Week 84 Antofagasta

Oct 17, 2016

Hey everyone! This week was an eventful one. We started the week off with some recent converts in a family home evening and it was awesome! Elder Moraga and I weren’t totally sure on what we should share but when we got there I felt the strong impression to just have a testimony meeting with all of them and it was super awesome! Everyone felt the spirit and after everyone said it was what they needed. So that was a cool experience. Also I taught how to teach the restoration in less than 5 min. to my district and they have all had success with it! It was an awesome district meeting. Alejandro is doing well but still has many doubts and questions. We watched the restoration with him and he really liked it. He says he would like to see a baptismal service before participating in one so we are working on that. He went to church and enjoyed it a lot. Also, we have been working with the Talbots (Senior Missionaries) with a family that they found and all of them went to church yesterday! The father doesn’t believe too much but he is progressing a lot! Ricardo doesn’t want anything anymore... we passed by his house and he told us that he thought a lot about his baptism and doesn’t want to keep investigating. It´s amazing how fast the adversary works with people but we are going to give him some time and then pass by in the future. Julian is just waiting for his papers to arrive from Santiago so he can be a legal citizen of Chile and get married. Once he is married, he can get baptized. This week my whole district went over and worked in the sister’s sector to help them out and it was awesome! We found tons of new people to teach for them! I also interviewed a young boy named Sebastian. He is ten years old and will be getting baptized on the 29th of October in the Sister’s sector. Church was really good this week because we had 5 investigators present in sacrament meeting and the talks that were given were awesome! That is really the update for now... I got a little sick this week but it was just a cold so didn’t stop us from working or anything. Anyway, Love you all and until next week!!!!

Elder Spanbauer

Family Home Evening Activity! Giant stuffed Chicken

Week 83 Antofagasta

Oct 10, 2016

Hey everyone! I´M AN UNCLE!!! Congrats Tori and Joey!!! I feel like it was just yesterday when you guys told me that Tori was pregnant! Time flies sooo fast in the mission. So this week was a pretty good week because we managed to work a lot with members and we also have some baptismal dates set for the end of this month. Alejandro, one of our investigators goes to church basically every Sunday and has a baptismal date set for the 22nd of Oct. He is super awesome but a little shy and awkward as well. He has a lot of questions about the book of Mormon but that´s a good thing. The other investigator that has a baptismal date is Ricardo... he is a new investigator we found knocking on doors and he is super awesome. He has problems with the word of wisdom but we are gonna help him with that so he can get baptized on the 29th of Oct. I had the opportunity to do a companion exchange with my zone leaders and I worked with Elder Faúndez from Santiago Chile. I learned a lot from him. He literally talks to every single person that passes him in the street! Not a single one of them gets away hahaha. Let´s see... what else? Oh! I made no-bake cookies! haha This week we also had a stake activity in Antofagasta Centro (Where I served while being in the office) so I got to see a lot of old faces! We did an open house in the church and our job as missionaries was to go to the streets and invite people to enter the church and see what we do as "Mormons" and show that we don’t sacrifice animals on an altar hahaha. This Sunday we had 6 investigators at church so that was super awesome and in the evening Elder Talbot (a senior missionary) did a presentation of the book of Mormon. He showed physical evidence within the book of Mormon showing that now man could have just made it all up. He also showed where he believes the family of Nephi landed in Central America. Elder Talbot has traveled the world studying this while he was working for BYU and he probably knows more about the book of Mormon than any other man I’ve met. So that was pretty cool. That´s pretty much it... I feel like the more time I have in the mission, the harder it is to write because I feel like I´m writing the same thing every week... Today we got our hair cut and played soccer with the zone. That´s all for now... Love you all and send me more pics of the new baby of the family! 

Elder Spanbauer

I´M AN UNCLE!!!

