Area: Santiago, Chile
Companion: Elder Barnes
Hola
familia,
This week was another
good week. It went by pretty quick because weve been busy which is always a good
thing. I´m still stoked and feeling so blessed to have my companion Elder
Barnes. He´s got such a great attitude about the work and I haven´t heard him
complain about anything since he got here. Hes the man. He likes to work hard
and is very humble and wants to help the people as much as he possibly can. I am
really learning a lot from him. I´m so lucky.
But like I said this
week went by fast. We had quite a bit to do but at the end of the week it was a
bummer because only one investigator showed up to church. We were bummed about
that but we have faith that this next week will be better and that we are going
to see alot more people there at church and that they will be there progressing
towards their baptisms. Actually, tonight we are going to have a Family Home
Evening (Noche de Hogar) with some members and their next door neighbors. They
are really great. The mom of the family has read a lot of the Book of Mormon and
is really excited about learning more about the gospel so we are going to see
what happens to them this week.
One of the really
cool things that happened this week was a stake activity that we had. It was
coupled with the obra misional (missionary work) and so it was for all members
and nonmembers but it was seriously one of the coolest activities that I have
ever seen! It is called The Trip to Hawaii. So the general gist of the activity
was to simulate the Plan of Salvation associated with the parable of the talents
(like the 5, 2 and 1 talents). So the whole building was used for the activity
and there were esentially good rooms and bad rooms. People would enter into the
building and recieve 5 tickets that symbolized the talents. Every room that they
went into they had to pay a talent to go in. If they went into a bad room, when
they left, they didn{t get anything back. But if the were in a good room they
would get two tickets back and so they could earn or lose their talents. About
an hour into the activity they cut the power to the building and they had a loud
siren go off. Then everyone went into the cultural hall and they simulated like
death and then judgement. From the cultural hall they all passed into the chapel
and there waiting was Christ at the pulpit and he read the parable of the
talents. It was really really cool actually! I was stoked. And we had 3 of our
investigators come to it too which was awesome. One of them we weren´t expecting
to get there but he just showed up, all by himself! So that was pretty cool. I
really dont know if any of that paragraph makes any sense but just know that it
was a really cool activity that would be sweet to somehow do when I get
back.
We also had a
really cool experience this week with some of our investigators. These guys are
the best! Really. The missionaries before us found them a few weeks before they
left the area and these two have seriously had a 180 change. They are really
trying to put their lifes in order. They are a couple, Sylvia & Carlos and
when the missionaries found them they were about to split up. They aren´t
married because Sylvia is still married to somebody from a
relationship from 15 years ago and she hasn´t gotten divorced. They had their
children taken away from them and basically their lives have been in the dumps.
But since they have started making the changes in their lives everything has
gone the other way. They have seen qualquier (all kinds) of miracles in their
lives within the past month and a half and it is an honor to be able to see
that. But right now they are really trying to quit smoking and quit drugs. They
havent told us what it is that they are doing but they have the strongest
desires to quit and they are relapsing and it kills them everytime they do
because their desires to quit are so strong but the body tells them that they
need it and they fall. Its too bad and its sad to see the slaves that those
addictive substances make of us, how they rob us of our agency (though many
people dont think that). But they asked for a priesthood blessing to help them
stop the things they are doing and I had never really had an experience like
this before but it was really cool what happened. I gave the blessing
to Carlos first and just said everything that came into my mind and
it was all good. But right when I finished a client came into the house
(Sylvia is a hair stylist) and so Carlos left the room
to sit with the client right outside while we gave Sylvia the
blessing. And I did the exact same thing, I just said whatever came into my
mind. And there was a part where I said that she would be a strength and support
for Carlos to help him quit what he was doing and that in doing so,
in helping him she would find strength for herself to be able to quit. Before I
said it I kind of questioned whether or not I was going to say it because I was
like ¨this blessing is about Sylvia, not
about Carlos ¨ but I said it anyway. But we finished the blessing
and she just sat there and was crying. The spirit there was very strong, we all
felt so good. But when she calmed down a little bit we asked her, what was the
matter. And she told us that she had had an answer to her prayers through the
blessing. She said that she knew that alone she would be able to stop whatever
it is that she is doing but that she didn´t know if she could
with Carlos there. From what I understood she was thinking about
leaving Carlos so that she could quit. But she wasnt sure if that
is what she needed to do but that from the blessing she knew that she had to
stay with Carlos and help him. We left the appointment floating on
air. We really felt good and I know that that feeling came from our Father in
Heaven. That was a blessing for us that he would confirm in that way that the
blessings that we had given really did come from him and that they weren´t ours,
that he does have his hand in their lives- in all our lives- and that he loves
us and wants us to be happy. I know that is true and that the blessing was from
God.
I love you all and I
am so happy for the blessings that you all are receiving right now. Good things
in work, new clients, Lindy and Spencer are having great experiences out there
in Zambia and are livin the life on the safaris, and Cutlers rockin it up in the
pool! Thats awesome! Im so happy and excited for you all. I love you and we´ll
talk next week! And mom, I´m STOKED for the TEXAS SHEET CAKE!!! =)
les amo,
Elder Jaromy
Holland
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