Testifying through the Holy Ghost

Hey Everyone -

This week was awesome! We had a lot of appointments fall through but they're just being pushed off a little bit longer that's all:) We had an awesome experience with Veronica's mom this week! Me and Elder Agyin who's a super awesome Elder from California went to visit Veronica and her family. We were trying to talk to them about the importance of going to church but it was going nowhere...and then the mom....(I was praying sooo hard that the mom wouldn't say anything about my comp on this interexchange) She starts talking about how all angels are white and we never see any black angels...( Elder Agyin is african american) and she goes on saying how there needs to be more pictures and paintings of black angels...she just made it really awkward by trying to be nice but Elder Agyin is learning that that's how Argentina is...people are very blunt here ahaha! If you are fat they will call you fat but to them it's not offensive...I can't tell you all how many times I've heard husbands and wives call each other fatty...even like...10 year old children ahaha that's just how Argentines are and I love em!!

But anyway, the mom, after we were trying to get out, said something that gave me an impression to stay. She said "The other day I was thinking about your religion and said that it has to be true...they walk in the street going door to door preaching...Jesus Christ walked in the streets doing the same thing."  So, I felt a very strong impression to bear my testimony of our trials in the mission and how we do this for them and our Savior...I let them know that everything we do is for their getting closer to Heavenly Father( sorry my English is bad but I don't know how else to say it haha) I also felt a very strong impression to bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon and how their lives will be blessed sooo much more and the best part about it all was that the dad was there with Veronica and her mom!! We invited them all to pray and read the Book of Mormon and the dad tells me to look at him  and so I look right at him in the eyes.   He then tells me of how sincere I was when I said that I love this family and about the Book of Mormon...he told me that he's not much of a reader but that he'll do it because of what I said and it made me feel soooo grateful for the spirit that Heavenly Father let him feel! I did nothing... that was all the spirit and soo it was super cool!

I love you soooo much mom! My testimony about mothers and their role also has grown stronger a lot this week from some experiences and I can't tell you how proud and happy I am to have had you teach me what the Lord would have me know...I love you with all my heart ma!;)

I'm doing way better, Dad and I am just simply learning to become more like the Lord and by striving to do that, I'm becoming more happy everyday. :)  I'm proud to be one of his servants.  Even if I'm not that much, I know with the Lord I'm strong.  We're not strong people . . . we're only given strength daily from our Heavenly Father and that's why we have to take life . . . one day at a time.  I love you dad.  You're a freakin stud. Hey Ya I want you and all the family even Hailey to come here when I finish the mission. Talk to mom and the family because I want you guys to come.

Well, that's something from this week.   I love and miss you all!! Have a great week and please always make room for Him that gave His whole life for us....don't let that be in vain for you or anybody you love...

Con mucho amor,

Elder Chamberlain

Blessings from the Lord

Hey everybody!

Elder Arzubiaga and I have been doing really good together and we did A LOT of street contacting this week. A new family is coming into our ward named the Nuñez family and we found out that they live far away--about 2 plus hours by walking. We were planning on the making the trip because the parents just got baptized and the daughter wants to get baptized too but we had some nice members take us there and then they took us back.  It was a nice little blessing from the Lord. It would of been a total of 4 plus hours of just walking out in the campo...(field) it's nothing but just farm land so it's really quiet there but those parts of Argentina are super beautiful.

Anyway cool miracle-- we were teaching some of our investigators (Andrea) and we talked about baptism and she had a question like Hermana Alonso had about the baby baptisms and how she didn't believe that a baby could sin either...later at the end she said" I would get baptized. It would be really cool!" So that made us really excited. We both felt like we wanted to wait because were going to tour the chapel with them and give them the invitation there!  But then she said she wanted to be baptized!  Anyway, that's something from this week.  Hope you're all doing good!  

Much love!!

Elder Chamberlain

Church is a Spiritual Hospital

Hey Mom and Dad,

 Hey sorry yesterday was a holiday and everything was closed. It's actually a pretty big holiday like all of South America and more celebrate. El dia de la raza...where they celebrate their culture...but it's really just another day to not work haha...I've never seen soo many holidays here...if it was in the states it would be like we'd have a day for every founding father and president in the country...there's also the 'day of the kid' haha...Speaking of holidays, yes they celebrate Halloween here.  There are people that leave dressed up and all but only on their block because there are a lot of chambers that go around partying and people just get drugged up and stuff on the street.  I don't think we are going to leave the pench that day ha ha!

