Elder Casper 9/14/2008

Dear family and friends-

Well guys to be honest I cannot believe that we are down to 7 days, as you said Mom in your email I am full of mixed emotions, emotions of happiness and joy and I have felt the spirit very strong over the past week. My companions are doing great and I am learning a lot from them, it will be good for me to leave so that they can start doing everything together and learn a lot of new things on their own. They are studs and they will do a great job helping the missionaries and president. The office elders are great and it will be good for Elder Latimer and I to get leave so that they all can start organizing themselves as the new office that will be together for a few more months. The Mason´s are great, they are so fun and it sounds like sister Mason wrote you. She is so fun and I love listening to her talk because she is so expressive when she talks, she reminds me of Grams in so many ways.

I thought you would like this picture...this is The Casper family in the mission, my son Elder Rubio, my grandson Elder Bradshaw and my great grandson Elder Canaan. Or in other words, I trained Elder Rubio, he trained Elder Bradshaw, and Elder Bradshaw trained Elder Canaan.

Honestly I can’t even begin to express how much the Lord has blessed us this week in our sector. On Tuesday we had Zone Leader counsel and afterwards I went on divisions with Elder Skinner. He is doing great and I have missed him over the past few months. We had a great day and we found a less active couple, and their 4 children aren’t members. Their oldest son is named Alejandro and he is 16 years old, they have a 14 year old son named Marcelo, a 5 year old named Camila and Martina that is 1 year old. The parents are inactive members that were baptized 10 years ago and after two years as members they had a bad experience and chose to be offended and haven’t returned since. Also the father is completely against the church but he gave his wife and children permission to receive the lessons in the church building. On Friday we had a lesson with Marcelo at the church and he brought his older brother Alejandro and it was the first time that we had met him, we taught them about the restoration of the Gospel and they loved it, they accepted to be baptized on the 5th of October. They are both really mature and very intelligent young men. Also Luz María and Matías have a baptismal date for the 11th of October along with another young man named Richard that is friends with Pablo the member. We have been really blessed over the past week and I have really been able to feel the joy of the mission work.

This coming week are the "Fiestas Patrias" or in other words their celebration of independence day here in Chile. Independence day is on the 18th of September but they start celebrating a week early and its pure celebration and fun for the Chilean people. It’s a really neat culture and very fun in many ways. You will be arriving Mom, Dad and Lauren just after the celebration so you will just miss it.

About the family Facondi, I spoke with them on Friday and Christian the father told me that tomorrow, Monday, they will be calling me to let me know if they are going to go this week or what is going to happen. I would love to go with them to the temple, it would be such a wonderful experience and a great way to finish my time here in Chile. Please keep them in your prayers because tomorrow we will know the final conclusion.

It has been a great week and I can’t believe that there is only one week left in this unforgettable and priceless journey!

The weather here is starting to warm up, the past few days it has been really warm but I can't promise you that it will be warm. Bring jeans, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweaters and when you arrive on Sunday morning you are going to be going to the church for our reunion. Along with Elder Hall we will prepare a map for you so that you can go straight to the church. I don’t know how you will want to be dressed, I know you will be really tired and after the church meetings we will be eating lunch with my two of my converts from Villa Teniente. It will be a splendid time and I will be anxiously awaiting your arrival.

Please send all my love, also I will be checking my email daily so if you have any questions for me just write me and I will respond. Make sure that you have the car rented and that everything is okay in that aspect. I love you so very much, I cant wait to see you, it will be soon. Have a great week, study hard, work hard and do what our Lord and Savior would do and we all will be blessed.

1-4-3-4,

Elder Mason Neill Casper

From Sister Mason

Brother & Sister Mason are a missionary couple serving in the office with Mason.

Dear Brother and Sister Casper,

I want you to know that we are anxiously awaiting your visit. Your little bedroom is ready. There are clean sheets on both the top and bottom bunk. We have excess blankets and a little floor space in one of three rooms for a bed roll. We might even be able to round up a mattress. (I'll talk to the assistants. They pretty much take care of our every need.) We also have extra towels and we provide soap, shampoo and toothpaste. You won't need anything. Our little apartment has housed Elder Thorson and his dad and Elder Oakes' folks. We look forward to meeting you and getting acquainted with you.

We love meeting the parents of amazing young missionaries that we have met and worked with here in the office. We LOVE your son! His kindness, his leadership, his commitment to serve and his desire to learn and become more like the Savior are so amazing. You will thrill when you see him interacting with the missionaries and saints that he loves. There is no sweeter "joy" than that of being reunited with a son or daughter after he/she has honorably served Heavenly Father with full purpose of heart. The tears you shed with be happy ones and I'm excited to share in your reunion. Be prepared to give lots of hugs to people that you don't know but who already love you for having sent your son here to teach and preach the Gospel to them.

