Hola! This week overall was a lot better, I'm much less stressed and I'm feeling much happier and close to the Spirit again. I'm still having a hard time every now and then but this week was full of learning opportunities and more spiritual experiences which definitely helped. So now I'll talk about it! Yay!
First a funny story, Chilean news kind of makes me laugh sometimes, because a lot of the times the little captions they put at the bottom of the screen are kind of ridiculous. There was a story on at a members house eating lunch that caught my eye for a bit about an assault that happened on a very wealthy man in his home, apparently the assaulters stole millions. They then put a little caption at the bottom of the screen that said ''Testimony of the victim: They left fast.'' That just made me laugh, that all he had to say was ''They left fast'' and the news people felt that worthy to put at the bottom of the screen for the story.
So, you know how all of you have been sending me letters for a while? I haven't been getting very many since I came, just a few here and there and they were almost always from Grandma and Grandpa. That is, until last Tuesday. The secretaries, assistants, and Presidente and Hermana Warne came down to Talca for a special familysearch training because they want us to use it more in our proselyting efforts, and because they all came they brought all the mail with them. I was getting ready to leave the Stake Center in Talca Tuesday when I heard Hermana Warne say ''Elder Fox, your mountain.'' I turned around and she gave me stack of letters that was about as big as my head. Okay that's an exaggeration but there was a flipping ton. The other missionaries marveled and said that they don't think they've gotten that many letters their whole missions. I explained that my parents and my siblings send paper copies of their emails every week and they've been backed up in the mail system for about 3 months now. It was still pretty incredible though. There's actually a great tender mercy that all the letters came this week, because I found a lot of counsel and advice and spiritual thoughts in the letters that I did appreciate when I read them the first time, but they really really hit home when I read them this week in the midst of my discouragement. A lot of what you had to say really helped me set goals for myself to get out of this funk that I've found myself in, especially what Grandma said about writing down your spiritual experiences and spiritual impressions. Also a letter Chelise sent really really hit home for me. And also a bunch of things that my parents have sent. So thank you all! I'm glad all of it all came at the same time, even though I had a ton to read this week.
SO the first learning experience of the week was Tuesday. The zone leaders wanted to do emergency divisions with us Tuesday even though it wasn't a full day and we've already done divisions with the previous zone leaders this change, because they took our lack of baptismal dates and general success as a sign that we weren't working. No, that definitely didn't help with my discouragement, frustration, or general lack of self-confidence, but we ended up doing the divisions anyway and I was very humbled because a lot of great things happened that day. First, both Elder Hadlock and I learned to love and respect our new zone leaders which we've been having problems with since they got here a few weeks ago, and second Elder Hadlock and our Chilean zone leader Elder Trancoso found a wonderful investigator on Tuesday and set a baptismal date with him! It was sad I wasn't there, but apparently Elder Trancoso is an absolutely amazing teacher so that probably really helped. His name is Sebastian, and I can't really tell you guys much about him because I wasn't there, but apparently he really loves our message and he's an amazing person. We haven't been able to see him since but I hope we'll be able to pass by soon so I can meet him. On my end of the divisions I talked with the other zone leader, Elder Lloyd, a lot about our sector and our investigators and what we're doing and our hopes for all of them. We also talked a lot about the mission, what it means to be a leader, and a lot of things. I think it was actually the most enjoyable division I've ever had. We had a lesson with a less active family that neither of us had met before, and it was one of the best lessons I've ever been in. The family loved us immediately, they had me play their piano and had us tell stories about our missions and such. They marveled at how good my Spanish was after how little time I had, and their comments about it helped me improve my confidence a lot. When we got around to the lesson, even though we hadn't planned anything at all, the lesson went very well and smoothly and the Spirit was very strong. I could tell that they felt it, and they said that they'd do everything the could to be able to go to church. It was a really cool experience for me and a good cure for my confidence. At the end of the day Elder Lloyd only had good things to say, which really helped. He said that Elder Trancoso went to Conti with intention to ''fix'' us and everything that was going wrong in our area, but Elder Lloyd expressed confidence that after talking with me and seeing me teach that we actually have a lot of excitement about the work and that we're working really really hard. The comments really helped, because feeling lack of trust from the zone leaders is really hard when you're working really hard and not having any success. Elder Trancoso and Elder Hadlock also had some great conversations on their end, so in the end we both had a great experience and won the confidence of the leaders again.
