So I went to Nazca this week! I went down and back in 2 days. One of the Zone Leaders was sick and I had to take his place until they got another comp for the healthy zone leader. So I pretty much traveled the 8 bus hours down there, proselyted with the Healthy one for an afternoon, slept, packed the sick one´s bags and came back with president and the APs cuz they had been down there on their own for interviews. It was nice to get a little fresh air and get baked a little by the nazca sun.
We had a baptism!!!
Alen (pronounced like the english Allen) Salas, who has been going to our ward faithfully for the last 2 months, finally made the decision to get baptized. He had been going to all the activities and everything, but never wanted to accept a date to be baptized. The sisters had been teaching him, but since hes 25 yrs old, they figured maybe he could relate to us a little, so they kinda passed over the responsibility to teach (which is a really effective way to do it when theres elders and sisters in the same ward. You just kinda make sure the right companionship is teaching the right investigadors.) And anyway, Alen took a little time to not be scared of making the same mistakes over and over again, even after his baptism. (This is actually a very common concern for people investigating the true church down here. They simply shy away from the committment, because they know they will have a very hard time truly abandoning their old habits.)
So we had a great joint baptism with another ward in the stake, and i really enjoyed it. It is always such a spiritually-enriching experience to see someone as they make that huge first step toward salvation.
so yeah um.. my time here in the office has been great. I have truly enjoyed it and more than anything, I have learned some key facts about me and my strengths and weaknesses, and I know that I will be able to make some of the bigger future decisions in my life based on a lot of what I learned here in the office. BUT, the field awaits and I am pumped to get out there :) Not sure where I´m going yet, but wherever it is, we will work hard and lead our zone to constant progress.
The church is true!! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful, freezing week. Because my week has been go-to-bed-sweating, wake-up-sweating, kind of a week. And this time around, I´m loving the summer!! The heat just kinda makes you feel accomplished cuz the humidity pulls the sweat right out of you, and you feel like you´ve just run a marathon, or accomplished some really big task or completed a project, and you feel great about yourself. And the sun is finally coming out, which is great, because I am looking super duper white after having been in the office all the time.
I´m kinda rambling...
I encourage you all the study the chapters of the BOM where Alma and Amulek (representing the missionary and the local membership of the church) get together and start to preach in their city. I always look at those chapters (Alma 8 and on) and learn a bunch from them. Alma truly was an incredible missionary. Why?? More than anything, just because he was diligent, obedient, and preach the word from his heart, using pure revelation, but also personal experience. He was very successful, and his brethren the sons of Mosiah even more. There are great lessons to be learned there in those chapters. please read them!!
Love you all.
Elder Hartvigsen
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