October 19, 2015 - Bob the Builder

Iorana korua,

Well this week was a ton of work, but the work was different. It was more physical than spiritual beause it was the last week for the construction workers that are here to fix the church and they needed our help. Don't worry though, we still helped some souls as well.

Another beautiful sunset on Easter Island

On Monday night we had a family home evening with R, L M and P. P is one of the construction guys that is working here. He lived in Paraguay for 35 years, so he taught us how to speak a little Guadní. Manga ru!

On Tuesday we had a nice lesson with C. He is a less active man we found. His wife is really Catholic but she lets us teach her. We taught them about Jesus Christ. They have a lot of experience with the missionaries, so we were looking for a different way to get into their hearts. We shared a video about Jesus Christ and talked about how they have the responsibility to teach the gospel to their son. We asked them if they prayed as a family or if they were reading the scriptures. They realized they weren't. They said they would, and like that they can start to feel the Spirit entering their home! Yes!

We taught the law of chastity to T this week. He is a different T (not Jake´s brother) and he is living with his girlfriend. He was really receptive and he said he was going to talk about marriage with her. T was awesome!! He told us "yeah! I could get married after my baptism!" We had to explain to him that it doesn't work like that, but we were pleased with his enthusiasm.

We also found out that Ivan (Jake´s dad) has a cancerous brain tumor, and it looks really bad. Please pray for him.

That same night we had an awesome lesson with M. She was there, her two non- member friends were there, and also  R and L were there. Mega lesson about baptism, and now C., M's  friend is thinking about getting baptized! We´ll see what happens.

On Thursday, the construction workers rented a car and they invited us to visit the Island with them. We went with them and changed our P-day to that day. Today we will be working all of the afternoon. There are some awesome photos from that trip.

Elder Adams and Elder Williams on their P-day

One of the photos from the car trip around the Island

Saturday morning, we did a ton of yard work at church. The church looks so good right now. The construction workers repainted and we mowed the lawn and everything. It looks great!!!! We had a great lesson with J that night. He told us that he loves receiving us, but he can´t go to church anymore because his sister, a recent convert, has been fighting with him a lot. He told us he wants to get baptized, but not while his sister is fighting with him, so we need to help them resolve the problem! Whoa! We aren't too sure how we are going to do it, but the Lord and the Spirit will be involved heavily.

On Sunday, we had a nice lesson with the P family. They are a less active family that haven't come to church in a while. They are going to come to the family home evening tonight and they said they´d come to church next Sunday.

This week, I've really seen the importance about a testimony of Jesus Christ. It is a lot easier to teach people the gospel when they already have a desire to follow Christ. I think in the lives of my investigators and in my own life I haven't always been able to tell the difference of knowing about Christ from being converted to Christ. They are two completely different things, and I invite you to think about what could be that difference.

Love,

Elder Williams

October 12, 2015 - 26

iorana korua,

 

Whoo, this week was a lot of fun and we were busy little guys. On monday we went to Vinapu. That is where all of the toppled Moai are. In the 1600´s and 1700´s there were big wars on the Island and something they did to kill the enemy's energy and power was to topple the Moai. Until about 1960 all of the Moai were toppled, but the restored them with time. In Vinapu there are a lot that are still toppled. That same day we ran into an ex- branch president from the Island. We found him compeltely high and drunk on the street. He couldn't find his house, and he didn't know where he was. Moral of the story -dont mix pain meds with alcohol.

Toppled Moai in Vinapu.

Elder Williams at Vinapu

On Tuesday morning we got a call from President Videla. There was a sister from our ward that went to visit the temple but she didn't have a recommend so we had to rush to the chapel in our PJ street clothes to see if she was paying tithing. That was a classic island church moment. On Tuesday, we also went to visit M. She´s been working a lot managing a campground. While we were talking with her, we saw this Korean guy pass by us with his groceries and he did a double take. He drew nearer to us and was smiling and freaking out a little bit. In broken English, fragments of Spanish, and a translating app he told us that he was a less active member (or old investigator-I'm still not sure) from Korea and he had lost contact with the missionaries. He was really impressed that there were missionaries here, and he was seriously really happy to see us. He said that he is going to go back to church. M later told us that after we left he gave the beer he had just bought with his groceries to the campground because he didnt want to drink it anymore. That was cool. We also met a British woman who called our church "utterly redicuolous". it was cool when she said it because it sounded like a Harry Potter spell (Ridicuolous!)

