Hola,

I bet your all dying to know what happened with transfers, well, even if you’re not, listen up, because it’s pretty interesting. To start out saying, I love Nueva Cordoba, it’s been a good area., but the time has come to bounce up out of there. My new area is called Jose Ignacio Diaz and it’s in the south stake.

Let me tell you about this fun-filled area of Jose Nacho. There’s tons of activities to partake of, such as getting shot at, getting knifed, buying drugs, getting robbed, dying, getting things thrown at you, and having way-crappy apartments. These activities I’m not a fan of, no, not a fan at all. The day before I left for Jose Nacho, when I told members where I was going, the first reaction I got was “oooooooh” (as in a bad scary, you’re going to die — ooooh). It’s all red zone! Our apartment is red zone, our church is red zone, our members are red zone — our everything is red zone. I heard everything bad, your curfew is 8 pm and the members tell you not to be out any later…unless you want to die. In this new area, people die here all the time. So many activities and fun facts! So at this point am scared. My entire area is Villa, the whole thing.

I also discovered that I collected a lot of junk in six months from my first area. I came with two suitcases and one duffel bag. I left Nueva Cor with two suitcases, one duffel, a big box, and bag. I gained a lot…I don’t know how this happened, but I need to stop collecting things.

After I got all packed and stuff, it was time to head out. Elder Antunez is my new companion, he’s from Santiago, Chile. He came to my apartment and we left. Now as we got to the area, I pictured it way worse in my mind, but it’s still bad. I went from the nicest pension in the mission to a very crappy one, well its not horrible, but its definitely a few steps down, big steps. I’ll be doing some cleaning later today, because I inherited that from my mom.

My companion was like “Hey, you see the nice little white house over there?  Ya, that’s a drug house.” Oh, that’s nice. Less then a block from our house is a 24-hour drug store. Nice little neighborhood we live in. We live behind a member’s house and behind the house is a wall with broken glass and barbed wire on top and a huge open field…probably where some drug dealing goes down and a possible murder here and there. We even have a dog.

So, once I got here, I dropped my supplies off and we bounced. And guess where we went?  To the apartment of Elder Silas and Elder Smith! They were in my district, and my padre, Elder Smith, is my District Leader, and my brother, Elder Silas was in my room in the MTC! We went over to their apartment and we’ve been there all day. Reliving our old days. I’m so excited to be with these guys, we’re going to have fun.

My companion was telling me about this new area. Sure, it’s way dangerous but we’re teaching about 20 different families and a bunch of other people — tons. He tells me we have a ton of investies and we’re going to be all over the place. I’m so excited to crush this place and baptize some peeps. This will and has been quite the change. But don’t worry I’ll be extremely careful, I’m not a fan of dying just yet. I got a few things on my To-Do-List. I’m going to have some interesting times in Jose Nacho. At least I have Elder Silas around and a way-good area.

Fun Fact:  Wal-Mart is in my district

Les amo

Elder Glanzer

Chao

Hola,

We were knocking doors in a nice place. Good for the pickens. Going along our merry way when up in the distance…*J-Dubs. Not just two or four, but a wave of about 15 or so. Dang, they’re crowding our crop. I’ve never seen them move in packs like this before. Its takes us an hour to knock out a block and they can crush it in 15 minutes. But we had an appointment so we got into a house in front of them, ya! We win!

We were trotting along and heard some Eminem music coming from a house, and we stop to jam for a bit. Then were like what the heck, lets knock. We did and this teen opened and we told him we liked his jams and started to talk about musica. And he let us in. He asked us who we were and he wanted to hear what we had to say. We shared with him and his mom came in and it was good lesson. We even got a return appointent, I love letting people see that we are people too, and we like music.

We were in the house of a part member fam, chatting and doing our thing. When the dad started to pull out his records. He had so many good one, some CCR, Beatles, Donna Summers — tons. All originals and a few Beatles in Spanish. We started to jam to some 60’s and 70’s tune-age. Instantly it reminded me of jamming with dad to such music. How we used to jam in the car, and in the office. It’s way a good little moment to have to remind me of times with the old man.

Yep, I’ll be leaving this week. I’ll have six months in one area, so its time. But the bad thing is we’re starting to find fams and peeps. We found three way legit fams these past two weeks. I guess it’s always like this in the mish, you may bring people to the church but not necessarily see them enter the waters of baptism. I’m just glad that the person following me has the same goals as me so that these people wont be lost, they will have the people there to help them. Next week I’ll tell you all about my change and we’ll go from there.

I love you all and your support doesn’t go unnoticed.

