December 2, 2013

Hola Everyone Well this week absolutely flew by! I honestly am trying to comprehend where it went. We were able to have a few lessons with Carolina and her daughter Francisca this week. Her daughter understands really well but they both are pretty much just looking for friends. We're going to pass by again this week and make sure and make a decision from there. We don't really have anyone else that we are constantly teaching so we are constantly looking for more people to teach. We have tried asking some member families to fast and pray to know of someone who is ready to hear the gospel but they haven't done it yet. They "forgot". It's super frustrating at times having very little interest from members of the church. But we have to keep pushing forward and try to help them understand. Elder Gillins and his companion Elder Lopez had to go to Santiago to take out their carnet (visa) and they bought a 40kg (about 90lbs) package of ties! There were at least 6000 ties in there. We all took out about 40 or so really nice ones. So my tie collection has improved. Well just so that all of you know, I completely forgot that Thursday was Thanksgiving. I didn't realize it until about 11:00 pm that night. But I just want every single one of you to know how grateful I am for you. For your love, prayers and support. I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and for the opportunity I have to be a representative of Him here in Chile. I know that this church is true and that what we are doing as missionaries is His work. I love and miss you all. Have a great week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor Remember who you are and who you represent

November 25, 2013

Hola Everyone

 Well this week went pretty dang fast. Elder Cano and I get along great! He isn't dead at all (so far) so that has been a huge help! I live in a house with 5 other Elders. One of them is Elder Gillens (Buhl) and another is Elder Loar (Nampa). We all get along really well and have a good time. I am in a ward that has about 120 people that go with about 1000 inactives, so...lots of work to do. My sector is really big. Probably 2X the size of Licantén so lots more people to teach haha. All 6 of us pertain to the same ward so thats interesting. The church building is very small for so many people. About 15-20 people have to stand up every Sunday. We are pretty much in a whitewash because my companion doesn't know the sector very well. He had to work in another sector and take care of a sick missionary (taking turns with the others in the house as well). So we have been walking and contacting alot but we have been able to find a few people to teach. We found a lady named Carolina on Saturday. She is catholic and we really focused on the BOM and Moroni 8. She came to the conclusion that her baptism isn't valid. She has a baptismal date for 12-28-2013. We also left a video called "Together Forever" for her to watch. She and her 18 year old daughter watched it and called us to invite us to eat lunch with them today but they had to cancel. But we're going back there tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. Chileans don't celebrate Thanksgiving so I'll be without turkey on Thursday. Thats about it for this week. I love and miss you all and hope that you have a great week!

 With love,
 Elder Jayson Welker

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November 18, 2013

Hola Everyone This week was a pretty good week. We had interviews with President Warne on Tuesday and they were really short, almost didn't feel like an interview. We also had to go to Rancagua for Elder Flores so he could go to the doctor. And last but definitely not least, Yilda got baptized! It was so gratifying and humbling to be a part of her conversion and see her progression in the gospel. Ignacia did not get baptized because she was scared. She thought that we (me because I was going to baptize her) were going to drown her. She even saw her mom get baptized first but she still didn't want to on Saturday. I was pretty bummed, not gonna lie. But I'm sure that she will get baptized within the next few weeks. I am going to be transferred tomorrow to another sector not very far away. I will be in Curicó. My companion will be Elder Cáno from Honduras. He was in my zone when I was in San Francisco. He is dying this change so I will be killing him. Not sure how I feel about it but I hope he isn't too dead haha. Licantén was a tough sector but I learned a lot about who I am and who I want to be as a missionary and as a person. I can't believe how fast time is going. I love and miss you all and hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and an awesome week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor Remember who you are and who you represent

