope you all had a great week!! if you really want to understand the pun you should look up what "genial" means, what General Conference in spanish is conferencia general. just so ya know. hahaha yeah well my week was great! lots going on like always and teaching and learning a lot. but obviously the best part was having the opportunity to hear from our Prophet and his 12 apostles during General Conference this past weekend. it was truly a treat and i left very motivated, uplifted and happier in general.

As we are entering into this season of Easter and everything we are all trying to develop our knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ and follow Him better. Obviously its not an easy task but its definitely possible. Theres the princeofpeace initiative im going to attach to this email so i invite you all to take the time to watch it, its awesome. 

sorry i dont have too much to say this week but stand by and im sure more journeys are to be recorded as i take on Chile, one door at a time. 

I love you all very much! hope you all have a great week and learn more of Christ!!

Love, Elder Carlos Cabrera

instead of facts this week im doing a birthday shout out to my loved ones that have birthdays this week!!

Shouts out to:

1. Grandpa Eccles (this past sunday)

2. Aunt Camille (this past sunday)

3. My favorite brother Caden (this thursday)

4. My Princess my lil sister Kami (this saturday)

5. and last but not least my sister, lil Red Kennedy (next wednesday) (turning the big 1-6) 

gosh they grow up so fast!

the one with a baptism, open chapel, and a lot of waiting in lines

Hola hola everyone!!! wow this week was jam packed with stuff and in turn it has gone quite fast! we had so many lessons, a baptism, an open chapel, and a lot of traveling jeez im exhausted just writing all of that haha.

ill explain a little bit! so BAPTISM!!! Javiera Pinedo was baptized this past sunday and it was so beautiful. the whole week were meeting with her and preparing her and making sure she knew all the things she needs to know to feel prepared and my companion had his first baptism and he even baptized her himself! It was so cute he was so excited. All is well and she looked adorable in her little dress and so pure and perfect. what a great day that was.

another awesome thing that happened was thhat we ad something called a "capilla abierta" which translates to open chapel, its like an open house for the church building that way people that dont know about the church or havent had experience with the religion could come see how the church is on the inside, in some of our beliefs and how we help one another progress in the gospel of Jesus Christ. it was a great turn out and best of all it was in my old ward where i erved and started my mission so i got to ee sooo many people that i knew and it was great to catch up and see everyone. 

my comp had to go get his visa taken care of so we waited in lines for over 7 hours yesterday but its fine because we sparked conversation with a dude from Venezuela and we taught him the Gospel a bit and gave him a Book of Mormon, it was an awesome opportunity. all is well... so busy but i prefer it that way.

i love you all so much and i want you all to know that im well, happy, and in the service of the Lord. The Church is true.

Love, Elder Carlos Cabrera

Facts about Chile:

1. people literally think your pulling a prank on them when ou say your name is Elder Cabrera and you have a gringo face like mine

2. You can talk to literally anybody in Chile about the recent soccer game and youll be in conversation for at least 15 minutes

3. do not interrupt anyone during soccer games and you dont need to watch the game to know whats going on, when they miss a free kick you can hear the "boooo" from the houses or when theres a goal you can hear the screaming as well, ive gotten good at distinguishing the sounds 

That one with zone conference #3

Hola Hola everybody!!! Como estamos?? I hope everyones been good and enjoying the up and coming spring weather up north. i however am preparing myself for my first fall in what seems like forever hahaha.

This week went by fast again and for the most part i dont even remember what we did haha. We had a zone conference where we all get together with other missioanries and our President and his wife and we talk aout how we can improve the work and how we can help more basically and take care of one another, its like a strengthening seminar basically. it was super good, always leave those things feeling uplifted and ready to take on the world. We're gearing up for the Easter season where so many of us remeber our Savior Jesus Christ and his Resurrection from the grave. Theres a sweet initiative thats coming out called #PrinceofPeace and it is so cool so just stand by for the videos that will be coming out soon!

We are working well and this week we are preparing to baptize this girl named Javiera whose 8 and is super ready and super faithful in Jesus and the she knows its the true church. Her testimony is so cute and strong that it just goes to show that anyone can believe and know for themselves the truth, if they just have faith and try. 

i dont have much else to say, it was a good week and ill be sending pics of the baptism next week! for now i hope you all are well and have a great week! Much love! the Church is true!

