FELIZ NAVIDAD Y NUEVO ANO!

Happy holidays everyone!

This was a pretty good week. Hard, but good.

Miguel came to the family night last week! It was really awesome, and he met probably half of the members of the ward including the Bishop and the High Priest group leader. We're hoping that we can help him to be ready for baptism in a few weeks, but I worry a little that he might not really be on the same page as we are. He seems really receptive and loves having us over, but I'm not really sure if he understands why we keep coming to talk to him. We'll work on that this week. He's still a boss, but he wasn't at church yesterday. His tail-lights went out (kinda a lame excuse, I know, but he's a super careful driver) which was pretty lame. Not just the excuse being lame, but we spent close to an hour on Friday helping him fix his blinker. That was really fun, though. I've never been able to take apart a steering wheel before. Hopefully I'll never have to do it again. It takes FOREVER! But it was really cool to work on a drive-shaft wearing slacks and a tie. Not many people let us do cool stuff like that.

Working on Miguel's blinker. The wires needed to be replaced.

And even though Miguel wasn't at church yesterday, we did have a miracle church attendance. (Back in time a few months) Paul's an African American with a friend in San Antonio who gave him a Book of Mormon a few months ago. He read it and felt the Spirit, and wanted to find out more. So he came to church almost three months ago, but there was nobody there because it was Stake Conference. So yesterday he decided that he would come again with his family! So he, his wife, and their two kids came to church! And guess what the Sunday School lesson was on? THE SECOND COMING!! (probably pretty confusing for them, but whatever.) They don't live in our area, but they will be taught by the Beeville Sisters. And I'm pretty sure he's read the entire Book of Mormon! So cool!

And I can't forget Christmas! Christmas was very nice. We ate breakfast with a member family, ate lunch with a member family, skyped at a member family's house, and ate dinner with a member family as well. The members here are pretty cool.

We got pretty much enough Christmas candy to last us the Millennium. (Members love us too much)

Gas prices are as low as I've ever seen them. The other day it was 1.99 per gallon! Don't know how that is where you guys are, but I'm just wishing it had been like that last year! Just so you know.

I love you all, and hope to hear from you soon.

-Elder Chamberlain

Feliz Navidad!

It's P-day again, and I don't even believe it. I mean, the transfer is already halfway done, and I just got here like two days ago… didn't I?! What is up with time? (sorry, at some point I'll stop starting my emails this way, but it keeps going faster and faster!)

I'm pretty sure the ward here can't get enough of me. Last week they put me down for a talk, without really giving me more advance than coming to the church and seeing my name on the program. It actually went really well, for being a seven minute talk prepared in about 10. And for those of you who don't think sacrament meeting talks can be interesting, I started this one off by quoting a scene from "It's Christmas Time, Charley Brown". Pretty good stuff. (I was also talking to a member this week; he said that the last time he gave a talk and was told that he could talk about anything, he talked about his big toe. And at the same time, he was able to tie in a pretty big gospel principle! So, parables can come from anything! ;)

We also had the ward Christmas Program yesterday. And nobody else knows how to play the piano in the ward. So it was Elder Chamberlain to the rescue! Except that I messed up on almost every song at least twice. Primary songs can be pretty hard to sight-read! But it was tons of fun! I hope I get to continue playing piano for the primary. (Dad, put in a good word to Bishop before I get back.)

We got a Christmas tree!

Texas motto:  GO BIG OR GO HOME!
When it comes to Christmas decor, they either go all out or don't do anything at all.

We started teaching a man named Miguel this week, and he's pretty awesome! The sisters found him in the Blitz we did last Saturday, and we taught him about the Book of Mormon on Wednesday. He said that he'd read, and then came to the ward Christmas Party on Saturday and Church the next day! That's really huge news, because in the George West area, it's been over 2 months since we've had an investigator come to church. He's also planning on coming to a Family Home Evening that some of the members have tonight. Pretty much, as Elder Larsen would say, "El es un Jefe!"

Christmas Conference was also this past week. Basically half of the mission got together and had a massive party, with some training and spiritual thoughts given by President and Sister Maluenda. It was amazing! Our skit wasn't super awesome, but Elder Padron was pretty good at being "Sister Nichols". Elder Nichols is our zone leader, and our skit was his family Christmas in 15 years. Pretty ridiculous, but it got some laughs!
I'm really enjoying it out here. We're learning pretty well how to have fun at the same time as teaching people, and having the spirit with us all the while that we do that. I love it out here! I miss it back at home, but I'm so happy I've got a long time out here left to learn!

Elder Larsen wearing "Sister Nichols'" wig, which we used for a skit at Christmas Conference

I love you all, and hope that you have a very merry Christmas! (If you haven't yet, watch "He Is The Gift" by clicking here. Just remember that he's the reason for the season.

