April 25, 2017

On April 24, there was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Vina del Mar. . . . 

Hey Mom! Being a secretary is crazy. I decided that I want to have a
secretary not be a secretary. I do all of the legal stuff of the
mission, I get all of the stuff ready for the new missionaries that
get here, and then I take special requests from everyone on other
stuff that needs to get done. So I do a lot of stuff but bascially
legal stuff and new missionaries could be the best job description. I
really like being busy becuase there is always something to do, there
isn't time to just sit around. Something hard is that sometimes it
gets too busy and turns into stressful. But usually it's just the
right amount. Also it is really cool to be around President more. He's
a great guy and really smart in the Gospel so I learn a lot from him.
Actually from the earthquake the storage place where we keep all of
the materials like cards, pamphlets and books got torn apart. One of
the shelves fell and a ton of stuff was on the ground. So we're going
to have to clean that up. I think it's a little dirtier than the
garage. (I asked him if he missed cleaning our garage)
Speaking of that, there was an earthquake this week. It was a 7.1 or
something like that and it didn't feel that big, but we were driving
so that was probably why. It was my first time driving again in the
mission (so over a year) and all of the sudden it felt like the road
got really bumpy. It was like driving on a gravelly road, but the road
was completely smooth. We were in traffic so we came to a stop and we
kept shaking so we realized that it was a tremor. All of the people in
the street lost their minds haha. People starting running and everyone
looked really scared so we though it was worse than it was. We tried
to call somebody but our cellphones didn't have any coverage, which
was super weird. SO we pulled over and said a prayer and kept going.
There was a tsunami warning but nothing happened. It just took a
really long time to get back because of the traffic. And they cut the
lights in Viña so we had to use flashlights in the night. It was kind
of scary, but we also felt tremors Saturday and Sunday leading up to
Monday. The other elders that were in the office said that the water
cooler fell down and that the building across the street was whipping
back and forth. But there wasn't any permanent damage.
Saturday we got permission to go out to Huanhualí yet again for
another baptism. This time it was Carolina, the lady that drank coffee
right before I left so she couldn't get baptized. But she prepared
herself again and asked me to baptize her this time. It was a great
service, it was at 8 in the morning Sunday so that's why we went out
saturday night and stayed with the elderes there for Sunday. Her
husband went to the baptism too, he's a member but inactive. After the
baptism we went to church there and it was awesome to see all the
members there. The bishop walked in and saw me and said "Great, Elder
Cheney! We need someone to give a talk." So I gave a talk in Sacrament
meeting about being a friend to people that go to church, and I shared
that scripture that I shared last week I think. But it went really
well in Huanhualí.
This is the last week of the changes so we are going to be getting
ready for the news to get here and everything. Also next week I won't
have pday until Saturday the 6th of May so I won't be able to write
until then. But I love you guys a lot!!!!!
Elder Cheney

April 15 and 18

April 15

This week was lit. It was a really long week but it passed by real
quick. We had regular office work to do everyday but after 4 we had
Easter Celebrations. It was super awesome, I'll try to send pictures
next week but what we did is we had tours in the chapels. We started
off in the Sacrament meeting room and then a couple other stations
that the sisters took the people through and then they ended the tour
in the baptismal font with two elders in white. After they went to the
cultural hall to eat and do a little card activity. It was super
spiritual and we went all over to do them. Some days I worked out in
the street to bring people in, other days I was inside to help direct
people but we had a ton of people come and check out the chapel. I
think in the entire week we had over 1000 people (including members)
and we received like 300ish referrals for the missionaries of good
people that can progress, so we saw a ton of miracles with this
program. But it was a lot of work and we didn't get back to the house
until midnight pretty much every day so that was really tiring, but
totally worth it. I'm definitely taking a nap today.
This morning the Goulds (A marriage missionary couple) invited us over
for a pancake breakfast because we have pday and it was great. We ate
a ton of pancakes and I think we're going to toss a frisbee around
after we write, so it'll be a relaxing day. But we have to end pday a
little early because we have the last Easter Celebrations tonight so
we'll start that at 4 or 5. They are really fun and it's awesome to
see all the missionaries and talk to the people so it'll be a good
time tonight.
This week I also bought pants that are called bombachos and they're
pretty gangster. They have zipper pockets and they are really
comfortable.
Also I made mac and cheese in a frying pan and it turned out really well.
This next week should be a little calmer, I think I'll be writing on
this coming Tuesday.
Now for a little spiritual thought. This week I was reading in Alma 59
and in this part of the Book of Mormon it talks about a lot of wars
and the Lamanites(the bad guys) took a city from the Nephites(good
guys) because the nephites didn't put enough men there to maintain the
city. In verse 9 it says  "And now as Moroni had supposed that there
should be men sent to the city of Nephihah, to the assistance of the
people to maintain that city, and knowing that it was easier to keep
the city from falling into the hands of the Lamanites than to retake
it from them, he supposed that they would easily maintain that city."
I liked the phrase that says it's easy to protect a city than to
retake one. And it's the same for people. It's easy to help someone
that already got to church, whether they are new or they already have
a ton of time in the church. If they have some desire to be there it
is easier to protect them and befriend so that they stay strong than
try to get someone that is distanced from the church to come back. So
we should always try to help people stay active in the church and be
their friends so they feel comfortable and happy there. But most
important than everything so they can get their own testimony of Jesus
Christ.
Love you guys a ton and hope you have a good week!!
Elder Cheney