November 11, 2013

Hola Everyone This week was pretty much just like the rest of them have been so far. Pretty slow besides our lessons with Yilda and Ignacia. They are super awesome! Yilda had a really rough week with work and such, and she ran into the wall of "I'm not sure if I should get baptized or not". We were able to talk with her and share some scriptures to help her feel more comfortable and sure of her decision. They still have their baptism set for this Saturday. All they need to do is pass their interview tomorrow. We are praying hard for them so they can reach their goal. Not much else really happened this week besides getting Yilda and Ignacia ready for their baptism. Oh! I gave a talk yesterday and I really focused on the role that the members have in missionary work. I really hope things start to pick up with them because it is getting really old not getting much help. We have changes next week and I'm not sure if I will be going or not. But it doesn't really matter, there is a lot of work to be done here in Chile. Finished up 11 months on Tuesday. I just don't know where the time is going. I love and miss you all and hope that you have an awesome week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor Remember who you are and who you represent

November 4, 2013

Hola Everyone This week was pretty normal. We have really been on a struggle with finding new people to teach. The people in the sector really just don't want much to do with us. But we keep trying anyways. Yilda and Ignacia are progressing very well. Ignacia was super sick yesterday so she couldn't come to church and Yilda was only there for sacrament meeting and then left to take care of her. They both have the desire to get baptized and are working towards their baptismal date with a lot of dedication. Mariela...is really confusing, I just don't understand her. She still is really reluctant to commit firmly to a date but she still goes to church, participates in the classes, and understands everything. I just don't know what is going on. We are still working with her though. Halloween here was more exciting than their Independence Day in my opinion. It was absolutely nothing compared to the States but it was still a glimpse. Time is going by pretty quickly and it is kinda scary. I can't believe that it is November aleady. Well thats about it for this week. I love and miss you all and hope you have a fantastic week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor Remember who you are and who you represent Elder Flores and I on Halloween and us with Yilda and Ignacia

October 28, 2013

Hola Everyone Well this week was pretty much the same as all the other weeks for us. The weather is pretty much like Idaho, unpredictable. It was about 78-80 degrees Wednesday and Thursday but the last few days have been pretty cold. The weather really throws me for a loop sometimes. Besides our lessons with Yilda and Mariela, everything else was really slow. But we had a really good lesson with Mariela. She was baptized about 4 years ago in the Catholic Church and doesn't feel the need to be baptized again even though she loves coming to church and feels like its where she is supposed to be. We explained to her about the importance of the authority to baptize even though she has heard it a million times but something changed. She accepted our invitation to be baptized on the 16th of November. She is still pretty hesitant but committed to work hard and do the things we ask. We were also able to set baptismal dates for Yilda and her daughter Ignacia for the 16th as well. They both went to church yesterday and both feel that the church is true. I'm so happy to be a part of this marvelous work and to be able to help people come closer to Jesus Christ. I know that this work is true and that this church is true as well, no doubt in my mind. I love and miss you all and hope that you have an awesome week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor Remember who you are and who you represent p.s. finally some pictures for you guys! by the way the flavor of those chips is absolutely amazing!

October 21, 2013

Hola Everyone Well this week was a huge blessing for us. One of the members in our small, little branch went with us to visit one of his friends and it went perfectly. Her name is Yilda and she is absolutely awesome! We have had 2 lessons with her and she went to church yesterday as well! She has felt the Spirit very strongly in our lessons and at church too! She keeps telling us that we are more than welcome to visit her because she likes the way she feels when we are there. She describes it as something rico (delicious). It has been a rough 2 1/2 changes here in Licantén but the patience has paid off. The Lord has absolutely blessed us even though we don't feel like we deserve it. But the main point I want to make is the role that members of the church have in missionary work. If it wasn't for that member, I don't think we would have found her. And he has been a huge support for her. So please help the missionaries! It's not very fun when people don't help. That literally is all that happened this week, finding Yilda. Oh and I finished the Book of Mormon again in Spanish. It is absolutely true. No doubt in my mind. I love and miss you all! Have a great week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor Remember who you are and who you represent

