Dear All,
We had a zone activity this morning. It was my turn to be in charge of it. The plan was to eat pancakes and play ping-pong. The pancakes went well because we have an Elder who's a profesional chef in our zone. However, the ping-pong table was locked up! And so we made our own ping-pong table with what we had--a table, a whiteboard, two forks, and a net. :) (See the pictures.)
It was a good week. Although we were really sad that none of our investigators attended yesterday. :( And we weren't able to find very many new people. But alas! We must keep working hard with an attitude of faith. And it'll all work out. We're confident about that.
We had interviews with President Gillespie last week. It was pretty awesome. President Gillespie gave me a letter that I wrote in the mission office my first day here in Chilé, and it included my vision for my mission and the goals that I set for my mission. He showed it to me, and said, "Elder, these are some goals that you set your first day here. Have you accomplished these?" And it was cool because a lot of my goals were things like "speak Spanish better every day" or "never give up!" And it felt good to tell President that I've done well with those goals that I had set. :)
I did my first intercambio (exchange) in another ward as a District Leader. It went alright. :) I have a long way to go. I have to get better at encouraging and what not. But it was good. I was with an Elder named Elder Diaz. He's from Columbia. It was a good time with him. I had an interesting experience with him whenever we taught a lady the Plan of Salvation. Whenever she figured out that we were going to be judged, she asked, "Does that mean I need to forgive the people that have done wrong to me?" Elder Diaz explained the principle of forgiveness to her, and then she started crying. She told us that she couldn't forgive some person because he did something to ruin her life. She then explained that her mom passed away a while ago, and she was the only person that cared about her. Both her husband and her son had abandoned her, etc. She told us that she tried to commit suicide twice, and it was just a really sad story. I just sat there in unbelief. I had NO idea what to say to her. And after we left, I was really discouraged because I felt like I should have said something to the poor lady to help her out. It really bothered me for the rest of the week.
But then I was studying a few days ago, and I read something in Preach My Gospel that really helped me out. In Chapter 2, it talks about how we should study WITH the Spirit. There's a part that says: "This kind of study prepares you for service, offers solace, resolves problems, and gives you the strength to endure to the end" (page 18). Then there's the famous scripture that says: "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. (D&C 11:21)." Those two scriptures helped me realize that I need to study the scriptures MUCH more so that I can teach more effectively. :) The Spirit truly testified to me that if I study with His companionship, I will have Him on my side when I do teach such people like this poor woman. And since then, I've decided that my studies will be accompanied more-fully by the Spirit so that I can help those in great need.
Well, all is well here. We're doing our best to keep our heads high, and we're excited for another week. I love you all, and I am grateful for all the support that I have received from you these last few months as I've served the Lord.
Until next week, then.
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Nelson IV
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