Christmas was pretty sick.  We ate at the bishops house with most of  the missionaries.  I appreciate all the gifts.  So far I got the Frisbee, which I used today,  the pants, the puzzle,the suspenders, the jump rope, and the candy.  Thanks!

This week starts the carnivales in Nariño.  It's gonna be nuts.  I got a free carnivales poster.  There's lots of super cheap stuff you can buy in the streets.  I love it.  It's like a giant swap meet. I bought a laser pen.  It helps keep the dogs away.

This Sunday I hit a year and a half...  crazy stuff.

Hope things are going well.  Things are fine here.  We're just chugging along like usual.

elder chase

Fernanda got baptized last week.  It was really cool because she has been investigating for like a year and all  her kids are members of the church.

 

The Capitan Moroni award is for getting 10 baptisms within 3 months.  I'm pretty stoked because it's one of those goals that all the missionaries in the mision have and I finally got it.  Pretty sweet.

Elder A. comp,  Elder R. (J), is leaving and Elder C. from Argentina is gonna be his new comp.  He was in my district in Pasto when I first arrived here.  He and Elder A. have had some issues in the past.  Hopefully everything works out ok.  Elder A. (former comp) is the new Assistant to the President.

élder chase

Captain Moroni award recipients

Zone Christmas gathering

Talent Show

We had some baptisms last Saturday.  Pedro P., Gloria N. and Heider Dubán P..  Pedro and Gloria got married on Friday and baptized Saturday.  I baptized Dubán. We got really lucky with him cause without knowing beforehand, we set the baptismal date for his parents on the 7th and it just happened to be the same day Dubán turned 8.   I got to baptize Dubán and confirm Gloria.

I think maybe God wanted me to learn something  because the first half of my mission I was only able to baptize 10 people and now, in the first 5 months of the second half, I've been able to baptize 15 more (if I counted right).  Maybe God needed me to seed a bit before harvesting.  Who knows... but it's nice to be seeing a bit of success.

I hope Joey Johnson does alright.  And hope his family is okay. 

I played mircosoccer again today.  Woot. I scored a couple goals again.  Nice.

I ate rabbit for the first time yesterday.  It was alright.  I sent a picture of Cuy (guinea pig) and potatoes. 

Por el momento todo está bien.  Solo trabajando como siempre.  Voy hacia los 18 meses.  ya casi en la última cuarta del partido jaja.  Nos vemos.

Élder Chase

Today was a crazy pday.  First we went to this giant catholic temple a little outside of Ipiales called Las Lajas.  I'll send pics.  Then, we played soccer against the Pasto missionaries.  I saw Elder A.

We also sold lunches to both zones.  It was absolutely insane, but we are raising money for a couple so they can get married and baptized this Saturday with their 8 year old.

 Elder Chase

Hey,

A couple interesting things.  First our investigators Magali and Bryan I. got baptized.  Was sick.  I baptized Bryan.  He's 10.  I also confirmed him.  Was sick, I had never confirmed anyone before, was cool.

Another interesting thing, about an hour ago I saw the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador.  The one from Colombia is president Santos.  They were doing something with a bridge between Ecuador and Colombia.  When he was leaving, he got really close.  Was way sick..  Elder A.almost shook his hand.  

We are about to go sell arroz con leche so the couple we teach can get married and baptized.  Nice!

Haven't had cuy (guinea pig) yet.  It's been over a year.  I want to try it again.

We're teaching this one lady, Fernanda.  She always goes to church and is the only person in her family who's not baptized.  We can't figure out whats holding her back.

We're getting hyped up for what is supposed to be the best month in the history of the mission.

Oh yeah,  forgot I was sick in bed with fever from Monday to Thursday.  When I finally went to the hospital,  they just gave me some medication.  Finally better.

We're all collecting these little stickers you get from buying a little chocolate call "jet."  There's an album you can buy and fill it up.  Theyre all like plants and animals and stuff with the world. There's 300 all together.

Things are going pretty well.  It was cool to see president Santos in person. I've seen the presidents of 2 other countries in person but never my own.  Wack

Not gonna be able to respond to other letters for lack of time,  but thanks.