October 14, 2013

Hola Everyone Well this week was a little bit better. We still haven't been able to make much progress with finding new people to teach but we keep trying. The members seem to have a little bit more enthusiasm to work after conference so hopefully that excitement sticks around. We are still working with a lady named Mariela. She has been going to church to support her mom for over a year but never got baptized. We are trying to help her receive her answer. Elder Flores made tacos the other day and holy cow were they delicious. I miss good food, just so you all know. I also met Elder Gillins today. He graduated from Buhl last year (I think). That's about all for this week. No pictures again unfortunately. I think my SD card has a virus or something because I can't upload anything. I love and miss you all! Have a great week! With love, Elder Jayson Welker Remember who you are and the family name you bear Return with Honor

October 7, 2013

Hola Everyone

This week was really good. Elder Flores and I are going to have another change together in Licanten. I completed 10 months on Saturday...time is going by way too fast. But it was mainly good because of Conference. I really enjoyed all of the talks and the advice that we received. I didn't get to see much of the afternoon session on Saturday because the internet was really bad. I had to watch all of the sessions in spanish which was kind of a bummer but I guess it was good for my spanish. I really enjoyed President Monson's talk from the Priesthood Session, about how we are all shepherds, and how we need to be REAL shepherds and help guide/lead the Lord's sheep back to Him. Sometimes I think that we don't realize the responsibility that the Lord has given us to watch over his children. I also enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk. I just can't get enough of him. I absolutely love his talks. One of the things that stood out to me was that we need to doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith. I especially enjoyed his invitations this time. If you have questions, doubts, or troubles; come join us! We are more than willing to help clarify and answer your questions. I really hope that all of you who have doubts or questions about the Church seek the help of those who are part of the Church, and not those who aren't. If you really want to know, you have to go to the source. I promise you that you will find the answers to your questions if you do. I know that this Church is true. It is His church and He is at the head of it. And He will give an answer to all who truly seek His help and guidance. I love and miss you all and encourage you to find out for yourselves what all the fuss is about. Have a great week!


 With love,
Elder Jayson Welker

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September 30, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week was mas o menos. We weren't able to teach a lot of lessons, once again. We were able to teach Emerson again this week. He is a young kid that just turned 16. He was on the verge of baptism about 9 months ago but his mom said he wasn't ready. We found him 2 1/2 weeks ago but haven't been able to teach him again until Thursday. He is really receptive and remembers a lot from before so hopefully he can progress quickly. I know that this isn't much from the sector but not much more happened than that. I would like to direct my letter to this coming weekend. I'm super excited for General Conference. We have the opportunity to listen to prophets and apostles of the Lord and receive direction and guidance from them. My two favorite weekends of the year are Conference weekend. I hope that all of you can have the opportunity to watch or listen to it this weekend. Prepare yourselves so that you can receive the portion meted for you. I love and miss you all. Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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September 23, 2013

