Story Time

I get a phone call from the sister missionaries telling me that there in a member of the church who has terminal cancer, and wanted me to give him a blessing so that he and his family could be more peaceful. And it just so happens that this day i was on an intercambio with a relatively new elder to this mission, but ill talk about that later. 

But anyways i get to the house and i meet the family,( they werent active so i hadnt had the opportunity to meet them earlier) And the wife tells me that the husband had terminal cancer and that he has been in a coma for 5 days now. He hasnt moved at all, he hasnt spoken, or anything whatsoever.

But i start talking to her and i say ``Well Hermana the most important thing is that you have faith. Any blessing of the priesthood only works according to the faith of the person requesting the blessing`` And she replied ``Yes i know, and i have faith that whatever happens that it will be what God wants, i know that you are servants of God and that whatever you say it is as though He is saying it`` She then proceeded to tell me that she only wanted more peace in her situation.

So without any further ado i asked if she was ready for us to give the blessing,. And she said yes and then we passed into the bedroom where the husband was.

She asked my comp to do the first part of the blessing, and for me to do the second part. So my comp anoints him with the oil, and then i give the blessing. And i wanted so bad to tell him that he would be healed, but it wasn't that way

So i walk up to him, and lay my hands on his head, and i say his name, and immediately after i say his name he starts making alot of noises, and my initial thought was ``He knows that i am here, he can feel me, he knows that i am giving this blessing, and he knows that if i give it he is going to die, and he is trying to tell me to stop, but his body doesnt have the strength to let him`` But i keep on going, i finish saying his name, and then seal the blessing, and before i start to follow the spirit in saying what i know that God wanted him and his family to here he starts thrashing around (thrashing may be too dramatic of a word choice but i cant think of a better word that describes it) but i though that he knew what was coming, and his spirit was trying to jump out of him, or get him to stand up, or something. 

I quickly tell him to be at peace, and he stops moving, and i bless him that he and his family would be at peace in the trials that were to come. And in the blessing i told him that he would rise again (i knew that the spirit was telling me that it would be when he is resurrected), and that all the pain he was in was going to leave. i then told him that he was going to be in a state where he was going to be able to work again, and to support his family, and that he was going to be a tool in the Lords work (and i knew i was talking about on the other side).

 I then finish the blessing, and i look down at him, and there was tears in his eyes, even though that he was in a coma i know that in every second he was aware of the incredibly strong spirit that was in the room, and of the words i was saying him, and i dont know if they were tears beacuse he felt at peace, or was sad, or just random side effects of being in a coma haha. But then i look at his wife, and she is crying too. i wanted to talk to his wife but i couldnt. 

So i just tell him ``Hermana i really want to stay here but we need to go.`` I then kneeled down next to the man and put my hand of his and tell him goodbye, I then tell his wife goodbye as well, and she thanked us for coming, and told us that she was feeling better after than. I am almost positive that deep down she wanted me to tell her husband that he was going to stand up and be better, i know thats what i wanted to say, but i just couldnt. We then left

I was later told that he died that same day.

So now i have killed two people using the priesthood haha, thats not a joke i like saying haha

Ok  so this week was a super crazy one for me, there was a missionary that is down here in Punta Arenas that got sent him early, and so there was a whole bunch of crazy sector changes so those really strong awesome missionaries that are down here in my zone could help out support the missionaries that were taking the change harder.

And so my comp and i had to do a ton of intercambios just to be with the missionaries that were left alone because they had companion that where flown out, or had to take a boat to another sector.

But shortly after me and one of the missionaries gave the death blessing we got another call from the sister missionaries( the same ones that set up the last blessing) saying there is a member that is having a problem with Evil Spirits, and they want us to go in there to do an exorcisms and to bless the house. I really hope that the sister is just crazy and is just freaking themselves out hahaha But its great to know that the  sister missionaries in my zone trust the power of the priesthood that my companion and i possess. But safe to say no matter what happens, i am going to be preparing myself spiritually these next couple of days until i have the next blessing hahaha.

Well i love you all keep me posted with how you are all doing.

    

AMBUSH!!

So this week was super awesome. But i want to share a funny little story.

