So sorry, all the Chileans call Constitución Conti for short, I've fallen into the habit and have never told you. They're the same thing.
Also there is this Spanish word - fechas - that translates to dates, that all the missionaries use to mean ''baptismal dates.'' I've never actually said the word 'dates' or 'baptismal date' my entire mission except for in my emails, and it's long to type so for on I'll just use fechas.
So this week! Was great! I'm going to go ahead and launch into investigators first this time.
So we did divisions with the other elders in the district on Tuesday so I went to Talca and spent the night there. But Elder Hadlock and Elder Lloyd (Elder Lloyd went to Lone Peak too! Wooooot!) taught Megan the Gringa in the church, but I wasn't there so I don't really know how it went. Our Mission Leader (who was also there) tells me that they didn't actually get to much of the lesson, which is disappointing, but at least she got her first lesson-ish! She was in Concepción this weekend though so she wasn't able to make it to church, we haven't really talked to her since. We're hoping to maaaybe have thanksgiving with her family this week because they're the only family here that might celebrate it.
We also taught La Mamá de Marcelo again last night, which was awesome. By the way I found out her real name, and it's María Ramós. We taught the first lesson, and it actually went very well. Much better than we were expecting. Her problem right now is that she's in a Christian group that saved her from a very very dark period of her life, and she's been friends with them for years and years. Luckily, she understands the importance of finding the truth. I asked her ''If you receive your answer and know that the Church is true, what would you do?'' And she replied that she'd get baptized. That'd it hurt a lot to leave her Christian group, but that she'd do it. That kind of conviction is extremely rare here in Chile, usually when I ask that question people reply with much more wishy-washy answers like ''I'd probably read the Book of Mormon more...'' but she gets it, which is really good. I'm going to pray that she will recieve her answer and that we can have the Spirit more in our lessons.
So that's that! Now for stories!!
So I had an awesome time in the divisions Tuesday. I was with an Elder from my group named Elder Villavicencio, who's Ecuadorian and super fun to talk with. Ecuadorians are a bit tricky to understand (points to Dad) but I didn't do too bad. I could at least understand absolutely everything he said in the lessons, for some reason I have a much easier time understanding Spanish when we're talking about the gospel. In that division though we had a lesson with a Mom and her 14 year old son that impacted me really strongly. It was probably just about the best lesson I've ever been in, so I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to be there. We taught lesson 1 and showed them the 20 minute Restoration movie, and then Elder Villavicencio invited them to act by reading the Book of Mormon and praying. And then I shared my conversion experience and my testimony. Usually when I try to share a personal experience or testify, something always happens. A phone, a dog, a child, an earthquake, a tsunami, or something distracting enough always happens and it was starting to bug me. But this time, miraculously, there was nothing. As soon as I started speaking the room was completely silent, like you could hear a pin drop. I shared how I gained my testimony, and promised them that they could recieve an answer too, and testified of the thruthfulness of the restored gospel. The Spirit was stronger almost than I've ever felt it in my life. And, for one of the first times in my mission, I could tell that they felt it too. Many times in these lessons I feel the Spirit very strong and I can just see it bounce off the investigators like nothing and it's a little frustrating, like ''How can you not FEEL that it's AMAZING and HUUUUGE.'' But this time it wasn't like that, my words sunk into her heart, and I knew at the moment that she was going to be baptized. I knew it. We called the other Elders last night and they told us that the mom went to church, and the kid really wanted to go but couldn't because he was sick. Even though they aren't my investigators, that was an amazing experience and I really hope that they make that commitment to get baptized. And I hope that I'm still here when they do. Cuz Ima go to it. I think I really needed that, if nothing else than just a confidence booster that I have the capacity to teach and testify with the Spirit.
More stories! So Chile has helped me develop an apetite. They feed us waaaaay too much for lunch, so I have the capacity to eat like I've never had before. It's amazing I'm still skinny, it's probably all the hills we're walking up in Conti. We had tacos (the only tacos I've had since I got here) last Sunday and I ate 6. They weren't little hard-shell ones, they were full-sized big pork tacos. And I ate 6. Also, I've been making a lot of french toast this week, and one night I ate 8 pieces of french toast, and easily felt like I could've eaten more. It's like a super power, I don't know where it came from!
So I forgot to tell you about our p-day last week! We borrowed bikes and helmets from La'Cote and we rode down the coast south to a port a few miles from Conti. It was a lot of fun, and a super pretty ride. I took pictures at the port that I'm going to send you all. Today we played volleyball and tennis at the church with us 6 Conti missionaries. We never get to go to the activities because they're 2 hours away in Talca, so we decided to do our own thing. We talked to the bishop about it and he gave us the keys, so we played volleyball! And it was awesome. I also have a picture of that. I also tried a cool new fruit today, they're called 'nisperos' here or something like that, but if you google it I'm not sure what would come up because Mexico has another fruit that they call 'nisperos' but it's different. It's delicious, and I've never seen one before in my life. There is a huge nispero tree by the church, and there are a bunch that grow on the church side of the fence, so I climbed the fence and threw down nisperos for the other missionaries to catch in bags (it kind of reminded me of a mario party mini-game.) Then we washed them and ate them, and they are super delicious. But I have no way to describe them because they are completely different than anything I've ever had ever. It's like a perfect mix between a plum, a peach, and a nectarine.
Last night was also fantastic, an awesome family in the ward invited us over to make Columbian food with them because Elder Mendez is Columbian and the couple both served in the same mission in Columbia. Funny enough they met and got married after both their missions. They invited the 6 Conti Missionaries and we all made something called arepas. It's like friend corn bread, and it's delicious. It was a fun night.
So I heard that there's a movie with Sam and Luke that shows Sam's mission in Concepción much more, because the series on Mormon Channel doesn't show a whole lot of his mission. So go watch it! If nothing else at least the parts of Sam's mission because it's also my mission so that's cool.
Well that was my week, and it was great! I look forward to another one. Hopefully we'll get more time to contact this week and find a few new investigators. But we're having a great time down here! The Church is true! I'm going to use my remaining time to send some pictures real quick.
Love,
Elder Fox
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