Hola Everyone

First off, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! It was definitely different having a birthday here. I'm only 21 but my body makes me feel really old. I have lots of aches and pains. It seems that catching for 12 years is finally starting to get to me. Well everyone that was wondering what the Chileans do for their independence day here it is: NOTHING! Everyone painted such an awesome picture of the 18th, and it was a big let down haha. Everyone who isn't LDS just drank and slept all week. So it was hard to find and teach people because we have to avoid places where people are consuming alcohol, which means every house pretty much. It was a rough week with a lot of walking. Elder Flores and I tried to make the best of it and enjoy it though. I can't believe that 4 weeks has already gone by in this change! We had Stake Conference this week and President Warne and his wife were there and shared a few of their thoughts. Everyone pretty much talked about how we need to unite and do the Lord's work together. Hopefully we can start to get some more support soon. Well that's about all for this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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September 16, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well the weeks just seem to go by faster and faster. We weren't able to have very many lessons this week but we did do quite a bit of service. We helped 3 or 4 people chop firewood and stack it all away (I forgot how tiresome that is). We also helped people set up their decorations for the 18th (Independence Day for Chile). We helped paint a couple of fences as well. We may not have taught many lessons with words but hopefully with our actions we did. We did find a young kid named Emerson this week. He was an old investigator and was on the point of baptism but his mom said he wasn't ready so he never got baptized. He wants to start over and learn more about the church with us, so he appears to be good. We are hoping to put a date with him this week. Sorry for the short email but there isn't much more to tell you for this week. This coming week should be full of details with Chile's Independence Day. I love and miss you all. Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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September 9, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week went by super fast! We had a special devotional with Elder Viñas of the Area Seventy. He talked about the Atonement and how it helps us in our work as missionaries and in our lives. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it. He also talked quite a bit about the vision that Pres. Warne has for the mission and he approves it. Hopefully that will help with some of the differences that are still going on in the mission. We weren't able to meet with Yolanda this week. But we're still trying to get in contact with her. We had to stop visiting Renaldo because all he really wants to do is ask questions and not act. Maybe later on he'll accept the gospel. Elder Flores and I had a really good lesson with a woman named Marcela last night. She committed to read and pray and is going to call us on Wednesday. Elder Flores and I went to the ocean today. We live about 45 minutes away so not too far. It was really cool. I completed 9 months in the mission on Thursday. I'm not sure where the time has gone. It actually scares me that the time is passing so quickly. Everyone always says that after a year it just absolutely flies by and you don't even realize it...I have lots of time before a year though so no worries! That's about all for this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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September 2, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week went by super fast! Elder Flores and I get along really well and we have the same way of working which makes things so much easier! We found a girl named Yolanda. We had a really good lesson with her on the Restoration. The Spirit was super strong and she committed to read and pray. We have an appointment with her on Wednesday so we'll see how it went. Other than that we're trying to figure out how we want to work in the sector. Missionaries have always been here for the last 16 years or so, and its a very small town, less than 1000 people. So it's been pretty rough the last few days trying to teach people. But we keep chuggin' along with faith that the Lord will bless us and guide us to the people that he has prepared.  We have a special conference on Wednesday with Elder Viñas of the Seventy so I'm super excited for that. That's about it for this week. I love and miss you all! Have an awesome week! ¡chao!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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August 26, 2013

Hola Everyone

This week went by a little bit faster. My pen that I've had for over a year, and the entire time in my mission finally died..Sorry for the sidetrack..We weren't able to set a baptismal date with Renaldo. He really has a lot of doubts and has heard/seen too much "bad stuff" in other churches so he really is kind of not all that interested. We'll see how he is this next week. We found a kid and his mom who both seem really interested. They committed to read and pray so we'll see how that went this week as well. We have changes tomorrow and I'll be getting a new companion. Elder Flores from México. He arrived to the mission home the same day I did and was in my first zone. He is super awesome so I'm excited for this next change. I'm grateful for the opportunity that the Lord gave me to be with Elder Allaucca. Things were really tough and we didn't have much "success" but I learned alot about myself and who I want to become as a missionary and as a person; and what I need to do in order to arrive at that point. This life (and especially the time during the mission) is a learning process. All of us are going to commit errors, we're going to have our own opinions and thoughts, but we have to learn from our mistakes or our difficult times and move on with faith that the Lord will help us improve. That's about it for this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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August 19, 2013

