Hi family!
The big news of the week is that one of my converts from Copiapó died
yesterday. Luis Morales passed away from heart failure Sunday
morning. I don´t think I ever told you all about Luis. Hermana
Joglar and I found him randomly one of our first days together in Copiapó, but
then with the baptisms of Yino and Felipe, he kind of got forgotten about.
His kids and ex-wife are members but less active, and he has never really
wanted anything to do with the church. We started to teach him but all he really
wanted to do was talk about how his kids never visited him and how his life is
lame now etc... For a long time the lessons with him were just so, so
long. One time we found him in a plaza, and he was so uncommitted about
truly changing his life that we were about to drop him. However, as a last
effort ditch, I got out the scriptures and read him the story about the angel
appearing to Alma, hijo., and then pulled out the picture of Jesus at the door,
and basically just gave him a HUGE palo, asking him if he was going to let
Christ in, because ¨he´s at the door right now.¨ (So true,
especially looking back, because remember that he died yesterday!) I was super
ard on him, but from that day on, he started progressing. Started
going to church and he loved it. At that point, we had cambios, so he
became the investigator of the other hermanas, but I was so happy the day he got
baptized. He changed so, so much. You have to understand that Luis
was not a model citizen before. He came from one of the riches families in
Copiapó and eventually lost everything. He didn´t treat his family very
well, and that was why they basically ingored him. But as a member of the
church, he was so much happier! He was always smiling and had the
assignment to open the chapel every Sunday for church- always the first one there.
:) When Joglar and I left Chañarcillo, he was a new person- he had
truly been born again through his baptism. Yesterday Hermana Santos called
me and told me the news that he had passed away, but all I could really feel was
great peace. He died good- and thanks to his baptism, he died with the
ability to enter into spirit paradise. This gospel is true, and we really
dont know when we are going to go to the other side.
I am borrowing the Book of Mormon institute manual from a member family and
it has been amazing! Right now Nuñez and I are reading the same part (3
Nefi) and so we´ve been able to compare our thoughts and it´s been great!
One thing we talked a ton about the other day was sanctification. We
really have the opportunity to be sanctified, and when we feel the spirit, He is
sanctifying us. Also about the sacrament. I really feel that if the
members of the church truly understood the significance of the sacrament, we
would be invested with so much more power. There is a scripture in the DyC
that says that the power of God is manifested in the ordinanzes. We all
need the power of God in our lives, and we have the opportunity to have a giant
fuente of power every single Sunday, besides the teensy sidenote of being
completely cleaned from our sins. :) God really has created
this plan so that we can win. It´s like when you work somewhere and you
realize that the people who shop/ go there could receive so much more from their
money if they would only realize a couple things. If we members truly
understood all the help and all the shortcuts (I don´t relaly mean shortcuts but
I can´t think of a different word) that God has placed for us (the sacament,
FAITH, etc), we would be so much more willing to keep the commandments.
We are teaching a girl, Majo, and we taught her the Restoration this week
and then challenged her to be baptized and she accepted! She still has to
pray to find her answer, but she told us that before she met the elders, she
didn´t think religion was necessary. But when she started going to the
Church of Jesus Christ, she felt ¨filled¨ for the first time, even though she
didn´t know anything had been missing. She is such a humble girl, and
we´ve been trying to introduce her to members and everything so she feels
comfortable. Prays are appreciated for her so that she has the courage to
take the step of baptism. Right now she wants to wait awhile, but it´s
because she doesn´t truly understand baptism yet. :)
The time is flying. I love being here. The Church is true and
the goepsle is perfect. God loves us. A teenage boy that was
reactivated and just started his mission papers bore his testimony yesterday and
said that he always struggled waking up for church, but he took his weakness
before the Lord and asked if He would help, and now for a whole month he has
beaten his alarm on sundays. Testimonies are asi, and God truly, truly
will help us.
I love you all,
VIVE CHILE!
