IT'S WHEN WE STOP WORRYING ABOUT OURSELVES AND START CARING MORE ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE THAT WE WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF AND CHANGED

Muchas Holas a todos!!!

Well first off Baylor, don't let the loss get to you. Just brush it off and go kick some skinny runner butt at CIF, go big or go home baby! jaja Anyways while it got really hot down there in Cali, the weather still can't make up its mind here at the end of the world. Or at least the end of my world, which is the boundaries of mission Chile Concepcion Sur. For the whole week up until Friday we were in short sleeves with lots of sun and then for the whole weekend it just decided to rain and hail really hard. It was pretty big hail too, fun stuff. But it looks like the rain is starting to go away again and hopefully it will stay that way. Well that's enough about the weather. Now I'll tell you about the week.

So on Saturday we had cambios and on Tuesday they let us know what they were, and for the first time in the history of my mission I didn't have a cambio. That's right. I am staying here in Loncoche with Elder Maldonado for another cambio. So since Elder Maldonado and I get along well that's pretty sweet that I get to stay with him. Now we can keep working on improving our teaching and working together and I think that this cambio will be a good one and hopefully more fruitful than the last. In the house,

Elder Hillman left and a chileno named Elder Garcia took his place to be Elder Calaway´s comp. Calaway has been having a tough time adapting to mission life and not having very many results so far so I'm glad that we will still be in the house so I can help him out. We are really good friends and he's just a good quality guy so I'm glad that we will be in the house together along with Elder M for another cambio.

As far as last week went by work wise, it was very rewarding but at the same time a little bitter and sad. We have been working hard and now we have been getting into houses and have a pretty good teaching pool and they want to change and are somewhat progressing but all of them have something that's impeding them. We were able to teach that one family, the Mom Veronica with her son Guiermo, once again who didn't go to church last week. Her excuse was that her husband was sick last week but she said that she recognizes that Satan is trying to impede her from going and that she needs to fight that and do everything she can to go. Then after a great lesson they committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and they said that they would be at church for sure rain or shine. We were excited about them to progress and got our hopes way up but when we called them Sunday morning nobody answered and the second time we called the phone was off. So they didn't go on Sunday which hit me a little hard. It's hard to open up and love your investigators because when they do a lot of time you get hurt and disappointed but loving them and opening your heart up to them is the only way to do it. Even if they disappoint you sometimes, it's worth it. But anyways we are going to see what's up with them tomorrow. We have some other investigators that are progressing slowly as well but our ever-present and ever-faithful so far is still Victor.

We went to wake him up on Sunday to come and he told us to go on without him and that he would come. We decided to take a risk and trust him and when it shortly started to rain after we got to the chapel we thought the worst. But what do you know, ten minutes later in comes trudging Victor wet and smelly, as usual, but with a smile on his face happy to be there. We taught him a couple times last week outside his house (he won't let us in to his shack because he is embarrassed) and he is progressing but still slowly. He understands to a pretty good extent the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and of the importance of that and baptism but he just can't quite grasp the importance or significance of the restoration. We always teach it to him and he always forgets. He just can't grasp the idea of authority and the one true church but we are working on it. It's just gunna take a lot of patience, love, and divine intervention, but I have faith that he´ll get there.

On another note this week was very trying, draining and somewhat rewarding with working with the members. The drama and the hypocrisy and backbiting in the branch is just starting to get to me. We need a strong branch before it's ready to receive new members. But we are working with them and overall I think that I am starting to gain their trust and respect. We had one experience that was pretty rough and that reminded me that I'm still just a twenty year old kid. It happened with this married couple that have been members for two years and are strong but are having problems. And it just so happens that we picked a moment to go and visit them right in the middle of a somewhat serious fight. They had been having some problems and they were arguing about it when we walked in. But no, they didn't stop it at our arrival, they just invited us and dragged us into the middle of it.

It was a pretty complicated situation with lots of difficult things to deal with and here we were with them treating us like their marriage counselors while yelling and crying and accusing. Yes, I felt very small and inadequate but after about a half an hour or so of trying to help and being the mediators and realizing that every time we made progress it just went right back and that they were both being stubborn, at about that time I started feeling the spirit and I began to talk about the healing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ and how it's not just applied for our sins but in every aspect and hardship in our lives. We testified and promised and we felt good upon leaving but still didn't feel like we made a difference. The next day they came to church smiling and happy and the hermana bore her testimony in the meeting about the power of the atonement, and its application to our lives. Then later that day she called us to come over to give us some loaves of homemade bread to take home and to thank us for our help.

So that was a very spiritual and humbling experience I had last week. It's crazy the things that the Lord entrusts us 19 to 21 year old kids to do. Man it just blows my mind sometimes, but it's times like those that humble me. It's times like those that make me realize that there is no possible way to do it on our own. The only way to success is giving in, surrendering everything to him, holding back nothing, and letting him take the lead. There is no way but the Lord's way. Fighting it in either thought or actions just leads to inner conflict within oneself and discontentment. The only way that works and the easiest way to do things is to just surrender. I love this gospel and I love my Lord, that's why I'm here. To do his will not mine. Sometimes I forget that I'm not here for me but for him. It's when we stop worrying about ourselves and start caring more about everyone else that we will be taken care of and changed. Well I got to go but I'm excited for this coming week and even though my investigators are frustrating, I'm not going to give up on them just yet. Until next week, I love you all and cuidense mucho. CHAO PESCA´O!!!!! jaja

con mucho amor, Elder Harper =)