Glad Tidings of Great Joy

This week started off well on Monday night. We found an antiguo we wanted to go by in the area book and we knocked and talked to the lady who came out. She's a member turns out, and her husband is not. He has had many previous interactions with missionaries but never acted much before. Well, a minute or two after talking to her outside, he pulls up- home early from work (a very nice "coincidence"). I asked if we could go inside to meet them better and they said yes. We talked and got to know them for a bit, and the shared lesson 1. It was an incredible lesson and we even invited him to be baptized if he received an answer. He said he would! The catch was that later we asked him if he would pray to receive an answer and he responded that he would if he felt like it. He was unwilling to act to receive the answer. We are going to continue to try to work with him because I know he can receive the answer, he simply doesn't want to. It's sad what he is missing out on wi...

My new area is full of houses. Lots of houses and then the usual stretch of campo where we really will not focus on too much. We work two wards here, that are both pretty small. But it means double the work as we coordinate with two bishops, mission leaders, etc. Definitely going to keep me busy in these last weeks. We have met both bishops and are working with them to gain their confidence and respect. My new companion is Elder Ward. He is from Pleasant Grove, Utah and graduated in 2019 from Lone Peak High School. He is here with lots of desires to work hard. He speaks very well, but lack of understanding has been a shock for him. Almost always is at the beginning, but I know that the Gift of Tongues is real and he will be okay very soon. He left the Peru MTC last week. In the sector we are teaching a women named Natalia who has her baptismal date soon. She is super excited for it! We have had two lessons with her since I got here. In one, we also taught her two daughters of 4...

I will be headed back to Valdivia where I started my mission, but on the other side in another zone. I will be training a missionary of gold and also acting as the only Zone Leader in a zone of 20 missionaries. Lots to keep me focused. I just hope I can have a good influence in my 6 short weeks there. A. is doing well. His life is not easy at all, but the teaching continues well. We had an incredible experience with him this week. We were teaching him the plan of salvation and he stopped us to tell that he was ready to stop smoking. He had felt he needed to do it in the morning and as we talked he said that he felt a pressure on his heart and that the box of cigarettes in his pocket was really bothering him (we were teaching him in the chapel). So he asked us to throw them away and we happily obliged. He is very very sensible to the Spirit. He said that when he got rid of them that he felt an incredible peace that he couldn't explain. That he felt like he was floating. It was s...

This week we had a member of the 70 visit our mission. I had the privilege of accompanying him to all 3 conferences and learning so much. He talked about different things in each place, but I feel like it is all things I can apply to myself so there is a lot of bettering to be done. This week is the week of the 18 (you gotta say dieciocho). It is the week of their independence, so the whole week is kinda just partying. People will be in their house though so that will be good!  Anyways, don't have a lot to say this week, but I hope you all are well:)

This week we had various lessons with Francisco. He is progressing very well and is excited to come to church for the first time this upcoming Sunday. He could not come this week because he was in Valdivia. We also were able to find and teach Wilson again , but he chose not to come to church this week. There is work to be done with him. We are trying to find more people to teach. We have talked to many people, but have not been able to set times with them to have a formal lesson. We are trying to work on using our time better. It is a constant challenge, knowing how to use our time how God wants us to and following the promptings of His Spirit.

Last week was the week of transfers and we helped recieve 18 new missionaries.  On Monday, my new companion came to be with us from Calbuco. He is from San Marcos, Guatemala. I'm super excited to work with him and learn lots together. Elder Zamudio is headed off to Puerto Cisnes in the Coyhaique Zone. He will be doing a whitewash there and training. On Tuesday night after everyone got here and settled in a bit, we got to take a few Elders to a baptism that was happening nearby that evening. That baptism was Angel, the son of Gloria!! I am so grateful and happy that I got to see that and that he took the decision to be baptized. It was such a wonderful feeling to see them and all of the members again. I really felt like I had a positive impact on the people there. The next days were full of getting missionaries moved around to their new areas, and saying goodbye to a few friends who are headed home.  We have worked a lot with Francisco these past couple weeks. He ha...