Week 82 Antofagasta

Oct 3, 2016

Hey everyone,

So as far as numbers go... this week wasn’t that great compared to last week but, a lot happened this week. I did a companion exchange with an Elder from my district to see how he was doing and it was awesome. His name is Elder Soto from Argentina. We taught several people. The cool thing is that Elder Walker (one of my x-companions from the office) is my zone leader so I got to spend the night with them as well and catch up. Our sector sits on the side of a mountain so we are constantly going up and down and it sucks hahaha. We have been working a lot at the top of the mountain because most of the people up top are receptive and live in humble conditions. Also because the elders before never really worked up there. We have had a lot of success in finding new investigators. It is really hard to get Chileans to commit to doing something hahaha. We are teaching an investigator named Julian and he is getting his legal work done to get married and baptized! He will find out tomorrow if he can get married or not. We also participated in a "Mini MTC" activity that was for all the young men in the stake. I was in charge of the "Boise Idaho" mission haha! I got to teach English! I am actually thinking about doing English classes every week to find new investigators. So this was the week of General Conference and it was awesome because I got to see it in English with all my American buddies haha. We had one investigator go named Alejandro and he watched it in English because he understands a lot. He thought it was interesting but it’s hard to know what he´s thinking because he doesn’t really express much emotion haha. I really liked what Elder Nelson said about joy... "Joy is a gift from god for the righteous" and he explained that the world does not offer us joy... but rather temporal pleasures that we often mistake for "Joy". Joy is only obtained by living the principles of the gospel and by understanding the plan of salvation or better said... the plan of happiness. I also liked how Elder Ballard said that "The restoration was not some event that took place in 1820 but that it continues to be unfolded" or something along those lines. We are part of the restoration! We are spreading or "restoring" this great truth to all ends of the earth just as the prophecy says! How great is our calling as members of the church! I learned several things in this conference but those were some of my favorites. Things have been really good here in Antofagasta. We played soccer again today as a zone with President Ferreira on a full sized field. It was super fun but I realized that I’m not in the shape that I used to be hahaha. Anyway, that’s the update for this week! Love you all and until next week! 

Elder Spanbauer

My District

Elder Moraga, Elder Walker and Elder Faúnez

Week 81 Antofagasta

Sept 26, 2016

So.... Many things happened this week. I had my first district meeting here in Antofagasta and it was awesome! My district is huge! I basically have my own zone hahahaha. There are 12 of us and 14 if the zone leaders decide to go! Next week I will send a photo of our district. Elder Moraga and I set a goal to beat the mission´s record of lessons with members present. The record (was) 20 but we broke it! We worked with members every day and had 15 lessons with member at the end of Saturday. We were left with one more day to try and break it. Yesterday we had 6 lessons with member! That´s right... we had 21 lessons with member this week! The lame part is that there are two sister missionaries that had 26 :( But hey! We met our goal and that´s the important thing. It seriously came down to the wire haha. At 9:00pm Sunday night we only had 20 and we went to visit an inactive member and his wife which is not a member. We arrived and he let us in and everything but his wife was already in bed and didn’t want to participate!!!... we were like freaking out haha because she wouldn’t come participate with us leaving us with only 20. Then seemingly out of nowhere... his son shows up and joins the lesson! It was a miracle hahahaha!!! This week we also had interviews with President Ferreira. I really like how direct he is haha and I swear the man doesn’t blink hahaha he just sits there and stares into your soul.... hahaha but he is awesome. My interview was a very spiritual experience. Today we actually played soccer with President and his daughter! It was pretty cool haha. Anyway, sorry I gotta cut this short... we have to go eat with our mamita. Love you all and until next week!

Elder Spanbauer

Here is the photo on the mission blog

Week 80 Antofagasta

Sept 19, 2016

Hey everyone! This was a very eventful week.... I got to know my new companion a little better and he is awesome! He always strives to be obedient so that won’t be a battle. This week I met a lot of the investigators that we have and just about all of them have to get married.... hahaha classic Chile.... Elder Moraga was a little stressed because he has to lead the sector. I told him not to stress it too much. If we do what the lord asks of us, he will deliver us. We have been doing many contacts and we had some pretty cool experiences. Elder Moraga didn’t do contacts with his trainer so when I got here he was kind of scared to talk to random people. I think I have some sort of gift hahaha because almost every time I knock on a door, we find a new investigator hahahaha. Not saying that to brag or anything but it’s true! Sometimes I`ll just be walking and I`ll feel an impression to knock on a random door and it always turns out to be someone receptive! The spirit truly does guide us in this work. For example, the other day we were doing contacts and we knocked on a door and a lady came out and immediately let us in. We sat down and told her what we do as missionaries. We asked to share a message and she gladly accepted. We started with a prayer and during the prayer I felt a strong impression to share lesson 2 (The plan of salvation) so I began to teach it. Our original plan was to teach lesson 1 but I began with lesson 2 anyway. We began talking about where we go after this life and she cut in and told us here brother had recently passed away. It was a very spiritual lesson and we have another appointment on Wednesday with her and her husband. On Friday, we had a big ward activity to celebrate the 18th of Sept. It was really awesome! This Sunday was the 18th, one of the biggest holidays here in Chile! I got to stand up and share my testimony with the ward and I met a bunch of members. After church we ate lunch with a family and they did a BBQ with "Pastel de Choclo" (a famous Chilean dish) and "mote con huesillo" (a famous Chilean beverage/dessert thing). It was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. It was a really hard day to work because everyone was drunk and partying. We passed by our mamita`s house in the night time and enjoyed some empanadas de queso. This year`s 18th of Sept. was a lot better than last year`s. Today we played soccer as a zone and with some of the elders from the office. It was super fun and some of the sister missionaries in our zone are really good haha! That`s pretty much the update for now.... Oh! I got a call from a member that I had met in Antofagasta about 5 months ago. When I was in the office, he was inactive and we began to work with him. We helped reactivate him and he even worked with us several times. Anyway, he called me using the Elder`s phone from that ward and he told me he is going to be serving in Concepciòn Chile! It`s so cool to see the fruits of your labors months after serving in an area. I love being a missionary... but even more importantly... I love being a servant of the lord. This work is real and if we don’t do it, no one else will! So just do it hahaha! Love you all and until next week!

