Letter Feb 25 2013 (with joke)

Feb 26  2013  Monday

Ph---!  Dude, I love you, bro. Happy to hear you're doing okay. Or at least good at sounding okay. Haha.  Keep working hard, and keep those goals in sight. Remember your potential! Mom: To your joke... Now there's an example of the power of scripture...Haha   [joke Mom sent to Elder Cattron:  A woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled: 'Stop! Acts 2:38!' (Repent and be Baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ , so that your sins may be forgiven.) The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done. As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: 'Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.' 'Scripture?' replied the burglar 'She said she had an Ax and Two 38s!'  ] Mom –as to your comment: 'I tried to make an appointment with one sister who is hard to commit.'   I know how that is. It’s annoying but funny. I love writing. Especially when I am feeling something. It makes me happy. So far it hasn't rained on us when we are outside. many days we bring our coats, and then magically the sun comes out and we just walk around super hot and looking like we're tourists who live on the sun because were somehow cold or something. There are about 50 or 60 in the branch and a bunch more if they all would attend church probably. I ignore people when they talk in Celsius, so I don’t actually know how hot it is usually. Elder H leaves on Wednesday to be District Leader of somewhere in Vina del Mar where Elder A---- is right now. Elder H holds 7 months now.  He has an LDS family and supportive family I think. He seems to be happy about them. He’s a life member, his parents are converts and he reminds me of me in some areas, like goofiness, but other than that he's just super awesome. No one I can think of. His brother and sister are models which I find humorous because he has a photo album and every member who sees it whistles at his sister.  Then he tells them she's 13 years old, because she is, and then they feel bad and I laugh.  His Pat-blessing says a lot about missionary work, and how he is good at studying and retaining information for applying it and not being confounded and also showing others the truth through scripture.   He's a super smart guy.  We don't eat dinner with people--only lunch. Chileans don't have dinner. It's called once and it's at around 7:00 pm and it's like a piece of bread and drink stuff that smells like coffee.  We have a calendar that the ladies pass around at church. We never go hungry. Don’t worry. Haha Sorry for my lack of punctuation.  I think the guy before me hated grammar, so he poured milk on the keyboard.  Our pension [apartment] is on a hill.  A giant one.  And we die every time trying to get up to it.  We have to sleep in the same rooms remember? On Preparation days we go shopping. then we go home and elder H sleeps and I write and study.  I love the scriptures. Last week Elder H fixed a bathroom for a mom here while I played with the kittens and studied ‘cuz the bathroom is small and I honestly would probably break everything.  We are supposed to do  service every week, but it doesn’t happen as often as you think  . We have around 10 investigators, and only 3 of them actually get visited close to every day.  The rest we stop by and have to figure out when we can come back. Yes I know everyone loves me.  Just gotta make sure it doesn't go to my head and make me prideful. I often pray that as I keep progressing and improving Spanish that I don't start to think I don't need to try very hard.  Cuz I know that even when you are really good at something, you can still progress just as fast if you keep putting in the effort. You see it if you think back a little bit every once in a while. "Isn't it funny how every day seems the same but when you look back it has completely changed?" –That quote is from the guy who wrote Narnias-- I don't remember anything.  What’s his name?  [C. S. Lewis] La obra: part of the Letter to the pres: Cosas. Cosas que hace uno a estar feliz. Voy a empezar con contactos.  Quitamos el miedo y preocupación de contactos. De vez en cuando, yo he ... turned around... para contactar alguien. Todavía, no 20 contactos, pero está en la mente, y no me preocupe a hablar. Ayer, una mujer habló con nosotros en la calle, y E´H. habló casi todo. Una pregunta fue preguntado, ´Cómo se sentiría si la misma iglesia que... en la tierra durante... está en la tierra hoy día? Ella respondió, y después preguntamos ´Entonces, Qué haría?´... Ella no contestó. Solamente pensó y hizo un ´wow buena pregunta´tipo de cara. Fue interesante, pero dice que irá a la iglesia en su área.  Si se acuerda de L----ro, el está esperando su bautismo. Tenemos una fecha para 10 de Marzo, cuando él volvió a Esperanza de su casa en el otro ciudad. Él tuvo una entrevista de bautismo pero averiguamos que él necesita un poco más tiempo por algo pequeño porque el tomó té negro en martes, antes de nuestro leccion de la palabra de sabiduria, y necesita saber quien es Thomas S. Monson... Ah... Nuestra culpa. Pero si el podría permanecer hasta el proximo domingo, puede bautizarse, pero no puede. Entonces, esperamos y enseñamos. Tengo un pensamiento que necesitamos trabajar con los miembros un poco más porque ayer, queriamos visitar A---a, un investigador, pero nadie pudo acompañarnos. Llamamos como 10 personas. Nadie pudo  por algunas razones. F----e está progresando, y por eso, estamos más felices. Leyó El Libro De Mormón, y está asistiendo.  Translation of it ---- Things. Stuff that makes one to be happy. I'll start with contacts. We remove the fear and concern of contacts. Occasionally, I have ... turned around ... to contact someone. Still, not 20 contacts every day, but it is in the mind, and not worrying me. Yesterday, a woman talked to us on the street, and E'H. talked about everything. A question was asked, 'How would you feel if the same church as ... on earth for time of Christ... on earth today?  She replied, and then we asked, 'So, what would you do?' ... She did not answer. Only thought and did a 'wow good pregunta' type of face. It was interesting, but she says she will go to church in her area. If you remember L--ro, he is waiting for his baptism. We have a date for March 10, when he returns from his home in the other city. He had a baptism interview we figured out that he needs a little more time for something small because the black tea took on Tuesday before our lesson from the Word of Wisdom, and need to know who is Thomas S. Monson ... Ah ... Our fault.  But if he could stay until next Sunday, can baptize, but cannot stay. So we wait and teach. I have a thought that members need to work with a little more because yesterday, wanted to visit A--a, an investigator, but nobody could join us.  We called about 10 people. Nobody could for some reasons. F--e is progressing, and for that, we are happier. He Read the Book of Mormon, and is attending church with his family. Something funny:  It is very hard to converse with people in English when you are trying to talk in Spanish with your companion. Your brain freaks out and just doesn't change to English, or just stops working.  It's happened a lot, and typically they try to explain themselves in English, which is silly because their explanation is just as good as my understanding of Spanish.  But I can understand people and talk to them. I feel a lot better, and the days are merging together to one big blur of happiness and fun. I love you all.  Don't forget to tell Heavenly Father you're thankful for Him. Here’s some pictures. I saw that ugly dog again. but he hid behind the car that's always there, so I didn’t get Him in my camera.  Sorry Another photo is of a nasty bug... a giant flea being eaten by ants. Thank goodness.  I'm pretty sure that flea used to eat people.  Another photo of a dog that was too far away, Pero me parece como Gandelf, the newfoundland. Another photo of a gorgeous moon that I was too late to get the good part, but it was this morning.

