Toda La Fuerza

Elder Alvarado and I

My comp and I are hitting it off really great. He's a thought-provoking dude. For instance, he likes adapting stories like The Odyssey to real life situations. He used the example of Odysseus and how he needed to go through all of his trials and experiences to become less prideful.

I'm also teaching Elder Alvarado English. He's having a bit of a struggle, but he's coming along.

#TodaLaFuerza Zone Conference
Had a mega conference that combined two zones, ours and Chiguagante. The focus was on Unity, Order, and Obedience. The President's message spoke of re-converting the less-active, which I think is really great. The Lord is looking - not for numbers, but for the truly converted.

The assistants introduced #TodaLaFuerza - the hashtag is to encourage members to share pictures of them with members on social media.

One of the sisters talked about teaching with a member present. It reminded me about what my sister Lauren told me from her mission experience in France: Investigators that are not taught with a member present seldom stay active. Our hope is to use members more in the work.

Noche de Barrio
We had a ward activity in which my companion and I shared a talk from Elder Jeffrey Holland. We told those that were in attendance that they were golden, reliable, trustworthy people, and that if we unite and work with them, we would bring less actives back. We really pumped them up and rallied them to the cause.

Speaking of which, I have been feeling more motivated myself. Been hitting the workout time harder. Even went out for a run with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Brewster.

The Comeback Veggie
I received a nickname from the lady who washes our clothes: pantruca palida. It's a long, thin, white vegetable that poor Chileans chop up and put into soup. It's apparently making a comeback.

Directly Speaking
The numbers in church nearly doubled this week. Juan and Sirvana were among them - yes!

Bishop told us to visit the Young Men's president in the ward who has not come to church for a month. When we sat down with this Young Men's president, we were very direct with him in telling him to come back to church.

He said, "I think I am going to wait for 2 weeks more before returning."

Well, we weren't having any of that. So we took turns telling him why his thinking was bad. It kind of reminded me of the story of the angel visiting Alma Jr. But what made this more uncanny was that this brother said, "You elders are like my angels. You always arrive when I need you, and tell me what I need to do."

That was cool.

Thoughts on a Hymn
The song "I am a Child of God" takes on a new meaning in Spanish.  The chorus in English says,

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him some day.

Now, in Spanish, the first words of the chorus are:

Guienme, enseñenme - ("Guide me, Teach me" - in plural form)

It's the pluralization that meant something different to me. The Spanish translation makes it clear that it is talking to more than one person, as in giving parents the directive to Guide and Teach their children what they "must do to Live with Him some day."

Working on Finding people - families this week. Knocking a lot of doors. Wish us luck!

#TodaLaFuerza
Elder Connor Nef