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| Elder Birrell, Elder Dussan and Elder López |
Whoa, I have 13 months as a missionary. I honestly don’t
want this to ever end, but the month count becomes more and more frightening.
We’re doing well, we’re happy, and we’re working hard here in Dorsal. I’d also
like to recognize that not everyone has that same blessing right now in Chile-
many are without houses due to the forest fires in the southern part of Chile.
Please pray for these people, families, and communities, so they can make a
fast recovery and that all these disasters can be for good in the end. Even
here in Santiago (far from the fires) that’s all people talk about because
pretty much everyone has a family member there. We don’t watch the news, but
from what we’ve been told, it’s some serious stuff. (Funny story: the other day
that really nice lady I talked about last week, offered us a TV for free so we
could watch the news- she’s way too nice).
On Thursday this week, we found a lady who’s been a member
of the church for 20 years now, but has been inactive for 3 years. She said she
never thought she would ever become inactive. She had served in Young Women’s
(in her ward and stake), she was a seminary teacher, she was faithful in paying
her tithing and keeping the commandments. We asked her what’s the difference in
her life between the time she was a faithful member of the church and these
past 3 years. Before she could even respond, tears began rolling down her
cheeks. She explained that she used to have peace of mind, like a true inner
peace. She said that she was faithful with her tithing, down to the penny, and
she never had any financial problems. Even though she’s a single mother, she
never felt alone. Now, she said, she’s never at peace with herself, she’s
always worried, and she (even though she works everyday) doesn’t even have
enough money to buy candy. She says that when she drinks with her friends she
has a great time, but in the end she just feels more alone. Above all, she
feels empty, that’s the word that most provoked emotion in her- emptiness. It was powerful hearing this from someone who
has experienced both living the gospel faithfully and then ignoring what she
knows to be true. The choice is clear.
The amount of people that we’re working with here that are
trying to overcome smoking and drinking addictions is quite large and in these
past two weeks we’ve seen insane progress. I think I’ve just gotten used to
miracles such as these, but I got thinking how powerful the gospel really is in
making these changes. Sometimes it’s good for me to sit back and appreciate the
opportunity to witness these miracles.
These past two days we’ve had lessons with Graciela (the
Peruvians) and the De La Cruz family that were both intensely spiritual. Both
lessons have helped me realize how little we really do- we aren’t capable of
making drastic changes in the lives of others. These lessons and the
experiences they shared helped me see the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus
Christ in a very real way. The feelings there were overwhelming powerful,
moments I’ll never forget.
This Wednesday we had a Worldwide Conference for
missionaries and I learned quite a bit, but what happened at the end is what
the conference will be remembered for. Two things were changed: 1. our schedule
and 2. The information we report. Basically, our schedule gives us more flexibility
and we will report less information in hopes that the information we do report
has more to do with the conversion of the investigators. All good things!
Have a great week!!
Love,
Elder Birrell
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| Elder Tolley |
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| Colo Colo!!! |
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