Vamos a romperla este mes (we're gonna kill it this month)

élder chase

Hey

Things are going well.  Good news.  Elder H. just got transferred here as the other new zone leader.  Now it's him and Elder F., 2 ex comps hah!  Cool to have him around.

We're doing a couples activity tonight with couples who are sealed and the people who are living together and need to get married to get baptized.  We're hoping these people will be ready for baptism in December.

We're going to Pasto for some training tomorrow.

Played soccer and basketball today for pday.

elder chase

Hey

Well, I've been in the new area for almost a week.  Ipiales is awesome.  It's the farthest away from Cali we can get, right on the border with Ecuador.  My area is called Frontera 2.  It's sick because one of the families we teach is literally a couple minutes walking distance from the river that separates Colombia and Ecuador.  There's a big slope where we can see some city in Ecuador.  It's legit.

My comp is Elder R. from Mexico.  He's cool.  He's really scared of dogs.  It's pretty funny.  He loves to cook too.  He has about 13 months in the mish.

The cool thing about Ipiales is it is always one of the best zones.  Elder R. and I had a great week in spite of transfers.  We had 15 investigators at church, 2nd place in the mish last week.  It was legit.

We played a lot of soccer today.  All together at least 3 to 4 hours.  I'm dead.

Even though I started my mish in Nariño, I had forgotten how funny the accent is.  Everyone in Valle del Cauca makes fun of the people from Nariño for their accent, and i was laughing hard the whole day my first day here.  It's kind of hard to describe.  It's sort of like an Italian accent.  They sing or their voice goes up and down a lot.  I'm sure I'm gonna end up eating cuy again (guinea pig).

Vamos bien,

Elder Chase

Hey

So we got transfers.  I am now leaving Villa Gorgona after 4 1/2 months.  My new area is in Ipiales.  I'm super stoked.  It's been over a year now that I've been in Valle del Cauca and I'm finally going back to Nariño.  My area I called frontera.  I think I'm gonna be right on the border of Ecuador.  I'm still gonna be district leader. I don't know my new companion.  Elder A. is gonna be in my district again

It's sad leaving Gorgona but I did my best and left 10 converts.  Oh yeah, Junior, one of the sons of Juan C. and Alba, got baptized on Friday and his dad gave him the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday.  It was sick.  I've never seen a progress like the family Rendon has.

Ipiales is 2 hours away from Pasto and is part of the district of Pasto, but they are trying to be strong enough to break away.  We're gonna have to work hard but it should be cool.  Ipiales is always towards the top as far as the zones go.

Hey

So, first thing, the other week Elders D. and E. found Dr Pepper.  Probably one of the greatest moments of the mission, ha!

My 2 adult male converts here in Villa Gorgona both received the Melchizedek priesthood yesterday!  That should help a lot with the casa capilla cause.

So we're kinda in that awkward moment where we've baptized almost everyone we've been teaching and now we don't have many left who are interested.  This week is the kickoff week because in December we are going to try to break the record of baptisms in a month for the whole history of the mission.  September we came close with like 272 or something like that.  We got first in the whole South America Northeast Area which was sick, but in December we've gotta break 302, which they got in like 1980-something.  Gonna be nuts

Elder Musselman brought a football today.  It was legit.

Shout out to bish.  He was legit! (in reference to Bishop Smith from our ward, who is finishing his assignment this week).

Baptism of Geraldine and Libia

Hey

On Friday we had the baptisms of G. Obeso and L. Obeso.  It was sick.  I baptized Libia.  My camera wasn't working but the other elders took pics.   I'll try to get some.  and I didn't have a chance to grab my memory again.  I'll try to send pics next week.

So, today we had a big inter-zone microsoccer tournament.  It was sick.  We won the first game then lost the second and then won the 3rd against the best team 3 to 1.  They advanced due to the fact that they had scored more goals overall.  They won the whole thing too.  Oh well, at least we know we could beat the champions.  I did make one goal with my head.  It was sick. I made another one but they didn't count it.

Other than that, things are all good.  Transfers are coming up at the beginning of next month.  Chances are I'm leaving Gorgona. 

