Wow! That stake conference with Elder Oaks must have been amazing! I love hearing general authorities speak - it's always really uplifting and inspiring. It gives a bit of a spiritual boost, if you know what I mean. I remember when Elder Scott came to the MTC while I was there (it's so weird to think about the MTC now; seems like years ago) - that was a cool experience. He confered two apostolic blessings on us: 1. The gift of tongues (which has blessed me a LOT) and 2. Safety and security (which I've also experienced here in the mission). I remember seeing President Monson speak while he was still a councelor of the First Presidency, he's always great to see and hear. I'll take advantage of being so close to everything when I get back. You have to go to a part of the world where the church isn't quite as strong to really appreciate it - and I've definitely done that haha. I hope everyone takes advantage of the opportunity to go see a general authority next time they're in the area - it really does spiritual wonders spiritually for a person. That's my opinion, at least.
Glad to hear you got the letter from Sister Swenson, do you keep a regular contact with her now? Yeah, she did call and talk with me for a little bit the other night. President and Sister Swenson are incredible - I'm convinced that there's no better mission president and president's wife in the whole mission field. Well...at least for me. They really have a personal connection with all the missionaries which helps us to have loooads of animation (I'm not really sure how to say it in english, but the word in spanish is ánimo) to work. They'll be leaving the mission 2 weeks before I do - what luck, right? So I'll get to spend the last two weeks of my mission with a different president, but that's not enough to even see him more than once, really. He'll probably get here and then I'll leave before his first conference haha. I'm really happy I got here in the mission when I did, though. There's so many opportunities I've had to learn and progress that I'm sure wouldn't have been the same if I had gotten here later. Serving a mission is amazing - EVERYONE SHOULD DO IT!
Tell Brother Covey that I still think about him and Sister Covey from time to time out here - I've always loved them. Back in my ''rebel years'' they kept me interested, or semi-interested, in going to church (along with all the other support you and dad gave me). I'll always remember when they were my sunday-school teachers.
Well, the time has come for cambios again. They were delayed for two weeks because of the earthquake, but now things are getting back to normal (or more normal anyways). Elder Tonumaipe'a is heading up north to Coronel, which is right by Concepción and is a coastal city. So he'll get to enjoy the smell of fish every day (there's a fish factory there) and he'll have a lot more opportunity to serve the people as far as reconstructing Chile goes. We had a great cambio together - I learned a lot. My new companion is a Chilean named Elder Gonzalez. I met him when he was a greenue (this will be his third cambio) so I won't really have to start from scratch when he gets here. I'm pretty sure I'll be training a new Elder sometime here in the future (maybe the next cambio, AHHHH!), but I'm confident I could do it. Just have to trust in the Lord that He'll help me in His work.
Two people will be getting baptized the 27th of this month - Veronica and Erick. We found Veronica knocking doors in a neighborhood in the boonies of our sector. When we got there she already had a Book of Mormon and a testimony of its truth, so she accepted a baptismal date right away. Erick is the son of a member who was inactive, but is returning to the church now. So they'll be getting baptized on the same day, woo! We've got a lot of other people who are progressing as well, but don't have baptismal dates yet. I'm sure they will soon, though. The greatest feeling a missionary can have comes from seeing the people we teach accept the gospel, get baptized, and start anew. It's incredible.
Well, that's just about it for this week. There were a few aftershocks yesterday (that we didn't feel because we were walking in the street, haha) that knocked the power out for a day, but all is well. We didn't lose water or anything. Thank you very much for the letter! Send my regards to everyone that has asked about me! I love and miss you very much! Looking forward to hearing from you again!
Love,
Trevor
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