Hola todos!

Hey everyone! Hope you all have had a fantastic week.  We are enjoying our time down here in Rio Bueno Chile.  I'll be perfectly honest, it makes me very jealous to hear about everyone moving into summer up there when we are now just starting winter down here. Not fair!  The rainy season is just starting and it is constantly raining which is pretty interesting.  Luckily we are well equipped to handle it.

It's been a really awesome week for us.  Our investigators are progressing and we're finding new people.  I'm really excited about what is happening here and even more to know that I'll be here for a while to be able to see how everything turns out.

The unfortunate news is that it looks like we won't be having a baptism here in the month of May because Vicky has been sick this last week and we aren't going to be able to teach her everything and have her interview before the 31st.  So we will be putting a new date for June here soon.

This week we were able to contact and teach a reference of a family in our sector.  The mom (Paula) talked to a missionary on a bus on the way to Valdivia to see her husband in the hospital.  The missionary got here address and we got the reference.  They are a really great family. Her husband, Cristian has diabetes and had his foot amputated as a result (he even showed us the pictures haha). They have a son, Rodolfo, and are really open to our message.  I'm excited to see where that goes.

Yesterday evening we worked with our ward mission leader to visit some other new people.  We taught a less active member and his daughter, Denisse, who is twelve years old and hasn't been baptized.  We were able to put her with date for he 28th of June.  It would be really sweet if her and Vicky got baptized together!  We also visited one of my favorite families in the branch.  The dad of the family works up in the north of Chile so isn't here very often, but he isn't a member.  Julio, our ward mission leader, talked about baptism and actually invited him to be baptized as well! And he accepted!  The only problem is that they live in the sisters' sector so I don't think we will be able to teach him but the only thing that really matters is that he takes that step.

This is seriously the busiest time in my mission so far.  I'm really excited to see what is happening and to be able to be a part of it.  Time is flying by so fast!  Days feel like minutes to me right now but I'm really excited to see how things go this next week.

Hope you all have a great week.  I love you all!

Elder Dower


Questions from the week

1. How are you feeling about being the senior companion/trainer?  

 I'm getting more used to it.  It'll take some more time but I'm doing better.

2. Are you able to plan the things you need to do each day to be successful?

 I've learned to make good plans that I can be excited about each day.  That way I have more enthusiasm when I wake up in the morning.

3. How is your confidence in the language?

 It's pretty good.  Now during training I'm trying to find the ways that I mess up most often and correct them.

4. What are your duties as a District Leader?

 I have to do calls Wednesday, Friday, and Sundays to see how the district is doing.  Each week I have to lead district meeting as well.

5. How are your investigators? 

 See other email haha

6. Do you still have a baptismal date for the end of the month?

 No, we will need to push it back to be able to teach everything more.

7. Have you met anyone new this week?

 Yes, we met a new family of three that are awesome.

8. What are you going to do today?

 Today I am going to write, shop, clean, and then nap haha.

9.  What is planned this week?

  Lots of teaching and we have an activity of the branch Friday.

Hola everyone!  Hope you all had a great mother's day yesterday, I know I did.  It's seriously the greatest blessing for us to be able to see and talk with our families from so far away down here.  I love them and miss them so much and it gives me tons of excitement having been able to see and talk to them yesterday.

It's been a bit of a hectic week this past week as I'm all of a sudden thrown into a situation that is a lot farther out of my comfort zone as I'm used to.  On wednesday I went from being junior companion to being senior companion, trainer, and district leader.  All in one day!  Needless to say I've been a little stressed out the past few days, but I've also learned a lot.  I'm really grateful for the counsel of my Dad who said that the Lord wouldn't have put me in this position if I wasn't capable of it.  He knows that this is what I need in my mission right now and I'm excited to be able to progress a lot these next few months.

So my new trainee is Elder Lawton from good ole Provo Utah.  It's great because he came pre trained in Spanish which is making both of our lives that much easier.  We've had a great first week of the transfer and are pleased to announce that Victoria (Vicky) has accepted a baptismal date for the thirty first of May.  I'm super excited for her to be able to continue learning and take this step in following our Savior.

