Walking for The Lord's Miracles

Random Pic's of Punta Areana's

1/29/2007

Well, let's see what has happened in my week this week, not a whole bunch, busy but lotsssssssssssssssssssss of walking.

Yeah dad, thank you for your comment about the weather, how we have the same weather here as you guys do there, let{s just remember that we are in summmmmmmmerrrrrrrr here. But their summer here is just like our winter. So that is fun, just like home, right. It was warm one day this week, I walked around withouttttttttt my jacket!!! It was a miracle!

So like I told you last week we had our conference. They told us that 80 percent of the baptisms in the World are in the American continents, from Alaska to por venir, or pretty much punta arenas. And the other baptisms in the rest of the World are latinos that moved to other countries, no that part was a joke, but not far fetched. Elder Pratt, the president of the area of Chile is coming this week to give a training, maybe I will finally meet the man that has my name and evveryoneeeeeeeeee asks if we are related. We will see.

So we had a few interesting experiences this week. Let me fill you in on a couple of them. First of all. Alejandra y patricio. They are good people but a little show. They are a little hesitant to accept their goal for baptism. We had some Herat to hearts. It CAME down to it and I asked them if they relieve that the book of Mormon is true or not. They both said that they believe that it is true. Alejandra says that if she doesn’t{t read the bom in a day she feels empty, she feels like she is missing something, she needs that little bit of time to read her book to feel good, relaxed, happy, and peaceful. They both say that it is true but they don’t know if Joseph smith is a prophet or not. We talked about how if one is true the other one has to be true as well, and then the church has to be true and all that. It was an awesome lesson, the spirit was so incredibly strong. We had an fhe with them and another family in the ward that is preparing to go to the temple in two weeks, it was really good because they were Catholics too and so their testimonies were really strong. Everybody thinks that this brethren is going to be the next bishop because we still don’t have a bishop. It was awesome, they CAME to church on Sunday as well, which was such a relief!!!!!! They are progressing, slowly and surely. We are putting everything into them. They are coming along.

Oh yeah, and here, odd tid bit. The people here don’t have lawn mowers, they cut the grass by hand with clippers, granted they don{t have much grass but still.

So now, the real miracle miracle of the week. This week I have walked and walked and walked. Nobody Would let us in, rain and all. We were walking yesterday with Javier, the guy that is going to the temple with is family and everyone thinks Hill be the next bishop. We had been walking all afternoon and nobody wanted to let us in. We had like four appointments and they all fell through. I greeted this woman and started talking to her as normal, a normal contact. Javier is such a good guy and he asks her if she feels okay and she starts crying, not a lot but the tears flooded her eyes. And so I asked her if we could help her with something, if she needed help. She invited us to her house right then. So we were like, yeah let’s go. So come to find our her daughter is addicted to drugs and the mom, patricia has raised her grandkids their entire lives, like 8 9 years old and she doesn’t have anything, only the addiction to drugs and the drive to find them wherever she can. Patricia’s husband is sailing and doesn’t come back until March. She was a wreck. We shared some scriptures with her to help her. During the opening prayer I was pleading with the lord to guide me to the scripture that Would help her, I had no clue which. In my mind CAME 2 Nephi 9, I didn’t know what verses and I can’t scan in Spanish like I can in English. So I was like, heavenly father, just let me open to the page that has the scripture that she needs. So I opened my bom and it opens to 2n9 and I had marked three verses, I don’t know which ones they are but they talk about how Christ knows our sufferings, pains, and feelings. He suffered them all and how much love he has for us and we are never alone. We didn’t teach anything about the restoration of the book or Mormon. We have her a bom and just told her to read alma 34 and just said that it will bring the spirit in her life, the love of god, and comfort. She said that she will read it, she didn’t question what the book is, nothing about it. She is going to read it and she asked us if she could go to church with us on Sunday and she gave us her number and we are going back to visit her tonight. She said she is going to read the chapter as soon as we left and we have to ask her what we read when we come. Above all, we had given a man in the street a photo of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane and come to find out that this man had given it to her and she had it in her house. God Works in interesting ways. We told her that god put her in our path for a reason. She was a wreck and needed comfort. We prayed with her, sang with her, and shared our testimonies and the spirit of the lord with her. If our appts wouldn’t have fallen through, we wouldn’t have found her in her time of need. She had been walking around for hours not knowing what to do and crying because she doesn’t have anyone now in town. She is so worried about her grandkids and what her daughter might do for drugs. I guess there are not that many drugs here in punta areans, they are harder to find. The lord truly guides us. And if it wasn’t for Javier’s question of if she feels okay, he was with us for a reason, we were in that area for a reason, only god knows and we just have to obey with great faith that it really all does work out for the best. God loves us and takes care of us in every single minute.