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Chamberlain

The pig and chickens in our yard

Beware!
(There's actually a much bigger dog that lives there,  but I didn't know that at the time.)

George West

This week was super fast! I can barely remember everything that happened, so don't sue me if the information is a little off.  Also, Elder Nichols (One of the zone leaders) made us promise to take at least 3 pictures a day, so you can sue me if I don't send any good pics home.

We're building a house! It's so cool! The Scotts, a retired couple, decided a while ago that they're gonna build their dream house. By themselves. Using the money that comes from their Social Security checks. So they've been working on it basically by themselves for 2 years. And it's pretty much the coolest carpentry project that I'm ever going to be a part of. They made the foundation out of telephone poles that they drilled super far into the ground, and the hill that the house is on is made out of mud and car tires. Apparently it's supposed to be super safe, but I guess we'll find out in a few years when they finish. They're hoping to be able to put the roof on in January. So on Wednesday we got to help them put in the floor on the second story. (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the house from the front, just what we were working on.)

The top of the Scott's house

Brother Scott on the top of his house

 On Saturday we decided to "blitz" (all the missionaries in our district working in one area) one of the towns in our area called Mathis. It's a pretty decent sized town, but far enough away that we don't get to work there very often. And when we did that, we found 2 new people to teach! That's pretty monumental in George West. The area is fairly new, (meaning about 7 months) and hasn't baptized yet. We also haven't had any of our investigators come to church since October. So we've got a LOT of work to do. We'll get it once we start working more with the members. And we'll be doing that this week, so hope fully we start having more success. But anyways! The sisters found a man named Brother Vicent, and we found Sister Rodriguez! Neither of them were able to come to church, but both agreed to return visits on Wednesday, and the sisters said that Brother Vicent is SUPER prepared! So I can't wait to meet him!

Just like Newsies, right?  (took a lot more than one try!)

We've got a pig. Or rather, the Baird's have a pig. The Baird family is the family that owns the trailer we're living in. They're pretty awesome. He's super quotable, and the typical Texan you'd imagine. For example, when we asked him how many guns he had, he said "Guns? Zero. Firearms? I don't know!" Meaning too many to count. Also, he said "It is absolutely impossible to improve bacon. You name me one thing that you could put on bacon to make it better and I will tell you that you are wrong." And he's right!

The zone leaders caught a possum under their house. Named him Papi the Possum. Brought him to zone meeting, but I didn't get a picture.

Life is pretty good! We don't have cockroaches or mice at the trailer, and that's a major improvement.

Love,

Elder Chamberlain

My district 

Dat Trailer Life!

So as I said last week, TRANSFERS!!! Six weeks in Alice, and now I'm in George West! That's right, baby, instead of going further South, I go as far north as is possible in the Mission! Sweet!!! (And no, I'm not kidding. The George West area is the furthest north area in the entire mission.) So I guess the Lord thinks that my Spanish needs a little more work before I get sent southside. (He's right!)

My new companion's name is Elder Larsen. He's a nice Elder from sunny South Jordan, Utah, about to hit his Sister mark. And he's the District Leader of a Relief Society. Or a Sistrict. Or whatever you want to call it. Basically, we're the only two Elders in the Beeville District. 

Have you?

And guess what else! (you don't get to guess...) We live in a trailer! Not like a trailer park kinda thing, like pretty much an RV! Reminds me so much of Lake Powell. I've even hit my head on the door heading outside a few times. Really makes me miss the Edward's family.

The trailer's pretty small, but the sad thing is that it's a lot cleaner than the house back in Alice. I guess that's because it's so much easier to keep clean! Also probably has to do with the fact that we've only got two Elders living here instead of four. Actually, that's kind of a lie. Right now the Zone Leaders are staying with us. 

I don't really know how long I'll be living it up at the trailer, but however long we stay in George West is not going to be long enough! We cover three different towns here (George West, Mathis, and Three Rivers), and there's a lot of people in those towns with potential! The only problem is actually getting there. They're all pretty far away from our house, and we don't have a ton of driving miles. But we'll make it work, and we're working with the ZLs to get some more miles. Whatever happens, though, it'll be good.

A one-photograph-tour of most of the trailer.  The bathroom is nuts!

Dat trailer life, though!

Earlier this week Elder Larsen said something that's really stuck with me. We were driving down a road that probably only had a house every mile or so, and he said "It's a good thing the Plan of Salvation is perfect. Because if it were up to the missionaries to tell everyone the Gospel during this life, and that was the only chance of learning we had, all these people would have next to no chance." And it's true. Sad, but true. all those people will more than likely never talk to missionaries. And not because they don't want to hear the gospel, and not because there are no missionaries in the world, it's just that to talk to those people would take so much time, and have such a small chance of success that almost no missionary would try to knock those doors except maybe once a year. It just wouldn't happen. And there's a few countries, like China or those in the Middle East, where missionaries aren't even allowed to enter! Plus all those people during the Great Apostasy that didn't hear the Good News of Christ! But because God has a perfect plan for the whole world, everyone does have a chance. And just as long as we do our best in everything we do, always striving to make our best better than before, it will be enough. That's when the Atonement kicks in. Without the Atonement, we could do NOTHING. but we do have the Atonement, and for that I'm so grateful.

