¡Hola, toda mi familia y todos mis amigos!
¡¡Saludades de Chile!!
It's been a great week here in Conce! ONE MONTH IN CHILE! I'm coming to know this place better and better. I'm not quite Chileno yet, but I'm picking up more of the language everyday and walking the many calles and pasajes! It's a really humbling experience!
So THIS WEEK.. Elder Withers and I contacted 140 people in las calles. Thursday night we played basketball with members and invited investigators (there was one or two investigators, from another set of missionaries), which is an almost weekly routine and AWESOME. On Friday we had a Zone Conference together with one other zone, and I had the opportunity to play the organ (in the form of an electric piano) and play "Called to Serve" for the opening meeting with President Arrington and his wife. Saturday, we taught our weekly Clase de Inglés, where we had two students and taught the different sounds of the English language.
All throughout the week, we taught people about Jesus Christ and shared the most important message in the world with other families. We've found some great families and individuals with awesome potential, and the one I want to share about this week is Amadeo.
Amadeo was a reference from Cristian Lopez, one of our member friends. We had tried contacting him multiple times, but he never was at home. Cristian had told us that this man had a Book of Mormon, but we hadn't been able to find him! Saturday night, after a lesson with a less active family and after running out of solid plans for the night, Elder Withers and I decided to try, once again, this man. We came to the front of the gate in front of his house, and I said a quick prayer that we might finally be able to share something with him. A few moments later, the man opened the door and a few more moments later, after convincing him to let us share something very brief with him, he came out to open the gate and invited us into his home. Amadeo, as we came to know as we sat down at his dining room table, is 83 years old. Looking like the American boys that we are, he was excited to have an opportunity to speak English. On his table was a notebook and some other material, to study and learn English. Here is this man, 83 years old, retired and content as we came to know, and he was studying! I was very impressed by that. As we enjoyed the time together talking and getting to know one another, we interchanged between languages, speaking Spanish AND English. We were there for over an hour, possibly closer to two hours. In that time, we shared the entire lesson of the Restoration with this man --- essentially in English! I did my part to practice some Spanish in what he could not understand, but for the mostpart we taught this man about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our own language. As we came to the end of our time together (Elder Withers and I were pressed to get home on time!), we bore our testimonies about the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. After, he shared his own. In English, this man, who retired from the Chilean equivalent of the FBI, told us that he believed that this book was true. He had read it. He told us that the Bible had gone through the hands of many and he wasn´t completely sure of it, but that the Book of Mormon he had read and believed it to be the truth.
What an experience that was! We left with a return date to come share more, after we had invited him to be baptized. We're going to be helping him prepare for that.
Like I told Amadeo, I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is, and it contains the greatest truth in all of the world. It's why I am here. I tell that to people a lot in the streets, and I mean it. I am here because what I am sharing has blessed my family. I want to share these blessings with other families, so that they can have the happiness that I have in my life. I can't type that without tears coming to my eyes. These things are true. There is so much joy to be had from the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the blessings that I have, the most important being the strong family that I have. I am so grateful for them, and even when I can't be with them during this time I know that I have the opportunity to give other families the opportunity to grow closer and to be together forever.
I'll end with that for today.
I love you, my family, and all of my amigos back home! I think about all of you so much, and you are in my prayers. I know Heavenly Father will bless and watch over you, even while I am away.
Mucho amor de su hijo, su hermano, y su amigo,
Elder Trent Sellers :)
