My companion, Elder Strate, is right behind me in the photo (back row, left side).

Elder Viñas is the only one without a nametag.

Lots of friends in this photo :D

 

September 29, 2014

Hm. Just when spring was going to start, it decided to rain a bunch this week. We´ve had pretty good weather for most of September, but this last week has been wet.

Before I forget, I wanted to comment that Elder Strate and I talk about lots of different stuff in the street. He´s way into hunting and he knows a lot about guns. He´s thinking about joining the military. He´s also very into movies and video games with dramatic storylines (like Call of Duty or Batman: Arkham City). He also tells me a lot about silly Youtube channels like "How it should have ended." Elder Strate helps me feel very relaxed as a missionary. It helps a lot when there are a lot of little tasks we need to do—and it´s a VERY pleasant contrast to certain past companions. :)

 

Maia, nice you got to start the semester with Elder Holland. His talks are the best :D I wonder if he´ll talk about similar stuff in General Conference (like, similar to what he said to you).

 

Mom, it is true. I miss those mornings where we feasted on waffles loaded with honey and syrup and jelly and all that stuff. There´s really good honey here in Chile, but it´s all solid. I need to use a knife to take it out. I try to microwave it and it becomes pure liquid. As long as I´m talking about waffles, I also miss Texas sheet cake, chicken pillows, In-n-Out, and Costco pizza :D

We had an exchange with the zone leaders in Lanco this week and it went really well. The zone leaders have a lot of people they´re teaching, so it was really nice to get to teach so many lessons.

We talked a lot about the members. So many of the members here are like the thin soil in the parable of the sower. The seed grows quickly and flourishes for a season, but then the dry season comes and the sprout dries out for lack of strong roots. New members hear about home teaching and mutual with the missionaries, then they show up to church and don´t see any of it, so they assume that´s normal. The roots aren´t set. This happens because so many members don´t understand the doctrine. Everyone needs to do the OLA: Orar, Leer, and Asistir la capilla (pray, read, and attend church) READ YOUR SCRIPTURES! But don´t just read them. Study them. Search them. Ponder them. Pray about them. It´s good for you :D

We taught a guy yesterday whose son was murdered a week ago. He´s the boyfriend-fiance-unmarried-husband-whatever-you´d-call-that of a member who attends church almost every Sunday. It´s hard for her because he´s been very closed-off to reading the scriptures, which is essential to conversion. He´s so sad and confused, with so many questions, especially about the justice of God. As he asked questions, scriptures from the Book of Mormon and the Bible came to my head and I knew that the answers he wanted were RIGHT THERE! We testified likewise and explained that he´d never understand unless he actually looked for the answers. There are members I´ve taught who have attended church for 20 years, but who really don´t understand the basic doctrines of the church because they don´t search, ponder, and pray. It´s kinda sad that the member isn´t married and is in this situation. It´s hard for people to get out of cohabitation, but there are two ways to do it—separation or marriage.

We had interviews with President Obeso this week In Lanco (I´ve been in Lanco Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this last week. Lot´s of bus time.)  Hermana Obeso did floor exercises and stretches as we waited (it was silly walking into the chapel to find all the missionaries on the floor leaning to the side with they´re legs stretched out) President Obeso told me something that I´ve been thinking about a lot this weekend. He said there´s something we´re lacking, some sort of spark that we need to be able to fully enjoy the mission. He said he doesn´t know what it is, but he said that all the times he´s recently seen us, he´s felt there´s something missing. He made it very clear that we´re good, obedient missionaries, but there´s some sort of spark we need. I still don´t know what that is, but we´re looking for it.

The church is true. THE BOOK OF MORMON IS FULL OF TRUTH! Good stuff in there :D

Love y´all :D

-Elder Connor Christopherson