Catron
The big news of the week is that one of my converts from Copiapó died
yesterday. Luis Morales passed away from heart failure Sunday
morning. I don´t think I ever told you all about Luis. Hermana
Joglar and I found him randomly one of our first days together in Copiapó, but
then with the baptisms of Yino and Felipe, he kind of got forgotten about.
His kids and ex-wife are members but less active, and he has never really
wanted anything to do with the church. We started to teach him but all he really
wanted to do was talk about how his kids never visited him and how his life is
lame now etc... For a long time the lessons with him were just so, so
long. One time we found him in a plaza, and he was so uncommitted about
truly changing his life that we were about to drop him. However, as a last
effort ditch, I got out the scriptures and read him the story about the angel
appearing to Alma, hijo., and then pulled out the picture of Jesus at the door,
and basically just gave him a HUGE palo, asking him if he was going to let
Christ in, because ¨he´s at the door right now.¨ (So true,
especially looking back, because remember that he died yesterday!) I was super
ard on him, but from that day on, he started progressing. Started
going to church and he loved it. At that point, we had cambios, so he
became the investigator of the other hermanas, but I was so happy the day he got
baptized. He changed so, so much. You have to understand that Luis
was not a model citizen before. He came from one of the riches families in
Copiapó and eventually lost everything. He didn´t treat his family very
well, and that was why they basically ingored him. But as a member of the
church, he was so much happier! He was always smiling and had the
assignment to open the chapel every Sunday for church- always the first one there.
:) When Joglar and I left Chañarcillo, he was a new person- he had
truly been born again through his baptism. Yesterday Hermana Santos called
me and told me the news that he had passed away, but all I could really feel was
great peace. He died good- and thanks to his baptism, he died with the
ability to enter into spirit paradise. This gospel is true, and we really
dont know when we are going to go to the other side.
I am borrowing the Book of Mormon institute manual from a member family and
it has been amazing! Right now Nuñez and I are reading the same part (3
Nefi) and so we´ve been able to compare our thoughts and it´s been great!
One thing we talked a ton about the other day was sanctification. We
really have the opportunity to be sanctified, and when we feel the spirit, He is
sanctifying us. Also about the sacrament. I really feel that if the
members of the church truly understood the significance of the sacrament, we
would be invested with so much more power. There is a scripture in the DyC
that says that the power of God is manifested in the ordinanzes. We all
need the power of God in our lives, and we have the opportunity to have a giant
fuente of power every single Sunday, besides the teensy sidenote of being
completely cleaned from our sins. :) God really has created
this plan so that we can win. It´s like when you work somewhere and you
realize that the people who shop/ go there could receive so much more from their
money if they would only realize a couple things. If we members truly
understood all the help and all the shortcuts (I don´t relaly mean shortcuts but
I can´t think of a different word) that God has placed for us (the sacament,
FAITH, etc), we would be so much more willing to keep the commandments.
We are teaching a girl, Majo, and we taught her the Restoration this week
and then challenged her to be baptized and she accepted! She still has to
pray to find her answer, but she told us that before she met the elders, she
didn´t think religion was necessary. But when she started going to the
Church of Jesus Christ, she felt ¨filled¨ for the first time, even though she
didn´t know anything had been missing. She is such a humble girl, and
we´ve been trying to introduce her to members and everything so she feels
comfortable. Prays are appreciated for her so that she has the courage to
take the step of baptism. Right now she wants to wait awhile, but it´s
because she doesn´t truly understand baptism yet. :)
The time is flying. I love being here. The Church is true and
the goepsle is perfect. God loves us. A teenage boy that was
reactivated and just started his mission papers bore his testimony yesterday and
said that he always struggled waking up for church, but he took his weakness
before the Lord and asked if He would help, and now for a whole month he has
beaten his alarm on sundays. Testimonies are asi, and God truly, truly
will help us.
I love you all,
VIVE CHILE!
Catron