Hola! Bueno, recibí cartas de mi familia, Katie Shrek, y los 2 de Lindsey Davis. I´ll try to write back!
Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 23 years this Thursday. And can I just say something about that? I am so happy to have parents that are keeping their temple covenants-- faithful to each other, always progressing and getting better, continuing to live the gospel, fulfilling the sacred responsibility of teaching your children the gospel, and keeping the commandments. Thank you.
On our way to the Ciber, we saw A. this Chilean that looked like Santa just standing in the driveway, B. this smaller old chilean with little tufts of white hair standing next to Santa, looking like an elf, and then sadly, C. a huge dead German Shepherd in this creek thing. Great -- all in the past 30 minutes.
I feel Spencer´s pain, because I was just sick. I understand. I feel ya, bro. Luke, I´m so happy you´re reading and having fun in school and basketball and stuff! Hayden, I want to hear alllll about the madrigal dessert -- sounds like it went well! Dad, good ol´ papa noel. To answer your question, no tubos. phew. Also, I don´t feel pressure to baptize from you, don´t worry. Mission-wise, you´re one of the best sources of counsel and advice and support and all that, but true, you´re not my boss, and you don´t set the expectations, goals, and means of getting those goals. I understand. I´d love to baptize as much as you did, but I know I´m not going to. I still want to baptize a lot, but we also have to focus on "permanence" or re activations, and statistically, there are quite a few baptisms that come from that as well. And to me, helping someone who fell away come back and keep their covenants de nuevo, and maybe even make temple covenants is just about as good as helping someone make covenants of baptism. Don´t worry, you´re not pressuring me, and I know what I need to do for my mission. Mom, the technology here in Chile is available, too. Not quite as many people have computers, but everyone has a TV (some really really really nice TVs), and I´ve seen some really nice sound systems too. Lots of people have mp3 players and everyone has a Facebook, etc. but people will spend a lottt on a computer, tv, internet, music, etc. before they fix up their house or get a car or anything like that.
Also, Mom, thank you soooo much for the quote calendar. Honestly, I look forward to the quotes every single day. yep yep. And there was one you put in there on a specific day that in the morning when I read it, I thought was kind of weird. I didn´t really have a lot to do with Christmas or giving or stuff like that like all the other quotes had been. It was about the trinity and how a belief in the trinity does not mean polytheism and stuff like that -- from Jeffrey Holland I think. Anyway, I was like, well that´s cool, but It seems a little out of place. then it hit me-- we might have to talk about something like this today. This could be a prep for me to get my mind thinking more about the trinity. So we go to our appointment with Camila (who is just really really awesome), and her boyfriend is there, and she was like, "well, my dad was asking me questions about god and jesus and the trinity, and I was able to use the guía para estudiar las escrituras, and I answered his questions and stuff, but can we review that just to make sure I understand it well?" Thank you, mom, for making me think about it all day. inspired quotes on inspired days. :)
Well, the ward and sector seems to be progressing a bit. We found some news, we "coincidentally" ran into an inactive member that moved here 3 days ago from Santiago (spirit was obviously guiding us), and now we´ll be teaching him, his inactive wife, and not baptized 10 year old daughter. Hopefully things keep going well. Funny story (there were a few this week): we do a bendición de hogar usually the first time we get into a house. So we started explaining prayer and what it is, and how we do it, and we had told them one of us will offer it, and if there´s anything we should ask for or express in the prayer, stuff like that. So then right before we were going to say it, we ask who they would like to say the prayer, and the super Catholic 50 year old mom is like, well, I´d like to say it! and we´re like well okay, go for it and she just starts talking. A few sentences in, I realize she´d actually started praying. She´s praying to God, and about God, switching between 2nd and 3rd person, and all that, but a very heartfelt, sincere prayer. Very nice. But then she just stops talking..... and we´re there on the ground, kneeling in silence for probably 3 or 4 full minutes (which is really really really really long). I´m trying not to laugh, and I don´t know if she had ended her prayer, or was so full of the spirit that she was receiving revelation or she was just waiting for us to do something or what. So I peak over at Elder Fuhriman, who gives me the look of " I don´t know what´s going on either... just wait," and then I accidentally catch the less-religious husband´s eye, who just has the look of "my wife was praying, now she´s not, I´m lost, I feel awkward, especially with you two gringos just kneeling here in my living room." I ended up being able to keep in my nervous laughter, but it was really hard. Eldr Fuhriman handled it well, by finally saying, " wow, I really feel the spirit ((which was true)), so would it be okay if I said a prayer, too?" but we have a return cita, so they didn´t think it was that bad. Just a funny experience. When I Skype you AT 12:00 NOON SANTIAGO TIME on DECEMBER 24, SATURDAY, remind me to tell you about the funny 2 year old story.
Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 23 years this Thursday. And can I just say something about that? I am so happy to have parents that are keeping their temple covenants-- faithful to each other, always progressing and getting better, continuing to live the gospel, fulfilling the sacred responsibility of teaching your children the gospel, and keeping the commandments. Thank you.
On our way to the Ciber, we saw A. this Chilean that looked like Santa just standing in the driveway, B. this smaller old chilean with little tufts of white hair standing next to Santa, looking like an elf, and then sadly, C. a huge dead German Shepherd in this creek thing. Great -- all in the past 30 minutes.
I feel Spencer´s pain, because I was just sick. I understand. I feel ya, bro. Luke, I´m so happy you´re reading and having fun in school and basketball and stuff! Hayden, I want to hear alllll about the madrigal dessert -- sounds like it went well! Dad, good ol´ papa noel. To answer your question, no tubos. phew. Also, I don´t feel pressure to baptize from you, don´t worry. Mission-wise, you´re one of the best sources of counsel and advice and support and all that, but true, you´re not my boss, and you don´t set the expectations, goals, and means of getting those goals. I understand. I´d love to baptize as much as you did, but I know I´m not going to. I still want to baptize a lot, but we also have to focus on "permanence" or re activations, and statistically, there are quite a few baptisms that come from that as well. And to me, helping someone who fell away come back and keep their covenants de nuevo, and maybe even make temple covenants is just about as good as helping someone make covenants of baptism. Don´t worry, you´re not pressuring me, and I know what I need to do for my mission. Mom, the technology here in Chile is available, too. Not quite as many people have computers, but everyone has a TV (some really really really nice TVs), and I´ve seen some really nice sound systems too. Lots of people have mp3 players and everyone has a Facebook, etc. but people will spend a lottt on a computer, tv, internet, music, etc. before they fix up their house or get a car or anything like that.
Also, Mom, thank you soooo much for the quote calendar. Honestly, I look forward to the quotes every single day. yep yep. And there was one you put in there on a specific day that in the morning when I read it, I thought was kind of weird. I didn´t really have a lot to do with Christmas or giving or stuff like that like all the other quotes had been. It was about the trinity and how a belief in the trinity does not mean polytheism and stuff like that -- from Jeffrey Holland I think. Anyway, I was like, well that´s cool, but It seems a little out of place. then it hit me-- we might have to talk about something like this today. This could be a prep for me to get my mind thinking more about the trinity. So we go to our appointment with Camila (who is just really really awesome), and her boyfriend is there, and she was like, "well, my dad was asking me questions about god and jesus and the trinity, and I was able to use the guía para estudiar las escrituras, and I answered his questions and stuff, but can we review that just to make sure I understand it well?" Thank you, mom, for making me think about it all day. inspired quotes on inspired days. :)
Well, the ward and sector seems to be progressing a bit. We found some news, we "coincidentally" ran into an inactive member that moved here 3 days ago from Santiago (spirit was obviously guiding us), and now we´ll be teaching him, his inactive wife, and not baptized 10 year old daughter. Hopefully things keep going well. Funny story (there were a few this week): we do a bendición de hogar usually the first time we get into a house. So we started explaining prayer and what it is, and how we do it, and we had told them one of us will offer it, and if there´s anything we should ask for or express in the prayer, stuff like that. So then right before we were going to say it, we ask who they would like to say the prayer, and the super Catholic 50 year old mom is like, well, I´d like to say it! and we´re like well okay, go for it and she just starts talking. A few sentences in, I realize she´d actually started praying. She´s praying to God, and about God, switching between 2nd and 3rd person, and all that, but a very heartfelt, sincere prayer. Very nice. But then she just stops talking..... and we´re there on the ground, kneeling in silence for probably 3 or 4 full minutes (which is really really really really long). I´m trying not to laugh, and I don´t know if she had ended her prayer, or was so full of the spirit that she was receiving revelation or she was just waiting for us to do something or what. So I peak over at Elder Fuhriman, who gives me the look of " I don´t know what´s going on either... just wait," and then I accidentally catch the less-religious husband´s eye, who just has the look of "my wife was praying, now she´s not, I´m lost, I feel awkward, especially with you two gringos just kneeling here in my living room." I ended up being able to keep in my nervous laughter, but it was really hard. Eldr Fuhriman handled it well, by finally saying, " wow, I really feel the spirit ((which was true)), so would it be okay if I said a prayer, too?" but we have a return cita, so they didn´t think it was that bad. Just a funny experience. When I Skype you AT 12:00 NOON SANTIAGO TIME on DECEMBER 24, SATURDAY, remind me to tell you about the funny 2 year old story.
But, stuff here is getting a little better. Gotta go, I love you all! and I just sent you, family, a letter on Friday. Hopefully you´ll get it by Christmas.
Love and progress,
Elder Cole Moffat