The faith that this lady has that she is going to read the bom and has no clue what it is but she felt the spirit with us, she saw that it was a miracle of the lord and she felt so much better alter we left. We didn’t resolve any of her problems, we only shared the love of god with her.
So that is pretty much me. I am trying to increase my love, faith, and trust in the lord so that I can be receptive to the spirit when the lord needs my, like in moments like these. I saw one of the greatest miracles with the lord in this moment, as we were being used as his instruments when he needed us. As Javier was receptive to her pain in her FACE and how these people aren’t just contacts, they are children of god that need the gospel just like I do. They need the lord just like I do. It doesn’t matter what they appear to be or if they appear to care or not, they need their chance to hear and change their lives because it really will change their lives. I am learning so much everyday. I have so much to learn. I learn so much from Javier and romina, they are great examples and have only been members for a year but they have great faith. Everyday I am trying to do better, I know I don’t always do what I should but I am trying to give it my all and find those people that the lord sent me to find and do what he sent me to do. It is a great work. Mom and dad, help the missionaries, they need your help. Ask them if you can go and visit people with them, it will help you more than it will them and the investigators, bring a family into the gospel, there are people in Oroville that only you guys can help as well. Take the initiative. You don’t have time, you are right, but the lord Hill give you time if you do his will, just do it. Have faith that the lord will work miracles in your life as you do his will. It s all the faith, I am learning the faith as I go, it is hard, we are of little faith but god will help us. This is not just for mom and dad but for anyone that reads it, nana and papa, erica, jake, leaane, chan, everyone, look for the people who need the gospel, imagine your life without it and think of their lives without it and what they can have with it.

I hope you all are doing great. I will write next week. Take care all, remember your prayers daily and take the time to read the bom, and let me know where you all are. God bless. Love, hna Jaime Pratt

General Authority Visit

We are late because today for our pday we had our mission conference. We had the privilege of having elder Carlos Amado from the area presidency of Chile. Well, it was a privilege but also not so much. The prophet has doubled our work here and says that we can do it if we have faith. Well, Elder Tom Perry looked at our mission out of all the missions and is asking what is going on and what is wrong here, why we aren’t reaching the goals like we should be. So they sent the general authorities down with the mission pres to teach us. It was really really really good. I know that I lack a lot of faith. I know that I do. I am really trying to learn. I am trying to work together with my companion, it is hard but I am trying. I know that I lack the power of the spirit and the conviction to convey to these people how important our message really is for their eternal salvation. I know I lack the faith necessary to do this work as they prophet asks. So today in the conference we had a good talking to, he was blunt and upfront, as all general authorities are in a small group of people. He was in our ward yesterday too with the mission pres. He was really funny too. The bad thing is that it sucks that we are the mission that stuck out to elder Perry that is drowning in the work. Well, I just need to increase my faith and my efforts. I am trying to change and to do better. We improved this week a little not much, but little by little. It was a really good conference. Only thing that sucks is that we didn’t have our interviews with the president because he was with Elder Amado and his wife. Such is life, I love the interviews though because we are sooo darn far away it is the only 15 minutes every 6 weeks we get to talk to him. That is fine, the next time. So yeah, so everybody makes me lead the music now, alwayssssssss, how embarrassing, I am getting pretty good at it though. I was talking to hna Faulkner and she was telling me how much hna Agurto loves me. I laughed!!! JJJJJJJ it was nice of her, she said that her and hna Morphis are doing awesome. I sure hope so.