On the way back from the tournament, we still had our soccer  jerseys on.  Some cop stopped us and told us to be careful because we were entering the territory of another team from Colombia and that it might be kind of dangerous...nice.

One of our recent converts, Juan Carlos,  got the Aaronic Priesthood the other day.  Awesome.

Quiero disfrutar de lo que a lo mejor serán mis ultimas semanas aquí.  Espero que se pueda obtener la casa capilla para los santos de aquí.  La merecen.

élder chase

Hey,

So last Saturday was Kelly's baptism.  She is the litter sister of Lina and I got to baptize her.  I didn't have time to get the memory, but I'll send pics next week.

Happy birthday dad.  

We went to the centro today and picked out soccer jerseys for the upcoming inter-zone tournament.  They're florescent green.  Pretty stoked.  

Well, I most likely have 2 more baptisms this Saturday.  They are Gerladín, 17 and her grandma Libia.  Her mom and aunt want to get baptized too, but they have to work some things out first.

I'll likely be getting transferred in a few weeks so I'm just trying to enjoy Gorgona while I'm here.  This is the longest time I've been working in one area.  Pretty sick.

vamos bien

élder chase

Hey,

Things are going well in Gorgona.  Conference was good. I really liked Pres.  Uchtdorf's talk.  We got 8 people to come down to conference.

We have 2 possible baptisms this Saturday.  Kelly, the little sister of Lina, who just got baptized and Geraldín, who is the daughter of a family we contacted. The parents haven't been baptized and we haven't been able to talk much with the dad.

A lady in here is eating ice cream.  Looks good

My stomach hurts a bit due to a hot sauce eating contest we had in the zone today.

Yeah, just chugging along.  Things are going pretty well. 

Elder Chase

Hey,

Transferes arrived and............I'm not going anywhere.  I'm actually relieved because I like being here in Gorgona.  The two missionaries in the other part of the ward both got transferred so I'm the new District Leader.  In the district it's going to be me and Elder R., my ex comp, Elder T., with some gringo I don't know, and a trio of hermanas (sister missionaries).  It's gonna be 7 missionaries in 1 ward under my charge.  It will be nuts at first because neither Elder T. nor his comp know the new area and a trio of hermanas is gonna be nuts. But its all good and should be interesting

We had Linas baptism on Saturday.  It was sick!  Her mom had been inactive 18 years.  They live in Cabuyal too, which makes it even harder for them.  I don't have the pics yet but I'll attach the ones of the Rendon family.  We're actually going to go have a family night in their house tonight with the other members here.

Esta semana debe de ser una semana interesante.  Voy a esforzarme por hacer todo lo posible para ayudar al distrito y seguir adelante con la obra aquí.  Gracias por todo el apoyo.

Elder CHAH-say, como la gente dice aquí.  A veces, tengo que escribir mi nombre en un papel así CHEIS para que lo puedan pronunciar.

Hey,

We had the baptisms of J. C. Rendón M., A. Landazuri A., and V. Landazuri Z.  I got to baptize them which also meant I had to memorize all those names...which was fun, haha.

They've put off the transfers for a week.  I don't know why but I think it has something to do with them wanting to finish the month first.

Not much else is new.  We're still working on the papers to get a branch out here.  It's kind of tough because there's already a ton of other stuff to work on but we're trying.

I wish there was more to write about.  Things are fine in general.  It's super hot all the time.

Hey!

Things are going pretty well.  We should definitely be having baptisms this Saturday.  We have 3  for sure and 2 more possibles. La familia R has 6 people.  Juan Carlos and Alba, their 3 sons Christian (20ish), Rubén (16) and Junior (15), and their niece Valentina (9).  The parents and Valentina are committed.  The oldest kid is never around while we are there, Rubén is really stubborn and Junior has come to church but he's not sure what he wants.  We're gonna do the interviews tomorrow.

There's also Lina (16), who is the daughter of a less active member for 18 years who we got to come to church twice.  They live in Cabuyal, a pueblo that is even farther away than Villa Gorgona. I'll send the map we are going to send to the area presidency so you guys can see.  Lina hasn't had all the lessons but really wants to get baptized,  so well see what happens..

