Elder Parker Spanbauer: Week 40 Antofagasta

Dec 12, 2015

So this week was pretty good. We had our Christmas Zone Conference with President Dalton and Hermana Dalton. It was my first one of the mission! It was really cool because our zone here in Antofagasta is HUGE! There was like 50 people at least. President talked about several things but I thought I would share something that I liked that he shared. So as you guys know, when Elder Cook came to visit our mission, the elders from Arica had several problems with the bus. President basically told us that story from his point of view. He said that he had been stressing about that conference for months because he was thinking of how hard it would be to get all of the missionaries in the mission to Antofagasta without any problems. He said that he talked to all of the Zone leaders in the mission and told them to call him when their zones had boarded the buses so that he could know where everyone is at. He said he received calls from everyone except Arica. He got a call late that night before saying that Arica had just boarded their bus. President felt like he could finally sleep knowing that everyone was on their way. Then, about 1 and a half hours later he received another call from Arica saying the bus broke down. His worst nightmare he said. He said he could have thought about the situation in two different ways. One being that about 90% of the mission is going to be able to see Elder Cook and that things were okay or how are we going to get them here as fast as possible so no one loses this opportunity. President says he prayed so much that night in order to find a solution. He then related this all to the lord. He said that in that moment, he felt a portion of what the lord feels for us. His everlasting love for us. He didn't feel satisfied that 90% of the mission was going to see Elder Cook.... He wanted all of us. Just like the lord doesn't want to save just some of us, HE WANTS US ALL. After a series of events, the group from Arica was able to make it to the conference but only some of them. 12 were left behind. He said that he felt so terrible for them. There would be twelve missionaries that would not see the conference. It then got me thinking that these 12 missionaries represent the percentage of people that will not be saved. It’s tragic... The reason we do this work is to bring our brothers and sisters unto the knowledge of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. We fight to bring that percentage down of ones who will be lost. To me this thought president shared was powerful because not only does it apply directly to the work.. But I was part of the Arica group. I almost did not make it. That’s why it impacted me a lot. After the conference we all exchanged gifts which was fun. Also, we were talking to a lady yesterday and right behind us... like right behind us.... a car smashed into a dog going like 45 mile and hour and sent the dog flying down the road like 40 yards... and we also say a guy laying in the street with blood all over his face. There was a ton of people surrounding him so we think he could have been dead... I was a crazy day. Welcome to Antofagasta!

Love you all take care!

Elder Spanbauer