Man do I have so much to tell you...lots and lots and lots!!!! First of all...we have CAMBIOS (exchanges) this week!!!! Woo they are always just so interesting haha. Well my companion is leaving...which makes sense because he’s already been here for like 6 months...he’s going to be going to Chiloe. And I’m staying here! But I’m going to be A DAD (that means that he will be training a brand new missionary)!!!! I’ll be training a newbie this cambio ;)) His name is Elder Shumway and he’s from Texas! I'll meet him on Wednesday so I’ll tell you all about him next week. But yeah I’ll have the privilege of being his first companion and teaching him Spanish and everything. Should be fun!! I’m excited for it!! And I’m going to be District Leader from here too! Lots and lots of responsibility so that should be fun!! It’s funny, a couple weeks ago I just felt sad, and I didn’t know why, like we were doing a lot of hard work and having success and everything and it was all going well but like I just wasn’t that happy of a person. I needed something to change. More energy to do the work and more "ganas" in Spanish, to go out and give it everything I got! So I prayed that God would help me to do that. And he put me with 3 callings, first counselor, district leader, and training ha-ha be careful what you pray for everyone. Nah it’s a joke, I’m happy to be able to serve more and more! It’ll be a good experience!
So yesterday I conducted my first Sunday and it was a disaster! I forgot to say a lot of things and was super nervous but hey the more mistakes I make, the more I learn right?? Ha-ha yeah! But I’ll have a lot of opportunities to conduct so I have a lot more chances to get it right. The new Branch President and I had to set apart like 4 different people yesterday for callings and what not, it was interesting. Life is very busy and stressful now. But it’s alright-- with Christ and the priesthood it is all possible.
Anyways my birthday was awesome!!!! I got 3 cakes given to me! So that was awesome!!! Wednesday night we had a party at a member’s house and the next day a Hermana came by and dropped a nice cake off for me. And then yesterday the Hermana Viany and her family came to Calbuco to visit me!!!!!!!! They gave me another cake and cards and what not. It was awesome to see them again! We just laughed about all the awkward moments that happened with them, back when I didn’t know Spanish. Oh and that night we got to see the broadcast from Elder Rasband and it was GREAT!!!! Loved it! And also the Papitos got back from Brazil and brought me a little Christ statue and a triple in Portuguese. So guess who has started reading the bible in Portuguese? Me! Haha its SOOO much like Spanish, I’ll pick it up in no time. I can almost understand everything when I read it. Look out dad! I’ll practice with you someday. My favorite quote from Elder Rasband was when he bore his testimony at the end and said that he was the newest and weakest apostle, and he doesn’t know why God has given him this responsibility but he knows that everything is possible with his help. He doesn’t call who is qualified, he qualifies who he calls. It was awesome and he also said "The more you come to know the Savior, the more you will love him, and the more you love him, the more you will want to follow him." And I don’t know why but that quote just nailed me right in the heart.
So other news...2 of our investigators decided this week that they really wanted to be baptized and they committed to not smoking and they are doing well with that. One investigator would smoke 4 packs a day and we set a goal for him to only 1 pack a day right now. We gave him a priesthood blessing to help him out. We went by the next day at night and he was like "Hey guys!!! I’m doing so much better!! It’s been hard today but I’ve only smoked 3 cigs!!!!" In 1 day he went from 4 packs to 3 cigs...it’s amazing what the desire and priesthood can do. Also today, we went to a store just to buy stuff and I saw the lady looking at my nametag so I thought even though its p day I’ll contact this lady. So I said to her “Hey! How are you?” And we started talking and everything and it turns out that she was baptized in the church like 30 years ago and still remembers everything about the church and she has like a testimony still. She just had lost contact with the church and recently she has wanted to go back and start going again. Her 19 year old daughter was there too and she was like "Wait I didn’t know you were Mormon??" and then she started talking about how her and her 3 brothers are not baptized in any religion but she has been wanting to get baptized because she knows it’s something important. She just finished her studies and wants to start getting to know religions and what not. So we’re going to go visit them this week. They were really cool. Just goes to show that literally there are people EVERYWHERE in EVERY MOMENT that are ready for the gospel! We just need to find them, and have the power to open our mouths to say something. We know it’s true and we know the gospel...OTHER PEOPLE DONT! But they need to, and the only way they will know and have these blessings are if WE do something about it! Hey love you all!
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