March 30th, 2015: Life in Coquimbo!

Well I am done with Valparaiso and I’m in new territory! We are know serving in the most beautiful part of my mission so far, I’m in a city called Coquimbo and it is a peninsula with red rock cliffs and with all types of ocean and boats and everything you can imagine, I’m really right in front of all these cliffs and we hear the ocean everyday and I can feel the breeze, such things are so nice in life! It is so beautiful, red rock cliffs with the waves breaking against them, it’s amazing and it’s all in my sector.   My sector is called Parte Alta, its known for being a little bit dangerous "like Valparaiso" but it’s really not!  Its not too hot but I’m almost the farthest north I can be in my mission, I’m about seven hours from presidents house, so the bus ride after transfers was wild and a little bit nuts but I’m okay. I arrived Thursday at one thirty in the morning. It’s so great to be here and the ward is incredible! The church is super small and its brand new in our part of Coquimbo! This place has tons of flavor and its full of culture! Look it up! It’s known for pirate’s hahaha so cool! But it feels like I’m seriously in a different country, I love the town and I love this climate, its so great and I love the feel of this place! 

And of course I have a new companion! His name is elder Lima! He is from Brazil! Yes, I am now attempting to learn Portuguese! But ya its so cool because we only speak Spanish, obviously but the first thing he said was that he loves American football! What? How sweet! He is 23 years old and practically married haha but one of the most humble missionary’s I have seen, we are going to work really well together and it will be an awesome transfer!

Stories of the week, we put a baptism date with a young lady and her family, her name is Carla, and she is so awesome! She came to church with us and I hope she can continue and power through! Her family is not progressing as fast as we are hoping but I believe that with the power of one, we can change many! Just look what Christ did; one man changed the world, so why cant one girl change her family? 

We have had so many spiritual contacts! We have some great members who are offering to help us and we are growing together! Also mom the people up here in the north are completely different! They offer everything to the missionary’s, we live behind this restaurant and every night we are eating food from this family! So don’t worry about me starving mom hahaha I will be fine.

Also Coquimbo is known for this giant cross made out of concrete that is massive! Well guess what? I live right under the cross! So if you are all trying to find me on Google earth then you got to find the cross and right below it are some houses, I live there haha! This cross has an elevator that can take you up to the vey top!

Cool thought, we were literally attacked by words yesterday by a man who belongs to another church, as we walked up the man began to tell us why we are wrong and how we worship Joseph Smith and how we will never be like Christ and how we don’t know anything and how we need to look and really study the scriptures.  At the first of my mission I was always filled with an anger and frustration in how they would not listen but continue to bash on us until they are red in the face then leave.  But this time I changed, all I could do was share my testimony, but the trust is that God knows who is right and who is wrong.  It was a big moment for me as a missionary.  We have already won the fight; the aftershock is what we face now! 

Sorry I don’t have much time to write, I’m a district leader and I love it! 

Love you so much Mom

Elder Passey 

March 23rd, 2015: Baptism of Carlos!

First of all thank you for the prayers! I really felt them and I just want to let you all now that life here is pretty much back to normal, almost everyone has received a testimony of God here in this hill, sometimes I wonder how long God will keep shedding his mercy over us if we then keep falling away in darkness? But anyway my dear friend Carlos was baptized yesterday and he showed up looking like a serious stud in an all black suit with a gold tie, man it was great. Also I want to talk about Alexander and the blessing he is in my life! My companion is doing great! His health is okay but we are doing everything we can to help him; he has the faith so the lord will work wonders!

Bueno, this week was incredibly fast and out of control! We started it off by doing a bunch of service and just talking to the people and helping them feel what is right in the world and how we can learn from every lesson! We passed by Carlos and really he is such a stud! Its tough to know that he wants to enter into the army so I hope he does not leave to fast but I hope he can continue in the church and grow and feel the spirit, the thing with him is his dad is in prison, for being abusive right.... well his mom just went and let him out of jail! What the heck! But he will have to serve like 70 days in jail so I hope it will be okay when he gets out, I don’t know what has really happened with the mom and why she gave them the okay to let him out but it really took a toll on Carlos! But he kept reading and going strong so I’m proud of him! My companion baptized him and it was super great to watch a baptism and feel the same spirit, the water was freezing haha so I felt confortable watching and feeling the spirit but not cold! 

