God Can Turn Any Situation into Good

President and Sister Arrington with 2 Zones in Chillan

Zone Conference
The two zones of Chillan combined for Zone Conference. It was awesome.  President Arrington did a workshop on the Apostle Peter and how his experiences relate to us as missionaries.

His recommendation: Do things the Peter way - give it your all. Then he had us study our Patriarchal blessings and note all invitations, because that's how God works - with invitations to act.

Next, we played a game where we gathered boxes labeled with challenges. I won the 1st round for my team by doing 30 push-ups and having my camera on hand with a picture of my family. After classes, our zone sang the "Come Thou Fount" mix, and it went well.

Elder Regan (he trained Cowley), Elder Cowley, me

God Can Turn Any Situation into Good
You're gonna like this story.  Got a call from the sisters that Luis (our newly baptized convert) needed a blessing. Some symptoms from his accident were back, making him unable to walk or even stand.

The sisters explained that when they arrived at Luis' home for their scheduled visit, they not only had a run-in with the wife (she was unhappy about Luis' baptism), but the wife's pastor showed up and started telling Luis that his ailments were the result of his being baptized into the Mormon Church. That God was displeased. After berating the Church, he then belittled the hermanas, and stormed out.

When I heard the story I was fuming, but on our way over, I calmed myself down so I could be ready with the Spirit to pronounce a blessing of healing upon Luis. After the blessing, we made sure he was comfortable, then left.

The next day, guess what - Luis was fine. Only feeling a mild headache (hurray for the power of blessings!).

It started raining on Wednesday

As the sisters were visiting with recovered Luis, a knock came at the door. It was the pastor. Luis simply opened the door a couple inches, politely said hello, told the pastor to go away, and then shut the door. Made the sisters smile.  What made the situation even sweeter was when Luis' wife apologized to the sisters for how she had acted the day before, adding how appalled she was at the pastor's behavior.

Unexpected blessings. God can turn any situation around into something good. Perhaps this will lead to a change of heart for Luis' wife and an even greater blessing for their family.

Trainee is Trained
I am officially done with training! But because of long transfers I get to stay with Elder Cowley for at least 2 more weeks. Pretty awesome.

Not Budging
Taught the familia Sanchez and it was both good and bad.  They consistently follow Mormon principles, read the Book of Mormon daily, and have a testimony of priesthood blessings (because we have given them blessings of health).  And yet, their minds are set on staying Catholic. We'll see what happens.

General Conference
Oh my gosh - General Conference was the best weekend of my mission and the best General Conference! Lots of talk about families, and forgiveness and obedience and overcoming.
Here are some of the messages that stood out:

There is a mural two blocks from our house.

"Your liberty arrives where that of another starts"

I thought the message was kind of beautiful. That's what I am here trying to do - liberate people through Christ.

So grateful for Conferences that inspire, teach, and motivate.

Love you All,
Elder Connor Nef