Wow. What a week. Haha seriously we are having so much success that its honestly ridiculous. I am going to try and type as much as i can as fast as i can, so forgive me if there are spelling errors or other bad stuff!
First off, i tore one of my shirts. haha i rubbed against a barbed wire fence....oops. But i just felt so ridiculous the rest of the day. i looked like some homeless boy that the church sent out to teach. Haha oops.
Second off, one of the ladies we are teaching has a dog that had puppies. i about DIED. seriously, these puppies are the best things ever. So of course i took a Lion King picture with one, and elder ramirez and i were SO close to adopting the other one for our house. We cant have pets, but our member we live with can....thanks dad for teaching me those loopholes! Im definitely the son of a lawyer. Haha but we didnt because it smelled. But either way, we were almost proud parents!
big shout out to MARY FOR HER PAPERS GOING IN!!!! Ah! so exciting. I am so proud of you Mary and you are going to be an awesome missionary. It took me 19 years to prepare and decide to go on a mission. It took you 2 weeks. Youre incredible. I was reading in Matthew this week about when Christ called the apostles and in matthew 4:20, it says they "instantly dropped their nets and followed him". Thats what youre doing mary! You got the green light to go, and INSTANTLY you made the decision to follow him. That kind of faith is what the Lord needs right now, and he will use that faith to work miracles. I am so proud of you! My guess is Taipei, Taiwan....or chile concepcion south. what? it could happen!
So our two favorite golden families, Paolina and Valentine and Juliana (the two kids) and then Hector and Cecilia, are making progress like its nothing. Seriously, i am absolutely in love with these families. I cant wait to come visit them and just watch their lives progress. First thigns first, Paolina and her kids..
So she told us a little bit more about what happened before we came. She said that her pareja (no one is married, they all just live together in Chile) were having really hard problems with money. Then, some stuff started to get better but THEY didnt get any better. They were still just as bitter and miserable and nothing improved. The night we knocked on her door, she realized that money wasnt the problem in the family. In her words, "we needed something more". and then we knocked on the door! so cool that God used us to bless one of his daughters. Now, as i have seen this incredible change in her family, i have been so touched. Honestly, i look as Valentine as a little brother. This perfect little kid is just such a stud. The other day we left them reading, and he highlighted the entire thing and read it TWICE. haha he wore a white shirt and tie to church (no one besides like 5 members wear church clothes) and was waiting for us outside when we came by before church on sunday. As he talks to us and answers EVERY question we ask, (mind you he is 10 years old), Paolina is always just in tears because she is seeing this incredible change in her kids. These sweet kids are reading, preparing, and coming to know God. As Juliana, the 8 year old girl, knelt down to pray the other night at the end of our lesson, I was just like WOW. this is seriously incredible. The gospel can change us so much if we let it.
Now hector and cecilia. Seriously, they are every missionarys dream. They are the most perfect investigators that have ever walked the earth, im convinced of it. I seriously love them so much its insane haha. WE ARE GOING TO MARRY THEM! They accepted a baptismal date for the 17th of november, and we are helping them plan a wedding for the 16th! How insane is that? They are so faithful and are so ready. It is so cool to see the faith that they have. After we left the other day after challenging them to baptism/marriage, we realized how crazy that is. Two 19 year old boys who dont know squat come into your home and tell you that if you get married, and get baptized, that you will be blessed. We ask them to make the BIGGEST decision there is in life to get married, and they do it. how ridiculous is that?!? Haha i just cant even imagine. It is such a testament that they are not listening to us, but listening to the spirit. I sure as heck know it wasnt my spanish that convinced them. Although I would say my spanish is now about even with a 7 year old...HOORAH. Big improvements.
So thats the golden families of Arauco. We have 2 other families that we are working with, and i have high hopes for them too. but they couldnt come to church this past week so it may take a little while longer. Cristian couldnt get baptized last week because his uncle died Saturday night and they left to go visit them. But this upcoming Sunday (our branch president prefers baptisms after church) we should baptize Valentine, Cristian, and Juliana. Paolina wants to as well, but obviously cant because she isnt married. She says she wants her kids to get baptized and that when she figures out with Freddy what to do that she will follow suit. We really think that the kids getting baptized could be inspiration for him.
Funny story of the week. Everyone smokes. The other day we were playing soccer with a little kid and he was like "aw man, gotta go light up". uhhh WHAT THE HECK? youre 11. It caught us so off guard and then we watched him pull out a pack of cigarettes, and then a grown man light it for him. Haha WOW kind of crazy.
Ummm thats basically it. Haha I am just so happy and seeing so much success out here. Its honestly insane. I love the chileans so much (although i cant understand many still) and am just living the dream out here in Chile. I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Tengberg
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