Saturday, December 28, 2013

wHaT aRe tHe ChAnCeS?

wHaT aRe tHe ChAnCeS?  

christmas in disneyland was so much fun!  seeing the excitement through hazyl and hattie's eyes was the best gift.  we were able to spend five days in the land of happiness and got to do all that we wanted and then some... i love being with my family and love seeing how much we care and truly want to be with each other. in the back of our mind we were missing one certain missionary who was celebrating christmas in a much different way this year.  we were very excited to be able to skype with tate on christmas from our hotel.

one day while standing in line to ride the pirates of the carribean  a little blonde boy who was possibly three years old reached up and grabbed my hand.  i am sure that he thought that i was his mommy.  his family quickly laughed and called him by name to come back with them in line.  i believe in big miracles... i believe in small miracles and i believe in tender mercies.  i just believe....the name that his parents called him was...TATE.  what are the chances?  who knew that a certain mom was missing a certain missionary and that that simple gesture would mean so much?

i leaned down and told the little boy that i too had a little boy named tate and that he was far away in chile but that i got to talk with him on christmas.  the family quickly asked if he was serving a mission and a conversation followed.  i was very touched by this experience that allowed me to share a little bit of my tate with this family.

i believe...



tate's message...

 I have really been learning patience. Patience is a Christlike attribute that I definitely have had to learn out here considering that everything happens according to gods will and his plan. And that's how life is also. I think god was teaching me a lesson this whole time.  I made the decision to think more positively and trust in gods purposes and his plan. I know things don't always go our way or as we had planned. But if we truly love god and trust him, then we will learn, through patience, why we went through that. I hope we can all try to have more patience with ourselves, others, and especially god in trusting in his plan and learning from the things that we go through.

 Also with the coming of the new year I have been thinking about who I want to become in this year. I have set some goals and things I want to do and develop. I invite you all to make a list of things you want to do or be this next year. And then DO IT. Also merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you.



 We had a pretty humbling experience as we were entering our house Thursday night. Right as we opened the gate our neighbor yelled for us and started talking to us. He is a man who lives alone in his mid forties and always seems to get home really late at night and from our point of view probably hasn't made the best decisions in this life. But he began to ask us what we were going to do for Christmas because he is going to celebrate Christmas alone. Me and my comp looked at each other and had the same feeling. We told him that we are going to make some arrangements to spend a little time with him. I know now he was most likely waiting eagerly for our arrival and we were probably his last hope. Pretty humbling to think there is a lot of people who will be alone at this time of year.

 So be grateful to be able to be with a family and friends. Thanks for all the support and love that you have for me. It helps me more than you know. Also got my package and all the letters. Have a good holiday season and save some treats for me. Love you all!!



bonus letter...

 this week was really good.  Monday started off pretty decent. We headed to rancagua and got the news that my companion had to rest one more week so that calmed us a little bit that he wouldn't have to go back to Mexico and than we just spent the rest of the day hanging out. 



 Tuesday was pretty cool. In the morning we went and sang some Christmas songs to the people in the hospital. There was like 30 of us so we divided into two groups and sang for about an hour  but it was just a cool thing to do knowing that those people would be there for Christmas and wouldn't be able to leave. Hopefully we helped a little bit. Then we came home and did a BBQ with our neighbor which was pretty funny. He is a good guy just lives the wild life  but i am glad we could keep him company as well.

 Then it came time for our Christmas dinner and we headed over to the members house at 8 and stayed til 11. It was good to have somewhere to go and they are always really good to us and treat us well. 

Wednesday started with district meeting, lunch, and then Skype!! woo!!!  it was good to see you all and talk for a while. Time has flown by and it is crazy to me that when we talk next time I will only have 3 months left. We spent the rest of the day at the church doing nothing again. Only 4 more days of nothing then we can work again. But also changes are coming this week so should be interesting to see what happens. Pretty sure I'm staying but you never know. 

Thursday started in the morning with just studies and then we headed to lunch and ate turkey and mashed potatoes. Surprised me to be eating that  but it was really good. After like always we spent the day in the church doing nothing.

Friday was really exciting for me. We did divisions in the afternoon to work in our sector. It finally worked out that the other elders who live with is didn't have any lessons yesterday so we worked a little in our sector. As well as we went to a ward activity. So it was refreshing for me to get out and work a little bit and teach. I went out with the Brazilian elder and it was a good time. He's a funny kid. Actually he is even funnier when he sleeps. Not joking every night homeboy sleep talks or does something crazy. One night he prayed, did a contact, and then taught us a whole lesson while sleeping. And then Friday night he was dead asleep and decided to do three push-ups and then go right back to bed. We get a Pretty good laugh tho!



 Saturday was a crazy day. We got the changes and like I said I will be with elder arnez from Bolivia. So should be fun. I know him from the beginning of my mission so that's cool. But after we just figured out all the changes and called everyone to coordinate it. So that was Saturday. 

Sunday will be a day of just saying bye for my comp and resting more. And then Monday changes happen.  Love you guys!!! Have a good safe trip home. Also happy late birthday grandpa harding. I love you more than you know and am grateful for everything you do and have done!! Have a good one.

love tate


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