Volcanos

Hey,

So this week we saw the volcano erupt, which was cool.  It just erupted a little bit, but we could see the lava from our sector.  The ash from that volcano and a few others has been covering towns and contaminating water, but luckily we haven't been affected.

This week was great.  My new comp is awesome!  He's from Colorado and he has a little less than a year in the mission.

We had a fantastic district conference this week and our Mission President and his wife came.  It was really really good.  We got the whole branch together in the morning with a couple investigators and took a bus to the conference.

We worked hard this week and are seeing progress with  couple of investigators. We have several who are preparing for baptism, so pray for them! J and F especially.  They are really good and feeling the Spirit.  J is already like part of the branch, we just have to finish the lessons.

Hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for everything

Elder Peck

This week

Hey!

So this week went well.  I'm really grateful for our investigators.  Each day we are finding more or the people we have are progressing.

We also hade a sweet conference with Elder Dallin H Oaks broadcast in from Santiago.  It was way cool. He talked about teaching about the sacrament and the Sabbath Day, helping people keep commitments, and other good counsel directed to us as missionaries.  It was really good.  The whole mission got together to see it, so I got to see everyone in the mission, all my old companions and everyone I've served with.  It was great.

Also, we have transfers tomorrow! My comp is leaving and Im going to be comps with another Elder from the US.  I dont know him that well, so I'll tell you more later on.

That's about it.  Im really grateful that I had such a good week and I hope y'all have a great week too!

Elder Peck

Another week

Hey!

This week went really good.  The volcano is smoking a ton, the rain stopped and the sun came out, and several of the people we are teaching are progressing well.

We have several investigators now, more than I've ever had in my mission, that have a sincere interest in the gospel and are coming to church.  The branch is doing a great job at fellow shipping them and the branch is growing, which is a definite answer to prayer.  This last Sunday several investigators came and many members who have been less active have begun to return.

Cool experience this week.  We did exchanges with the other companionship here in my sector.  My companion and I were working our way towards the house but we still had about half an our of work. It's always a bit difficult to contact that late at night. We walked past a house with the lights on and then, after passing it, we both felt like we needed to turn around and knock on the door.  Fortunately, my comp needed to use the restroom haha, so we knocked and asked if he could use their restroom. They let us in and I talked with the woman inside.  My comp came out and we conversed a little bit with her and before leaving the house we showed the video Because He Lives.  After the video, she was quiet and then thanked us for coming over.  She said a good friend had just died and she had been feeling sad.  The video helped her feel better and she asked us to come back and teach her more. Heavenly Father knows His children and definitely uses His servants according to His will.

Have a great week!

Elder Peck

Conference weekend

Volcano at sunset

Hey

We had another great week.  We almost have all of our wood chopped, and just in time because the rain is coming.  The General Conference of the Church happened this week it it was fantastic as usual.

One of my favorite talks was by Elder Jorge Zaballos.  He was the mission president for my mission several years ago and is from Chile.  We met him a few months ago when he came and held conferences with our mission.

He talk about several ways in which we fulfill our responsibilities as disciples of Christ.  He talked about how we are to learn our duty, decide to do it, act according to our decision, and willingly accept Gods will.

I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father and all that He does for us.  Hope everyone had a great week and I appreciate all you do.

Elder Peck

Power week!

Hey!

So this week was fantastic.  We worked really well and had some success.

Also on Monday I had one of the best experiences I've had on my mission.

On Monday we went to a lesson with two of our investigators that were kind of progressing but slowly, L and C.  We testified that they could know of the truth of our words if they prayed to know. We invited them to pray to know if they should be baptized, which they have been considering for some time. We explained that the Spirit testifies of truth through feelings such as joy, peace, love, and security.  Lucy prayed and she asked in her prayer if they should get baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When she ended the prayer she told us she was surprised by what she felt.  She smiled and said she felt a powerful feeling of peace and joy in her heart.

Her daughter C said she felt happy and also had a huge smile on her face.  Lucy waited a moment and thought and then said, let's get ready to get baptized.  They accepted the invitation to get baptized in April and came to church this sunday.

 Also, this week one of the assistants came down to work in our zone and he came and worked with me. We were in the same sector when I began my mission so it was cool to work with him again.   We also happened to be doing a zone intercambio, splits? and I worked with another elder in my zone who is really good. It was awesome and the three of us in the trio worked super hard and found several new people to teach and I learned a bunch.  It was awesome.

We chopped lots of wood this week, our own and the neighbors wood, to get ready for winter.  Im so glad we don't use wood to heat our houses in the states haha.  But I learned that the saying is very true: He who cuts his own fire wood warms himself twice.  Haha

The Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, is powerful.  The feelings we receive from the Spirit overcome all doubt and fear, all worry or concern. They comfort, uplift and edify.  But those feelings can only come if we let them.  We need to have a great desire to have the Spirit in our lives.  We need to diligently seek and work to do good. We need to have faith.  And then the Spirit works miracles in our lives and in the lives of others. Like with L,the Spirit was able to overcome all her doubts and fears.

The Lords ways are not ours, so all divine communication that comes from God depends on His will. But we can know the will of God through the scriptures.

Thanks for everything and hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Peck

This week and last week

Hey,

I didn't write last week, so I'll do a quick summary of the last two weeks.

Last Sunday our investigator J came to church and she accepted a baptismal date on Friday! We are really excited for her.  Shes progressing really well and we hope she will get baptized next month.

Last week we also went to this little town that belongs to our sector.  We go there once a week by bus to proselyte.  We always meet interesting people there.  Last week we met a lady who lives in a cabin-ish house built next to a spring.  We are in a drought right now, but behind her house was blooming with all kinds of plants and flowers.  She brought us glasses and we drank some of the spring water, which was cold and clean and tasted great!  It was way cool.  She also has a bunch of Frank Sinatra records and her husband likes John Wayne movies haha.  She is also really receptive and we hope she progresses.

This week we had two conferences, one with our zone and one with our mission president and another zone.  They talked about faith and how we can apply it as missionaries.  It was fantastic.  We also saw a video which I think is called Because He Lives, about Christ.  It is a video the Church is going to put online on the 28th.  It is really really good!  Everyone has to see it!  As missionaries we are going to be using it daily in our proselyting.

The gospel is a beautiful process that allows us to improve daily as we come unto Christ. He has paid the price for our mistakes, so all we need to worry about is accepting Him with ¨a broken heart and contrite spirit¨ and doing our best each day.  He loves us and will lift us up in the process.  He gives us daily peace, happiness, and moments of pure joy to give us a small hint of what eternal life will be like.  It's pretty awesome.

Thanks for everything and have a great week!

Elder Peck  

Cambios/TRANSFERS

 Hey!

So, we had transfers today! I'm staying again here with Elder M! So this will be my third transfer here and the longest time spent with one companion.  Elder M is way cool so we are both looking forward to it and hope to baptize again this month or the next. 

Also, a volcano near us erupted this week! It just erupted a little bit and it is far enough away not to affect us, but it was cool to hear about it and to see the huge volcano smoking while working here in our sector. 

Anyway, also this week we had a district activity about temple work.  I am amazed at the work already being done all over the world in temples for those who never received the blessings of this great gospel. If you don't know about the temples of our church, or have questions about it, ask me because the doctrine is amazing and unique to our church.  Though I am involved mainly in preaching the gospel here in Chile, when I get back I look forward to being able to participate more fully in the work of the temple.

Have a great week!

Elder Peck