Area: Santiago, Chile
Companion: Elder Peterson
Hey Family,
This week was good but bad at the same time. I'm really loving the area, the people are great in the ward but this week I was sick with a cold all week and then Elder Peterson got it from me and then he had a fever so we stayed home one day (hence, home sick haha=) but we are both doing better now. Its just the weather is crazy here, one day its really hot and we are sweating and then the next day we are freezing cause its so cold. But the best part about staying in the house was that it rained quite a bit that day (it was basically the first day that it has rained since I got here) so we didn{t have to work in the rain which was nice. But we are both doing better now.
Like I said, it was a good week but a bad one. Overall it felt ok but it really was pretty bad in a few ways. Mainly because of the investigators. We had to drop a couple because they werent progressing, one dropped us, but none of the investigators that we have made it to church. We even went to their houses and looked for 5 of them that told us that they would come to church but none of them ended up coming and so they all lost their baptismal dates so now we are basically back to 0, back to the drawing board. But its ok. We just have to get things moving again.
Something that was cool that happened was that we were visiting a contact this week (someone we had talked to earlier in the week and they told us to come back later) so we went back and they let us in and we taught a lesson and leaving the house we were walking by Cristian Shultz' house. We didn't have an appointment with him but we just thought, ok, yeah, we are just going to pass by, see how he is and set up another appointment. So we called at the gate and he came down and let us in and he was doing really bad. Hes really discouraged right now because he and his girlfriend (Maribel, from Ohio) are facing all kinds of opposition from their families because they don't want them to be together. But it was really cool because Heavenly Father led us there in the exact moment that he needed. We were able to share a little from the Book of Mormon and when we left he was feeling much, much better. It was just something simple that shows me that Heavenly Father is aware of each one of us and our needs and feelings and he is always there to help us.
There is a lady in the ward here named Marisol. She is one of the most incredible people I have met. A little over a year ago she was baptized. She is 40 mas o menos and her husband (Hector) at that time was in the hospital. He had a brain cancer that was killing him and around the time of her baptism he was about dead. He couldn't walk, talk, eat, or do any functions. He was basically a vegetable. They were going to pull the plugs on all the machines from the hospital and she was talking to the bishop to see if she could use the church for the funeral service. The bishop went with someone else from church and gave Hector a priesthood blessing and he began to change. From that point he began to change, he started to heal. He isn't fully healed, far from it, but he is alive. He can communicate again (not fully but he understands and can respond to simple questions) and he is learning to walk again. He is basically a little child and Marisol, the wife, is like his Mom. She is the most faithful person because she hasn{t left him for a second through everything that he is going through. She shows such Christ-like love to him in the way that she cares for him and loves him is incredible to me. She has made so many sacrifices to stay with him and care for him like she does, it is amazing. She doesn't really have any education and therefore no job. Even if she wanted she couldn't have anything that would take her out of the house because she has to care for Hector all day and take him to the doctor. The only help from the government that they get is basically the retirement money that Hector was paying while he was working and thats about 80,000 a month which is about 160 usd. which isn{t nearly enough to pay for all the pills and stuff that he needs so she and her mom crack walnuts all day, every day, to get a little extra money to get through the month. Its really sad but she is such a great example of christlike love and faith to everyone around her. They are probably my favorite members in this ward up to this point.
I got a bunch of talks put on an ipod this week and so the day we were in the house we listened to a few of them. There was one by Elder Holland (no, not me) and he said something that really stuck out and that I loved. He said 'If you were taken to court on the charge of being a Mormon, would there be enough evidence to convict you?' I love that. We need to live, all the time, to the standards of the Lord and show other people by our example that we are disciples of Jesus Christ. We need to evidence our faith. People should know that we are members of the chruch because of the good things that we do and because of how we help and treat those around us.
But that was basically my week, a little sick, working the other time, and many didn't make it to chruch. But its ok, this week will be even better.
Did Camille come home from her mission already?? She should be home pretty soon but that went by fast.
As for your questions...
We don{t have a mamita but we eat with the members every day of the week which is great. The members here are really kind. They really look out for us too. Its like their biggest concern sometimes is whether we have eaten and where we are going the next day. All the missionaries in this area gain weight and I'm feeling like i'm not going to be an exception to that. I weighed myself the other day and i'm 83 kilos... I've gained since coming to Chile. We have a member that washes our laundry for us which is really, really nice. I like this ward.
I'm still loving my time here with Elder Peterson. Hes great and we get along really well. We are always laughing, but its been different. I've been with latinos for the last 4 1/2 months and now im with an american. I went to speaking only spanish and now we are speaking quite a bit of english haha. But we are working on being better and talking more in spanish. Mom, he knew the cousin of Maggie, who apparently looks like a twin to her and so when he saw Maggie at the temple he did a double take and asked her if she knew his friend from back home. That was wierd seeing the picture with him and her.
Dad, thanks for the email. I didn't get the one from last week but i'm sure it was a masterpíece. I'm glad youre doing well, good luck with work this week and all the taxes. Thanks a ton for doing mine by the way. I'm lucky you do those because I would have completely forgotten about them if you didnt remember and if i didn't do them then i'd probably get in trouble with the IRS and thats just a pain... so thanks=)
Lindy! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MASTERS PROGRAM AGAIN!!! Thats awesome and whats more is that you are going to be working there with BRAD WILCOX! Thats so awesome! I have like 10 talks from him on my ipod now (well its moms ipod=) But you can tell him that I love his talks, he does great. He will be great to work with. I love the idea of you living with camille next year! And you should start looking for a job down in Provo. You aren{t going to want to have the stress of commuting for 2 hours every day and then having classes and worrying about your program too... just my thoughts. Youre going to be really busy with just your program...
as for your other questions lindy, Huelen is much less dirty that Corona Sueca. Its not clean but not as dirty and the people aren{t as dirty either. The foods great. In church we do the same thing as everyone else. Go to classes and participate the same. normal. My house is in the middle of everything in the sector... its great. SOrry im out of time.
Love you all!
Elder Holland
No comments:
Post a Comment