Week 19

This week has actually felt like a really long one. The first week of a cambio always feels longer than it should. I expect that time should be going by faster by next week.

Wow, this was a different week. Elder Layton and I certainly had to adjust to working in a trio. It is really different and it presents a great challenge for each of us.

My new comp is Elder Sanchez. He’s from Jujuy (sounds like ''hu-hui'') Argentina. He’s 19 years old and is fairly new to the mission as well. He only has 5 months in the mission, a month more than I do. It’s kind of funny, every house we go into or every person we meet asks where Elder Sanchez is from. Every single person without fail has first guessed Peru, then Bolivia. It usually takes them about 5 guesses to get where he’s actually from. His city is in the Salta, Argentina mission where Ross Baldwin is serving. He’s your usual Argentino. He likes to mess around a lot. He’s at times pretty pushy and touchy. He’s a great teacher and a pretty spiritual missionary. I really respect him.

The week went like this.

Monday.

Was P-day and our last day as regular companions. We really didn’t do anything different on Monday. We went to the centro and did the regular things and went home and went out to work like usual. We went to see some people up in Providencia, but it didn’t work out. We then went down to section A and visited and contacted around. We didn’t end up with much happening.

Tuesday.

We all got ready in the morning and Elder Garcia was all packed up to go. We headed to the bus terminal and we picked up Elder Sanchez. We loaded the things up in the car of the Ward mission leader in collao and headed off. We set stuff up in the house, cleared some space for Elder Sanchez and studied for a few hours. We also held a house meeting and worked out schedules so we can function with five people running around the house.

We eventually went out to work our first day as a trio. We worked a lot in Rios de Chile and visited the members there. Later in the afternoon we met up at the chapel with the Hermanas in Nonguen and with various members at a car wash activity that the ward was doing. We talked with some members from the Elders quorum and we went on little divisions to meet with people and do some home teaching. I went to teach a less active member named Maria de la O. We have been working with her and her sons for a while. We had a good visit and talked about prayer. It went pretty smooth. After, we went back to the chapel, met up, and went back home. It was also Elder Layton’s birthday. He turned 21

Wednesday.

We had District class in the morning. It was crazy being with so many missionaries in our zone. We now have three districts splitting 25 missionaries. We have 14 hermanas and 11 Elderes. There are a ton of people. We all introduced ourselves and had a great lesson taught by Elder Layton. We ended and headed to lunch with Cabezas Aburto. We had a regular day of work. We worked a lot in B and visited the majority of the members there. We visited the familia Jara and had a good visit, we shared about the Book of Mormon and we were able to somewhat re animate the hermana to start reading the Book of Mormon again. We visited in the house of hermano Wladimir Aburto and taught a guy named Cristian, a friend of the family. It went well and we were able to clear up a lot of his questions and misunderstandings about the church.

Thursday.

Turned out to be quite a lack luster day. Elder Layton was feeling really sick again. We tried the whole day to find someone to do divisions with us so we could get some work done but nothing really panned out. We had to go to Collao and do a baptismal interview for a young investigator for the hermanas. It was cool seeing the story of the family and getting to know them. We went back to the house and let Elder Layton rest.

Elder Sanchez

Friday.

We had a giant service project with the Barra Flores family. We cleared out an entire hillside of plant life, garbage, and other random things. We worked so hard and afterward we snacked on some pizza and had a late birthday cake for Elder Layton. We went to lunch right after at the Neira family. We had a heaping plate of Spaghetti. I don’t think I’ve ever been so full in my life. We went around Rios de Chile again and visited the members we couldn’t on Tuesday. We then went to visit Armando and Rosa. Armando has been having a hard time understanding the doctrines that we have taught. Each time we have taught we have simplified it one step further. This time we just wiped the board clean and explained the Restoration yet again in the simplest way possible. Through the spirit he finally began to understand some things. It was a great lesson. He felt great as well, we could tell. We finished out the day visiting various others.

Saturday.

We had a small service project climbing a cherry tree and picking some cherries for the Avila family up on Providencia. We had some good fun with that. We worked up in Lautaro (sector D) for most of the day. Things didn’t go very well and Elder Sanchez got a little bored and started messing around a bit with us. Emotions kind of burst and things were a little stressful for us, but we worked through it. We didn’t have anyone let us in to share a message. It was another day of straight rejection. It was a hard day. I was exhausted.

Sunday.

We had a strangely vacant sacrament meeting. People showed up late but still, we had very few people attend. People are all still out for the end of their summer vacations. We still had Armando, Rosa, and Andrea come though. We had a great lesson with them in Sunday school and we all felt the spirit. After church, we had lunch with Elder Ferreira and his family in his gigantic new house. It’s just like a house in the states and THATS SAYING SOMETHING. We had a DELICIOUS pasta dish and we had a very serious discussion about missionary work. He gave us very wise counsel. I appreciate his example for us. I really respect Elder Ferreira. He is such a cool guy. He is very intense. We met up in the church with our ward mission leader and the hermanas, and divided the sector. After desperately seeking revelation though prayer we came to decisions and made the splits. We finished up and had an activity with the High Priests group. It went well and we had a great time teaching and learning with them.

Monday.

We went to the beach as a zone in Pencò today. It was a good time. We had to hike an hour in to get to the place. It’s pretty exclusive! We played ultimate frisbee on the beach, took pictures, and ate lunch. It was a great time.

We had a good time this week. We are working and learning how to function in a trio. It takes a lot of humility and patience. This next cambio will be quite the challenge, but I am excited to learn with patience. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. They help me every day. I could not be here working without them. I love them. I love this gospel, it is true. I face yet another week. Thank you for all your support. I could not be more grateful for all of you. I love you so much. Till next week.

Elder Ethan Haws