4 photos with Feb 25 letter 2013

The month is half over!

Dear family and friends,        2-18-13 

Congrats to Kendra, Meridith, Sister Jarvis, and Sister Getts for being awesome and getting married or heading out on missions. It´s going to be a fantastic road.

To the wonderful K----n:   I am well. as always... cough. I love South America minus the “polgas”. These stinking things won’t stop biting me.  I have a million bites…

I'm excited for I----c [nephew]. Reading is a huge step in life. I wonder if he would enjoy reading in the Book of Mormon........ haha  . Sure love ya'll. Congrats to my brother R----h on his graduation coming up. I wish I could celebrate with him.  I also hear that praying before all your studies or basically anything you do will invite the Lord and Spirit to help you... then you'll progress a lot faster... if that's of any interest to ya.

I can't believe it's already February either. The time goes by really fast. I realized a few days ago that really we only have about 6 to 7 hours a day to work. The rest is preparation. It's hardly any time. And it's sad that we feel that we haven't been using the best of it. I know that's a view in our eyes and not Heavenly Father’s, but at least we know we can do better.  And apparently the mission leader thinks so as well.  In our Zone meeting, we learned that he has set a Standard of Excellence that is rather... inspiring: 140 contacts a week, 15 new investigators every week, 5 people with a baptismal date and attending church and progressing, and if we are to do all those things and are successful, it will bring 1 baptism and confirmation a week. Quite frankly, this is why we figured we haven't been giving our all. But It's not easy, this work. But it's more than worth it. I get to look back every day at where I was and know that it's further than I would have gone in a few months of trying. The Lord is truly pushing and supporting his servants.

