Februrary 23, 2015

Summary:

It's been a crazy week! We had a family-home-evening with the Mamani-Leon family at the house of one of the members on Monday and it was awesome. We talked about the Restoration. The girls had lots of questions and we all felt the Spirit. Family, you'll be happy to know that afterward we played our favorite game. The one where you splash a lid of water on the person if they guess wrong. haha!

We were able to meet some new fun people and do exchanges on Wednesday. We knocked doors and did a lot of contacting, too. 

Yesterday we got word that Hermana Saez has transfers. We packed up last night and she left this morning to my old ward, Trinidad. I'll be staying here in Ñuñoa and my new companion will be a sister that's coming straight from the MTC! Right now I'm on exchanges with Hermana Pelliza, who will also be training. After we write, we're going to go to the mission office to meet our new companions! I'll tell you who it is next week!

Spiritual Experience:

We were in a lesson with a less-active member and an investigator the other day. They're two ladies that are good friends, and they both have a testimony that the church is true. We've taught them a couple of times, but thought about leaving them because they never go to church no matter how many times we invite them. We felt like we'd tried everything and they just didn't progress. We decided to share the talk "Faith is a Choice" (Not exactly sure what it is in English) from last year's General Conference. They both just sat there silently for a few minutes after listening to it. The first thing the lady said who's investigating was, "On Sunday, I'm going to church." It's wonderful how the Spirit really is the only thing that let's us know what we need to do.

Funny:

Hermana Saez and I set an goal to go to the gym that's in our apartment building every morning to do exercises on the ellipticals and bikes. The other day, we rolled out of bed, went down the elevator and walked up to the desk where the lady keeps the keys to the gym. My companion I guess was still sleeping a little bit because in her head she asked for the keys to the gym, but in real life she just got really close to the lady that works at the front desk and held out her hand. I tried to cover for her and ask for the keys, but in the mornings my voice is scratchy and sometimes it doesn't come out. The poor lady was so scared! haha! Finally my companion realized that she never actually asked out loud for the keys and started laughing and explained the whole situation of why we came up to her in silence and just stared at her. haha

Februrary 16, 2016

One of my favorite couples here in Santiago. los mora!

Summary:

I can't believe another week has gone by! It was a great one. I had an interview with President Morgan, who gave me lots of advice and was an answer to many prayers! 

We were able to find an awesome family, the Mamani-Leon family! The mom, Agelica, is a member of the church but has been less-active for over 20 years. Her three daughters, Sion, Sumi, and Mae aren't members, but they are all so fun and nice and really want to learn more about Christ. We went to a Valentine's Day fireside on Sunday with them and they loved it!

We were also able to meet other less-active members of the church last week. The Spirit must be working hard here in Ñuñoa because five of them showed up to church on Sunday. Other than that, we were able to do a service project and leave with lots of members, too. 

Spiritual Experience:

Last night, we had 30 minutes left before it was time to go to the apartment. We decided to go around the block one more time and contact people. As we walked, we saw an older man sitting alone eating a sandwich and drinking beer. At first I was a little hesitant, thinking he might be drunk, but when I said "hola"and he responded, he didn't seem to be. I asked if we could share a card with him. He said, "Yes." We asked him about what he believed and talked to him about what we believe. I don't know if I've ever met a more humble man. He said he has two sons but neither of them ever call or visit. He was grateful for his work, but still feels really lonely and sad.He believes a lot in God. He talked about how he's looking for the truth, for a place to go to find Him.  Talking with this man really put me in my place. I realized how blessed I am. I have a family, I have friends, I'm healthy, and I know God's truth and have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share it with the world. 

Funny:

We invited this guy in the street to church the other day and he responds, "Ah man! I'd go, but I'm super lazy!" I didn't know how to respond, so  I finally just said to him, "Well... at least you're honest." haha. My companion just cracked up laughing. 

Februrary 9, 2016

Summary:

It´s been an eventful week! Unfortunately, Juan stood us up two times and we all feel that it will be best to give him space and stop working towards his goal of being baptized at the end of February. We weren't able to communicate at all with Maria Jesus, Nicolas, Maria Teresa, and Pablo. (The family that accepted a baptismal date last week.) We were feeling pretty down on Sunday. Amazingly, we had a zone meeting yesterday that really motivated us! We talked about contacting to teach, not just to get an appointment. We were able to go out and walk all afternoon yesterday with a new spirit and talk to all kinds of different people. This will be a good week for finding!

Funny:

The other day, we found some lists of old investigators and less-active members and called all of them to see if we could pass by to visit. Later that afternoon, one of our investigators called us. His name was saved in the phone as something we didn't recognize. My companion, thinking it was one of the numbers we had called of people we don't know, answered the phone and started to introduce ourselves. "Hi! I'm Hermana Saez from the south of Chile and my companion is Hermana Martin from the United States! We're new here in Ñuñoa and wanted to know if we could pass by and share a message of Jesus Christ..." There was just this long silence, and then he says, "Wow Hermana...very good! I'm David!" He's never gonna let  us live that one down. haha!

Spiritual Experience:

The other day, we stopped to share a card with a girl that was sitting on a park bench. My companion introduced ourselves and everything and the girl just sat there and didn't say anything. Hermana Saez started to share her testimony of the Plan of Salvation. She started crying and said, "Sorry.. It's that my dad passed away just under a month ago." It hit me right then of how incredible it is that the Spirit really puts the words in our mouth and guides us to those in need of them. 

February 2, 2016

Summary:

Another week has flown by! I'm getting more used to serving here in Ñuñoa. 

We met two great families this past week and some new less-active members, too! Maria Jesus and her family accepted a date to be baptized. They're a family of four and they are FULL of faith. We'll keep you updated on them and the others. Keep them in your prayers because they are awesome people! I saw the guy that was singing "Äll Is Well" in the metro in the street the other day but I didn't realice it was him until he had already passed by. We also were blessed to be able to go to the temple this morning! That was the best gift of all. 

Spiritual Experience: 

Lately I've been studying a lot about how to make decisions and why it's important to be genuine. I started to ask myself: Why do I go out and contact people on the street? Why do I was to organize the area book? Why do I want to find people to teach? I realized that if my first answer to some of those questions isn't "because I love Christ" then I am out of line. 

Funny:

One of our investigators the other day asked us if we would mind if she smoked. Her mom goes, "Obviously not! They believe that cigarrettes are the tail of the Devil!"