Week 20

20 weeks down already!!

Time is so weird. In some ways it has only felt like a dream and sometimes I’ll wake up thinking I’m still in my bed at home, but I’ll come to realize I’m in the middle of Chile. At other times it feels like I’ve been here in the mission for an eternity. It’s really strange.

It’s so good hearing from you and all your experiences. I love getting your messages. I can’t thank you enough for all the support and all the love. It gives me an extra boost that I need to carry out the week. I love you all so much.  This week was pretty crazy. I had a lot of frustrating experiences and a lot of fun ones.

Monday.

Like I mentioned the week before we went to the beach and spent half the day there relaxing and enjoying our time as a zone. It was a beautiful stretch of beach. I had a blast. We then had to go back to the house and get ready and head out to Concé. We only had 2 hours to do everything we needed so we were really pressured and had to rush through everything. We got as much done as we could and we went back to work. Our main visit was with Valería and Cesar. They are the parents of a family we found a week or so ago. They`re old investigators and we're teaching them again. They are really kind and very receptive. They are focused on receiving an answer for themselves that the church is true. We are helping them progress and they could be a great possibility for baptism in due time.

Tuesday.

We had district class in the morning and it went really well. Elder Layton taught a very spiritual lesson on working with the members. We were all very inspired. We had a mostly regular day. We have been focusing on contacts this week and we have talked with everyone we have come across. We did that for the majority of the day on Tuesday. We ended the night with Ward council and we had a very good meeting. Our focus was on missionary work. As a ward we talked about how we can fully become united in working as member missionaries. It went really well, and we're going to have a lot more support now.

Wednesday.

This week we have been helping Hermano Mella build a second floor to his house. It has been a blast getting to learn how to build a house. We have spent some good time helping out. Wednesday morning, all morning, we were there helping. For the last half of the day, we split into a mini cambio for Nonguen and Collao. Elder Sanchez and I worked with Elder Duncan in Collao and Elder Layton and Montaña worked in Nonguen. We had a great day in Collao. Since Elder Duncan has only been in Collao for a week, we were pretty lost the whole day. We visited lots of members and got to know the ward a little better. Throughout the day, however, all of our appointments kept on falling through. So it came to a point where we were just walking around and saw this young guy with long hair stacking firewood in his garage. We offered to help and he quickly accepted. Right off the bat we knew he was a full blown hippie. He had tons of necklaces, rasta bracelets and long curly hair. He acted like he was a bit high too. It was a very funny and interesting experience as we talked about the gospel and stacked logs. He had the usual strange ideas about energy and the earth and all of that stuff. Soon enough we ended and were on our way. We finished out the day soon after.

Thursday.

It was a very average day. We didn’t have anything strange or exciting happen. We just worked. We visited a lot of members and coordinated times that they could leave and teach with us.

Friday.

We were at it again building the second floor of the Mella's house. This time we put down all of the boards for the floor and finished up with that. It’s looking really nice. For the day we went out and worked hard. We visited the Aburto family and talked for a bit. We went around and had lessons with a lot of people. We visited Armando and Rosa. Rosa has been losing interest in sharing with us. She isn’t progressing at all and is determined that she has her own church even though she never even attends. We are working slowly with Armando so that he can understand the doctrine of the lessons we teach. We have been going through each concept carefully and making sure he understands. He’s just now understanding the basics of things. He’s been a little sick because the oxygen tank he has to carry around is running low and he has to go buy a new one. We had another visit with Valeria and Cesar. The lesson went really good. We were precise and to the point and they know they need to know for themselves whether the church is true. We later met up with our Ward mission leader and the relief society president and talked with them about doing a division. Elder Sanchez and I went and visited the Campos family. Elder Layton with Pato, our ward mission leader, and Jessica the relief society president went and visited Andrea. The visit with Nancy Campos went well and we shared a brief message about the Holy Ghost. When we met back up we got good news that the lesson with Andrea was incredibly powerful. She has received her answer that the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true and she needs to be baptized. We are stoked for this. We just have to teach her the commandments and help her get married.

Saturday.

We worked our brains out. For lunch we went to the Ruminot family and had an unbelievably good lunch. We prepared and planned after that and quickly went out to work. We contacted like mad men. We were able to find two new investigators named Andres and Cristian. We found Andres in a house behind 2 other houses. He graciously let us in and we shared a 5 minute lesson because he didn’t have much time. It went well and we plan to go back to visit him this week. We were nearing the end of the night and we were pretty exhausted and we knocked on one last door. We have been trying to visit Crisitan, Asyimet and their family for a while since they are old investigators. We knocked on their door and to our surprise they were there and let us in. We taught Cristian and he, to our surprise, accepted to be baptized. It was awesome. We committed him to read, pray, and go to church as well. We left the house really excited.

Sunday.

We had a good church meeting. We had just a few people show up because of vacations. Sadly Armando ran out of oxygen in his oxygen tank and couldn’t make it. None of our other investigators made it to church except Andrea. Marcelo, her son, slept in and didn’t make it. We were pretty disappointed. We had a good lunch at the bishop’s house and went back to plan. We visited members for the majority of the day. Fransico Romero accompanied me to go and teach Ignacio's mom. We had an incredible lesson and I could feel the spirit so strong as I shared the Joseph Smith story. We all felt the spirit. Pancho (Fransico's nickname) and I met up with Elder Layton and Sanchez and went back home.

Monday.

Woke up, got ready, and we left to go to the centro. We have done a little shopping and I got myself a cool scripture case and a guitar tuner. We went to Llan qui hue and had delicious completo’s. And now I’m here!

The weather here has been pretty good and I’ve been enjoying the tropic-like humidity and the heat. Nonguen is beautiful, lush, and green.

Building the second floor of the Mella's house has been really fun. I liked getting to know all the names of all the tools. My favorite one is the crowbar, el diablito (little devil).

The Spanish really feels like the patterns of stepping. One foot is speaking and the other is understanding. I feel like somedays the foot of speaking is in front and I can’t understand anything. Other days, it’s the complete opposite. I’m still really frustrated at times because of the lack of language I have. It is one of the greatest trials I have ever faced.

The week has been up and down as always. I’ve been quite frustrated at times with all the difficulties we are facing. We aren’t having the success that we want with our investigators and it’s getting to me a little bit. This week I am determined and inspired to give it every ounce of strength that I have. I am going to work my brains out and forget myself in the service. I love working as a representative of our Savior. He truly is my rock and my redeemer. I love him and I am so grateful for him. Through his atoning sacrifice, I know that I will push through these rough times easier. I know that he is watching me and blessing me with these experiences. I love him, and I testify of him. This is the work of salvation. I am so grateful to be a part of it all. My testimony is the only thing that really keeps me going out here. I’m so grateful for the gospel I have in my life, and the opportunity I have to share it.

Thank you all so much for your support. I love you more than I can put down into words. Thank you so much. I am so grateful for all of you.  Until next week.

Elder Ethan Haws