The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

Hola Familia y Amigos

I have good news. I am typing at a computer that actually works this week so I can actually tell you what happened this week

This week has been rough in the morning because our water heater broke. its amazing the things that you take for granted in the United states like hot water. we also had the light in the bathroom go out, so I was showering in the cold by candle light.

That happened tuesday, and we had to go the doctor to do a check up with elder Boelter before he goes home in one week. the doctors office is right next to the CCM in Chile. I got to see the CCM president again and also some of my teachers. also, while we were walking to the CCM, we saw some hermanas on the other side of the street. we didn't say hi to them because they were kind of far away. while I was in a church store buying some hymn books, I ran into some sister missionaries from Santiago Oeste mission. I had heard that Seattle Farner (from Woodinville WA) was in that mission, and I asked them if they new her. they said she was just here 5 minutes ago. it turns out that she was in that group of sister missionaries that we saw! that was crazy! Im going to email her today to verify

Something that we have really been working on as a companionship is teaching lessons in less than 45 minutes. this is a point in preach my gospel that here in Chile is really hard to follow because people love to talk. its hard to ballance preaching the gospel, and developing relationships with the people you teach. to anyone who has served in Chile, you know what Im talking about when I say that the people love to talk, and they talk so fast that they begin to sound like a turkey gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble :)

on Wednesday we were walking back from an appointment with Lorena when we saw 4 kids running in the street. they had some things in their hands as they ran. we thought they were playing a game, and then we saw 3 older (and fatter) guys chasing aftter them and yelling. apparently we had just seen a robbery. it was kind of funny to see one of the larger men hop on his bicycle to try and chase them down.

That same day we were in a lesson with an older man and his wife, se llaman benito y Maria. we talked with them about the restoration, and we were just finishing up and were about to invite him to be baptized when he told us that he had been baptized 50 years ago. you think that he would have mentioned that at the beginning. this has happened to us probably 5 times. we ask people in the beginning of the lessons if they know the church, or if theyve visited it, or things like that. they told us in the beginning that they had heard of the church, but that they hadn't gone to it. I dont understand, its kind of like "oh by the way, Im already a member of your church". but I always think its funny when that happens.

on Friday we were walking in the street, and I saw a woman that was just standing in her door enjoying some solsito (sun rays). we talked to her for a bit, and we asked her if we could share our message with her. she said ok, and we entered. when we entered we saw that there were no men in the house. as missionaries, we have the rule that we can teach if we sit near the front door, and if the door is open. in addition to this we saw that this woman had 5 daughters, 3 of whom were around our age. we taught the family about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but Im not going to lie I dont know if those 3 daughters were completely focused in the lesson, but more in my companion's eyes

sorry to you guys if the baptism of Luis y Carolina was a little surprising. there is a tradition in this companionship that we do not email about our baptisms before they happen, because it is guaranteed that if I talk about it before it happens, it doesn't happen. pero, eso. Luis y Carolina received the gift of the holy Ghost this Sunday. Luis also received the aaronic priesthood. We met with them earlier this week to see how they were doing. they recently downloaded the gospel library app on their phones and Luis told us that usually he plays mario when he is in the bathroom, but now he is reading his scriptures. that is a win in this missionary's book.

This week was a ton of fun, and I am really excited for this next week. it is the last week of Elder Boelter. because of the change of mission presidents in the beginning of my mission, this cambio or transfer period is 8 weeks. I will be getting a new companion next week, so that should be fun, but I am going to miss Elder Boelter a ton.

Last but definitly not least I need to give a shout out to the two most important women in my life. Hermana Williams, Congratulations on entering the CCM! Mama Williams: Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Williams