The Good Life

I can't believe that Marie is about to finish her mission and that she comes home so soon! That is insane. I guess the mission really does come to an end! But dont talk to me about missions ending.  I am right in the middle and busy and happy.

I love this sector and the ward. There are a lot of people here so it's easy to find and to teach. The ward is very organized. We had three different families come up to us and ask us when they could come with us on visits. I was shocked! I loved my first ward Dorsal, but that would never happen in a million years there! :)

So we were super lucky this week. We had a baptism. The man that got baptized was Francisco. He's about 45 years old. He is such a good man. His mom got baptized two weeks earlier. He has changed a lot. He kept saying that he feels so much peace because of the gospel. At his baptism he shared this scripture with us. 

1 nephi 3:7 

 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Even though he has doubts and fears about his life, he's going to press forward with faith and have hope in the Savior. 

I know that no matter how difficult or scary the future may seem, there is always a way for us provided by the Savior. His way is good and he only has good plans for our development. 

I don't have a lot of time right now, but I love you guys! I'm really beginning to absolutely fall totally in love the mission! This morning I thought to myself, "This is the good life."

Have a great week! Stay positive!

Elder Terry

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Adios Dorsal Amigos!

I'm glad to hear everything is good over there in Springville. We had a good last week in Dorsal. This week we had changes, and I left Dorsal. I thought I was going to end my mission in my first sector so I was pretty sad about leaving :) Right after I got the call that I would be leaving Dorsal Elder Jimenez and I got in a taxi and there was an Adele song playing and the words hit me so hard. "There's a fire starting in my heart." There truly is a fire starting in my heart. My mission is changing me into the person I desire so much to be.

I'm now in the ward Simon Bolivar. It's downtown Santiago. It's a really good. We live in the tenth floor of a nice apartment. My comp is Elder Pope from Mesa, Arizona. Were super excited to work hard here in Simon Bolivar. Sadly my last comp started a fire in the microwave heating up a piece of cake and the toilet completely broke about ten minutes before I left.  I felt so sorry leaving Elder Jimenez in the treehouse with all the mold and all the broken down stuff.  But I almost ran away from that beloved treehouse of mine into the nicest apartment I think a missionary could live in.  Especially since Jimenez had his bags all packed and was hoping and praying he was the one leaving the treehouse.  Tender mercies in my favor this month.  

Last night was really  hard because I went and said bye to a lot of families. I really grew so attached to these wonderful people. They were so precious to me and really treated me like I was important to them.  Im surprised how attached I got to these people and how gut wrenching it was to say goodbye.  I went into Dorsal without speaking any Spanish, and I left telling everybody in Spanish how grateful I was and how much I loved them. I grew up so much in the Dorsal ward and those people will always be special to my heart! I will always cherish you Dorsal.  Thank you for walking me through the difficult beginning of my amazing mission.

We got permission from the President to go and visit Luisa in the hospital. She was so happy to see us. She was in a room with three other patients without dividers in a really warm room. It honestly seemed like a really bad situation. But like always, she had a smile on her face, and was so happy to see us. I've learned so much from her, and her example. So I would like to end my email with the greatest tribute this one missionary can give to Luisa.  She changed my heart more than anyone.  She taught me to be positive in every situation.  I will miss you courageous Luisa.  My heart is with you. 

I'm excited to get to work here in Simon Bolivar, should be an awesome change!  IN HONOR OF LUISA BE THE MOST POSITIVE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN FAMILY.  I LOVE YOU!

Elder Terry

Faith and Forgiveness

I'm so happy to hear that Emma got accepted to BYU! I guess I'm the only

one out of the BYU club. A lesser man would take a self esteem hit over this, but not Mr.Positive ;)

One of our favorite people to visit is this man named Albert. He is so

crazy. Every time we go to his house he is yelling and super animated, but

in a good way haha. We have a tradition to eat completos at his house every

Thursday night. Anyways this week he was a little bit more quiet. He said

that he has a problem but he felt too embarrassed to tell us about it. He

kept saying that he prayed so much for his trial to go away. But he told us

something that really hit me. His favorite story in the book of mormon is

Enos. His favorite verse is when Enos receives forgiveness of his sins.

When Enos asked why, the response was because of your faith. Even though he

was in a rough situation, he wasn't going to lose faith. I'm learning that our faith cannot always make our problems go away, but faith gives us the courage to keep going and make progress in our life.

So I wanted to explain Luisas case a little better.  She had cancer

about three years ago and went through chemo and was good after that. She

broke our hearts this week when she said that her cancer had returned and

that she was going to have chemo next week. It was so sad to hear her say

that. But I can't describe to you how brave, and how amazing of an attitude

that she has. She has affected me and my attitude maybe more than anyone I have ever met before. She made us the most delicious dinner yesterday and we ate

with her family. She spent all day preparing everything and couldn't even

eat with us because she has an exam today. I was really touched by that. Please pray for Luisa family.

I like these scriptures in D C 64. I feel the Saviors compassion for me every day and for the wonderful people of Santiago.  I have never prayed and asked God to forgive me that he hasnt extended mercy to me.  Who am I not to do the same for others.

2 For verily I say unto you, I will that ye should overcome the world;

wherefore I will have compassion upon you.

9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for

he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned

before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

I hope everybody has a wonderful week this week!