It's a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

Hola familia, amigos, y conocidos.

So today I found out that Mari got baptized yesterday. She was the first person I taught in Chile, my first day in Renca. Granted, all I did was say the closing prayer, but things got better after then. I was very happy to read her name in the email the mission sends every week. We worked very hard with her for a long time. I am very content to know that she was able to stop smoking and make the covenant of baptism. I can imagine she is very happy. I wish I could have been there, but I'm happy to know that I was able to take part in her process. I think that's the most exciting thing that happened.

Last week I cut my hair. The lady basically buzzed my hair really short, and then asked me if it was how I wanted it. What could I say at that point?

On sunday there were two gringas in church. The daughter was a missionary here a couple years ago. Her mom took a picture of us and emailed it to Mom, so you've probably seen my lovely haircut. They also had a lot of gringo candy that they passed out to everyone, but especially us. I had Swedish Fish and Twix . I shared the Swedish Fish with all of our investigators.

 



Elder Crossley and Elder Garrett



I also recieved Chex mix from Grandma Garrett. I was surprised at how well it held up in the mail, and it was still fresh. I have enjoyed it immensely. I also recieved packages from Grandma Gingell and the ward. All three arrived a month after Christmas, because the office has been a little slow. But I guess I'll forgive them... haha. 

We did a family home evening with a family we are teaching in which we taught the kids how we can be courageous when our friends want us to do things we know we shouldn't. We shared the story of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6. "No tengas miedo, porque son más los que están con nosotros que los que están con ellos." I don't know what it says in English, you'll have to look it up. We taught them that in the end, Jesus is going to win the battle against Satan, and we have to decide for which side we are going to fight.

I guess that's it for this week. Que les vaya bien.

Elder Garrett

Slight Change in the Weather

Well, this week we had to go to Santiago twice. While we were in the doctors office, a woman passed out. About thirty doctors rushed in to pick her up and put her on a stretcher. Her husband hardly even reacted... he just bent down and adjusted her shirt a little bit to cover her stomach. It was a little bit exciting.

Elder Riches is in Santiago, and for now we are no longer a trio. But, in the next week, we might recieve a new companion.

On Sunday, Leontina was confirmed, and received the Holy Ghost. She is having some really hard challenges in her family right now, but she understands how the gospel and the Holy Ghost can help her to endure her trials. Her life is not easy, but she is so happy anyway.

Today, we've had a little bit of rain, and it has cooled off significantly. On one side, it's really great because it's not so hot, on the other side, with rain, we have to ditch the bikes.

We have an investigator named Julio that we found through the English classes we do. He was able to go to the baptism, and when we taught him the first time, he told us he could feel peace in his heart when she got baptized. He said he could feel it in our church, and he could feel it in that very moment with us. He is really awesome.

I guess that's about it for this week. Hope you are all well.

Elder Garrett

Transfers

 

Well... I guess the big news is that today we had transfers. And I'm still here in Los Andes, the hottest city in Chile (so they say). Elder Verón left this morning for Colina. Luckily, Our new companion Elder Crossley, another gringo, from Roy, was in San Felipe, which is about 15 minutes from us, so we didn't have to make the 3 hour roundtrip to Santiago. Elder Verón went with some other elders to Santiago. 

So we are still a trio, with Elder Riches and Elder Crossley. 

But the most exciting news... Leontina got baptized yesterday. I would send fotos, but this computer has issues.  And another exciting thing... we had many, many investigators there. Leontina is having some hard trials with her family, but she told us she is so happy with her baptism. We found out afterwards that she had fasted all morning before her baptism, without us suggesting it or even talking about it. We are so happy with her progress. She understands and wants to take her covenant with God seriously. We had a short lesson last night, and at the end we asked her to pray, and she started sobbing during the prayer because she was so grateful for the change she's had in her life. She is so happy and is inviting her friends to listen to us and come to church with her. 

Hope all is well. I'll try to send fotos next week.

Elder Garrett

Happy New Year!

We postponed the Baptism for this coming Sunday. Leontina is excited and ready to make this big step in her life. She has already had to stand up for her beliefs in the face of opposition.

It was really hot this week. New Years Day was really.... really.... long.... we only taught one lesson. Everyone in Los Andes leaves when they have the day off, and those who were in their houses that day were either in the pool, or sleeping until late in the day. So we basically rode around on our bikes all day.

We had 4 investigators in church this week, which was really great. We had some great help from members to help answer their questions and help them to have a good experience.

Well that's about it, I don't have tons of time today.

I know that our Heavenly Father helps us when we ask Him for help.

Elder Garrett