One More in Calle Calle!
Hey Everyone!
So today we got news on transfers and Elder McDonald and I are staying together for another one! I'm really excited for six more weeks here in Valdivia, we've had a great transfer and I'm excited to see what happens this week.
We've had a great week this week as a zone. In our sector we've progressed a lot as well. I think I might have mentioned last week, but we're changing a lot of things as a mission this year. We're focusing a lot on including the members in the work. My companion and I decided that we needed to meet with our bishop and the ward mission leader to discuss some goals for the new year. We're all really excited to see success this year in our ward. Now we just need to apply it to the stake.
My companion and I have worked really hard this week to find new investigators. Just like a good part of my mission, we've seen that the investigator pool has been drying up a little. We worked really hard and were really blessed to be able to find a lot of people. Last sunday we went by a recent convert that hasn't been to church in a while and her cousin was there visiting with her. We talked with her a little and had a lesson with her yesterday that was awesome. We also have been working with a program in Chile called "El Rescate" (the rescue) which is a database of the records of the church combined with the records of the chilean government which allows us to find a lot of the inactive members down here. About 90% of the members in Chile aren't active and a lot of them have moved since they've been to church and the address we have in the church system isn't accurate. This week we found a family of four that hadn't been visited by missionaries for five years. They are really receptive, especially the girlfriend of one of the members, who isn't a member. We have another appointment with them on Tuesday.We were also able to get three families who haven't gone to church in all my time here to go to church.
I'm really enjoying the mission right now. As a zone we are really trying to focus in on our purpose as missionaries. When I am working towards my purpose as a missionary I really feel like I'm doing my job and it's an amazing feeling. I was thinking about our purpose here as children of God. We all have a purpose here and we as members of the church are fortunate enough to know what it is. When we work toward that purpose we will be able to feel the happiness of our Heavenly Father in our lives. Thanks everyone for your love and support, I love you all!
Cool news: Elder Jacobson is the new assistant to the president, it's funny because he and Elder Bate, the other AP were companions as my zone leaders in Chiloe haha.
Elder Cameron Dower
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Happy 2015!
Holy cow, I can't believe it's already 2015, it's hit me this week that I only have six months left in the mission! That's a crazy thought. I can't believe how fast this has gone by and how much I still have left to do in the time I have left. I've absolutely loved this last year of 2014. I couldn't have imagined how much I would learn and grown during this last year I've been able to spend serving the Lord. It's been an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm so grateful for the next six months I have to be able to finsh this thing off.
It's been a pretty good week for us. New year's was pretty challenging because for a few days pretty much nobody was in the streets, and most of our investigators were busy and couldn't meet with us. We were able to spend a good amount of time searching for less active members since we have a TON of them here to find. Luckily for the holidays a lot of them were in their houses and we could talk to them. Not all of them were receptive but at least we could verify that they live there.
On Friday we had the oportunity to do splits with the assistants. I got to work with Elder Kevesdy and learned a ton from him. There are a lot of changes that are happening in the mission for this new year which we are in charge of implementing in the zone. I'm really excited to see the progress in the mission with these new changes that are going to allow us to work better with the members and focus more on our purpose as missionaries.
Well hope everyone had a great week and has a great year 2015. Thank you all for your love and support, you're the best!!
Elder Cameron Dower
Holy cow, I can't believe it's already 2015, it's hit me this week that I only have six months left in the mission! That's a crazy thought. I can't believe how fast this has gone by and how much I still have left to do in the time I have left. I've absolutely loved this last year of 2014. I couldn't have imagined how much I would learn and grown during this last year I've been able to spend serving the Lord. It's been an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm so grateful for the next six months I have to be able to finsh this thing off.
It's been a pretty good week for us. New year's was pretty challenging because for a few days pretty much nobody was in the streets, and most of our investigators were busy and couldn't meet with us. We were able to spend a good amount of time searching for less active members since we have a TON of them here to find. Luckily for the holidays a lot of them were in their houses and we could talk to them. Not all of them were receptive but at least we could verify that they live there.