April 18

Yea you kind of missed my last p-day, so that was sad, but some other
people saved the day. Usually my pday is tuesday unless something
happens. So if I don't write Tuesday I'll write saturday. I think I'll
be writing next Tuesday.
I'm definitely going to try and make some enchiladas if I have time
this week. We're probably going to have another busy week this week,
look at that!
It's going to be busy because we're moving. What happened was we were
looking at another pension that is a lot closer to the office because
right now we're about 10-15 minutes walking from the office and late
at night it's sketchy. So we found one super close and the financial
elder started getting us out of the one we have now. Then for some
reason the other guy in the "new" pension said we couldn't go there.
And then the lady with our pension decided she didn't want anymore
blessings and told us we had to get out anyways. So we were in a
pickle. Then we searched a ton on the internet, got a recent convert
to help us out, adn did everything to find a new house. We have to be
out of our house this Friday. Finally we found a pension that is
literally right in front of the office. The only way we could live
closer is if it was on the first floor. And the best part of all is
that it's big enough for all of the office elders. SO WE'RE ALL GOING
TO MOVE IN!! It's pretty exciting. We'll be doing the move on Thursday
but we'll pack up on Wednesday because we have the Chilean census and
if we're not there when they pass by we're going to get a big ole
fine. So we'll be in the house.
Other than that we played soccer this morning and it was pretty fun
because it was just straight gringos so we are all about the same
skill level.
We went to a place called "Hey Fish" and we ate there today. It was
pretty fun because the waiter was from Canada and he spoke French,
English, and Spanish. He was pretty proud of it too, but I guess if
you speak 3 languages you have a reason to be prideful.
Also to explain the picture I got a big blister on my foot and it had
to be removed. But it was all healed up so I'm not going to get some
weird foot disease.
Something I learned or remembered this week was from a class that we
taught in principles of the Gospel. We were talking about convenants
and it was cool because God is always willing to make covenants with
us and He promises us so much through covenants. He promises us that
we can live with Him again, that we'll be clean of our sins, and we
can be with our family forever, and a whole lot more. So He offers us
all of that and we know that if we do our part He will always do His
part. But He doesn't just make us a generous offer, rather He helps us
with our part too! He gives us the scriptures, leaders, prayer, and
much more to help us with our part of the covenants. God really is
loving and He wants our success.
Love you guys a lot!!
Elder Cheney

April 8, 2017

Conference was really cool and I'll include some of my favorite quotes:
The second lesson is that the Lord’s work is not just to solve
problems; it is to build people. -President Eyring
To return to His presence and to receive the eternal blessings that
come from making and keeping covenants are the most important goals we
can set. -Elder Ballard
If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so.
-President Monson (He said please!)
Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not
do. -President Nelson

And there were a ton of other talks that I really liked, I'm going to
try and listen to it a couple more times when i have time.
Today was really cool because we went back to Huanhualí (my last
sector) and I was able to see the baptisms of a kid and a teenager I
was teaching. Benjamin is the son of Marlen(one of my converts) and
Emilio is the friend of one of the youth there. It was really cool to
see everybody there too.
This week, like all the other weeks it looks like, was a little crazy
and I'm pretty tired. Sometimes we don't have a ton of time to work in
the street, but it's awesome when we do. Sometimes the office gets
really stuffy and I feel suffocated so it's great to leave for a
couple hours and teach and do contacts.
Love you guys a whole lot!!
Elder Cheney