I've been trying to send pics but this virus filled computer won't let me...haha I have all of my pics saved though on cds so nothing can happen now ahaha..unless they happen to get stolen somehow...but it won't happen. I'm gonna try to find the computer that works. Here it says if I go forward with uploading the pics it will delete all of them? Idk

Hey so you had a hard week, mom? Are you ok? I'm gonna pray for you extra this week haha! You can always talk to me mom:) We don't just teach we help members and investigators all the times with really hard things. I've seen it all haha:) Maybe not all but almost! I love you mom. Church is a spiritual hospital for us and that's why we go there every week. People that don't go to church don't realize how much they're hurting from not having the spirit in their lives...then they go through life with it being even more hard and they don't even realize it. That's why we go to church because it helps us in sooo many ways we can't even realize them all. The Lord created his church for a reason and when we go and take the sacrament we have his promise to always have his spìrit to be with us. A lot of people don't realize how big that really is. To constantly have the spirit of an all powerful perfect loving God with us. He's our father and as a father he wants to help us always but we have to help him...help us first:)

Hey I'll read that chapter in Alma-- I already wrote it down!:)

Noooooooooo tell Sis. Schmidt to hang in there ma-- I'll be praying for here...God wouldn't let these things happen if he knew she couldnt handle them. She's got this!

My new companion is from Lima Peru, but he lived on the west side.  He doesn't talk much but I'm getting him to talk in the lessons and with the members more so he can gain their trust better.  

Hey Dad, your letter helped me more than you can know.  I've read it over several times.  It's just the normal things of a mission--people that you come to love and they just completely surprise you the next day by doing something dumb or messing up their life and you ask yourself, "What, why did you do that?  I thought I taught you better?" Those days are hard, that and just living in Argentina has it's rough days.  But everything's good :)  And yes, Dad, I'm writing in my journal and following all of your advice :)

Love you tons mom and dad.  Mom, have fun in Cali with the kids.  
 Disneyland that's soo cool! Yes I remember that goofy hat ahaha!  We got 3 different pics of me in that hat each time we went to Disneyworld ahaha gooood timess:)

Love you son and best friend,

Elder Chamberlain

Conference . . . Great!! Sleeping on the floor . . . Not so great.

Hey Mom,

Ya I lovvveeddd conference! It is always such a big help in my life. However this was the first time we didn't have a "gringo room" because the stake president said if I was serving in another country with another language I would listen to the prophet and his apostles in that language. So for all the sessions on Saturday and priesthood we didn't listen to them in english. It's just cool to hear things in english and because they are said and even sometimes understood a little different. That may not make a lot of sense-- everything is the same but just the meanings are gotten across and not the actual words. For example:

te damos gracias senor is literally we give you thanks lord but they obviously dont say that.

HOWEVER on Sunday, yesterday the stake president said that if the chapel didn't fill up we could use the extra room for a gringo room and we could for both sessions!! We were all soo happy mom!! Like we hear english obviously between us gringos but it's different to hear other people you don't know and more than anything the prophet talk in his own voice. Just a lot of little things...but this is all good.  I'm grateful we at least got that-- it was a good 6 month treat haha

I've been in a trio with 2 other elders since Saturday morning early because Elder Paz ended the mission and I have to be with them till Wednesday.

Haha its been really hard with only 2 beds and some nasty dirty blankets haha. I offered to sleep on the ground till Wednesday and Ive been even more grateful for that mint scented memory foam mattressI had at home ahahahaha! It's been interesting in their little pench with some other things too haha.

Soo I'm staying in San Raphael with a guy from Peru named Elder Arzubiaga. He's apparently a really quiet guy but he's been with some cool missionaries so I'm hoping it will be good but won't hope too much haha.

Hey Thanks mom for everything. I miss you all a lot. Thanks for the photos! I'll try and send some this next week I was actually going to do some today but I'm not in my pench so I don't have my stuff! But anyway I'm gonna write dad now thanks ma!!  Love you!!

Your capo hijo,(Cool)

E Chamberlain;)