That's about it for this weeks.  Thanks to all of my moms out there who have helped me get to this point in my life. Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Cameron Dower

Hey Everyone!

How's everyone doing?  I hope fantastic! It's been an absolutely great week for us here in Rio Bueno Chile to end off this transfer.  Probably one of the most successful weeks of my mission.

Rio Bueno in May

Monday after writing Elder Walker and I headed down to Osorno to find some new shoes for him. After searching for a good amount of time we were informed that they do not carry shoes in his size. (Elder Walker is 6 foot 7 and has size 13 feet haha).  So we are going to have to figure something else out for the poor guy haha.  As we returned to the house we realized that the both of us didn't have our keys (yes to those of you who know how many times I have locked my keys in my car, I now lock them into the house...).  So we had to climb over the fence and I had to boost my companion into the bathroom window in order to get into the house.

The next day, Tuesday, we got up early in the morning to help out our papito (husband of the mamita) who is the seminary teacher in the branch.  The youth of the branch had prepared lessons to teach us from the Book of Mormon.  It was really fun and made me realize how lucky I was to be able to have seminary during school and not have to wake up so early for it haha.  After seminary our papito pulled out some keys and asked if they were ours.  The were my companion's keys which had been missing for almost a month!  That was a testimony to me to that the Lord always answers our prayers, but in His own time.  We had to figure out how to get along while we were patient for Him to answer.

Friday we did an exchange with the other Elders in our district in Lago Ranco, I went there with Elder Colque, from Peru.  If you ever get a chance, look up some pictures of Lago Ranco Chile because it is absolutely beautiful.  After lunch as we were preparing to leave, President Rappleye called Elder Colque and told him that he is going to be made district leader this cambio.  After a couple minutes, he called back again to tell me that I am going to train a new missionary this cambio and be district leader. My "hijo" is from good old Provo Utah and named Elder Lotchen (I honestly have no clue how to spell it).  Needless to say, I've been freaking out a little because I'm going from junior companion to being in charge of five other missionaries, one of them, my companion being brand new!  I guess the Lord knows I need a challenge to be able to progress more and learn more in the mission.  It's going to be an interesting next transfer.

Saturday we were called by a member in the branch to give a blessing to a baby who's been a little sick.  We went to do it and the member introduced us to her niece, Victoria who is 12 years old and who she's been bringing to church and wants to be baptized!  I honestly had no clue that she wasn't already a member.  She stays with her aunt on weekends so we are going to start teaching her this Friday.  That night, an old investigator named Pablo called us and said he wanted to go to church and sure enough, he showed up on Sunday in a suit and tie.

Sunday we had three investigators in church, which is the most I've ever had.  Pablo came, Victoria came, and the mom of a recent convert. They say that training brings miracles to a sector and I'm already starting to see that and I'm really excited for this week.

Well that's about it for this week.  Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement, I love you all!

Elder Cameron Dower

Questions of the week.

1.. How is the weather there today
1. It's actually really nice today, the sun's out which we haven't had for a little while so I'm happy.
2. What memorable thing happened this week
 I'd say the most memorable moment was getting the call from President telling me I'm going to train and be district leader this cambio, it's still kinda freaking me out!
3. Were you able to find any of the people you have been teaching this week
 JP hasn't been in his house and we actually found out yesterday that Hernan moved out of the house of his girlfriend so we need to figure out where he lives now 
4. Are you still focusing on talking to everyone you see
Yes we still are, which has really helped us find more people to teach this week.
5. Do you do service for others
Yes, most often, we chop wood.  I don't know if I've mentioned but during the winter all of the heating here is by wood burning stoves, so we go to the old ladies in the branch to chop their wood.
6. How is your health
 I'm perfectly fine, Friday we had to go to Osorno in the morning to get our flu shots so hopefully that will help this winter.}
7. Did you end up going to osorno last week (I noticed that you didn't buy anything.  Why not?)
Yea we went, but I couldn't find anything to buy haha so I'll save it for when I see something I need.
8. , do you do anything fun on pday, like basketball or anything else
Yea every once in a while, this zone isn't as fun with that because we're a lot more spread out than in Punta Arenas, today we are going to just relax while Elder Walker gets ready to leave.
9 will you be able to Skype on mothers day, or just call.
YES!!!  Sunday we are going to Skype, we've been invited to do it with a family in the branch but we still need to coordinate at what time.  What is the time difference? I'm pretty sure we are two hours ahead of you.  We will get permission to comunicate at what time we can do it.
10 Does Chile celebrate mothers day
. Yes, they do celebrate mother's day, I think we will do something for our mamita this week but I'm not sure, then skype on Sunday.  

