Best Birthday present EVER!!! Jayce's Mission Call to Africa

(no pictures still from Elder Tilley--so here is one of Jayce in shock when he saw he was going to Africa in February for HIS MISSION EXPERIENCE)

(Mom and Jayce) I wish you could have seen me right when I saw the words...."Its Here". I screamed and told my companion to come film me. I have a good video but it is way too long to send. I started crying. Can you believe that....Elder Tilley crying...... You have no idea Jayce. That was the BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT I have ever received. Honestly, I have never ever been so happy. I think I was more impacted and excited than when I got my mission call. I know what that place will mean to you. Wow. I literally stand all amazed Jayce at the love Jesus offers us. You just can’t know till you get there and you love the people and you cry with them and for them and just can’t help loving them with every ounce of your heart. You just can’t imagine Jayce. I am so excited for you. It is unreal. I am so proud of you. I can’t even think. I just want to talk to you and cry with you in happiness for the salvation of those people and for your own that you will be rewarded laboring among those people. Love is the Key. I could say it over and over. Its all about love. Peter....Do you love me.....Peter Do you LOVE ME.....Peter...DO YOU LOVE ME. Then feed my sheep.
I love you so much and can’t wait to talk to you about being a missionary. Thank you for sharing with me Elder....Love Elder Tilley

Happy Birthday to Elder Tilley . . . 21!

Another Picture from the Mission Blog--Caption said: Elder Maxfield sent us this beautiful picture of Santiago that he took as his plane flew away from Santiago on the night that he completed his mission service. We thought that it looked much like a treasure trove of jewels, sparkling in the night. That is how we think of Santiago. Her people are jewels that sparkle and glisten in the light of the Lord.

(Mom) The Venegas just came to the office to wish me a happy birthday. Ill come back in a second… I’m so excited to tell them about the man....my little brother going to thrash the nations. See you in a sec. ..
4:26-Bec I love how you are Beck. I like how you are honest. We are going to have a blast. Well, stories huh? Lets see. I had a really really cool experience this last week. Its a bit of a secret though down here. Dont tell.... . I recieved a phone call from a man in the public affairs office of the church. They deal with all the public things that have to do with the church. They read the news alot to see if anything has to do with the church and other things....well, they called me and said that a member of the area of the seventy was sending us a film crew from Utah to take film of Elders from our mission. I talked to President and of course he said yes. Turns out that this film crew is the same crew that did the District Videos that are famous to all missionaries....I got to be with all morning. We drove them to a pension as they filmed. They were making a real movie. They are making it for the celebration for the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the missionaries in Chile. It is going to be a huge celebration. … That was something a little crazy that happened…My new companions are Elder Deaver and Elder Besich. I sure love them both. Elder Whitney left this last week with his family. It was really fun seeing them. I sure have loved being here in my ward called "El Golf". … Lilia and Sergio are doing well. I love them so much. I love being with them and love how they accept the Gospel so easily because they can FEEL that it is true. I love you so much Bec. Keep up the Freckles and the Power. Love you,
Elder Tilley

September 17, 2011

(This is the picture on the mission blog with the title: Our Dear Assistant, Elder Tilley . . . they got that right:))

(Mom)…. I’m going to talk to President soon about some direction (about coming home). I would consider myself unfortunate if I didn’t take some time to talk about that with him. He talked to Elder Whitney and I for two hours this last week about how to get out of debt quickly. Its a plan of success. You can imagine how much I loved that. Love you.

September 10, 2011

(Picture from the Mission Blog labeled: Dedicated Diligent Missionaries. The other two have gone home now)

Sorry for the wait. We’ve had a full day. Elder Whitney is getting his last preparation day wishes in. It has been really fun. We are going to go here soon to Thilo and Marlenes house to be able to record them for the film we are putting together for the activity on the 26 of this month....

Guess What!!!I got the package. Elder Orozco and Tooley and Whitney were so excited. They wanted to tell you that you are the best. They really did like them and are very grateful. We took a bunch of pictures, but I don’t have my camera right now, sorry. Ill send them next time. About the birthday present....you know that I have changed alot here on my mission right....well, lets just say, me puse Clark y abri el regalo. No pude esperar. Me lo encanto. Muchas Gracias. (Translation: Like Clark, I opened the gift. I could not wait. Charm me. thank you very much). Did you get that? I actually didn’t even see the warning until after it was opened. Woops. No se preocupe. Voy a tener un compleaños con cualqier sopresa igual. (translation: Do not worry. I'll have a surprise cualqier compleaños with equal).

I sure love you Mom. This week has been one of the best. I couldn’t let myself think too much this past weekend. It wasn’t as hard as I thought. I have been on divisions 2 times this last week and loved them both. I sure love that. That is what is so awesome about missionary work. The good old work. I absolutely loved it. I still get butterflies, but I get over them. I have found myself to be much much more bold. A lot more than I have ever been. I don’t know if that has come from being in the office. I can only imagine that it has. I sure love you.

Thank you for everything.
Pray for Lilia and Sergio. They have their date for the 18th. We have had the most wonderful experiences with them. I love teaching people because I love them. I love praying for them and practicing for them. I just love them and can feel that Heavenly Father loves them too.

