Hey! Pictures! There's the picture of Kati's baptism. Enjoy!
Monday, May 25, 2009
A tale of Interest
Conversion story!
Hi everyone! How is everything going??? I'm doing awesomely here in El Belloto. My comp is cool, the weather is finally starting to catch up to where it should be (it was hot! now it's cold), and there's lots of work to do.
So this week a really sweet gal named Kati got baptized. She was found by the other Elders before I came in, Elder Cook and Elder Meyers, as they were knocking on apartment doors. Her son is the first counselor in the Stake Presidency of Viña Del Mar, and all her family members are members of the church. They hadn't placed any pressure on her to be baptized, as she had tried before but couldn't ever stop smoking. When the Elders found her, she was "angry at God" because he had "taken" her youngest granddaughter. The granddaughter died of cancer at the age of 3. Anywho, when the Elders got in to her house, she was angry. They invited her to pray. At the second visit, she was no longer angry, but was rather happy. At the fourth visit, by her own will, she had stopped smoking a pack a day. She went from 20 a day to 0. By the time I showed up, she was practically a member. Her son, Ronald, baptized her and confirmed her. Immediately after her baptism, he hugged her and showered her with a bunch of kisses, right there in the water. It was quite adorable. She's 67 years old, and her son is about 40ish. She brought a friend to her baptism, a 32 year old man, who also wants to receive missionary lessons. Wow, now that's a convert, eh? Well, the Book of Mormon has a certain Power to it. It brings the Spirit, which converts the hearts of man to God, and makes them new creatures. Kati truly knows what it means to study the scriptures. She takes around 2 hours each day studying the Book of Mormon. First she reads a chapter, then she rereads it, and writes a summary of the things she's learned. She has better study habits than I do!
Well, thought I'd share that with ya. Hope you all enjoyed it! Keep workin hard, share your testimonies with those around you, and always let the Spirit be your guide!
e'horspool
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Acorn Tree
New changes are in.
Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm just fine, dandy, rippin' roarin' and ready to roll. So the day of judgment came, and I got booted out of where I was at. I'm now in the next town over, in:
Ward: Aldebarán
Stake: El Belloto
City: Quilpué
And my new comp is: Elder Cook, from Lake Point, UT. It's some lil' Suburb near Salt Lake. Fun, huh! Elder Cook has 20 months in the mission, so he's just about to ship out! Don't worry though, he's not trunky.
Well, thing's are going good in the new place. We happened to find some great people in the first week! God has a way of putting people who are prepared in the path of of the missionaries. We were walking down the street when a gal stopped us and told us to come by her house to teach her. We did, and it turns out that she had gone to church in a different ward the week before, and they told her to find the missionaries nearest to her. And we happened by her apartment in the exact moment she was leaving. She came to church again yesterday, and she's doing great! Carol is her name.
That about does it for now. I'm doing good, I'm leaking a little bit from the nose, but that's OK I feel like Liver and Onions. I know that God directs the missionary force, and that his Angels prepare the people to receive us. Read your scriptures, Say your prayers, and magnify callings!
e'horspool
Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm just fine, dandy, rippin' roarin' and ready to roll. So the day of judgment came, and I got booted out of where I was at. I'm now in the next town over, in:
Ward: Aldebarán
Stake: El Belloto
City: Quilpué
And my new comp is: Elder Cook, from Lake Point, UT. It's some lil' Suburb near Salt Lake. Fun, huh! Elder Cook has 20 months in the mission, so he's just about to ship out! Don't worry though, he's not trunky.
Well, thing's are going good in the new place. We happened to find some great people in the first week! God has a way of putting people who are prepared in the path of of the missionaries. We were walking down the street when a gal stopped us and told us to come by her house to teach her. We did, and it turns out that she had gone to church in a different ward the week before, and they told her to find the missionaries nearest to her. And we happened by her apartment in the exact moment she was leaving. She came to church again yesterday, and she's doing great! Carol is her name.
That about does it for now. I'm doing good, I'm leaking a little bit from the nose, but that's OK I feel like Liver and Onions. I know that God directs the missionary force, and that his Angels prepare the people to receive us. Read your scriptures, Say your prayers, and magnify callings!
e'horspool
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Sprouting Seed
Happy Mother's Day!
Hi everyone! Happy Mother's Day to all whom I didn't have the opportunity to talk to, and an extra one to those who I did. I hope it was a fun day for all.
This week was pretty fun. And hard at the same time. There were a bunch of investigators that came to church. 3 families! Let's see how this could have happened:
So on Friday, the Villa Norte ward decided to toss a Mother's Day activity together. It included skits, karaoke (spelling!) and electric guitar (there's a lot of talent in this ward!). Naturally, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity and invite all we could. And a bunch of people came! There were some odd 15 non-members at the activity, 9 of which came to church on Sunday. Plus others. It was amazing. This has been an extremely hard Transfer (6 weeks) for getting people to church, and all of a sudden, we are blessed with more success then we've had in months. Just have to press forward with faith.