If you haven't seen it yet, watch "Missionary Work and the Atonement." Just a short video, probably on YouTube. Maybe 10 minutes long. It's just a segment from a talk by President Eyring and Elder Holland. But please, watch it. It's awesome.

That's all I got time for, but I hope you're all doing awesome! I love you a ton and hope to hear from you again next week!

Con amor,

Elder Chamberlain

Me and Elder Larsen getting our Christmas Spirit with the Zone!

One-n-done!

The following is an attempt to recreate what happened yesterday morning.

Rancho Alegre, Scene 6:

Four missionaries gathered in the kitchen. They had been studying, but recieved a voice mail from the zone leaders. Sunday morning, 8 A.M.

Elder Chavez: (over phone) Well, Elders and Sisters, we don't want to take too much of your time, but the transfer calls are in. So here it goes. Elder Dominquez will be leaving. Goodbye Elder Dominquez. (Elder Dominquez is the 2nd Zone Leader, dies in 2 days) So sad. Goodbye Elder Dominquez. But now the transfers!

Elder Felix will be getting transfered.

Elder Latu will be getting transfered.

Sister Moody will be getting transferred.

Elder Chamberlain will be getting transfered.

The four missionaries sit, stunned. Elder Chavez continues naming Elders and Sisters, but no one is listening. Until finally Elder Felix breaks the silence.

Elder Felix: Elder Padron, you're the only one staying!

Elder Latu: My dawg, Elder Chamberlain, you just did a one-n-done on your first transfer! Holy crap!

Elder Chamberlain: Guys! They're white-washing your area! What the CRAP!!!!!

Shouting at random intervals occurs. Utter pandemodium as the Elders realize how many people they will be leaving behind. Shouting about Rudy, the Diazdado family, Mark, and many others occurs.

End of Scene

That just about sums up yesterday morning, from 8-8:30 a.m. I'm leaving Rancho Alegre! This is insane! And no, I don't know where I'm going yet, so I'll let you know next week. We still haven't recieved the message saying where we're all headed off to, but Elder Padron is the only one that's staying! I have to say goodbye to my papi! Mucho mucho triste. me amo este area mucho, pero este significa que qualquier cosa yo nesesito aprender es en un otro area. (for those of you who don't speak spanish, I included that to show that what I really need to learn is SPANISH! Andi I'm not going to do that very well here. My bet's somewhere in the Valley.)

But other than that surprising piece of information, this has been a really good week! We had 2 baptisms in the branch (one a member who turned 8, the other a 14 year old named Rudy. He's Elder Latu's and Felix's investigator.) So I got to play the piano at both of those!

Thanksgiving was very different away from home. We did basically the same things, but it was so strange to not see family. However, one of the things I remember from the MTC was somthing said by Elder Seegmiller, one of the Elders in my district. I don't know if he quoted it, or if he came up with it on the spot, but either way it's very true. But he said, "We're away from our families for two years so other people can be with theirs for eternity." And it's so true. We're away from our families, but it's only for a short period of time, especially thinking on an eternal perspective.

I've actually been doing quite a bit of that lately. Just thinking about things in an eternal point of view. And it's mind boggling! I still can't quite grasp the concept of what eternity is. I've been trying to do it for a really long time, and I'm not very much closer than I was earlier in my life. I'd like to challenge you all to do that, if you haven't done it lately. Just sit for a while, and think about eternity. Is what you're doing now going to help you be happy forever? Is ther anything that you could be doing better on? Or, if you don't want to ask yourself a question about this, just ponder. We're here, away from our Father in Heaven for a very short period of time. This life may seem long, but compared to eternity, it is NOTHING! So hopefully we're all doing the best we can to make it a good one!

I don't know if I've talked about this yet, but this mission is really a microchosim of life. We're away from our families (Heavenly Father) for a short period of time, especially in comparison to how much time we'll be with them. We're away from our family to learn, and to help others to learn. So much changes during this time when we're away from  all we've known, but so much of what we do here is dependent on the kind of a person we were before. And all of these relate. I don't think I'm doing a very good job of explaining what I'm thinking, so sorry if everyone's confused, but I'm a little confused as well. But missions, the pre-mortal life, earth, eternal life, are all microchosims and macrochosims of each other. Crazy to think about.

Sorry, I just spent most of my email time rambling about eternity, but not all that much has happened this week. And what has happened is hard to talk about, because I don't know where the story is going to end! I could tell you about Mark, or Alan, or Belquiz, or Casper, but I won't be able to follow up on it!

