This week has been a good one for me. We had a Family Home Evening with the Parada family and they invited some of their neighbors to come and participate. We had decided earlier to do a lesson on prayer and to make "prayer rocks" to help remind us to say our prayers. There were no good rocks to be found in our area that would be paint-able so we went to the nearest little neighborhood shop and bought 14 potatoes to wash and paint (and later on, to eat). It was a really fun activity and was entertaining to see the daughter of the neighbor completely soak her potato in orange paint.
What can you expect from a three year old and a tube of paint? At the end of the family home evening, Claudia, the neighbor, asked us what she had to do so that we could go to her house to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We set an appointment for Friday and went with Sister Parada. It was a special lesson that we shared and Claudia expressed her desire to have a change in her life and in her family. She wants more peace and love. After teaching the lesson, she was excited to set a time for her family to hear us as well. We are going back on Tuesday.This week we had interviews with President and Sister Gillespie. As we were walking down from our pension to catch the bus they drove right by us and pulled over to give us a ride. While waiting for the light to change to cross the road, i was looking at their van to see where they had pulled off of the road when all of the sudden a bus mirror flies by a few inches from my face. It scared me and i jumped back but man that would have been bad. Hermana Gillespie saw it and asked if the bus had almost hit me. my interview was basically a "how ya doin....talk to you in two weeks for you final interview" chat.
Yesterday I was asked to give a talk in church 20 minutes before the meeting started. It was easy because it was on missionary work. I feel so much more comfortable speaking in Spanish though instead of English. I am working on my homecoming talk and while practicing it, its hard to deliver a good message without sounding like a dork. I received a phone call from the mission office this week informing me that my final interview with President Gillespie is on Sunday evening at 7:30pm.
District BBQ on Monday: elders nelson, owen, saldivar, and pitcher and hermanas russell and argueta
My Testimony
Being my last week in the mission and the last letter home, I would like to leave you with my testimony of the truthfulness of this work that has engulfed my life for these past two years. Being able to study and teach the Gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ has helped me to understand its purpose and how it really helps us to be happier in all aspects and times of our life (on this side of the veil and on the other). It is not a complex scheme but is a perfect plan that our Father in Heaven has created for us to fulfill his desires for us, that is to have immortality and eternal life. The Gospel is beautifully simple and simply beautiful. It is based on the principle of obedience. When we obey, we are blessed. When we disobey, we are not. I have a grown love for the living prophets and apostles on the earth today. I see the time to hear and listen and learn from them as a great opportunity for they are God's mouthpieces here on the earth today. What a blessing. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and truly leads all mankind closer to God if they will read and apply its teachings. I have seen that promise fulfilled in my life and see its effects everyday. I know that this is the only true church on the face of the earth and that the authority to act in God's name is within that organization. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Without Him, the perfect plan would have no affect on us. He paid the price for my sins. I must follow him to be cleansed. I have grown to understand the power and importance of prayer and fasting and know that they are blessings in my life. I know that God has given me a family to help me know the name of Christ and to help me to prepare myself for when I also am given a family to raise and teach. My time in Chile has helped me gain a love and respect for many people who also have helped me strengthen my beliefs and testimony.
Thank you to all who have helped make this experience in my life such a special and life changing one. From now on in my life it will be a "before the mission" or "after the mission" way to remember things. It is truly a marker in my life.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. -Elder Jaren E. Nelson