Other than that, not much new.  We hear about transfers Sunday.  I'm really hoping i don't go anywhere.  

Vamos al agua este sábado!

Élder Chase

Hey,

Things are going alright.  The Setenta (Seventy) Elder Christopher Waddell came on Thursday.  He served in Barcelona, España as a missionary and president.  It was sick.  We're trying really hard to get the casa capilla (house chapel) out here.  I have to fill out a whole bunch of papers and stuff.  I'm basically trying to open a branch...pretty sick! 

We're really working hard with the family Rendón.   The baptismal day is 21 of September.  We're gonna try to get as many in the water as possible, but basically whoever wants it that day, we will baptize and then work to get the rest of the family later.  The dad, Juan Carlos was interested when we told him about when Jesus came to the Americas, so we showed him the testaments.  It was sick.

Hey

I'm pretty sure you guys already have heard, but if not, on Saturday one of the elders in the mission was killed in Cali.  He was eating lunch when a stray bullet hit him in the head.  They took him to the hospital but he either died there or on the way.  His name was Elder E. from the Dominican Republic. He was part of my group, meaning he was in the Bogota MTC with me and showed up to the field at the same time.  I didn't know him too well, but I had talked to him before.  It's very sad.  It made the news.  Apparently the police don't think it was a stray bullet and are interrogating the elders that were with him.  We don't know much else but they're gonna tell us later.

There was another "paro", or roadblock strike.  It's settled down a bit but its still going and the missionaries in Nariño had to stay in their houses for awhile.  Apparently some sister missionaries were in a taxi when people started throwing rocks and stuff at it.  Nothing has really affected Cali though.

On a brighter note, we convinced the hermano who has a small bus to come help us pick up investigators for last Sunday.  We broke my previous church attendance record and got 17.  It was dope.

Elder  Christoffer Waddel of the Seventy is coming Thursday to visit.  It should be sick. 

A pesar de las dificultades, seguimos adelante.  Lo que pasó con el élder fue muy triste, solamente puedo imaginarme como se siente su mamá.  Gracias por todo el apoyo.  Nos vemos en 10.

Élder Chase 

Hey

Things are going well.  I've been talking to President Prince about getting a "casa capilla" (house chapel) out here in Villagorgona.  That would be sick.  It will require a lot of work, but it's definitely possible.  That's how Buenaventura started also, and they have over a hundred people now.

We are trying to get this one family baptized the on the 14th.  It's the family Rendón.  The mom, Alba, really wants it, but her two sons are a bit rebellious.  The 9 year old daughter will probably get baptized too.  The husband is somewhere in between her, the wife, and the kids with his desires.  We'll see what happens there.

Found a scorpion in the house for the third time since I've been here.

Played mini soccer today.  Scored 7 goals.  Nice

Still eating lots of rice.  I don't ever want to eat rice again after the mish.  except when I come back to visit.

Spanish is coming along well.  I pretty much understand everything.  Only when people speak with a lot of slang is it difficult. 

Tenemos una meta de 10 investigadores asistiendo este domingo.  Lo vamos a hacer.  

Elder Chase

Hey,

Sorry I don't have a lot of time.  This dumb computer is so slow.  Things are going alright.  My comp is Élder R. from Perú.  This is now my 5th Peruvian companion.  

Also, for the people who want to write me, if you guys could do it on Sunday, that'd be great because it'd be a lot easier to email in the morning instead of having to wait until the afternoon.

We didn't have assistance to get people to the chapel.  It's hard for the people because the church is so far away. 

Yesterday we walked into a house and found 10 new investigators.  It was cool.  Their grandpa had just died recently so Wednesday w are gonna teach them the plan of salvation

My new comp likes soccer a lot.  Nice.  Maybe he can teach me.

Just working hard trying to do everything we can.  Sometimes its frustrating, but either way, just gotta keep going.   I've officially lived in Colombia over a year now.

Later

Elder Chase

things are ok.  We had a baptism on Saturday.  Jennifer.  yeah!

My companion is getting switched, thankfully.  I don't know my new comp ,but we'll see what happens.  

We didn't have anyone come to church last Sunday.  That's the fist time since I've been here.  I don't know what happened but were gonna try to step it up this week.  

