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