Change number 6 I think with a new compañero and I`m now senor comp. SAVE ME!!!‏ (April 20, 2015)

Dear all,

So we just had a lot happen all at once!!  It`s so weird!!!We started with a conference from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve as well as the first counselor in the Area Presidency Elder Jorge Zeballos who gave a talk in the General Conference this past April!  It was so spiritual I loved it!!  I got to sing in the choir which was very nerve-wracking but it was such a beautiful experience!  He spoke to us about a lot of things that I now hope to work harder on.  

Later that day we found our we had Transfers today.  That was a bit of a shock because we had just become companions 1 change ago, but my comp. had 9 months here so it`s not too big a deal.  I`m now with an Elder from Panama who got to the mission in May but had to go home not long afterwards for health purposes so technically I have more time than him.  So I`m now Senor companion and it makes me nervous, but hopefully I can do it.  I know I can because the Lord called me to it, I just will need His help in a lot of it.  The good thing is he was in the ward when he first came to the mission before he went home, so he knows a fair few people.

This past week my companion said his goodbyes after 9 months of being in the same ward and it was really sad.  I really don`t care for saying goodbye to the people here because it`s always so hard.  These are people that we`ve seen the spiritual progression of and they have such a huge part of our hearts that it makes goodbyes really hard.  In my opinion they are harder than saying goodbye to family as I`m sure I`ve said before.  That`s a weird concept for me because we`re only in these areas for a few months and we become so attached to the people here but it`s amazing to see their spiritual progress we can`t help but form amazing relationships.  Sister Oaks told us this past Saturday that these are people and friendships that we are going to carry into the eternities.

Well I hope that you all have an amazing week, I love you all.

Les amo con todo mi corazon,

Elder Forsgren

Month 7 (March 16, 2015)

Hey all,

So this month I hit my 7 month mark, and so we bought pizza!!  IT was really weird because the pizza that we bought had a few slices missing, so we think someone ate it...  That was fun...  But it was still a fun night!  I`m currently in a house of 4 elders and it`s a lot of fun.  There are 2 Latinos and 2 Gringos and so we are teaching them English.  In this ward I also have to give English lessons...  It`s really weird, I don`t know how to explain English!  It just works in my head...  

So my companion is really cool, he`s from Ecuador.  He was baptised 2.5 years ago, and he`s friends with everyone in this ward because he`s been in the ward for 8 months already.  The sector is a lot different then my last one, it`s bigger and has more people.  The church is smaller here, but the people are so nice!  I`m really enjoying it!

One thing I`ve learned this week is how unity really makes the work easier.  With Elder Gòmez I have been able to teach really well in a few instances, and not so well in others.  The ones where we have taught really well were the ones where we both paid attention, both knew what we were doing and both felt the spirit.  But those we didn`t teach as well in I found were ones where I would think about how his teaching style is weird, or that he needs to fix something and wasn`t paying attention to how I could improve, or how I could help the investigator.  But I`ve learned how necessary it is to always work for the unity between you and your companion.  We`re getting along great and I love being his companion.  I look forward to seeing the success we have in this sector.

I hope all of you have a good week,

Con amor,

Elder Forsgren

End of my First Change - Week 12

¡Hola personas!

So today marks the beginning of my second change here in the mission.  For those who don´t know, a change is 6 weeks with one companion, and at the end the mission president can choice to move you, move your companion, or give you a leadership position.  Neither my companion or I was changed, but he is now the Leader of our district!  So that was exciting!

This week has been one of the greatest weeks of my mission, with by far the most success we have ever had!  However, at the same time, all things must have opposition, so at the same time, we lost one of our greatest investigators.  She basically dropped us, and my companion had a really tough time taking it.  She was one of our people of focus too.  But we also had a lot of success!!  We had more lessons in the first 3 days then we had ever!  It was awesome!!  And we managed to talk to everyone that we needed to!!  We are both improving in every aspect, and we are always happy!! We had our two main investigators come to church and because it was Fast and Testimony meeting, we had one who got up and bore his testimony!!  It was such an amazing experience!!  He talked about how he wanted to change his life and was so glad he had the chance to do that with the help of the missionaries!  Also yesterday I got to participate in a blessing of health and I got to do the first part of it in Spanish.  It was the first time I had done it ever!  Much less in a different language!  It was really amazing!!

Well I love you all, and hope you all are doing well!!  Remember our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ in all that you do!  That is one of the best things we can do to bless our lives!

Con amor,

Elder Forsgren

I'm Losing Count - Week 10

Dear all,

So this week was one of the most productive I´ve had yet!! We went on interchanges on Tuesday, so I got to experience a different area of the mission which was a lot of fun!!  I got along well with the other Elder, and I’ll be doing it again this upcoming week with his companion!! 

We had a zone conference Wednesday with half the mission!  My friends and I were drinking a lot of juice and my companion decided to chug about 3 liters and when he was finished he ended up throwing up in front of the president...  He became very famous that day...  It was very funny honestly, but at the same time, he´s learned his lesson! 

This past Sunday we got to witness one of the boys in the ward baptize his sister, which was a really amazing experience!!  He´s currently working on his papers to be a missionary and so it was a great experience for him!  I don´t really know them yet though because I´ve only been here but so long.  There were 11 missionaries there though. It was really cool!!

