Hey Everyone!

We went to some place an hour and a half away to go play soccer with some people who hadn't seen missionaries in 11 years or something like that. We got back really late and we're probably gonna hear it for writing past 6 o clock. :)

I got that package last week with the sweaters. They were greatly appreciated. And the face soap, too. The face soap here I'm pretty sure is just making it worse. If you guys ever send another package, more face soap is appreciated. Oh yeah, and I don't know why you guys sent me that white shirt, but it"s appreciated because all my shirts are size 17 and are way too big. I think 16 and a half would have been better but it's not that big of a deal.

To email, Elder I. and I have to go to an internet cafe. There are a whole bunch of them here. There's no way they'd let us have a computer in our apartment, haha.

As far as food goes, I don't think I've had a meal here without rice. I'm so sick of rice. But they do like potatoes and chicken too, and that's pretty good. Elder I. and I eat breakfast in the apartment. I usually make eggs if I'm not feeling lazy. We have lunch at a members house every day. We usually don't eat dinner because people always give us food at every appointment.

I didn't get the picture of my collage in the email. I don't know why, but that's cool that she put that for me. And that's cool that Bishop mentioned me... What did he say? Oh yeah, and I told Jordan to get his papers in so he can get out here already.

Anyways. Sorry I don't have a lot of time, but all the emails and stuff are greatly appreciated. Nos vemos en 21 meses.

Elder Chase

Hey everyone

So things are going well. Conference was cool and it was a really nice break from the normal routine. I really liked the talk President Uchtdorf gave about enjoying the ride and listening to a song to enjoy it not to hear the end. It made me think of my mission and how I should try to enjoy every second of it and not just think about the future. Elder Bednar and Holland's talks were good too. They were very similar to the two recent MTC devotionals they gave.

Oh yeah, Pasto just got Mountain Dew for the first time. There are posters of it everywhere. It's hilarious. So of course, I've already drank like four in the past three days. That and Oreos are the only things I recognize that you can basically buy anywhere.

A kid in the ward just left for Spain on his mission and is in the Bogotá MTC. We met some of his friends at his family night farewell and now four of them want to be baptized and have set baptismal dates. We had a pretty good week two weeks ago. As of now, we have 13 baptisms scheduled for the 27th. That would be huge if it actually happens, but most likely at least half won't make it. And also, our area is being cut down in the following weeks so some of the baptisms won’t technically count as ours (but I will still count them... hah!)

Oh yeah, and when you guys do send packages, music is appreciated... like the soundtracks or whatever really.

To answer some of the questions Elder I. is from Huancayo, Peru. His parents and family converted when he was six. He is the youngest and has like five sisters and a brother or something like that. He is the first to serve outside of Peru. He is really good with computers and is really chill. I'm really lucky to have him as a companion. The other new gringo in my group, who was in my district in Bogotá, is having problems with his comp, so I'm pretty lucky.

As far as the mission affecting me, I think it's helping put things in perspective a bit and has helped me see the big picture more. I guess before I just didn't understand how real everything is with the gospel and stuff.

I don't think I've been here long enough to really see any huge changes in people's lives yet, but it is cool to see people accept the things you teach and frustrating when people flake out on stuff (which happens 90 percent of the time). We're still teaching the family Villacortez. One of the girls hugged me and didn't know about the rules (physical contact with the opposite sex). It was awkward...hah! Also, fun fact: apparently it's normal for women to nurse their kids in public and in front of people. It's always interesting to see the reactions when people open the door and they are doing that... haha!.

Entonces todo esta bien aquí, sin embargo todavía no entiendo la gente. Si yo hubiera estudiaso más en escuela, tal vez entendería mejor. Pero no estoy preocupado sé que estas cosas vienen con tiempo. Sé que este es el unico lugar en el mundo donde debo estar. Que estén bien. 

Chao

Hey everyone

So we had another baptism Saturday. She is 12 and her name is Gabriela. It was pretty cool.

As a zone we did really well this week. For the month we averaged 4 baptisms per companionship.

And yeah, I do like the when you guys send pics with the emails. I printed out some and showed them to the people down here.

The volcano basically looks like a mountain. It does make me uncomfortable sometimes but I usually don't think about it.

For the most part, things have really been the same. Elder I. and I are always busy with investigators and finding new people to teach.

Oh yeah, so yesterday we were knocking doors and we found a door that had a sign above it that said, "Esta familia es cristiana, la casa está abierta para cualquier persona que quiera conversar acerca de nuestro señor Jesus."

translation: This family is Christian. The house is open for anyone who wants to converse about our Lord Jesus.

