May 5th, 2014

Hello from Chile! Life in Quilpue is the bomb but it really has its ups and downs though.  I feel like life is crazy and it moves so fast.  Who would of thought that time could fly so fast and i'm just trying to hold on for the ride.   My two month mark is coming up fast and I already have the best memories I could possibly have!  And guess what! first baptism!  It was so scary and I was so nervous.  I'm really bad at memorizing stuff and I needed to have the baptisim prayer memorized and I was way nervous.  I cant believe Elias wanted me to baptize him and it was such a spiritual experience and it really built my testimony so strong.  I can now email in spanish to all my spanish companions and it is really cool.  The people here are so nice and they do anything to help members. especially the struggling ones.  All I feel like doing is service and bringing more people into the church.  Man this this the greatest time of my life.  Things are really hard but also the plan is simple.  We need to meet people and share the gospel and bring people into the fold.  We also need to help those around us that have been baptized and that are not currently attending church.  


This is so crazy but this week was a real eye opener.  We had a really hard time with the members and the people in the street have no desire to talk to us.....they also know swear words in english......trust me I know.  We have had appointments fall through and it has sucked but I have found a new testimony in persevering to the end. It works because we work so hard and get rejected all day but in the end we find a person who is a diamond and it works out just perfectly.  I have had some nights where I have cried myself to sleep because I cant believe some people and how they are so stuck in their ways but I fear no man!  I will press forward in love for the persons and god will deliver the right ones who are ready for the gospel

      

Well first thing is that I always get asked these crazy questions because I'm American.  The first question that I received this week was why my eyes are green. hmmmmmmm  I have no idea haha and it was hard to explain because at first I thought it was a joke and i laughed super hard and loud but she said she was serious..... so then I tried to explain how everyone is different.   She laughed and said well everyone here has brown eyes. hmmmmm cant argue with that hahaha but the other part to her question was does the light hurt my eyes..... again another question that was hard to answer but what can you do. 

     
We have had tons of lessons and I hope they are planting into a their souls.  After being shut down literally all day long my comp and I where talking about how every soul still is a son and daughter of god.  Whoever reads this I hope that if your learn one thing from reading this is that every person is a son or daughter of God and that  if we have people in our lives that are just straight up weenies that we should always treat them with love and respect.  We talked about this for a good ten minutes and we stopped to talk to this guy sitting in the street and he chewed us out and threw his trash at us and as we where walking away we heard it.... a soft voice that called us from the inside of a fence.  We looked and we met a wonderful lady by the name of Maria.  Maria saw what happened and asked why we continue to do work when things go wrong and we told her that our message was worth telling no matter the result and she asked and she received haha!  We spent a long time talking to her about the Book of Mormon and prophets and the real power of god.  She was so interested and we have an appointment with her this week.  I hope that everything goes well.  This really is the best time of my life and I love the feeling of being so tired all the time and I hope that I am doing everything right!  Thank you guys for all your prayers.  I really do need the help and I feel your prayers, especially with the language.

   
Something new that happened this week was that I now have dreams in spanish!  I don't know if there good dreams or nightmares because like real life I understand little and other words are just a blur.   But it always has my comp in them and we are either teaching a lesson or we are contacting personas in the street.  Its crazy!  But here is the best part, my comp says that I started to talk in my sleep but in spanish! haha way weird right?  He said at first he was way confused because he said it was perfect spanish.  He then asked what was wrong and I said something else and rolled over and fell back asleep.  Wow that's gnarly huh haha.  I love all my experiences down here and it is so awesome that God helps us with everything.

   
Now time for the best part of my week.  Baptism!  I love Elias and trust me pics are on the way!  But the thing is that the other members in the ward showed up for his baptism because there was no family present for his baptism.  I immediately felt the love so strong and its crazy that they do stuff like that.  After the messages and other talks we went to the font and the water was cold because the church ran out of gas, it was so freezing cold and I was shaking because I was nervous and because it was cold.  I helped Elias down and helped him into position and this was what i said...... Elias Piña Arreldondo, habiendo sido comisionado por JesusCristo yo te bautizo en el nombre del padre, y del hijo, y del espiritu santo, amen.  And then I baptized him!  He came up with a huge smile on his face and coughing.  He gave me a huge hug and as we where changing he was telling me how he felt super cold but clean......I love it so much and I hope that  he always has that feeling.  As we were walking back to the room he was dancing and called his daughter and said how he was clean.  I have never seen a smile so big. 

Last thing is that my comp is starting to get sick and it is pretty freaky because I always want to work, and the fleas are still a problem but it is better to live with it then always be scratching and fighting it.  Trust me I'm doing everything I can for them.   And yes mom i,m wearing my retainers....... oh plus my comp makes me put on sunscreen from this industrial sized jug haha.  I also did service this week, I will send you pics.  The picture of the blankets are us trying to get rid of fleas.  It is a full time job.