Week 45

My first draft of this letter just got deleted so, this one is going to be a lot shorter.

Here we are creeping up on the 45th week on the mission! Time is flying by!

This week was an interesting one. We saw a lot of big changes in the branch this week and we are excited to see what will happen because of that.

The Highlights

We had a good start by visiting a young couple who got baptized a year ago. Their names are Hector and Darinka. They haven't been to church in a while because their jobs are pretty demanding. Their hours just got shifted back a bit so now we have the opportunity to visit them. They could be a great help to us in the branch.

We had great activities this week. We had a cultural night by us on Thursday and shared a few things about Mexico and The States. I played the national anthem on the guitar and sang. Elder Martinez sang his, and everyone else sang the Chilean anthem.  Elder Martinez made some Burritos and I made a chocolate shake. I was going to cook up some french fries to go with the whole Wendy's Frosty and Fries idea, but we ran out of time. Everyone enjoyed the activity regardless. We played games to close it out.

City conference in Retiro

We had a cool service activity on Friday with our friends from OMIL, Juan Santiago, and Lorena. They invited us to help them out early in the week and we accepted. We helped them set up the (City) conference that they had, prepare food, and attend to various people.  We had good opportunities there as well. As we talked with people at the city conference we were able to explain that we are not monsters or aliens, and that we are just missionaries giving out service! We talked with one lady who just gave out all of her information and told us to pass by without even asking. It was a great blessing to be able to serve.

We had a competition between the Elders Quorum and the Young Men’s by playing soccer on Saturday morning. The adults played against the youth and we enjoyed a good 3 hours of running our guts out. We enjoyed a nice ''Asado'' afterwards and carried out a normal day.

Soccer activity in Retiro

On Sunday, Presidente Abarzua was released as the first counselor. Jorge Alarcón took his place as first counselor, and Elder Martinez was called as 2nd counselor. These changes are big and are going to affect a lot here in Retiro.

We waited for Church to start and people kept piling in. We had our record high, with 41 people in church. It was great to feel the spirit and hear great testimonies. It is uplifting to see that there is hope still. We are continuing to push through all the tests that are presented.

We had a great zone activity this morning. It was another activity in Cauquenes. We had an incredible breakfast with the Elder and Sister Scholes and went out and played soccer and ultimate Frisbee at the chapel there. We had some good fun.

We have some really fun things planned in the branch in the coming 2 weeks. It will be an enjoyable time as I approach the close of my transfer, and possibly the last few weeks I have in Retiro.

I can’t tell or explain how deeply I love the gospel. It changes lives. I have seen it. It can turn the worst person into the best. It is a blessing to have it in our lives. I am grateful to be a part of it all and to be able to share it every day. It is so important to me, and it ever will be from now until forever. I hope that we do enjoy the blessings that we have. We all need to really appreciate the things that we have and live the gospel. It will bring us peace. It will bring the happiness that we all want.

It’s been a short letter, but I am short on time. Thank you all for all that you do. I love you all so much, and I love hearing from you all! I love you, and miss you!! Enjoy the week! Until the next.

Elder Haws

This picture was taken by Elder Kemner in Parral.  These are the gorgeous dogs we deal with in Chile.  Look how cute it is...  Zoom in on its face for a greater effect.  It gets funnier the closer you zoom in!