Making Progress in La Cordillera

Hey Everyone,

Another positive week here in La Cordillera.  It was a pretty normal week so there's not much to say.  Two highlights from this week are:

1.  I did a baptism interview in 100% Creole for the first time.
2. We had 6 more investigators in church!  

All of our investigators are taking big steps towards baptism.  It's amazing to see the actions they take because of their faith and the immediate blessings they receive (even before baptism).  So right now we are doing all we can to help these people progress as  well as finding new people to serve.  

James 4:8   Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  

with love,

Elder Vincent

Building A Sure Foundation

Hola Amigos y Familia,

This was a crazy week filled with last minute companion changes, rainstorms, sleeping in wet clothes and miracles.  We have a really strong teaching pool right now and are looking forward to seeing "the fruits of our labor" in the next few weeks.  We have 4 people with baptism dates and more that we are working with.  

We were teaching Doris and she said she was prompted to change some habits in her life just before we met her.  She now knows why.  This was a huge blessing for me and helped me remember how important this work is.  My only feelings right now are gratitude for the opportunity to serve.  

Sorry this is so short as I haven’t had tons of time this week but we are happy to finally get through this crazy cold, wet week and to keep moving the work forward.  

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil sends forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down into the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."  

(Helaman 5:12)

All my love,

Elder Vincent

P.S.  I found Dino Nuggets at the store so that just changed the rest of my mission!

 

Tomas, who served in Washington DC, made insanely good raspberry cheesecake 

The Volcano

Feeling Blessed

Happy Mother’s Day ladies!

We had a really successful week here and have a lot of momentum going into this coming week.  

Mirella got baptized on Saturday!  It was a beautiful program.  Afterwards, Mirella and Anita were both so happy that they were sobbing.  I'm so happy for Mirella.  She no doubt is someone that Heavenly Father had waiting for us to find.  

We had 8 investigators at church again today, and 5 asked if they could set a date for baptism.  After church we had a barbecue at Miriam’s house which was nice.  For BBQ's here, they sometimes just use a wheelbarrow filled with charcoal.  Then they take a pannel of rod iron fence and put it on top of the wheelbarrow for a grill.  It actually works great!  

One cool thing that happened this week is that I taught an entire lesson in Creole for the first time.  It wasn't that good but it was 100% Creole.

I video chatted with my family on Sunday for Mother's Day.  I am so lucky to have such a great, loving, united family.  They are such a huge motivation to me.

Overall, everything is really good right now and I can't complain.  I'm so happy with the work we are doing, the efforts we are making and the results we are seeing.  We have been very blessed.   

I love you all and am grateful for your support. 

Con amor,

Elder Vincent

View from our apartment

video chatting with my family on Mother's Day

More Ups and Downs

Hi Everyone,

We had another rough week with a lot of ups and downs.  Lenod, who was going to get baptized this week, changed his mind at the last second.  Widmelie had wanted to get baptized before she moved to Santiago this coming Tuesday but there were complications and she wasn't able to do it.  So those were two big disappointments but we kept working and working and we ended up having 8 investigators in church on Sunday.  So we have a good new group of people to work with to help bring unto Christ.  

We also had a zone conference this week and it was so nice to see friends.  I learned a ton from President Catala who is incredible.  

Overall, it was another roller coaster week.  But we are continuing to work at a steady pace trusting that the Lord has a plan for all of these people.  

My scripture for the week is D&C 24:8: "Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but, endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even until the end of thy days." 

Thanks for your continued support. 

Con Amor,  
Elder Vincent

Got a couple of packages from home 

Always happy to be with Elder Perrett

The Ups and Downs of Missionary Work

Hey everyone -

This was a tough week.  Although there were some positives, there were a lot of trials and let-downs.  We had a lot of frustrating and discouraging situations but I feel that we responded really well to them.  I've come to understand how important trials are and how much they help us learn and grow.  This week we hit a lot of roadblocks with important investigators so we are working hard to find out how to climb over them and to move forward.  I'm confident that it will all work out.  

Pia's baptismal service

One positive note from this week is that we baptized Pia!  Even with Pia we hit a little roadblock before the baptismal service.  We went to the church to fill the font and straight sewage started coming out of the pipe.  Turns out, one of the pipes broke and it went to the font instead of draining to the sewer.  We had to delay the service and scramble to find another chapel to do the baptism.  Everything turned out good and smooth in the end though!

In addition to the many roadblocks we hit with investigators this past week, we had a somewhat troubling incident.  Late one night we got a call at 1:00 am from our neighbor, Miriam, who lives in another home within our fenced property.  She was being robbed.  She apparently hit the alarm and the intruder went running.  She called us on the phone and the 4 of us ran outside to look for him because she thought he might still be hiding between our 2 houses but we couldn't find him. Around 2:30 am we heard noises and the neighborhood dogs all started going crazy.  The next morning, Miriam told us that before she called us she had hit the house alarm 15 minutes earlier.  It's SUPER LOUD and she was sure it would have woken us up.  However, we weren’t woken by the loud alarm but by her phone call.  Thinking back on it, it was stupid for us to go outside and look for the guy.  I think the alarm didn't wake us up for a reason.   

Pablo came to Chillan!

Another week has flown by.  All I can say is that I'm grateful to be here and to have countless opportunities and experiences to learn and grow and become a better disciple of Jesus Christ.  What a blessing it is to be a missionary.  

With love,

Elder Vincent

Sewage in the font

Almeida's socks