Week 26

Tomorrow I complete 6 months of my mission. 25% of my mission will have passed away, and it blows me away. It really feels like I've been away for an eternity. It feels like I've lived another completely different life already.  Everything about the mission has been like a dream for me. I've never had harder times, I've never had so great experiences.

This week was really sort of brutal for Elder Price and I.

Basically our numbers were pitiful, and we didn't progress in the latter part of the week. Our district leader Elder Hancock was really disappointed and it was a hard, hard night for us last night. It’s just a mix of a lot of things. It’s hard to be animated out here after a while, cause we walk around the entire sector and contact every single house there is monthly. It’s hard to get new ideas. There is a ton of pressure from the branch presidency and our leaders to do contrasting things. We aren't finding anyone who listens to us. There is not a lot of honesty in Chile. People flat out lie to you just to tell you what they think you want to hear. We have had to drop almost everyone because they don’t really want anything to do with us. That destroyed our numbers. It destroyed us.

And on top of that Retiro is a little city of drama. Rumors spread like wildfire. There are deep grudges rooted in seemingly everyone. It is its own soap opera of a city, no joke. It’s hard to bring back so many inactive members because the seeds of grudges have been sewn so deep in their lives. It’s hard to teach forgiveness here. Everyone is so easily offended. False rumors about the church and missionaries spread here like crazy. It’s just a strange position that I got put into here. It’s really like I've been put here to be a leader and just to test me to see what I’m really willing to make to happen. I woke up and realized all this, this morning. I’m figuring out maybe why I was sent here on an emergency. I’m here for a reason guys. It’s hard, but I think I’m figuring it out.

Monday

We had some good visits. We found a less active family. The dad was a bit drunk but he invited us in. They started telling us about their experiences with the missionaries. They have been inactive for a long time.  They asked us to help them get back to church. They seemed honest but we told them they would have to prove their part. They are the Bascuñan Molina family.  We also visited with the Sepulvera family that night. We walked into a pretty heated family fight. Just like the good one everyone knows. We shared a scripture on the savior and his life. We bore powerful testimony and brought the spirit back into their home. It was really good.

Tuesday.

We had visits with the Valdés Parra family, the Campos, One last one with Nancy and Galvarino, and Jorge one of the counselors in the presidency.  The Valdés Parra family are the ones Elder Hancock and Elder Price found on the mini cambio. They are cool people. We are teaching the Mom and the two daughters. We talked to them using “how to begin teaching” in PMG. We are just trying to find a need for them. We invited them to read the Restoration pamphlet and pray.  The Campos are a really cool MA (Menos Activo/Less active) family. They are the main MA's we're working on. We're working hard to bring them to church.  We had a sad visit with Nancy and Galvarino. Nancy let us in and said that because she has been raised in the evangelical church and she has seen miracles there, she wants to follow the counsel of the preacher and not share with anyone outside of the religion. We explained some things, but they are really really evangelical. So we left them.  We finished out the night by visiting hermano Jorge. We had a small little once there and shared a great message about the Savior and his service.

Wednesday.

Slow day for us. Elder Price felt sick so we didn't get out to work as much as we wanted. We mostly did contacts for the rest of the day. We finished out the night with getting together with our small little elders quorum of 3 hermanos. We ran around and visited a bunch of people.

Thursday.

We visited our MA family the Bascuñans. The only one there was the dad. He wasn’t drunk but it seemed like he just wasn’t interested in listening anyway.  We did a lot of contacts and tried desperately to visit with all our investigators. They all just told us, ''We're busy. Come back next week.''

We finished by visiting a MA, Joseph. He’s been less active for a long time because he was offended in church. His parents had just split up so he was going through some hard times. We shared a message and some stories. We brought a smile to his face. Then we went home.

Friday.

We set off on the next three days of our week to give everything to getting people to church. We again visited the Valdés Parra and invited them to baptism, church, reading, and praying. They didn’t accept a date for baptism but seemed willing to go to church.  We visited the Saldaña family shortly after. They are a MA family too. They gave us a little once which was pan, ecco, and some spicy spicy ahí with tomatoes. They laughed as the spiciness of those little peppers got to me. It was fun. We invited them to church and they accepted.  We also visited hermana Arny with her less active daughter. We had a great visit, and brought the spirit in with scripture.  We just finished with running around contacting like mad men.

Saturday.

We visited a recent convert that owns a little 'negocio' or a small food/snack shack. We committed her to church and she accepted. We ran around and around and around trying to invite people to church and find new people to teach. It was a hectic day. Not too much panned out. We tried to verify all our commitments with the investigators and all the people we had taught but they didn’t answer our calls. It seemed as though our week was for nothing.

Sunday.

We had little to no one show up to church. Little to no one came. Only one of the Saldañas and a good joven named David who is also a MA came. Those were our only successes. It was hard. Elder Price gave a good talk, along with a few other members. It was a really good church meeting. I had fun teaching the youth class. I think I have gotten into their group and won their respect cause they think I’m hilarious and always try and talk with me now. Haha! We planned to change the next week entirely. We went out and tried to visit a lot of members and investigators but no one was home and no one answered. We called in our numbers and Elder Hancock and we as well were sorely disappointed. It was a hard night. I was on my knees for a long time.  We are going to start our missions over and turn a new page. I’m excited to look forward. It’s a time of trials for me and the opportunity to become so much stronger.

Alma 57: 19-21 says

 19 But behold, my little band of two thousand and sixty fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before the Lamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposed them.

 20 And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted.

21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.

I believe this is the key to my mission. I believe it is the key to blessings. I know that as I try and obey with EXACTNESS that the blessings of heaven will flow and I will become such a better person and a missionary. I testify that the savior is waiting to bless us to become mighty members of the church and to become his true disciples. It is my testimony that through our weaknesses and our downfalls we become truly strong. I testify of the atonement in our lives. Christ's sacrifice is real and it is ready to heal us. I pray that we may place a focus on that in our lives. I am grateful for the chance to be here in Chile to serve with all my might, mind, and strength.

I am so grateful for all of you. I ponder and think about you. I think the world of you. I love you so much. I reflect on your love when I pass through trials. I reflect on the Saviors sacrifice to build me up. I miss you all. I love you so much. Until next week. I love you.

Elder Ethan Haws.