First off, we had our new missionary conference! I GOT TO SEE MY FRIENDS!! I totally cried, laughed, it was amazing…yeah. To get to the mission office in Rancagua we had to catch a bus (double decker woo!) and a colectivo (taxi). Oh, and we took the train home. Get me on a helicopter and submarine and I think I have every form of transportation covered! Anyways, we had lots of good lessons/training, tons of questions answered, and got this booklet called “Adjusting to missionary life”. Its super helpful…Coulda used that 6 weeks ago! Ha ha. In fact, in the book it says, “It usually takes about 6 weeks to become accustomed to a new environment.”
Later that night we had a baptism! Technically, it wasn’t “ours”, it was the elders’ sector, but we’ve worked with their family a lot and have gotten to know them.Woo! Her name is Patty and she is 9. It was so happy! I got to play a bit of piano, Hna Ruiz gave the talk on baptism, and just all of it was so cool. Different than baptisms in Utah, but still great. Thats one thing much different about the culture here, its much simpler, but thats okay too. 🙂
Then….GENERAL CONFERENCE. Every talk was so amazing! And to have it in English reminded me of home like nothing else. I got to be in the “gringo room” with a bunch of other english speakers, so I was way happy. The thing that suprised me was how specific each talk was. They weren’t about “faith” or something like that, every single message was was powerful and to the point. I definitely received personal answers and things I want to do better. But also I received a lot of comfort. One of the themes I noticed was overcoming challenges, a lot of really beautiful things said, cause we all have them!
Buin chapel (from Google Maps), not sure but we think this is where she went for Conference.
Speaking of conference, one other thing that was said A TON was members getting included in missionary work and sharing with their friends!!! Our investigator Celia and her husband Javier are such good examples of that! She can’t get baptized until she is married (law of chastity) and we had a bunch of problems with the civil registry. But together they have been sharing the gospel with their friends and inviting people to church! And one friend we taught last night, I got to invite her to be baptized, and she said yes! Trust me, I know that its hard to invite people to church or talk about the gospel (try doing it to complete strangers en Español!), but its like a birthday party, you feel really weird going unless your invited!! So invite friends, neighbors, who ever! The church is true!!
Overall, a really good week. There really are miracles out here. We’ve found and talked to people and have seen changes in peoples lives. Mine included. Love you all and take care!!!
Love, Hermana Clawson
Kellie in Chile 