I have told Elder Casper that I feel we are family. He is a Mason and we are Masons. We have loved living across the hall from the Elders and working closely with them in the office. They truly have filled a big void in our lives. We miss our kids a lot but we feel their love and support while we are serving here in Chile. Our oldest daughter Ann, is an R.N. and works at Utah Valley Hospital. This weekend she's in Idaho but has to be back to work on Wednesday. She's going to gather a few things and prepare a little (or not so little) care package for you to tuck in your suitcase to bring to us. Elder Casper assured us that you would be happy to "special delivery" a little something from home. She said she would call and get your address and deliver it to you before you leave.

I know how excited you must be to come and pick up your boy. We want you to feel comfortable in our little missionary abode. It's small but the location from the office is perfect. We so enjoy our association with the Elders. We've had some great times together. Oh, how we will miss your son but we know that it is time for him to move on in his life. You are in for a wonderful experience here in Chile. See you in a week!

Love,

Hermana Mason

Elder Casper 9/07/2008

Dear family-

Well it has been another great week, we finished up with the zone conferences and we have been truly blessed this week in the sector and in the whole mission. In August we finished the month with 53 baptisms and it was a huge progress for us.

One thing before I forget; President Jimenez received his implants yesterday, please be sure to let Elder Oakes, Elder Thorson, and all of the others who collaborated with this wonderful project know that he received the screw in implants. Yesterday they operated on him and put the screws into his bone, in 3 weeks they will screw in the permanent implants and they will never be removed again. It has been a remarkable blessing for President Jimenez and the Lord will pour blessings upon all those that collaborated. President is so grateful and always says: "I don’t know how to thank you." I cant wait for you guys to meet him and feel of the tender spirit that surrounds him.

This week we were able to teach Luz María and Matías and they accepted a baptismal date for the 11th of October. We don’t have any baptismal dates planned for when you guys come, although I would love for you to be here to see a baptism, but it didn’t turn out that way. I am still not sure about the Facondi Family and the last I heard is that they weren’t going to make it for the 15th of September, maybe it will be a week later and we will be able to go as a family with their family, please keep them in your prayers.

Yesterday we played soccer and basketball at one of the chapels here in Rancagua. At 5:30 Elder Latimer and I took Sister Resek up to Santiago for a stake conference yesterday and on the way up she said: "Elder Casper you need to write down in your agenda, the first week of October of 2010 we need one free day so that when President and I go to Salt Lake for General Conference." It made me so happy and I cant wait to be able to spend time with them after not seeing them for a couple of years. I cannot express how blessed I am for the wonderful experience that I have had to work along side them in this marvelous work of the Lord.

Tell Grams thanks for the e-mail that she wrote, it was great to hear from her and to feel of the warm Spirit that she carries. When she told the story about Harrison doing gymnastics the other night I couldn’t help but laugh and just picture it in my mind. I cannot wait to see those little stinkers and to spend time with them.

We received some heartbreaking news yesterday from Elder Hudsons family, I lived with him in the MTC and we are going home together. His sister was in a car accident and is in critical condition, they don’t know if she is going to live. She is on respiration machines and they had to crack her skull because of the swelling that is taking place. She has been in a coma for 2 days and it is a really sad story especially with him out here with only 14 days left. It also broke my heart to hear about Tammy Richardson, I was shocked to receive that information and what surprised me is that it was a stroke at such a young age. It made me happy that you went to visit her and that Dad gave her a silent blessing. One thing that I love about dad is his confidence in the authority which he holds, he has always been such a powerful priesthood holder and an absolute example in all ways.

Today in Elders quorum we were talking about blessings and one of the brethren mentioned that as fathers we are allowed to give Fathers blessings. It was interesting to see the reaction from some of the brethren in not even knowing that a Fathers blessing existed. I leaned to one of the brethren and said: "My dad gave me Fathers blessing all the time, at the start of each school year and in any situation necessary." I can truly testify that the fathers blessings that you have given me dad have been a constant guide and protection for me, I know that through your worthiness to the priesthood you have given each and every one of us as your children many fathers blessings that have blessed our lives and helped us to make good decisions.

Also today in the sacrament meeting one of the sisters that recently had her second child about 4 months ago, asked me to bless her daughter. The father isn’t a member of the church and it caught me off guard when she asked if I could please give her daughter her baby´s blessing. It was a neat experience, I felt very strongly the spirit and his guidance. I cant even imagine giving my own children their baby blessing, wow, what a privilege it will be. Well that’s about it for the week, it has been a wonderful week and it was great to finish it with fast and testimony meeting. Tammy is in my prayers, send my love to the family.

