2 Nephi 31

Halo

This has been a great week, like always.  Super long but super good.  We have been doing a lot of service for a lady in the branch.  Lots of work for her to get ready to plant her aji (chiles), tomatoes, onions, apples, membrillo, and other herbs and stuff.  Also, our weekly activities at the church are going well.  We held English class and a movie night and lots of people came.  We also had sports night, but it started raining so no one came.  This week we also had two completadas, where we just buy a ton of hot dogs, avocado, tomatoes, buns, and mayonnaise and make a ton of completos.  Super super good.
Spanish is coming along.  Im using it a lot more now and Im starting to be able to converse better with people.  Its taking a lot of faith to keep going with the language, but its working out well so far.

Highlight of the week: My companion and I had the opportunity to baptize 12 year old Felipe and his 8 year old brother Edison.  It was a really great experience.  It really strengthened their family and brought them closer to each other and to Christ.  On Sunday, we confirmed them members of the church.  When someone is confirmed, they also receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  They both left that day with smiles on their faces.  We also gave the same confirmation to Jose, the older man who was baptized last Sunday.  Jose and Felipe also received the Aaronic, or preparatory, Priesthood. This priesthood is the authority and power of God given to man on earth to act in his name to further the work of salvation.  It is used to carry out ordinances that God has established.  The Aaronic Priesthood contains a measure of this authority, and is given first to prepare someone to receive the rest of the authority, which is contained in the higher priesthood, or Melchizedek Priesthood.  This beautiful principle was prevalent in the Bible and was restored with the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was a weekend of beautiful experiences and ordinances.
All I can say for this week is “act.” We cannot accomplish anything in this life until we act.  We can have just a ton of faith in God and in Christ and think about doing good things all day, but until we act, nothing happens.  The way God works is that He asks us to exercise a little faith, and usually to do something small, and then He dumps a ton of blessings on us.  He makes our life into so much more than we can.  We can try and try to make our life into what we want, but if we neglect to allow God to shape us, we end up far from the person we could be.  Do the little things.  Act on thoughts to do good.  Read the scriptures, go to Church, and pray every day. These three things bless us with revelation and “spiritual nutrition.” A good goal is to do little acts of faith and little sacrifices when necessary. These will help us take the leaps of faith and make the big sacrifices when we need to.   Little actions proceed great blessings, here and hereafter.  
Keep doing good.  Sigan adelante. Que Dios les bendiga… Les quiero.
Elder Peck

Super Mario

Halo,

So this week flew by.  A couple highlights: Mission conference with the mission President on Wednesday.  Had a great futbol game on Saturday with the members of the congregation. Today we did a big service project for an older lady.  We watched her catch a chicken and kill it and make it into a delicious cazuela, or chicken soup stuff for us.  Also, Sunday the Stake Presidency came and helped us get more organized and coordinated as a branch.  Great talks given on Easter Sunday. Here in Chile, this week was the Semana Santa, or Holy Week for Easter.  All this really means for Chileans is that they have another excuse to drink lots of wine.  Lots of drunks in the street this week.  They are really receptive to our message, but we figure our time is better spent elsewhere, so we avoid them.
But the best part of the week was on Sunday.  Mario had the opportunity to baptize someone! Having been found worthy, the same Sunday he was confirmed a member of the church, he received the Aaronic Priesthood, which contains the authority to baptize.  Mario understands this authority better than most, despite the little time he has in the Church.  He realizes the responsibility he has to stay worthy to act according to the will of God.
The man he baptized is named Jose.  He is about 80 years old.  He has a wonderful spirit and the baptism was beautiful.  I have never seen two more humble souls than those I saw in the baptismal font that day.  The baptism was performed and Jose came out of the water thanking God.  Mario gave him a handshake and a hug and warm welcome to the "family of the church," as he calls it. Everyone there could feel something good.
Humility, love of God, and sense of duty bring miracles.  Always  be willing to do what you need to do, even if it is hard.  Usually it is.  Life is good, but not always easy.  The difficult road of righteousness leads to eternal happiness and offers joy along the way.  Thanks for all your support.

Elder Peck

¿Qué clase de hombres habéis de ser?

Mario's baptism

Hey!

So this week was really great.  I had another intercambio, or more exchanges with the other sector, so I spent another day and a half with a Spanish speaking companion, which went really well and I got to work a lot on my Spanish.  