*J-Dub: Jehovah’s Witness 

Elder Glanzer

Chao

Hola,

I know the Lord puts people in my path to help me and to build me up. I know also that I am a person in someone’s path to help them on their journey. Those who help me come at the right time. As you may know, I’ve been having a little trouble getting my companion out and working and doing the things missionaries do. I was on a downward spiral into looking at the calendar everyday and waiting for the day to turn into a week and the week into a month. I’ve been struggling with what to do and who can give me the answers. I found out my mission president was too broad. This was for me to figure out.

Over the course of a transfer, the ZL’s have an intercambio with the DLs and their companions. I’ve been lucky enough to have these every transfer. What a blessing to have just one day with a mish who is amazing (I love that word).    This time I was going to Maipu to be with Elder Bair — he’s a stallion. But it kept getting pushed back and I was afraid I wasn’t going to have it. Finally the day came and I headed to Maipu.

Elder Bair is a beast, taller than me, and huge. So I went into this intercambio with the idea to work, that’s all I wanted — to have an excellent day. He asked me want I wanted to learn and I told him just that: “Lets crush this area!” And that’s just what we did. This Elder literally talks to everyone.  We’d be contacting someone and he’d say, “Hey, contact this lady and I’m going to go over and contact this family.” Ok…don’t leave me I thought at first, but he kept doing it and he gave me the confidence to do it alone. Or rather he just left me and I HAD to do it.

Maybe we didn’t find a family or a golden investie, but this day helped me. His example boosted me to be the best I can and be the missionary I know I am. I saw, and now again see, the value of working hard and talking to everyone. This elder changed my mission for me and the way I will follow-up in my life. I lost the vision of why I was out here, plain as that. I lost the drive to work and to be a mish. I lost the Spirit. He saved me and my mish. He showed me why I was and am here, what I need to do, and who I need to be because I’ll be held accountable for those who I didn’t find, and how scary is that.

I need to be that person who is everything and does everything down to the T. Why should I feel sorry for myself and groan in my state. I need to improve my state, get up, and get moving. For I’m the only one who can improve me. Elder Bair gave me the day and experience I needed to start again. I know I should never have had to do that start over, but I did and it made me better and realize things more clearly, and put my priorities in line.  First priority right now is my mission and the Lord.

I told him what he did for me and I hope one day I can do the same for someone else. Today he told me that he didn’t want me to get transferred outside of this Zone. Who else is he going to have an amazing day with?

Later that day we had our Ward mission activity in the church. It was a skit show where each organization made a little show or skit.  We had a good time. The mishes and our ward mish leader did a skit where Abraham is going to sacrifice Isaac.  The idea was, just think if the Angel slept in and Abraham killed Isaac. Well, I was the angel… because when have you seen a non-white angel? So I had to talk in Spanish in front of a ton of people, yea! We did the skit, Abraham killed Isaac and I (the angel) arrived too late. We got some good laughs and such. And yes, I got it recorded. The message was, don’t be late to meetings and to church. But wait, the funniest part is that the activity was supposed to start at 8:30 pm but didn’t start until 10:05 pm. We dropped cane with our skit on the entire congregation. Oh fun days!

That next day we did splits with Leo and a young man in our ward. It was also a way good day, Leo and I crushed it and placed some copies of the LDM, a few were very solid and we’re going to go back to them this week to see what’s up. That night I had another intercambio in Miralta with Elder Vado from Nicaragua — and he speaks very well Ingles.

During this whole time I had the mindset to talk to everyone and have amazing days and not to stop this momentum that I’ve been building. The morning of this intercambio it began to rain and I didn’t have my coat or anything. Dang! But we didn’t want to stay in the apartment so we braved the torment and went out to teach and preach and do the things that missionaries do. We both wanted to have a great day.

Now in this area when it rains, the streets like to turn into rivers. So much fun to cross!
:-)  Halfway through the day we were soaked and my feet and kicks are toast. We were having fun and talking to anyone who would listen. At a few points, we had to seek shelter under a house to escape the storm for a bit. And something amazing happened. Check it, I knocked on this door and this old dude came out so I began to converse with him and he had sympathy on us and let us it. We chatted and got a return appointment. And today I found out in our district meeting, this same guy went to church on Sunday! No way, I said! The guy I found is now a progressing investie and went to church two days after the mishes showed up at his house. We are truly blessed when we do the will of the Lord and forget about ourselves.

I’ve finally found again the reason why I’m here, I don’t want to lose it again, that Spirit, that drive, that love. I love what I do and who I’m able to help, because if I’m receiving the help the Lord gives me, why can’t I be that help to someone else? Even on Sunday we were blessed for our labors and had five people in Church! And do you remember Julie Figuroa? Well she came too! What a good Sabbath day.

