Week 60

Here we are. Another transfer cycle down. The week was crazy. It was a big push to leave the sector up and running for the end of the transfer cycle.

But, boy did we receive news today..... I will explain later.

The week was good. We made some progress with investigators (AT LAST).

So here is the main story with investigators.

You probably don't remember that Elder Bird and I started teaching a lady named Edita and her son Cristobal a while back, but we found them and had a good first lesson and such but we had to drop them for a time because they were busy building a second floor to their house.

Last Saturday we went back and visited them. We had a great lesson. They listened to us and payed attention during the lesson and participated. They had shared with missionaries before but didn't quite get baptized because they thought that if they got baptized, Cristobal would be obligated to serve a mission.

Edita is like 50 years old or something and her son Cristobal is 24. Edita is a very nice lady who doesn't believe in churches but she believes in God. She is interested to know if our church could be true.

Cristobal is really cool. He speaks English better than any other Latino that I have met here in the mission. He is studying in the University of Concepcion. He likes video games and has a pretty chill personality.

We visited them on Wednesday and Friday and they both were good lessons. We mostly talked about the restoration and the role of Jesus Christ. We committed them to baptism and they accepted to prepare.

Edita came to church on Sunday! That was a huge success for us. We finally have someone progressing in the church. 

Our main achievements with less actives were 2 things.

1. We are still working with Carol, the inactive lady we found last week. We had a good lesson this week and are happy that she is progressing so fast and has a big desire to go to church despite knowing nearly nothing about the gospel. It is a good opportunity for us to find more people to teach and to see miracles in her life.

2. At church, we saw a miracle. Jennifer Candia is a less active that Elder Bird has been working with for his entire time here. She has had problems with the members, and has had some sad experiences. She confided in us and explained the whole situation and it is complicated. She had a giant testimony of the church and still has the desire to go, she just has a hard time dealing with the things that have happened. To our surprise she showed up to church this week at the last part. We were shocked and thrilled.

Chillán was hot this week. The temperatures are rising to the low 90's and high 80's. With all the humidity it feels so much worse. I'm just used to being in the dry-as-a-bone desert.

We did a lot of service this week. We helped some families clean up their patios, and even painted the Vergara's fence. Giving service is always a highlight for me.

So turns out for cambios we are seeing something pretty unusual. First off. Elder Bird is leaving the sector to Concepción. He will be in a part called ´´Laguna Redonda.'' Now since there has been fewer missionaries coming into the mission and more people finishing the mission, our numbers aren't able to sustain so many sectors. Not only is Elder Bird leaving the sector, but I am as well. I will be heading off to Downtown Concepción. I even believe that Elder Bird and I will be working in the same chapel. It was a shock for us. Our sector is now closing down. Elder Hampton and Vazquez are going to have to hold down the fort here in Coyquen and balance all of the stuff they have in their sector, and take all of our converts, less actives, and investigators. I still can’t believe how crazy it all is.

With all this shock it is hard for me to describe what else this effects in the sector. We were seeing a lot of progress recently, and finally seeing connections and relations with the people we have been working with. This will be a shorter letter because there is nothing else to describe but shock! I am excited to be going down to Concé and getting to know that area now. I am in for some good times. I feel like Chillán has helped me grow up EVEN MORE. I am ready to take the mission by the reigns and make it all that I can.

Thank you for all that you guys do for me. I love you all so much. I love hearing from you and talking with you (on email). I am so grateful for all the prayers. I feel them lifting me up. I know that the gospel is true and it is our crutch in our hardest times. God will always lift us up in the end if we just stretch out our hand. I am now in for many more adventures and many more good times. Until next week.

Elder Ethan Haws