I also ordered the suit from the bishop and it will turn out great, I went and picked out a really pretty fabric with him on Friday, there were a lot of really gorgeous fabrics but the majority of them were really expensive, I found one that I really like and if will be ready on the 17th of September. Well have another great week, work hard, study hard and do what is right and you will be blessed. I am stoked to see you all and to be able to GO TO THE FATHER/SON CHALLENGE in December. That will be so fun as a family.

Well guys until next week, I love you with all of my heart. You are the greatest. I love you. I love you, I love you.

Love,

Elder Mason Neill Casper

Elder Casper 8/31/2008

My dearest family-

As you all have said, I am also shocked by how fast the time is going. Things are going great and the Lord is blessing us here in the mission. How are thing back at home? Before I forget please make sure to tell little harry HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I can’t believe that he is ten years old now, wow doesn´t the time just fly? Harrison, I love you so much and I am so excited to see you in a month and to be able to hang out and play with you. Thanks for everything you do buddy and I hope you had a great birthday.

Yesterday we had a fun p-day activity… we went paint balling and it was a blast, we only played for about 20 minutes and we all had 100 paint balls. The teams were Elder Latimer, Hall and I against Elder Rosales, Del Güercio and Pallas. Our team won and the last two standing were Elder Hall and I. I started the final round with 5 paint balls and finished with one left and I shot Elder Hall with my fourth paint ball. I had so much fun and make sure to tell Tommy that once I get home we are going to go play.

On Wednesday we started the zone conferences and the other one this week was on Friday. They went great and there was a lot of interaction and practices. We focused on Chapter 11 of Preach My Gospel about the commitments and our responsibility as missionaries to invite people to come unto Christ. The area presidency has invited us under the direction of Elder Scott to as 4 words to our purpose as missionaries, they are "FOLLOW THE LORD AND...invite all people to come unto Christ through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." It is a great addition and it’s only to use in our district meeting, personal and companionship studies and zone conferences. It is only to remind us that first we need to become more like Christ through his atonement and in addition and naturally we receive desires to invite people to come unto Christ because we understand the Atonement and we recognize the change of heart that we have had. I have reflected these four words over the past few days and it has helped me to try and invite others to come unto Christ and it has become clearer to me, the importance of first understanding the Gospel and having a testimony and then sharing it with others. Just as President Monson said: "Concerning ones testimony, that which is willing shared is kept, while that which is selfishly kept is lost, teach and testify there is no better combination." I remember sharing that quote in my farewell talk and it has always stuck with me.

Elder Pallas was very grateful for the email that he received, thanks a lot for your love and support and he also sends his love and gratitude. It was weird having to say goodbye to a lot of the missionaries this week at zone conferences, knowing that I probably won’t ever see them again. Each and every one of them has had a special impact on my life, they have all been great examples to me and I love them all so much. Elder Del Güercio and Elder Rosales are great and continue to teach me so much, I will surely miss having companions to be with 24/7 but I will have my friends and family at all times which is a wonderful assurance. Also I would love if you could send my companions a letter. Mom and Dad you can write Elder Rosales (elderchile@myldsmail.net) in English because he is from the United States but his parents are from Costa Rica, and for Elder Del Güercio (edelguercio@myldsmail.net) Lauren will have to write him in Spanish, he is also from Uruguay. They are great companions and I feel very blessed to have them as my companions. If you could express to them how much they mean to me and the wonderful examples and faithful leaders they are I would surely be grateful.

Well that’s about it for the week, other than that I still don’t know if the Family Facondi is going to the temple on the 15th. But the reason they want to go before you get here and it wouldn’t be just to ask them to postpone their date is because my companion Elder Roman that was with me at the time they were baptized goes home with me and flies out on the 21st of September. He wouldn’t be able to go, but who knows maybe they will have to postpone and we would have the opportunity to see them sealed together, wow, I can’t even imagine. I would love that so much, please keep them in your prayers.

Here are a few things about your visit here to Chile:
1. Its not a problem if we stay with the Masons

2. I won´t be able to pick you up at the air port because that is one of presidents restrictions
3. There is a bishop in the mission that makes handmade suites and whenever general authorities come to Chile they always call him and order suites, so YES I am going to have him make me a suit
4. If you could also bring one of the scripture marking pencils that have various colors, Maria Isabel´s daughter would love one.

I have already asked for the copper art and the scripture covers. Is there anything that you would like me to look for?

This week will be another good week, we have the last two zone conferences and also we have pre-interviews. Could you please let me know at what time you will be arriving on Sunday the 21st and what day we will be leaving and at what time? I love you guys so much and I am so very grateful for the love and support you show for me, thanks for helping me have the desire to preach this marvelous Gospel and help others to come unto Christ. It's what I love to do and I will always do it. Until next week, have faith, study hard, work hard and do what the Lord expects and you will be blessed.

1-4-3-4,

Elder Mason Neill Casper