Music and Lyrics

The work, is going well. Why? Because President Martinez called me last Tuesday and asked, "Elder Lundstrom, how are you with the Program of 12 weeks(A program we have here in the mission)?" I told him I had studied it and he said, "Good. Because you're going to start teaching it to a new missionary tomorrow." Elder Thomas left Curacautin to go to Victoria and a new elder from Guatemala came from the MTC up there. So, on Wednesday, I officially began my time as a trainer to a new missionary. Cool, huh? Elder Rabanales comes from the southern part of Guatemala and is the youngest of 5 children, the rest being girls. He's very smart, but a little lost with his new home here. But we're both learning and adapting.

I'll be honest in saying the work is really slow. We have very few investigators and even fewer that we can see on a regular basis. We did find a new person this week named Maite. We went to visit an inactive family (The Family Sepulveda) and found that they're in the process of adopting Maite, the girl. We gave her a book of Mormon and after explaining a little bit, she said she would read it. As for the rest of the week, a song I heard recently describes missionary work perfectly. I've experienced all of these things and much more so far: Knocking doors in the rain Knocking doors in the rain, People think that we're insane We wear ties and we can't chew gum People think all these rules are dumb What do you do? This could be our only chance to talk to you What do you do? What do you do? Do what Christ would do. Kids at the door say their parents are gone, We see their dad out on the back lawn They go and say that the Mormons are here She sends back and they reap...

Cow Heart and Seeing Things More Clearly Yes, that's right, that's the highlight of this week. Well, the food highlight. We went over to a member's house for lunch and she had Cow Heart waiting for us to celebrate her daughter's birthday. I think the artery was in there, too. But, oh well. We survived. :) We also had a conference with Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge of the Seventy. He was very direct about what we should be doing here. He talked to us about the difference between 'teach' and 'preach'. You can teach without preaching, but it is impossible to preach without teaching. Preaching requires you to teach a principle and doctrine and invite the people listening to make a change in their lives. He talked to us all about if people understand where they're going, they'll understand why they do the things they're supposed to do. Understanding why things happen the way they do gives us much more peace in life and gives a new vision...

Well, another week gone by and it´s kind of interesting what happened Saturday. We went out to work after lunch and almost no one was in the streets. It was rather odd if you ask me. We then put two and two together to figure out it´s the middle of summer and everyone goes out of town on weekends to enjoy the sun and the pool. Fun times, right? However, we are getting some rain this week. This morning it rained for a long time and we actually had to pull our sweaters back out (And I tried to fight mom about buying them...ha ha). We have an awesome experience this Friday. Elder Lawrence Corbridge of the seventy is coming to talk to the mission! We get to go listen to him learn what good things he has to say. He was Mission President in Santiago way back when. The oddest part of this week? We´re putting 2012 on everything! It´s so odd to think we´re finally in the year when the world supposedly ends...Although it won´t. We saw a rainbow the other day. The Quote fo...

Well, this week is what you can call the silence of the Lambs...literally. The Tradition here in Chile is eating Lambs for New Year's dinner at about 2 or 3 in the morning. We were walking around on New year's eve and saw all kinds of Lambs being cleaned for the grill. It was a good-smelling night. :) As for the work, we're working with a nice lady named Paola right now. She has two little Boys: Christopher and Michael. Kind of like Peter Pan, right? They are rambunctious little kids. Paola really gets interested about why there are so many churches in the world and so tonight we're sharing with her about the Apostasy and the Restoration. :) Remember to read everyday and that prayer works. I don't know where I'd be without it. :) Keep Smiling!