Actually, I'm going to tell you about Casper. Casper is a former member of the church, who requested his records removed because he believed that the teachings of the church were incorrect. We actually even haven't talked to him other than the first time we met him. But we met him because he came up and introduced himself. I'm so sad I'm leaving, because I really think I could have helped him with his doubts! But I guess I've learned what I came here to lear. But Casper! We were riding our bikes, and he drove up beside us and started talking to us! He's been a nonmember for 6 years, but somthing just made him decide to pull over and talk to the missionaries of a church that he'd previously decided must be incorrect. I know that the Holy Ghost works in many ways, and he must have been whispering to Casper right then. Elder Padron better follow up with him!

That's essentially what happened in my week. I don't know yet what this next one will bring, but you know. Same old, same old. I NEVER know what the next week will bring! And I love it!!!

I continue to be strengthened by the letters everyone sends. Thank you for your love of me enough to take time out of your already busy schedule to spend just a little time with my writing, that doesn't even make sense to ME half the time!

Remember! The Lord loves you, and so do I!

Adios! Mas en un otro locacion proximo semana!

Con Amor

-Elder Chamberlain

Este Semana

Sorry, I can't really think of all that much to write. I'm doing pretty well, it's just hard to think right now. Just like every week. And I didn't really think about what I'd write before I started. So here it goes.

Ok, this week I learned the hard way how important obedience is. We didn't go out and actively try to break mission rules or anything, we just haven't really been trying our hardest. But that's why repentance is so awesome! And this week we made a commitment to change. We are exactly obedient from now on. Right? Right!

The weather here has been pretty TemperatureMental. Remember how last week I said that it was so cold, and I was really happy when I received a package full of warm stuff I didn't think I'd need ("Texas" he said. "It's warm there" he said)? Well this week it went back to hitting the 80-90s, and I went back to sleeping without a blanket. It's kinda annoying. But I guess next year I'll be more used to it, and be better at being prepared. Boy Scouts for life!

What else... I gave myself a haircut! Or rather, I tried, and Elder Latu fixed it. I think I did a pretty good job for the first time, but the sides were pretty long at the end. I don't have a before and after picture, but I do have a picture. With my shoe. Or rather, what used to be a shoe. (Let me just say, I am very grateful for super-glue and bicycle helmets. Not one of my proudest hours.) But it's all good! I can fix it!

We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week! It was really good, but I need to be a lot better at talking to people. Also, what I learned with him is that a lot of the time, people don't even know that they need something in their life. If they've never felt the spirit before, trying to teach them without first getting them to feel the spirit is like telling someone to go eat this food they've never tried before. It's the best food in the world! But they don't know that. If they're sitting at the restaurant of life and ordering, they'll want to order what they know tastes alright. Most people wouldn't know what they're missing unless they've felt the spirit already. So that's the first thing I need to do as a missionary. And there's lots of ways to do that. We can sing a hymn, or share a scripture, or say a prayer, or bear testimony, or something along those lines. All of those give them a taste of the spirit! And then they'll realize that they want more! So now I've got to carry my hymnbook around as well!

So that's pretty much what I'm doing. How I'm doing is a lot more complicated than that. This is already pretty spiritually exhausting. I'm having a hard time learning everything that I need, or rather, applying everything that I learn. I learn so many things when we practice, but then we go out into the field and I resort back into my old little habits and forget the new ones I'm supposed to do. It's frustrating sometimes! And other times I feel like I can't do this on my own!

But that's the key. I can't. But I'm not alone.

I didn't bring my scriptures to the library with me, so I can't look up the reference or the right words or anything, so I won't even try to quote it. But  Jesus Christ has felt everything that every one of us has felt. He's suffered for our pains, our afflictions, our bad feelings, our sins, and every time we feel like crap, he's felt the same way. I don't understand the Atonement yet, and I don't think I ever will in this lifetime, but because of Him and what he's done for us, we can and will receive the help of the only perfect person to ever walk this earth. All we have to do is do our best, keep going, and keep improving. If you haven't read it, stop reading my letter and read "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. (For a copy of it, click here:  speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966  or to watch it, click below.) And if you have read it already, I don't care. Read it again. And again. And again. EVERY DAY!!! Because it is. His grace is sufficient for all of us. And I hope that every one of you has felt that. If not, ask. Ask God. Ask Him if He's there. Ask him what you can do to be better. Ask Him for forgiveness. And I can promise you that you will receive an answer if you ask in faith. (Faith in God includes having faith in his timing) I received an answer like that just last night. So please. Stay strong.

I love you all! Please continue to write! and don't be afraid to share the gospel. You will be strengthened as you do. (Ask the bishop for pass along cards)

Stay strong!

Love,

Elder Chamberlain

Que lo que pasa pues...

This week has been cold. Very cold. I mean, COLD!

