Week 35

I am leaving this as he wrote it, except for cutting the names off... you can see that his English is giving way to Spanish just a bit 

Hey everyone, sorry it has been a couple weeks since I have had time to write an email for everyone. We took a couple of paseos these past 2 Mondays and saw some beautiful places and took lots of pictures.

Rather than try to fill you in on everything little thing that has happened, I'll introduce you all to our investigators here.

Starting with M(40) and his daughter D(8 almost 9, birthday August 19th). His partner is A who is an inactive. She baptized when she was pregnant with D. They are both incredible and the famliy is super friendly and loves missionaries. They make and sell baked goods in the house, and he works installing floors. As a younger kid and man, M was a boxer and still looks the part. Imagine a hispanic Rocky more or less. He is a little slower to learn, but his daughter is super alert and loves the church. They have had contact with lots of missionaries in the past. We found them contacting old registros of old investigators. They had moved houses but we tracked them down. We teach them multiple times a week and they came to an activity in the church this week. They're making fast progress.

Another family is G(30ish) and her son A(11, almost 12 on the 22 of September). We found them one of my first weeks here doing contacts. She talked to missionaries a long time ago in Chiloe but eventually lost contact when she moved away. This is the 3rd time the church has made an appearnce in her life and she recognizes it as something important. We have taught them only a couple of times because of a busy winter vacation schedule but have a lesson set for tonight with them. They both love the missionaries and they are going to make great progress. They are distant relatives of the bishop and interact with his family often so that will be a great tool in their progress too. A came to an activity in the church a couple of weeks ago, but they have not been able to attended church yet. She has two other children, J (6) and V(3). Her husband is friendly, but often away working when we have the lessons. Hopefully we can teach them all together soon. They are great.

Next is L(50ish). We found him also from old teaching records. He has assisted to the church a couple of the times a couple years ago. He has a drinking problem but really has desires to be able to change and knows that we are capable of helping him. He walks an hour or more to and from work each dayt so he gets home late in the evenings and we normally teach him on weekends. 

R and A (40/50s) are a couple I found with Elder Frumar doing contacts during intercambios. They make sausage in their house and have a daughter that is 28 and a son who is 16. They have a long history with the missionaries it seems, but they both smoke. They know they shouldn't and have tried unsuccessfully to drop the habit in the past. We taught them The Restoration and he was touched by the Spirit. We have another lesson set up with them for tonight as well. They have a pet tarantula named Samuel who they've had for 6 years. We got to hold him last time we were over there!

Mo (70s) is the husband of a sister in the ward. We had a great lesson with him a couple of weeks ago and the Spirit touched him so much that he came to church the next day for the first time and was recieved very well by the members. He is a campo man and works hard everyday, reminds me of my Grandpa Brighton. He is concerned that he doesn't have time for the church but we explained to him that if he puts God first in his life, He will make all things possible. We teach him on Saturday nights because he comes home exhausted from work each day. We stop by often to say hi though and support them. They both have been a little sick the past two weeks. It is very cold here.

Al (40s) is a Haitian that is here working. He comes to the church occasionally and knows the importance of this church. He told us duriung the lesson we had last Sunday that if he were home he would bring his family with him to the church. It is fun to try to talk a little Kreole with him, but he speaks Spanish well and we communicate easily. More easily than some other Haitain investigators we have. His baptism situation is complicated because of his family back home.

We have a few other investigators and less actives with whom we are working but there are a few just so you are aware. This sector is fantastic and the members are so loving and supportive. I'm grateful for the time I have here to work and grow. Grow the church here, and grow as a person. I hope everyone back home is doing well and staying cool! I am doing my darndest to stay warm here. The past two weeks have been very cold.

Let me know if you have any specific questions!! Love you all,

Elder Brighton