My week has been pretty exciting!! We are doing a lot with the video "Él es la Dádiva" and we have been assigned to show and keep a count of what is happening with the results of it. I tear up every time I watch it.
Looking back on this week, it has just been a phenomenal one :) We put a baptismal date with M___ M____l. She will be baptized on the 21st. We had originally had it scheduled in September, but like all of our investigators and one point or another, we can´t find them. She had left for a long time to be with her daughter. A lot of Chilenos have depression and M_____ is one of them. She does the best she can to manage it and we have to teach her really slowly and carefully like a little kid. She is actually a lot better and she is excited to be baptized on the 21st! We are doing something really special on that day.- it will be called a "White Christmas" and we are going to have a baptismal service for the zone with their investigators on that day with us doing a choir number and everything.
We have another investigator that I have mentioned. R_____--- he is absolutely awesome :) he is reading the Book of Mormon that we gave to him (in English) and says that he has good feelings every time he reads it. I will try and send a picture next week. He dresses in black and looks like a hard core rocker.. He came to church for the first time yesterday dressed in black, but he said he felt great after and that he wanted to make changes in his life..funny story is that we actually contacted his cousin, F____ this week too. We had a lesson with his cousin who we were going to teach for the first time and his mom was there. Apparently his mom was baptized over 20 years ago and we didn't know it until we got to the house. During the lesson, R_____ walks in. The story is crazy and I will have to explain some other time how we met R_____, but we are teaching a part-member family!
This scripture really touched me this week, I don't know why, but I really love it.
I am thankful for this time of the year. It is only hitting me now that once the new year starts, I won't be in Chile. I shared my testimony for the last time yesterday. It will be hard, but I am grateful that the mission has strengthened my testimony. Thanks for everything you guys. Have a great week.
A short email this week, there isn't too much to say. We are getting really close to putting a baptisimal date with P________ G______ and with D____ C_______. We also found a guy named P____ from Bolivia.. I think he´s got to be the most receptive investigator that we have had in a while. The only challenge has been finding them when they are home. One of the bigger challenges of the mission is finding them when they are home and having lessons with the members which are incredibly affective. I hope that when you two are not traveling that you go out with the missionaries,, maybe one of the biggest challenges has been to find members and have lessons with investigators. Not just to have a lesson with a member, but remembering the Christ-like example of love and friendship. The member has the biggest influence with the investigator.
What a cool experience to have been able to work at the temple for a bit. I bet it is booming there on Pinnacle Peak. what a blessing to get to watch, members and non-members go through. Well after more than 5 years of planning and constructing it has got to be wonderful to see the progress and the finished result! Like Alex said, I am also really excited to be able to go through when I get home. I am doing well with my companion. I have got a lot of crazy stories.. maybe too much to put into an email, but my companion makes me laugh so much! I am learning that maybe I didn´t have the patience that I had before the mission. I am grateful because I am learning more than she is I think. Makes it a little bitter sweet that I have experiencing this during the last few months that I have left.
I have a few pics of me and my companion. We also have been "hunting down" some old investigators. We have been trying to get more creative with leaving small gifts for them like the little cactus we bought with scriptures written on the rocks.
I hope that everyone is doing well. I love you and am grateful for the emails that I get from yall every week. Have a good one.
i am so sorry for what happened this week :( that totally stinks. I hope that the bitter feelings have passed. Like Alex said-better that nobody was hurt. So keep your head up and I hope you are able to appreciate the blessings even through the tough event
This week was absolutely incredible. We visited almost all of our contacts again this week. Let me tell you that we definitely had contacts of gold. We set 3 baptismal dates for our new investigators and we hope to set a couple more dates this week. We found 8 new investigators this week, some including families..
One of the days we were on divisions this week and a member was with us. Unfortunately our plans fell through and we weren`t able to visit the person we had planned. We walked by a little food vendor market and this one guy from behind asked me where my companion was and I explained that we have exchanges once in a while. I new he was a foreigner and so I asked him where he was from and he told us he was from the Dominican Republic and his name was J_____. I also asked J____ if he had heard missionaries before and he said no. I asked him if he would like to hear the missionaries and so right then and there he invited us to his house right across the street. Turns out there are seven of them from the DR and we started teaching J_____ and D_____.
