May 24, 2017 - This. Is. War.

Alright to I have to start off with why my email is called this, because I honestly cannot believe it. On Sunday night Elder Gates and I were walking in the street going to contact in this apartment area and out of nowhere I feel a pain in my lower leg and I hear my pants rip. A big dog had come out from a side street, without barking or making noise, and bit in in my other leg right in the middle of the calf. It bit me and then backed away snarling and slowly wandered off, it ripped my suit pants all the way to the knee, and this bite was bigger and hurt way worse, but I did not bleed too bad. I never thought the dogs would be the hardest thing about the mission, but apparently all of them have declared war against Elder Tilghman, so it is war they are going to get, and one of us will not leave here alive. It is crazy because it is like every dog know thinks that we are enemies because they chase us around way more than normal now, but I guess it is just something that we will have to deal with. Looks like I will get very good at learning how to throw rocks hard and accurate.

But other than that, this week has been a very good week. Elder Gates and I have finally been able to find some good new people to teach and we have been able to put some baptismal dates! Our one Haitian investigator, Nevel, has a date for June 4, and we are super excited for him, and he always smiles and gets happy at church and says he feels the spirit. At the same time that the dogs seem to be getting worse, the people seem to be opening up to us and have started letting us teach and talk with them, so we are also excited to see where this progress can go! It is a miracle to see how people can change their entire attitude and behavior when they put their trust in God. But it does make sense, God is our Father and Creator and if we let him, he will cut us down and mould us so that we may become the person that he wants us to be for the eternities. 

Ok so funny moment of the week. There is this one gangster in our sector who loves us for some reason, his name is Bastian. But he found out it was my birthday last week and he came up  to me at like 10 at night and wished me happy birthday and said he had a gift for me. He came out of his house with a bottle of soap. So, the only present I got from someone here in Chile was soap, and it was awesome! He saved me like 2 dollars at the grocery store so that was nice.

Of course I am still loving the mission work, it is the greatest blessing that has come into my life. All of the hardships and experiences let us see that God has a purpose for us and he has a vision of the person that we can be. All that is required is that we humble ourselves enough to be able to accept His will and work in order to progress in this life. I love you all and hope you are all doing great!

Love,

Elder Tilghman

Phillipains 3:2

Elder Fowles

Soap from the gangster

May 17, 2017 - Monday

Hey everyone! This last week has been a fun week, full of different crazy events both good and interesting, so lets talk about it. 

Our investigators that we have right now are progressing rock solid, we do not have very many, and it has been a battle trying to find new ones, but the couple that we have keep progressing and moving towards their baptismal date at the beginning of next month. Their names are Nevel and Fritzna, they are some Haitians we met a couple months ago on the street, and they are the humblest men I have ever met, super willing to learn and be taught. It has been awesome to see their progress and their own desires to learn more about God and Jesus Christ and to see them move towards their goal of baptism. However, with the other investigators we have, we know there are people prepared out their to talk and meet with us, it is now our job right now to find them. 

Sunday was awesome because I got to talk with my family by Skype! As missionaries we talk everyweek on our emails, but only twice a year do we get to call back home and see people and talk face to face. It was a blessing to be able to talk and see my family and my friends, and I am grateful for each and everyone of you!

Ok so now with the title of my email. Monday was nuts. Absolutely crazy. Right after I got done telling my family on Sunday how crazy Chile was, on Monday some of the weirdest things ever happened, all within the space of about 5 hours. Ok so to start off the day, a person smiled at us when we said hi to them. Crazy right? Hahahahahha no just a joke. In the afternoon on Monday we went to do some contacting in some ghetto apartments in the hood, and when I say ghetto I mean dogs running around everywhere in their poop, trash on the ground and roof and drunk people, or, the usual. So we were walking around and we talked to a group of 4 guys smoking and drinking, and they were friendly and sent us on our way. Right away as we left, one of the guys from that group stood in the doorway, took his shirt off and started screaming his head off and shaking violently telling us to run and get out. He was higher than the clouds. His friends shut the door to keep him quiet and we continued on our way. 

The second part was we went to go see an investigator at night and we saw a little preschool in our sector that had its side doors open to the public and we saw a church member go in on his phone. So we went over to talk and the member told us that people have been robbing the preschool for about 3 days and that they just broke in again. The worst part is the member lives in a house right above the preschool and he said that the guys saw him in the house and now are probably going to come back and rob him. We had a nice chat with the member and waitied for help to show up from the Preschool pricipal and police and then we left.

So that was what happened on Monday, there were of course other minor events, but those were the two major things that happened, so that was fun. As always I love these people, they make me shake my head sometimes, but it is an honor to be working and serving alongside them. Thank each and everyone of you for all of your love and support, I wish you all a great week!

