Week 80 Antofagasta

Sept 19, 2016

Hey everyone! This was a very eventful week.... I got to know my new companion a little better and he is awesome! He always strives to be obedient so that won’t be a battle. This week I met a lot of the investigators that we have and just about all of them have to get married.... hahaha classic Chile.... Elder Moraga was a little stressed because he has to lead the sector. I told him not to stress it too much. If we do what the lord asks of us, he will deliver us. We have been doing many contacts and we had some pretty cool experiences. Elder Moraga didn’t do contacts with his trainer so when I got here he was kind of scared to talk to random people. I think I have some sort of gift hahaha because almost every time I knock on a door, we find a new investigator hahahaha. Not saying that to brag or anything but it’s true! Sometimes I`ll just be walking and I`ll feel an impression to knock on a random door and it always turns out to be someone receptive! The spirit truly does guide us in this work. For example, the other day we were doing contacts and we knocked on a door and a lady came out and immediately let us in. We sat down and told her what we do as missionaries. We asked to share a message and she gladly accepted. We started with a prayer and during the prayer I felt a strong impression to share lesson 2 (The plan of salvation) so I began to teach it. Our original plan was to teach lesson 1 but I began with lesson 2 anyway. We began talking about where we go after this life and she cut in and told us here brother had recently passed away. It was a very spiritual lesson and we have another appointment on Wednesday with her and her husband. On Friday, we had a big ward activity to celebrate the 18th of Sept. It was really awesome! This Sunday was the 18th, one of the biggest holidays here in Chile! I got to stand up and share my testimony with the ward and I met a bunch of members. After church we ate lunch with a family and they did a BBQ with "Pastel de Choclo" (a famous Chilean dish) and "mote con huesillo" (a famous Chilean beverage/dessert thing). It was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. It was a really hard day to work because everyone was drunk and partying. We passed by our mamita`s house in the night time and enjoyed some empanadas de queso. This year`s 18th of Sept. was a lot better than last year`s. Today we played soccer as a zone and with some of the elders from the office. It was super fun and some of the sister missionaries in our zone are really good haha! That`s pretty much the update for now.... Oh! I got a call from a member that I had met in Antofagasta about 5 months ago. When I was in the office, he was inactive and we began to work with him. We helped reactivate him and he even worked with us several times. Anyway, he called me using the Elder`s phone from that ward and he told me he is going to be serving in Concepciòn Chile! It`s so cool to see the fruits of your labors months after serving in an area. I love being a missionary... but even more importantly... I love being a servant of the lord. This work is real and if we don’t do it, no one else will! So just do it hahaha! Love you all and until next week!

Elder Spanbauer

P-Day Soccer

Overlooking The City of Antofagasta

My Area in Antofagasta