Oh man... what happened this week... Hahaha have you ever sant down to write in your journal, and you just sit there for a few minutes and then get up and go eat something? Thats what I feel like doing right now. I absolutly don`t remember what happened this week.
OHH!!! So I was just in the pits on Wednesday. I woke up with the worst migrain ever. So we ended up staying home all day, which was just the worst. BUT! One good thing did happen from that, I finished Jesus the Christ! What an amazing book. One of the last chapters talks about the great apostasy, and explains in historical, factual detail that the church of Christ could NOT have kept existing and that an apostasy did in fact take place. Well, a few days later while knocking on doors before lunch with a member, we found a girl we`ve already talked to before. She came outside (because her grandma who is SUPER catholic and rude, according to her, was home), and we started teaching her a little bit about the restoration of christs church here on the earth. She seemed super interested, and explained that she believed the gospel wasn`t lost, and that Peter kept the authority going by passing it on to.... constantine, I think. We explained how she could know if Joseph Smith was a prophet through prayer and that we know the church has been restored, and I used some of the stuff I used from Jesus the Christ. Man, if there is a book worth reading, that is it. It explains in the beginning how Elder Talmage was in the temple while writing it and all of the prayerful counsil he took with the prophets and apostles at the time. SO AMAZING. But she was really cool and we`re going to start doing lessons in the bishops home. The bishops wife when she was younger also used to be SUPER catholic, but has an incredible testimony.
So, transfers came through and I`m going to head down to Arauco! It`s a little pueblito! FINALLY! Ever since I left Gorbea I`ve been wanting to go back to a little country town. It`s only an hour or so south of San Pedro, and is on the coast! I think the beach is right in our sector, so I`ll be sure to snap some good photos. I`m gonna be with hermana Abalos, who is from the...... PHILIPINES! AGAIN! AHahahaa she was in the same group as hermana Galiza! I think I`ve been given a second chance hahaha! There have only been three missionarys from the philippines in our mission and I`ll have lived with all of them. I really do like cambios in the sense that they give me a lot more energy and excitement. I think I adapt pretty easily to new situations, so I`m excited, even though I´m going to miss San Pedro SO much. Yesterday in church I busted into tears at the most random of times, just like I`M GOING TO MISS HERMANO SO AND SO, and ugh. ALSO!! One more thing. A PURE MIRACLE HAPPENED to the other hermanas haahha. They, for the past 5 months have been teaching a guy named Armin. He comes to church every sunday, and is a really really cool guy, but for whatever reason has just not been accepting the idea of getting baptized. At least not in the near future. He says he`ll get baptized one day, but has been to scared to make the commitment. The hermanas worked with so much faith, with the members, and just doing all kinds of great things to help him keep progressing, inclduing calling him every day and reading scriptures with him. Well, Monday night, the hermanas were feeling a little bit down. Armin was supposed to get baptized this Saturday but it looked like he still just wasn`t ready. They decided not to call him, just to give him some space. (Another common thing here that EVERYBODY says is they don`t want to feel pressured. Armin said the same thing to hermanas Asis and Norton.) But instead of calling him, they recieved his call. It was quiet, and then Armin, trying not to cry told them he wanted to get baptized THIS saturday. What an amazing spirit. Only the spirit in the end is what motivated Armin to change. And it just retestified to me the importance that the spirit has in the conversion of people. Only until they look for and recognized the need of a savior and his doctrine in their lives can they feel the need to follow him. We can`t force anybody to become a deciple of Christ. We only invite, and do everything in our power so that the spirit can touch their heart, and then when it`s there time and God`s time, they still even then have the ability to deny or accept what they`re feeling. But Armin is super cool, and I don`t have the time or the talent to explain in email what an incredible experience it was. I`m gonna miss San Pedro de la Paz, but I know Arauco is going to be just as amazing. I think it`ll be a bit like coming home, because I really do miss Gorbea a lot. But I love you all and wish you the best week of your life! Chau!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
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