Hello Gringos
(that is what everyone says to us in the streets here)
I love grandpa Stu. Goodness I do, and I miss him. We went to a home center place today and it reminded so much of Home Depot... because of the colors. It was almost a mix between Home Depot and Griggs (yes... the famous Griggs). Because of that I was just thinking about gramps. I went and bought another rain jacket. The one I have now is a good jacket, but let me tell you... I bought it because it wasn’t the most expensive of them all -- I wish I would have bought the most expensive now! It works OK, it is water proof and stuff, but the hood is really bad. And that stinks because no one likes a water head when it rains. Yesterday it rained and the hood was just giving me problems, big time, so what did I do? I went to the store and bought one of those heavy duty jackets... you know - The Deadliest Catch style - or, McKinnis orchard style... no, I didn’t buy the yellow color, but its one of those that goes almost to my knees... so, walking around in that and big rubber boots (McKinnis orchard style) I only have a small portion exposed to the water, that would be the leg area... The rain is starting, and I don’t think it is going to stop anytime soon. But that’s OK. I really like the rain. It gets me excited. Plus, if it is raining really hard and hitting the ground and making a lot of noise that means I can sing songs out loud and no one will hear me. However... rain and cold are difficult together.
Oh... they called for transfers today... I’m staying, however, Elder Findlay is leaving, I really, really, really like Elder Findlay (he’s from Seattle) Plus, I have gotten really used to his feet because the position of the beds put his feet about 6 inches from my face. So who is coming? Elder Bird. Who is Elder Bird? The tallest missionary in the mission...probably 6’ 6”ish... so we will see what happens :) Elder Findlay and a missionary from my neighboring sector are going to Chillán. Elder Cutler (from the sector next to me) is going to Coyquen... he will be a companion with Elder Higham... What a good guy Elder Higham.
So... yesterday Camila and Daniela got baptized (two sisters) that are pretty awesome... they are just Mormon girls... We taught them for about 7 or 8 weeks... it was a good service... they had a lot of their family there (none are members) I baptized Camila and it was funny, she got really, really nervous right before entering the pila bautismal and when we were standing there in the water before the baptism she was very, very nervous. She did great though... Hna Solange was right there to help her when she got out... Solange is awesome. Daniela did great too. They then invited us to eat lunch with them and all their family. We figured we would go because it would be the only time we could see all their extended family together. We canceled the lunch we were going to have and we went with them. It was a good lunch. They have a great family. I wish they would listen to us.
Jose Luis and his family.................................. They are so scared - they are just confused. The problem is the kids I think. Claudia is 15 and José Luis 24. The parents are so worried. The kids are so confused. Claudia just doesn’t believe that so many people could be wrong in other churches. She doesn’t believe that there is only one church of God. That is actually a big problem down here. That and also people just don’t want to admit some times that there was something more for them. Like, it takes humility to say, "Wow, I need to change my church because I need to be in the church of Jesus Christ." Matilde is ready. Not because she understands, but because she has felt the spirit and that is enough for her. The dad wants to understand more. I think so he can explain it and prove it to people. We are walking a fine line right now. We could fall off either side of the sword. We just have to keep helping them feel the spirit. The problem is Claudia says she already got an answer to her prayer that said she is fine where she is. Keep praying lots.
We have a TON of investigators that are just starting right now. Lots and lost of potential. I’m excited for this next cambio. I am very grateful to not have changed, and I love this work.
Elder Pitcher
PS - I love you all... see ya in 11 months (wow... only 11 months... scary!!!)
