Saying Goodbye

Family and Friends -

My time here in Chile has come to an end.  Preparing to say goodbye to this incredible country and people has been a lot tougher than I thought.  Serving a mission really has been the greatest blessing of my life.

Before leaving for Chile, I shared with many of you the promise of "incomprehensible joy" for those engaged in the service of God and how I desired to feel that same joy (Alma 28:8).  Over the past two years, I have been shot at, bitten by two dogs, sick with a rat virus, and have had thousands of doors slammed in my face.  However, I am happy to report that I truly have felt this“incomprehensible joy” being in the service of my Heavenly Father and that there are no words to adequately describe it (Alma 29: 9-10).

One of the highlights of my mission was the opening of the Concepcion Temple and visit from the President of our church, President Russell M. Nelson, to do the dedication.  I had many spiritual experiences seeing people I baptized enter in the temple and continue their eternal progression.  But even more, the opening of the temple has reminded me of the importance of family and putting the temple in the center of our lives.  Seeing the people's joy and excitement here as their 10-year wait for this temple came to an end has helped me value even more my eternal family.

Of all the unforgettable experiences and memories, the most important thing I take away from my two years as a missionary is my relationship with the Savior of the world.  I know he has walked by my side every step of the way.  I testify of the power of His infinite atonement, that by His sacrifice we can be healed of our imperfections, strengthened, and continue our journey back to our Heavenly Father.  

I feel at peace knowing I served with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength, and held nothing back.  I am grateful that through this work Christ has changed me and shaped me into the person that He wants me to be as I start this next chapter in my life.  

I want to thank all of you for your constant support over the past two years.  I couldn't be more grateful for all the love I have felt through all the letters and emails.  Each one of you has been an important part of my mission.  Thank you.  

And to my pueblo Chileno - gracias por recibirme como parte de su familia, les amare para siempre.  Soy Chileno de corazon.  

With gratitude and love,

Elder Derek Garr Vincent

"And now, after the many testimonies that have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him:  that He lives!"

D&C 76: 22

Please join me Sunday, June 9, 9:30-10:30 AM for my homecoming talk.

575 Los Liones Drive, Pacific Palisades

Hey Everyone -

Another good week here.  Alvaro, who we met in the street a while back, got baptized on Saturday.  We took him out to work with us during the week and he shared a very powerful testimony which moved a lot of people that we visited.  

On Monday, we worked with him the whole day then finished at the church where he met with the Bishop and asked how he can become a missionary.  We also showed him the talk from Conference about the African "Band of Brothers" to show him how he too could be the start of a long chain of bringing others to Christ.  He loves missionary work because he says it saved his life.  

The winter rain arrived on Tuesday and destroyed me!  From 3-9:30 I was 100% drenched, but not cold because we were walking a lot.  We still worked crazy hard and met our goals.  

Alvaro came out to work with us again on Friday.  This time in a shirt and tie.  I think he invited half of Chillan to his baptism because he was so excited.  The best feeling in the world is seeing a person you teach become converted to the Lord.  Alvaro is 100% converted.  

On Saturday, Alvaro worked with us again until it was time to go to the church for his baptism.  The sister missionaries taught our English class for us so we could prepare.  The baptism went well and Alvaro shared an incredible testimony - it was a great day.  

I hope you are all enjoying the start of summer and are all doing great. 

with love,

Elder Vincent

Committed to finishing strong

Hey Everyone - 

I hope you all had a great week.  Good week here.  Norma got baptized and was so happy!  

I've been working with a temporary companion from South America this past week.  He's a hard worker and we get along great.  He's had a hard life.  He shared some stories about his dad who apparently is the head of a huge drug cartel.  Crazy!

There are thousands of Haitian refugees here in Libertador so Jean-Baptist, a Haitian member, works with us when we are teaching Haitians.  The other day we stopped by Jean-Baptist's house and he had about 10 friends over.  I had a copy of the Book of Mormon in Creole so I stood up and started teaching them.  My Creole is starting to get good again!  

We had a surprise visitor – one of my former companions, Elder Perrett, and his family came to Chillan to visit.  It was really great to see him.  He FaceTimed with another former companion and friend, Elder Dawson, while he was here and it was great to seeand talk to him again too.  It made me get a little homesick but I got over it after he left.  

April 22 - 
Sorry I didn't send a letter last week.  Honestly, my body is tired.  At the end of each day I'm totally exhausted.  

Last week I got my new companion, Elder Contreras, from Santiago, Chile.  Since he already speaks Spanish, he was ready to go and work hard from the beginning.  We were off to a great start.   We had a good week.  We spent most of our time finding new people to work with.  Many of them seem to be progressing a ton.  

Alvaro is getting baptized Saturday.  He will be the last person I get to baptize on my mission because people have to come to church a couple of times before they can get baptized.  So, I won't see any results of all the work I do for the final 3 weeks of my mission.  I find myself working just as hard and I'm just as motivated anyway.  I’ve come to realize that I'm not working for myself or to take pictures or count how many people I've baptized.  I'm here because I'm converted to the work.  I came on a mission to serve the Lord and to save souls.  Even though I may never know what impact I might be having in helping the people to come unto Christ or improving their lives through service, I'm still working as hard as I can every day.  

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 

I love you all,

Elder Vincent

PS  We had lunch with the Hermosilla family the other day.  They love the missionaries and always make great lunches.  They often talk about this one missionary that set a record of eating 7 brownies at lunch.  When they told me Elder Dawson held the record, I knew 100% that I had to beat it.  I went into beast mode and ended up eating 8!