We had one of our investigators agree to be baptized this week!!  It was such a spiritual experience!!  He has been searching for the Lord´s church for years and years and he thought it was silly that we had to ask him to be baptized. He said "Of course!" when we did and seemed like he didn´t understand why it was a question!  He has a lot of faith!!  I really like him!!  Now we want his brother to baptize him because that would be amazing!!

I love you guys and hope you are all doing well!!  

Con amor,

Elder Forsgren

Week 5 - Last Week at the CCM/MTC

Hola todos personas!!

So before I get into it I must say that I will not be able to email home next week!  I will be able to the week after, however this upcoming Tuesday I will be going out to the field to start actually teaching!!  That´s such a crazy thought!!  I will be teaching people the gospel in one week!!!  

Actually I have already started!!  This week my companions (because I am now a part of a trio of missionaries) and I went out to teach people twice!!  It was so cool!!  But the people all speak Spanish sooooo fast!!!   The first time we went out it was just street contacting, so like 5-6 minutes of talking to people and getting contact information.  That sort of thing!  It went really well!!  The last person we talked to was really excited to meet us and she took a Book of Mormon and we talked about it for a while!!  The people here are all receptive to the gospel and it´s so amazing!!  

The second day we went out we went on splits with missionaries who had been in the field for a while!  It was really cool, however I understood almost no Spanish that day...  But I shared my testimony about every 5 minutes and I was really glad I had that opportunity!!  

The biggest regret I´ve had while being out here is not sharing my testimony with enough people.  While we were on the Subway the other day I was just standing there and I could have talked with so many people, but I shied away and now I feel really bad about that.  I know now to talk to as many people as I possibly can!!

So earlier my companion (Elder Despain) and my district leader (Elder Robbins) both taught an investigator who just came to the CCM and said "I´ve got problems in my life that I need to fix.  I don´t know why.  I know I need to join your church and I´ll do whatever possible."  I can´t tell all the details, but they said it was one of the biggest moments of their life!  My companion has told me how much more his testimony has grown because of this experience!

I love you all and hope you are all doing well!!   You´re all in my prayers!

Con Amor (with love),

Elder Forsgren

Week 4 (it´s flying by!!)‏

Dear Everybody,

So I´ve had a great week, but it´s gone by so fast!!  I said goodbye to the second group of missionaries here in the CCM!!  There are presently only 33 people here, but tomorrow we´re getting about 27 more people!  It´s so small, we know everyone!!  

So today my companion and I just went out and bought a bunch of cool things!!  We also got candy, which is awesome!!  We´ve become such good friends it´s so cool!!  

This week we´re transitioning into speaking only Spanish, and it´s honestly really difficult!!  But I´ve learned more in the past 4 weeks then I did all 3 years I took Spanish!!  I can talk to some of the natives... if they talk slow... and they all love missionaries!!  

This week we had some exercises to practice different aspects of missionary work!!  We all go ‘street contacting’ in the halls and just walk up to each other and start inviting them to church and such!  It´s a lot of fun!!  

My comp. and I probably had our best lesson ever yesterday!!  It was so spiritual, and we managed to prepare the lesson perfectly to answer the questions the lady had for us!!  Now of course it´s not real, but we are still glad we have the opportunity to learn like this!!

This next week is the start of a two week celebration for Chilean Independence Day, and so we´re going to the local festival and proselyting for the first time!!  It's going to be so scary, but we´re ready for it!!!

I can´t wait to leave the CCM, but at the same time I love it here!!  I hope everyone is doing well!!  I love you guys!!

Love,

Elder Forsgren

Week 2 - CCM

Dear Everybody,

Here in the MTC (CCM) we have a saying; 'the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days' and that is such a true statement!!  It feels like I just wrote to you all yesterday!!  I just want to say that while that saying sounds like just a fun little quote it is because of God's love for us that it is true!  I mean think about all the stuff you could learn if each day was a week!!  We learn A TON everyday!!  Yet all of it goes by in a snap!  We are given the time to learn, yet the time still flies!!  I love that!!

So last time I sent home mail I said I was rooming with 3 others; well sadly now the two Elders (Elder White and Elder Aurich) are leaving for the field!  It is truly a sad day!  In the two weeks I've known them they have been such amazing role models for me!!  It's weird to think they're my age!!

My companion, Elder Despain, and I have bonded so much it's insane!  I don't think there is anything I wouldn't do for him!!  And he has such a strong testimony! That's another great thing about it here; everyone has so much faith, and a testimony to go with it!!  We have on Elder (Elder Jackson) who has been a member of the church 1 year and 5 months and he has already devoted his life to the Lord for 2 years!!  He has so much faith it touches me everyday!!

So this past week (Friday-Saturday) my district fasted for the whole district and one companionship specifically.  This companionship is made of an American who speaks English and a Brazilian who speaks Portuguese and neither speak Spanish!  They really have it rough!  But immediately after the fast we could see changes in their behavior and confidence!!  It's amazing how much God helps us!!

So in lesser news this week we had our first noticeable Earthquake!!  It was really cool!! And I just can't help but love the people here!!  Today while we were out buying stuff this one girl walks up and asks if we are Mormon missionaries and asked how to get to the church and such!! And another guys told us how impressed he was with how we give up everything for Christ!!  It's so nice here!!

I love you all, and really miss you guys!!

Love,

Elder Forsgren