Happy Fourth of July!!!!‏


First off, I want to wish everyone a happy fourth of July, I hope each of you light off an extra firework for me seeing as this will be the only fourth of July that I won't be in the good old USA.  But don't worry, my companion and I will definitely have the Mormon Tablernacle Choir singing patriotic music all week long haha.

This has been a fantastic week for us down here in the south of Chile.  Thursday we went to Osorno to have a goodbye party for President and Hermana Rappleye who went home this last week.  I am honestly going to miss them a lot, I have learned so much from President Rappleye that has changed my life and has helped me here on the mission and will help me after.  When we got back home that evening, my companion wasn't feeling too well in his stomach.  So our ward mission leader, Julio, took us to another member's house to get a nice home remedy.  The abuelita there made my companion a nice herbal tea with the secret ingredient being a hot coal from the fire which made it steam up and reminded me of a potion or something from Harry Potter haha. The next day, Friday we helped Julio make a little roof outside the house of a member who is a single mom with a newborn baby and needed a dry place to dry her clothes.  It was really fun and actually turned out pretty good.  I have really come to love doing service here on the mission, I have now helped make a school, a house, a fence and a roof in this past year.  After that we went to celebrate Vicky's birthday and ate completos (the improved version of hot dogs with avocado, tomato and mayo on top).  The next day, Saturday we watched Chile's epic soccer game with our Mamita and Papito.  The game was tied and went to overtime and then penalty kicks which made all of us way too anxious the entire game, well all of us except my companion who almost fell asleep during the game. In the end, they lost on penalty kicks so no more watching sports for me for one more year...  That night was the greatest night of my mission.  I had the opportunity to baptize Victoria which was the greatest feeling I have had on my mission.  I am so proud of her and so excited for her to have the opportunity to be a member of this true church.

Yesterday we had the very special opportunity to meet our new mission president, Presidente Obeso and his wife, Hermana Obeso.  It was really cool because they told us that a month ago they felt like this first Sunday they needed to come to our zone, La Unión, specifically.  They are really special people and I am really excited to get to work and learn from them this second half of my mission.

Well that's about it for this week.  Hope you all have a fantastic week.  Thanks for all the support.  Love you all!

Elder Dower

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

First off, happy father's day to all dads out there, especially to my dad, the greatest example of a great father, priesthood holder, and overall person I know.

I'm writing a little later today because we had a zone activity this morning, we had an asado, the chilean version of a barbecue to say goodbye to Elder Jensen, one of our zone leaders.  It's really wierd for me that he's ending his mission because he's been in my zone all of my mission besides one transfer and when I got here he barely had a little over a year on the mission.  That made me just realize that today I complete 11 months on the mission and that in a month I will have a year.  Where has the time gone?  Anyway, I am currently in a state of food coma because chileans really know how to have a barbecue and we ate a TON of meat.  Pictures will be coming next week.

We've had a really good week down here.  We finished teaching Vicky all of the commandments using For the Strength of Youth and she will have here baptismal interview this week.  I will also be doing my first baptismal interview as a district leader for an investigator of the sisters in the branch the same day which makes me a little nervous.  Other than that, not a whole lot has happened this week.  Friday was the first of Chile's games in the world cup and everything was shut down!  We got permission to watch it with investigators so we got to see it with our ward mission leader, Julio, and his family.  Chile won and the whole town went crazy, people all got into their cars and have a caravan going through the city honking their horns and celebrating haha, it was insane!

Hope you all had a great week and a happy father's day, thanks everyone for your support, I love you all!

Elder Cameron Dower

Questions of the week

1. Are you staying happy?
One thing I really have learned out here on the mission.  We can choose to be happy regardless of our circumstances.  I think sometimes as human beings we have the tendency to associate "easy" with "good" and "hard" with "bad."  This really isn't true.  We are going to have difficult things happen in life, it's part of the reason we came here.  We can choose how we are going to react to these situations, either be happy and do our best, or be sad suffer until something good happens.  Read the talk by President Uchdorf from the last conference about being grateful IN our circumstances, not just with our circumstances, I really liked it.
2.  I see that you were able to go to OSORNO.  What did you buy?
Yes, I got a new suit, and since I got it really cheap I decided to get a jacket and sweater as well.
3.  Did you have fun in Osorno last week?
Yes, we went with Julio, our mission leader and it was really fun.
4.  What has been your most memorable experience from the last week?
 The most memorable experience would probably be teaching Vicky, its been really fun to see her progress and desire to be baptized.
5.  Is there a specific spiritual experience that sticks out in your head from your first 10 months of the mission?
To be honest, no.  It's kinda wierd because I always hear about big spiritual experiences happening to my friends in their missions but it doesn't happen much to me.  I feel like I am more guided by the Spirit without realizing most of the time.
6.  How cold was it this week?
It's been pretty cold this week, but luckily not too rainy.  the jacket I bought last week has come in handy.
7.  How fast can you build a fire from start to finish?
Depends on the day, sometimes it is harder but today I did it in about 10 or 15 minutes.