On Friday we had the oportunity to do splits with the assistants. I got to work with Elder Kevesdy and learned a ton from him. There are a lot of changes that are happening in the mission for this new year which we are in charge of implementing in the zone. I'm really excited to see the progress in the mission with these new changes that are going to allow us to work better with the members and focus more on our purpose as missionaries.
Well hope everyone had a great week and has a great year 2015. Thank you all for your love and support, you're the best!!
Elder Cameron Dower
Sunday, January 4, 2015
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Hey Everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas! It was pretty great here, the highlight was obviously getting to talk to the family on Skype. It's so weird that it was my third time already. It's funny how much has changed and yet how much has stayed the same the last year and a half. So in Chile, they celebrate Christmas at midnight on the 24th (they don't have to wait til 7:00 in the morning like some poor children) so we got to eat dinner that night with a member family we are working with which was pretty fun. I really enjoyed the candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup from my family along with the elf pajamas. On christmas we got up and opened our presents. New white shirts and ties and new socks, what else could a missionary want? Later that day we went to our investigator, Francisco and his family's and played Monopoly with them and shared a message (I totally won at monopoly haha).
Apart from talking to the family, the biggest highlight this week was the baptism of Francisco on Saturday. I love that family so much. I'm really hoping that his mom is going to be able to be baptized during my time here as well. It was a great service. He was baptized by a member here who just got his mission call to serve in Santiago and was confirmed by our ward mission leader. It's great to see that he has so much support from the members. I'm really excited about the work here. We're planning on putting another investigator, Felipe, with baptismal date later today which I'm feeling really good about as well.
Wow, I can't believe that we are going into 2015. When I started my mission the year 2015 seemed so far off and I can't believe that it's already here. It's really weird to think that I'll spend half of this new year on the mission and half of it back home. It's caused me to think about all the things I still have left to do here on the mission and what I want to accomplish before I'm done here. I imagine the person I want to be and the relationship that I want to have with the Lord. I have a lot of goals for the rest of my mission, and that is why I love this opportunity we have to set resolutions for the next year and the opportunity that the atonement of Jesus Christ gives us to change and better ourselves. We are so fortunate to have the tools that we need to conquer all of our weaknesses and continually improve ourselves to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ.
Hope you all have a great New Year's, I'll definitely be sleeping through it, but hope you all enjoy it haha. Thanks for all the support and love.
Love, Elder Cameron Dower
Hey Everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas! It was pretty great here, the highlight was obviously getting to talk to the family on Skype. It's so weird that it was my third time already. It's funny how much has changed and yet how much has stayed the same the last year and a half. So in Chile, they celebrate Christmas at midnight on the 24th (they don't have to wait til 7:00 in the morning like some poor children) so we got to eat dinner that night with a member family we are working with which was pretty fun. I really enjoyed the candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup from my family along with the elf pajamas. On christmas we got up and opened our presents. New white shirts and ties and new socks, what else could a missionary want? Later that day we went to our investigator, Francisco and his family's and played Monopoly with them and shared a message (I totally won at monopoly haha).
Apart from talking to the family, the biggest highlight this week was the baptism of Francisco on Saturday. I love that family so much. I'm really hoping that his mom is going to be able to be baptized during my time here as well. It was a great service. He was baptized by a member here who just got his mission call to serve in Santiago and was confirmed by our ward mission leader. It's great to see that he has so much support from the members. I'm really excited about the work here. We're planning on putting another investigator, Felipe, with baptismal date later today which I'm feeling really good about as well.
Wow, I can't believe that we are going into 2015. When I started my mission the year 2015 seemed so far off and I can't believe that it's already here. It's really weird to think that I'll spend half of this new year on the mission and half of it back home. It's caused me to think about all the things I still have left to do here on the mission and what I want to accomplish before I'm done here. I imagine the person I want to be and the relationship that I want to have with the Lord. I have a lot of goals for the rest of my mission, and that is why I love this opportunity we have to set resolutions for the next year and the opportunity that the atonement of Jesus Christ gives us to change and better ourselves. We are so fortunate to have the tools that we need to conquer all of our weaknesses and continually improve ourselves to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ.