I am sure that they are working great together, they are two great Hermana’s really.

How is the bom reading going, this week ,pages
196
207
217
228
237
248
259
Next week
268
279
287
297
307
318
328
Three you have for two weeks now. Those are the page numbers you should finish on every day.

So I don’t think that I told you last week but I started teaching my first English class last week, I have had two classes now. Who would have ever thought that I would have been teaching English, let alone English as a second language!!!!!!! Oh the life on the mission!! It is very interesting, it is really fun though, I really enjoy it.

So we had a neat experience this week, we found a family that had a son die about 6 months ago and he was getting ready to be baptized in our church but died before he could be baptized. It is really sad. We talked about how we can do his baptism for him even though he his dead. She wanted us to write down his data so we could do it and I told her now that she needed to wait so that she could witness it herself be done. It was a lesson full of tears with her. You know I never cry and he made me want to cry. I had tears in my eyes. It was really touching because she has been so bitter since the death of her son. But she sad we gave her so much hope, faith, and happiness, we made her feel so much better she said. Seriously, the knowledge of the gospel is amazing. It is really Christ t hat changes our lives. It was awesome.

It stinks with our other family Patricio and Alejnadra because they aren’t praying to know the truth. It makes me so sad for them. We tried praying together all four of us at the same time and she didn’t take it seriously and he tried with all of his heart and didn’t receive his answer. It really makes me want to cry for them, in fact I did cry in the lesson as I was telling them how strongly I feel about them knowing the truth, them praying and finding out because I know the life they can have on the other side, a family with the gospel, sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. I see what is on the other side, if they could just see it and realize what they are missing and have the faith that it is really what they need in their life. We put some much of ourselves into helping the people here and when they don’t do what they say it breaks your heart, it makes me so sad but then I have to be happy at the same time to teach with the other people. We did have a miracle this week, an inactive hna with like 76 years and she can’t walk really, she can’t read because she never had parents or went to school, and she has to baby sit everyday all day a 2 year old. We finally got her to church this Sunday, it was so awesome. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see her there, it was awesome. It sucked because she can’t sit for 2 hours either because it hurts but she can’t walk much either because it hurts. It was still awesome to see her there after working with her so much. Sundays suck sometimes too, like this Sunday when alejandra y patricio didn’t come to church when they say they are for sure coming. I know I need the guidance of the lord to tell us what it is that we need to teach them to make t heir faith grow, so they will have the desire to repent and ask if josé smith was a prophet and if they need baptism. If they don’t start coming to church soon I know we are going to have to drop them because they aren’t progressing, it is so sad because I have put so much of my heart and sole into them. But every person has their agency.

What else can I tell you. That is about it with me this week. We walked a ton and working a ton. I am not letting us waste time anymore. This is not my time to waste and so if she is not going to lead us then I will but I can’t just let the time pass and waste the precious time that I have. I know that I am not perfect and that I don’t have all the answers and all the ways to do things but the lord will she the efforts we are making and he will help us where we lack. I know I need to improve a ton, that is life that is what this life is all about. We can’t be absolutely perfect but we sure can try and prefect ourselves in certain areas. That is for sure. So that is me this week. We are just pushing forward, exhausted. I walked around without my jacket yesterday but still with four layers underneath, miracle in itself. Things are good. My time could be running short here in Punta Arenas, maybe only three weeks more. Who knows, maybe another month in a half, I don’t know but whatever it is I need to do better than what I have done. This is a gospel of good news, happiness, and joy, not one person that we are around or talk to can afford to not listen and hear of this gospel, it is the salvation of their soul. We can’t be selfish with this grand blessing that we have in our lives, we have the key to the highest and most wonderful blessings god could give us, and so we are we not sharing it with every single solitary person we are in contact with, laziness, selfishness, caught up in our own world. I know I fall to everyone of those things and I am the first to admit that I have to change and be an instrument to the lord. This is his work not mine, his time, not mine. I am trying to do better but me saying I will do better and me doing better, there is a huge difference there, I need to do it. Well, that is me for this week. I hope you all are doing great, I will do better at answering your questions and writing everyone, I am doing my best. Thanks for your letters this week, I haven’t read them yet but I will. Keep me in your prayers please so that I can have more faith to fulfill the work that I have to do here.