YUM, Root Beer

Hey Everyone!

Hope everyone has had a great week!  I am currently struggling to type on a computer considering the fact that my fingers are freezing! Winter has definitely arrived here in the south of Chile and I am honestly not looking forward to it if it is already this cold.  I am quite envious of those of you who are heading into spring and summer right now because I feel like I haven't had a real summer since I left home, probably because I haven't haha.

We've had another interesting week down here in Rio Bueno.  Elder Walker and I have decided that it has seriously been the strangest cambio either of us have had.  Last week on Monday we went to Osorno to get his second visa started (visas last for a year so each of us will need two in the mission).  We got to hang out in the mall there which was pretty wierd to have a mall down here that is basically the same as the one that I worked in for a year and a half back home.  We also went to a place called Jumbo which is the best supermarket in Chile because it has ROOT BEER, DR PEPPER AND MACARONI AND CHEESE.  I never thought I'd be so excited to taste those again but after over nine months of not having that, it tasted amazing.  Wednesday, Elder Walker had to go north to a city called Valdivia to visit the mission foot doctor so I had to stay in La Union on an exchange with Elder Parsons which was fun.  Saturday, finally, after two weeks, we got our hot water heater fixed.  I must say, that shower was the best I've ever felt in my life.  It's amazing what a nice, hot shower can do to make you feel so much better about everything, my companion and I were on a positivity high all day haha.

As far as investigators go, its been a pretty slow week.  Hernan didn't come to sacrament meeting even though we had talked with them the night before and they said they were all good to go.  We couldn't find JP all week long so we're not sure what has happened to him.  It's been pretty frustrating, but I'm trying to look more positively at everything.  In the end, we can't control the actions of others, part of the plan of salvation is the gift of agency.  I've realized that really, the only thing we can really control in life is ourselves.  The only thing we have control over is how we are going to change to becomse more like Christ.  If we can do that we will be able to respond to any situation in the right way.  I've realized that Preach My Gospel is for just that.  To help us as missionaries to be able to develop the skills and talents that we need to do our job.

Is school really almost over? That's crazy!  I've really almost been gone for an entire school year haha. I got the list of missionaries from Dad, that crazy how many there are all of a sudden, and I know almost all of them haha.

Glad everyone's doing well.  I think its funny that both me and Madi do better when you don't come haha because I always felt better when you and Dad were there, not sure whats up with that.

Ash is swimming? Somebody needs to start biking and then we'll have a nice triathlon team in the family haha.

We did get the water heater fixed which felt fantastic.  We actually have a little electrical water heater to make hot chocolate and stuff which we used to heat water and then pour it on ourselves while it was broken but it wasn't the same haha.

I have some pictures to send but for some reason its not working on this computer.  I think it needs to be google chrome instead of internet explorer to be able to do it.  I'll try again next week!  Haven't gotten the package yet but we have district meeting tomorrow so the zone leaders might bring it then.


Thanks to everyone for your love and support, it means more than you will ever know.  I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Dower

Hey everyone!

Just for Ashlyn's reply to my last email I am not going to start this one by saying "wow, this week has gone by really fast" even though it is true and I really can't believe it's already monday haha.

It's been a really great week for us down here in Rio Bueno Chile. Today we are in Osorno because Elder Walker has had to do some stuff for his second visa so we get to play around here which is much more exciting than Rio Bueno.