The mission presidente and the APs flew down here this week for a conference with the missionaries, but when they landed they came over to my house and i went on spits with one of the APs and presidente left to work with a couple of other missionaries in the city. It was super awesome, but when we come home at night, there is a ton of missionaries outside of my house. 

 

There was about 10 missionaries, and the mission president and his wife all waiting outside. And it was not normal, not at all, to have so many missionaries outside my house so i rush over there to see if there was something wrong, when one of the APs (the one i wasnt with) shouts ``HE`S HERE!!!!! GET HIM!!!!!!!`` And then all of them, mission president included, pulled out a bunch of snowballs that they hand hidden behind the fence to my house, and they MURDERED ME!!! Hahaha i didnt even have time to react, and then after they all pelted me with snow they all ran inside my house so i couldnt get them back. Thanks Missionaries in my zone, i thought you were on my side hahaha. But it was funny, i dont think that any other missionary can say that he has been ambushed by his mission president, the AP,s and half a zone of missionaries with snowballs haha

I had one experience this week that really stood out to me. So i was with the mission president alot this week, in between meeting with the missionaries, and with stake leaders i was with him alot. but there is something that he did that really stood out to me.

So normally when a mission president enters a room, you can just recognize that he is a man with authority, and when he opens his mouth you have no doubt that he is a man called of God to lead an army of missionaries. And i have always seen them as powerful leaders in the war against satan. And so all of my mission i have been striving to become a leader like my mission president is, but with Presidente Rappleye, and now with Presidente Obeso, and just have every part of my life reflect a man who has been called to preach the gospel with power and authority and to be in leader in doing so. 

but when i was n that meeting with the mission Presidente and the Stake Presidency, i was just amazed at my mission President. All of the stake people walk into to room, and they also immediately recognized him as a man who is called by God into a position of Power and Authority, and acted as such. But when we started to give a Presentation with the mission President to them he acted in a way that i really think changed my way of thinking. 

 

He was incredibly loving, and super humble, and super respectful, and in not one moment of the entire presentation he did not ``show`` that he was a man in authority, and would constantly say things like ``Presidente we are here to help you, and we have prayed alot about what we have planned, and we think that if you apply it in your Stake that it would help alot.`` And just a ton of super humble and loving things like that.

 

Which just blew my mind away, i dont even know why but it did. looking over my mission, i see that as i have acted in leadership positions i have always acted like i imagine Christ acted like when he cleansed the temple close to the beginning of his ministry. Just a big undeniable man of authority. Or like Elder Holland when he gives talks. Or like a lion. I would always see myself like that when i was in leadership positions. I wouldnt never do anything bad, or take my authority too far, but i just saw myself like that. 

 

And i know that when i was alone with missionaries trying to help them with personal needs i would be alot softer and loving, and that is what i was expecting from the mission presiednte i was expecting him to go in there and say ``Presidente, this presentation that we are going to show you is the new plan that we are going to be doing in this mission, And it will require that as a stake that you work alot closer with the missionaries`` And just other stuff like that, just kind of imposing the plan on them (like he did when he showed the plan to the missionaries haha) but no, he wasnt like that, he was super loving and acted like he was there to serve them instead of expecting of their service to get the work rolling faster here.

But it not one moment was his authority diminished or anything. everyone in the room had no doubt that the new plan we are doing came from God, but it didnt come in the form of an earthquake or in the elder Holland way of expressing things

It really effected me alot, and makes me want to change how i act as a leader, and try not to just always be a giant presence, but be able to be a gentle loving leader even when i am in front of a larger group of people. I know it is necessary to  be like that sometimes, in fact alot of times, but just the whole being able to be incredibly humble, and just let everyone know that you are only there to serve them, and to change your plans to help them better, and never in one second show any authority over them, and still be 100 percent in control of the situation at all times is just incredible. Its really making me reflect on myself alot.

sorry that i didnt write you any cool stories or anything this week it just i havent been able to stop thinking about that experience with President since that meeting that i had with him (like from last wednesday) 

Welp i love you all. Keep me posted

Face off

Wow i think that it is super funny that you say that 100 degrees is ``cooling down``  So check this, in my mission there is a saying that only super missionaries get sent down to Punta Arenas. in all of my missions i just  said that just a bunch of Elders that were down here started saying that to sound cool, but oh my gosh it is so true.