Crazy Chilean Stuff: They love Mayo... which drives me nuts.  They put mayonnaise on a lot of random foods, like corn or potatoes.  Sometimes they get mad if you don't, so you have to at least take a tiny bit every once in a while.

Agua (water) doesn't really mean agua... it means soda.  You ask "Can I get a small glass of water, please?" and then they come out with a giant glass of soda, typically Sprite.  Which also drives me nuts, in a laughing, "ok, yeah I-should-have-remembered-by-now" kind of way.

Here in Chile, the “hellos and goodbyes” are (between Males): Handshake, Hug and pat the back twice, Handshake. - - -(Between male and female): Cheek kiss.  [Then] Entonces, you need to be careful to keep a firm grip and a stiff arm so that the girls don't come in for the cheek.  In Esperanza, we haven't had this, but the first time I did an interchange [serve for a day with a different elder in a different sector], I got 2 cheek kisses without warning.  You should have seen our expressions of horror.

New stuff this week:  

            There's a lady who has been attending church for the past long while or year or something and receiving lessons in church, and no one apparently came to think much of it... but she can be baptized... Oh!... eah. That huge blessing that she could have.  So we need to set a fecha [an appointment] with her.

Boldness and courage... yes. That would help. No one is going to hurt you for sharing how much the Gospel of someone they probably also believe in has blessed your life. 

Yes, be peaceable when it comes to religion. If you both start slinging mud, all you do is lose ground...

Tell her not to lose that 10 peso piece... It's worth 2 cents, and I KNOW that the U.S. has no 2-cent pieces.  I’m making her basically famous.   [Hahahaha]

You ate at Sykes? Don't they have live bands at Sykes?  Is it only where the older generation goes?  I want to play for them there one day...

Happy Late Valentines. and the day before was my companion Elder H's birthday.

Did I ever mention that I hate Duraznos? [peaches]  The members here keep on giving them to us, and somehow they keep ending up in Elder H's backpack.

There's a member here that Elder H fixed up her bathroom because he's a ‘beast’, and I played with the kittens and got some nice scratches on me. It was pretty cool, and definitely worth it.  Thom and Ronnie--Super awesome cats, they are.

I think I also decided that I might not get a dog when I'm older.  At some point yes, when the phrase "Perro con Polgas" doesn't come to mind the instant I see a dog in the street.   [translation: “dog with fleas’]

These stinking fleas are eating me alive. I counted most of my bites. I stopped at 40.  Please send the medicine I mentioned.  It's not that they're high priced, but the mission leaders told us we can't use our weekly allowance for convenience things, and I view this as one of those...maybe…it 's more of a necessity.   I've used most everything I brought with me. The vitamins I take every day, and the Ibuprofen, I don't think I'll ever run out of.  I have 3 bottles, plus the first aid kit in every sector's apartment.

 The language is better. I'm somewhat contributing to the lessons that are with members and sharing my thoughts.  And conversation is kind of coming.  I'm slow, but it's still wonderfully entertaining to try to keep up.

Yes, I know I've been writing my journal for them. [my future family]  They're some of the most important people, and I haven't even met them here yet. I often write in my journal "I hope you're listening, because this will help" and things like that.

Didn't you get one of those leafs [that smell like lemons]?  I hope you opened and scanned the letters for [friends] C-----n and N-------e.  I put stuff for you in there as well.  Next time I'll write on the envelope if you aren't supposed to read it or something.  I'll ask Elder H if I don’t forget. So far I only know of one tree and I don't know how to get there on my own.

So yeah, I love all of you.  Tomatoes are still gross, and pineapples drive me crazy. Fruit is painful to my tongue, but healthy for the body.  I keep having to force myself...... but they do a good job here of masking everything with stuff like chocolate syrup or ice cream... hmm.

Anyway.  Time to down load  a couple pictures.

Sure love ya'll. 

