Hey! Dang, how awesome was your week?! I'm so jealous haha! A campout in Kinder Springs sounds like such paradise right now... but oh well! I'm glad it was a good semana (week) for everyone! I did laugh at you guys for being locked out so much! Seems like you just can't function without me! ;) And it's even funnier that the whole ward winessed it! I'm also glad you could look for and find some rest in Sunday. I wish I could've heard that talk from Daniel. But it makes me happy to know our friendship is strong.
This week was pretty great! There was a lot that happened. First we had conference on Tuesday. It was a great conference that talked a lot about the spirit of urgency, and how we need to baptize and do it now. It was just with my zone and the other here in Antofagasta. It was neat to meet up with some missionaries that I was friends with back in Hospicio, and who are now in Antofagasta. I also enjoyed the training we were doing. The day after, Elder Blanco needed to do some things for his visa, so we had another trip to the office, and then to center. Since we were right there anyways, we were able to print some pictures that we had! I printed one of Christiaan's family and one of Mae, then some for Rodrigo so that he can have a picture of his baptism! It's always great to have a physical copy of the pictures, makes it a little more special, I think. That day, we were also contacted by Oscar saying that he had broken up with his girlfriend (our mamíta) and that he was moving to Ecuador, but before going, he wanted to get baptized! He's been investigating since November of the year before, and has been going to church and everything, and the only thing that was holding him back was being with his girlfriend. Then they broke up, and so we started moving forward with the steps to get him baptized, realizing that the situation was a little more delicate. Well, after a few interviews and lessons, he was ready for baptism!
Thursday we had interviews with President Ferreira. Ours was right after lunch at 4:00, so he was a little late, but it was a good interview. He told me that he has seen a change in me, and that he was thinking of giving me a bit more responsibilty... oh crap!!! Hahaha, with Presidente Ferreira, that could mean anything! I have no idea what he has in mind... but I have the feeling he's gonna have me train. There are 14 new missionaries coming, and we are opening 5 new sectors in the mssion. So, we'll see what happens!
Friday was crazy, because we had a ton of citas, and we had to get Oscar his last interview. Everything worked out, though, and Oscar passed his interview! We called the Bishop telling him about it, and he said, ''Ya! Bautizale no más!'' (Already! Baptize no more!)
Saturday we had the baptism of Elizabeth and Oscar! It was a fantastic service, even though legit everyone showed up 30 minutes after it was supposed to start. But it was a good turnout, the best I have seen yet! It was great to see such support from the ward, and it was a very spiritual experience for everyone. I was able to baptize both Elizabeth and Oscar. But the pila (font) filled up way to slow, and the water was freezing! When we got in, it was a little bit higher than my knees... so imagine how it was submerging them in the water! But we pulled it off. It just looked like I was trying to drown them haha! It was a little awkward, because I completely forgot to ask Oscar what his full name was, and then they opened the doors, and I had my hand up and began ''Oscar......'' and then realized I had no idea what his name was! Haha, I stopped and asked him, and then we continued, but it was super awkward! The rest of the night was kind of slow, nobody was home, and everone was preparing for the 18 of September.
Sunday was also very slow. We had commited a lot of people to church, but in the end only 2 came, Oscar and Elizabeth. We confirmed them, and then the Elders had to give the talks. I decided to talk about the Book of Mormon, and how it helps everyone, and how easy it was to read it in our day! I then tied all of that in a challenge to the members to share that with others, and how, if it is so easy to have and share, it means God wants us to read and to share it! I recorded my talk, and then deleted the recording after because I realized how bad my spanish was! But the rest of the day was really calm. Everyone basically was too busy preparing for the 18th. We got a couple lessons in, but not too much.
Today is the 18 of September! And oh man, it's crazy! The 18th of September is the Independence Day for Chile, and basically, they go all out! It is a massive week long party that begins today! Almost everyone has work off, or work for half the day, and all the schools are out, and everyone is having asados (roasts) and are dancing and it's awesome! Today we played soccer with President in the city's stadium and afterward had lunch at his house. I haven't been there since my first day in Chile! And I realized today how massive it is! They live in such a rich sector! And I was thinking before that it was so tiny! We had an asado and some ice cream. All the cibers are closed, so we are at a member's house writing. But it will be a crazy night for sure.
But anyways, that's my week! It was a good week, and I am super excited for this week! I hope you all have a good one!
Les amo a todos!
Elder Schmid
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