Elder Spanbauer

P-Day Soccer

Overlooking The City of Antofagasta

My Area in Antofagasta

Week 79 Antofagasta

Sept 12, 2016

So this week has been really crazy. We had pretty good numbers and everything but the best part was Sunday. There is a family that we have been working with that FINALLY went to church! The father of the family (Vladimir) is from Brazil and his wife is Chilean and she is an inactive. It is a family of 6 and all of them went to church! They set a goal to get married on Oct. 15th and the dad will get baptized with his two sons on the 22nd of Oct. Hay Bautismo! Also, we have an investigator named Nelson and he too went to church. Him and his wife want to get married and baptized next month!!!! Hay Bautismo! haha. Our sector here in Calama is doing really well. The lame part of it all is that I got transferred... I have been called to serve in Antofagasta again in the "Origenes" ward. When the church started here in Antofagasta, Origenes was the first ward formed. I left this morning around 8am and arrived to Antofa at around 11am. This sector is really big and the city center is in my sector! Antofagasta is like a city built on a hill so my sector is straight up and down. There are some parts where it is really steep and difficult to climb up! I’m going to die hahaha. My new companion is Elder Moraga from Santiago Chile. His first name is Moroni!!! How cool is that??? He is super cool even though I have only known him for a day.... He plays soccer and likes to dance. He mostly just does traditional dances like "La Cueca" for example. I am super excited to meet all the members here. I am actually in the ward where Camille`s father-in-law goes! He is an area seventy! Today I met our mamita and papito (The members that cook for us) and they are soooo cool. I think I’m really going to like this ward. I will continue being district leader but now there are 10 in my district... My zone leaders, 6 sister missionaries, and an elderly couple of missionaries. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone in Calama. I got to know a lot of the members and I feel that leaving a sector is one of the hardest things for a missionary. I’m ready to work hard with Elder Moraga or how a Chilean would say... "Vamos a sacar la mugre!" Love you guys a ton and until next week! 

Elder Spanbauer

Family of our mamita that washed our clothes!

This is the Monte Àbalos family. The dad and two boys are going to get baptized next month!

#TeamCaspana

These two are going to get married and baptized in December!

This is Nelson and his wife... They are planning to get married and baptized next month!

This is GianCarlo... One of my best friends haha

Bishop and Hermana Martinez

My new sector here in Antofagasta... hills and more hills...

Elder Moraga haha

Week 78 Calama

Sept 6. 2016

Sorry for the late update! I just realized I never told you guys I was gonna have Pday this Tuesday instead of Monday. So... sorry haha. This week was pretty good. The sister missionaries in my district have been having a hard time so we did a "district attack" in their sector. It was awesome because I got to work with Elder Childs again. We taught 3 lessons, found a new investigator and set 3 baptismal dates for the sister missionaries. Elder Santos and I had a good week as well. We taught several investigators and all of them said they were going to go to church and they didn’t... NOT A SINGLE ONE.... I guess you could say I’ve had more successful weeks. For the past two days my companion has been sick so we haven’t worked a ton but I was able to have another baptismal interview in Elder Childs`s sector with a 17-year-old girl named Fransisca. She passed the interview so it looks like they will have another baptism the 10th of Sept. Hay Bautismo! Ivan Buston is still progressing but it is really just gonna come down to whether or not he wants to keep the law of chastity. It was lame because he said he was going to go to church but he never showed up. We called him after church and he said his alarm never went off. Today for Pday, we watched Mulan as a zone. It was fun and all but I kind of lost my patience with movies. I think I have ADD hahaha. We also played soccer and volleyball. To top things off, we ate Domino’s Pizza! That is pretty much everything that happened this week... Sorry for the short email... We dont have that much time to write today. I love you all! Till next week!

Oh! I forgot to say that I saw Kermit again! He was visiting bishop`s family this week. He went to church here in Calama and he bore his testimony for the first time ever! He talked about me and everything... it was dope

Elder Spanbauer