Elder Cattron VI

Pictures from Chile and Mom's big question 2-11-13

To: Elder Cattron  2-10-2013

 On Sunday did you feel an earthquake off your coast 40 Km south of Valparaiso?

Maybe a  5.7 isn't big enough to bother you. 

 Love Mom

Letter 11 Feb 2013

·         letter -Mon 2-11-2013‏

Feb 11 2013 ==== from  Jonathan Cattron   12:06 PM        

For those of you who are wondering, yes, I did in fact feel the earthquake. As much as it was a "cool" experience for me, I learned from Elder H that they are to be taken serious. I wasn't scared, but maybe that's because I haven't felt any of the bad ones. It's amazing to think about, though... and now that I think about it, we're almost on the top floor of a 7 story building... I should have been a little worried.

Elder A---- is from Utah. his house is about 10 minutes from the MTC. I'm pretty sure he could see it from the temple. 

Elder H is from Argentina, Balcarce una provincia de Buenos Aires

Ore meye eh chay uh. Hace 6 meses en la mision. = But he works like he's been here longer. He works hard.

Apparently most of the fleas I get jump on me from the sidewalk and ride around in my socks. It drives me nuts. I vacuumed the whole apartment today cuz I was so annoyed.

I don't know where to find any flea collars. We've been to a few grocery stores but that's about it.

Mom- Mmmm chocolate... I miss it. Basically have only been eating healthy stuff.  Tomatoes and avocados and onions... keep getting fed peaches, which drives me nuts. Only peach juice is good. 

I'm not sure if this is okay to say, but give her a hug or something from me. That song (I Hate Everything About You) is wonderful by the way. I happen to sing it every once in a while.  well...[past tense] did. --during when I worked at home.  It has a very interesting view to it. 

Tell my cousin T---a to be careful with math. It can make your brain go perpendicular. 

"Here is a question for you: How many stupid math questions does it take for you to poke your own eyes out with your pencil?"

Ask the math teacher who wears an eye patch. He probably knows from experience and doesn't need to figure out the answer anymore.

Mom - about the lady with a heart and soul for the people - I don't know the answer to how you can be more like her, but I do know that communication is important. I've learned this from all the Spanish I haven't understood. It's harder to get things done if you don't know what's going on.

Thank goodness I'm not there for jury duty. That guy would have been guilty by me just for fun. Okay not really, but I wouldn't feel like going.  After listening to Runaway Jury by john Grisham, I hope that I never have to.

Here's a part of my letter to the mission pres. Enjoy. Use Google Translate if you can't read it. I missed a couple accents, but you'll get the idea.

Quizás, puedo empezar con Elder Hormaechea. --- él es super bueno. haha. Me gusta que él está estudiando íngles. A veces, Le frustra, y él ríe y dice que es super dificil. . . yo entiendo este sentimiento. Pero él tiene mucha paciencia. Especialmente conmigo durante este tiempo lento de aprendiendo.
Ayer fue un día grande para mí. Casi todo el día, yo entendía todo. Es una apoya de mí vista de mí mismo, y yo sé que necesito recordar eso día.
Estamos orando mucho para los investigadores. Nadie que visitamos asistió la iglesia ayer, pero les llamamos y invitamos. Pero... yo sé... Paciencia y diligencia. 
Tenemos un... hijo? él tiene 19 años - y quiere bautizarse y servir un misión. Está visitando amigos aquí ahora hasta marzo y vive con ellos. Tiene 3+ asistencias... yo pienso. No sé si usted sabe todavia, pero queremos hablar con él para ayudar a hacerlo.
Qué más?... 
Vamos a hacer más contactos --- necesitamos arrepentirnos por hacerlo. 
Yo aprendí algo en mis estudios. La palabra valor - sobre los dos mil jovenes. Ellos hicieron todas las cosas con valor.
Y despues un poco de buscar - yo averigué en el diccionario y otras cosas que es un decisión tener miedo. Entonces, este es la cosa que va a trabajar a cambiar.
Pero, sí. Esperanza está bueno, y como todo de Chile -aunque casi nadie me cree o entiende- es un lugar perfecto para mí. Hay muchas cosas en este país de que me recuerde, y me gusta. Me siento que estoy en un otro hogar.

