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We
had change conference yesterday, because 23 missionaries got here today
(Tuesday) from the Chile MTC. Did you know that all the American
missionaries that are going to Chile don´t do the MTC in Provo anymore?
They have 6 weeks of MTC here in Chile! It´s crazy.
So anyway, that´s why I´m writing today, Tuesday-- because of that thing yesterday.
So anyway, that´s why I´m writing today, Tuesday-- because of that thing yesterday.
Also,
our Chilean companion, Elder Silva, is gone. He got his visa a few
weeks ago, and they just kept him here through the end of the change.
We dropped him off at the office yesterday, Monday, and his flight left
this morning at 6:30am. He´s in Ecuador now! It was good to be with
him, and it was good to have trained someone in the mission.
Now
it´s just Elder Rodriguez and I in the sector. In our zone, there are 8
companionships. 7 of them had some sort of change! We lost Elder
Silva, and the sisters were in a trio and lost their senior
comp/trainer. And then 5 other companionships have new companions. No
one is training, which is odd, but we do have 2 new District Leaders,
and Elder Rodriguez and I are excited to help them become great leaders.
It looks like they both have potential, and they both seem humble and
excited. couldn´t really ask for anything better.
We
are now teaching Eduardo, who decided he wanted to learn about the
church after coming to the English classes for a few weeks. He came to
church at 9:30 for the classes on Sunday, stayed the whole 3 hours, and
went back Sunday night for the ward family night (for investigators and
recent converts). And he loved it! We taught him about the Restoration
this morning and he had already read a Church brochure about Joseph
Smith and his testimony. He found the translation of the Book of Mormon
by Joseph Smith absolutely fascinating. What I love about him is his
sincere desire to learn and know, and that he understands what he reads.
A lot of people can read the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction to
the Book of Mormon, or read a church pamphlet and really not understand
what it means. They read it out loud just fine, but they don´t
comprehend what it´s saying. I´ll be honest-- when I´m just reading and
not paying attention, it definitely happens to me. But he understands
what he´s reading! It´s so great. He has committed to read more and
pray about the Book of Mormon, and has committed to be baptized in July
if he comes to know that the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints are true.
That´s
what I love about the church and missionary work. We´re not here to
try and convince people that our church is true with fancy or persuasive
or even manipulative words. We teach for true, genuine, sincere
understanding. The only thing we convince or persuade people to do is
to read a book of scripture and apply the invitation to ask God about
His restored truths. We don´t manipulate them into being baptized or
believing what we´re saying, we just invite them to ask God, and we
continue to help them come unto Christ through Faith, teaching them the
commandments of God so they know to repent, helping them through the repentance processes, and then making covenants with God, something that
they themselves already want to do. It´s just so straightforward and
true. and we´re really just here to support the strengthening of their
relationship with God.
We´re
going to work super hard these last few weeks of my mission. We´re
both excited. It´s going to be a bit hard, and we don´t have a whole
lot of people to teach, but hey. we´ll find those people and invite
them come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel.
Yeah!
Stay strong for the last week of school/ Finals!!! Wait, are you guys already out of school? lucky!
Just one more fast Sunday and then I´ll be home.
love,
Elder Cole Moffat