P.S.  The sister missionaries in our ward are ballers! They are baptizing like crazy as well and they baptized on the same day a guy named Oscar, He is really cool and after sacrament meeting Oscar went up and gave Carlos a hug and it turns out they where friends from high school! Wow! Now I see that God had a better, bigger plan for Carlos and Oscar when they could not go to church last Sunday, it was for the blessings of being baptized as friends, that was really cool.  Also I went and directed the music in front of everyone! Wow I was nervous but I managed to do well and I think it went well but then for the closing him I was prepping myself to go up and direct again and they asked someone else! Oh the shame! Hahahahahaha so it turns out that I did not do as great as I thought but what was important was that the spirit was there right?

I have a stud of a convert here in Chile, his name is alexander! Man he wants to go on a mission and everything! Also he is going to seminary! What a stud I remember when my mom and I skipped seminary hahaha oops, faulting testimony on seminary but hey he is learning. Then the best part is he is going out and teaching lessons with us, its so cool to see this stud of a young man that is the same age as Rachel willing to leave and teach the gospel! Man I love that kid.  I also promised him I would buy him two suits for his mission because his mom is not really supporting him to much, he is great and working hard to go to church and will receive the same sacerdocio(priesthood) that we all have! I was thinking about that and I am so proud of my brother Nate and how he is honestly representing the lord! Good job Nate! 

We have changes this Wednesday and I will see what happens, six months here has gone by so fast and I can’t believe it, it feels like three months real time! But we will see what happens if the Lord wants me here I will serve willingly seven and a half months here without a complaint! My companion thinks he is leaving, you can tell he does not like the hills haha So we will see, the whole ward says I’m going to the north, so who knows!

There has been bunch’s of blessings and trials this week, I felt a little sick but I’m sleeping better and we are working hard, to be honest the hard but best days are when the lord is walking side by side with us!

I know this church is true, I know it with al my heart; I also know that the promptings of the spirit will always be there but we need to learn how to feel them! 

With lots of love Elder Passey

Carlos and Oscar and the Sister Missionaries

March 16th, 2015: FIRE!!!!!

Wow guys you wont believe it but I have been fighting fires all day and night! Hahaha I cant believe you have heard about the fires! But yes they started Friday the thirteenth! It was the craziest thing ever, it started about four in the afternoon and it was growing bigger then ever! The scary thing was that it was in my sector! That’s right! Mom it was burning places where I was walking and teaching the gospel.  Wow so anyway the cloud of smoke was getting bigger and bigger and then the smoke started to get dark and it looked as if a river of smoke was streaming its way through the sky and soon all we could see was smoke and flames licking the top of the hills and I was actually really scared at this point, so we where running away from the fire and they threw us into a fire house and told us how to start the water and where the fire fighting equipment was and how to use it. Then we went running around and I was using the huge firefighter hoses and spraying houses and trees and stuff to protect them from the fire!

I was nervous and my heart was pounding like no other and then the bishop called us and we went coughing to the church.  We then made the run for our emergency backpacks and food and stuff, first thing I grab was my patriarchal blessing and journal and then clothes haha,  But it was crazy and then we started to help everyone into the church and make lists to see who was where and see what had happened to the others! It was really like life or death for some people up in the higher parts of my sector.  The fire did start by an illegal garbage dump and burning, sad thing is that the people were just trying to burn the trash and not throw it in the woods where people could see it, oh well.  The fire raged and burned all the hills and made its way for our sector and started burning over there! The police where there and soldiers where there as well and of course fire fighters! Those guys are studs! 

Anyway more about the fire, one lady died and I think a couple of fire fighters are in critical condition, it was crazy to know that I was there with my companion helping until it got way to bad for us to be there! So what then happened was the Chilean people are a little bit weird, obviously they went running and went to their houses,  Oh, for your info when there is a fire, there are no rules driving wise!  People were seriously driving on sidewalks and around each other then they had a wreck so they could not get up or down the hill.  Then the worse happened, they cut the lights of the hill! Every light close to the fire went out and that’s when screams started to happen and people where robbing each other and people were crying in the street just sitting down and waiting.  I have never beheld the fear and the horror before like I have seen this week, also the pride in which was in the hearts as the people boldly fought the fire and ran into the houses to carry out TVs and radios and stuff.  How could you risk your life for things of the world? Wow it was crazy!

But really nothing else bad happened and it burned some apartments but they are all concrete so it was not to bad, thanks to the firefighters it was controlled.  During the night time we helped the bishop as we ran and helped find old members who could not get themselves down from the fire by themselves.  It was so very hard to run around through he smoke and it was piercing my eyes and we could not really breathe but to burst into a room and find that member and help her out was incredible.  Obviously the situation was not really bad but health risks and everything made us really put out a great name for the church! The love I have for these members is so crazy and I would obviously do it again in a heartbeat!