Oh yeah, the presidents parents lived in Oroville for awhile!!!!! Like 20 years ago, or they had a house there or something!! Crazy!! Well, you all are always in my prayers. I pray that you all are strengthened in the gospel and draw closer to Christ everyday and really realize that power of Christ in our lives and the miracles he does for us everyday. I hope we are all reading the book of mormon so help us with his, I know it will a ton.!!!!

Interesting thing!!! General authority told us that there is no doctrine against drinking caffeinated soda but not one of the apostles or general authority drink it and elder Scott said that we probably shouldn’t and as missionaries today he gave us a rule that we should not!! It doesn’t matter if there is a rule or not but we are examples in evyerhtinggggg we do, so we should just avoid it completely.

Anyway, hope all is well, love ya all! Hna pratt

It is amazing being a missionary!

Pictures of Local Park


Well hello there.

Yeah, so big surprise, hna agurto is in chiloe, an island that didn’t have sisters there before and she is with………………..hna morphis!!!!!!!!!! I was shocked!! I can’t believe it, I want to know how they are doing!

Dad, bob and gail sent me a Christmas package!!!!!!!!! They sent me candies and a bunch of other goodies. I was so surprised and it was so nice of them. I was shocked. Tell them thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu for me. It was so sweet. I was way pumped!! From New Zealand!! Way nice. I got granny and Erica’s Christmas cards as well, thank you.

Mom, I got a letter from mel and she says that she loves that you send my blogs to her, she is doing awesome. She is awesome.

Well so I am going to list the page numbers for the bom, every day you should end on this page, 125, 135, 145, 154, 164, 174 and 185. that is for the week, should end on Mosiah 19 by the next week.

So now, about my week. It was super interesting.

Well, we pretty much walked the entire week and taught a ton in the street. I had the best experience of my mission but I also had the worst experience of my mission. The best always comes with the worst.

Yeah so our family, came to church and are reading and praying and are seeing a hugeeeeeeee difference in their life. Alejandra prayed to see if this was the true church. She felt this overwhelming feeling of warmth and comfort and it made her want to cry. She had never felt something like that and didn’t know what it was but it made her really peaceful. She doesn’t know it was the answer to her prayer saying that this is the true church. We tried explaining it to her but she still doesn’t know. I felt the spirit soooooo strong this lesson and she was telling us. It was amazing it made me want to cry and I am not a crier when it comes to things spiritual. I can’t even explain how happy it made me. To have someone trust you enough to pray and that God responded their prayers in the same way that he responds to me and tells me the same things as them. It was a huge testimony builder just because the spirit was so amazingly strong and it made me sooooooooooooo happy. So happy. It was awesome. The bummer is that they didn’t come to church this week and they aren’t praying and asking if this is the correct baptism. I know she knows but she doesn’t want to ask God because she knows the answer and then she will have to change. But that wasn’t the bad experience that happened this week.

