July 19, 2017 - Christmas in July

Snow! I cannot believe what happened on Saturday, it was so cold and rainy here that it actually turned into snow! We woke up on Saturday morning and our entire house and our patio was covered in the fluffy white stuff. Being an Arizona boy, it was very weird for me seeing snow, no we did not have time to go make a snow man, but we had a small snow ball fight with all of the Elders in our house Saturday morning. It was the first time in 50 years it had snowed in our area, it was awesome. But of course, wherever there is happiness, the pain will follow. Because the area was not used to snow, all of our power cut out for about a day and a half, so needless to say we were very cold. We could not use our bikes on that day because the roads were all snowy and covered in ice, so we had to walk. It was a fun day to be out in the freezing cold and the snow, I enjoyed the time to be in a different setting than I am used to.

Ok back to the business of the people. Ernesto, the young kid we have been teaching will be baptized on Saturday! We are very excited for him and for his decision to draw closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. He is very prepared and ready and his entire family is coming from all different parts of Santiago to come and see so Elder Alldredge and I could not be happier. Hopefully this time next week I will be bringing you some good news. We have also been teaching and helping out a ton of Haitians as well. They come here to Chile with nothing, including blankets and winter clothes, so we spent some time with our bishop getting supplies for them so that they could get throught the snow and cold weather better. We have one Haitian investigator who is awesome. His name is Aristide and he has been in Chile for about a month now. His house is super small, he literally lives in a room the size of my bathroom back in my house in Mesa. He is a great, spiritual guy and we have had some amazing lessons with him. Last week we were talking with him about prayer and how to pray, and he offered to say the last pray before we left. It was the first time he had prayed outloud in his life and it was very powerful, he said a quick pray blessing hiself and his family and the Spirit filled the tiny room. I am very grateful to be trusted to have experineces like that with these people. And as always the work continues to go on.

I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have here on the mission. Yes there aer hard times like when we do not have power and it is freezing cold and snowing, but there is no better place in the world to be. Looking at it, our challenges and obstacles really are nothing compared to the trials of the One who suffered All. We are priveledged with every thing we have and wiht all of our blessings thanks to one act of one Being who saved us all. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Redeemer of all sin for mankind. I hope you al have a great week!

Love,

Elder Tilghman

Moroni 3

Christmas

Snow

Last week with President we went on a hike

Canyon

A recycled elephant

Sabertooth tiger

July 12, 2017 - I am one with the Force and the Force is with me

Update: My legs are sore. I love being on the bike it is awesome, it is definitely way different than walking around all day like I did for the first year of my mission. This week was great! I absolutely love my new sector, the ward is awesome and the people here are amazing. This is definietly the strongest ward I have had in my whole mission and the members are awesome, all of them are machines. It is also a lot easier to find new people to teach here in this sector, the people seem more receptive, and the area is way bigger, so we have some cool places to do some contacting. 

The investigators here are awesome. Ok so first off we have Pablo, Javierra and Maxi. They are the brothers and sister of a recent convert here in the ward, and we have put a goal with baptism with them as well for in about three weeks. Those kids are awesome, they read and pray and they told us they want to get baptized, I am so excited for them. Pablo makes fun of us because he thinks we have a gringo accent somtimes, the kid cracks me up. We went to mutual and played soccer with them last night with the Youngs Mens and the leaders and it was awesome, they got to know the ward a little better. Our next investigator is a kid named Ernesto. His family is coming back to the church after losing contact for a period of years, and their 9 year old son Ernesto has been coming with them. He wants to get baptized as well, and we are really working with the family so that they can all prepare themselves to enter the temple and prepare to have an eternal family. The good thing is they love going to church and meeting the members and people that they new before, and Ernesto has expressed his desire to be baptized. Last week we also got into contact with a Haitian who wanted to meet with us. He had met with the missionaries before in Haiti and lost contact and wanted to get together with us again. We went and taught about the Restoration and he commited to coming to church. Reciently as well Elder Alldredge and I have been using a survey in order to talk to people about God and the Gospel and it has been awesome for us. We have been able to talk to many different people and they have opened up their desires to learn more about their purpose in life and we have been able to testify of the truth that we know and the fundamental and eternal principles that will never change, which bring hope and joy into our lives. Overall the sector is on fire.

Ok so funny story of the week. So the neighborhood that we live in is a gated communtiy and to open up the gate we have an automatic opener on our keychain that we carry around with us. Yesterday I asked Elder Alldredge to open the gate, and right as he opened it I moved my hand so it looked like I used the Force to push it open. The funny part was on the other side of the gate was a little kid on his bicicleta. When he saw the gate open when I moved my hand he stopped and stared at me with his mouth wide open. He stared at me and my companion the whole way down the street, and then we laughed about it afterward. I finally completed my dream of being a Jedi and using the Force. I am the Chosen One. 

The mission is amazing, the Spirit and the experiences are not only a testimony to the people we teach, but to me as well. I know and I testify this is the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. After a great long night of Apostasy, our kind, loving Heavenly Father has restored His truth in its glory and fulness for us, His children. He has a plan, and wants us to obey because he knows that we will be happy, not only for this life, but for the eternities and the life to come. And that is the glorious truth that we share. Thanks to Him, this life on earth is not the end, Death has been conquered and sin has been vanquished. I know and share, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love

Elder Tilghman

3 Nefi 12:14-16

Elder Grau

Elder Champutiz

Elder Alldredge

July 5, 2017 - Leg Day Everyday

Hey everyone so this past week we had changes and I left my old sector, Condell. I was there for 6 months and honesly I can say it was amazing, the people are genuine and sincere, and the work of the Lord will continue to advance. I am now in a new sector a little south of where I was before, and it is called Maestranza. My old area was super ghetto and not going to lie, pretty scary, but my new area is super nice, there are nice houses and the people are a little better off. but do not worry, there are still dogs and they chased us yesterday because I am now on a bike! So, the dogs now chase me as I am flying down the road on two wheels.... we will see how this goes, those suckers are fast.

When I left my old sector, we had some people with some baptismal dates, Sammy and Mathieu, both of which are Haitians who speak fluent English. We are working with them so that they can progress and feel more comfortable in church, becuase they do not speak Spanish yet they feel a little left out at times, but the language will come, I am a witness of that. I am sad to leave those guys, but I know that they are in good hands and that they will be taken care of.

Here in my new sector I also have a new companion named Elder Alldredge! He is from Kanab, Utah and his family owns a fast food restaurant there, so I will definitely be going to visit him. He is a great guy and I have known him for a while now here on the mission, and I am excited to be with him. I live with two Elders named Elder Champutiz and Elder Grau. champutiz is from Ecuador and Grau is from Spain, they are super cool guys.

Of course there is also a funny story of the week. On Sunday Chile played against Germany in teh Confederations Cup Final for soccer and lost. So of course what did the Chileans do all day? Yell at us. Just because we are white people does not mean we are from Germany, but everyone thought that on Sunday so the whole world was mad at us, but it is what it is.

Overall I am loving the work and the way that things are going. Love the people, food, work and studies, but no lie I could do without the dogs. I hope you are all having a great week, love you!

Love,

Elder Tilghman

Daniel 1

Last house picture

My Haitian brothers!

It was sad to say goodbye to the soccer squad

One year down

This is the only dog I like

Love you Elder Marinez, te cuidai poh

The simpons