Hola Everyone

This week went by a little bit faster. Our baptismal date with Rendaldo fell becasue we weren't able to meet with him at all. He was out of town. We are hoping to get back to work with him this week. We have had a less active man come to church the last 2 weeks. He is really knowledgable about the gospel but has been inactive for 4 years. His little 2 year old daughter has been the key. We still continue to contact a bunch. We taught a few good lessons with the spirit there but we can't ever get in the house again afterwards. It has been super frustrating but the Lord is in charge and knows what he is doing. I'm just looking for his guidance and direction to know that we should do to lift the work in the sector. That's about it for this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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August 12, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week was about the same. It's still cold and wet here so the weather hasn't improved too much. We had interviews with President Warne for the first time. He is a good man with a good grasp on what needs to happen here to have some success. We just need to get all of the missionaries on the same page. Today we went to a place called 7 Tazas. It was some waterfall stuff. It was really pretty. We found a man named Renaldo last night and put a baptismal date with him. He has some really good questions and we're excited to work with him. Other than that not much really happened this week. Our sector is really, really small so its hard to find people to teach but we keep pushing on having faith that the Lord will bless us in our labors. I love and miss you all and hope that you have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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August 5, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week was about the same as last week. We didn't find very many people to teach and we didn't teach very much. We just ride around on bikes or walk around tracting all day. It is pretty hard to keep the excitement but I'm trying. We did have 2 less active people come to church yesterday so that was exciting. The branch where I'm serving has about 35 people who come. And almost all of them are from 2 families. I've learned that everything that happens is for our benefit and progress, whether its in the mission or afterwards. Everything has a purpose and we just have to have the faith and confidence in the Lord that he will keep his promises as long as we live worthily to receive them. I have officially completed 8 months in the mission. 1/3 of the way done...every time a month passes it just blows my mind. Well not much to report on this week. Hopefully things start to get better. I love and miss you all. Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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July 29, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week went by a little bit faster but it was still slow. Our only solid investigator was out of town all week so we spent a lot of time contacting. I'm going to be honest, I hate contacting haha but it is what my companion likes to do so instead of fighting it, I just go along with it. President Warne says that we are going to be changing some things in the mission so we'll see how that goes. I haven't been feeling the best the last couple of days but not bad enough to go out and work. The town I'm in, Licantén, reminds me a lot of Grace. It is pure country and we ride bikes alot. I'm not a big fan of bikes either, they make my legs hurt. But that's about all that happened this week. My spanish is getting better for those of you who are curious. I still don't understand a lot of what chileans say but most of the other latins, yes I can understand. For the most part anyways. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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this is a picture to show you how cold it is in our house

July 22, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week went super slow for me. My new companion is Elder Allaucca and he is from Peru. We have the same amount of time in the mission. My sector is called Licantén and it's a 2 hour bus ride to Curico for our District Class every Wednesday. We had a baptism on Saturday with a kid named Ivan. He used to be atheist. So quite the turn around for him and he is already talking about wanting to serve a mission. We are really going to focus on another young kid that is friends with Ivan, Cristian. He wants to get baptized, just waiting on his dad's permission. We found a lady named Leticia and she is super prepared by the Lord. She was super sick on Saturday when we went over to teach her. She could hardly sit up in her bed. So we offered to give her a blessing, she accepted. Literally 5 minutes after we left, she was up walking around and feeling much better. I know that the power of the priesthood is real. I've seen too many miracles and heard too many blessings to be told otherwise. That's about all for this week. Have a great week. I love and miss you.

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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July 15, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well I'm getting changed tomorrow. I'm going about 5 hours south to a small town called Licanten. It was part of the mission from Concepcion. So I'm kinda nervous because there aren't very many missionaries going south from so nobody knows anything about anyone. They have changed things a little bit here in the mission. We find out changes on Saturday now instead of Friday and we go to our new sectors on Tuesday instead of Monday. This last change went by unbelievably fast. It literally feels like a few days ago that I picked up Elder Reed. This week was pretty slow for teaching purposes but we were able to teach Jimmy (who got baptized 4 months ago) for the first time in almost 3 months. It went well but he still hasn't come to church since he got confirmed. It's really sad. Another family of inactives came to church again yesterday! So that was awesome to see them continue to come back. My time in San Francisco was difficult, very difficult; but it has taught me alot about who I am and what my purpose is as a missionary. I have grown to love the people here in this sector and I will never forget them or what they did for me. Well that's about all for this week. Should be some more exciting stuff to write about next week with the new companion and sector. I hope you all have a great week! Love and miss you!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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p.s. here is a picture that I took with a young girl in the mall today. I laughed to myself. Representing the Dirty 'Scow 7000 miles away! Definition of dedication

July 8, 2013

Hola Everyone

This week went by fairly quick. We are now in the last week of this change I have no idea where the time went. I completed 7 months on Friday and I can't believe how fast it is going. I feel like I have so much time left but the time just creeps up on me and before I know it another month has passed. This week there was a family from the branch that got sealed in the temple so that was a cool experience for them. Elizabeth told us that Felipe has interest in the church but still isn't ready to listen to us yet, and her other two went just to support her. But hopefully later on down the road they can join. We are still working with the inactives alot. None of them showed up to church on Sunday which was a huge bummer but I continue to pray for them. We had zone conference this week and finally met our new mission president and his wife. President Warne seems really ready to get to work. We found out that we have to have side bags by August 1 which kinda sucks (world wide missionary change) but there's a reason for it I guess. That's about it for this week. I hope that next week I can have some more stuff to write about. I love and miss you all. Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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here is a picture of one of my good friends in the mission, Elder Anderson. He goes home next change and he was my first zone leader. He is the man!

