Hey faaaaaamm,
This week was really great for the zone seeing as we had 3 confirmations and 4 baptisms. The whole zone is baptizing and that helps everyone with the unity and excitement that we want to have here in Chillián. In our sector we´re seeing some hard times and the tables have turned seeing that we´re the only sector in the zone now who hasn´t baptized!!! Weird stuff. But we´re hoping to have two baptisms this week with Nicolas and his girlfriend Erica.
We had a huge dissapointment with Gabriela and her family and once again my hate for the Catholic Church and it´s awful awful traditions was renewed. They sent us a text message saying that they were really sorry but that after talking as a family they´ve decided to stay with their ¨roots¨ and their¨faith¨ I felt like I was back in Junior High having a girl break up with me over text messaging.....lame. We were pretty bummed about that family and bugged with the way they told us after all that we had shared with them. I almost had to laugh when I read that they were going to stick with their faith, when the Catholic church is 100% about taking away your agency and limiting your faith to fables and traditions that are so strong that they don´t even let you exercise your faith to find out if something is true or not.
We found several awesome, nice, and receptive families this week....until we talked about the Apostasy and the Restoration. Once again they put up their walls of tradition and once we began to say things that went against what their brainwashed priests have taught them for years, they immediately shut their ears and stopped listening. While studying the Bible and seeing the Jews´ reaction to Christ and His gospel I´ve seen just how expert Satan is in using the smoke and mirrors of tradition to blind and confuse men. He takes something so pure and perfect that God has given to His children and twists it just a little and makes chains of traditions the base of people´s ¨faith¨ I feel so privileged to be part of something that I know is true FOR MYSELF. That I´ve had the liberty and the desire to search the scriptures, find out what God thinks, and then be able to get on my knees and receive a divine confirmation that what I have read, felt, and pondered is true. It´s been so sad to see people literally trapped in their traditions and not even have the willingness or faith to try something new, even though their own Bible says to not desappreciate revelation, not to extinguish the spirit, and to try all things and keep the good. The Apostles, that they confess to believe in, taught all throughout the new testament to search for the best gifts, through revelation, through faith and actions, asking God for all one needs. Nobody understands these things, and it´s frustrating being a 21-year-old young man and teaching these ¨men¨ who have families, studies, careers, and just seeing the infantile sight that they have on life. Can´t wait until that great and abominable church falls. Anyways on to better things!!
We did find a really cool family that moved here a year ago from Argentina. The oldest daughter, Kiara, opened the door and without us saying more than ¨hi, how are you?¨ let us in the door to meet her family. The mother, Jessie, is awesome and loves what we´re teaching and has asked us so many questions. She has 3 children: Kiara, 15, Tamara, 14, and Aaron, who is 3. She and her two daughters have listened attentively as we´ve taught them truths about the plan of salvation, the restoration, and the importance of baptism. They´ve accepted our invitations to read, pray, and ponder about the Book of Mormon and the message we bring them, and we feel really good about this family. Unfortunately the mother is not married and is living with someone, so she´ll be a slower project. Her daughers, who are awesome and both accepted baptismal dates for the 14th of August, left on Saturday for two weeks to Osorno, David´s mission, to see their father for vacation. We were bummed to see them leave cuz we know they would´ve progressed so quickly, but now we´ll have to wait a couple weeks to teach them again. It was so interesting to see the difference between this family and those who haven´t taken the time to investigate anything about their own churches. Jessie said that she beleived in God but was so disappointed with the Catholic church and the horrible things that are being revealed about how it works, that she will never go back. She really wants something more for her family and wants to come closer to God. Thanks to the “wonderful teachings” that she´s received from her former church she had doubts on whether or not there is life after this, what God is and who He is, and other questions that have not been answered. We testified of the resurrection and the reality of the first vision, which lets us know the Nature of God and our relation with Him. That Christ and His Father really are Celestial Beings, that we were created after Their image, and that we, through obedience to His gospel, can become like Him. The spirit has been present in all our lessons with that family, and I know that if they will do their part in reading the Book of Mormon and asking God to know if it is true, they will be baptized and be united as a family.
The gospel is awesome and I´m sooooo thankful for modern day scripture, for revelation, and for a family that has loved me enough to teach me these truths since I was a child. Just like Nephi I know that we´ve been born of goodly parents and that we need to continue to teach our families and friends this gospel until He comes again and we´ll all be with Him. It´s going to be soooo awesome!!!!!
I love you all tons and hope you have a great week!
love Tanner