Hey Everybody!
Things in Gabriela are going really well as always. We are getting really close to getting our goal of new investigators! We are trying to just push things through so that we can make it!
Well, I officially have three months left on the mission. But that does not mean that things have slowed down at all. We have 11 baptismal dates in our sector alone. Matias and Nicolas both have fechas for the 10 of april. We had the baptisms of Luciano and Shirley last week. They really are one of the most prepared couples I have had the honor of meeting. Luciano is so smart and knows so much, even though he is only 11 years old. His mom, Shirley gave a powerful testimony after her baptism, and really left an impression on me about the power of the work that we are doing.
At the beginning of my mission, I had a hard time loving the people I served. They were rude, inconsiderate, and would always make fun of us, or tell us to go home. I had a hard time loving the people, so I used the love I had for God to transmit it towards his children. Now as I have matured in the mission I have learned that the love I had for God came only from the gratitude I felt when I read all the things he has done for me in the scriptures and in my prayers. But I have never known him personally. So the love was at some extent limited. What I realized that if we want to increase our love for god, we must serve his children. I came to know God because I came to know his creations. I came to truly love God because I came to truly love his children. There are families here that I will never forget, mainly the family Gonzalez, Baeza, and Salas. Service is the key. Love, and love is returned. Serve, and you will be served.
I love this work, and everything I am able to do in it. Thank you for all of your prayers and the letters. I love getting Andi's letters. Even though they are short and sometimes pointless, it shows a level of care that I still hope to attain. Thanks, weirdo.
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Ripples
Hey guys!
All is well here in Gabriela! We are running around everywhere here in the sector trying to find the news [investigators that will accept baptismal invitation] that we are going to baptize next month. The thing is that we have a goal as a mission. 1469 news in one month! Thats pretty high! Our goal as a zone is 145. Its pretty ambicious, especially for a zone like ours, which is kind of tough. As a zone leader, it is an added pressure because you dont just answer for your dats, but the dats of the entire zone. Its a lot of pressure sometimes, but we just have to keep pushing forward and try to do the best we can. Last week we found 9 news, and hopefully all of them will soon have baptisimal dates this next week.
We taught one family Sunday night: Gustavo. We got into the house and started talking with the family. After a little while, we found out that both the mom and the dad are members, but they are super inactive. The mom thinks that she is Evangelica now. We taught the family and showed them the restauration video. They liked it, but didnt seem to change their views on much. The daughters, however, were pretty impressed. Carol and Nicole. They are the ripple.
Everyone is a drop of water. We act every second of every day. Each of those actions gets placed into the logs of history forever as an action that we have taken. This action can have various consequences, and we are in someway partialy responsible for those consequences. We sneeze and someone gets sick. We help someone take up some groceries and it makes their day better. Every action has this effect, a ripple, we could say, that travels in an out of the lives of those it affects. Nicole and Carol are a consequence of a ripple that their parents started. Now they can choose to act on it, or let it pass over them. In the end, its their choice. We just want them to understand the importance of this drop of water that is their lives so they step carefully, because every step is going to show.
I have learned a great deal on the mission. But one of the greatest lessons I have learned is that it continues on. Life is learning. Learn well and act accordingly and the effect we create will be a marker for others to follow. In the end, it is to matter. To make a difference because you have lived.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and for those who havent as well. I love you guys a lot!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
All is well here in Gabriela! We are running around everywhere here in the sector trying to find the news [investigators that will accept baptismal invitation] that we are going to baptize next month. The thing is that we have a goal as a mission. 1469 news in one month! Thats pretty high! Our goal as a zone is 145. Its pretty ambicious, especially for a zone like ours, which is kind of tough. As a zone leader, it is an added pressure because you dont just answer for your dats, but the dats of the entire zone. Its a lot of pressure sometimes, but we just have to keep pushing forward and try to do the best we can. Last week we found 9 news, and hopefully all of them will soon have baptisimal dates this next week.
We taught one family Sunday night: Gustavo. We got into the house and started talking with the family. After a little while, we found out that both the mom and the dad are members, but they are super inactive. The mom thinks that she is Evangelica now. We taught the family and showed them the restauration video. They liked it, but didnt seem to change their views on much. The daughters, however, were pretty impressed. Carol and Nicole. They are the ripple.
Everyone is a drop of water. We act every second of every day. Each of those actions gets placed into the logs of history forever as an action that we have taken. This action can have various consequences, and we are in someway partialy responsible for those consequences. We sneeze and someone gets sick. We help someone take up some groceries and it makes their day better. Every action has this effect, a ripple, we could say, that travels in an out of the lives of those it affects. Nicole and Carol are a consequence of a ripple that their parents started. Now they can choose to act on it, or let it pass over them. In the end, its their choice. We just want them to understand the importance of this drop of water that is their lives so they step carefully, because every step is going to show.
I have learned a great deal on the mission. But one of the greatest lessons I have learned is that it continues on. Life is learning. Learn well and act accordingly and the effect we create will be a marker for others to follow. In the end, it is to matter. To make a difference because you have lived.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and for those who havent as well. I love you guys a lot!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Weekly Update...updated weekly
Hey Everybody!
Things here are going great! Today we went up to San José de Maipo with Matias, someone who just got back from his mission a few months ago. It was a lot of fun! We ran across a rickety bridge and went through a really spooky, and smelly, tunnel. It was pretty cool to be able to just relax for one P-day and not have to worry about whats going on with this person or someone else because honestly, we really dont have anyone to teach. See? always a bright side to things!
As scary as it is to think about it, the time is drawing nearer and nearer till I finish my mission. There have been about 5 million things Ive learned and keep learning. To summarize everything would be very difficult, even though I am going to have to try and do just that when I get back. But I feel like to summarize it all to one sound byte: "Do it, do it well, never regret, love it". I will definitely have to work on that one, but that pretty much sums it all up. I'm going to come back home a completely different person, but I guess that's okay. Sorry mom, I still might be too relaxed for your tastes. But now I at least get the job done and get it done well. Probably something I would have learned in sports that I had to learn on the mission.
Sorry that the emails are kind of small. There really isn't a whole lot to say when your sector is tiny and you've been knocking all day with little to no success. Planting seeds. That's all we're doing. Planting seeds. Thanks for everything guys! Let me know if you have questions about anything.
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
Things here are going great! Today we went up to San José de Maipo with Matias, someone who just got back from his mission a few months ago. It was a lot of fun! We ran across a rickety bridge and went through a really spooky, and smelly, tunnel. It was pretty cool to be able to just relax for one P-day and not have to worry about whats going on with this person or someone else because honestly, we really dont have anyone to teach. See? always a bright side to things!
As scary as it is to think about it, the time is drawing nearer and nearer till I finish my mission. There have been about 5 million things Ive learned and keep learning. To summarize everything would be very difficult, even though I am going to have to try and do just that when I get back. But I feel like to summarize it all to one sound byte: "Do it, do it well, never regret, love it". I will definitely have to work on that one, but that pretty much sums it all up. I'm going to come back home a completely different person, but I guess that's okay. Sorry mom, I still might be too relaxed for your tastes. But now I at least get the job done and get it done well. Probably something I would have learned in sports that I had to learn on the mission.
Sorry that the emails are kind of small. There really isn't a whole lot to say when your sector is tiny and you've been knocking all day with little to no success. Planting seeds. That's all we're doing. Planting seeds. Thanks for everything guys! Let me know if you have questions about anything.
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
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