The language is coming along super awesome! I can almost understand everything that is being said. Now I just have to work on talking, which is alot harder.
Some cool things that happened this week:
- We had the wedding of Pedro and Claudia! In reality they were already married in the courthouse but we had a ceremony in the chapel where the bishop talked and they gave each other the rings. It was super awesome and it's amazing the changes that I can see in them!
- We are working right now with the parents of a kid in our ward. He wants to be baptized but his parents are against it. We're teaching some of the lessons to him and I can see that he has such a desire!
- We had two new investigators just show up to church today, out of nowhere! One of them is named Vitali and is Italian! Talking with him is super interesting because sometimes I think I can understand him better than my companion. While we were visiting with him he showed us some bibles that he has that are in Italian and Latin and are from the 1800s. Super old and way cool! They looked like they belonged in museums.
- I shared my testimony in testimony meeting. It was still pretty intense sharing it in another language, but waaaay better than a month ago. We're working alot right now with getting the members energized and excited about mission work. For everyone back in the states, do more to help the missionaries!
- This week for P-day we went to Centro, which is basically just tons and tons of street vendors and little stores. We talked with one of the artisans while he made us some sick key chains. While we were in Centro eating lunch I saw Elder Joos, my companion from the CCM. We both freaked out and ran to talk to each other. It's super cool that we are in the same mission and the same city. He said he's doing well and it sounds like we're having pretty much the same experience here.
Spiritual Thought--
2nd Nephi 4:34
trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or
maketh flesh his arm.
I've been learning alot here in the mission that I can't "put my trust in the arm of flesh." When we're teaching lessons I could use all the intellectual prowess in the world and still not be able to convert the person I am teaching. It's only through the spirit that you can really teach them and instill in them a desire to understand and live the gospel.
Slice of Chilean life--
We get around our sector completely by walking, but when we need to get somewhere else, we have three options.
- We can blow alot of money and take a ride in a taxi. Usually we don't do this. The only time I've ever done this is when we first got to Arica at like 4 in the morning and didn't want to walk through the streets.
- We can take the bus. Here they are called Micros (Meekrows for all us gringos who can't speak spanish). They are pretty much the same as buses in the US. They aren't super crazy like some of the stories I've heard from my friends in Latin America.
- We can take a collectivo. This is what we usually do. Collectivos are much more common than the bus. They have a route that they follow, and as far as I can tell, are just black sedans with a sign on top. You hop in the collectivo, hand the driver some change, and then are off. The collectivo will fill all of it's seats, so we always get to awkwardly squeeze in the back.
Love everyone in the States and hope you guys are doing well!
Bronzeando mas cada dia,
Elder Walker
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