Love, Elder Carlos Cabrera

facts of the week:

1. whenever you ask "como esta?" (hope i dont need to translate) soooo many people just respond with "aqui estamos" which literally just means "here we are" like that doesnt really answer my question....

2. Chileans have this tendency to say "no mas" (no more) after almost everything even when it doesnt make sense, example in english, serve yourself no more, you have to call him no more, wash your clothes no more...apparently that makes sense in spanish

3. the dog owners here only let their male dogs leave the house, if they let their female dogs out for a bit, odds are theyll come back pregnant

 

The one where I became a barber

Hola Hola everybody!!! Hope ya'll had a great week and that all is well with you guys up north. This week sure flew by i feeel like i was writing yesterday, but hey im not complaining hahaha its always great to talk to ya'll. so lets get on to the week...

SO according to my title yes i became a barber this week, we had an interchange this week and i was with Elder Lloyd and my comp was with my buddy Elder Sonnenberg. We had a great day, interchanges are always a blast and at the end of the day Elder Lloyd asked me if i knew how to cut hair, i obviously said no. he then asked me if id like to try. He was in great need of a haircut and was desperate enough to let me try. Luckily there was haircut stuff in our apartment from some other missionary that left it so i got to go all out, with a buzzer machine and scissors and everything. And if ya ask me, it turned out pretty good. obviously i didnt do anything fancy but i got the job done and thats what matters right?

The rest of the week flew by too, we're working hard trying to helpo as many people as we can grow closer to Christ and take the steps necessary to be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father, that really is the goal right? we all just need a bit of help to do it. so yeah we've been teaching this little girl named Javiera and she has a date to get baptized the 26th of this month!! Shes sooo excited and her family is supporting her all the way even if her parents arent members. Shes 8 and her sister recently got baptized too so shes happy to follow her big sister's example. 

So yeah thats basically been our week, some good old fun, some hard work, and a lot of door knocking, livin the life haha. The Church is true and i love you all very much.

Until next week, Elder Carlos Cabrera

facts of the week:

1. When a chilean says they'll call you back, just be prepared to call them again because they NEVER will call you back

2. Chileans have zero idea about what actually is good pizza, poor babies

3. When you cant figure out how to use the million devices to set an alarm to get up for church on sunday, dont worry because the local missionaries know its their responsibility to call everyone to wake them up sunday morning...check my call history...no joke

the one with my first week with Elder Carrizo

Hey Everybody!! HOLA hows everybody doing? hope all is well on the homefront and im checking in once again to make sure you all know that im alive, so yeah here i am alive and thriving. So this week not much happened more than anything ive just been teaching the area to my new companion Elder Carrizo from Uruguay, he's slowly getting to know the people, the streets, and we're learning how to function together, it's always a little choppy at first but i think we're finding our footing. 

So i dont have much to talk about on the work end, we're teaching people and slowly progressing them and helping them learn and know more about the Gospel, but for now, nothing too exciting to comment on.

More than anything today has been a great day. so last tuesday after i wrote you all i left and taught my weekly english class that i teach at the church to whoever wants to learn, and after i was done, i was leaving and encountered a few members from the old ward i served in and that was SUPER cool to see them, hear that all has been well and they invited me over to their house today for a good lunch. So today for Pday we played soccer and a big field and i even scored too goals, the latino side has been coming out more. SO that was a blast and then after that we went to the members house and we just chilled ate peruvian food (YUM) and here we are. what a great day.

sorry theres not much more to mention, i promise as things start cooking and we have more exciting things, i'll make sure to fill ya'll in. but for now i just want to say i love you all, i love my savior Jesus Christ, i love this church, this church is true and it has blessed my life and its continuing to bless lives around the world. 

until next time, Elder Carlos Cabrera

facts of the week:

1. Chileans never pay anyone to do anything that they can do themselves at any cost, if you want to build another story on your house, you do it yourself, if you want to build a pool, you dig the hole youyrself and you build a pool

2. on that note, Chile by no means hows construction regulations or safety measures, and trust me...it shows

3. if you want to build someting but youre too lazy yourself to do it, you call the missionaries, thats write im a master builder now