TRANSLATION:

Perhaps I can start with Elder H-------.  …He is super good. Haha. I like that he is studying English. Sometimes he gets frustrated, and he laughs and says it's really difficult. . . I understand this feeling. But he is very patient—especially with me during this slow time of learning.

Yesterday was a big day for me. Almost all day, I understood everything. It is a view supported me from myself, and I know I need to remember that day. 

We are praying much for our investigators. No one we visited attended church yesterday, but we called them and invited.  But ... I know ... Patience and diligence.

We have a ... kid? He is 19 years old - and wants to be baptized and serve a mission. Is visiting friends here now until March and lives with them. Has 3 + attendances ... I think. I do not know if you know yet, but we want to talk to him to help do that.

What else? ... We will make more contacts --- need to repent for it by doing it

I learned something in my studies. The word valor - about two thousand warriors. They did all the things with valor.   And after a bit of searching - I found out in the dictionary and other things that is a decision to be afraid. So this is the thing that will work to change.

But, yeah.  Esperanza ward is good, and like all of Chile, though hardly anyone believes me or understands me, it is a perfect place for me. There are many things in this country that remind me of things from my life at home, and I like it.  I feel like I'm in another home

What did I learn about Chile this week?  I didn't learn anything special about Chile this week that I can think of.  But Esperanza Ward is amazing. There's a family here that I feel like we could be good friends with if we weren't working. They are fun and super happy all the time—and a few other families as well.

We are still waiting on Felipe to come to church once more so that he can be able to be baptized. . . It will bless his life so much, but something is just barely holding him back. 

Love you all. Didn't say much in this letter, but maybe I can send a written letter today. We had a zone activity today for P-day.   We played Futbol, basquetbol, and had pizza.  Beautiful.

WEEEELLLLLp. Yeah. 

Love ya'll.

-Elder Gat-Tron [Some of the elders in the zone call me this—I think I sound like a transformer gun]

Elder Cattron in Chile

I love it here

From Elder Jonathan Cattron   2/04/13     

            Estoy bien. I love it here, still, and I haven't weighed myself, but I'm pretty sure I've lost about 10 pounds at least from all the hills.

                I'm not used to the routine, because it's not one. It's a beautiful experience. Although I don't enjoy companionship study because of the role playing. Acting isn't my thing. 

We're not doing incredible in my eyes. But my view is different than Heavenly Father's so I shouldn't worry so much. Yesterday I finally "knocked" at a door where someone answered. [we yell "Halo" as in Ah-low. It's basically a question of hola or hello.]  My companion Elder H---------- said something to me right before the lady came out, so I looked back to have him repeat, and missed her coming out of the house. She seemed frustrated and kept saying something that I couldn't hear because of the 20 dogs barking around us [and we all know how I am with hearing anyway], which I learned later was "Diga me." “Tell me.”  [Tell me what you came for].  Elder H--------- came to the rescue with his super hearing by explaining we were gifting pictures. [like cards about John the Baptist and Christ and when Christ came to the Americas]. She picked the one of Christ praying, and he explained a little, and she said we could come by again to share the message and help her with her "necesidad de consuela" because she's struggling with something.  That's my success story of the week. The rest of the success is in my slow progress.

                I have been beating myself up lately because I'm still not accustomed to how fast and singsongy the Chileans talk.  Typically I only catch about 2 words because half the sentence was swallowed in my confusion. The MTC branch president's words keep coming to my head: fake it till you make it. I usually have no idea what people are saying, but sometimes I guess correctly.

                I know exactly how you feel with the Spanish, mom. I am asked often if I like Spanish. I tell them, "In all cases, I don't enjoy learning, but I enjoy speaking Spanish." or in this case, it's called Castellano... if that is the correct spelling.

                Typically my meals are desayuno [breakfast]: Yogurt and Cereal. mmmm, Almuerzo [lunch] with members at 2pm which is typically a massive meal and somehow manageable to finish, and some Pan [bread] for our 9pm dinner. Usually for lunch we have some kind of pasta [always with stinkin’ tomatoes! haha], or meat and potatoes. It's not really that different.  I've come to learn that a lot of interests of the Chileans are from the US—Especially music. You often hear people jamming to US bands. But Michael Jackson seems to be a frequent choice in general. There's actually a couple kids in the ward that play songs by Incubus and Red Hot Chili Peppers on the guitar...which brings me home and makes me smile inside.

