Canete!

Family and Friends,

My first week in Canete was a really good week and I'm really enjoying my time here.  The last Monday I said goodbye to many families and friends that I have in Victoria which was a little hard to do.  My time there was completed but there are many people there who I will remember forever and be life long friends with.  I give thanks to all the people that I met and who made sacrifices to accommodate me during my time in Victoria and I know that our Heavenly Father will bless them.

Packing all my suitcases and bags was a little difficult this time because I have way too much stuff now.  As you go from sector to sector in the mission you collect more and more stuff and I think I reached my limit this last transfer.  But it may be that I am in my last sector in the mission and I will be able to leave a lot here when I head home.

I got all my stuff to the bus terminal and me and my best bud from the MTC Elder Washburn bought tickets to ride all the way together.  It was first a four hour bus ride to Concepcion and then another three hour bus ride to my sector in Canete.  During that time me and Elder Washburn talked about the good ol' days in the MTC and how crazy it is how much time has passed.  When we got to the terminal in Concepcion, Brian, my convert was there waiting for me!  It was awesome to be able to see him and talk to him for a while!  Also I met up with my companion Elder Tornero!

To tell you a little more about him, he is from Lima Peru and just ended his training in the mission.  He's 18 and a member all of his life.  He plays the piano really well which is rare to find in Chile, so the sisters in the ward all appreciate him for the choir and hymns.  He's a funny guy with a great sense of humor. He likes to work hard and doesn't get discouraged easily.  We will be together for at least 8 weeks and it should be a great time.

I am living in a house with two other missionaries, Elder Lee, who is from Korea but speaks perfect English and Elder Langeveld, who is from Ogden.  Our house is actually pretty nice and big for a missionary house and the best showers that I have taken in the mission are here!  I have never been in a sector like Canete before but it reminds me of Victoria a little bit, just a lot bigger!  The branch has attendance of around 130 members usually so that's pretty cool.  The members are really nice here and the love the missionaries so that's good.

Well arriving to the sector I found out that we don't have a lot of investigators so this entire week we have been contacting a ton!  There is however an amazing family that is listening to us that I was able to meet and we hit it off really well. It's really cool because they live in pretty much campo, very far away from the city so we have to take a microbus for 30 minutes to get to it. Their names are C and D and they have two children who are 8 and 6.  The cutest little kids.  They have been sharing with missionaries for aournd 2 months now and it's crazy to see their progress.  D was Atheist and now she believes in God and wants to get baptized, C feels the same way.  The only problem is, like most of the people in Chile, they aren't married.  They have been together for 12 years and this last visit with me, they committed to think about marriage seriously, which I'm very excited for.  Please keep them in your prayers.

A really cool experience that happened this week was in the morning on Friday we went to the hospital to sing Christmas carols in the hymn book to the sick people in their beds.  We probably sang to about 15 different rooms which were filled with 3 or 4 sick people with their families there visiting them as well.  They were all very grateful and if felt really good to do that.

I also am teaching English class here, but we need to work more on how to get more people to come, by advertisement.  Normally 2-3 people come but I want to get more to come.  All in all this week has been a hardworking week and a little stressful but I know that it is shaping me into the person the God wants me to be.  I want to thank all of you for the support and love that you have given me, it has kept me going in the hardest of times.

During this Christmas time, I invite all of you to look for ways to serve the people around you, I know that is what the Lord wants.  Remember the true significance of the birth of Jesus Christ and what is means personally for you.  Merry Christmas!

With much love,
Elder Connor Clay