I came here thinking, "you know, I'm going to Texas. I'll be good." Oh, was I wrong. But enough on that. It's been refreshing! And I hear that it gets back up to the 90s by January! (What's up with the weather down here? January is WINTER!)

This week was really good! Went by super fast, and we didn't really teach a ton of people. Pretty sad. But it was still lots of fun!

The elders I live with:  Elder Felix, Elder Latu, and Elder Padron

Elder Latu and Elder Padron

Elder Latu was gone for most of the week. There was a training in McAllen for all the district and zone leaders, so he stayed with the district leader's companion for a while. The house was a lot quieter without him. But I learned a lot from Elder Felix! And tomorrow I'm going on an exchange with one of the Zone Leaders! Don't really know what's going to happen with that, but probably something awesome! I'll let you know next week.

Everything's moving so fast, so sorry if this email is a little scatter-brained. I can barely tell the difference between what happened yesterday and what happened the first week I was here! So starting today, when something cool happens I'll write it down in my planner so I don't forget to write about it.

Ok. Hopefully this part's a bit more interesting.

Yesterday we had a baptism! I mean, it wasn't really me and Elder Padron's investigator, but Elder Latu and Elder Felix's investigator was baptized yesterday! Her name's Ida, and it was pretty much a miracle it was able to happen. When she had her baptismal interview on Friday, the district leader found out that she was basically ready, but she didn't have a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet. Other than that she was ready, but that's a pretty big thing! So the other Elders had a lesson with her on Saturday, and taught her the Restoration again, this time making sure to focus on Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Priesthood. They had her pray and she realized that she knew it was true! She had another interview with the District Leader over the phone and was baptized! I guess everyone who'd taught her up to that point just took for granted that she believed the Restoration.

Cleaning the baptismal font

Ida's baptism day!

It's so strange how many things I take for granted as a missionary, like an investigator knowing what a blessing is. We talked to someone yesterday who had no idea the meaning of the word "Blessing." And let me tell you, it's pretty difficult to teach someone how the gospel can bless their lives if they don't even know what it means to bless! (Granted, he was 14, but still!) Never take for granted what we have. Family, friends, school, home, music, all that stuff. Don't take it for granted, ever, or you might lose it. It's sad to see people that that's happened to here.

But more good news! O Wednesday we're having something called "Mission Tour" which is where a General Authority comes and gives a training to all the missionaries! We don't know who it is yet, but that'll be another thing to report on next week!

You know, that's pretty much all I can think that might be interesting to you guys. We're probably going to have to drop about half of our investigators cause we can't get anyone to keep appointments. It's really sad. But be happy, everyone! Life is so much better when you actively choose to be happy. Make the choice.

I love you! Hope to hear from you!

-Elder Chamberlain

The Ultimate Knock… supposed to never fail.
They didn't open the door on this one.  Try, try again!

Yeah, I don't really know what to call this...

Ok! This week was a good week, but it didn't really seem like all that much happened the past few days. But we did get a new investigator! Which I'm SUPER excited about, cause we're having a little bit of a hard time finding people. We found her (Glindy) on Thursday, and she said that she'd be baptized! Or at least, I think that's what she said. The entire lesson was in Spanish! ("that ain't the language they taught me at the MTC") Basically all I was able to do was listen and bear testimony of whatever it was Elder Padron was saying. Of which I think I understood most of. But I'm still not quite sure. But we haven't seen her since. We've called a few times, and she usually answers, but she's got a busy work schedule, and wasn't able to come to church yesterday. But we're trying to talk to her again tonight! So next week, we'll have another positive report with Glindy!

Yesterday was the Primary Program. I don't think I need to go into too much detail, since most of you have sat through a Program at one point or another in your life, and know generally what happens. But it was good! Their singing sounds basically like our ward at home. Left me feeling kinda trunky, but it's ok. Just so long as the trunkiness doesn't get in the way.

Last night we had three dinner appointments. I now understand why all the missionaries here are expected to gain weight. Gotta start doing something about it soon!

I guess I need to inform you about what happened with Arline (the mom of Jennifer.) We went back and talked to her on Wednesday, and that didn't really go super great, unfortunately. I was really confused as to what it is she has doubts about. She said that she believes that God and Jesus showed themselves to Joseph Smith in the First Vision, but that she's read the Book of Mormon and doesn't really believe that it's true. Also, she doesn't think that Joseph Smith was a prophet, which I don't understand. I mean, he saw God! And he was told that none of the churches were true! I guess I just have a hard time understanding why people don't readily accept that the gospel is true. It's so weird that I'm taking for granted things like the Book of Mormon, and there are some people that don't understand.

