26 de marzo

This week we had a zone conference in the chapel situated in Los Andes. It is a really strange stake center because it is sitting in the corner of a shopping center. The zone conference included the zones of Paraiso, San Miguelito, and Alcalde Diaz, so our group was pretty big. The topic of the conference was the Book of Mormon. It seems like I have been reminded from time to time in my mission what a powerful tool it is.

I especially enjoyed seeing my "kid" Elder Bentz who is a district leader in Alcalde Diaz. He is so awesome, and I am so proud of him. The assistants thought it was a good idea to let me know I was conducting the conference about 10 or 15 minutes before it started, so I was scrambling around before it trying to fill in a program (opening prayer, hymn, etc). The conference was really good though.

The zone leaders from Alcalde Diaz shared a funny object lesson where we had to tie our hands together with our companions and try to escape without cutting/untying the strings. Everyone ended up in a tangle. Afterwards they showed us how to free ourselves. I think they connected that with companionship unity or something like that haha. President Ward bought us all pizza yummmm.

 

We have this really cool investigator right. The elders before us had been teaching him for several weeks before we got here. He was a reference from one of the hermanas in the ward. First of all, he is an atheist (is that number 5 or 6?). We have had some really neat lessons with him. He is super intelligent. He teaches sociology at one of the universities here.

It has been so neat to see the big changes he has been having in his life since he began meeting with us. He has been reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon every day. He comes to church every Sunday and participates in the classes. The Gospel Essentials class is helping him out a lot. The first classes talk about God and Jesus Christ. I think it is great that dad teaches those classes in our ward. They make all the difference for the investigators. Recently, he told us that he has come to believe in God and wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He accepted our invitation to prepare to be baptized, so we will be working with him to help him feel ready. He still has a ton to learn, but I am excited for him.

 

Thank you for all of your letters and packages. They are truly appreciated. I love you guys. Have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder Whiting