Smells Like Fish

Hey

So a quick rundown of what happened this week.

On Tuesday I traveled about 4 hours to my new sector, which was awesome.  We drove by some beautiful Chilean countryside and I took a long nap. It was a nice and well needed break. I arrived in Concepcion and met my new companion, Elder U.  He is from Vina del Mar Chile and he arrived in the mission with me, so we have the same amount of time.  He's way cool.
 On Wednesday we went to zone meeting.  I saw a lot of great views of my sector from the bus.  My sector is on the beach, so I saw the coast and hundreds of boats.  After the meeting we went and bought the best empanada Ive ever eaten and then came home and ate lunch with a family.  Because of the Chile vs. Spain game, we had an extra hour of language study, as we can't really work during the game.  After the game we came out in the street.  Everyone was going crazy.  Everyone was out in the street running around yelling, everyone was honking their horns in their cars, there was a huge group of people in the plaza who climbed the fountain.  A group of guys with a huge Chile flag that spanned the street ran towards us and covered me and my comp in the flag and went crazy haha.  It was a crazy day.

On Thursday we worked and went to Gringo Express at the end of the day.  It's a bus that sells really good completos and stuff, as well as hamburgers and gringo food.  It's run by a Canadian guy who doesn't speak Spanish, so it was fun to talk with him in English for a little while.  Haha it was so weird to talk to someone in English haha. 

Friday on our way to lunch we stopped by the harbor and took some pictures of the ocean and the ships.  That night the top bunk of the bunk bed broke haha.

Saturday we had a wedding.  A member of the congregation here got married in the church and we were there almost all day helping with the wedding.  The members wife gets baptized this week, along with two more people that Elder U and I are teaching.  I'm really excited for that. 

Sunday was just good.  I love the Sabbath.  We went to Church and made some visits to less active members afterwards. 

Today we got permission to watch the Chile vs Netherlands game.  It was fun, even though Chile lost.  The whole world is sad here today haha.  But -yeah.  That was my week.  I love it.

Diligence works.  I have seen so much this week instances in which I have been diligent and receive direct help from the Spirit, as well as situations where I slip, and that helps leaves.  It's devastating when it does.  I see though that every act of obedience leads to power.  Sin is weakness.  Diligent obedience brings strength and power.  And it's not so much that we become powerful, it's more that God helps us complete the tasks He has asked us to do and that we have promised to do.  He makes us able to do it, using our efforts and preparation and adding His divine guidance.  It's wonderful.  Missionary work doesn't work if we try to do it on our own.  It's when we finally accept Gods help that we begin to see the miracles.  Its so great. 

Anyways, thanks again for the support.  You are awesome. 

Elder Peck

Cambios Transfers

Elder P and his new companion

Hey,

Another awesome week.  We are seeing even more changes in my sector.  We found out our transfers today and they told me I'm heading to a new sector! I'm heading way up north, almost to Concepcion, a sector on the coast.  All I know is that it is cool, smells like fish, and that my companion is named Elder U.  I'm  super stoked but I'm going to miss my sector here and my last companion.

This week was really good.  We had a conference of the whole mission to say goodbye to our Mission President.  I saw some some of the Elders I came with and others I have met since being here.  It was sad because we all love Presidente and Hermana Martinez, but we are excited for the new president and his wife to come.  We sang a lot and gave them a book and video featuring everyone in the mission entiled Gracias a Usteded, or Because of You (Y'all).  Also, they did something really cool.  They passed the microphone around and every missionary bore there testimony and shared simply what they knew to be true. The testimonies were short, but heartfelt and powerful.  It took almost three hours to get every one of the 250 more or less missionaries a chance to share, but it was a really great and powerful experience. 

Also, we had a big asado, or barbeque kinda thing, yesterday with one of the families here.  It was sooooo good.  Chileans are good with their meat.

Awesome huge ham and avocado sandwich thing!

Anyways, that's all the big news for me.  One thing that I have learned this week is the power of diligence.  A lot of times we do things to go through the motions.  We do them consistently, but not diligently.   But one thing I have found out is that if we choose the right through diligence, God blesses us in ways we can't imagine.  We do it because we want to, rather than have to.  We keep it up, we do not "weary in well doing."  We work and continue forward through trials because we know that that is what Gods want us to do.  If we work hard diligently, we are going to be able to do all things that Gods wants us to do. 

Love you guys and thanks for everything. 


Elder Peck

Michael Jordan posters that were in our house when we moved in.

 

View of Los Sauces

Los Sauces

Hey everyone!

This week went by quickly for me. 

We finally moved into the new house and it is SO NICE.  We have furniture, a working shower, a big wood stove that's super warm, and carpet! Its super comfortable and awesome. 
Moving was fun.  We moved last Monday night, and it was a crazy hour of trying to get everything from our old house loaded in the bed of the truck and driven over to the new house as fast as possible because it was raining super hard.  We rode in the back of the truck back and forth because it was just a big flatbed truck and we had to keep the stuff from falling out.  It was fun trying to keep each other from falling out too haha. It was crazy and all our stuff is kinda wet, but we are all settled in the new house now and all is well. 

We are still working hard.  One experience that I wanted to share is that for the first time this transfer we finally had someone commit to be baptized! We still have a lot of work to do with him and his family, but we had a really good lesson with him the other day.  We read with him the Book of Mormon and he felt that it was true.  He told us about his search for clarity and truth and we expressed what we knew was true.  The two just kind of fit. I pray that he will continue and will be able to experience the clarity that comes from the gospel and the purifying, cleansing power of baptism. 

Baptism cleanses us completely.  We leave our sins behind and have an opportunity to start again.  It is a step of faith, but more, it is the door to eternal life and happiness here on earth.  The gift of the Holy Ghost is the second, completing part of baptism.  We have the opportunity to accept the Holy Ghost as a guide and help for us whenever we are willing to be worthy of His influence and listen.   What a blessing.  If you are not baptized yet, I encourage you to do so, and to do so under the authority God has given to man here on earth.  I know that the members of this Church that I represent now have that authority.  You can find out for yourself.  As Christ came to John the Baptist, come to Gods servants.  Take the step of faith.  I cant imagine where I would be if I had not been baptized into this church, by someone holding the authority of God, and in His way. I thank God for that and my family for showing me the way.  This Church is true, and I am so grateful for the clarity that I now have that comes from knowing this truth.

Go forward in strength and in faith.  Take big steps if needed, but always remember to have God's will in mind.

Thanks for the support and emails and prayers and everything else. 

Elder Peck

Hey rapidito

Hey!

I'm out of time, but this week has been awesome.  We are working hard, the Lord has shown His hand in our lives here in Chile, and the work moves on.  We made pancakes for a family home evening.  It was kind of funny how the Chileans thought they should serve them, one pancake for each person on a small plate and they eat it with their hands, using anything but syrup to top it haha. We also played Jenga.  Everybody likes Jenga.  There were some really great things that happened this week, but I don't have enough time to write unfortunately.

Patience is a virtue, one that we all need to work on I think.  Ive been studying it a lot, and Ive learned that patience is an attribute we can develop and one that brings happiness.  Like always, when we develop attributes that are similar to Christ's attributes, we always find more happiness. 

Elder Peck