Just ate a hamburger.  Doesn't even compare to the US.  oh well, haha

We had a guy named Wainer who was going good towards his baptism, but then his girlfriend (who is a church member) broke up with him and got a new boyfriend a week later.  So, he's really ticked.  He knows the church is true and everything, but doesn't want to  go to church and see her.  It stinks.  Or, as we say here, "que piedra."

Entonces ya que se va Élder L., me toca tomar control aquí.  Espero tener éxito pero de todas maneras voy a tratar de seguir adelante y positivo siempre.  Los pocos miembros aquí son buenos y merecen tener su casa capilla.  Nos vemos

Élder Chase

Not much new here in VG.  We might have 2 baptisms this Saturday but its not for sure.  Their names are Wainer and Jennifer. 

The sun really beats down on you here.  I've got  a really nice farmers tan now,

Camera is still busted.  Don't have pics at the moment.

Hit 13 months today. yeaahh

I'm really trying to think of more stuff to write.

We get transfers next week.

Learned how to make some juices out of fruit.

Just trying to stay focused and work hard.  It's not  always easy but, then again, no one said it would be.

Pues vamos bien aquí las cosas siempre podrían ser peores.  Tenemos investigadores buenos.  Aprendo algo nuevo cada día y me esfuerzo por ayudar a las personas.

Élder Chase

Hey

Things are good here in Villagorgona.  Last Saturday we had the baptism of G. Bustamante.  He's legit.  We've got a couple of people lined up for the 10th of August too.

Saw my padre elder I. today.  He's in the office as secretary of materials.

They're having problems with elder L. visa.  If they don't fix it, he might end up having to camp in Ecuador a few days

Fun facts - After asking around, I learned that one time in Pasto I ate cow intestine without knowing it. The owners of this internet are all Jehovah's Witnesses.  ha

Aparte de todo eso, todo está normal.  Me estoy esforzando por hacer todo lo posible para ayudar a la gente de aquí.  Sé que el evangelio realmente ayuda a las personas a mejorar sus vidas.  

Élder Chase

Hey

So, first thing, a shout out to Jordan who got call to Puerto Rico.  So sick.  Second thing, Brandon Beck got a call to Colombia.  Nice

Things are alright.  We have a for sure baptism this Saturday, and maybe another.  His name is Germán.  He's like 45 and lives with a member named José.  He's pretty legit.

One of our investigators appeared on the front page of the newspaper the other day.  He got arrested for being involved in selling guns...nice.

The water is back so were are living in our own house again.

My Spanish is getting better.  My goal is to be able to lose completely the gringo accent when speaking Spanish.  It is not easy though.

But, yeah, things are going.  The comp can be a little difficult at times and President Prince told me its because I'm getting ready for marriage, except in marriage there aren't any transfers...nice.

Elder Chase

hey

Another week here in Villagorgona.  

Last Thursday was pretty cool.  Every Thursday we go to this place called Cabuyal.  It's a little town by Villagorgona.  We decided to go on bikes this time.  It was cool.  I felt like your typical missionary.

A couple days ago, there was a fire in Villagorgona.  It was pretty nuts.  It was less than a hundred meters from hitting the block where we live.  The funniest part was that all the Colombians didn't even notice or didn't even care.  People were just there playing soccer in the street or whatever.  It was pretty sweet.

Also, apparently Villagorgona has some issues with water.  From today until Friday, we are not gonna have water there.  So we are staying with the other missionaries in the district here in Cali.  We'll still go to Villagorgona in the day but we sleep in Cali.

We played microfútbol today like we usually do on p-days.  I must say I am getting a lot better than I was.  I scored the first 5 consecutive goals in the game.  It was pretty sweet.  I've caught the fútbol fever.

Speaking of fever, I also have the normal fever.  I had to stay home yesterday.  We went to church then we went home and I had to sleep because I was feeling pretty sick.  Saturday night was the worst though.  I woke up in the middle of the night and started shaking kinda uncontrollably for like 15 minutes and then got all hot and couldn't sleep so I had to take some stuff.  I feel better now.  Not 100 percent, but the worst has passed.

Elder Chase