Renca

Date: May 12, 2012
Area: Santiago, Chile
Companion: Elder Salz & Elder Chung

Hola Familia!

This week was an awesome one but I guess first off I should start off with some big news... I was TRANSFERRED! I'm now in an area called Renca 2 basically crossing a freeway from my other sector. It was really unexpected (at least I had no idea that it was coming but I'll explain).

I'll back up to the week though. This week flew by again. I don't know where the change went. It is strange that its already gone and now im in another sector. But as for the week, the work is a lot different now. We have to work MUCH more with the members, which is good, but hard. We, as a mission plan, can only knock doors around the homes of members and are working alot more with the members to try to get references from them, so that the investigators already have people that they know there in church that can be their friends. Its a great plan but makes things more complicated. In the long run it will make a huge difference. But at the beginning of the week I had intercambios (changes for a day) and a Chileno, Elder Ruiz, came to my sector in Huelen and my companion, Elder Peterson went there to his sector.. Corona Sueca. But that was good and then later in the week we had another intercambio with one of the Zone Leaders who came to my sector with me and with Elder Peterson. It was good but uneventful. The week as a whole was really normal until this weekend.

We had been planning a trip to the temple to have a tour of the outside with the recent converts of the ward and with the investigators we had. We were going to have about 20 peoopple come and we had 4 drivers that were goign to take everyone but then last minute, everything fell apart! All of the drivers canceled for work problems or deaths in the family or whatever reason and then almost nobody ended up being able to go. We almost called the whole thing off but there were about 4 people who said that they could still go. So we said, bueno, lets just go in a bus. We were supposed to meet at 10 on Saturday but everyone showed up late (the appt was for 11) and so we left Huelen already behind schedule. But we ran into all sorts of problems, the buses were late, there were detours in the path of the bus so it had to take us on this huge deviated course and we were so behind! We were trying to call the sister missionaries that were going to give us the tour (who only our ward mission leader had spoken with) but they weren't answering their cell phones. I was getting pretty anxious but I just said a prayer and I felt that everything was going to be ok. But we kept trying to contact the missionaries and finally got a hold of one of the sister missionaries and I found out that one of them was MAGGIE FABRIZIO! It was crazy! So even though we got there late, we were able to do the tour (Maggie wasn{t able to give the tour of our group) but I did get to see her after and we were able to talk for a while. She goes home in 3 weeks! Shes almost at the finish line! Its crazy but it was awesome to be able to see her. Its crazy, you have to go all the way to Zambia to meet someone that you'd see in chile 3 times on your mission! haha.

But the tour was great. The temple really is a special place. There is such peace and calmness there on the grounds and I know that that really is the house of God. Its like when you're there, there is nothing in the world that really matters. There is no care in the world that will bring you down, you just feel at peace and for that I love the temple.. The spirit really is there in the house of the Lord. It was a great experience for the recent converts to be able to go there and have that experience so that they can make the goal to go to the temple and prepare themselves to go. I know that there are blessings from the temple that strengthen families and that when we live worthily and apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to our lives, families are strengthened 100%. So it was a great experience to be able to go to the temple.

But after the temple we rushed home and ate lunch and basically right after we went to the sector of the Zone Leaders to help them out with baptismal interviews. Elder Peterson had to do the interviews for them. He did 4 and they baptized 3 this weekend. But we were there from like 5 at night until 11 and the Assistants to President picked us up and they had the changes. I found out there that I was going to be transferred to Renca. I was kind of bummed but at the same time excited. It was a strange feeling. I loved the ward in Huelen and the people but it really felt right to leave. My new companions are Elder Salzl and Elder Chung. Elder Chung was my district leader a while back and is from Peru. Hes great. But Elder Salzl is awesome. I'm so excited to be able to work with him. He was a traveling assistant a few changes ago and he came and worked with us in Corona Sueca and it was great. We are going to have a great change here in Renca!

But that takes us to Sunday. Carlos Cristian Schulz was baptized yesterday and it was great. I was able to baptize him and it was really a great privilege. It has been amazing to be able to see the changes that he has made in his life to be able to be worthy to be baptized. He is a changed man. He was a smoker for 40 years and he quit over night. Thats incredible. He has come to know the plan of God and has seen it take effect in his life. Every time that I see him he is so much happier than he was when I first met him, he is brighter. Last night more than every he had a light about him and it was great to see. But the actual baptism was really kind of funny. But cool. I was there with him in the water and had said the prayer. We had explained to him what would happen and how he would need to plug his nose but he didnt remember or something and he didnt plug it. I dunked him and he came up coughing! He swallowed bunch of water and I was like "oops! Are you ok?" He was like "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." He was still coughing pretty hard but he said "Its not the water, its not that i'm choking. But I feel strange. I feel something strange. I cant describe it but it just feels strange." He felt the Holy Ghost. I know that he received a valid baptism because he was baptized by the power of God, by the proper authority and power of God. I am so greatful for Joseph Smith and his faith to ask a sincere prayer, that he lived worthy to be called and chosen to re-establish the Church that Jesus Christ formed while on the earth. I know that he was called of God, that we have a prophet today that speaks to us guides us. I am greatful for the priesthood power and that we can have a valid bap´tism. I'm greatful for Cristian and that he made to choice to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. But most of all I am greatful for the Savior, for Jesus Christ and for his atoning sacrifice through which, everyone can receive a remission of their sins- just like Cristian did- if they but follow Christ.

Thanks for everything. I love you and we'll be talking here shortly!!! I'll send you an email on saturday letting you know what time and everything that we are going to do it so that that we can do it. We still have to find someone in the ward that will let us do it from their house so I'll let you know!

love,

Elder Holland