Temuco

I left Lebu. It was sad but thats how it has to be and now I’m in Temuco. It is very different than anything I have seen here. If I’m not mistaken, it is the sector with most city in it. At times I forget that I’m in Chile because it looks just like the states. Also, there is a ward here instead of a branch. There are like 130 active members too! It´s quite a change but I’m liking it.

My comp is Elder Whiting from Arizona. He has 3 months in the mission so he´s kind of new but its fun. We are living in a pretty big house with two other missionaries. The house is big but there is a broken door so it is open to the outside and very cold.

The people here are normally pretty rich. But rich people here are really mean. They make sarcastic remarks or just say mean things but we joke around and try to lighten it up. I guess I’ll figure it out with time. We found this Woman named Aurora that my comp taught like 2 months ago. They had apparently taught her about the Book of Mormon and haven´t been able to teach her since. But we got together with her this week and she told us that she has been reading the Book of Mormon at work and has to defend it from the people she works with. She even refers to herself as Mormon. We basically asked about her feelings on baptism to bring up the topic and she paused for a long time. Then with a deep breath she quietly said "14 de Junio." Then again "14 de Junio" with more confidence. We didn´t know what to say. We testified hard and she cryed and giggled out of awkwardness but I could honestly say that she was very, very happy. Almost as if she had been waiting to say the words "14 de junio" all her life. She is married and has two kids and I don´t doubt they will soon follow her example.

"The honest seeker of truth will soon come to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God."

This week has been absolutely exhausting but it was totally worth it. I have tons of pictures but next week I should be able to put them all up on dropbox.

Till next week!

Paul

Me voy 2

Me voy. I´m headed to the south this time. The sector is called Neulól or something like that but it´s part of Temuco. I don´t know anything about it but apparently it is very cold and very wet. That’s how I like my winters. Today I have to pack up my stuff, which I’m getting better at, and say goodbye to some people. Tomorrow we have to get up at like 5 to get to Concepción on time. I´m going to miss Lebu a lot, I felt like I wasn´t here for much time but I enjoyed it well.

This week started off well. We found a lot of people, we taught lots of good lessons, and lots of members went with us to appointments. Then Saturday and Sunday all the appointments fell. Every single one. Sometimes that happens. Also, saturday in the night, they assigned us to give talks on Sunday. It was my first time speaking in public in Spanish. It went pretty well but only 40 something people showed up to church.

We have been working with this guy named Miguel. When he was 6 months old, the house burned down with him inside. He was supposed to die but instead he was hospitalized for over 5 years. That is a long time. Now he only has stub fingers on one hand and a thumb on the other and his face is severely scarred. But now he works like crazy to get money for his family. Normally when people work like that, we can never get a hold of them but he always makes time for us. He was so happy when we gave him a Book of Mormon, he could almost not believe it. Him and his 12 year old daughter read it every night. From him, I learned that the people that get most out of life are those who are humble and determined and powered by love. 

Thats it for the week. My mind is too preoccupied by all the stuff I have to do before I leave.

Love you all!

Paul

Skype #2

Well this week we did skype. Even though internet wasn´t the best, it was still awesome to see you guys. 

This week we had a conference in Lota. It was weird to go back to my old area. I felt like I was back home. The next day we had to go back to the city because my comp needed una bendicion patriarcal. So this week we´ve done a lot of traveling.

Besides that, it was kind of a tough week because almost everybody we are teaching was out of town or had something going on. But this week we should be able to get a lot more done.

That's about it for the week. Again, thanks for getting skype all set up down there. As always, it was an amazing experience.

Till next week, 

Elder Thompson

Ghost busters

As missionaries we are asked to get rid of ghosts a lot. We will get a call from a member saying that their neighbor or a buddy has a ghost in their house and we have to bless it. Something that i have noticed is that the houses with "ghosts" are usually really messy. Or they are having family problems. Whether they actually have ghosts or not, it is interesting to see the effect cleanliness has on the good/bad energy in the house. That was just a thought I had this week.

It has rained pretty hard almost every day this week. I´m loving it. I just bought waterproof pants because the rain goes sideways. When we get home every night we have to make a fire and hang up all our stuff. Luckily, my backpack and my boots stay dry no matter what. 

This week we were planning and we realized that we are teaching like 5 families. And a lot of other people. It´s a good feeling.

For pday today we went to a waterfall that was used as a water purifying station or something like that. But it was covered in pipes and stairs and stuff so it looked pretty cool. I look a lot of pictures but the computer doesn't want to upload them so I’ll put them up next time.

I feel like I should have a lot more to say but we are going to skype in a week so it´s fine. The plan is to skpye at 6 my time. I can do it until like 7:30 so we will be able to do a three way skype for a while!

That's it for now. The church is true and missions are the best. Really hard, but the best.