From a few weeks ago, there was a lady that contacted us and said she would like to hear the lessons and that she would like to be baptized, she gave us her address to visit her and unfortunately it was the incorrect address. but we found her again this week and she explained to us how she realized that it was wrong. we set up an appointment with her correct address and she has so many questions about what we are teaching. We have a baptismal date for her and hopefully for her 12 year old son as well.
R____was one of our contacts during 18.. immediately she told us about her situation that she had a child about 5 years ago that only lived to be 6 months old. Since the time we met her, she has been reading the Book of Mormon and came to church with us for the first time yesterday. She also has a baptismal date for October.
S____ is a friend of one of the members of our ward. He lives alone and he actually came to church the week before sitting in the front of the chapel and left before we could see an unfamiliar face. He is 70 years old and lives alone. He has severe depression, but has agreed to be Baptized after we explained to him that he wasn`t too "old" to make covenants and we are working patiently to explain to him the blessings of the plan of Salvation and why some sad things have happened in his life.
We also met V____ during 18 when we were looking for a less active. She also has depression, but is a mother of 3 and is a stay at home mom. She and her son want to learn more from us and we were able to teach them this week.
I got the package from you guys... thank you for the skirt- gave it to my comp who loves clothes. I am winding down.. the package was perfect. it was like you knew i had a headache (motrin) and i needed more laundry detergent,,
So that is a little about my life at this moment. It was such a good week, but i think what is more important is what i am learning. It is about perseverance and just want to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands (Alma 17:11) I hope you have a good week and if you can pray for these people. I am so grateful for the message of the Restoration. It changes lives. --
service project from the other week and us singing"si vas para chile" for 18 at the ward activity
Well, I am starting out a good pday. I'm sure K will mention the story. Had a Little scare with my card, but I learned there was nothing to worry about. All is well here! We definitely passed 18 with success!!! I am still full of empanadas and choripán. And we actually had a good week as well with finding new people to teach. The springtime is already here and it is starting to be delightful to work outside again.
So this week we were determined to put baptismal dates. We have another date set with C____, our long time investigator of 10 years, but with all people, there comes a long story- Well, C____ doesn't feel ready, but it is a work in process. It just takes support and a lot of love to help her feel good about her decisión.
We are still working with M_____ all I have to say.
We also have an investigator named M____ with a baptisimal date.
And another 10 year old boy named J____ who practically comes to church by himself.
So with these people, we are working on continuing on with lessons. Maybe a lot of prayers are needed on their behalf (and on ours) to be able to find them and teach them. Sometimes they go MIA and we call and visit with Little results.. but here we are. We were also able to find a ton of people this week which was awesome!!! Well, yesterday our Little investigator J____ might have had a rough time in the primary. He started fighting with some of the kids and the kids got scared. Man, all that babysitting comes in Handy because i had to be pretty stern with him in the hallway of the church and everyone Heard. Just picture me laughing right now, because in the end it was funny. The primary leaders afterwards explained to us that J___ is a kid of the streets and that the primary gets scared when he´s around. Pretty true. We are working with him and his parents. But this was just a Little bit of the crazyness that happened this week-
Glad to hear the Word about our friends k, and dad with Elder Cook, how awesome! I had Heard that statement made before. I think this misión is for me- not because I have had all of the success here, but because I have learned a lot and I might come back a Little more refined- I hope.
Keep sharing the good news and look for ways to strengthen others. Love you!
I hope all is well with everyone! We had a crazy week. First with an FHE that we did as a ward. We were in charge of the lesson and showed the mormon message of the light of Christ by Elder Bednar.
It was great and a lot of people showed up in the end. We did Karoke and there are a few photos in the bunch of the members and our karaoke night. We were able to invite a few of our investigators as well. We also had divisions with the Temple Hermanas. So I got to work near the temple for a day. We were able to have a lesson with the Temple President, President Adler and his wife. It was different because we were able to have a lesson about marriage to a couple, D___ and L____ who both served missions, but were married civilly. So we were able to teach them about being sealed in the temple. Crazy, because you´d think that with two return missionaries, it would be a priority to marry within the temple, but- ... it was pretty cool to have a lesson with the temple president. The good news is that they are planning on getting sealed in the Temple! And they made a plan with the Temple President to do a few things each day to strengthen their marriage. Unfortunately, I was only there for a day, but a few days after we went back with R____, our investigator that I´ve mentioned over the last few months. We took her to the temple with a recent convert, M____and her daughters. She was able to feel the spirit of the temple and told us she had never felt that way before. We have challenged her to be baptized a few times and has said it is not the time yet. I know that everything is in the timing of the Lord. We were able to have a NDH with her and the family of one of the Members- F___M___. It was really special because we talked about what it means to be spiritually converted in the Gospel. We made enchilladas again and I made K´s (coach amy´s) special ice-cream cake. They don't hvae cool whip, but I did my best.