Jayson with the new Mission President

Here is a picture that was sent of Jayson with the new mission president and his wife.

July 1, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well another week has come and gone here in San Francisco de Mostazal. Time just keeps going by faster and faster. Our new mission president got here this last week and President MacArthur and his wife left on Friday. I haven't had the chance to meet them yet be we have a conference on Wednesday. We didn't have very many lessons this week for some reason. I'm not sure what happened. All 3 of Elizabeth's older sons (Felipe, David, Diego) came to church yesterday so that was cool. We are hoping to set baptismal dates with them this week. Felipe is qualified to be baptized as soon as he decides to take the lessons. Chile had elections yesterday (for primaries) so we only had 1 hour of church. It's against national law to have a public meeting over an hour on this day. But it really wasn't THE day of voting so we should have had all of church but the leaders kind of called it off on their own...they kind of do their own thing sometimes. Elder Reed got his baseball glove today so we're hoping to find some time to play catch, finally! Yesterday at lunch some members gave us some oranges and they were absolutely massive. The picture doesn't do it justice for how big they were but oh well. And I traded my Pete Rose tie (on the right) to Reed for the best tie ever created (on the left). That's about all that happened this week. I love and miss you all. Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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June 24, 2013

Hola Everyone

This week was a little bit slower. My companion wasn't feeling very good this week so we spent quite a bit of time in Rancagua at the hospital and at the office talking to the mission nurse. He is feeling much better now. We weren't able to teach either Felipe or Chirstopher this week. We saw them for a few minutes in the streets but that was about it. We had some good lessons with some inactive families. We got 3 of them to come to church yesterday so that was a positive. We actually eat lunch with them on Sundays and yesterday we had a pretty cool experience. One of the daughters of the older lady in the ward, told us she wouldn't ever come back to church because she has never liked it. We just told her that she was still welcome every week. And about 10 seconds after that she told us that she was going to come this next week because she felt someone touch the back of her head and tell her in her mind that she needed to go. So that was pretty cool. Today for PDAY we had a huge activity with the whole mission before it splits up at the end of this week. So I got to see Elder Olson and Elder Salmon one last time. It was a lot of fun. Olson and I spent a lot of time catching up and talking about experiences that we've had. That guy is a huge example to me. He has so much faith and patience. I'm going to miss him a ton. That is about all that happened this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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p.s. here is a picture of me, olson and doyle (MTC District) and Elder Tate Harding from Pocatello

June 17, 2013

Hola Everyone

This week was pretty good! Well actually yesterday pretty much. We finally had a coordination meeting with the branch mission leader, after 14 weeks of trying. He has completely changed his attitude lately and has a lot of drive to fulfill his calling and help us. Also we will be helping show the brethren in the branch how to do their home teaching this week so that is good too. But the best thing that happened was that an inactive family, that Elder Salmon and I had been teaching since last change, finally came back to church!! ¡¡Por fin!! (finally) I was so excited to see them walk in to the church! They had told us the night before that they couldn't come because they had to go to Santiago, but they came!!! You have no idea how pumped I was! I was smiling from ear to ear! We taught Felipe a small lesson on the 10 commandments on Tuesday. Things are starting to look a little bit brighter here in San Francisco de Mostazal. I hope all is well and that you all have a great week! Love and miss you all!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

