September 28, 2015 Letter!

Hey fam!!!!! and friends!!!!!

Hope yall are well! this week was awesome! so many blessings from the lord with our investigators. We have had a couple lessons with juan and his wife and grandson and they are awesome, they are really nice family and are just understanding things more every day! they came to church as well and really liked it so its really cool that they are progressing and we are working for that baptismal date, because that is the first step in this church is baptism! So many wonderful wonderful blessings come after we follow tha example of the savior and are baptized by imersion, we recieve the gift of the holy ghost! how awesome is that? Then so many wonderful things follow! They are really doing well and the Lord is blessings us forsure!

Also this week we had some lessons with jose and carmen and one was at a members house and we were praying for what members could help us and we just found the perfect members that get along with them so well it was awesome! The lesson was about plan of salvation and we watched a video of jesus christ where the spirit was so strong in the room it was such a great feeling! I just love feeling tha spirit so strongly, reminds me of the good ole priest qurorm days! (For you priests reading this! Take advantage of it, you guys are way lucky you have no idea! those leaders we have are some of the best!!!!) No worries dahl i got your back. 

But in the lesson with jose and carmen it was so perfect cause the members and them got along so well and jose didnt have glasses and the miembro gave him his pair, sweeeeetttt! also they came to church and said they wanted to bring their grandaughter, so that was pretty cool! 

also for some reason this week everyone has just feeding us so much food, just like giving us bags of bread, empanadas, a box of cookies, a legit box! so that was sweet! But this week has been so great! its funny sometimes little bad things happen, but its like the light takes over the darkness, you cant remember the bad at all! The blessings of the Lord are so awesome!

Also we go a new person in our house whos from utah and in training and hes cool, but its just weird that i am not he youngest person in the mission now so weird! hahaha but i still got a lot of time and a lot of work to do! We are working hard out here, sure its tough sometimes, but thats life! Nothing is better and more beneficial then this gospel and following the example of our savior! I hope you all tune in and watch conference this week, member or nonmember! what ever you are going through, you will recieve your answer through conference! 

Thanks for everything yall! you guys are awesome!

As my dear older brother would say "Im livin the dream"- Jake Wertner

Love Elder Wertner

P.S. today me and elder cleverly went down by the river and there were wallrusses (no se how to spell this but yall know what i mean)

Yayyy for Monday emails!!

Hey Yall!!! (trying no to forget my southern roots)

So his week was really good. I've learned the mission goes by weeks not days, events that happen are what i remember! 

Tuesday was awesome! The Lord reallyblessed  us. First the other day about a week or two ago it was late at night and time to go home and we felt the prompting to knock on a door, it was freezing and raining but we knocked on the door and a man came to the door and said he didnt have time but to come back (I have heard that one before) So we didnt think much of it........ Then on Tuesday,  we went to his house on and had a lesson with him, he said he has been looking and praying for what church was right and his brother who lives in Santiago has been a member for like a year, he actually told his brother a couple days before that if the missionaries came by his house he would let him in, and then like the next day we knocked on his door. We have another appointment with him and his wife tonight, he is really receptive. What I realized is how the lord is preparing people, its all about timing and the promptings of the spirit, if we knock on a door 99 times it can do nothing but that 100th time could be the time they really need it and have been praying for. how awesome is the Lord, he is looking out for us individually and loves us all!!! I just love it!

Jose and carmen accepted fecha for baptism and for the 17th of octoberand we were teaching them and carmen was like crying in the prayer and they are doing good and doing everthing they need to and are really receptive! so we are going to keep working with them so i hope it keeps going well! This week will be a little tougher cause its the week of the 18th..... Here thats their national independence day, its like 4th of july but a lot more eating and partying so its a little tougher to get appointments with some people! But im kinda excited cause all the food, the food here is unreal! I had my first pichanga the other night and its unreal, such different meats and potatoes, but the appointment ended at like 955 and we had to run home, i had to eat so much and so fast! Its so good yall have no idea:)

Also the youth here are way strong, the two young men in our word just have the best and strongest testimonies, it amazes me how much faith they have! Just makes me so thankful for the leaders we have back home!! This past saturday we had a noche de hogar (Family home evening) They love those here! They're so fun and there was a decent amount of people, we played a game which was super fun and everyone loved and shared a video about Christ and how He Lives, love those videos about christ, my testimony is strengthened every time i watch them! and they made little pizzas, which i havent had pizza in a while so it was sweet!! Also i finally got my package this week so thanks mom and dad! It was awesome i was so excited plus i got some no flea infested shirts which rock, hahahah! 