Now, the bad experience…
Well the bad experience. I don’t want to get too much into details because quite frankly I don’t really want to remember it that much. But what happened, we came in counter with a witch, yes a witch. A woman who thinks she does ´good magic´´ because she believes is Jesus and she does her witchcraft in the name of the lord, she has the power to heal and baptize and whatever thing she wants to do. We were lucky enough to be with a brother from the church. It was terrible, the feelings that were there and the room was filled with smoke and her glare, she didn’t like me, she said I didn’t have faith because she sensed that I was uncomfortable there but she is friends with my comp and she said they are the same, I laughed. It was terrible; I have never felt so empty before. The contrast from the spirit of the lord and the spirit of the devil, it is strong and real. I have a real testimony of Satan. We got home and we had to read scriptures and listen to hymns before we could go to bed . Satan knows how to deceive anyone. Wow, that is all I am going to say, it was real, strong, and not something I want to ever feel again.

So yesterday we talked with 73 people in the street!!!!!!!!! It is seriously a hugeeeeee record, I was so tried of talking afterwards. We have a huge park in our sector with a lagoon and horseback riding and so their were a ton of people there. The pictures are of there.



So it is amazing being a missionary, being able to watch all the people and their lives and she those who live the gospel the best they can and those who think they are but are just lazy and find excuses. We visit inactive’s and if I could just convey what I see, if they could see what I can see they would change their lives, they would do everything they can to live the gospel, it is such a hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee blessing. Huge blessing we have so much knowledge, we have the key to happiness we just have to do it. I know I am not perfect and don’t claim to be but I know now I see the difference and realize how weak I was before the mission, how I was just another one of the lazy people with excuses. On the mission I have seen so many weaknesses that I have. So many, I never realized how many before. Seriously. The lord does bless us but we have to be worthy for the blessing first. It is so simple.

Romina y Javier have been members for a year and are going to the temple to get sealed, they are so dedicated to the gospel. They try to so hard, they do everything they can possibly do. They are examples to me in the way to live my life. I learn so much from them and they are so young in the gospel, but it doesn’t matter, their hearts are where they should be. It is awesome. It is just so simple and the little simple things that we do, like keeping the Sabbath day holy, if we do, we have faith in the lord and he will bless us the other days, if we don’t we don’t have faith that he will help us. If we keep this day holy we will be more productive the rest of the six days and have more time if we ever would have if we worked every hour for 7 days. It all boils down to faith. I know I lack faith, I know I lack the spirit, I know I need to work on these things so I can share the fullness of the gospel. There are people waiting for us but I don’t feel like we are worthy to find them. I am working on it. I finally talked to my comp about things and I told her we need to be more obedient, I looked for the things she does well and I’m going to let her do those things and me the rest. We hardly ever talk, she says her thoughts are better than the conversations with other people. She thinks I am quite but I don’t talk because I know she isn’t interested in what I have to say. Which is fine. But we need to find the people here, it isn’t about us. I may only have a month left in Punta Arenas, I need to find the people I was meant to find.

Mom and dad, please, help the missionaries in the ward, reach out to the less active, find a family and be their friends. It is the members job with the less active, as missionaries we find them and try but we come and go and the people get lost again. It shouldn’t be that way but it is true, make a difference, the lord will bless you in the end and will provide the work you need if you dedicate more time to him. I know he will.

Well, I have preached a lot this week but I feel so strongly about these things. The gospel is so true and we know it, so why don’t we live our lives and act like we know it. I am speaking to myself as much as I am to you all. I have to live it to. For example, when I don’t, my Spanish plummets and I can’t speak. It is simple I love sharing the gospel, I have learned so much. I hope you are all doing well.

Love ya all,

Hna Jamie Pratt

Sharing Photo's

I thought I would share a few of the picture's Jamie has sent. She has'nt told us what they are of but still thought it would be fun to share.

Always Interesting in Punta Arenas

1/8/2007
So another week down in Punta Arenas. We had some of the most terribleeeeeeeeeeeeee wind, they said it was like 120 km per hour, I don’t know what it is in mph, but I think it is like 87 but I am not sure you have to send me the conversions because I don’t know, I just know the wind carried me aways, but I think it was only like 40 or 50 mph. you will have to let me know.