Another lesson I've learned this week, is the importance of not being controlling. We have an investigator, named Elizabeth, who has an extremely controlling (and Catholic) husband. He won't let her get baptized, and won't talk to us at all. The only redeeming factor on the man is that he's letting us teach her (but only when he's not home). It makes me sad to see someone deprive eternal blessings and even salvation from another, but that's why there's fasting and prayer. If the sons of Mosiah could work a mighty change in the hearts of the lamanites, why shouldn't we be able to do it? I've always been pretty good about not being a very controlling companion over my Junior Companion. I recall President Hinkley mentioning something about his marriage before, about how he always supported and encouraged the righteous decisions of his wife. Hmm... That's a good quality. Allowing the other person to be themselves, and encourage them to better themselves through Christ. But I ramble.
e'horspool
Hi everyone! Happy Mother's Day to all whom I didn't have the opportunity to talk to, and an extra one to those who I did. I hope it was a fun day for all.
This week was pretty fun. And hard at the same time. There were a bunch of investigators that came to church. 3 families! Let's see how this could have happened:
So on Friday, the Villa Norte ward decided to toss a Mother's Day activity together. It included skits, karaoke (spelling!) and electric guitar (there's a lot of talent in this ward!). Naturally, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity and invite all we could. And a bunch of people came! There were some odd 15 non-members at the activity, 9 of which came to church on Sunday. Plus others. It was amazing. This has been an extremely hard Transfer (6 weeks) for getting people to church, and all of a sudden, we are blessed with more success then we've had in months. Just have to press forward with faith.
Another lesson I've learned this week, is the importance of not being controlling. We have an investigator, named Elizabeth, who has an extremely controlling (and Catholic) husband. He won't let her get baptized, and won't talk to us at all. The only redeeming factor on the man is that he's letting us teach her (but only when he's not home). It makes me sad to see someone deprive eternal blessings and even salvation from another, but that's why there's fasting and prayer. If the sons of Mosiah could work a mighty change in the hearts of the lamanites, why shouldn't we be able to do it? I've always been pretty good about not being a very controlling companion over my Junior Companion. I recall President Hinkley mentioning something about his marriage before, about how he always supported and encouraged the righteous decisions of his wife. Hmm... That's a good quality. Allowing the other person to be themselves, and encourage them to better themselves through Christ. But I ramble.
e'horspool
Monday, May 4, 2009
Breaking the habit
Hi everybody!
Hi howdy hey family! How is everybody. Good? Great! Wonderful!? awesome. Anywho, I'm doing just fine and dandy here in Chile. I keep hearing of some death disease o'er yonder in California, Mexico, and well, the rest of the world. I'm not sure what you'd call it in English, but everyone calls it the Porcina flu (La Gripe Porcina). Pork flu? Pig flu? Nothing big right? Only a few hundred people dead in the world. No biggie. I'm hoping it's just another nonsense scare that you'll be hearing nothing about in a few months, like the Bird flu.
So anywho, I was reading in Preach my Gospel the other day, in chapter 10, when it gives the suggestion of trying to stop an addictive habit for a day, to see if you can do it, then a week, and so on. Well, I decided to stop cracking my bones. I made it 4 days straight, and now all my bones hurt. I figured the pain would go away after popping then again, but no. Well, I figure I might as well drop the habit all together now that I'm past the point of no return. So my companion and I have been trying to unravel the mysteries of the earth. We've come across several different little things, which tickle my fancy like crazy. Stuff like, details in the spirit world, both before the atonement and after, the atonement, and why blood had to be spilled, the whole earth being united, divided, then having to be restored, yadda yadda. As for now, I have a few books that I'm wanting to buy/devour (for after the mission. They're forbidden during...): Everlasting life, i don't remember the author (I think its called Everlasting Life? La Vida Sempiterna); Answers to Gospel Questions Volumes I-IV, by Joseph F. Smith; The Great Apostasy, by James E. Talmage; and Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce R. McConkie. So, I dunno if we have any of those books already, but they look awesome. So much to learn...
So if anyone has any other random or awesome questions/facts about the gospel, if you would be so kind as to share them with me. Questions help us learn!
e'horspool
Hi howdy hey family! How is everybody. Good? Great! Wonderful!? awesome. Anywho, I'm doing just fine and dandy here in Chile. I keep hearing of some death disease o'er yonder in California, Mexico, and well, the rest of the world. I'm not sure what you'd call it in English, but everyone calls it the Porcina flu (La Gripe Porcina). Pork flu? Pig flu? Nothing big right? Only a few hundred people dead in the world. No biggie. I'm hoping it's just another nonsense scare that you'll be hearing nothing about in a few months, like the Bird flu.
So anywho, I was reading in Preach my Gospel the other day, in chapter 10, when it gives the suggestion of trying to stop an addictive habit for a day, to see if you can do it, then a week, and so on. Well, I decided to stop cracking my bones. I made it 4 days straight, and now all my bones hurt. I figured the pain would go away after popping then again, but no. Well, I figure I might as well drop the habit all together now that I'm past the point of no return. So my companion and I have been trying to unravel the mysteries of the earth. We've come across several different little things, which tickle my fancy like crazy. Stuff like, details in the spirit world, both before the atonement and after, the atonement, and why blood had to be spilled, the whole earth being united, divided, then having to be restored, yadda yadda. As for now, I have a few books that I'm wanting to buy/devour (for after the mission. They're forbidden during...): Everlasting life, i don't remember the author (I think its called Everlasting Life? La Vida Sempiterna); Answers to Gospel Questions Volumes I-IV, by Joseph F. Smith; The Great Apostasy, by James E. Talmage; and Mormon Doctrine, by Bruce R. McConkie. So, I dunno if we have any of those books already, but they look awesome. So much to learn...
So if anyone has any other random or awesome questions/facts about the gospel, if you would be so kind as to share them with me. Questions help us learn!
e'horspool
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