On Wednesday it rained a ton. I got a little sick because it was changing temperatures a ton and the rain was off and on.

On Thursday, we got to meet with T. It had been a while since we had seen her. She´s been really sick, but she was able to come to church this Sunday. Thursday night we were finally able to visit R and M. They are the only complete Rapanui member family here on the Island. We were a little concerned because it had been a couple of weeks since they had gone to church, but they started off saying. "we just taught our youngest daughter how to pray, listen!" They came to church this Sunday so we were pretty happy with that.

On Friday we did a service project for DJ best´s mom. DJ best is the most popular DJ on the Island and everywhere we go his music is always playing. That night we had an awesome lesson with S and Hermano Tuki who came to teach with us. The spirit was so strong, and they really listened to him and his testimony. S went to church on Sunday for the first time.

On Sunday we had 26 people in church. It's been a while since weve seen that, but the most awesome part was that there were 14 Rapanui natives that came. We've never seen that many in the church at one time. It was awesome! The testimonies were great. Elder Adams bore his testimony in Rapanui. I bore my testimony about Christ, and I would like to end with that. 

I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I know He is because His Spirit told me. When I read the scriptures I get goosebumps when I read about His life, and I feel that they are not just stories, but they are really divine evidences that He is the Christ. I love Him, and I am trying to convert myself to him every day.

Love,

Elder Williams

October 5, 2015 - Conference Party!

iorana korua,

Wow, this week was definitely an adventure!

On Tuesday, a giant box arrived at church with my name on it. It was from Cecilia from Quilicura and it was a giant box full of food. She had called me about 3 months ago asking if we had food. I told her we did, but I guess she wanted us to have more! We don't have to grocery shop anymore! Thanks Hna Ceci!

Tuesday night, we stopped by M´s house. L´s been bothering her a lot recently and she is thinking of moving to another apartment because (and I don't know if Ive mentioned this before) because she lives 2 doors down from him. Ly was there to talk with her as well. Ly is doing great since her experience last Sunday. She and Richard have gotten back together again!

On Wednesday, we helped the construction workers in the church clean the windows and we had a nice appointment with L P. He is getting involved with the church again. He is doing really well, and he went to 3 sessions of General Conference this week!

On Thursday, we were doing research on something called Ana tehe tama. J, one of our investigators told us that he would read the Book of Mormon if we could tell him what was the story behind Ana tehe tama. We spent the whole afternoon in the library, asking old people and trying to find out the story. We are pretty sure that there is no story because we have asked everyone and no one knows. 

On Saturday we got into Conference mode. We were in the church the whole day because we were in charge of renting the projector, the internet connection, and opening the church. The first session, M came, but she couldn't stay for the second session.  We were the only ones watching the second session, so we watched it in English! 

Saturday night, we had a completo (hot dog) party before the Priesthood Session so people would come. It didn't work too well, so we had 25 completos for 6 people. We ate well that night.

On Sunday, we saw more people in the church to see conference. We invited a lot of people and we even had a lunch during the sessions so people would come. We still missed a lot of people there. The power got cut during the first session in the morning so don't ask me about the last 3 talks of that session, because I haven't heard them.

Sunday night we had a nice lesson with Cl, I, J, and M together. It was about obedience. Many of the people present in the lesson weren't present in Conference, so we talked about what the Prophet had talked about-keeping the commandments. Elder Adams said something really cool. He said "we cannot justify our own sins". That was a response he gave to the statement that "its easier to be obedient as a missionary than it is for a normal person".

Maybe it is hard for us to keep the commandments, but we still need to try. We need to focus on Christ and His Atonement so we can do it. The sins that have caused me to stumble in the past do not affect me now because I have learned how to use the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change me. I learned to trust in Him as I read the scriptures, as I fasted, as I ´prayed and repented, and as I listened to my parents, friends, and family bearing testimony of Him. I know He can change us, but we need to take the first step, and call out for Him.

Love,

Elder Williams