The biggest highlight of this week has been that we have a new investigator with a baptismal date named Jean Pierre (never thought I'd be teaching an investigator with that name) he is 20 years old andis the nephew (although I'm not really sure if he's the real nephew because it's a nickname people give to each other here too) of our mission leader which is awesome.  He's really cool and is really open to learning about the gospel. He also plays this really cool ukelele type instrument from Easter Island (easter island is part of Chile) that I want to learn how to play.


We've been working a lot with our branch to get the members more excited to participate in hastening the work of salvation which has been really successful.  Yesterday we had branch counsel and talked about how we can do that.  I believe that in this branch we really have all of the tools to really accelerate the work and I'm really excited to see what happens.

We've had another fun week of no hot water because of Semana Santa (holy week?) which is a huge deal here and almost no one works so we're still trying to get someone to come out to fix our water heater.  It's been a really fun experience that I'm sure will help me to appreciate the modern benefit of hot water haha.

Well that's about it for today. Thanks everyone for your support it really means a lot to me.  I love you all!

Elder Dower

Hey everyone!

Is it really already Monday? Time is flying by faster and faster as I go on in my mission, I can't believe I've already been out for nine months on my mission!  I'm realizing more and more how much I need to take advantage of all the time I have left here.

So this has probably been the craziest week I have had in my mission, mainly because of Saturday.  So my companion (yes, I'm blaming him) forgot to set our alarm on Friday night so, we ended up sleeping in until 8:00 Saturday morning instead of 7 like we're supposed to (I'm pretty sure that happens to every missionary at least once). As we are rushing to get ready for the day we realize that we are out of gas (we use a gas propane tank to get hot water) to get hot water for our showers.  I try calling the number of the gas company but it doesn't work.  That morning we had service planned with a member of our ward so we just decided we'd go do that and shower after lunch.  We helped Hermano Villanueva "order" a bunch of junk in his yard and then went to lunch at Mamita´s. She gave us the right number and we were able to call the gas company to get a new gas tank.  Unfortunately, the gas heater still didn't work. We call the senior missionary in charge of the houses and he tells us that he'll have to send someone to fix it one of these days.  So we have had to use our electrical heater that we use to make hot chocolate and oatmeal to bathe these past few days.  We then left to work and passed by a member family who was selling completos (hot dogs with avocado, tomato and mayo) for a fundraiser.  We had to buy a couple to support them of course! Then just as we were about to leave their house who should knock on the door but the sister missionaries in the branch who came to visit the family too.  It looked really bad because we were eating on a fast Saturday (here we always fast dinner saturday and breakfast sunday morning) but we are postponing the fast a week because I've had a cold this week, but they didn't know that.  My companion, as district leader was pretty embarrased. We then went to a lesson with Hernan and Carolina.  They have made the decision to separate which is really sad for their family.  Their nine year old daughter was crying when they told us which made me feel really bad.  I hope that Hernan will keep listening to us but we'll have to see what happens.

Then we come to yesterday when we had a normal sacrament meeting.  None of our investigators ended up coming. :( Then our lunch fell (on sundays we eat lunch with members) so we had to whip something up ourselves.  Luckily a member had given me some salmon this week.  So I found my inner Iron Chef and cooked some salmon with noodles (Mom, you should be proud of me ;).  I don't know how all of these things ended up happening in just two days but I was thinking about why it would have happened and I've realized that I learned a lot from these experiences.  Sometimes in life, things are going to happen that we can let get in our way, or just laugh and enjoy the experience.  Being without hot water kind of stinks, but its been really funny to have to adjust and get things to work out anyway. Without lunch being made for us by members, I had to adjust and cook my own, which was actually pretty fun.

Hope everyone has a great Easter Sunday remembering the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that He lives and that because he lives, we will all live again with our families together forever if we do our part. Thanks for all of your support, love you all!



Glad everyone has had a good week.  It's getting a little colder and a little rainier each day but luckily I came prepared and haven't had a problem with it so far.  I miss Dexter. There's a family in our branch that has a maltese that looks a lot like him. I picked him up and he licked all over my face which my companion thought was funny but it made me miss my puppy a lot haha.