Hope you all have a great New Year's, I'll definitely be sleeping through it, but hope you all enjoy it haha. Thanks for all the support and love.
Love, Elder Cameron Dower
¡Feliz Navidad!
Hey Everyone!
Is it really already Christmas?! Holy cow I feel like we just passed July! We've had a really busy week that has passed by incredibly fast. Christmas feels really different this year. Maybe the lack of snow and family and the abundance of sun and missionary stuff to do is the reason, but I like that this year I get to focus a lot more on the real reason for Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
This week we have been busy with a lot of activities for Christmas. We had a combined stake choir where the missionaries participated Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday we were in the Valdivia mall, Saturday in the plaza and Sunday in the stake center (don't worry, I didn't sing, just contacted the people walking by, I acknowledge the fact that all of the singing talent went to my sisters). It was a huge headache getting everything set up (more zone leader probs) but in the end everything went well and we had a great turnout to all three activities.
We've also been getting our friend Fransisco ready for his baptism which, unfortunately, will not take place on Christmas day, but on Saturday, the 27th instead. But we are still really excited for him and this step he and his family are taking together.
Well this should be an interesting week. I have absolutely no idea what we're going to end up doing for Christmas down here, but I'm sure we'll find something fun! I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas! Thank you all for all you do to support me in this, couldn't do it without you!
Love, Elder Cameron Dower
Hey Everyone!
Is it really already Christmas?! Holy cow I feel like we just passed July! We've had a really busy week that has passed by incredibly fast. Christmas feels really different this year. Maybe the lack of snow and family and the abundance of sun and missionary stuff to do is the reason, but I like that this year I get to focus a lot more on the real reason for Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
This week we have been busy with a lot of activities for Christmas. We had a combined stake choir where the missionaries participated Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday we were in the Valdivia mall, Saturday in the plaza and Sunday in the stake center (don't worry, I didn't sing, just contacted the people walking by, I acknowledge the fact that all of the singing talent went to my sisters). It was a huge headache getting everything set up (more zone leader probs) but in the end everything went well and we had a great turnout to all three activities.
We've also been getting our friend Fransisco ready for his baptism which, unfortunately, will not take place on Christmas day, but on Saturday, the 27th instead. But we are still really excited for him and this step he and his family are taking together.
Well this should be an interesting week. I have absolutely no idea what we're going to end up doing for Christmas down here, but I'm sure we'll find something fun! I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas! Thank you all for all you do to support me in this, couldn't do it without you!
Love, Elder Cameron Dower
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Merry almost Christmas!!!
Wow this has been another super busy week for us down here! Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season, I definitely am. Something about the spirit of Christmas make missionary work go a lot better.
So I may have mentioned last week, I don't remember, that we had interviews with president on Wednesday and then an activity with President Obeso and his wife. We went a little late with the interviews on Wednesday so instead of interviewing us last, he treated us to lunch at McDonald's. It was pretty funny because my companion is Elder McDonald, so he told the cashier that we were with the owner's son and they had to give us the meal for free. It was really nice and fun, but strange to be with the mission president and his wife in McDonalds. After we did exchanges with a couple elders in the zone, Elder Marsden from New Mexico started the mission with me and we were both trained in Punta Arenas so it was pretty fun to be back together.
Thursday we had the activity with President. We had planned to sing in a choir in the plaza and contact people giving out Christmas cookies. Well the whole thing basically fell apart at the last minute because the city didn't give us permission to use the plaza, so we were left hanging and as zone leaders we were responsible for organizing the whole thing. I cannot remember being so stressed in my life, I literally went crazy. In the end we contacted a member who has a preschool/daycare who brought the kids and we sang for them and gave them cookies. It worked out ok in the end, but definitely not as good as we wanted, but we learned a lot from it.
We're really excited for Christmas down here. We're going to have a really special Christmas this year. Our investigator, Fransisco, is going to be baptized on Christmas day! Fransisco is twelve years old and his family is really awesome. I'm really excited for him and for the blessing that it has been to work with him and his family.
