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