Questions
#1-  How do Chileans celebrate Easter?
 Here all week is the "holy week" for the catholic church where I guess they don't eat meat all week to remember Christ's death or something, I don't really understand it, but they have the easter bunny too just like us.
#2- What is your apartment like?
Its really nice, one of the nicest in the mission.
#3- Are you going to send pictures?  We would love to have a picture of each of your companions and a picture of where you live.  Also, cool sights around the city.

 I'll try to take some this week. Sorry I never really think about it throughout the week, I need to do better haha.

I look forward to the package, how long have the other ones taken? I forget but I'll be looking for it by the end of the month.

Love ya!
.Elder Cameron Dower

No Quaking in Rio Bueno

So just to clear up everyone's worries right away, the earthquake from Santiago didn't reach our mission. We're all fine, there was a tsunami warning and some of the missionaries that have áreas on the coast had to evacuate but nothing ended up happening.  Thanks everyone for your concern, it means a lot.

This has been a really great week. General Conference on the mission is seriously the best.  It's so cool that even down here in Rio Bueno Chile I can be watching the same exact thing as all of my family and friends throughout the world.  The technology that allows this is truly a blessing from God and I'm so grateful for it.  I had a lot of questions answered this conference and I'm really excited to go forward in the Lord's work here in Chile.  These are a few of the themes that stuck out to me.

1. Discipleship and fulfilling our duties.  We have all made covenants and committed that we are going to follow the Lord and obey his commandments and the words of the prophets. We do have responsibilities as members of the church.  A lot of times we have the tendency to just go through life doing the bare mínimum of what is expected of us.  We ALL need to participate in the work of salvation by sharing the góspel and helping others.

2. Love and Gratitude.  I noticed that a lot of talks focused on our love for and how we treat others both strangers and family members.  Elder Scott's talk was one of my favorites specifically as a missionary because I realized that we can't help others if they don't feel our love for them.  A lot of times missionaries can get wrapped up in becoming baptizing machines and people feel like we are only there to baptize them for ourselves, not to help them with sincere love.  As we all go about sharing the góspel, we need to feel Christ's love for others.

As far as the work goes here we continue to find, teach and prepare people to make the commitment to follow our Lord Jesús Christ through baptism.  The biggest highlight from the week was a lesson that we had last night with Hernan.  He said that he is committed to be baptized, they just need to decide as a couple whether to get married or be separated.  My favorite part was when their nine year old daughter perked up and asked what we were talking about, the mom said "whether your dad and I are going to get married or if Dad's going to leave the house," the daughter says "I like the marriage one better" it made us all laugh haha, but he should be baptized by the end of the month.

That reminds me, Elder York got transferred to this zone this transfer and was able to give me an update on Ariel and Leslie.  He said they were making plans and committed to getting married and then baptized when he left so hopefully soon they will do that. Woohoo!

That's it for this week. Thanks everyone for your love and support, I really appreciate it.  Hope you all have a fantastic week.

Love, Elder Dower

Questions this week.
1. Have you heard about the earthquakes?  I looked it up and you are more than 1000 miles away.
yea we Heard but nothing happened here
2. Are people talking about it there?  Maybe opening people's minds and hearts?
I haven't really seen any affects, was it really big? I don't know much about it.
3. How are things going with Elder Walker?  Are you getting along ok?
We're doing really great, He has a year and like 2 months, we get along really well, , he actually went to school with Jessica at mountain view, I forgot to mention that.

4. Are you still talking and serving everyone you come in contact with?

. Yes, it's been harder this week with general conference but yes.

5. How are the people you have been meeting with progressing?
hernan is doing really great, should be baptized this month
6. Did anyone watch conference with you or members?
 yes, Hernan came and Miguel a 15 year old kid we're teaching
7. How is the weather?
its starting to be colder and more rainy, i have to wear sweaters more now


Thats all the questions I have for now.  After conference, there was a special about David Archeleta's mission.  They showed him walking and riding buses in Chile.  All I could think of is that is what Cameron is doing.
That special of David Archuleta sounds about right, we walk and ride buses a lot haha.