Elder Parker Spanbauer: Week 53 Antofagasta

March 12, 2016

So as stated above, this last week passed by in the blink of an eye. We had conferences this week in the South of the mission. Monday we worked in the office until 5pm and then went to the store to buy all of the food that would be needed in the conferences. We then loaded up the van and went to bed. Tuesday we woke up at 5:30am to be on the road by 6:30am. We had our first conference in Chañaral which is about 4 hours from Antofagasta. We arrived a little late but there aren’t that many missionaries in Chañaral so it wasn’t a ton of work. As office workers, we provide the food at every conference. We made sandwiches this time! I was able to put my sandwich art to work. I Guess working at Subway really paid off hahaha. Everything went well in Chañaral and we were on the road to Copiapó by 4:00pm. We arrived to Copiapó at about 6:30pm and bought everything for the conference that would be held the next day. We then had time to do divisions with the Elders that we stayed the night with and that was a cool experience. The next morning we had the conference and we had to serve a total of 40ish people so it was a lot more work. We managed to finish it all in time and everything turned out good. Later that day we had the opportunity to do divisions in Elder Walker´s old sector Copayapu. Elder Morales and I went with Elder Jara and Elder Walker went with his trainee Elder Reyes. It too was a very cool experience. The next morning we hit the road again to drive 2.5 hours south to Vallenar! That’s right, my birthplace! I was so excited to visit Vallenar again. We had the conference and again, everything turned out okay. The best part of it all though was the fact that I got to work in my old sector! Elder Walker and I worked with Elder Perez and Elder Morales worked with Elder Cloward. The very first family I wanted to see was the Dominguez family! They seriously changed my life and they were all stunned to see me again! I remember when Emmy (The 4 year old) saw me, she had the biggest smile on her face hahaha. She was always my best friend hahahaha. I talked with them for a while and then had to say goodbye. After, we visited a few other people but they weren’t home. Later at night I went to visit Jonathan and Roxana! Remember them???? I passed by and he opened the door in shock. He then says "Spanbauer ha vuelto!!!" Which means Spanbauer has returned! hahaha it was priceless. He invited us in and I asked if we could share a message. Now if you guys remember, Jonathan was the one that saw a bunch of stuff on the internet and stopped progressing. We had an extremely powerful lesson with him and I can honestly say that I have never shared my testimony with more love and sincerity than in that lesson. I know that they both felt the spirit and they both committed to pray that night if the church was true. Will they progress? I don’t know, I hope but I do know that something was felt there that night that they wont forget. I am so grateful to have shared with them again and I truly am starting to feel how the savior felt for the people he taught. I truly believe what Elder Holland says, that the mission lets one experience a little bit of what the Savior felt while on earth. Whether that is pain, frustration, heartache, or peace, love and joy... one will experience a little bit of it all in the mission field. I know my Savior, the very Son of God lives and has provided a way so that we can return to our father´s presence. Until next week! Chao.

Elder Spanbauer

On another note, on our way back to Antofagasta, we were able to visit "La Mina San José"

This was the mine where the 33 miners were trapped for 70 days. All 33 of them made it out alive by a tiny capsule. I remember hearing about it on the news but to actually be there and touch the capsule that saved them was an amazing experience. Here are some photos!