A man in the street asked me today "what do you think is the biggest problem in Chile". I answered LOVE. I dont know if he understood it the right way that i meant it, but surely, it is love for God. Doing what he says. The famous saying is here....I follow Christ "in my own way". How false. What a trap. It is the phrase that I have heard more than any other. I love the Gospel. I love how simple it is. How powerful it is. It changes lives, bodies, minds, hearts. I just feel so privileged to be able to be a representative of Jesus Christ. .. The biggest and most wonderful thing has been with Lilia and Sergio. We taught them about the Priesthood and had a very spiritual lesson. Thank you Mom for teaching me about miracles and how to go about receiving one. We have been fasting and praying. We blessed them by the power of the Priesthood. Remember she told us that she couldn’t get baptized because of a sickness. I talked to her yesterday and she said that she actually feels better. Miracle. She prayed that Heavenly Father would heal her so that she would be able to baptized with her son on the 18th. It was one of the more beautiful moments of my mission. I love simple faith. It is strong. Please be praying for them to trust in God and trust in the promises of his two servants in this sector. We have felt it is right.

…Pray for our protection. Santiago traffic is not the safest thing. Love you tons.

September 3, 2011

Elder Maxfield went home a couple weeks ago. I sure am grateful for him. We are really good friends.

Lilia and Sergio are progressing well. We have a current set back with them.. She told us that she got sick again of a very painful something and feels unsafe entering the water. During the lesson, I thought of the movie where the man has a burnt leg and the missionaries ask him if he has the faith to be healed. On the spot, the missionary commands him to be healed. The man gets up and walks briskly and happily all around the house. We are going to be praying for her. I sure love you. The mission is doing well. We are seeing lots of miracles. There are many people showing up almost out of nowhere wanting to be baptized. September, the month of miracles. I’m still working hard. Focusing on keeping my mind off the end and focusing on the now. .. We played "futbol" this morning. It was good to get some exercise in. My knee didn’t hurt at all. It usually doesn’t just running, the problem is jumping and cutting back and forth really hard. We had a great week. We have been trying to work harder in the sector. Its what keeps me sane. I sure love being a missionary. I was realizing that I’m getting squeezed for all I’m worth to build me that much more. I love you all a lot. I didn’t even realize what was going on this weekend. I hope you enjoy it. Don’t worry, I won’t cry for longer than a minute .

(Dad) This week has been very good. The weeks go by so fast. We are getting ready for our activities for the 18th. We have made progress with our investigators as well. I really love them. Ill be praying that you will be enjoying this weekend. Thanks for all the work you go through to make it a life-long memory. … I was inspired by President Laycock when I asked him how he humbled himself when he feels really awesome (he is really cool. I can only imagine that he feels like that alot). He said "I go to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Hill Calvary" … This has saved me many of times from taking a bad thought for a walk. This week I have had many times where this needs to be used. I want to keep myself pure first for Him and second, for my future wife and to be worthy in the interview with my future father in law. I wanted to share this with you because it has been a blessing to me and I am constantly working on keeping myself pure. I want me Dad to be proud of me. Please pray for me to have the might, the pure will power to throw all temptation of this kind out the window. Pray for my mind and heart. I sure love you Dad. Thank you for all you are doing for your family. Love you so much,

Love Elder Tilley

I took this from outside our window. It was so beautiful this morning!

You are looking good Jayce. I’m really excited for you and for all that you have done. Its almost your turn. Hold on there… (I) remember having very significant temptation just before I left. Promise the Lord that you are His. Everything....not just your mind, not just your might, not just your strength....everything. Heart, Might, Mind, Strength. I have realized that I have been significantly tested in these specific areas of my life. I imagine that when you walk into the MTC, your just a big walking man, but really undefined. Like a rock man. When he walks its really rusty, not able to move his joints very well. When you get to the MTC, you just have a huge chisel that comes and whacks off the huge rock formation on your arm. As the rock starts to crumple, a human arm starts taking form. It hurts, it hurts alot sometimes, but think about a perfect walking man at the end. Big chunks and little chunks will keep being taken off until we become like the Savior. This is only possible through the Atonement. I always like thinking about that. I’m not sure how it started, but it helps me see and gives me motivation when it’s hard. Keep up everything Jayce. Nothing can stop Elder Jayce Tilley. Nothing. Period. Your the best. Keep getting your spiritual food. I gave a talk to the mission this last week about how the spiritual food compares to the physical food. After having skipped one meal, how do we feel? Week, Sick, without energy, just very unstable. That happens after one meal skipped. Even if we eat a few hours late, it starts to happen. I found a quote by Elder Oaks that I really really liked from his talk "Nourishing the Spirit". He said that the affect that physical nutrition has on the body, is the same affect that malnutrition spiritually has on the spirit. When it isn’t fed well, it is susceptible to sickness, weakness, Very very unstable. Keep praying and preparing and exercising faith, humility and love for your family members that are there near you. You won’t have them for much longer. Take advantage. Love you. Love Elder Tilley