So, of course, we knocked the door and some guy answered and Elder I. said "Hello, we came because of the sign. We'd like to talk with you about Jesus." And, of course, the guy made up some excuse that he already knew of Christ or something and didn't want to talk to us. I thought it was kinda ironic... haha.

So anyway, let me know what you guys want to know and I look forward to hearing from you the next Monday. Later

Entonces entiendo un poco mas cada día pero todavía es difícil. Me dijeron que los primeros meses son lo mas difíciles y sé que eso es verdadero. Pero es bueno que yo haya tenido clases antes porque muchos de los misoneros que empezaron el misión conmigo hablan peor y sé que podría ser más difícil para mi. Sé que no hay otro lugar en el mundo donde debo estar. Me encanta las personas aunque no las entiendo. Me alegro que todo esté bien allí. Hasta el próximo lunes.

Elder Chase

Hey everyone

Aight, so we had the Noche Blanca on Saturday. It was sick (awesome). Elder I. and I had 2 baptisms. With the whole zone it was like 12. So yeah, I got to baptize one of them. His name is Juan G. I'll send a couple pics. It was pretty legit. President Prince was there.

So yeah, president Prince is awesome. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Fun fact, turns out I have A+ blood type.

Oh yeah, also on Saturday, I taught an English class. It was pretty cool. It was all little kids, moms, and a few teenage girls. I am gonna be teaching an English class Every Saturday now. Pretty legit!

Also...I tried Cuy for the first time on Sunday at the house of the people we baptized. Cuy is the roasted guinea pig. It was really disturbing to see them impale the dead guinea pig on a stick and slowly roast it over coals and then slice it up. I didn't really like the taste very much, it’s kinda like fish.

Anyways, still working hard. Oh and to answer the question about where we live, it is an apartment I sent some pics of it I think. It’s pretty small and my head almost touches the ceiling. It was kind of nasty at the beginning but I've done some cleaning and its better.

Entonces las cosas estàn mejorando poco a poco. Todavía es difícil entender pero sè que la idioma vendrá con tiempo y trabajo duro. He aprendido mucho y sè que aprenderè mas. Nos vemos.

 Elder Chase

La familia Guacales with Elders Chase and I.

Brandon's first baptism while serving in Colombia. Juan G. y su esposa

Hey everyone,

Aight, so first things first. This week I had my first experiences with gross food. I just ate at some chicken and fries restaurant with Elder I. and they gave us soup and it had chicken foot and chicken heart with valves and everything. I just took out the stuff and drank the broth. At least that was in a restaurant so I'm not obligated to eat it all.

Also, a few days ago someone served us fish. It wasn't a “staring at me” fish but it was like the front half looked like fried meat and the back half looked like dead fish with tail and everything...I couldn't do it. Luckily no one was watching us eat and luckily I followed the advice of Bishop Smith and put a plastic bag in my backpack to secretly discard the fish. Elder I. doesn't understand and I think it bothered him a bit. Oh well. I think I'd prefer that than to have to actually eat it.

So, as far as the packages go, in Pasto we only get them every transfer. So I won’t get any until October, but it's okay because I know chances are for sure I'll be here a minimum of at least another month and a half after that, so it’s all good.

So they always told us in the MTC that we need to be ready at any moment to give talks in church because the people who are supposed to give them often don't show up. I thought I was safe because they didn't even ask me to share my testimony the first week. Of course yesterday, they asked me and Elder I. to give talks. I've never even winged a talk in English and I had to make up a talk on the spot in Spanish...yeah, it went okay, I think. Oh yeah, I thought I might mention that the people down here are not the best singers. I am a terrible singer and they make me sound like an angel.

So this Saturday we are having the "noche blanca" where the whole zone is having a combined baptism. We had five dates set, but one didn't show up to church yesterday so she will have to wait until she commits to attend church more regularly. Two others told us to never go back to their house. I`m pretty sure they had been talking to the Jehovahs Witnesses. They make our life the biggest pain, I swear. We had to spend one lesson with our investigator Maria explaining everything that the Jehovah’s Witnesses had told her that was incorrect about our Church. I honestly think they are following us and talking to everyone we talk with...it's frustrating. They just go talk to people and talk smack about us and the church. I don't get it because we have never talked bad about any other church. Oh well, we have to remember that people have their agency.

On the good side, our two baptisms this Saturday are Juan and Betty. They are probably in their fifty's and are for sure, as long as they can give up their coffee. I think we have taught word of wisdom like 8 times in the past 2 days. No one here understands why coffee is bad for you.

