Week 99 Copiapo

Jan 30, 2017

So this week was kind of crazy. We have still been spending a lot of time just talking to EVERYONE and we haven’t found that many new investigators. It isn’t really like my last sector where we found several new investigators a day. The people here are always "busy". It can be really annoying sometimes but we have gotten really good at telling if someone wants us to come back or no. This would be a typical doorstep conversation in Chile: 

(Us) "Hi how are you?" (Them) "I’m actually really busy right now." (Us) "Can we come back when you aren’t busy?" (Them) "I´m basically never home... I always work."

Chileans are really good at not committing to things hahaha. But we are just going to keep on searching so we can find some good investigators. We had two investigators go to church this Sunday! One of them is from Colombia and the other from Peru. The guy from Colombia is named Jason. He is 15 but looks like he is 22. He might have problems with Word of Wisdom, but we will have to find that out soon. The girl from Peru that went is also 15 but she doesn’t seem to be that interested. All in all, it wasn’t the best week but who said missionary work was easy? 

My birthday was pretty awesome because we ate some stuffed peppers wrapped in bacon with some members but the following day it gave me fire diarrhea hahaha I don’t know how to spell that anymore but yeah... it was not fun. I had to spend a good chunk of the day on the toilet. Disregarding the fact that I was pooping out lava, those peppers were soooo good:) Anyway, I gotta wrap this up. Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I love you all and until next week!

Elder Spanbauer

Week 98 Copiapo

Jan 23, 2017

Hey guys! Thanks for all the birthday wishes:D This first week in Copiapo has been pretty crazy. First off, it is extremely hot and dry. It’s also kind of a dead sector so we have just been doing a TON of contacts in the streets, knocking on doors...etc. We basically don’t have any progressing investigators and the ward doesn’t even have a bishop. #challengeaccepted hahaha It is going to be a hard few weeks but Its better than dying in an easy sector. Now there is no time to relax. There are some really cool members in this ward and they always offer food hahaha. We managed to find a member from Bolivia that lives up in the "Tomas" and we took him to church on Sunday. We are going to send him on the mission! Other than that... I really don’t have much more to report. I received my flight itinerary and It looks like I’ll be back on the 1st of March. I believe you guys already received it but that’s when I get back. It’s cool that Weems is home now hahaha. I haven’t heard anything from BYU Provo so I’m thinking about just starting at BYUI in the spring. I would like to room with Braden if he gets in but if not... I can room with Tuker or I have a buddy named Reese Oakey from the mission that will be there in the spring as well. I’m thinking about majoring in business management because I would like to start a business. I really haven’t been able to look much into class registering or anything like that so I’m not sure when the dates are for that. If you guys could find that out... that would be awesome. Those are basically my plans for now. Here are some pics... Love you all.

Elder Spanbauer

My Comp Elder Reedy

City of Copiapo

Companion Exchange with the Zone leaders!

Week 97 Copiapo

Jan 17, 2017

So I know you are all probably wondering why I didn’t write yesterday... It’s because I was transferred! I am now in Copiapo! My new companion is from California! His name is Elder Reedy. This week was super crazy because we were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday but everything fell through. The baptism was scheduled for 9:00pm but when we went to go pick up Joel... HE WASNT HOME! We called him and he said he wasn’t going to go... My heart sank when I heard that and I began to think the worst. He hung up and we couldn’t contact him again. The baptism was canceled. I was kind of let down and felt bad that night. We said a prayer as a companionship that night so that everything would work out. After church, we called him and he answered! He said he still wanted to be baptized! We told him that we were going to baptized him at 6pm on Sunday and he agreed! What a miracle! In the end he was baptized and everything turned out well. He will be confirmed next Sunday. It was cool that I could leave Antofagasta baptizing another person! I had to share my testimony in sacrament and I got to take pictures with the members. It was kind of sad because Origenes has been one of my favorite sectors. I spent my last few hours with the Solis family. They have been like my family and have fed me for the last 4 1/2 months. It was a good day. I am currently here in Copiapo. It’s hot and not a very pretty city but I’m happy. I’m ready to finish this last transfer strong. I am the district leader and this district is struggling a lot. so I´ve got to help them reach their goals. I’m excited for the challenge:D Like you said dad, we have the power to view things how we want to view them. That can be positive or negative. Everything is a mental game. When we can learn to control our mental capacities... that´s when we progress. I love you all and thank you for all the support:) Thanks for the videos of the baby hahaha. Don’t be basic.

