11/15/2010 Christmas coming up?

Hey no worries, its a bummer there sick, its crazy to imagine a snow packed yard right now. thanks for searching the priesthood line, its wierd how fast christmas is coming up. should be a pretty sweet one here. elder Carlos Amado from the area presidency is coming the 16 17 and 18 to tour our mission. and for the 25th, the mission is renting out a soccer stadium to play games and get everyone together (i think that is). so should be interesting as we get more details. sadly this week has been very little in progression. We had to go to santiago to check on the numb part on elder mathews leg, then he ended up having a very bad panic attack on our way back. and he has been going through waves of them all week, so we have been in santiago and our house, everyday. but luckily i got to do some splits with the other elders in our house to get out and work and check on our investigadors, but very little. So continue praying for him as he fights his way through this. Elder Wade and Davis had 3 baptisms this week end. a teenage girl named katy, and this awesome couple named juan and patricia. they are amazing people. their baptisms went really well. and next week is changes, i imagine i will be with elder mathews a change longer till he stables out a bit, but normally it would be my time to go. i got the package! thank you , everything i wanted it to be! the microfiber towell is awesome, so missionary friendly. the photos were neat, moms hair looks really good. plenty of red vines to keep us happy. but thats pretty much all that has really happened, we got zone conference tommorow. always fun, and yeah doing very well. i hope you all get better and have a good week.

con cariño

elder roosendaal

chao

11/1/2010 Buin Zoo

Hey guys! thanks. im doing great. and sounds like summer is officially wound down. it is soooo warm here. thats awesome you got to take a spin in "elenore" dad. as for our entertainment. we just went to buin zoo today. a pretty much once in a lifetime experience for missionaries, it was pretty cool, i only sent you guys a few pics. it was nice to see some crazy wildlife up close. we had a pretty interesting week. cool halloween yesterday, a surpising amount of people out and about, lots of funny little kids, and always some punks. my poor comp Elder Mathews got bit by a Dog, it got him pretty good, we are going to have to go in soon and get a rabis shot just to be safe. we were just walking in ths street and it came out of nowhere. poor kid. but he is doing well. still waiting for the meds to take full affect. that would be way cool mom if you became a temple worker. but it does sound like dad is having a great time in the bishopric. the work here is going well, with great advances, we had an awesome lesson with the young couple jose y barbara and they decided that they wanted to pray and ask god and that same moment, so we all kneeled down and jose offered the prayer, it was amazing, we all just sat there after he finished. then barbara looked over at jose and just stared. the spìrit was incredible strong. they said they felt it, but jose is having a hard time excepting that his whole life in the evangelical church, wasnt the true church. which obviously is a hard pill to swallow. but we explained from alma 32 about faith and continuing to see if these things are true. it was truly amazing. seriously mission work is so crucial. if every member in the church had been a missionary at one point the church would grow at an unbelieveble rate. because you understand how it works , what role each person plays, and how every member truly is a missionary. i just cant believe i never left with the missionaries to help them in a lesson, except with grammy at our house. members are the most important part of the convertion, they are the key to missionary work success. sadly her in our ward we have about 20 active members. so we really have to work them. so really, keep your eyes open always,. always be ready to give a reference to the missionaries, after getting to know the missionaries ofcourse. but remember that your friendship with the people is a huge part. that is so true about service, thanks mom for sharing that. we are encouraged to have a least one service project a week, we can have up to three, but obviously we can do little things here and there, but the big stuff usually always falls to the members, because random people arent always down for random help, especially from missionaries, cause they know its a double edged sword. ha. one of my favorite examples of service is in alma 17 and 18. when ammon offers his service to king lamoni, even as a missionary, ammon never began teaching until lamoni had the desire to know why he was so great, why he was such a wonderful servant. i hope that one day i too will have the oppurtunity to do that. but thank you for everything, im stoked on the next package. i hope all is well. take care

Elder Roosendaal

10/25/2010 One year burning of the shirt!

hey guys,

great week. im glad to hear all is well. blown away by the news from kara. sooo cool. we have been seeing lots of progression in the work, throughout the whole mission. lots of little changes here and there. this week i believe i will be burning one of my shirts. its crazy its almost been a year, im having lots of memories with the heat that has returned to this beautiful country. its cooks, foreal. and its just spring. . its been pretty fun working with my district , in the short time, i have learned quite a bit. sounds like you guys too are learning some cool stuff too. We are working with lots of investigadors, im really being able to tell the difference between the people who are truly prepared by Lord and who are not, even in the first moments of the contacts. thanks to the spirit. we are teaching some really great people. we are teaching this one guy who used to be a famous singer here in chile, you can look him up on youtube. him and his twin brother. Los Gemelos. pretty dope, really great guy. We are having a great time, getting to know the new elder more. oh and i forgot to tell you, there is this guy and my sector who is an amazing painter, he does photo realism paintings and they are really impressive, he said he would sell one to you guys for 2000 dollars, even though its worth far more. i told him, id let you know. so here it is, now you know. ha. doing well in health and all. talk to you guys nex week.

Elder roooosendale

10/11/2010 I'm a District Leader!

