11-12-12

Santiago East missionaries!

Ni hao! (in honor of a certain future missionary)

It was so great to hear about the mission calls! Copeland will do great things in Provo that's for sure. I'm sure it's a great mission. I can't believe Mikaela is going to Manchester England to speak Chinese!! Actually I can; the Lord needs the best there so it makes sense. :)

I'm still in Los Plátanos with Elder Smith for another change! I'm really happy about that because I love this ward and Elder Smith. This change will only last five weeks though so that the missionaries that get transfered aren't transfered on Christmas Eve haha.

About my plan to use less-actives. Let's just say that we found 4 (almost 5) new investigators this week because of that plan. :) I'm happy about that. We went to one house and asked for the woman on our list. She said she didn't know who that was, so then we said her last name and the woman came to the gate to talk to us. She said that that woman was her grandmother who died in 2003! She was the only member in her family, but an extended family of 18 people live in that house! So, we plan to find at least a few people in that family that are ready for the Gospel. :) We have already taught some (the children were the only ones who wanted to listen to us) but the woman who we talked to before wasn't there so I hope she'll be there next time. We also have a bunch of appointments made from contacting less-actives with part member families that I plan on finding investigators with. Our sector also had a Sector Slam, where all the missionaries in the zone come to a sector to work. We got a ton of references from that. Elder Hart and I talked to a few people that appeared prepared for the Gospel. It was a testimony builder of how the Lord prepares people. :)

On Friday, I took out my Carnét, which is my Chilean identity that everyone, Chilean or not, needs to have. I met up with Elder Cadden, Elder Measom, and a handful of other missionaries and we waited in lines, lines, and more lines haha. Elder Cadden started a conversation with a man who used to live in Salt Lake City and work for Deseret Industries but isn't a member. Example right there of how the Lord prepares people. :) Later that day, when it was just Elder Bills and I (I went on a division with Elder Bills while Elder Smith worked in our sector), I started and had a really good conversation with a woman while we were waiting for the Micro (Chilean public transportation). I didn't struggle at all to talk to her! Our conversation was very interesting too; it was about a cultural, musical event that's coming to Santiago. I'm used to Elder Smith speaking in most conversations with people, since he speaks better Spanish, but Elder Bills has the same amount of time that I have and I was the one that actually lead the conversation. I felt so good afterwards! Granted, she spoke clearly compared to others that live in my sector, but it's the beginning of me being a powerful missionary. :)

I love you all and I think about you all individually everyday! I feel like these days are golden moments in our lives, because despite the difficulties, we have everything to be grateful for. May the Lord bless you all!

Con amor,
Elder Hill