So I didn’t tell you last week that I had to lead the music in church, mind you we don´t have music because we don’t have a piano. So yes the director has to give the tone and sing the first line by themselves and then lead the music, needless to say it was a very interesting experience for me because I am not a singer and can’t sing very well. That was fun and very embarrassing but that is life.

Erica thanks for your letter last week and if you want to send me the talk go for it.

Thanks nelson and di and granny for the money, I bought some boots, a sweater, and a button up shirt with half of the money and I don’t know what I will do with the rest, we will see.

So I had the most interesting experience with the cambios this week. It was really interesting. So as you all know I really wanted to leave. I didn’t want to stay because I honestly didn’t want to stay with my companion, I am tired and I started wearing thin. So, there was a family that we found with hna agurto when I first got here and they were the family that was getting married in the catholic church and baptizing their baby there too. Well we returned to teaching them a few weeks ago and I asked them to get baptized and last week I told them that I might be leaving. They made me a sheet with all their pictures and tried to write in English. They said they would start praying so that I would leave. They were lazy before and didn’t want to read or pray, always said they didn’t have time. Well because they thought I was leaving they started reading and praying as a family and they have totallyyyyyyyyyyyy changed. So when I got to their house and they were telling me all of this I realized that my mission really isn’t for me, it doesn’t matter what I want but this family obviously needs me for some reason, I don’t know why but it is the way it is. If nothing else, I have stayed here for them to help them. They came to church for the first time this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A miracleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. They have changed so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, alejandra was so negative before and now she is soooooooooo happy, the kids are happy, s he has all the time in the world to get her stuff done even though she is reading for a half hour a day with her kids. She is having a problem changing religions because her family has always been catholic but come to find out her mom wants to be evangelica. So this week they are going to tell us if they are going to get baptized, I am pretty sure they were. It was a slap in the face for me because had been thinking about myself and how I wanted to leave and get our of here and me me me, and for whatever reason, them knowing that I might leave lit something for them. It was awesome.

We had a drunk at church yesterday, our friend. He shouted during the entire sacrament meeting and finally left because he got bored, he is our friend. He pulled his chair right up next to me in the meeting and talked so loudlyyyyyyyyyyy to me. Quite the experience.

Mom, you have to post the experience of the guy who thought we were from the cia. We had another interesting experience. Let’s just say that I talked to a guy and I have never been so insulted in my lifeeeeeeeeeeee. At first he would not say a word to me, would not respond to any of my questions. Then when he started talking………… he told us that we are prostitutes, we are lying to the people, deceiving everyone, we are like lepers, when he sees us he avoids us as if we had leprosy, nobody here cares for us and we need to just leave because we just bug everyone. This guy went on and on and no. my comp almost started fighting with him and so I talked over her because I can keep my cool. I told him that we are reps of Jesus Christ our salvaldor and that we are teaching about Christ’s church and that I know that god loves him and wants the best for him and hopes that he has a good day. He went on and on and on and on. It was like wowwwwwwwwwwww. I couldn’t believe it. It makes me sad for him because he is never going to accept the gospel, in the next life either. He has no idea whatsoever and his judgment day, wow, i don’t want to be there when he has to account for the things he said and does. I prayed for him afterwards, poor guy. His life has got to be miserable.

so now we have been liars, from the cia, prostitutes, with leprosy, on and on of polygamy, I’m not sure what else we can hear.

Well, that is me for this week, nothing too exciting I guess, just plugging along, i hope everyone is great back home and all is going well, I will talk to you all next Monday

Punta Arenas All the Way! He He

1/3/2007

Well, I bet you are wondering where I am and what is going on with my life right now. It is a great question and I don’t have the answers. There were a lot of surprises for me in the last 24 hours to say the least. None of us expected what was going to happen. Well, all of the hnas in Punta Arenas are staying put, we are not getting any new ones here and no one is leaving. That means I will be here for at least six months. This will be my fourth transfer here. I was shocked, hna Moreno and I will be together for another six weeks. I am still shocked. Well we both were very surprised. Maybe the mission doesn’t have any more money to change a whole lot of people from here because it is all done by airplane. But oh well. That really isn’t it. I know that the lord wants me here and it isn’t about what I want. I know I need to just change my attitude and make the best of this situation. Hna Moreno has never had a companion for two transfers, I am her first. J There is a first for everything right. Well it is good because I really like the people here and they seem to like me too and I feel like we are the edge of getting some people to have a baptismal date. We will see. There is something here that I have to do that I obviously haven’t done yet. More than likely I will then be transferred in February 14, is the next transfer date. But you never know, maybe not. So we are a little surprised. So that is my big news.