The best part of the week however was Mario´s baptism.  He got baptized! It was a great service with lots of people there (and for our branch a lot of people is like 8).  My companion baptized him and we confirmed him a member of the Church on Sunday.  It was an amazing experience for all of us.
When he came out of the water, I asked him how he felt.  He said "Nuevo," or new.  He was so happy.  He was on the verge of tears after coming out and vocally thanked God for the experience.  Hes not going to falter.  On Sunday, he was confirmed a member of the Church, recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost, and was given the assignment to be the Branch Mission Leader.  I cant think of anyone better for that assignment. Today he stopped by to tell us that he got a suit and is getting it cleaned and ready for Sunday.  I love that guy. He really grasps what God has asked of him and has the right attitude about it.  He is letting the gospel and Heavenly Father change his life. I want to be more like him. He is a very Christ-like individual and I cant wait to see his progression. So thats my spiritual thought. Be like Mario.  Or even better, be like Christ.  Read the scriptures and search for His attributes and model your life to become like Him, in the sense of serving others, being faithful, humble, diligent, and courageous.  We don't have to walk the difficult road He walked, but we can follow His example to honor Him, accept His sacrifice, and one day be like Him and return to live with Him. I love all of you and hope everything is going well.  All is well here.  Keep up the work of salvation wherever you are.  

¿Qué clase de hombres habéis de ser? En verdad os digo, aun como yo soy. 3 Nefi 27:27

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/27?lang=eng

 Elder Peck

 

An awesome planner the Hermanas made me

El Salto, El Intercambio, y La Conferencia General

Rainbow in Los Angeles

Salto Reyen waterfall

Hey!
This week flew by. Last Monday, we went on a three or four mile hike to Salto Reyen for Preparation Day. There was beautiful scenery the whole way and the waterfall was awesome.

This week we did companionship exchanges with the entire zone, about 30 missionaries in the nearby area. My companion was Elder D from Uruguay and we were assigned to work in my sector, leaving me in charge of the work for the day. He doesn't speak English, so we spoke Spanish all day.

Trintre

We contacted all day, knocking doors and talking in the street. The appointments we had fell through and we started running out of doors to knock in the small town where we live. It was the end of the day and I had run out of ideas. We were walking down the street and we had the thought to turn around and knock on the door of a house we just passed. When we knocked on the door, a woman pulled up in her car in front of the house. She walked to the house across the street, so we turned and knocked on that door, as no one lived in the house we contacted first. She invited us in. She was ready for the gospel. She's Catholic and treasures her Bible and showed us the cool knitted cover she had made for it. We shared with her the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and our testimonies as well. She had great, thought provoking questions and perfect responses to our questions. She received the message with an open heart and mind. We plan to visit her again soon. I am not sure what will happen with her, but its easy to tell that God is preparing people to receive the truth.

Bridge in Trintre

Our friend Mario is also doing good. He attends the entire service every Sunday and is willing to serve in the Church. He always wants to help and inspires me daily. He looks for ways to help, rather than looking for ways to serve himself.
Other highlight of the week: General Conference. The General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a meeting in which the prophet, the president of the Church, and the twelve Apostles, as well as other Church leaders address all the members of the Church in the world.

Haven't missed a priesthood sesión without having ice cream haha

The conference is meant for everyone, members of the Church or not. If you are not a member, go watch or listen or read some of the talks give. They can be found on lds.org. There are inspiring and will help you gain perspective, comfort, and guidance. The talks given there are not the words solely of the people who spoke, but they are what God wants us to know at this time. A topic that stood out out me was obedience. The example was given of a team of horses. The driver of the horses knows the best way to direct the team. The horses may not understand why the driver want them to go a certain direction, but if they obey with exactness to every tug of the reins, he will lead them in the best way down the right path. We may not know the reasons for commandments, but we obey them because we know that they were given by God. He is in control and He knows whats best. Lets exercise a little faith and follow Him, regardless of whether we fully comprehend why He has asked us to do something.
Anyways, thanks again for all the emails and support! God speed. Que le vaya bien...
Elder Peck

Asado

Halo Everyone!

Waterfall at Salto Rayen

This week has been interesting.  It is starting to rain here and its getting super cold. Nevertheless, we are still eating a ton.  This week my comp and I made a huge almuerzo of rice chicken eggs bread hot dogs and juice.  The next day we bought a ton of food to feed a family we visit but they canceled, so we were left with all these bags of food.  So we went to the church, invited the Sister missionaries in our sector, and made a bunch of really good quesadillas with rice.

Over the past few weeks weve been hearing cats in our roof and they were getting super annoying.  So Elder Padilla and I went up and pulled out three little kittens.  We kept them in a cage in our house for a while and gave them some milk and stuff.  We later found the mom and returned them to her in the backyard.  We named them Kuky, Tody, and Frac, after our three favorite brands of cookies here. 

