A MISSION IS SUCH A BLESSING. NO IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

Hello everybody!

Well it sounds like you all are having a good time as summer is winding down. Switchfoot and the US surf open sound like they were a lot of fun. I really do miss the ocean. But thats ok, I can wait. Well to be completely honest we had a really bad week. It miraculously ended alright but after a great cita we had last Monday night it all went down hill from there until Saturday. We had the week chalk full of preset citas (which usually doesn't happen) and we were feeling good about everything but the Lord decided to teach us a lesson instead. Every last one of the citas that we had set with all of our best investigators fell through the whole week. Then when we reset them for later in the week they fell through again. It's not because our investigators flaked or anything, because they are still good, but at this moment in their lives when the Lord's plan of happiness and the light of the gospel are being opened up to them, life starts becoming complicated. They were all either unusually swamped in work or out of town or dealing with unexpected family problems the whole week. Luckily things cleared up so all of our best investigators were able to go to church, like Laura and Juan and the young adult girl, Yeseña, were able to go to church but none of them progressed in the slightest for a whole week because we were not able to get a hold of them. I was extremely worried about all of them but when the weekend came and they all went to church the Lord showed me that I should have had more faith. It was frustrating that they didn´t progress at all during the week but from what I saw on Sunday they are still good and we will now be able to help them continue progressing this last week of the cambio. This last week showed me that the Lord still wasn´t through with testing my patience jaja and maybe he still isn´t. I´ll just have to work harder, and have more faith in him because it looks like I´m still lacking. But anyways on Saturday we had an activity in the chapel where we watched The Other Side of Heaven and we had a good turnout of a lot of members and a few unexpected investigators and then Sunday we had 5 investigators in the capilla.

But I´m sorry to say that during the week when all of our appointments kept falling through we kind of got disanimated. Well I kind of got disanimated. I´m not sure about my comp. He doesn't talk much or show emotion. And when you ask him questions he usually answeres with yes or no. The only way to get him to actually have a good conversation is to ask about his family or his girlfriend or else he just doesn't talk. He talks to investigators and members but not to me. The exact opposite of Hickman jaja. So when all of our citas fell we started to go visit our not as good investigators, old investigators, and innactives but that turned into a big waste of time and none of them are progressing in the slightest. But I´m done moping and I´m ready to work harder next week to make up for the last. I have faith that if I put my trust in the Lord, things will start falling into place more smoothly. I just have to let go to the control that I think I have over the situations and progress of my investigators and humbly submit more fully to the will of the Lord. Well that's enough of my own personal chastizing and introspection, I´m probably starting to bore you.

Well as far as Laura and Juan, they are doing good but still haven't come to the realization of the big picture yet. After the meeting on Sunday they told us that they decided they were going to get married by the state and then later get married for the church. Jaja, it's not as simple as they think. They do want to join the church. We said that it was great but our faces dropped a little bit when they said they put a goal to get married by the state by the end of the year, like in November or December. It's kind of a tough situation because how can you just tell a person to go and get married in two weeks so they can get baptized now or at least while I´m still here in Santa Juana. I mean it was already a huge step for them to decide to get married before the end of the year so I will pray to be guided to help them understand how the sooner they get married the better and that the end of the year is not soon enough. But they still only have lesson 2, the plan of salvation, so I'm thinking that the message of the restoration and the first principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ might put things more into perspective to help them make the decision to get married sooner. After all, the state marriage is just the tramites (the papers, the forms). It's the sealing that will come a year after that's eternal and will really count. Anyways we have a cita with them Wednesday night and we are going to bring the branch president and his wife with us so hopefully that will help them out. Last Monday we watched The Testaments with Yeseña and gave her the Book of Mormón with the invitation to read and pray. With the way her schedule was last week I´m not sure if she´s done it yet but we are going to meet with her this coming week and we will pray a lot for her and see how she´s doing. She also brought a friend to the lesson last Monday night and the friend came to church with her yesterday. She is pretty active in her own church but was intirgued about the Book of Mormon but we will see more on where she stands this coming week.

Well cambios are this coming week and I am ready for them jaja. I mean I get along with Élder Villegas and he teaches alright and participates in the lessons but Im starting to get lonely. Haha it's just that he never talks to me or shows emotion and well, you know me. I need more human interaction. I guess I was spoiled with too many friends and people to talk to in Monte and so now I'm starting to feel the difference here. He's just the first comp I've had that doesn't talk to me. It's like he lives in his own little world. But that's enough of that. I`ve enjoyed this cambio but Im ready for it to end. I just hope I stay here in Santa Juana.

A mission is such a blessing. No it's a miracle!!! . It's not easy but I`ve never felt so much purpose in life and so happy as I have had here in the mission. I wouldn't trade the experiences I'm having here for the world.

Well sorry for the slightly down and boring email this week. I`ll make sure that it's more positive and cheery next Monday. Well I love you all and keep up with family prayer and scripture study. Les quiero mucho!! CHAO!

tu misionero chileno, Èlder Harper :)