Last thing, we have been working really hard in the zone lately to strengthen our relations with the members and work more united with them. I wanted to ask, for those of you who are members, what makes you excited to do participate in the work of salvation and what would make you trust the missionaries more? For those of you who are missionaries, what have you done to strengthen your relations with the members and work together better?
Have a great week everyone! I love you!
Elder Cameron Dower
Wow this has been another super busy week for us down here! Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season, I definitely am. Something about the spirit of Christmas make missionary work go a lot better.
So I may have mentioned last week, I don't remember, that we had interviews with president on Wednesday and then an activity with President Obeso and his wife. We went a little late with the interviews on Wednesday so instead of interviewing us last, he treated us to lunch at McDonald's. It was pretty funny because my companion is Elder McDonald, so he told the cashier that we were with the owner's son and they had to give us the meal for free. It was really nice and fun, but strange to be with the mission president and his wife in McDonalds. After we did exchanges with a couple elders in the zone, Elder Marsden from New Mexico started the mission with me and we were both trained in Punta Arenas so it was pretty fun to be back together.
Thursday we had the activity with President. We had planned to sing in a choir in the plaza and contact people giving out Christmas cookies. Well the whole thing basically fell apart at the last minute because the city didn't give us permission to use the plaza, so we were left hanging and as zone leaders we were responsible for organizing the whole thing. I cannot remember being so stressed in my life, I literally went crazy. In the end we contacted a member who has a preschool/daycare who brought the kids and we sang for them and gave them cookies. It worked out ok in the end, but definitely not as good as we wanted, but we learned a lot from it.
We're really excited for Christmas down here. We're going to have a really special Christmas this year. Our investigator, Fransisco, is going to be baptized on Christmas day! Fransisco is twelve years old and his family is really awesome. I'm really excited for him and for the blessing that it has been to work with him and his family.
Last thing, we have been working really hard in the zone lately to strengthen our relations with the members and work more united with them. I wanted to ask, for those of you who are members, what makes you excited to do participate in the work of salvation and what would make you trust the missionaries more? For those of you who are missionaries, what have you done to strengthen your relations with the members and work together better?
Have a great week everyone! I love you!
Elder Cameron Dower
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Week one in Valdivia!
Hey everyone!
Well here we are in my new area. I am in the city of Valdivia which is the biggest city i have been in so far in my mission and it's way different from Quellón, it's HOT! I haven't gone out to work without a jacket in so long but here I've never needed one so far. My new companion is Elder McDonald and we've been having a lot of fun. There are two zones here in Valdivia and we are over the zone of Calle Calle (that's cai-yay, cai-yay) which is part of the city and a couple little towns to the south. We have some awesome missionaries here and I'm excited to be able to serve them.
So the members here must have known about my awesome Thanksgiving dinner a couple weeks ago because my second day here we had a ward activity with a nice Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn't quite the same as back home but much better than a turkey sandwhich haha. We had five investigators in the activity, which made me super excited to be here and help the work progress.
This week has been incredibly busy. I never knew how much stuff the zone leaders had to do in this mission. On Friday we had my first mission leadership conference which was awesome. I love every chance I get to recieve counsel from President and Hermana Obeso, they are the best. We actually got to sit by them for lunch and they talked to me all about the food they have in Mexico but all I could think is how much I'd just love a nice Cafe Rio burrito haha. President also talked to me about this zone and stake that I'm in now and how much help it needs, it's one of the weakest stakes of the mision, he said, but it really does have a ton of potencial. No pressure right? I've felt a little overwhelmed with all these new responsibilties that I am getting the hang of, but something he said has helped me have more confidence in myself. He said that the first day he was in the mission and interviewed me in Rio Bueno he knew that one day I would be a zone leader. Him saying that helped me remember that the Lord has put me here for a reason and will help me rise up to the challenges. None of this mission has been easy, but then again life was never meant to be easy. Through the challenges we learn and grow and become the people that God needs us to be. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here and become the person I need to be in order to further the Lord's work.