Hike to Salto Rayen

Anyway, this week Ive been learning more about faith.  Honestly, missions arent easy.  Its difficult going around everyday trying to communicate when there is a huge culture and language barrier between you and the people.  A lot of people dont take you seriously and few accept the message.  Even then its difficult to help them continue.  Its easy to get discouraged.  However, Ive realized that when I get in this situation, I need to practice what I teach every day.  I need to apply faith.  From where I am now, I cant see myself as a Spanish speaker somewhere in the future.  I cant see myself as being the kind of missionary I want to be.  But if I put my trust in God, have faith that I have been called of God, and work as hard as I can going forward, He will make up the rest.  Like it says in the Book of Mormon, faith is like a seed.  It takes a while to turn into a tree, but it will eventually if we work to nourish it.  So, having that principle in mind, I have started to walk out the door each day knowing that it wont be easy, but trusting that it will be alright.  That eventually, Heavenly Father will make me a tool in His hands if I put in the work.

Thank you so much everybody for the emails and support.  It means a lot to me and its so good to hear from you.  Have a great week!

Elder Peck

Chilean Birthday

Como Estai

Hey Everybody!

First of all, thanks for all the emails! I love getting emails and I feel your support. It is so edifying every week to hear from you. I sure appreciate them and am truly grateful for your support.

I also love hearing about whats going on at home.  Its a great blessing for me to hear about the great things y'all are doing! ¡Que bakan!

So this week, no crazy stories, just another week of improvement. There's a man we are teaching named Mario.  He has such an honest and sincere desire to learn and grow.  He is already really close to God and just wants to get closer.  When we teach him, I realize the amount of faith and the kind of relationship I could have with my Heavenly Father.  He is so willing to act and there is not an ounce of pride in Him.  He is going to be baptized soon and is already taking steps to face towards Jesus Christ and His gospel.  I cannot wait to see him progress in the gospel of Jesus Christ and see the blessings it brings to his small family.  Even on the roughest days, simply talking with people like Mario make the whole day great.

Mario shows me what humility brings into ones life.  While pride is destructive, taking us away from God and away from truth, humility helps us to become more like Christ, strengthens us, and lifts us to a higher perspective.  An interesting side note: In my reading in the Book of Mormon, I was reading in the book of Nephi, chapter 8.  It talks about the dream of the prophet Lehi.  In his dream he saw a "great and spacious building" that we later learn represents the pride of the world.  In English, verse 27 says that the building "stood" in the air.  However, when I was reading the verse in Spanish, I didn't recognize the word used in that verse, "erguirse." In the dictionary, I read that this word both means "stood" as well as "to swell up with pride." I love the way God works through His scriptures to communicate truth.  My reading of this section of scripture revealed many truths and parallels that I can apply in my life.  1 Nephi 8. Read it and know that humility and submission to our Heavenly Father is liberating and empowering.  It brings us true and lasting joy.  This is what I learned from the Book of Mormon and from Mario this week. 

Have a great week everyone and thanks for your support and prayers!

Elder Peck

Chile - Week Three

Between Angol and Temuco

He found his Dad's illustrations with the stories in Spanish

Chilean cemetery

Huequen from the hill

Home

Hi!

This week has been awesome! So many great things have happened but theres no way I can write all of them. Ill try to cover the highlights.
So we ate a ton this week.  In Chile, they eat a small breakfast, huge lunch, and "once" or a small dinner.  When we eat lunch with members its usually three courses, which I always forget.  So Ill like eat this huge salad and be full and ready to leave and then they bring out this ridiculous amount of pasta or something.  Then they whip out some super delicious dessert.  Almost every meal includes a salad (usually just made of sliced tomatoes with some kind of seasoning), some kind of noodle pasta thing, bread, and Coke or juice.  Its usually really good and there is always just a ton of food to eat, which is awesome.

We are at the house a little more this week because we are hand washing our clothes now. The sister who did our laundry broke her hand and cant do it anymore.

In other news, the other day and guy we are teaching asked us to come over to catch a bunch of chickens, which was interesting.  Then he gave us a whole bag of fresh grapes with which we made some pretty darn good grape juice.  They grow grapes everywhere here.

But the highlight of this week happened last Monday.  We were on our way home from Concepcion and we had to connect through another city to get home.  However, when we got to the other city, which is probably 30 or 40 miles from our house, it was really late and had missed the last bus home.  We had no phone and it was 10pm.  So we started walking to our sector, trying to hitch hike our way home.  Cars kept passing for probably 20 min. Knowing that it wasnt really possible to walk home that late at night without knowing exactly where to go, we decided to kneel and pray there on the side of the road. In the prayer, my companion asked that the next car to pass would meet our needs and bring us safely back to our sector. We said amen, got up, and started walking again.  After a few minutes we saw headlights behind us.  We turned and waved to get their attention.  The car passed, but turning around, we saw that he was pulling over to the side! We ran up to the car, asked if they were going to our sector, they were, so he hopped in and drove safely back home.  It was a definite and clear answer to prayer.  It strengthened my faith, as it was definitely a test of faith.  God hears us.  God gives specific answers to specific prayers.  I know God lives, with all my heart.  While my faith does not depend on experiences like this, they sure strengthen my faith and knowledge.

Keep up the good work and thanks for everything!

Elder Peck