We watched a video last night called Missionary Work and the Atonement. It's just a short segment of Elder Holland and President Eyring during some of their talks, but it's SUPER powerful. But one of the things that Elder Holland said is basically what I'm feeling right now. Something along the lines of "Why isn't the only danger that a missionary faces that of pneumonia from standing in the baptismal fount for too long!?" and I don't really know. But God knows. And it's good to know that he does. On those days that it feels like nobody understands, I know that someone does. There's one person that can help us no matter what situation we're in, because He's felt exactly how we've felt. And I'm glad that I'm able to be here to learn to stop taking that knowledge for granted.

I love you all, and so does God.

I hope to hear from you all soon!

Love,

-Elder Chamberlain

Trains!

I hate trains.

Ok, I know that's a bad way to start out, but I'll explain. And no, I don't really hate them, I'm just a tiny bit perturbed. (I think I used that word the right way). So yesterday, we got back from church, and decided that we were going to go visit one of the recent converts. She hasn't been to church in at least two months, and she told the other Elders that yesterday at one would be a good time to come by. So we did, and she was still asleep, so we didn't end up talking to her. But! One of her friends answered the door. His name's Ivan, and he's living with Jennifer's family (The inactive convert) so he can be closer to work. We ended up just visiting with him for about five or ten minutes, then her mom came home and we were talking to both of them. Ivan speaks Spanish as a second language, and Jennifer's mom speaks English as her second, so I was just visiting with Ivan while Elder Padron talked to the mom. And I missed most of this, so sorry if the details are a little off. Also, when I joined the conversation, it was in Spanish, so I probably misunderstood a ton. But here's what happened:

Elder Padron and her were just talking about religion and stuff, and she said something along the lines of that she's been looking for a feeling in her heart for a while, but hasn't been able to find it. Son Elder Padron was prompted to share a scripture, I think it was Mosiah 2:40, but it's the one that says to "Consider the happy and blessed state of those who keep the commandments of God" (don't sue me if that's a misquote) and she said that she felt the spirit when he read that! So then he shared the super boss scripture from 2 Nephi 31, I think it's verse 8 that says that we need to be baptized to follow the example of Christ. And the Spirit was so strong! (Keep in mind this was still on the doorstep, with a woman that we'd met 15 minutes before). We hadn't even asked her about baptism yet, and she spent a good five seconds thinking about it!

And then, the train.

Now, the train here is a lot different than the train in Centerville, Utah. There, it just drives by, blows the horn twice, and keeps on going. But here, it blows. And blows. And blows. And BLOWS for a solid minute and a half when it passes through. Which it decided to do right when she read the scripture on baptism. And It got super loud. and the spirit left. CRAP! 

So after a few seconds of the train, just enough time for the spirit to leave, she said she'd been baptized twice already, and doesn't really want to commit yet. But still, that was just 15 minutes! And we set up a return appointment on Wednesday, when we should be able to talk to her and Jennifer. So it would be awesome if at the same time, we could reactivate Jennifer and get a BD with her mom. But there'll be more on that next week.

But we do have a baptismal date! I don't know if I talked about this, but we've been meeting with a man named Mark. He's been taught the lessons and has been investigating the church for a few months, I don't really know exactly how long. But we got him to commit to quitting tobacco and coming to church (which he didn't do this week, he was out of town) and being baptized on the 30th of this month! So I really hope that happens! He's a great guy, and super nice.

It's different here. There's no mountains! I can't remember if I said that last week, but there are no mountains! Two years without having a constant landmark, no matter where we go! It's gonna be hard. But I think I should be able to make it.

Also, a magical thing about yesterday. Daylight savings time is truly an inspired thing. Let me just say, some nights 8 hours is not enough. And two days ago was one of those times. My alarm went off at 6:30, which is now 5:30, and I decided to just lay in bed until the alarm on the cell phone went off. I woke up an hour later and almost had a heart attack! I'd completely forgotten about daylight savings! But I was actually rested, for the first time since the CCM!

You know, that's pretty much all that happened this week. We super deep cleaned the house. Looks a lot nicer now. Also we played Monopoly and Uno for 4 hours on Halloween, cause we weren't allowed to leave the house after 6. Nobody even knocked on our door for candy. But Uno was fun! Got wrecked at Monopoly, though.

So yeah! That's my mission life this week! Not super eventful, but you know, sometimes that's how life is. And yet, it feels like I was just writing home yesterday! Time is weird.

Love you all! The address I'm at now is:

312 West Hill

Alice, TX, 78332

Hope to hear from you! Email and letters are both great. So, until next week!

-Elder Chamberlain

Texas! (finally)

Hello everyone from Texas! How're you all doing? I hope that everyone's doing fantastic, cause I am, and it was so good to hear from so many people this week! Monday will be the p-day in the field, so that'll give you a kinda gauge as to when to send emails.

Just to let you know, I've got a ton to talk about and not all that much time to do it, so sorry if I don't go into any detail on anything, ramble, or if my spelling is terrible. I'm doing my best to adjust back to an English keyboard. Not all that different, but the symbols like ' - ! @ are in a different place. So yeah!