Elder Spanbauer

Joel's Baptism

Bishop Anacona (white shirt) and his 1st counselor (suit)

Solis Family (My Chilean family)

My Papitos

Camille´s mother in law (Hermana Zapata)

Week 96 Antofagasta

Jan 9, 2017

This week was a mental rollercoaster... So we started this week off with some bad news... Erika and Bismarck decided they weren’t going to get married. I think she decided she didn’t want to because he isn’t taking things very seriously. He spent new year’s eve, new year’s day and the 2nd of Jan. drinking with his buddies. We talked with Erika for a bit and she said she still wants to get married but she thinks she wants to wait a little longer. I did a companion exchange with my Zone Leaders so I was with Elder Faùndez for the day. He is from Santiago Chile and it was interesting because he had lost his voice so I had to do the teaching hahaha. We had many lessons that day and we set 5 baptismal dates! It was pretty awesome. On Friday, we found a young guy named Joel from Bolivia. He lives with one of our recent converts named Wilder! We invited him to get baptized on the 14th of Jan. and he said yes! We have taught him almost everything and he also passed his baptismal interview yesterday! It was kind of crazy because his older brother told him he couldn’t get baptized and how it would be disrespecting the family`s beliefs. He is 18 years old and he told us he wasn’t going to be able to get baptized for what his brother told him. We talked to his brother and spoke really direct and to the point and his brother denied ever saying such a thing hahahaha I think he felt the spirit haha. So if everything goes well, we will baptize this Saturday! Hay bautismo! It’s crazy how when something bad happens in the mission... our father in heaven blesses us with another miracle! It is possible that they transfer me for my last 6 weeks. I will know on Friday. I hope to stay in this ward but I will go and do what lord commands me. Anyway, I gotta make this one a little short. I will send some recordings. Love you all and until next week!

I saw Elder Moraga at the leadership counsel!

Enjoying a little something to eat with the Zapata family!

Week 95 Antofagasta

Jan 2, 2017

Happy new year everyone! So this week was pretty good. We met most of our goals but no one went to church:( Part of the culture here in South-America is drinking and then drinking a little more to end the year... So you can probably guess what happened. We went to go pick up all of our investigators and most of them were hung-over and the rest were either still partying or dead asleep... Other than that, this week was pretty awesome! We have two investigators (Erika and Bismarck) that are going to get married this Friday and possibly baptized this Saturday! We have also been teaching an 18-year-old girl named Katy. She is super awesome but she feels that she is not totally ready to get baptized yet so we have to be a little patient with her. We have had a lot of support from the ward and I hope they don’t transfer me to another to end my mission. Also, Wilder and Lincon both went to church and didn’t drink on Sat. so it looks like we taught the word of wisdom good to both of them hahaha. At church in the gospel principles class, we talked about exaltation. After the class... Lincon approached me and told me he thinks he is ready to receive the priesthood! He wants to bless the sacrament hahaha. This Sunday I also had the opportunity to eat with the Zapata Family again. It is crazy to think how fast time has gone by. Just yesterday I was a "new missionary" and now I’ve got 22 months of experience. It´s totally true how when a missionary is ending his or her mission they feel that they finally understand how to work well... One has the tendency to ask "Why couldn’t I have arrived to the mission with all this knowledge?" I guess it’s part of life. Anyway, that`s the short update for now:) here are some photos!

Elder Spanbauer

My crazy district of sister missionaries!

Two of them finish their missions this month haha! R.I.P.

We went to set a date for their wedding! (Erika and Bismarck)

Our Mamita and Papito got back from vacation!

Our Mission had 116 Baptisms in Dec.!!!