Well i just want all of you, Family, Friends, Anyone who is reading this, I want you to know about my testimony of Jesus Christ and this gospel! My testimony is strengthened everyday and i am just so thankful for the sacrifice and example of Jesus Christ! This gospel is true and i am 100 percent sure of that! There is nohing in my life that brings me more joy!! I love you all! Thanks for the example you constantly set for me!!!!!!

Love you!!!!

Love Elder Wertner

A 2 Year Camp Out

Fist off i just gotta say S/O to my cuz who heads into the MTC this week, what a stud, I know you will do awesome! And S/O to the collierville 1st ward cause the leaders are awesome, once Bryce and Chad go in thats everyone from our group!!! yall rock!!!So this week was good, started off slower but the end of the week was so awesome! 

This week I had my first inter cambio, idk what they call it in english mission but like inter switches? I dont know its where you switch for a day, I cant remember the word hahaha, but I  was with the district leader Elder Swanson and I went to his sector. It was cool to go to another sector and work, we got two people for baptism dates which was so awesome, and my Spanish got way better this week, it was awesome!! Sometimes I get a little worried about it but then I realize I havent been in the mission for super long and now I know a lot, like I can understand basically everything everyone saying. The Lord blesses us!!!

Sunday was way awesome, fasting really works! We were way blessed. Also hahahaha this sunday we woke up and like got a call about day light savings and stuff and like started freaking out cause it was after studying and we would have been late to church and church would have already started, but then I guess someone was playing a joke on us cause Chile doesnt do daylight savings anymore, they just stopped doing that haha I dont know why but I like it! so we were good and on time with church! At church we had about 4 less actives come that we have been working with which is way awesome. We were excpecting two investigators, joes and carmen, to come cause they said they would and then 10:10 came and they werent there..... then 10:20..... nope and I was just praying and they showed up at like 10:30 and it was fast Sunday and all the members were bearing their testimonies and it was so awesome!! You have no idea how happy I was when I saw them walk in, it was so awesome! Then after, like all of the ward went up and hugged and kissed them (in Chile everyone kisses on the cheek as a hello so no its not weird) and they were just so welcoming. Then jose was like yeah we are coming back every week now, hahah it was so awesome! I'm saying hahaha cause im so stoked!!! Tonight we are teaching them again so it should be good, its a huge step here when investigators or members assist church cause its not as easy as you think to assist church, some walk a couple miles in the rain to get here, so its so awesome when they come! 

Also our members and Bishop are really starting to work with us, we had ward counsel and it was awesome, our bishop was leading it and getting everyone involved and it was so awesome to see that cause thats what we have been needing and praying for and it just helps so much when you have ward members helping and buying in! 

Everything this weekend is starting to click and its awesome, now we just gotta get rid of these fleas...... just kidding mom they're fine:)

My Spanish is getting a little better each day, the Lord is blessing me, as long as I try my best and put in the effort he will do the rest and I know that is 100 percent true!!! 

Wow the food here is so good too, I love it, when a member has us over for Sunday lunches with members, nothing is better! The weather has also been way good, this morning when I woke up I didn't see my breath as much which sounds funny and you think im kidding but it was awesome, plus we got some wood for a fire! Also, thanks old man for your sleeping bag! cause its clutch and this is like a 2 YEAR CAMPOUT ITS WAY FUN!

Thanks for all of yalls examples!!! I love you all so much! Keep doing your best and remember the Lord is there every step of the way!!!

Love you All!

Love Elder Wertner

P.S. Im sending pics and yeah I still can throw it down a little!:)

EMAIL FROM JUSTIN YAYAYAYAYA

This week was good! It hasnt stopped rainning since I last talked to yall (except for today the sun is out) but its so good! The rain here literally pours! like We sometimes gotta dig a little deeper and push through the rain and wind, which the wind is way strong here haha! Hahah it pretty funny sometimes, I love it!

I forgot what day it was but someday this week all of our citas got cancelled and we didnt get into 1 house! Not one!!!! Everyone we talked to and every door we knocked all said it was too cold and rainy outside and it was rainning too hard to talk!