Last days at the CCM were awesome! We got emails from just about everyone, spent until midnight packing, and had to get up at four in the morning to make our bus! Such a party! I came with Elders Powell, Madsen, and Cannel, and Hermanas Tait and Lamprecht who were ALL in my district at the CCM! Crazy long bus ride followed by crazy long time on the planes. Also I tried to call at the airport, but couldn't figure out how to get the pay phones to make an international call. Then in Houston, Elders Cannel and Madsen almost missed our flight because they were trying to call home. So sorry I wasn't able to do that! No time whatsoever!

We stayed with the APs for the first night. They told us that we were going to do basically an initiation, which consisted of eating Chile de Monde. Now, they told us that we didn't have to do it if we didn't want to, because  we all have agency and they didn't want to be held accountable for us if something went terribly wrong in our mouths. But they also said that they'd all done it, and as any true male knows, that's the biggest kind of challenge there is! So we did it. Don't do it unless you enjoy your mouth being on fire for half an hour. Nothing we did helped! Apparently Chile de Monde is the third hottest pepper in the world. And, just as a challenge for anyone out there who sees them at the grocery store, I downed four of them. :)

My companion is Elder Padron. He was born in California, but has lived in Mexico most of his life. So even though I'm in a mostly English area, I'll speak and practice a lot of Spanish with him. We try to speak it for six hours a day, unless we're teaching someone. Which we basically never are. Cause we are part of opening a new area! Well, I guess it's an old area, but it was combined with another part for about three months. So the records here aren't the greatest, we've got six active member households in our area, and a ton of inactive. We want to meet all the active and inactive members soon, but it'll take a while, cause we're on bikes, and the area's pretty big. We cover about half of a smallish town called Alice, in the Sinton Zone. And even though we're trying to meet everyone, we usually end up stopping and talking to people in the streets and trying to find new investigators. We actually have two people we could call investigators right now! Their names are Ricardo and Cindy. They live together, but aren't married. Hopefully we'll be able to teach them well!

Running short on time, so that's probably all I'll be able to say. Other than that President Maluenda is super smart! We had interviews with him yesterday, and I had a question. We were almost out of time, and stake conference was starting soon, so he just pulled about six sections out of Doctrine and Covenants and told me to study them. Just off the top of his head! Took him like five seconds to think of it. Also, he really knows how to listen to the spirit. We know that he is when he just stops talking, looks at the ceiling for a few seconds, then asks you something that blows your mind! He's awesome!

That's really all I got time for. Hopefully more next week. Don't have the address on me now, but I sent out some letters today to Mom and Dad. So I need you to put the address on the blog when you get them, Mom. Thanks! I love all you guys who take the time out of your day to read this!

Until next week!

-Elder Chamberlain

Ready or not, here we come!

(written by Mom)
After six weeks in the Mexico CCM (Centro de Capacitacion Misional = Missionary Training Center), Joshua boarded a plane and flew to Texas!  Sometimes missionaries get to call their families from the airport, but that was not our case.  Darn!  According to some of the Texas McAllen Mission moms I'm connected to on Facebook, none of the missionaries in Joshua's batch were able to call.  Oh well.  We'll look forward to talking with him on Christmas!  The good news is that he made it!

Sister Jones, a senior sister missionary at the CCM, emailed some pictures of Joshua's district taken before their departure, and Sister Maluenda, Joshua's mission president's wife, posted some pictures on Facebook of their arrival.  We're missing him like crazy, but there's nowhere we would rather have him be.  What a blessing it is to have our son on a mission!  It's so wonderful to know that Heavenly Father has positioned good people who are looking out for and loving this young man of ours.  What's not to love?!

CCM District 13A

Joshua's CCM district

President Maluenda, Elder Chamberlain, and Sister Maluenda

Welcome to the Texas McAllen Mission home!
5 new Sisters and 6 new Elders with the Maluendas.

¿Que pasa, limonada?

So how's everyone doing? I'm doing just great, thanks for asking! And it's crazy, cause this is the last time I'll be emailing from Mexico! It really doesn't feel like I've been here for five weeks already, but the time has come, and I start packing tonight! We leave the CCM at 5:30 on Monday. That's right. In the morning. So we gotta get up by 4. But I can totally do that! Fly out of here at 9, and then it's on to TEXAS!!!! (By the way, I don't know what day my P-day will be out there, but I'm guessing Monday. So I might be able to email right after I arrive.)

On Saturday we're not having any classes in the afternoon, cause Neil L. Anderson is coming to the CCM! But we've been strictly forbidden for asking for a photo or giving him a hug, and President Pratt said that if we ask him if he wants to trade ties with us, we will be shot. DANGIT!

So a ton happened this week, but it's hard to remember it all, cause it really seems like I sent my last email just yesterday. But here it goes.

