November 14, 2011

Hey,
Another week in the books. I really enjoyed the week and I felt like we really picked up the pace and got a lot of good things done. This week we decided that we needed to buckle down and find some good people to teach so....we did just that. We took a list of all the inactive members in the ward and we set a goal with the other 2 missionaries that share the sector with us to visit every single inactive person in the next 4 week. There are 700 inactive members in our ward but a lot of them are families so I am thinking that we will have about 150 households each to visit. This week we found a ton of inactive members that hadn't attended the church in years and we got 13 to come to church! It is amazing that sometimes people just need the invitation and they are more than willing to come back. We also had a few investigators in church including that whole family that went to church last week. Sunday went very well and looking back on the week I really don't have any huge regrets.
My companion and I are also doing really well. This week as a mission we had the privilege to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook from the quorum of the 12 Apostles and all i can say is...WOW. He came and talked to all of us missionaries in our mission. He told us that contrary to what many missionaries think, our purpose is not to baptize. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite all to come unto Christ. Our job is to strengthen all of the wards and branches here in Chile, to baptize, reactivate, prepare future missionaries to serve and to do everything in our power to leave our wards better than we found them. We are branch builders. It was a very interesting talk and I felt like it was a nice breath of fresh air that our mission really needed. At this very moment there are about 130 people who assist church every Sunday and we have put a goal with the other missionaries to get that number as close to 200 before we leave the sector. I am really excited for the chance we will have to not only teach and baptize but also help those that have fallen from the path.
Mom asked that I would share the funniest thing that happened to us this week and I can't really think of anything. In the new house that we have, we still don't have a stove or anything to cook on, so we have been having to cook everything in the microwave. Well, I bought like 100 eggs the other day to start the diet back up (haha) and I wanted to eat some so...I cooked them in the microwave (like grandpa Guthrie does for his dog, haha) and they came out fine, and then the Bolivian that lives with us wanted some, but he wanted them hard boiled. I walked out of the kitchen and apparently he stuck a bowl of water with 2 eggs in the microwave and left it for 5 minutes. About 2 minutes into the experiment I felt and heard a loud bang! The eggs exploded, the microwave door flew open and we lost power in the entire house! I didn't know what had happened so I ran into the other room and saw Elder Arana walk out of the kitchen saying that he couldn't hear anything. Well, we fixed the microwave and taught him that you can't stick everything in the microwave especially not eggs and metal haha.
Anyways, I hope all is well and that you are all doing well. I miss you all, but like always I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup