Elder Parker Spanbauer: October 2015

Monday, October 26, 2015

Week 33 Arica

Oct 26, 2015

So this week was pretty good. To start off, we have been teaching this family that we found like my first day here in the sector. It’s a family of 3. Two parents and their son. We found them by walking in the street and some lady yelled at us telling us to come over to her. We went to see what she needed and she said "can you guys give a blessing to my mother?" and we said sure of course. (She is a member of a different stake). We ended up giving all three of them blessings and it was really cool. Then a few days later we went back and taught the restoration to them. Then this week we taught lesson three (principles of the gospel). The lesson was awesome and they were all particularly interested in baptism. The have all been baptized in the Catholic Church but as babies. And we explained to them that baptism should be a choice. Not something our parents just force upon us. They all started asking questions about baptism and how we do it. We showed them pictures of Jesus Christ getting baptized and read in the scriptures about how we get baptized. They all loved it and all want to be baptized but now it’s just a matter of getting them to church and then entering the waters of baptism. This family is amazing and we are going to work hard to get them to that point. The only complication is that we don’t know if the parents are legally married or not and also the dad has a hernia and has to get it removed soon so he said once he gets it out he is going to go to church. Also, we have the familia Julca. They are amazing and we have been teaching them a lot. The only thing is that he needs to get married before getting baptized. He can’t get married though without being a legal citizen though so he is technically illegal. We are working with him to get his paper work done so that he can be baptized with the entire family. Also, today we went to "El Morro" which is a famous hill in Arica where Chile beat Peru. A member of the ward took us up there and it was super fun. We then went to a famous sandwich shop called Rollys and bought HUGE sandwiches. Mine consisted of a bun about the sized of a frisbee, huge slab of stake meat, french fries, and bacon! It was super cheap as well. I love Chile hahaha. Oh and last Pday we ate at Subway! I felt like I was home! I’m going to send some pictures now so you can all see are amazing adventures. Love you all and until next Week!

Hey guys, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about my package last week. I totally spaced it! It probably looked like I was very ungrateful but I truly just forgot to put it in the email. So yes, I finally received both packages. One from you guys and one from grandma. I got my card so everyone can relax haha and I have made so many brownies and cookies for a bunch of people here. Chileans LOVE brownies! We made them for a noche de hogar with a family and they were so grateful. I was excited to receive butterfingers! That is one candy that is just not seen here. I found Reeses the other day here but it was super expensive. Also, the jerky was awesome. Oh! and the superman stuff. I have gotten some good use out of it haha. Also, the Joseph Smith plaque is awesome! Tell grandma thanks for me! I liked the picture frame and some of the photos she sent haha. Also all of the candy and jerky she gave me. Also, that book you sent me for learning Spanish is amazing! Thanks guys a lot.

Other than that, I’m good, my comp. is good, and the sector is good. I’m loving Arica and everything. You guys keep telling me to tell you about my comp but he’s really just a normal chill guy.... I don’t know what to say. He ran track.... likes to play sports... he’s kinda shy around random people but he’s cool. The sun is super strong here which is really annoying but it doesn’t get too hot. That’s about it, talk to you next week!

Elder Spanbauer (Now they call me Elder Superman) haha

Elder Superman

Welcome to Arica

"El Morro" famous hill in Arica where Chile defeated Peru

Cannons and other pieces of artillery mark the site, along with a large statue of Christ, adorned with the coats of arms of both nations, asking for reconciliation.

Elder Francis

View of Arica

Famous Sandwich Shop Called Rollys

Subway! I felt like I was at Home!

Elder Francis Enjoying Subway

Cookies From Mom

Monday, October 19, 2015

Week 32 Arica

Oct 19, 2015

So as stated above this week went by super slow. It is getting really hot here in Arica and I’m going to start having to wear sunscreen everyday. The sun here is brutal! There is like no O-zone haha. So this week we did a lot of contacting because my companion doesn’t know the sector very well and we need to find new people to teach. Something that I have learned is that I am super good at contacting random people! I simply use clues to start conversations. For example, with one guy, I saw that he was wearing cool Nike shoes and I asked him where he bought them. Then we had a conversation about shoes and then I slowly worked it into "We would love to come back and teach you a little more about what missionaries do" and he said YES! With another old lady she answered and didn’t seem interested at all but then I started asking questions about her family and she told us her granddaughter sings in English. I then asked if she could have her grand daughter sing a song for us and sure enough she did. It was funny because she sang "love me like you do" by Ellie Goulding and I just so happen to know that one hahahaha. I ended up singing it with her. She invited us to come back and we ended up going back and having an awesome lesson with her. A lot of times I use my soccer skills to contact kids in the street. We had "Folleto Friday" and we had to get rid of 20 Law of Chastity pamphlets. It was kinda funny because we gave one to a couple of kids that were previously making out on a park bench. I seriously love being a missionary. There was one night that we went to a less actives house and he cooked us BBQ wings with fries! He lived in Utah for 3 years and knows a good amount of English. The food was amazing! Also, we had a Noche de Hogar with the Familia Julca. (Family of investigators). I made cookies and brownies with the brownie mix I got in my pouch! They were all in amazement haha. One of them ate like 7 brownies. It was awesome and we also played "uno" with them after. They are going to get baptized but they just are waiting to get their visas in order to do so. The dad (Alfredo) is one of the most incredible men I have ever met. He is truly someone prepared by the lord. I can’t wait to get them married and baptized as a family. We are also teaching his nephew that is about my age. He is catholic but is very interested in our church. The noche de hogar that we did was in the church so it was his first time being in the church. Now we are trying to get him to come to church with us as well. We are also working on getting a younger girl baptized with the age of 10. Her older brother was baptized and then the oldest sister was and now she wants to. We want to talk about president first to find out what we should do. The mom works in a bar so its complicated. A bunch of snakes have been hitting on my companion and me and for those who don’t know, the word "snake" is missionary code for young girls that always hit on the missionaries. Then there is "dragon" which can be just an older lady or even grandmas sometimes haha. Trust me, I’ve experienced it all. Today we played soccer and ultimate frisbee with some elders and it was way fun. One of the elders I met in Vallenar was there! Elder Oakey! Ill send some pictures. Love you all and Take care!

Elder Spanbauer