We started making friends with some of the Latino missionaries here. It's really good to talk to them, cause it makes us use the Spanish we know, and improves our listening. But I still can't understand most of what they say. They just talk so fast! But one of the missionaries, I can't even remember his name and he left already, spoke almost perfect English! And when Elder Powell asked him if he took English in High School or something like that, the Elder told him that he learned English by watching videos on Youtube! Apparently Americans are really funny, so he learned English by watching and because he wanted to watch more! I wish Latinos were funny enough to teach me Spanish on Youtube!

During our class on Monday, we decided that we were going to study the Book of Mormon outside, on the grass in the middle of a whole bunch of palm trees. So we go out there, and Hermana Lampreicht starts saying the opening prayer, right? So when I folded my arms, I decided to scratch my left shoulder, and guess what I found there? Some parrot decided that my shirt was a good place to relieve himself! And I had to wait until after the prayer to see what it was! So nasty! But it came out pretty well, I just had to scrub pretty hard in the bathroom.

Also, Monday was Elder Cannel's birthday. His mom sent him a HUGE care package, full of beef jerky, chips and dip, sodas, and pretty much everything else that could make a missionary happy. And on the same day, Elder Thayne's mom sent him 1.5 dozen doughnuts. So we skipped lunch. Sounded like a good idea at the time, but then we kinda all felt pretty sick in the afternoon. Still, it tasted really good. But never again. Unless someone sends someone else another huge care package. :)

One of the missionaries in my Casa taught me how to make a tie skinnier. Like, if your tie is just a little too fat (or a lot) and you just want to change that, you can cut it open to the point where it starts to taper, measure and cut off from the inside of the tie, iron the creases back into the right places, then sew the whole thing back up again. I got a new tie at La Tienda (the store here) and practiced on it. Worked pretty well. But look up how to do it before you try, cause it can be kinda tricky. Also, be careful if you do it to polyester, cause that can melt when you iron it.

But a little bit more on the serious side of things right now. On Friday, we were talking to Fernando (our progressing investigator) and he said that he couldn't meet with us anymore cause his mom was super hardcore Catholic, and would kick him and his family out of the house if he kept talking to us. But then he said that the scripture that we'd given him to read the previous visit actually answered his question with that! We had asked him to read 2 Nephi 2, and in one of the verses Lehi tells whichever of his sons he's talking to that he'll live in safety with his brother Nephi. So Fernando took that to mean that he should ask his brother if he could move in with him! We definitely didn't see that chapter helping him out that way (We wanted him to read more about the Plan of Salvation), but you know, whatever works! But then, we asked him if it would be OK if we talked to his mom, so on Tuesday, he actually brought her! And we had an AMAZING lesson! We didn't think she'd actually come, so we were prepared to talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost, so we just kinda went with it and used all our scriptures about the Holy Ghost to talk about the Restoration! I just love how every part of the gospel ties in with everything else! We talked a lot about personal revelation, and introduced her to the Book of Mormon, and she just about freaked out (in a good way) when we told her that Christ had been to the Americas. I keep being reminded that so many of the amazing stories and blessings we know about in this church I've been taking for granted my whole life! When we told her about the first vision and Christ's appearance to the people in Bountiful, she just kept asking "Why haven't I heard about this before?" In Spanish, of course, but it was amazing!

After our lesson, we realized that we'd scheduled our next meeting with her for Monday at 9 in the morning. And we'd be on a plane then! That was probably the first time I've actually been mad here. But we talked to Hermano Hernandez about it, and he said that we could teach the two of them during study time on Saturday!

By the way, for whoever doesn't know this yet, Hermano Hernandez is our teacher, and Fernando is our investigator, but they're really the same person. Hermano Hernandez just pretends to be an investigator so we have the chance to learn how to teach a real progressing investigator in Spanish. So Fernando and his mom, Lucy, are really members, so it's not really as cool as it sounds to have taught them that well. But it still felt really good!

Also, random fact about Hermano Hernandez: We're his first class that he's ever taught here at the CCM! And you wouldn't know it either, cause he's always so happy! I'll try to send a picture next week, but I don't have any of him right now. I'll make sure to get one before I leave.

We had our last lesson with Carolina (Hermana Gutierez) yesterday. Pretty sad to think that we won't see her or Hermano Hernandez again in this life after the CCM. But the next time we do, we'll be able to understand each other perfectly!

Again, crazy to think that I'll be leaving here in just a little less than 4 days! Happy and sad at the same time. And pretty nervous. Cause as real as everything seems here, we've been living in our own little Utopia for the past six weeks, and we're about to be thrust back into the real world. Who knows what the next 22.5 months will bring? I'm so glad the Lord does. And I'm glad to be about his errand. So, until next week! I love you! And I hope to hear lots from all you guys when I get to Texas!