That was a lot of water that day, it just straight up poured non stop! (Im sending pic of me and elder cleverly just sitting in the puring rain) what i realized is theres no such thing as something being waterproof, cause its just not true. Come here and you will see! We put all of our stuff in bags and then put them in our bacpacks! that same day where we were walking down the street and it was pouring rain, I just started laughing cause i was just thinking, Dang this is it right here!, but we never got upset or down and we kept working hard! Next couple of days were way good, we found a couple new investigators, two were old investigators in the area book from like 2010, but theyre named Jose and Carmen! and the other day we went and stopped by and the read a little of the Book of Mormon and and the plan of salvation pamphelet! and they said it is true and the believe i! so now we just gotta get them to church! That is the biggest thing here, getting people to church, it is difficult because everyone is working like 7 to 9 hereª plus when it is really bad weather here it is tough to get to church for people cause no one has cars so everyone is just walking!

Sunday we had stake conference and so a 70 came and spoke which was way good! our mission president and his wife came down and spoke to and its really good! hahh sometimes i have this moment and i am sitting there listening to the person talk and i am just like wow!......This is a different language. Still learning spanish everyday here! I hve a long way to go but it is good! i learn more each day!

also this week we knocked this one door and this ldy answered and she was kinda laughing and about to slam the door and she told us she was apart of a different faith, then we just asked...... Hey would you like to be with your family for eternity! and she sat there for like a minute and didnt say anything and then asked us if it was possible....... then we talked on her doorstep about the plan of salvation for like 15 min! it was so cool, the spirit works and i saw it there in that instance! now we have a return appointment! 

The weeks here are just a day i feel like, so much happens in one day its tough to remmeber it all (Dont worry mommy im writing in my journal everyday) but it is so awesome!

Everything is great here! im learning a lot and having fun! We work realy hard and are obdeient and we are blessed for that, sure there are some tough days but thats life! The great thing about life and the mission is tomorrow theres always a chance to do better!

i love you all and hope you are all doing well and are everyone is into the swing of things with school starting back up! I love you all!!!!! 

Love Elder Wertner

Happy Monday

Whats up Everyone!

Another week in Chile has gone bye!!!!!

Ok i feel like i need to explain Chile a little better. The food is way good here, here breakfast isnt really a thing but the lunches are huge and its like a three course meal, its sooooooo good!!1 then dinner is caled "Once" and its just usually a bunch of bread and stuff and sandwhiches. Way good! I didnt talk about fleas much cause they werent really bad, but its starting to not be as cold so the fleas are coming out (Mommmmyyyy dont worry ill be alright) im just itching everywhere, but im kinda use to them from the tennessee bed bugs but these are a litle more intense, but i am fine! Its not like they hurt or anything hahaha! 

Oh i dont know if i said this in the last email but also here we have to cut wood everymorning, there is no such thing as in door heating here, everyone in every house just uses fire to heat up the house. Cutting wood is a pretty good workout though so it is good in the morning, but those mornings where we dont have fire....... We study in our sleeping bags and we can see our breathe! Hahaha its pretty funny, getting out of bed is the worst but once we are out of bed we are wide awake thats forsure. oh als we have bunk beds (reminds me of the good ole days before jake left on his mission and i slept on the top bunk cause thats kinda how it is now) but its good stuff! When it rains here it just straightup poors!!!!! You get all different kinds of rain here, light rain, heavy rain, the rain that hurts, just it all...... It reminds me of forest gump when he is talking about all different kinds of rain, hahahah its so how it is1 But this clutch rain jacket my loving parents got me is awsome!

I dont know if i said this last week but we are in a house with two other elders so its pretty cool, theyre great guys! Friday we gave a lesson to this family and the spirit was so strong, one of the best times i have had (no dahl not as good as priest quroum but close) but it was so awesome, but it didnt workout. I have had doors slammed on me so many times and people actually like run away from us and just get rejected by people. it was sad cause we bore our testimonies and the spirit was so strong its like we could touch it. The point i am getting at is sometimes we just think our life is soooooo tough and we just wish the days away or just think no one can know what we are going through. but i want you to remmeber someone who went through it all, Jesus Christ our savior! He went through a lot more then any of us can ever imagine! I want you all to go look up this video "the Atonement and missionary Work" It is one of the bst videos i have seen! Remember who is always right beside you and can be your best friend, he wont forget about you so dont foget about him!!! and dont say you dont have time to watch the video or youll get to it later, i have heard that excuses a lot and its not true! Make time for the things that really matter!!