I hope we all can be in someone’s path to help them and build them up.

Les Amo

Elder Glanzer

Hola,

If I was to think about the aspects of my life right now and analyze it for you, answering a few questions that would shed light on whom I’m becoming, things I’m figuring out about myself, and things I’m realizing I have some skill in, well, the answers would go like this.

In my life, I’m beginning to see the importance of making goals. This is how I survive; I make those short-term goals that reach me to those long more distant ones. Without this goal-making aspect of my life right now, I would constantly be at a standstill.  And how depressing your life can be if you are in that state for too long.

Without the desire to be better, to make better, and to constantly grow, my goals would flop. They are what drive us to become who we want to be. Be when I have a goal, I need to have it in my mind and in my heart. If it’s not in my heart, come on lets be honest, it’s not going to happen. I need to have that real desire to move forward. And I’m beginning to know that it’s tough, but who said it would be easy.

I know I need to complete my goals, but sometimes I fall short, so the next time I set up a goal, I’ll make sure it’s obtainable. For example, I have a goal to talk to at least two families I see in the street. Now it may not seem like a big goal, oh but it is. When you’re at the end of your day and you realize you haven’t found those two fams yet, there’s a sense of panic because you have that goal in your mind and you have let yourself down.

And I have seen the fruits of this goal. So check it. We were near the end of our day on Saturday, starting to head back to our apartmento. I had realized I hadn’t met my goal – dangit! But since I was trying, the Lord made up for me. Up ahead in the distance, just like a photo out of a church pamphlet, a dad was pushing a stroller and the mom at his side. Perfection!

Now you need to understand, there are some things that make mishes happy: cloudy/cold days, anything edible, and families walking towards them. Jackpot — was my first thought. Now this family was a good distance away, so we had a little time to plan our “assault.” J OK, so we decided that my companion would open and I would follow with the back-up question.

The plan was flawless — and well executed I might add. Two mishes walking towards this fam, they knew what was coming. So we started, talked a little about family and there’s is a feeling you get when you start that perfect contact — those mishes out there know what I’m talking about. We asked them if we could stop by their house to teach them more. They said, “Well, the thing is, we live in the ‘Villa’ right over there, and people don’t go in there, never, unless you want to die.” Oh, no way, well that sucks.

But wait, a “villa” is where tons of people live, in tiny little house all smashed together. Very dangerous because they are people who are less fortunate and they look at you and see what they can sell on you for money. And mishes aren’t allowed to go there anyway.

So we told them where the church was and started to walk away. Then I was like, wait just a second, and we went back and told them that we could teach them in the church and they liked that idea. We’ll see what happens with the “villa fam”, but that’s what I get to do when I complete my goals.

I have found out many things I would like change about myself. And it’s very hard to change habits that I’ve had for over ten years. But they can change; they have to if I’m to be successful in this little thing called life. They slowly begin to change, but it’s a constant battle to fight them to the ground and put them into submission. The full-frontal mount seems to be working (that’s for you Brian! I know that the habits I build now will stay with me for a lifetime, so I’d better build those good ones — like I need to stop spitting out our sixth floor window onto traffic — but these things will change with time…or if my next apartment is ground level! I love the person I’m becoming.

Today I carried my basketball to the district meeting to shoot some hoops and everyone else brought their junk too, so we played some 5-on-5 as a Zone. It’s fun to play with Latinos because they really don’t know what to do, it’s a good trade-off because they crush me at fútbol. We had a good time sweating and getting our sports in — one of those good Zone bonding moments.

I’ve been in this zone for six months and I love it. I feel like I’m starting to know the other Elders and starting to have friends all over. At Zone Conference I’m talking to all my friends and the peeps I know. It’s fun to be in the loop and have peeps that I have a past with. I believe one of the most important things about a missionary is to build those relationships with other mishes, who will be your life-long buddies.

I hope all is well up there in the North Land, Yankeelandia, as some would say here. I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to be a member of Christ’s church, to be a missionary in finding those whom He has sent me to bring unto Him. Is there any other place for a 19 year old to be then serving a mish? I submit, no. And I believe a Prophet also said that… I know that work that I do is the work of Angels and we are sent out two by two to encontrar, ensenar, y bautizar.

I also have the most killer family who loves and supports me in every way, shape or form — even if they send letters and emails about home and how they are making “Glanmuffins” without me! But I know I only have this chance to be in this opportunity to serve with all my focus, might, mind and strength for two very short years.

