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| April Zone Conference, Santiago, Chile LDS Temple |
Thanks for the dearelder`d stuff, and also a thanks to Maddie Kleinhample for writing me. It`s super hard to find 2 minutes to write something by hand, so sorry if responses are delayed. But I`m working on it. Happy birthday to Brad Gresik, too! and
CONGRATS TO ANDREW WHITTLE (cousin) ON HIS MISSION CALL!!!!!! (Sendai, Japan) I`m super excited for you!
Where to even start for this week.... well, on Thursday, we went to the Temple! It makes me miss being able to go quite a few times before the mission and weekly in the MTC. definitely set a few goals post mission that have to do with the Temple and families and stuff. super awesome to be there with President King and his wife, and also my trainer, Elder Fuhriman, was there too. 3 zones a day for 4 days. it was San Miguel, Maipu, and la Costa. Yes, as a missionary, I am here not to bring people into the church, but to help them and prepare them to choose for themselves to make a sacred covenant with God through baptism. But I also realized that while baptism is absolutely necessary in their progression, we focus so much on it that it can seem like the end result "yay! we had a baptism!" but the much greater (and much less-common) achievement is "YAY! They progressed and were able to go make more sacred covenants with God in the temple!"
President King shared with us his--and now our --vision for Chile. 2 parts: one has to do with us being the best missionaries we can be to always have the spirit with us and to become the best teachers we can be. that`s not anything new. the second part was revelation (literally). Let me explain. Missionary work is the life blood of the church. a few prophets have said it. and at the end of chapter 1 of Preach My Gospel, there are a bunch of quotes from prophets about missionary work. What happens when a missionary decides to commit himself to being the best missionary he can be, and submitting himself and humbling himself before God by really doing missionary work? He is converted. He is converted by the power of the Spirit, because he is selfless, and really worrying a lot about other people. He`s serving! And in that process, he realizes his errors or weaknesses, and repents or does what is necessary to overcome the weaknesses. This is the second part of the Vision: what would happen if a less-active member got involved in missionary work? It would be a lot more effective than just sharing a spiritual thought, because 10 minutes later they`re not thinking about what you shared. But if they`re involved in something, it has a much more profound effect. and frankly, the majority of the 85-90% inactivity rate in Chile still has their basic testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, they just got offended or bored or didn`t really understand what that testimony means. What happens when you share your testimony of the Book of Mormon? It strengthens. Vision, part 2: involve less actives in the missionary work here in Chile. give them a transfusion of the life blood of the church: missionary work. And this could maybe be applied to other parts of the World, too. just a thought. pretty shweeeet!
ALSO, la familia Duran gave us a reference this week! we shared with them! they came to church! they liked it! They want us to come back! family night tonight with them in the casa de la familia Duran! YESSS. Fabiola, a young single mom going through some tough stuff, with her sons Ivan (13), and Alonzo (3). they`re really cool. It`s looking GOOD!
On a not so spiritual note, this morning we played ultimate frisbee and soccer in a park/field, and during ultimate frisbee I ran full speed and jumped straight into a nice metal pole. one of those an arm and a leg on each side of the pole, parallel with the ground type crashes. But I`m okay. and I held onto the Frisbee. Touchdown.
little things, now. in the next package, some facewash would be nice. like the nutragena grapefruit stuff. maybe a few. Also the 180 degree brand behind the neck earmuffs for when it starts getting cold. I NEED THE CARMELITA RECIPE! you probably sent it to me. but if you could send it again, I`d be so happy. also, the simple crepe recipe we have, I want it. if you can soon, it`ll be Elder Guzman`s birthday April 30th. A quick little card or something little would be cool. He goes home in June, so he told his family not to send him anything for his birthday (makes sense), so maybe a little card or something would be cool from the states.
And finally, because I have a few minutes..... recipe for HUMITAS!
12 ears of freaking HUGE corn (like 20 normal ears). save the husks.
2-3 medium onions (1 one big one)
4-5 basil leaves
salt and oil to taste.
cut the uncooked corn like you do for the little kids... and sometimes the big kids... and get as much of the corn as you can from the ear. put it all in a food processor until it becomes like a puree. grill the super finely chopped onions and basil leaves, and mix it in with the corn puree, adding oil and salt to taste. put the mush into the corn husk leaves and fold (maybe dad remembers, or look at pictures online), and tie them up. Put them in a pot of boiling water, with a spoonful of salt and a stem or leaf of basil. leave them there for 45-60 minutes, and eat ´em hot and with sugar. sooooo good. definitely will be making humitas when I get back.
Also, Milanesa, an Argentine staple:
thinly cut stake, coat it in eggs, and bread it with super fine breadcrumbs, finely cut garlic (not powder), and this other herb that I can`t remember.... no importa. and fry it in oil. serve with sliced tomatoes if you want. or just like that. also really good. and if you want, coat it in eggs, bread it, then coat it in eggs again, then bread it again, THEN fry it. ricisimo!
Well, that`s all, folks.
I love you and miss you.
Elder Cole Moffat