We had another day of divisions on Thursday because Elder Hadlock is District Leader and the other Elders in our district are, conveniently, the other Conti Elders. So I went with Elder Rodriguez, the trainee from the newest group, while Elder Hadlock went with Elder Schley to their sector. It was a fun day because we had English class, but sadly more than that not much happened. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk more with Elder Rodriguez though. He's a really cool Elder.
We found another new investigator-ish this week too. Elder Hadlock met her while on divisions with Elder Trancoso when she told him that she wanted to learn English. Apparently she's a Jehovah's witness. When I first heard that she was a Jehovah's Witness I thought the classes might be a little awkward, because us and Jehovah's Witnesses kind of an unwritten agreement not to teach one another. Most testigos (as we call them in Spanish) are very very very active in their church and also very very passionate. Most encounters that we have with them aren't very pleasant. But when we went to her house to teach English she was actually very friendly, she let us say a prayer to start out and a prayer to close which was very surprising to me. We asked her a little bit about her beliefs before we left and she said that she believes that people of all faiths will be able to make it to heaven. That explained it all to me, we found one of the rare testigos that isn't very active, because if she believes that then she's almost completely separated from their doctrine. Elder Hadlock and I think that we might be able to teach her the gospel and she could be open to it, so I'm excited to see where that goes.
Another cool thing happened this Saturday. Elder Hadlock and I have had these eternal investigators ever since I got here named Juan and Janet. The reason that they're eternal investigators is that they're very active, they go to church all three hours every week, and they go to every ward event and activity no matter what. They're super active and a generally amazing family. The problem is is that the wife had never divorced her previous husband, because we're in Chile. Getting divorced here is very very difficult, and every since they've started investigating over a year ago they've been lazilly trying to get her divorced so that they could get married and get baptized. Us Elders don't teach them much because they've been acting like members for so long they just have normal visiting teachers and home teachers. The good news is that finally they got their divorce papers done so that they can get married! The sad news is that last Saturday we helped them move to a part of Conti named Centinella, which is in the other Elders' sector. So they'll arrange the baptism and everything, but I'm still super super happy for them and honestly don't care at all that they're not technically ''our'' baptism. I'm going to count it anyway, and if I stay here another change I'll be able to go to their baptism! The thought makes me really excited. The four of us taught them in their new home on Saturday where we watched the ''Together Forever'' church video with them. To my surprise after the video, Juan was crying. Juan is a very hard man and I've never seen him show emotion at all since I've known him, let alone tears. It was very touching to me, he then talked a little bit and bore a testimony. We then brought up getting married and said that we wanted to set a marriage date for them (I know it sounds weird but with Chile and this kind of situation that was the way it was expected to happen.) Juan decided to pray aloud about which day would be best, and the Janet did the same. We all decided on the 28th of November, and then set a baptismal date for the 5th of December. They were so happy, the Spirit was very strong and it was very touching. Like I said I've never seen Juan show emotion, but he was practically dancing around the room and squeezing Janet every now and then. He then gave the four of us huge bear hugs before we left. Janet was really happy too, almost to the point of tears. That definitely made my week. In church the next day neither of them could stop smiling. It made my baptism mean a little more to me, because though they were really happy to finally officially get married, the thing that brought them the most happiness was that they'd finally be able to be baptized and take upon them the name of Christ. I don't think I've really considered before that how much my baptism means to me.
So that was my week! I learned a lot and had a lot of great experiences, and I'm very grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord this week. I had a thought a few weeks ago that came in handy this week. The thought was essentially ''Anybody who wants to be exalted in the Celestial Kingdom and is trying to make it there, yet thinks that they might not be able to doesn't understand the Atonement.'' The Lord gives us weaknesses so that we turn to Him, and as long as we are trying to do the will of the Lord and trying to improve ourselves, Christ's Atonement is sufficient for all of us. We will always sin, and sometimes it will seem like our weaknesses are crying out our name from the dust to the heavens, testifying against us and our inadequacy and impotence, saying that there's no way we can ever become as God. When we feel like this, it is always the result of the deceivings of the devil. Weaknesses are gifts, an essential part of our mortal condition, gifts given to us from God that we may turn to our Savior. Whatever the situation, when we turn to Christ and forsake our sins and try to reach our goal, the Atonement is sufficient for us. Funny thing is, though I pondered that thought weeks ago, I completely forgot it these past few weeks when I've been frustrated with myself. I remembered it when I thought of my ponderize scripture this morning:
17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;
The thing that especially touches me about this scripture is the first sentence of verse 18. Be of good cheer, for He will lead us along. I know that this is true.
Love,
Elder Fox
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