This week was great! With the
change in area we’ve really been doing things differently. I feel like a mad
man with all of the work we’ve done, but I have definitely seen the Lord’s
influence in it all. All of the trips we
made to immigrations were successful, and Elder Rodriguez is already taking the
initiative with everything. He’s an excellent addition to the office and
already a good friend.
We
went to Confluencia almost every day this week in the afternoon. I feel like we
were running around doing things in the office as fast and efficiently as we
could just to get on our way a little earlier. We had a lot of great contacts
in Confluencia and I am seeing more and more the importance of just talking to
everyone, because you never know what will happen. Something we’ve done a few
times is ask the police that work in the neighborhoods we have (there are a lot
because at night it can be dangerous), for directions, and boom, we start
talking to them afterward. I love it. This past Sunday there was a
group of five or six police and they all accepted a card of ´preguntas del alma.´
Super buena onda!
We
also had a good lunch with our new bishop, Osispo Linko, and a nice visit with
the ward mission leader, Hermano Calarco. It was cool. We sat with him for
maybe a full hour just talking about who needs to be visited and how we can
make things move forward.
Tonight we
had a capilla abierta, or an open house for Limay. The Arnaudins are always in
charge of coordinating everything and it turned out great. That’s why I am writing
really late, because we were helping out with that almost all day. There was
one experience I wanted to share from it for this week, and it explains the
title of the email.
There
were plenty of things to do in the chapel to help out, but I guess a tradition
of the capilla abierta is that two elders just try and see whomever they can
get to come from off the street. I went with Elder Valenzuela and we found two
people that actually came with us, and I specifically remember when we first
saw them thinking “I don’t know if they would come,” but we got over the fear
and invited them. They had a good experience, and one lives in Tronadar, a
street in our area!
The
third time I went to look for someone I went with Elder Thompson, and we really
experienced something cool. We were on our way to an old investigators house to
see if he had time to come to the event, and we pass a guy on the street who I
didn’t take much interest it, but about half way down the block we both stopped
and said to each other “let’s invite him.” So we turned back and chased him
down. His name is Orlando and he accepted the invitation, not right away, but
we said come with us and he did.
The
first part of the capilla abierta is cool, where we have a statue of Christ and
play from a speaker some of his bible teachings. Orlando really liked it and
later told us that he was really happy we invited him. I know we didn’t do
anything, we followed the spirit, took the initiative and the Lord did the
rest, but it feels so good to be an instrument. Spending time with someone who’s
had too much to drink and bringing him to an open house doesn’t sound like a
fun evening, but when I do things like that on my mission I feel something I’ve
never felt before. I feel myself coming closer to Christ when I do his work.
Days like today make me wish I could be a missionary forever.
Orlando
didn’t remember his phone number or his address, so we walked back to where we
found him and he then told us he could make it back to his house. It was late
and we had to go. I hope he comes to church tomorrow but if not I
learned something valuable tonight. God loves us all, and if we love God
we will love everyone around us, it can be uncomfortable and hard, but it makes
me happier than I’ve ever been.
I
love this. I have been thinking a lot about attitude lately and I believe I’ve really
changed mine. I can be the Lord’s hands every day in the mission if I put the
work in and if I have a little more faith. EVEN as an office elder.
The
district is doing awesome, I love everyone in it and this week in our meeting
we talked a lot about having the faith necessary to bring more people unto
Christ. The scriptures say that God will do his own work, so why does he need
missionaries? I think it’s so that we learn to trust him, so that we ´ponerse
las pilas´ and act a little more.
I
love everyone. Things are changing and I am excited to keep working in Confluencia
as long as I can.
Un
abrazo gigante para cada uno de ustedes! les quiero!
Elder
Kauffman aka Jack