This is not a calling to be a mish for two years, but for the rest of my life…just without my plaque. But maybe I’ll slip it on a few times, just to see if it still fits. Should we not go on for such great a cause?

Les amo

Elder Glanzer

Chao

HOLA,

We all stood to say we had faith, I stood. We all said we had faith, I did too. Now they told us to show our faith and leave the Conference and find someone and bring them back to the chapel. I left too, just like everyone else. As I left, I left without faith. I would come back, to return, just like everyone else, investigator-less.

So we head out to find a street that didn’t have missionaries in it. We walked and knocked on a door and that brought nothing, if possible, my faith dropped a little more. I just wanted to return like everyone else. I was thinking the whole time that I didn’t want to be last back to the chapel. I mean come on, we had 15 minutes to find someone, to capture their interest in a few seconds, gain their trust, and get them to come with us back to the church.

Awaiting them would be 50 missionaries and a Mission President. A situation that could literally change their life in a matter of minutes. Where was my faith? As we continued on, still nothing. The area we were in and the time of day means that there is no one in the streets – the streets were dead. Around the chapel are all houses and no one really wants to listen to two Mormons. We had 15 minutes to find one person; I’ve spent the last three months with less than ten new investigators. Faith, I had none.

Now, time had burned and it was time to head back. We had our straight-line to the chapel; I didn’t want to veer from this path. Then a man, not in our path, emerged. Nothing special, just a guy. Forward. But then something happened and then we both went towards him. He started to talk; I didn’t receive any burning sensation that this guy was going to be baptized. He seemed a little tense and hurried, he just got stopped by two guys in suits and not to mention, one is a tall Gringo, terrifying, I know.

I asked where he was going, and we walked with him. Now we didn’t have much time, so we jumped into it. We told him right off the bat that we wanted to invite him to a special musical number and message in our church, and he accepted. But only for five little minutes he kept saying. I would say that my faith spiked in that moment.

As we walked, he talked a little more and we got to know him. He kept saying, “tengo otro religion” (I have another religion), we just laughed, Oh that’s nice we said. As we neared the church, we saw all the other missionaries investigators-less. Now I would love for all of them to have brought someone back, but I had mine, and it wasn’t pride, I was just pleased.

We walked him into the church, we were beaming, and he was scared. But he had two angels on both sides, perhaps the safest man in the world. Little did he know what he was walking into. He met the President and then sat down and I sat next to him. There were also three other people inside too — how amazing (there’s that word again)!

We opened the message with singing the most powerful song for someone new to hear, that’s right, “Nearer My God to Thee.” Now the room was completely drenched with the spirit. Then Elder Reyes and Elder Bair stood up to speak, or rather bear testimony of a young boy and how he saw God and Jesus. How the true church of Christ is on the earth today. It was amazing, I couldn’t help but let one or maybe two little tears fall to my tie. Then to top it off there was a member there who had been baptized two years ago and he spoke so simply and powerfully. I don’t know how anyone could deny this at this point in time.

I’ll probably never find out what happened to Gustov, but I had this experience for the building of my own. Jesus “punched” me in the face, and said what are you doing? You have the faith, didn’t be afraid. I’m helping you, when have I ever let you down? Now go out and show your faith. Something changed for me after this. I know that there are people out there waiting for me, in reality. After each step I’m becoming the man the Lord wants me to be, the man my parents know I am, and who I want to become. How many steps are to come? Will I make it up all of them? I have faith. Faith is action.

I never thought an earthquake in Chile would affect my life. Around 3:30 am on Saturday, I was laying in my little bed because I couldn’t sleep. Then it started to shake, who the heck is shaking my bed?! So I stood up and my companion said that it’s an earthquake. Now, we live on the 6th floor of a building and the entire thing was swaying. Legit!

Our neighbors are all running out of their apartment, I just laid there. There were people in the street. Then we got another wave, but of less strength. The next morning, we found out what happened. There was an 8.8 quake between Concepcion and Santiago, Chile.

My companion’s family lives in Santiago, so this is very real for him and all the other Chileanos in this mission. They all got permission to contact their Parental Units in whatever way they could. But there’s not much communication into Chile. Concepcion was destroyed and parts of Santiago also. Way bad situation. It’s all over the news. Crazy eh, who’d every think a quake in Chile would have any effect on me. But my companion is way worried; he hasn’t talked to his parents yet — so things are tough all over.

It’s been an interesting week, but we’re trying to do our best to get out and work still. Moving forward.

I love you all and hope you’re doing well.

Les amo

Elder Glanzer

Chao