Hey Everyone!‏

Picking up Elder Lawton at the mission home with Pres y Hna Rappleye

Hope you are all having a great summer and enjoying the warm temperatures and modern conviniences such as air conditioning, central heating etc....  I say this because this past week the rain has basically continued non stop down here in good old Rio Bueno Chile.  The good thing is that I've basically gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me anymore, although making fire every morning and night to keep the house warm can be a bit tedious.

We've had a really good week this week.  The greatest news is that we have Vicky's signed permission from her parents so we are all set for her baptism at the end of this month.  She is so awesome and has such a desire to be baptized and I'm super excited to be able to be a part of it.  It's also been really great to have her family here in Rio Bueno to support her.  They have all been great examples and we haven't really had to do much besides teach and even that is pretty easy with all of the support there.  It just goes to show the huge difference it can make when the members are participating in the missionary work.  So for those of you are are not wearing a nametag right now, I'd like to invite you to think of how you can help the missionaries in your area out and share the gospel with your friends and family.

Personally, I'm feeling really great.  We're seeing lots of results from our hard work and I know that the Lord is blessing us.  This week in district meeting we talked about having faith in our callings.  I read one of my favorite scriptures, Ether 12:6,   And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which arehoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.  This verse has taken on a whole new meaning for me since reading it in spanish.  The spanish word for to hope is esperar, which can be translated into three different words in English, to hope,  to wait, or to expect.  This has helped me to have a different understanding of faith.  We hope for, wait for, and expect blessings to come, even if we don't see them right away, they come, because the Lord always comes through on His promises.

Thank you everyone for your support, it means the world to me. Hope you all have a great week.

Love, Elder Cameron Dower

¡Hola from the land of never ending rain!‏

Well I think I mentioned this last week, but winter has officially begun here in Chile.  What does that mean you may ask? Well that means that we haven't seen the sun much this past week and my umbrella is finally getting a lot of use.  The good news is that I am finally a master fire builder and can do it in about ten minutes each morning (have I mentioned that we heat our houses with log burning stoves here?) which makes life a heck of a lot easier.

This has been another fantastic week for us down here.  Best news of the week...Vicky is getting baptized this month!  She picked her own date for the 27th of June because it is her birthday and we were able to talk to her mom yesterday and she said that it was ok with her and that she would get the dad to sign to give Vicky permission.  She is so awesome and has so much desire to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized.  Patricio is also doing well, he won't be getting baptized this week just yet but we will still be working there.  I believe he will be baptized within the month of June.

I'm starting to really enjoy my assignment as district leader.  It was really great to see the progress of our entire district this last week.  We were able to almost double each of our key indicators as a district this last week which was really exciting.  I had my first district meeting this week and we talked about having faith in the promises of the Lord.  In the scriptures and in Preach my Gospel He gives us so many promises based on our own faithfulness.  All that we have to do is do our best to fulifll our part and trust that He will do His.  Many times we may not see the results right away but He always completes with His promises.  I know that the Lord has been helping me to be able to fulfill these responsibilities.

Thanks everyone for your support, it really means a lot to me.  Hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Dower

¡Hola Todos!‏

Here we are again at the beginning of another week here in Rio Bueno.  It's been a really great week for us and we have seen many blessings and miracles in our work down here.

I'd say the greatest thing of this week was our Zone Conference that we had on Tuesday with President Rappleye.  It was the last one that we will have with him since they will be finishing their mission at the end of June.  I'm really sad that we will have to see him go since I have learned so much from him in the last months not only about missionary work but about life.  What stuck out to me most from this conference was the Host/Guest concept.  These are basically the two points of view that we can have going through this life, we can either be the host or the guest of the party.  The guest in the party is always criticizing everything.  "Oh look all of the food ran out, oh no its too cold in here, oh there aren't enough chairs, they really should put out more chairs for the guests here, etc."  The host is the one running around trying to make sure that the party is great for everyone. He is putting out more food and making sure the temperature is good and getting more chairs.  In life we can either spend out time looking at the things that are wrong and complaining about it, or we can change these problems that we are always going to face and be a host.

We are doing really well with our investigators. There are three right now who are progressing really well towards baptism.  Vicky is still doing really well, we are still trying to get permission from her father and work to get a date put for the end of June put I am feeling really confident with her.  We are also working with Patricio, the father of a family of recent converts who we were able to put with date last week for the seventh of June.  We will be talking with him this Wednesday to see if he will be ready to have his interview this weekend and be baptized next week, if not will will put a new date and keep working there.  We also have Denisse, another twelve year old who's dad is less active and never has been baptized.  She has a date for the 28th of June to be baptized so we are really excited for that.  It's been a huge testimony of the role that members need to play in missionary work since we were able to find all of these people through the members of our branch here.  They have all come from our ward mission leader and others who are sharing the gospel with their family and friends.

Hope everyone is doing well. I love hearing about what is going on with everyone.  Hope you all have a great week, I love you!

Elder Cameron Dower

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