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June 10, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well I completed 6 months in the mission on Wednesday! I really can't believe that I have been out for that long. At times it feels like the time is going so slow, but overall it has passed by so quickly. 1/4 of the way done...absolutely blows my mind! Elder Reed and I are doing well. We are really close to getting one of our inactive families to come back to church. We thought that they were coming for sure yesterday but they didn't unfortunately. Felipe continues coming to church but we still haven't been able to teach him much yet. I really hope we can soon. We found a guy named Christopher on Friday (Elder Salmon and I had played soccer with him once) and we helped him with his english homework. He also told us that he would come to church on Sunday but he didn't. But he seemed pretty intrigued by our way of life so hopefully that is a start to us helping him. We have helped the branch start doing their home teaching and visiting teaching and we are supposed to be going out on splits this week with a few members to show them how to do it. So there has been a little progress here in San Francisco! "...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." That's about it for this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week and remember all that the Lord has done for you!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

June 3, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well we had changes this week. I thought that we were going to get white washed from what President had told me in our interviews 2 weeks ago but we didn't. Elder Salmon went up north to Santiago (so he'll be in the Santiago South Mission) and I'm staying in San Francisco so I'll still be in the Rancagua Mission. My new companion is Elder Reed and he is from Arizona. We really didn't have much going on this last week. We were still working with the less actives and trying to get them to come back, nothing to show yet, but hopefully soon. Felipe still hasn't decided to listen to us yet, I hope that my purpose for staying here is to help him. We went around to some of the members yesterday so Elder Salmon could say goodbye. It took a long time and everyone made us food. I felt like I was going to throw up because we had to eat like everything that they gave us. Our ciber has been closed for over a week now and I'm not sure why so no pictures again this week, sorry. Hopefully next week. Not much else really happened this week. I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

May 28, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week went by pretty quickly. We didn't have very much success with finding people. We had some good lessons with some of the members that are inactive in the area so that was a positive. We are working hard with 2 inactive families to try and get them to come back to church, but right now it's been a little bit of a struggle. But we're going to continue working hard with them. We had a movie night in the church on Saturday with the branch and we had 30 people or so show up which is almost as many as come to church. We watched The Testaments and the members absolutely loved it. One of the Hermanas in the branch made popcorn for everyone and made sopapillas too. They were really good. Elizabeth's son Felipe came to church again but he is still hesitant about us teaching him. Hopefully he comes around soon. I'm about 99% sure that this is my last week with Elder Salmon. We have changes next week and wherever you are this next change will determine what mission you will be in starting in July. So we will see where I end up. Today is President MacArthur's birthday so a bunch of missionaries went to the office and surprised him. And on the way there a car drove right through a huge puddle of water and splashed us. So I'm currently soaking wet ha. But that's just about everything that happened this week. I love and miss you all. Have a good week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

sorry everyone that this is late, the internet wasn't working well yesterday so that's why it is today

May 28, 2013

Hola Everyone

Well this week went by pretty quickly. We didn't have very much success with finding people. We had some good lessons with some of the members that are inactive in the area so that was a positive. We are working hard with 2 inactive families to try and get them to come back to church, but right now it's been a little bit of a struggle. But we're going to continue working hard with them. We had a movie night in the church on Saturday with the branch and we had 30 people or so show up which is almost as many as come to church. We watched The Testaments and the members absolutely loved it. One of the Hermanas in the branch made popcorn for everyone and made sopapillas too. They were really good. Elizabeth's son Felipe came to church again but he is still hesitant about us teaching him. Hopefully he comes around soon. I'm about 99% sure that this is my last week with Elder Salmon. We have changes next week and wherever you are this next change will determine what mission you will be in starting in July. So we will see where I end up. Today is President MacArthur's birthday so a bunch of missionaries went to the office and surprised him. And on the way there a car drove right through a huge puddle of water and splashed us. So I'm currently soaking wet ha. But that's just about everything that happened this week. I love and miss you all. Have a good week!

With love,

Elder Jayson Welker

Remember who you are and the family name you bear

Return with Honor

Remember who you are and who you represent

sorry everyone that this is late, the internet wasn't working well yesterday so that's why it is today