IF SATAN IS WORKING THIS HARD AGAINST ME, IT MUST MEAN THAT I'VE GOT SOME GOOD WORK COMING UP HERE IN MONTE AGUILA AND THAT I'M MEANT TO BE HERE

Querida familia y amigos,

Wow Monday has come once again and it's almost been a month since the earthquake. How crazy time flies. Well anyways, things are going pretty good here in my new sector of Monte Águila. Monte Águila is a little tiny pueblo (town) like an hour and a half or so inland from Concepción. Even though it's still relatively close to Conce, it wasn´t really hit too hard by the earthquake. From what I´ve seen, a few old houses or so fell down and the earth split in a few places but it wasn't damaged too bad, and there aren't really any big buildings either so it's all good. Some people are still afraid and freak out every time we have a little aftershock but overall it seems like life is pretty much back to normal here in Monte Águila. Everything is good with water, food, electricity, and transportation here; people are really only left with the memory of the earthquake here now. But from what it seems, it has still opened people's hearts and minds to at least listening to the gospel here. Like you said mom, the Lord is preparing the land and the people here for the coming of His temple. There are a lot of people whose hearts have been softened but I also got to see a little more of the bad effects of the earthquake on the people this last week. People who have rejected God, so are only left with their fear and anger to get them through the times. That and it seems like Satan is working hard on me haha.

I wasn't even going to mention it in the email because it really wasn't that big of a deal (I wasn't really hurt or anything) and I don't want you guys to worry more but I was kind of attacked on two separate occasions by two different drunks this last week. Hahaha it was really actually pretty funny. The first one was in Conce on a bus (we were on our way back from the big zone conference). We just said hi to this guy and he started going off on us, telling us how we weren't welcome in this country and that he was going to kill us if we didn't get off the bus. We just kind of ignored it at first because there were plenty of people on the bus and he wasn't going to do anything but in the end I ended up saying something back so he turned all of his anger on me and ignored the other missionaries from that point on. One thing that this experience showed me is that my spanish is getting better and so is my understanding of chileno speech because I understood just about everything he said. And there wasn't anything that came out of his mouth that wasn't obscene or vulgar. So I basically just sat there for ten minutes and ignored 10 minutes of vulgar language, threats, and slander against the U.S. and most of all against the church. I wasn't really worried for my safety because we were 4 missionaries and a bunch of other guys on the bus but it was still tough to just sit there and take it. Then when he finally got up to get off the bus, he just kind of whopped me in the back of the head, flipped us off, and left. I actually thought it was funny because he didn't hit me hard enough to even hurt but it just amazed me how he could hate us that much. Anyways we all had a good laugh about that.

But crazily enough, the very next day in sleepy little Monte Águila, a similar experience happened. This drunk guy, at like 9:30 at night, just started following us down the very poorly lit streets of Monte Águila. He then started to get really really uncomfortably close and saying a bunch of stuff but he was too drunk that neither my comp nor I could understand him. Finally we just kind of pushed him away and told him to go home. As we were walking away, he ran up to me and starting kicking me and throwing punches. I shoved him away but he came back again kicking and throwing punches. My comp and I didn't want to hit him because there were a bunch of people in the street but at this time we both turned around and were ready to tackle him to the ground or something. Luckily it didn't get to that point because a neighbor intervened and told the punk to go home. Don't worry, I wasn't hurt or anything in the least but it just amazed me that not too much happened after 5 months or so in some of the more flaite sectors of the misión and then I move to a tiny quiet little pueblo and I get attacked twice in one week. I guess that's just how some people react to foreigners and missionaries after things like a big earthquake happened. They´re scared and they don't know what to do because they have abandoned faith in God and his redeeming power. Anyways, if Satan is working this hard against me it must mean that I´ve got some good work coming up here in Monte Águila and that I´m meant to be here.

Anyways, as far as the situation here is in Monte Águila, we have a couple of baptismal dates already and a few other investigators so that's good but I´ll talk more about them next week when I know them more. Monte Águila isn't a barrio, in fact it's not even its own Branch and doesn't have its own meeting house. The members go to the Branch in Cabrero, which is a bigger pueblo around ten minutes away from Monte Águila. Actually, as of right now we don't even live in Monte Águila. We live with the missionaries in Cabrero and take a bus to Monte Águila every day and then come back to Cabrero at night. It's all weird like that because there were no missionaries in Monte Águila until last cambio, so we are the first missionaries that have been oficially the missionaries of Monte Águila since the seventies. Fresh meat jejejeje J. But we found a house recently there and we should be moving in to it within two weeks and so that will be a nlot more convenient.

Well there's a lot more I could talk about but as usual, I have rambled up all my time away this week. Oh, one more thing is that my comp is pretty cool. His name is Élder Sanabria and he´s Colombiano. My second comp Colombiano.

Well, it's been an adjustment going back to just normal missionary life and last week was really weird with meetings and stuff but I´m excited to be here in Monte Águila and I´m excited to do work this next week. I know that Christ lives and I know how we can use his atonement to be saved. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we truly understand this and now my brother Chilenos need to know it more than ever. So it's time to go to work. Love you all! Chao!

Con amor, Élder Harper J