To run to

We did a bunch of contacts and knocked on a bunch of doors and found some good people. We're hoping they can progress. We ate lunch with a member yesterday who gave us two references, promised to invite her neighbor to general conference, and walked with us to a friend that needed a blessing. There is such a difference when missionaries and members work together. I have a stroke of genious how to get investigators to come watch conference.  I will let you know if it works.

On Sunday we got to look for Easter eggs. The family hid the eggs in the craziest places and refused to help us out. But it was a blast. We're starting to really gain confidence with the members here so that's good.

In church I taught the gospel principles class. The class actually went a lot better than planned, which is a miracle. We talked about the atonement. Everyone in the class made a comment about somebody in their family or somebody that they loved that was struggling or had made a mistake, and were worried and wanted them to be okay. We ended the class saying that is the reason we believe in god, to help us and those we love.  I realized we deflect a lot by saying we are worried about people we love and rarely ourselves.  It might be to hard or embarrassing to talk about our own pain and mistakes, but hopefully over time it can sink in that its all about our personal growth and healing. 

Elder Holland said one time that the verb to succor in latin means is: to run to. I think that gives us really good insight to one of my favorite scriptures.

Alma 7

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor (run to) his people according to their infirmities.

I hope everything is going good back in Utah. I love you guys!

Magic and Missionary work

This week we found a new investigator named Brandon. He is a magician and has the most insane tricks! He was literally blowing our minds.  There was one trick that he did that was ridiculious. Elder Mostacero and I stood up and almost ran out of his house because we had no idea how he did it. It made me remember how amazing the great Magic Max was in 2nd grade.  This guy might be better although he didn't shrink himself.  Anyways we had a really good lesson with him. We finished the lesson and spent some time talking about how God gives us true success and transforms us into good people.

Cesar is doing awesome. One day he had a bunch of questions and we spent the whole time trying to answer his questions. I guess it sparked a huge interest in him because in two days he read all the way to Jacob and ended the week in Mosiah. Better said he listened rather than read because in his work he drives all day so instead of listening to music he's been listening to the Book of Mormon and has been really loving. It is so awesome to see how bright his testimony is. No one who sees what I see first hand can argue what the Book of Mormon does to people.  Its not something you can explain, you just have to see.  Their family is so special.

On Friday we had interchanges. It was a pretty chill day. We left the window open and a cat got into the house. As we were trying to get the cat out of the house I thought of Emma and how lucky she was for going to a place without a lot of cat sightings! I am not scared of cats but honestly this guy was a little spooky!

This Sunday they told me I was going to give a talk, but someone from the Stake came and spoke so there wasn't enough time. Anyways I prepared my talk on testimony. A testimony becomes powerful when we listen to what a person needs and give them what the Holy Ghost puts into our hearts. I think sometimes we want to show how much we know or say what we want to say, but when we listen to the holy ghost, we say what God desires his child to hear. At least I have a talk prepared for the next time :)

Things are going great here in Chile. I hope all is well and that you all have a great week!

Happiness

We dedicated a lot of time this week to finding new investigators. We were able to print a list from the ward of families with part member. We had a pretty big list and tried to visit everybody. We found a lot of good families. I think there is a lot of potential with that list so we'll see how things go, we're hoping for the best.

On Sunday we had stake conference. All of Conchalì met up and I got to see almost all of Conchalì 14. I loved that ward so much. The best part was seeing Elizabeth again and talking to her. Elder Patterson is still there doing work. He is such a great missionary. This stake conference was a little special because we watched a transmission from Salt Lake. Russel M. Nelson spoke, BUT IN SPANISH. Nobody knew that he spoke spanish. He came to our mission when I had just began and spoke in straight english. Elder Nelson pretty much spoke perfect. It really looked like he wasn't reading his talk either. Everybody was shocked.

This week I had to do some work with my visa. While we were waiting we practiced some kreyol that Youry taught us with a few Haitians. Mostly words that a missionary probably shouldn't say but we were all laughing. My comp is also from like the richest part of Lima, Peru so with almost every peruvian I saw I asked them how is La Molina (where elder Mostacero is from) and they all went off about how rich it is. It was a long tiring day but with some funny stories so it was worth it.

1 reason why I love the book of Mormon so much is that there are so many principles of happiness. The other day I was reading in the liahona about the teachings of the book of mormon and happiness and read this quote I really liked. 

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi

I love you guys Have a great week!

40 Minute scrubdown and tender mercies

I was so glad to hear that Emma is doing well in the MTC. I can't believe how happy and optimistic she sounds, she is going to be a great missionary. It sounds like things are chill back home so that makes me feel good.

This week was really good for us. My comp is a machine at working out. Like, for real he has a bunch of weights and is really dilligent with his exercises. He makes me realize I should probably be doing that also :) We get along great and I'm really glad to be with him.

This week we almost gave up on Fabiola. These past two weeks she has been near impossible to find because she's working a lot and she was kind of avoiding us also. On Saturday night we went to her house and she said didn't want to hear anything about God because she was mad at him, so we agreed. When we got in we offered our help cleaning up the house and in about 40 minutes we totally scrubbed down her house. After we gave her a blessing. Without mentioning anything, she agreed to go to church with us, and did. It was a neat experience.

Isiah 53 

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

45 years is all

I'm glad that Emma had a good week right before going into the mtc. She is definitely going to be the best missionary ever.

This week was all about one of our investigators Youry. He is from Haiti and honestly is one of the best people I know. He is here working a lot here and sends almost all of the money back to his family in Haiti. He is really skinny and people tell us that he doesn't eat because he misses his family so much. Meeting people like Youry help me see what really is important. He is still learning spanish but has learned a lot. He has nine brothers and sisters and always talks about how much faith his mom and how good of an example she is. 

We had another problem filling up the water for his baptism. We had to use the fire hose again. I love that firehose so much.

Elder Bednar was in Argentina and spoke to all of the missionaries in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay. I love elder Bednar he did such a good job. Highlights: He said you guys know why paul and alma had such spiritual experiences? Because they were messed up. It made me think of my little bros. His wife shared an experience of turning down the opportunity to go on a mission, and being hesitant about when her husband was being called as an apostle. She said throughout her life she always seems to say I can't do this. And she feels God always tell her that she can. Last highlight, Bednar said the biggest difference between us and him, is that he was 45 years older than us. Super humble.

I hope everybody has a great week. I'll try to send some of this sun your way!