Be Astonishing!

 November 4, 2021

Hey Everyone,

So, these past few weeks have been pretty good. I've had some highs and lows. I got put with the same comp that I had before my last comp, which has been kinda interesting. It was cool to see him again but in a different area. We've received some references lately that have looked like amazing families, like seriously, golden investigators, and then for some reason they wouldn't respond to any of our texts or calls. But that is just the way of the mission. Some cute couple at church told us about their grandson and how he needs to get baptized, so we've we've having great lessons with him. His grandpa is going to baptize him, and we're planning the baptism to be on November 13, which should be awesome! I'm also going to play the piano for the baptism, which will be fun. Just yesterday, our mission had the amazing opportunity to hear from the apostle Elder Jeffrey R Holland! He spoke to us through Zoom, and he gave us some amazing advice and insights. I learned that I need to be more astonishing. In all parts of the Book of Mormon when there is a great missionary moment, it talks about how they spoke with "power and authority." We need to speak with power and authority, and astonish people. We also should never underestimate our testimonies! Most of the people we will teach will be older, wiser, and have more skills and knowledge than us. We can't teach and convert someone with just a plain lesson and an explanation of what we believe. We need to tell them why we believe, and share our personally-gained testimonies. It was really awesome to hear him talk right to us and share what he's learned from his mission. I have a testimony that the apostles are called of God and they do receive revelation directly from Him. 

I hope everyone can feel the love if God this week and try to find ways to serve people. Try to astonish someone this week! Love you guys.

November 16, 2021

Hola amigos y familia!!! I honestly can't believe it's November, it's weird looking back and seeing how much time I've been here. This week has been, well, pretty normal haha except we did have a baptism! Just last Saturday the 13, we baptized Lalo, who just turned 8 last Monday. His grandpa actually did the baptism, but we taught him all the lessons and it was pretty cool because he's pretty smart and already knew the answers to all the questions we'd ask him.  It was great! 

My comp and I have grown a lot together and we're actually a lot better friends now. We joke around and laugh a lot more. Well, a lot more than our first transfer together 3 months ago haha. I'm really trying to focus on the good things right now. Its really helped! We can completely change our mood if we decide to focus on the good. It won't happen instantly, but it's much faster than focusing on the bad. Try to change your focus onto the good things and you will see a change in your mood and how you treat others. Maybe try and write a lost of all the good things that happened yesterday, or, a goal that I have, is to try and be better at one good thing every day. Write it down. And then just do it. God didn't give you you idea and tell you to write it down just for you to not do it. God wants us to change for the better. Try to focus on the good! 

-With much love from Elder Chamberlain