So I have been on the mission for 6 months, dec 28th I reached my 6 month mark!! Crazy I know, it is way crazy.

So I am trying to do my pictures but I am having a hard time with it. I am still trying. But I want to do something as a family. I think that we should read the book of Mormon as a family and every week every one can email what they thought of what they read. I am a schedule all planned out but I can’t send it to you. But it is about 10 pages every single day, about a half hour starting with the intro. So we are starting today, from the beginning to page 3. and to do it every day. We can apply the same promises now as pres Hinckley did before. I know that it can bless us and it is something that everyone can do, any person that reads my blog. I know that we will have the spirit with us more as we read it and be closer to our savior. We will have more time in our lives to do thing, mom and dad, and we will be happier. It started today. You all need to start too. I am not up for excuses. I have heard them all but when it comes down to it there are no excuses if we have faith that god will bless us if we do what he asks. There are no excuses, we owe everything to him and what do we give back to him or do for him, very little. All he wants is our will, we have to be willing to do what he asks and he wants us to read our scriptures every day.

We had a baptism this week of the little girl of the inactive family who has reactivated. They are such an awesome family, the mom is single and has four little kids. They are trying so hard. It is fun to see the changes in people’s lives.

So now that we have all of these new standards and goals, there is a whole lot more expected of us. A whole lot more. So for the first time I have asked people to take the step of following the example of Christ and be baptized as he was, with his authority, priesthood, by immersion, and with the correct age. It was intense. The spirit was so strong, I couldn’t deny it, I knew I had to but i didn’t know what to say. I had no clue what I should say. But I did it. Well, the man didn’t accept but he accepted the invitation to keep reading and to pray if this really is the correct form of baptism. He then came to church on Sunday too, so that isn’t like he is against it. Well, his family are all members, his wife and his kids, but still, two Sundays in a row. We are also teaching the same family as before that we found and were getting married by the catholic church and baptized their daughter in the church too. They are awesome but just are lazy. I invited them to get baptized again, the husband said yes but the wife no. so, we are still working with them because we can’t do it without the whole family. They just need to get rid of their laziness and do something to improve their family. They know what they need to do they just need to do it. It is amazing as I am inviting baptism to these people how much more I care for them. I realized last night that I desire their salvation more than I do my own. I pray constantly for these people so they will have a desire to change their lives and live how god would have them live. All I want for these people is that they can have their families forever. And it makes me sad to think that they could show up on judgment day and god will say, I am sorry but you were lazy and there is nothing I can do for you now but you can’t go ahead with your family. Doesn’t that suck to think about. It makes me sad to think that anyone would have to go through this, especially the people that we are teaching. It stinks. But if we don’t do it in this life, that is it. It is so hard to ask people if they want to get baptized because I am scared of rejection or that they will pull away and think we are pushy. I realize that it is all about the love. I told them that I want to see them on the other side with my family and with their family. That is the best of it all and the only way for that to happen is to be baptized like Christ was baptized, that is the first step, the door to it all.

I hope that everybody had a great Christmas and new year. We were a little slow going and couldn’t do much but we are back to normal this week and I have another 6 strong weeks in Punta Arenas. I think I am going to finish my mission here really. Thanks for all the letters this week. The tree was pretty mom and so were the pictures of nana and papa. I am sending a cd home of photos today, so look for it in about three weeks. Hope everyone is doing great. Love ya all. Jamie