Thanks everyone for your love and support, have a nice week!
Elder Cameron Dower
Hey everyone!
Well here we are in my new area. I am in the city of Valdivia which is the biggest city i have been in so far in my mission and it's way different from Quellón, it's HOT! I haven't gone out to work without a jacket in so long but here I've never needed one so far. My new companion is Elder McDonald and we've been having a lot of fun. There are two zones here in Valdivia and we are over the zone of Calle Calle (that's cai-yay, cai-yay) which is part of the city and a couple little towns to the south. We have some awesome missionaries here and I'm excited to be able to serve them.
So the members here must have known about my awesome Thanksgiving dinner a couple weeks ago because my second day here we had a ward activity with a nice Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn't quite the same as back home but much better than a turkey sandwhich haha. We had five investigators in the activity, which made me super excited to be here and help the work progress.
This week has been incredibly busy. I never knew how much stuff the zone leaders had to do in this mission. On Friday we had my first mission leadership conference which was awesome. I love every chance I get to recieve counsel from President and Hermana Obeso, they are the best. We actually got to sit by them for lunch and they talked to me all about the food they have in Mexico but all I could think is how much I'd just love a nice Cafe Rio burrito haha. President also talked to me about this zone and stake that I'm in now and how much help it needs, it's one of the weakest stakes of the mision, he said, but it really does have a ton of potencial. No pressure right? I've felt a little overwhelmed with all these new responsibilties that I am getting the hang of, but something he said has helped me have more confidence in myself. He said that the first day he was in the mission and interviewed me in Rio Bueno he knew that one day I would be a zone leader. Him saying that helped me remember that the Lord has put me here for a reason and will help me rise up to the challenges. None of this mission has been easy, but then again life was never meant to be easy. Through the challenges we learn and grow and become the people that God needs us to be. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here and become the person I need to be in order to further the Lord's work.
Thanks everyone for your love and support, have a nice week!
Elder Cameron Dower
Monday, December 1, 2014
Good Bye Quellòn!
Hey everyone! How's it going?! It's been a really great week for us here on the island of Chiloé. We've been busy with a lot of things, this weekend we had our zone conference with President and Hermana Obeso as well as the district conference down here, so we stayed in Castro from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.
So as you read in the subject line, we have transfers this week and I am leaving Quellón. After the zone conference, President pulled me aside and asked me to serve as a zone leader in the city of Valdivia. Valdivia is in the north of the mission and I'm really excited to serve there because it's one of the only bigger cities I haven't been to yet on the mission. My companion will be Elder McDonald from West Valley Utah. We were actually in the same district when I was in Punta Arenas so it'll be great to serve with him. So Wednesday will be another day full of bus rides since Valdivia is about 10-11 hours by bus from Quellón, but hopefully I'll be able to pass my friend Hermana Segura, who enters the mission this week.
Well hope you all have a fantastic week. Talk to you next monday!
Love, Elder Dower
Here are some pictures we found of Cam's new area, Valdivia, Chile
Hey everyone! How's it going?! It's been a really great week for us here on the island of Chiloé. We've been busy with a lot of things, this weekend we had our zone conference with President and Hermana Obeso as well as the district conference down here, so we stayed in Castro from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.
So as you read in the subject line, we have transfers this week and I am leaving Quellón. After the zone conference, President pulled me aside and asked me to serve as a zone leader in the city of Valdivia. Valdivia is in the north of the mission and I'm really excited to serve there because it's one of the only bigger cities I haven't been to yet on the mission. My companion will be Elder McDonald from West Valley Utah. We were actually in the same district when I was in Punta Arenas so it'll be great to serve with him. So Wednesday will be another day full of bus rides since Valdivia is about 10-11 hours by bus from Quellón, but hopefully I'll be able to pass my friend Hermana Segura, who enters the mission this week.
Well hope you all have a fantastic week. Talk to you next monday!
Love, Elder Dower
Here are some pictures we found of Cam's new area, Valdivia, Chile
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