This week we received a call from President Warne that he felt very strongly that both Hna. Hall and I needed to be changed to Machali immediately. We had 24 hours to pack and left Tuesday at 4 pm. Long story short we were doing a whitewash here in Machali for a full week. Then, last night, Pres. Warne called us again and informed us that we needed to be changed again, a week before actual changes, but this time NOT together. Hna. Hall will be staying here in Machali, while I go to Talca, way down south. Needless to say, I have learned to just trust President because I have faith in the Lord and know there is a reason for everything ;)
So, this week I learned a lot about ward strength also. The ward here in Machali is stronger than a lot of wards here in Chile. There is an average 195 members every Sunday, and we have heard TONS of stories of converts to the church who said the main reason they were baptized was because many people were helping them learn and grow and have spiritual experiences. The Relief Society President is a conversa de 3 años, and she was baptized by David Archuleta!! (CRAZYYYYYY!) Needless to say, she has been a member for 3 years, and is already Relief Society Pres. and her husband who was baptized with her and the rest of their family also now has a calling in the stake. Their 16 year old daughter already wants to go on a mission, and goes to seminary more than a lot of the other youth here in the ward ;)
We also heard another story of a usedtobe Atheist man who met the missionaries, was converted, and now has gone crazy with reading EVERYTHING about the church, from church doctrine, to now he can read AntiMormon books and prove them wrong with scriptures and everything!! It is awesome! I wanted to meet him and ask him tons of questions, but now I don´t have the time :(
We also heard a story of a lady who met the missionaries, and they gave her a book of Mormon, and she loved it SO much, she read it in one night!!!!!! CRAZY!! Now she is baptized and fully active.
With all of these awesome conversion stories, I sometimes ask myself how converted I am to the gospel. Do I love the scriptures so much that I would read them in one night if I had the time? Do I actually like reading Church doctrine all day? (That man, one missionary told us, has probably over a million pages of church doctrine and talks by prophets in his house.) I am growing in my love for the book of mormon everyday, but I don´t know if my love for it is THAT deep. I need to work on that more.
Speaking of reading the Book of Mormon, I WISH I COULD READ IT ALL THE TIME!! I have noticed (because I only read it in Spanish now, with a dictionary at hand in case I can´t find the meaning of a word through the context) that my Spanish is like 10000% better when I read the BoM tons. Also, I am learning tons about Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost and the pride cycle, and Satan (who is probably my least favorite person EVER). Alma 5 is officially my favorite chapter as of right now. Its when Alma decides to stop being a judge (juez) and go preach to his people because they are being evil and liking the things of the world too much (dumb butts). But pretty much I imagine he is talking like Elder Holland when he starts giving palo (like condemning them. I don´t know if there is a translation for palo into english...) and telling them they will go to hell if they don´t repent... ;) verse 33 is probably my favorite. It is pretty much my favorite whenever they talk about Jesus Christ and mercy ;D 48 is also awesome, because he says, ´´sé que Jesucristo vendrá´´ BOOM!!
That chapter is amazing. So here is my invitation to you guys. I invite you all to renew your love of the scriptures. There is nothing better than losing yourself in the words of God and finding out you only have 5 minutes left of Personal Study because the Spirit just took you away to another world of thought and meditation. It is an amazing experience, and truly converts me more and more everyday.
I love you all!! And I hope your guy´s weeks are amazing and full of awesome spiritual experiences. He is always there by your side, you just need to turn your head and you´ll see Him ;)
Love,
Hermana McCubbins
PS I CAN´T WAIT FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! They are all my favorites!
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