Hola Hola from Chile!! This week was so great! Elder Bustincio and i are finally getting used to La Ligua and do not even get lost anymore! Thats a big accomplishment, because our area is pretty big. I cannot believe how hot it is here! It really is equivalent to Southern Utah in the middle of the summer. And yes mom I am using sun screen! (I thought that would make you proud) haha. I absolutely LOVE La Ligua! The people here are so kind and receptive. The area itself is so great! We don´t have a view of the ocean like my last area but here it is more green. The area in general is nicer and cleaner. We have a little city in the middle of where the 2 areas in la Ligua split. (we have 4 missionaries here). Our church is right on the outskirts of the city. Now when i say city, i do not mean Tall buildings and tons of people, its more like two story buildings with lots of stores. We live in a place called Villa Fertil, its about a 15 min walk to la Ligua and the church. Its a nice little neighborhood with lots of dogs. They like to cry and scream in the night but other than that, its super chill. This change is going to go by way too fast! I´m loving my time here.
So we are having some great success here! Working hard, focusing, but having fun at the same time. I will never forget my comp Elder Bustincio. He really is Quite the character. The six pack that i lost will be coming back soon from laughing so much with him.
So you remember the Familia Vergara, (the evangelico Pastor..) Well we did not have lunch planned for the day so this family, who obviously are not members invited us to their house to eat. So us 4 missionaries went over. Its kinda a funny story how Elder Bustincio and I found them. We were doing contacts house to house singing christmas carols with a guitar. Obviously they are a very musical family so they let us in right away. During this first visit, they told us that there was something that struck them. As i showed them a picture of my family in front of the temple, they asked... What is that beautiful building in the background?? I explained that it was a temple and that is where families like them can be sealed together forever. That stuck out to them so much that he shared that with his congregation. He was basically doing missionary work for us haha.
They found out that i play the piano. So when we were at lunch, they had brought their big ole electric piano that they use in their church so that i can play for them! haha. So i played some classical songs and they were reconding me and they said that they were going to show this to their congregation of 100 people. Later i played some hymns and us 4 missionaries sang along. We were super sneaky becuase the hymns that we picked were ones of the restoration like praise to the man, joseph smiths first prayer, we thank the o God for a Prophet... They then played some stuff for us and it was So So good!! I loved it! We then thanked them for lunch and asked if we could share something with them. They obviously said yes... and now this was our chance... 4 missionaries together to teach this great family, who are the Pastors of a huge congregation of evangelicos! We explained that we are so grateful for their hospitality and we would like to share something that we know is true. We love you and respect you so much that we want you to have the truth. The lesson actually went great!! We taught them about the authority of God and about prophets. We taught them about the restoration. The spirit was there!! I felt it and saw it in their faces. We asked them if they sould follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the authority of God? They pondered it deeply, they were feeling the spirit. They said that they would have to think about it more but they did commit to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. Immagine the potential of this great situation!! If we can lead this family to the truth, we may see a big group of his congregation (100) as well recieve the restored gospel! I really do feel like this family is one of the big purposes of why i was sent here to La Ligua. I feel a special bond with them.
They then invited us to spend new years with them. They invited us to a dinner that they were having with a few members of their congregation. They offered to pick us up their car take us there and bring us back! They really are great people and i want nothing more than for them to recieve an answer from God and be baptized!
Elder Bustincio and I were knocking doors this last thurs... We were about to go to lunch at a sisters house, but we felt that we should knock one more door. In this last door, this 19 year old girl walked out and she said that she wanted to hear our message. Her name is Leslie and she apparently has been searching for a church where she feels confident enough to be baptized! We gave her a book of mormon and she committed to read and pray. We put a Baptisimal date with her for the 29th of Jan. The next time we stopped by, we asked her if she had read, and she said yes. She then told us a story of how she was having a really hard day, she decided to take the Book of Mormon and open it and read it. She oppened to exactly what she needed to hear at the moment. She now has a great testimony that the book is true. The sad part is that she is now moving to the North of Chile. But it was great to get to know her and introduce her to the truth.
Well I love you all so much and hope all is well back at home! Enjoy the cold and know that you are always in my prayers!
Elder Millard
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