Our other baptismal date is for the 29th. A girl named Gabriella. I think she's thirteen and she’s great! We are trying to get her cousins to commit, but they are a bit stubborn. Another big reason people don't get baptized is because they are living together and aren't married, or haven't divorced someone legally. It's a pain because these people want to be baptized but they have to wait for papers and stuff.

Also, I haven't tried cuy yet, which is the grilled guinea pig thing. I don't know, it's just nasty to eat something that is dead and has a facial expression which looks like it’s being tortured.

Entonces, estamos trabajando duro y estoy estudiando mucho. Sé que algun día entenderé estas personas. Siempre me gusta recibir cartas de ustedes. Es bueno que toda esté bien allí en los estados. Estoy tratando hacer ejercisios cada mañana para que no regrese a ustedes un gordito. Todas las personas nos da comida y siempre es pan y chocolate. Nos vemos.

Elder Chase

Hey everyone

Okay, so I'm here in Pasto. It's not that cold but cold enough to the point where I have a nice blue sweater to wear around haha. I would have bought a black or a grey one but the only colors they had even close to my size are blue, orange, and pink.

My companion is Elder I. He's from Peru. He's way chill. He's exactly how President described him- not in your face annoying but he does like to talk.

Oh yeah, they say for packages, you should send them in like one of those bubble envelopes cause then it won’t cost anything for me to go pick it up. Also they say just to send all packages to the main mission home and then they will ship them to me. 

Anyways, it's pretty nice not being all cooped up in the MTC. The people here speak slower but I still have a pretty hard time understanding people. I haven't had any weird food yet but apparently I'm gonna have to try the roasted hamster soon. Oh well. They mostly just eat potatoes and rice here. It's weird cause they always give you soup before your meal so entonces the food is cold by the time you get to it. The only thing I've had to choke down was my first meal they gave me this tomato water stuff. It was gross. Oh yeah, somehow I lost all my soap in between here and the MTC so I'm just gonna have to buy some face soap and stuff here.

The people here love it when I teach them English. Apparently I am teaching an English class this Saturday. Should be interesting seeing how I don't even speak Spanish completely yet. But it's all good and should be fun.

Everyone here thinks I am some sort of martial arts expert because when they ask what sport I do, there's no equivalent word to college type wrestling here. So when I say luchar. They think I mean like lucha libre. So because of this, I get to teach a self-defense class too...that should be interesting.

Night time is still sketchy around here, although Pasto is one of the safer areas. President Prince kept telling us to be prepared not for "if" you get robbed, but "when" you get robbed haha. Nah, but for real, I feel like as long as you’re not dumb, and you pay attention to everything around you, we should be fine.

Oh yeah, if you send anything, make sure to include pictures. The people here love to look at pictures of me and my family. The one the other Chases sent me... everyone has seen and they all love it haha.

If you wanted to send me like a dark sweater or jacket that'd be cool cause as much as I love looking like a blueberry... Besides, I'm pretty sure if we can help it, we are supposed to wear dark colors. Like a black jacket from t-shirts plus would be cool or something like that. They don't make you wear your suit coat over the sweaters and stuff so people wear jackets.. It doesn't really matter as long as its big enough haha like XL probably.

Entonces, creo que el campo es mucho mejor que el CCM haha pero esta bien. Espero que todo esté bien allí si alguien tenga alguna pregunta de cualquier cosa me gustaría contestarlo. Sé que este es la obra del señor y trabajo cada día a ayudar las personas a venir a Cristo. Chao

Elder Chase at Cristo Rey look-out

Cristo Rey

View of Cali from Cristo Rey

Elder Chase and Elder I.

Hey everyone,

So we just arrived in Cali and we learned where we are going and stuff. I am going south to a place called Pasto. Apparently it’s up in the mountains and it's really cold and it has a lot of native-American people. My first comp is going to be Elder I., I think.  Apparently he's easy to get along with and President said he's not the kind of person to be obnoxious or in your face, which is good. According to President the Pasto area is on fire right now as far as baptisms and stuff so that should be cool. I'm a little bummed because I was looking forward to some heat after the cold in Bogota, but they say Pasto is pretty cool so well see. I'm pretty stoked to get out there.  I'll meet my comp tomorrow and then it will be only Spanish from then on. Also, I just got handed 5 dearelders from Jordan that were waiting for me here... haha. Anyways, I need to go get my 200 bucks worth of pesos now. Later.

Elder Chase

All the new missionaries with President and Sis. Prince

Elder Chase with President and Sis. Prince

Elder Chase with Elder I.