Just like in the Los Angeles Mission, this week was transfers and we found out that Elder Yorgason was being moved to another area. He was a great missionary and companion that showed his love for others through thought and action. He will be missed here in Parte Alta but that is how the mission goes. On Tuesday, I was informed by one of the Assistants that I would be training a new missionary fresh from the MTC in Provo. His name is Elder Dawson and he is from Orem, Utah. He was in the MTC for 6 weeks, and loved all the time he had there. Now he is here with me and trying his hardest to be the missionary that God knows that he can be. He makes me think back 8 months ago (seems like just yesterday) when I arrived to Chile and began preaching to Heavenly Father´s children. I love the energy and motivation that Elder Dawson has because it helps me become a better, more dedicated missionary everyday. Even if he doesn´t know, Elder Dawson is helping me just as I am helping him. Even though he can´t understand most of what the people say here, he still continues working and practicing his contacts on the street. He has the faith that 1 Nephi 3:7 will prove true and that this duty we have to preach the Gospel in Spanish is a true commandment from God. What a great example he is for me.
This month will be a great one for our companionship. Our baptismal goal is 5 and we are working with faith as much as possible to accomplish this goal. One of our investigators, Nacho, was not able to go to church yesterday because he got the stomach flu but he is still preparing everyday for his baptism. The entire branch has found out that he is getting baptized and they are all beginning to get to know him and help him feel welcomed in the church. Due to the changes this week, we lost contact with some of investigators but this week we are going to pass by them everyday so that they know how serious the message we have is. In order for investigators to be baptized in 3 weeks, they need to understand the importance and value that our message has and how it can change their lives. They begin to realize this as they read, pray, and listen to the Spirit. Their actions of faith allow Heavenly Father to talk to them. Once they realize the importance, they will do all they can to make it to the Waters of Baptism. Our purpose is to invite them unto Christ by helping them understand how this message can truly change their lives. There are so many different principles related to the Gospel and through prayer and study, we receive revelation for our investigators and become intruments in the hands of our Heavenly Father. Once the investigators feel the Spirit with the missionaries, they develop desires to feel it on the own time. That personal time is the most important time in order for a conversion process to happen. They can feel the Spirit all they want with us, but if they don´t keep the commitments on their own time, they will not have a true, lasting conversion.
I want to share an amazing experience that my companion and I had this week. A couple of weeks back, Elder Yorgason and I found an in active that wasn´t going to church because he was offended during an interview he had with the Stake President. The interview was for worthiness to enter into the temple, but he wasn´t paying a full tithe because he didn´t have enough money to pay for his family and tithing, so he did not pass the interview. He told us that after that night, he had no purpose to his life. He lived with this grudge until the moment that we knocked on his door a few weeks back. He has gradually been returning to church, and just this past Saturday we had an amazing lesson with him. We watched a EFY video about a young man who had lost his mom and two siblings in a car accident but this didn´t ruin his faith due to his testimony of eternal families. I don´t know what it is called but it is from the 2013 EFY and I invite you to watch it! After the video, the Spirit directed us to talk about eternal families and the temple. Hno Rocco (the in active) retold his past experience of the interview to my companion and told us that he could still not pay a full tithe. At that moment, I remembered a story about tithing in the pamphlets from the church. The reason that I remembered it is because it is used in the training videos that new missionaries have to watch. (The Robles Family, for President and Sister Weidman) The story is about Elder Oak´s mom and the testimony that she had for tithing. When I finished reading this story to Hno Rocco, the Spirit overwhelmed us and he promised to pay his tithing and trust in the Lord´s promise. He has strong desires to be sealed in the temple with his wife, and now I know that he will do anything in order to enter the temple. This experience was amazing for many reasons. 1. If I had not had had my new companion, Hno Rocco would not have retold us the experience with his interview. 2. If I had not had had my new companion, I may not have been able to remember the story in the pamphlet. The reasons can go on and on, but they all testify of the Spirit of mission work. This is His work. He is the true Master and we must turn to Him.
I pray for you all!
Elder Weidman
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