Week 27 Vallenar

Sept 14, 2015

Hola Familia! La semana pasada fue super bakan! Hemos experimentado muchos milagros! Elder Malan y Yo entontramos a muchas personas para enseñar y eventualmente bautizar. Bueno, un dia estabamos caminando y fuimos por una casa grande en la cavancha (farm section of our sector). Tocamos en la puerta y una mujer nos recibiò. Hablamos con ella y nos dijo que sus hijos son miembros y que quiere bautizarse. Que Loco! La ùnica problema es que tiene que asistir a la capilla 3 veces por lo menos antes que bautizarse. Eso es fome pero esta bien. So this lady is ready to be baptized but needs to go to church 3 times before getting baptized which is a rule for any investigator. I probably wont see her get baptized in this cambio but maybe Elder Malan will baptize her. There is still a chance that I might stay in Vallenar but its more likely that I will get transferred. That doesn’t mean I’m going to pack my bags early though. I am going to do all that I can to leave Elder Malan with a ton of people to get baptized. So we had a really good day this week, which was this last Saturday. This was a very important day because it was our last day to invite people to go to church the following day. So we worked super hard that day looking for new people as well as talking to the most receptive people that we already know. I thought for sure that we were going to invite Claudia and Victor’s family this cambio. That day we talked with him to get him to go to church and he said no. He said he had to work and that kind of destroyed my confidence. I was counting on his family getting baptized this cambio and if he didn’t go that Sunday he wouldn’t be able to get 3 church attendances before they do cambios. I felt super down in the dumps and a little betrayed by heavenly father because I had been working super hard and I had been praying and fasting to find someone to baptize. I started thinking more about it and realized that if I’m not here to see the people get baptized.... who cares? What really matters is that they get to that point. I was thinking extremely selfishly. I am here for the lord and these people will be baptized when THEY are ready... not me. Anyway, it was late and I thought all hope was lost but then an impression came to me and Elder Malan to visit one more person even though it was time to head back to the pension. We visited a lady named Maria and she invited us in. She was with her 14 year old sister and her 3 kids. We talked a little and then we invited them to church. They said no because they had to make birthday treats for her cousin the next day and then I told her that if she went to church, we would go to her house after church and help her make the treats. She agreed! It was a miracle because my prayer was answered. They are both super good investigators and they both went the next day and really enjoyed. It. She said she wants to go again next Sunday. They are our last hope basically. Whether they get baptized this cambio or not, I’m so grateful that heavenly father was able to humble me and help me see the bigger picture. He does answer prayers and he loves us. I have grown closer to him than I ever imagined. I love the mission. Now, for a funnier story.... Elder Malan and I were exercising one morning and we went for a jog through the hills. We went off-road up this hill and we ran by this blanket and I was about to step on it and then a homeless dude threw the blanket off of him and started to yell hahahaha. I have no idea what he said but it was a little something like this.... hhaayyyeyayhhahahahaa! And after he put the blanket back on him and went back to sleep. I can’t believe I didn’t see him hahaha. He was so well camouflaged. It was pretty fun. Also, this week is the week of the 18th of September. This is one of the biggest holidays if not the biggest of the year. It is going to be super fun. We have many plans to go to BBQs and other fiestas. We both learned how to use the "Trompo" which is a super cool Chilean toy. You guys should look it up. Anyway, that about sums up the week. I love you all and take care!

Elder Spanbauer

This is a Trompo

Hot Dog Salad

Homemade Meal