So pretty much every day this week we have been in below 0 temperatures, with snow everyday, But the craziest thing about the weather here is the wind. It is terrible. The other day there was wind that reached 135km/h. Its freaking crazy i watched the wind  literally ripping roofs off of houses, and it would quite frequently push me and my companion down to the ground. It destroyed Electrical lines, and pushed down a ton of fences and junk. But that wind hurt so much. 

The snow that was coming through that was alot more like ice, because it was cold enough with enough wind that it just turned solid, and those little ice chunks would hit me in the face, and that hurt. It felt like someone was shooting me in the face with an electric airsoft gun but at a very constant basis, for hours on end hahaha, oh my gosh that was just miserable haha the worst part about it was when we left to work in the morning it was a clear sky so i left to work without my gloves or my warm hat, so after being in that for a couple of hours my face and my hands were all red and swollen, and it was just not fun haha, but it was kind of a cool experience. The weather is nuts here. But i love it so much, the members here are awesome and we are doing a ton of work.

So there was one day this week when my companion and i were doing divisions and i went with this one member that i totally love, he is awesome. But anyways i get to his house, and my comp and i split up, so i am there with the member, and one of his friends that just happened to be over. the member tells me to sit down and says that he is going to be back in just a couple of mins ( just to change his clothes, but he is disabled so that kind of took a while but anyway) and then ditches me there with his friend. 

 

Which first of all it was weird being alone, i know that the member was still there in the house but i was just alone with this man.. But i decide to take advantage of the situation and teach him. so we start talking, and he imminently just wants to fight with me, and starts yelling ``You Mormons are a false religion,because you dont believe in the Bible!!!`` And i respond ``We totally do believe in the bible ( i then take my bible out of my backpack and show him)`` He then says ``But thats not the real bible, thats just one of you Mormon bibles!!!`` And i say `` it totally is a real bible, just look at it`` And i hand it to him. 

 

And he dosent want to cooperate so i say ``Open the book, and tell me the first book you open up to and you will see that its a real bible`` he reluctantly opens up the book and says ``Mathew`` And i said ( sarcastically ) ``Thats weird, that sounds like one of the books in the bible. And if you notice the next book is called Mark, then Luke, then John. Just like any other Bible!`` He then had a look on his face that said ok im an idiot, but just to convince him that we believe in the bible i continued ``I believe in the bible! I have read it all the way through, i study it on a regular basis, i constantly use it to help other people come closer to Christ when i am teaching. I Believe in the bible!`` I then testified of the bible, 

 

And then continued speaking ``Now the reason you are confused, is because you have heard of the book of Mormon right?`` And he tells me yes. And i then continue to teach him about the book of mormon, But i could tell he wanst paying attention to anything i was saying. So i asked him ``So why do YOU think that the book of mormon is important`` And that took him super off guard,  and he just sat there thinking about it for a while, and he said``HOnestly i dont know`` (but he said that in a totally different tone of voice as though he wanted to know why it is important. So i taught him again as to what the book of mormon was (because i am pretty sure he wasnt paying attention the first time) 

 

 And then i said ``So we know that throughout all of the bible there were men called as prophets, and that God has always loved his children, and always talked to them through prophets, Right?`` And he says`` Well yeah, of course`` I then said ``Well explain something to me then, what happened to them? After the death of Christ and his apostles, we stop hearing about them. Why do you think that is?``(i was super straight up with this man if you cant tell yet haha) But he responds ``Umm.....I have no idea...`` I then say ``If God Loves us, wouldnt he still want to talk to us?`` And he says ``I think that He would`` 

 

And then i said `` And that is why the Book of Mormon is important, It is THE ONLY Evidence that we have that God still loves us. Its the ONLY Evidence we have that He still talks to us today. I can i tell you without a single doubt that i know that it is true.`` And then quietly as if in humble amazement he whispers ``How?..`` And i replied ``Because I`ve read it, and i have prayed to ask God if it was true, and He answered my prayers. And i know that you can know if it is true as well. You just need to read it, and pray to God to ask if it is true. I then Open up the book of mormon and read Moroni 10:3-5 with him. And give him a copy of the book of mormon. And he very gratefully accepted it, and said that he was going to read it

Just then the member comes back in, i am positive that he was listening the whole time, but he just didnt want to interrupt the moment. But he comes in and bears his testimony of the book of mormon as well, and then invited his friend to read it. The three of us then prayed together and then we all left.

