"Labor all your days" in Santiago Chile: And they walked and they walked and they walked...

Last Tuesday we went and visited a less active member who we found in one of our list. We only talked with her once and she told us to pass by again so we were just kind of hoping she would be there. Luckily she was there and she let us come right in. Turns out that she has been inactive for quite some time but she her family and her parents were very very active in the church. I tried to put into practice a little bit of what I had learned from Alvaro and was pretty up front in asking why she left the church after we had talked for a bit. She told us a story and I really tried to think of what I could say to her but nothing was coming so I decided to do what I should have done from the beginning and just listened. She had a bad experience with a bishopric as her mom was passing away and it was just easier for her to walk away. Elder Ortiz responded first and then afterwards I knew I had to bear my testimony to her. I just kind of started talking and then as I talked my thoughts pieced together and I was really able to bear my testimony to her of eternal families and I really felt like we ended that visit with The Spirit. We knew her doubts right up front and now we know what we need to focus on and how we can help her come back to church. I truly feel that as you show people you love them that you can be a little bit more bold in your questions and in turn you gain their trust and are able to help them with their problems.

Wednesday Elder Ortiz and I got to teach in District Class about how we can use the Book of Mormon more effectively in the mission. It was a really cool topic to study and I learned a lot. We had to do a practice of committing a less active member to read the Book of Mormon in front of the whole class and it really helped me to hear what I am doing well and what the other missionaries noticed that I can improved. Overall I felt really good about our lesson. I thought it was fun for them because we made a human chair and tried to be interactive. We also met our new zone leader Elder Perez. Elder Macedo transferred :/ That afternoon we visited a recent convert Carlos Valdez. It was really cool cause his problem is that he isn´t reading the Book of Mormon. Exactly what we had studied and practiced in district class was able to be used just hours later. I felt like we did really well too.

Thursday morning was the morning of hilarious contacts. We were talking to this older gentlemen and he said that he was Catholic. Trying to put some of my sales training into action and be persistent I proceeded to resolve his concerns and "close" again to try to set up an appointment. I overcame about two concerns and then the old guy says "Actually I need to hospitalize myself" and I proceeded to offer help and then he just closed the door. I think I´m gonna use that excuse when I´m a bit older lol. We had another guy come up to us and he was drunk and proceeded to say that he knew English and had read the Book of Mormon. So I proceeded to ask him in English if he remembered the story of the bear with the magic unicorn horn. And directly after Elder Ortiz said in English (which is funny cause he speaks hardly any English) "you don´t even know English" and the man responded "yeah I´m from here in Renca." It was kind of funny to have a bit of fun but we were quick with him and told him it was a pleasure and that maybe we´d talk another day. The last funny contact was a lady that was leaving her house and Elder Ortiz started to talk with her. She just said "Don´t bug me." Elder Ortiz was just like "Aww man your mad. That´s ok though because our message will help you be happy!" She didn´t seem too like that to much and just walked away. Later that day we got to visit a contact Jethro and visit with him. He´s really curious and seems really open to learning so I´m excited to see him progress. His dad came in towards the end and he wasn´t quite as open but a cool guy nonetheless

Friday was my first intercambio! (Exchanges) I went over to Cerro Colorado to spend the day with my Georgia boy Elder Millerd. He only has like 2 more transfers than me but we didn´t have a problem talking with anyone. In fact in the night we had an intense discussion with this investigator Mario that had some serious doubts about the Book of Mormon. In our discussion he got mad cause we always told him to ask God to know if the book is true.. Then when we tried to answer his questions he would just cut us off and keep talking and the answers we did get out he would twist and change to say we were saying something we weren´t saying. Finally quiet Elder Millerd started bearing his testimony with some power. I mean he really spoke up and I´ve never seen that guy talk loud but he really was bold in bearing his testimony. It was awesome. I was able to follow up and bear my testimony as well. Mario´s countenance really changed. I think he felt the spirit and doesn´t want to admit it. He still didn´t want to read but we ended the visit on good terms. It was really cool that two guys with not a lot of time in the mission field were able to understand everything that was going on in that situation and not be confounded by him.

Saturday we returned to the house and then we walked to Elder Prince and Elder Larson´s place to plan an activity. Then we walked to lunch and then we walked and walked and tried to talk to contact people and walked some more. And let me tell you it was stinking HOT! It was kind of a tough day. It´s really hard to keep going and working when it is so darn hot. We didn´t have dinner at 6:30 either cause we had an appointment at 7:30. We had 3 appointments we were sure were not going to fall through and yet they did. It´s easy to get down on yourself when things get tough like that. But we just kept trucking and I kept telling myself that the next miracle was around the corner. I had the feeling at sometime during the day that something cool was going to happen with the husband during Elizabeth during our once. I used that as my motivation and we just kept on walking. We finally made it to once and downed some cumpletos (loaded hot dogs) and got to talking with Elizabeth and her husband. He really opened up to us about some of the worries he has about his son Jorge. He feels his son is a bit confused. I was able to bear my testimony that the gospel was what could give his son direction. His son is a less active member and Pablo(husband to Elizabeth) isn´t a member. During our visit an old missionary skyped them and they absolutely adore him and they loved listening to him. Even though he isn´t a member Pablo really likes this missionary. At the end of the call Elder Veron bore his testimony about eternal families to Pablo. Man the spirit was strong and I could just see Pablo taking him seriously and his heart softening. We were able to share a thought on top of that and we left feeling really good. Miracles are happening there.

Sunday was the primary program for us too and it was freaking awesome! It really impresses me the absolutely surety that these kids have in their testimonies. They just don´t doubt that it is true. Just another reason Christ tells us to become like a Child. That afternoon we met with a contact Carmen. She talks more than anyone I´ve ever met. We would ask her questions to bring her back on topic and she would sort of answer and then go on some tangent. I will definitely learn how to listen and be pacient in my mission. We finally got out of there and then our once appointment with Chano (less active) fell through and so we just worked through till 8 and ended our day with our hour of dinner. Then we tried to get to bed early cause we had to get up early for the conference with Elder Nelson.

So yesterday I don´t have a lot of words. There truly is a special spirit that enters when an Apostle of Jesus Christ enters the room. I got to shake his hand and his wife told me that I have a great name. I had a half heart attack because Elder Nelson double looked at my plaque and I thought it was twisted up or something but it was fun and he was just making sure he read my name! I learned a ton in that conference. It was just awesome. I was really comforted as he left his blessing on the missionaries and he specifically left a blessing of health which was comforting for me cause I get nervous a lot when I eat now. The rest of the day we didn´t have planned because we thought the conference was supposed to go a lot longer. We were like Nephi going forth not knowing before hand what we were to do. Elder Ortiz kept joking that a drunk dude was gonna pass out in front of us any second. We got to visit Maria Rojas and Alex. It was a really great day and I felt good.

Bit longer of an email this week. I´ll leave you with this quote. "Every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus." Lawrence Corbridge. Life gets tough sometimes people. But when you have trials think of how you can apply the gospel of Jesus Christ more in your life. What would Jesus do? Think of that and I promise you will find your answers and direction and comfort.

Love you all,

Elder Shell