Here in chile there is a lot of reactivation to be done, a lot of inactive members to help. We had an awesome lesson last night with one of them and we talked about temples and families forever, the spirit was so strong it was crazy!!! everyone was crying and they made it their goal to come back to church and focus on the temple! I saw them one of my first days here and in 2 weeks they have already come so far it was awesome!! You have no idea how much joy it brought and still brings me! 

The other day on saturday i am pretty sure (The days all become one, time goes bye faster on the mission..... now i know what Jake, and big mike were talking about) But we taught 4 lessons and got 5 new investigators, which is tough to do but the lord blessed us and put those people in our path!

I am on a mission to help and teach the poeple of chile and right now Martinez De Rosas about the restored Gospel of Jesus christ, I am not here to teach those poele who are not ready and just want to argue, We have been called to teach people who are prepared for us. 

Oh also something funny was the school hre starts at like 2 and gets out at like 5 hahahahahahah! so funny! But chile is awesome! i love it, funny becaue here they all listen to mostly american music but i am pretty sure they have no idea what theyre saying hahaa!

i love chile its awesome, the mission is tough but i recieve so much happiness and joy from what i was doing. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else!

I love you all, Keep the faith!!

Love

 Elder Wertner

First Week in Chile!

Hey everyone wow i have so much to tell you! Chile is straight up beautiful! I am going to try and send you all a bunch of pictures so i hope they eventually go through! I am in Valdivia and my sector is Martinez De rosas and that is our ward. My companion is Elder Cleverly, hes awsome and he is from california. We work really hard together and are always just constantly working! We walk about 15-20 miles a day! I am so tired when we get home that when i go to sleep i just wake up because times already up and its already the morning.Also here it is very very very cold and im pretty north too, it is freezing and when it rains it can be pretty bad but it is awesome. At night im so physically and mentally tired but my spirit is stronger and feels awesome! 

Here there is a lot of reactivation that we do, a lot of inactive members and so we are trying to get a lot of them back to church. Our ward is about 35-40 people theyre all really awesome people! Yesterday i went up and bore my testimony and introduced myself! I will tell you guys what, the spanish is different and they talk super fast but i am learning, it is tough but the lord blesses me and i am very thanful for that. 

Also i had a really cool experience, it was one of the best i have had. I had my first baptism invitation!! Her name is Irma and her daughter is named elizabet and is a less active. The spirit was super strong in the lesson and we asked her if she thought the book of mormon are true and joseph smith was a tru prophet and she said yes! Then i asked her if she would be baptized and she said...... YES!!! Wow it was awesome..... Her baptismal date is for the 19th of september! It was so exciting and the spirit was so strong. It was so strong her daughter was crying and stuff it was crazy, the cool thing was i understood most of it and i know that was the gift of tongues and the Lord helping me!! How awesome this work is! We now have two people with baptism dates and hopefully 3 after tonight! 

HAHA wow there are so many cats and dogs everywhere here all around the streets, just laying around flea infested probably like million no joke! The mission is really ups and downs and i am really starting to see that! Every moment is like a roller coaster ride, it is crazy!! Its so good though! 

It is kind of un real being out here right now, being on a mission and everything its just unreal hahahaha. I know everyone is starting back up school, I think today? but i hope it is awesome! Tear it up yall and have fun! Oh yeah the food is real good here, we had this thing called a completo that is a hot dog with a bunch of meats wow it was so good, it had all these toppings..... DAD you would just love it!!!!! But food is way good here!!!

Chile is awesome and i am having a good time and learning a lot, i am a greeny and there is a lot of work to do, it is definitley really hard at times but then i remmeber all of you and i especially remmeber the savior and his example!!! 

I love you all and miss you like crazy! Treat all the missionaries good wwhenever you see them, just imagineif that was me? Would you let them in? would you offer them something to eat?

I hope you all are well and i know you are doing awesome things!!!

Love you all 

Love Elder Wertner

P.S. If you want to send letters or packages send it to the mission home, i would love some candy:)

Love you ALLLLLL!!!!!!!

Elder Wertner has made it to Chile!

Elder Wertner made it to Chile yesterday! He was able to call us for a few minutes during a layover in Santiago on his way from Mexico to Osorno! He sounded so great! He is doing so awesome and kept saying how much he loves the mission and being a missionary! He said he's been praying for everyone and is so happy! We just love our missionary so much!! 

He got to Osorno last night and his mission president gave him and the other elders time to write their families a letter and then his mission president emailed it to us!

We're not sure yet when his new P-Day (preparation) will be! Thanks so much for beings so supportive of Justin!