Continue to pray for R____ D____. We haven't been able to get in contact with her for about a week. Due to illness I assume, so unfortunately the time and requirements have passed for her to be baptized in the beginning of March. Its true that the adversary will come when we least expect it to. But again, it is all in the Lord´s timing.
I was really able to study this chapter this week... hahaha short chapter.
but I was really able to study it. It says that he wrestled with God in Prayer. Maybe we think, okay how, why or who would do such a thing, but when we think about our Heavenly Father and prayer, we should be able to tell Him everything. The good and the bad. It also says throughout that he first prayed for himself, next, the Nephites, and his bretheren the Lamanites. I have leaned the importance of having a relationship with my Heavenly Father through prayer. And like the scripture says- to have hunger and pray with power.
I am praying for you all. Elder B, I hope that it isn´t cold and snowy for too much longer. I love you and hope everyone is doing well. A bunch of pics this week. oh... and we found these kids on the street. nachoooooo!
We have had a pretty good week! First news is that we have a Baptisimal Date for one of our investigators: RD. She is absolutely the sweetest lady I have ever met- just all around sweet! She is super creative, not only a grandmother, but great-grandmother. She is so full of energy and loves children. She is single, but keeps herself busy with projects and things. We met her about 2 months ago when we passed by this house with a giant Viejito Pascuero (Santa Clause). . but anyways, we passed by and took pictures (pic attatched) and upon entering, we asked if we could sing her a Christmas hymn.
So we did, and we had had little luck getting in touch with her after that. But we were able to pass by her house a few weeks ago with a member. Since then we have had lessons with her and we were able to put a date forMarch 2nd. One of her daughters was baptized about 25 years ago, and so she understands what it means to be baptized and she is preparing. I ask that you can pray for her, so that she feels prepared. Our biggest challenge over the past few weeks/months is getting in touch with her. She is a busy lady! but we have stressed the importance of our message and the commitments we give her.
Yes I am still in El Parque (answer to dad´s q) and I will be for at least another 4 weeks. But the mission is not known for doing changes very often-- at least during my time here. So It is pretty normal that I am still here with Hermana Salazar. But bright side of things, it has been the coolest thing to see changes in people. For example, there is a less active lady in our ward named M_____. She has three kids who are members of the church. All who live with her and are less active. It was a complete blessing to find her in the first place because we have asked so many members and we don't think they know that she exists. But anyways, she was completely against us coming by- this was in October. So over the past few months we have been visiting her. Slowly she came to warming up to us. None of the other missionaries were able to visit her, because she lives far behind a (sort-of) abandoned house, because she is single, and because she just doesn´t like people visiting her. But we have been working diligently with her. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon, something she hasn't done in over 15 years. Although we haven´t gotten her to come back to church, we invited her to do a temple tour. Hna G_____, her daughter A____, and her granddaughter are coming with us to the Templethis Wednesday. And with the challenge to read the BOM, yesterday she told us that she completed the first book of Nephi. How cool is that?!?!
Other than that we have been doing well. Yes, it is getting colder, but we are working hard. A lot of people are coming back from vacations, so it will be getting easier in the next couple of weeks.
I have been studying a lot about our Potential to become like our Heavenly Father. It has really opened my eyes this week just how blessed we are because we have come to this Earth to come and to prove ourselves, but just with being on this Earth, we have the responsibility and privilege to be like Him already. I have studied almost all of the scriptures in the topical guide that says. - Man, Potential to become like our Heavenly Father. I have learned a lot with this scripture alone.
