This week...

Yo, Alright, so the baptism didn´t go down, but it will this Saturday! haha, it was a pretty crazy week last week. On Monday night we got a call from Jorge Gamarra, our investigator, and he said, hey, I would prefer that we just meet with you at the house on Wednesday rather than going to the interview because I want to talk about some doubts that we have with you guys..... OH NOOOO!!! haha.. we anyways, we went over on Wednesday and the doubt was about tithing again! So we talked about the commandment and we promised them that if they tested God by trying the commandment they would see the blessings and their desire to pay would increase and that the Lord never gives a commandment that is too difficult to keep, etc. By the end of the lesson they agreed to keep the commandment. They then informed us they weren´t really sure if their daughter Barbara would be baptized with them. We set up an appointment with the kids Friday afternoon and with Jorge and Adrianna for Friday night (Jorge works two hours away and so he usually stays there during the week). Friday afternoon we went and showed the kiddos and Adriana a missionary video that we have that shows a family named the Robles family and how they get baptized and after a year go to the temple to be sealed. After watching the video we asked Barbara how she felt and she replied that she thought it was a really cute video and that she hoped their experience would be the same. So then her mom turned and looked at her and asked her, So you´re going to get baptized with us? and she said, yes, I want to be baptized!! haha, it was great! So anyways on Friday we reviewed the baptismal interview questions with the family and as we reviewed tithing with the kids it was great because the mom said, but remember that we´re going to be members of the church for our whole lives! We´re going to get baptized next week and in a year we´re going to go to the temple and get sealed as a family, so when you make money you need to pay tithing. It was so great!!! They´re an amazing family. I hope the branch can understand how rare and special a family they are so that they will attend the baptismal service and continue friendshipping them. Then they passed their interview on Saturday and all attended church on Sunday along with a family of friends. In fact, it is the lady that appears in the back of the wedding pictures I sent last week. The other elders have started teaching her and her kids and they attended and have accepted a baptismal date as well! The Lord really is doing miracles in this branch. The only thing that isn´t going so well is with the leadership. After some nudging the branch president agreed to attend Branch Council as it was scheduled to be Saturday evening. He arrived an hour late to the meeting and proceeded to announce that the next day he and his counselors would be released the next day because they had asked for a release. But then on Sunday there were no releasings or anything.... ay ay ay.... The problem here in Chile is that everyone works in the north in the mines and so they have to travel really far and a lot of times they have to be away from home 10 days and are home 3 or 7 there and 7 at home... but the church can´t work when the leaders do that. I´ve only met one Chilean who has understood that and he is the Elders Quorum president here and he always talks about how he has passed up a lot of great career opportunities in the north so that he would be able to be here during the week helping the branch. The funny part is that I talked with him and he served in Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina in one of the other branches than the one I was in! haha, the world is so small inside the church. It was fun to talk with him. I´ve learned the importance of putting the things that matter first like God, the family, and then work while I´ve been here in Chile. I´ve had to learn a lot about leadership in the church as well. It has been a relief to be here in Ovalle because we no longer have to worry about preparing and taking down the sacrament, assigning sacrament talks, doing tithing and taking the money to the bank on Monday, etc. Anyways, love ya´ll. This past week the zone leaders handed me an envelope that said, preparation for your farewell. It had details about my departure and things I needed to prepare for the final interview with President. It said I was to inform you all that I will be arriving in Texas the 22nd in the evening and so you need to get ahold of President Wilson so he can release me that evening! haha, weird. Other than that... any requests for gifts??? let me know. Love!