I then had a super awesome teaching experience when i was with the member but i dont have too much time so i will just give you a quick summary of the lesson. We visited a member who has been inactive for almost 20 years, and she left the church because she was offended by a member, but tried to reassure me that she is fine because she would still bless her food before eating every day and was a nice person so God would still save her (false doctrine haha) 

 

But after complaining about like 20 whole mins about this member she said to me ``The last time i went to church i felt like i was under attack. Do you honestly think that God wanted that?`` I then replied to her ``Do you remember the story of Mormon and Moroni?`` And she said``Yes why?`` And i said ``Well there was one part when he tells us that the Lamanites where going around killing everyone who believed in Christ. And so if they where open about believing in Christ they would be murdered. But moroni said something that i will never forget, after telling us about them killing everyone that didnt deny Christ he said `` And i will NOT Deny the Christ`` Moroni didnt care if he died because he knew the importance of enduring to the end. And if Moroni didnt care (i then spoke in the same tone of voice that she used and i said) Do you honsetly think that God Cared? NO! HE DIDNT! 

 

God only cared that Moroni was faithful until the end. and even though he didnt like that you felt attacked last time that you came church, the only thing that he actually cares about it that you come back. He loves you, and he is sad that you are choosing to throw away your salvation only because you got offended. Come back to church. Please. It is the only way that you can get back onto the path that leads back to God.

right then i got called by my comp, and he had an emergency and needed to meet back up immediately. So i said a closing prayer, and then left.

Before i left she asked what time the church meetings started at so she could come back.

Well i got to go. but i love you all!

Slippin and Slidin

Hahaha Oh my goodness Mom, that is so funny, that Sister is the hermana that you were talking about a long time ago, me and her are SUPER good friends, i love talking to her so much! Actually little known fact, remember how last week i told you i hoped i had to go to Osorno so i could say goodbye to the sisters from my group who were going home, but to say it a little more honestly i dont really care about any of the other sisters that came to chile with me, i really just wanted to say bye to her because we were really good friends hahaha. But even though i couldnt get to go to Osorno to say bye, and to get her email address or anything because the missionaries that i lead down to Punta Arenas would have been completely lost without me, but ill talk about that in a second. If you want to facebook stalk her she is from California.

Dad i laughed so hard when i read ´´Chewiecabra´´ I am assuming that you were making a reference to the chupacabra from Mexico. And i know its not a bad word there in Mexico haha. But iin one of my district i had a missionary that is from Peru, and cabra/cabro is a word that is pretty normally used here in Chile, but it Peru it is a super offensive swear word, well i guess its not really nice here but its commonly used to call someone a immature little kid, but in Peru its super bad and so i pictured dad calling the dog that and i just busted up laughing

So I LOVE PUNTA ARENAS!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so incredible here! I love it, i love it, i love it, I LOVE IT! The people her are just super awesome, the members are awesome, and it doesnt rain!!!!!! hahaha Its kind of crazy being a zone leader though because i am constantly running around working for different mission needs, and then when i am not i am working like crazy with my companion to be an example for all of the other missionaries down here. But i love it so so much! 

But talking about getting down here. I was the only missionary out of the whole group who had flown down south, so i was really the only one who knew what they were doing, and actually almost every single missionary that came with me was brand new, and didnt speak spanish, and so i had to help them out a lot. But there was one sister that i had to help though whos luggage was SUPEr OVER Weight! It was almost 30 pounds over weight, i have no idea what she had in that thing, but they wouldnt let her onto the airplane unless she payed a giant fee, but naturally she didt have money. 

