Hey everyone!

My zone leader who is "dying"(AKA going home next change) has this computer retyper, so I bought it from him and these long emails can be a consistent thing from now on.

This week was very interesting. Now that we finally have a baptismal date or 2, we can focus on the other things of missionary work, or more than just finding people to teach. Both of the people are also showing lots of promise, and I truly believe that 1 or both will actually get baptized. Plus, there are a lot of people that are ready to receive a baptismal date as well.

Of these prospective dates, one is a mother of like 2 little kids. She almost got lost on the way to church this last week, and Olaiz and I had to run around trying to find her! It was fun, and it helped our recent count of 5 people in the church.

I've gotten pretty behind on my diary writing, like a full 2 months back, but I have a plan that will make it so I'm back up to the present in less than a month. I think it will work out, and the being backed up has helped a little too. It keeps my negative feelings from being to much in the foreground, and instead allows me to focus on the growth and what I actually learned each day. I just finished writing about the roughest time I've had on the mission so far, and so the process should speed up soon. I'm happy with it, and it should all be perfect soon enough.

Anyway, with all said and done, this week was very special. Last Wednesday we had this amazing lesson with this really catholic dude from Bolivia. We got to the point of the need of a restoration, and how the idea of the apostolic succession, while there may have been the ordinances, with the sins of the first bishop of Rome, Linus, the line broke. There was a need of a restoration, and any student of history can easily find MANY proofs of it. Then we testified of the truth of the restoration of the gospel and the church of Jesus Christ, and in that moment we pointed out how the Holy Ghost is testifying to him the truth of it. It was evident he was feeling something in that moment. Afterward, we had him pray to know the truth, and it was the first time in a prayer where I asked with all of my heart that they hear the truth and receive their answer. I'm sure he felt the truth, but I'm not sure if he let himself recognize it. I'll find out later this week.

A zone souvenir we are making this change is something so Chilean- a memory of my graduation photo. At all the schools here in Chile, when a class graduates from an elementary or high school, they get a group photo of the class, with individual members, and put it into this frankenstein creation of the individual with their class photo, and the names of the fellow graduates. Think of the class list you get in elementary school when it's school picture time. So, in commemoration of the 4 so-to-be "deaths"of missionaries, and 2 more leaving the area, and 2 others finishing their training, either in the CCM or in the field, we made a "Memory of my Zone Graduation"from the school San Tiago Norte (because all the elementary schools here are a "San ___"). I hope it turns out nice. It'll be pretty funny to only me after the mission, but it'll be a hilarious personal joke. I'm serious though, EVERY house here in Chile has this thing.

This week I've focused a lot on the letters of Paul, and I can't believe how good his rhetoric is. He took such complex concepts of the gospel and makes them seem so simple, even a baby could understand it. Definitely the Elder Holland of his day. Also, it's odd on occasion to find parts of the bible that so easily contradict basic "Christian"beliefs. How people support dealing with it, I don't know. I mean, there has to be a doctor of theology who explained away how Paul railed against forced celibacy in a clergy (AKA the priests and bishops can't marry) in 1 Timothy 4:3. But I digress. What I like most in his letters is his ability to use allegories and examples so cleanly. I've tried it on occasion, and it's hard, man.

Anyway, this week has been special with the ward too. The Elders quorum finally got a 2nd counselor, so we have someone specifically involved with us finally. It'll be nice to have a person who can coordinate with us and the ward while we go out and work. The asking of just like 6 people to do work can be worrying, because I have no idea if we are pushing on that part of the ward a little too much, y'know?

We are prepping for this amazing baptism that should come right at the end of this change. She has an active brother who is sealed and everything, but is the only member in the family. I know that he has prayed and fasted for his family a lot, so that they can know the truth of the gospel, and I have the luck of carrying out those wishes from god. It is amazing to spend each lesson with her and to help her, since she understands quickly and reads a lot of the book of Mormon.

This week has also seen quite a bit of progress with our other investigators. There are 2 couples that individually have said that they want to get married! I probably won't see the marriages, but I helped 4 people find their eternal companions over the course of 3 days, so I'm happy with my work. I believe (nothing's confirmed, but the writing's on the wall) that I leave this next change. I do think that I'm leaving the ward in a good shape missionary-wise. We've had more than 4 people in church for 2 weeks in a row now, and quite a few people are getting ready to get married or to receive a date. Once people get a marriage date, they can receive a baptism date as well.

The marriage process here is different than how it runs in the US though, I think. You have to go to the town hall, say you want to get married, and then they give you a day 3 months down the line to come back so they can marry you. Why there is that wait period I have no idea. Maybe it's the same in the states, but I don't think so. I'll have to go to the town hall this week to get the dates (you can have a friend do it in your name, so Olaiz and I will just take the 2 dates our for our investigators), so I'll have more info on that next week.

I have spent the last week studying more from Preach My Gospel, specifically with extending the commitments during a lesson. A common mistake I made for a while was to teach all of the restoration and afterwards stick 4 or 5 commitments at the end, being a "will you do this, this, and this?"So, I've tried spreading out the commitments, like in the first lesson saying "the prophets wrote the scriptures, and part of our visits will require learning from these writings. Are you willing to read from the scriptures in between our visits?"Or something like that. That way, there is only 1 or 2 commitments at the end of the lesson, and it makes things smoother and seem less like an inquisition.

Also, this letter is covering like the last 3 weeks or so of work, but this latest Sunday over 9 investigators attended church! I was really worried about 2 weeks ago that I would leave the sector in a really bad shape, but there is a good number of progressing investigators, and 1 baptism that should happen either the last week of my time here or the first week of the time after I leave. So, I'm just a happy person for right now. I do think a good number of them are progressing well, to the point where they bring the reest of their family to church.

Anyway, I love all you guys, I hope you all have an amazing week as well with me. I spend time thinking about yáll and the experiences we could have together!

Chao chao!