I did not sleep too much that night and I kept waking up smelling smoke and thinking we would have to get evacuated.  It was nuts but hey life in the mission! Oh and the first relief support sent up was dog food for all the homeless dogs and that the even corralled them all and brought them and gave them houses and everything! Ugh! People! Get your priorities straight!

Also my birthday gift was postponed when Carlos got knocked out playing soccer Saturday night and could not go to church Sunday for his baptism! Ugh! But he promised not to play soccer until after his baptism!

We also had a conference with president and he told us about humility and how we need more, lets just say my prayers have been longer and I can feel the lord closer then ever and I know he is protecting me!

Love you all and I hope you are all doing great, thanks for your prayers!

Elder Passey

This is a picture of our latest Valparaiso Zone Conference.  March 2015

March 9th, 2015: Birthday and the One Year mark in the mission.

Wow, what has been happening to me? One year down and it has been a year that was so important to my life, one that has prepped me for what will come in the future.  It really has gone by so fast and I hope that the next year wont go by too fast because I have a bunch of work to do! The summary of this year has been titled "real intent" if we don’t try with real intent we cannot expect to get answers from the lord. But with real intent you and I can receive tons of blessings and all the doors of heaven shall open and bring forth the blessings of God! I cannot believe how much I have grown and all that has happened in one year with the power of god! This week flew by and we had some great stuff happen and I think I will get the best present this year for my birthday! A BAPTISM! 

Carlos is a young man who we have been working with for a long time and we had some really great experiences with him, he has went through some serious hard times, his dad recently went to jail for being abusive........ He is not well off and he is only 17.  He reminds me of Luke a lot and he even said he felt like we are his older brothers, it really almost made me cry! Man I love this kid! He is so pumped! He passed his interview and this Sunday he will be baptized! But the thing is we are trying to get him into is seminary.  So what happened is my companion gave him one of his suits and he put a suit on for his interview, with tear filled eyes he looked in the mirror and said "thank you, I have never worn a suit before......" it was super humbling because that morning it was super hot and I was grumbling about having to put on a suit! Man how wrong was I! I am so blessed with such little things that sometimes I don’t even notice! ANOTHER THING I HAVE LEARNED IN MY YEAR IN CHILE, YOU CAN NEVER KNOW THE BLESSINGS YOU HAVE UNTIL YOU ARE SURRONDED BY THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HAD WHAT YOU HAVE! It was so humbling to realize that my parents have provided me with everything, while Carlos has worked long hours of the day for every peso he has! He understands blessings from god more than any other kid or man I know, he has blessed me a lot, I love the mission.  Anyway he is going to a seminary dance this Friday! He will pick up the chicks with his sly salsa moves! I have a bunch of pics of him because he wanted to pose. hahaha what a champ!

Also my other two little brother and sister from Chile are enrolled in seminary! It's its so great! They will do so great!  Sometimes and I feel that life is hard for them, they are doing great and are always joking around with us, putting salt in our drinks etc. then the beg us not to go.... if I can only help the youth know how important the gospel is! I never could focus on how important it was until it was over, to all the youth, take advantage of the situation. 

I also went on interchanges with the zone leaders and it was crazy! We went to a bunch of meetings and we put a baptism date with them! It was fun and they are working hard, I’m glad for there great examples that they are for me! We went running in the morning all through the city of Valparaiso and I felt super blessed to live in this crazy city that’s so old school but modern! How awesome!

I also should work in IHOP! I made a bunch of pancakes this Sunday for a family home evening with the bishop’s family and with Carlos, made like bunch’s hahahahahahahaha so crazy! I love this ward! Time is going by so fast and it has not slowed down.

I have never really shared my testimony before through an email but I want you guys to know that family’s are forever, that’s why I’m here, my family will live forever AND I WILL BRING MORE FAMILYS TO CHRIST! I know that without my beloved savior I would be lost.  Through his loving atonement he never once thought of anything else but of us, he saw us face to face and he bled and died for us! I know he lives, I have heard his voice speak to me through the spirit and I have felt him helping me in this great work.  One year down and I have raised the bar to do even bigger things for the next year, I’m locked and loaded and pumped! Lets see what can happen!

P.S. please pray for Benjamin and his mom, his mom got in an accident at work, super malo! 

This is the cast of Patricia, Benjamin's mom.
I wrote all over it!
It's hard for them because she can't work

Carlos!  This guy, what a boss!