Time has escaped me. I love you Dad, K, Elder B. I pray that you are doing well and that you find joy in the blessings of the Spirit this week... Especially with the Temple ;) love you
Familia- It
was so cool to get to talk to y'all on Christmas!! I hope it was
enjoyable for everyone. It was pretty hot here, and we had a lot of ice
cream that day... We did a lot to lead up to Christmas this week. We
were giving out the rest of our cookies, we did some caroling in the
plaza in our sector, we had lessons with our investigators about the
Spirit of Christmas. Over all it was a good week. They don´t celebrate
Christmas like they do in the states. And it definitely didn´t feel like
Christmas- it passed pretty quickly actually. But we had a fun
Christmas morning, the four of us in our pension. I told them about dad,
and how he has to shower, get ready, eat his bowl of cereal before we
can open presents. And about Karen`s delicious Christmas breakfast
creations... haha. It was fun though. We opened presents that we bought
for each other and I made pancakes and eggs for everyone. After, we
caroled for the man who works outside of our apartment building and went
to the Lopez´s house to eat lunch and talk to our families. But we
worked like normal on Christmas after I finished talking with you guys.
It was Hermana Salazar`s birthdayon Friday. We had planned to go to the Temple with
a couple of other Hermanas, but it ended up taking a lot longer to get
to the temple than planned. The horario de la Navidad with all of the
micros set us back, and we ended up getting there a lot later than
planned, and so it was just Hermana Salazar and I who did a
session...... In general, it was just wonderful to go back to the
temple. I will get to go once more next year, and then at the end of my
mission.
That
day I had called up a less-active family (familia A_____) to see if we
could have a surprise "Once" for Hermana Salazar. They decorated their
backyard with balloons and we had a Pan de Pascua cake with other snacks
which was kind of cool under their tree decorated with Christmas
lights. Hermana Ekins, Perez, and I made a piñata for Hermana Salazar
and I made a pretty sweet ice cream cake.
R____, our investigator is progressing. We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation
with her, and we could feel the Spirit so strongly. You could see her
eyes light up when we were explaining that we were created before this
life and that this earthly existence is not the end. Unfortunately, she
has had, and is having a lot of family problems, but it was a blessing
to be able to teach her about the Plan of Salvation. She gets so excited
when we come to visit. She is progressing slowly, but I am grateful for
that because I feel like with the questions she has and her
understanding, we learn together. She has been able to go to a few of
the ward activities and is getting to know a lot of the members. Stay
postponed with baptismal date-
There
have also been other miracles that we have seen this week with visiting
families, getting into homes that we couldn`t get in before,
contacting, etc. It`s hard work, especially with the heat, but fun none-the-less.
I
don`t know if I have ever told you about our Bishop, Bishop
Llancoñanco. He is like Michael Scott.. anyways, we had our third hour,
fifthSundayyesterday.
He had everyone gather into the cultural hall and we watched a Mormon
Messages. I was thinking a lot about my papi yesterday with one of them.
The one about our Earthly Father and our Heavenly Father. I also was
studying in DyC. A lot about the Priesthood. I was pondering on just how special it is that Alex and my Dad have the Priesthood Power.
In vs 26 it explains that this power is ordained of God. And not to be
looked upon as a power to Rise above, but to fall below and to buoy up
and serve others. I know that we are human, and we all have sins, but it
is pretty cool to know that worthy Priesthood holders have the ability
to do ALL things in the name of Christ according to their faith and
worthiness. I would always hope that the Priesthood holders I know have a
life reflected on Christ even for those small moments where God will
provide Earthly miracles on account of the worthiness of the Priesthood
holder. I hope that Karen will find the video and that you guys can
watch it.
Editor's Note - see below for this quick Mormon Message or you can click here:
I
don`t know if it is possible to burn a disc of mensajes mormones
(mormon messages, spanish?) thought of that after i called you. I don`t
know if there are really any new years traditions here, but we did see
some fireworks the other night. USA has a pretty big influence in Chile,
I am guessing we will have fireworks for new years. Cool for Tyler Mander and way awesome for Kennedy! She is going to be an incredible missionary.
Grateful
for you guys and your goals, no not finished w LDM yet, but I am going
verse for verse with my Journal of it so it will hopefullly be finished
by next year. And thank you K! I am excited to see the glue-ins.
Hermana Salazr is going to love them too..
Keep workin hard Elder B! I put together a very small package for you. I will let you know when I send It.
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