Love,

Elder Tilghman

Doctrina y Convenios 89

We got permission to watch a movie with our waffles today

Elder Scott and I are birthday boys!

Elder Brown

Elder Ebert

Elder Topalda

May 10, 2017 - Rain, Rain, Go Away

There is so much rain. Maybe it is just me being an Arizona boy and never ever had rain in my life, but it feels like this past week is has rained everyday. It is not bad or hard rain, it just makes all of the streets really muddy and slippery and the streets run with dog poop. Like I said last week, dogs are demons. 

It has been a good week for us, we are really working hard and progressing. I know this is going to sound like deep revelation, but this week we really found out and appreciated that working through the members is the way to do missionary work. We have really been doing a ton of street contacting these last few weeks, and nothing has really worked out for us. Then one  morning during our companionship study we got the idea to work through the members and have them give us references for people that we can teach, so that these people will not feel weird about the church, so that is what we have done. We have been visiting a couple members, or less active members each day to share the message of the Restoration with them to get them excited about sharing the gospel, and they have commited to sharing with someone else, so we are excited to see the results of our labors!

As far as our current investigators go, they are still progressing and working to overcome their individual problems so that they can go to church, leave behind old habits and work to better their lives. We had a cool experience on Sunday when a family of Hatians walked into the church half way through our first hour and Elder Gates and I got really excited, but then we found out they were being taught by the other Elders and arrived to church at the wrong time, but still they came! We are working to get better everyday and help others reach and enjoy the light of the gospel of Christ in their lives.  

Ok so cool and funny story of the week. So dogs and I have not been getting along reciently I do not know what it is, it is like they have all decided to turn on me. Anyway on Monday we were walking along in this little dirt field and these two dogs decide to go beserk and run at us. Little did they know I was not having it with dogs that day, so I started to run at them. They got scared and ran back to where they came. If this keeps up either I or the dogs are going to die before I leave this sector I swear. I hope I win.

This was a great week and some great work that we are putting in here in Condell, I am really excited to see where the Lords work will take us in our time here! I love you all and hope you have a good week! Happy Mothers Day!

Love,

Elder Tilghman

Exodus 20:12

Got the birthday package from the family, love you guys!

Chilling in the hood at night with the camera, not going to do that again

Sweater weather

We got a ton of bread the other day so I felt like a true Chilean

May 3, 2017 - Demons of the Infernal Pit

I am sorry all of you animal lovers out there, I really am, but this week I learned that all animals are Satans servants, and I will explain later on, but this week was war between me and the beasts.

Ok in other news, it was a nice week I really enjoyed all of the things that Elder Gates and I got accomplished, we did some hard work. We now have another investigator with a baptismal date and her name is Gabriella. She accepts everything from the lessons that we teach and she has great faith in Christ and wants to be baptized, but she worked on Sunday. WORKED. We had been working and praying finding a way for her to be able to come to church and she told us last week that she was fired, but she was happy and so were we because she can come to church now! God works in mysterious ways. We have also been teaching a less active teengaer named Igancio. He is a great guy and has been recieving the missionaries for a while and we fixed a day with him so that he can get the Priesthood! He is working on some goals and working with bishop, but he is a great guy and he will do great things, he realizes that Christ is his Lord and Savior. Overall some very good things are going on and we are happy to be a part of them.

Ok now to tell the story of the week, actually there are multiple so get comfy. On Friday we had a service where we also went and cleaned out a kinda hoarder house, but it was mostly clean so we just moved some trash and old rotting wood out so we could toss it. Of course there were the normal spiders, but there was also a giant rat running around. The dogs at the house chased it and tried to kill it, but they could not do it. Eventually the rat came running straight at me, so I did the natural thing and I speared it with a shovel. Its eyes just looked at me with pure hate right before it died, that thing wanted to kill me so bad, nice try buddy.

Ok part two. So on Saturday we went and taught a lesson and as we were walking out there was a disgusting dirty, beatup dog in the street eating some trash. I do not know what I did, but the thing freaked out and started running at us like a possesed lunatic. It caught up to us before I could throw a rock at it and it of course bit me right on the calf, not too bad but one tooth got down pretty deep. I. Hate. That. Dog. With a passion. So, tonight I ahve to go to the hospital so they can give me some shots so I do not die from all of the diseases that flea bag was carrying. We have an appointment over there on the same street on Friday and I am going to walk around with giant rocks, so if the dog tries anything my comp and I are going to destroy it.

So those were my stories of the week. I had several encounters with creatures from the Underworld and we had some great spiritual moments. I hope you all have a great week and that you stay safe, if you see any rabid dogs in the street throw some rocks or cactus at them!

Love,

Elder Tilghman

Marco 5

We played some paintball today because Elder Dominguez goes home soon :(

I love this Brazilian!

Elder Alvear y Elder Lagos

Divisiones with elder alvear

Marcelo and Matias