 

And so i was in security because another missionary got pulled aside and was getting searched, and all of his bags searched, and so i was over there helping the missionary, when she comes over to me to tell me what happened, and so i left the other missionary for a second to help her, and there was a fee of 45,000 pesos. that like $90. And i actually reacted really good instead of freaking out i just instantly pulled out my credit card and paid for her with my personal money, i am sure i would have freaked out a little more had i not been so busy, i then rushed back to security, after a quick check up on all of the other missionaries who were all good. But speaking of that i need to write the office and ask for a reimbursement, because that was a ton of money, freakin hermana haha.

But finally we get into the airplane, and my seat was in front of a bunch of the missionaries but not next to any, but i was sitting next to a girl who was like 20 years old, and she was awesome, i spent like the first 30 mins of the flight just talking to her becoming her friend, and then the next hour teaching her about the book of mormon, and reading it with her, she was actually super receptive, and she had a million questions about it. ANd it was really good that all of the missionaries were behind me because they noticed that i was teaching her, and so they all turned onto missionary mode too, and i noticed how a bunch of them started to talk to people that they were sitting next to.

My Skype Conference with President went really good, but the other zone leaders seemed a little stressed out about it, because the new mission president gave A LOT more responsibilities to Zone Leaders than they had initially had. I am totally fine with it, everything from having interviews with sister missionaries if they are fighting with their companions to weekly meeting with district leaders to analyze the weakness that there are in the districts and make plans to overcome them, and just a ton of other things, i have like 8 pages on notes from the conference of stuff we need to do. 

 

I was talking to my companion about it and he said that the way of leadership here in the mission is going to change alot now, because before almost all of the responsibility was on the mission president, and the ZLs were really just there to filter the information so only the import stuff got through to president ( they still had more responsibilities but you get the idea) but now the only time that president gets involved is with his normally scheduled interview and meetings, And he said to us ´´Elders, i chose you all to be the new Leaders of this mission because i see each one of you as Superman, you are all unstoppable missionaries who have an infinite possibility to change the lives of the missionaries in your zones, and to effect the work were you are at.´´ 

Working with Elder Parson is awesome he is from Washington, actually from a city on the border of Oregon, and was a city that i am pretty sure i remember dad talking about before, when he would tell me about his mission, i like to imagine that dad baptized his family. i get along super well with him, better than probably any other comp that i have had. And i love teaching with him, he has more time in the mission than i do, and so he has had alot of time to perfect his teaching, and the two of us teach really really good together. I dont think i have ever seen more miracles while i have been teaching in my whole mission that i am seeing working with him, there is not a single doubt in my mind that since both of us are super dedicated missionaries doing everything possible to follow the spirit, the spirit is obviously guiding us, its super obvious to me, and i love it so much.

The members are awesome here, they leave to work with us every time we call them to ask for their help, and wow they help a ton, i havent had members that were willing to work with us pretty much my whole mission and its super obvious the difference in the work from here in Punta Arenas than any other part of the mission, just this week we had 3 baptisms, which were super awesome, and my companion told me he had been here for a little less than 3 months, and there has been baptisms sense he´s got here, and there was a  bunch more that there was this year before he got here, and then looked at what its like up north, and i was in a couple of ward that there had not been any baptisms in more than a year, and the missionaries would have to work their butt off just to get someone to come to church, and then the investigators would never want to come back because the members didnt sit with them or anything and just felt like an awkward outsider, and then never wanted to come back. 

 

But here the members are awesome, they leave to work with each with us, and so the investigators are already making friends with them, and they sit with the investigators at church, and in ward council meeting my companion and i talked about how every member should have their own copy of preach my gospel so they could be even more effective, and they jumped right on it, the assigned a sister to buy a ton of copies for the ward so that they can start reading the manual to learn. They are just incredible, i have never been happier with the members in my entire life hahaha. I have gotten a bunch of references from them too. Its just like a missionary dream land. I really hope that the work is like that back in Mesa, that would make me SO SO happy. If its not i am going to start working so it can be.

I have a bazillion other things that i want to talk about, like funny walking on ice stuff, and proselyting in the snow, other stories that looking back just make me want to cry because they were so precious and humbling. But i am super happy here in Punta Areana, i really hope that i get to spend the rest of my mission here. I doubt it, but i want so bad to be here a really, really long time.

Welp i love you all! Keep me Posted!