                The schedule is different here. We actually wake up at 7am instead of 630 and retire to bed at 11pm to fit the schedule of the Chileans.  And everyone is at the beach on certain days from 1 until 3:30, so there's no one in the streets basically. It's like a ghost town. Except the dogs... they're always our flea zombies following us around.

                I sent home the MTC book thing. I don't actually know anything about the mail. I'm still figuring out how to pay at the post office.  A quiniento for a stamp, [500 pesos]—which is about equal to a dollar. 

                My companion is super awesome. He is a musical beast who can play basically any song just by listening to it and saying out loud, "do... re... so... re... okay, listo." It's pretty cool. And he puts his own style into it. He sings harmony well too. Plays guitar, piano, sings, and can play a little bit of harmonica.  He only speaks Spanish, and should have the accent of an Argentinian, but has adjusted it to an almost gringo kind of thing because no one could understand him. The Argentinians say 'Shah' for the double L's. [Como se shama? Instead of Como se “yama”?]

                Please pray that I won't keep my mouth shut when the language comes, and if possible, that I can talk to people in the street.  Both Elder H and I are bad at talking to people about the Gospel.  We could have so many more people, but honestly, I'm a little scared, and it isn't one of Elder H--------'s habits... and I haven't been talking much [different yesterday—I was better] because I failed to understand someone so I'd beat myself up about it.  I'm getting better at dealing with it, but last week I started to get rather quiet and self judging, which I know is unhealthy. 

I feel super safe here so don’t worry Mom.

                The sector we work in is called Esperanza. What a great name.  It's totally fitting, because it's just waiting for us to open our mouths and share the Gospel.

The missionary work is improving.  We have started to challenge the members to missionary work to help us and invite other families or friends to their Family home evenings [here it's called noche de hogar... night of home... haha] 

                Then we taught a 17 year old guy who is into Metal last night. Stuff like Slipknot. His brother was jamming out to some heavy metal in our first lesson last week, and it was so hard to teach. But last night was a little better, but Franco has issues with focusing, he says. It's funny really. Anything that moves in the room, his eyes are there. But it's fun. He's a pretty relaxed kid although he's super quiet. We have to ask him if he has any questions, and then ask him again after we answered the first question. 

                Really, missionary work isn't all fussy and stressful.  They're people with real concerns and thoughts, and really they're your family and friend.  Typically, they enjoy talking with people, and quickly realize that you are people too, with interests just like them.  I'm working on opening myself up to them instead of how I usually take the first day and just listen.

                Yvonne, Camila, Felipe, and Elizabeth. A super awesome family. Yvonne is the mother of Camila, who is 17ish, and Liz is the mother of Felipe, who is about 19.  Felipe isn't a member, but they are. We teach Felipe in the Chapel after we have music lessons with him.  We play guitar. Two days ago we had a music lesson with a member and Felipe where I taught guitar to Pato [Patricio, the member], and Elder H taught Felipe piano. Then we had a lesson about prophets.

I feel incredibly safe. I'm totally fine. But Esperanza is a very calm city/town.  It's like home.

There are a few drunkards who call missionaries over and say "Teach me" then sometimes they steal your stuff.  So Elder H says not to go if he doesn't feel right when that happens.

                Anyway, I'm out of time. Feel free to edit out whatever you like or explain things I don't in the blog. I hope you are doing well, Make sure you're studying and preparing for your missions, because if you don't you'll suffer like me some days by not knowing the doctrine super well.

Make copies of the things I send home so I can remember them--sometimes including the plant life... hahaha    [Jon once sent home some seeds that fell from the trees at the MTC.  I think he must have sent more from Chile that haven’t arrived here yet.]

            Tell J----- that I love her and the girls. "Ellas son super buenos, y deseo que puedo dar abrazos a todas [incluyendo J-----]."

            Ginger Dan - Felicitaciones! I sure miss your beautiful face. I want to make sure I hear where everyone goes from the Singles Branch.

Love you all. 

Elder GatoRoboto. [Cattron]