One Year Out!

I’ve decided that life in Utah is 100% different than here in Chile, all the fishing, movies, plays, sports, dates, etc....Utah is cool! You guys really sound like you’re having fun and that makes me happy.
I’ll start with Monday. So we had to cancel a lot of appointments that we had due to me staying here and not having to say goodbye anymore, but we decided to wait to tell the Oyarce family, except for the dad. When we got there we told them that I was going down to Concepción, and they were bummed to hear that, but we continued with the night anyways and had a dinner and talked, and had a good time. Brother Oyarce near the end of the night decided that it would be good to have everyone give a last word to me (him knowing that I was staying) It was hard for me not to laugh and cry as everyone gave their testimony and gave me thanks for the things that I had done for them, but the worst was when it was sister Oyarce´s turn. She just sat there in silence with tears running down her face. I didn’t know what to do and looked at her husband and he shrugged not knowing what to do either. Him, seeing the love his wife had for me, also began to cry. It was a very touching moment and I told her she didn’t have to say anything, that she had said it all. I stood up and gave my testimony and also gave little gifts to everyone, ending with their son Diego, who was turning 14 that day. I gave him one of my ties, and we bought him a new Nike Soccer ball, which we had signed. He loved that and was really happy. Then I told them that it was tooo hard for me to leave Molina, so my President decided to keep me here for 6 more weeks. There was a moment of silence, and then everything exploded haha. Sister Oyarce almost strangled me with a giant hug, and everyone was super happy. Diego disappeared, so we looked for him and we found him praying and when he stood up he was crying with a big smile on his face. He told us he thanked God that I could stay here. All I’ve learned is that these families know how to love. We finished the night taking tons of pics (I’ll send some after this email) and laughing and having a good time.
The rest of the week went really well. We’ve found some really really great people to teach, but it’s been hard to find them for a second appointment, so we’re going to have to be persistent with that. The Lord has really blessed us and we’ve had some really great spiritual lessons.
The only dark cloud being Camilo´s family, but there was a silver lining as well. We went over on Wednesday to tell them that I hadn’t left and they were happy but mad that I hadn’t passed by before to tell them. The reason being that we had to keep working normally, since I hadn ´t left. We talked for a while, but the I wanted to lay it down clear that God kept me here for a reason, and I really wanted them to accept the Gospel. Everything was going okay; until we found out that Camilo didn’t believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We told them that they all needed to accept the challenge to read the book of mormon and pray to know if it was true. Vicky challenged me to show her in the Bible where it talks about the Book of Mormon, and the environment kinda changed and there was kind of a contentious spirit there. We showed her several scriptures and she told me that she felt that God kept me here to convince her that this was true, and that she was going to read the book of mormon and pray about it. We had that all under control until Elder Lopez told Vicky that they needed to start treating us more like Elders and not so much like Tanner and Josue....bad move. I tried to fix the situation, but I may have made it worse. I told them that they were really special to us and for that reason we really want to have an environment where we can share this special message and where the spirit can be with us. I messed up by saying that we weren’t there to entertain them, but to teach them the restored Gospel, which is true, and I said that we weren’t going to go over there to just eat and talk, but I should’ve used more tact and better words. Vicky was offended, and now we’re going to have to patch things up. This was one of those moments where I realized that I’m only 20 years old and still have a lot of growing up to do. I’m definitely not a perfect missionary, but I’m trying.
The good news is that Camilo still came to church along with his sister and his atheist brother Ignacio. Ignacio is really special and I like him a lot, but he’s had a rough life. He used to believe a lot in God and participated a ton in his church, but he has had some things happen that have taken him away from all the good things in his life. He now really wants to turn things around, he wants to return to the life he had before where he was studying to be a professional chef, and had a passion in that. He also wants to re establish his faith in God, so it was definitely a huge surprise to see him show up on Sunday in church. We’re going to pass by their home a lot more to end the day, in order to patch things up with Camilo and Vicky. Pray for them and put their names in the temple.
Danitza and her whole family came to church on Sunday, so we were happy about that and she still wants to be baptized, but the question is if we´re going to let her, due to even more drama that’s happened there. The thing with Danitza is that if she doesn’t get her way, she will do whatever it takes to get the things she wants. She returned to her mom’s house, and that meant a return of more rules. When her mom didn’t let her go to a party on Friday, she figured out a way to get her attention, and be able to move back in with her uncle. She told her mom some things that were really hurtful and if true, not good. We just don’t know whether or not to believe Danitza cuz she didn’t show any signs that these things she talked about had really happened. The story is so complicated and long, there was also a court ruling to determine whether or not Danitza would live with her mom or her uncle or be sent to a Juvenile correction facility. Joanna didn’t want her to go there, and the judge was going to rule against her being able to keep Danitza due to her recent case of depression. Joanna really has gotten a lot better and feels fine, but to avoid having her daughter go to the Juvenile place, she said it would be better that she lived with her uncle, and told Danitza that it was because she loved her that she said that. Anyways Danitza isn’t living with her mom now, but is still going to seminary and church, we just need to talk with her privately to know the real story, cuz later she told her mom that she had made the whole story up, and that she wants to go back home. She’s really unstable and for that reason I don’t feel comfortable moving forward with her baptism until we can talk.
Tonight we’re going to have a family night with the Oyarces with all the youth in the ward, and it should be fun. Hopefully it will help those like Camilo and Danitza that are passing through a rough time, and are confused.
We found out last week that on the 22nd we’re going to have a mission conference in Talca, so we’re excited about that, and I’ll be able to see some members and converts from my old Sector!!
The mission is awesome, but super complicated, and full of drama. Pray for us that we’ll be able to keep things organized, and help those we teach to progress quickly and gain strong testimonies. I’m going to keep working hard, so don’t worry about that and I feel really positive with how things are going, even with the recent ups and downs. This week will be a tough one cuz here in Chile they’ll be celebrating their Independence day on the 18th, which is like our 4th of July only that the celebration lasts 4 days instead of one haha. According to members it’s just pure BBQ´s and parties, so we’re going to have a hard time teaching those days, but we´re going to do our best. Oh and I complete a year this week as well!!!
I love you all tons and thanks for the weekly update, I love it. I hope you have a great week! Hopefully BYU won’t poop their pants again this week, GO COUGARS!!!!
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