Hey guys, crazy week. sounds like a great trip to yellowstone. (microfiber bath towel size would be cool) the weather really is starting to warm up, i forgot how hot it gets here. lots of allergies cause everything is in bloom. yeah and about steve, i got a letter from him the other day about all thats been going on, im going to write him today if i can. we have been keeping really busy, the change is over, Sadly, Ramirez had to go, he got whitewashed again (sent to a sector with another elder who doesnt know the sector) just like how he started here, crazy, we are all pretty bummed. but all is well. now elder wade is here, from idaho, he has a little more time then me on the mission. im starting off this change as District Leader. pretty nifty, we had awesome meeting with the zone leaders and district leaders with the president the other day, we saw the dats of the missionl, goals we have and what they want us to focus on and change. im excited for the oppurtunity. the work is going along well, we have still been struggling staying in good contact with our investigadors, but we continue to find new people. we work with quite a few inactives, there are over 500 here in san francisco alone. crazy right. but we are still having great progress with people even though its just a little slow. Elder Mathews is doing well, slowly getting better, unfortunately he had a gnarly anxiety attack the other day, just like me, but im pretty sure his was worse, we went to the doctor again and he gave him some new meds to prevent it from happening again, just like me. its so crazy. it is so amazing how the lord molds us and prepares us for things. thats funny dad is on facebook, i figured he would have a long time ago, is he still playing xbox like a fiend? hope so, ha. someones got to keep that thing in shape. i have to admit i was happy about the news from steve too. he pretty much stopped a huge train wreck. do all you can to get that boy back on track. thats crazy kara is already starting to show. im excited to see if i will have a nephew or a niece, sobrino o sobrina.

i have been having a great time. i just want you guys to know that this work truly is of God, and there is absolutely no way that i could do it with the holy ghost. Please strive for his guidance every single day in every detail. The surprising thing is , is that we dont recieve a lot of revelation becuase we dont ask for it. as long as we are worthy for it. im so glad to be here and participate in the miracles of everyday mission life. i hope you all can truly count your blessings and see the miracles of each day, however small they may be.

Much love

take care

Elder Roosendaal

9/20/2010 Chilean Independence Day!

yeah, well. First off, it has been an awesome week, training is sooo much fun and not nearly as stressful as i thought it would be (like everyone says) Elder Mathews is a great utah boy. we are having a great time, except for the fact that his knee has been giving him some trouble lately, so if you could pray for him that would be great. we went to the doctor and he just told to take it a little easier and gave him some meds. but other then that , quite an interesting 18. lots of people, drunk cowboys on horses, way too many. cool music, dancing the cueka ( sorry no photos) but we had a sweet activity with 3 zones on saturday, lots of sports , lots of meat, and a movie, thomas s. monson. helicopters throwing confetti all over, because its the bicentenial. big deal, ha. empanadas, choripan, mote con huesillo, ahh yeah. chile. its made for the work to be a bit slow, but we stilll had a lot of success and great experiences. elder matthews speaks really well and is learning alot fast, he is confident and ready to jump out fro the start. un like me in the beginning. and today is my birthday. luckily im in an awesome house with some seriuosly awesome elder, picture included. we have way too much fun. almost everything is still closed, a miracle we found this internet place. but next week will be back to normal. our awesome neighbors bought me a birthday cake. pretty sweet, and delicous. its winding down but it has been good. thanks fpr the package! i got it a little bit early, he he. i loved the pictures! you all look so different, like mom and dad lost some weight for real, ryan looks different, crayzy awesome. but that is all i have time for this week. love you guys.

9/23/2010 New Companion from Logan, UT

Hey, im doing good, great week. My kid is awesome. HIs name is Elder Mathews from logan utah. it has been a very interesting work filled week. we have had some pretty cool experiences. we have a bunch of really good investigadors that we are working hard with, but we are having a hard time finding them. the weather started warming up really good, but it just got way cold again all of the sudden and rained yesterday for the first time in a month. we got pretty wet. ha. sounds like all of you guys had a pretty sweet weekend. we had a little party too here in the house. we had to go in early on the 11th becuase here people go do crazy rebeling stuff like shooting guns and riots in memory of one of the dictators of chile. so we hung out played some phase ten and baked some chocolate chip cookies, it was pretty sweet. all of the elders really get along and they each have some thing to offer, which makes for a pretty fun living environment. it has been great to see how much the lord has molded me, since i have put everything into his hands. we are all having a great time. the 18th , chilean independence day, is coming up and it should be pretty sweet, because its also the bicetennial. we are probably going to a members house to party. which reminds me, our p day is changing to this saturday instead of monday for the holiday. so if your going to write, write friday. becuase we most likely will do internet in the morning. so we can party. but we are having a conference the 21st so i should get my package then, i hope. i love you guys, i will let you know whats up saturday. ha

9/6/2010 Training a Greenie soon!

Hi dee ho! Well, ive got some news, im not going anywhere for now, but, im going to have son. yeah, in the mission. Im training a newbie, as of tomorrow, when he gets to chile. i told you i knew something was up! Dont know who he is yet but there are 15 other trainers. We are all stoked. 2 elders got here this morning, so there will be four in the house now. we are splitting the sector in 2. Elder Davis and Elder Ramirez, both from the states, cool guys, this will be a very interesting change lots of stuff going on. So your prayers are always welcome. Im still doing great, we have found a ton of great people, we just need to make some miracles happen. Elder Arrua left to Rancagua this morning. We had a great last week and a solid change. There really is a ton of potential here, especially with some greeny fire. im glad you guys are taking advantage of the bikes and the good weather, sounds like all is well. Im glad to here grammy is still progressing well except for the whole balance thing. Thank you for everything, more updates next week, this month is going to fly and so will the next, 1 year. yah. well have a good week stay well.

Love,

Elder Roosendaal