Well, I am one week away from cambios (tranfers) here, and I cannot believe how fast time is flying! This week was definitely our busiest and most hard working. We had the most lessons this week and worked our tailbones off to get them all!
We started the week off by going through our list of contacts and calling all of them to see when we could have an appointment with them, and a ton of them weren’t interested anymore. So we erased them. We went through our list of old investigators and talked with each one and got some return appointments. Then, we went through the area book which is a list of everyone that has ever been taught and just thinned out the numbers. We were truly "separating the wheat from the tares" this week.
We were looking through one of the many lists that we have, and we couldn’t find some of the people. So we went to people who know EVERYONE and asked them. Their kid (who is turning 8 in just three weeks) came out and tells us, "Yo quiero ser bautizado!" ("I want to be baptized.") We were shocked for a second, but then we both said, "Sure, you can be baptized, and we can teach you what you need to know!" It was truly a gift to have that happen! We taught him twice this week! He is well on his way to being baptized! On the 25th, we went to the temple, and it was bacán (meaning it was beyond amazing)! We had a great time there. I love being able to enter the temple. It is such a refuge from the storms of today, to just be able to leave the world behind and be able to really have time to ponder. There is so much that one can learn in there!
It is so amazing to be here in Chile! I love the people, and I get to work hard every second of every day. The best part is that even though I am working hard, I get to enjoy it all. Even though the technology here in this internet cafe won’t let me show you with pictures, it truly is beautiful here, and I get to work my hardest in the work of the Lord. "When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God." (2nd Nephi 2:25)
I just wish that I could describe everything to you, but I can’t because it is so hard to describe unless you were here to experience it for yourself. I write to you as if you were here, and yet ye are not. But I know that what a man can do is nothing compared to what God, our Heavenly Father can do. Now imagine what we could do with the help of a heavenly being who wants nothing more than to bless us and help us; all we have to do is ask him in prayer and be willing to change based upon the answer we receive.
I know this gospel to be true. The knowledge that I have within me, which I try to share with people through my broken and terrible Spanish, I know to be true. If I did not know it to be true, I would never have left on a mission, to be away from my family, my friends, a job, and everything for two full years. If you want to know everything about why I am doing what I'm doing, come to church with the Mormons. You will know why as soon as you begin to feel the Spirit of our Father. There is no greater feeling than what I have felt since I have come here. I know this gospel to be true because of a book. This book is the Book of Mormon. A man can get closer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book. I have personally read it, asked God to know if it is true, and received my answer. I cannot go back because I know it to be true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that modern day revelation is true, and that everything in this church is true. I can only wish to tell you everything that I know to be true, but I can’t. I just want to share my testimony, that I know that what I am doing here, again, is NOT worthless because I am bringing souls to Christ. I am bringing back the lost for they are now found. And I am a representative of Jesus Christ.
I will end this letter with a short invitation that will make all the difference in the world. Watch General Conference. Listen to the words of everyone that speaks. We only get to see the prophet come and speak to us directly twice a year. And the best part is that if you don’t have time to listen right at that time or if you miss something, you can go to lds.org and watch/listen to it.
I love you all,
Elder Gale
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