¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos!
I´m glad to hear that Colorado has gotten some heavy snow storms, because everyone here is always very interested when I tell them that snow exists, and that I come from a place where it can exist abundantly. This week has been basically like my weeks have been since last May or so, pure summer! Haha, I was telling my companion how weird it felt to go from summer in the States to summer in Chile so that I missed out on winter, but then he told me that he wouldn´t know why that feels weird because he´s only ever lived in summer his whole life! Haha, I guess in Colombia it´s hot and sunny all year round. I still prefer summer over winter, but it will be a fun experience to see snow again.
So it turns out, Dad, that Gabriel, Elsa´s husband, knew you when you were here on your mission! He got baptized about 32 years ago, and was active in the church until he was 15, but he would do things with the missionaries as a young man. He told me he remembered an Elder Kimball from his childhood, and said he was 13 when he knew you. I then showed him the pictures of you as a missionary and he said that it was definitely you who he was thinking of. Crazy stuff. They´re doing great, by the way. Gabriel was just called to be the young men´s second counselor in the ward, and we´re starting to share the gospel with some of their friends, too.
Last week, Aníbal went out with us to a few appointments that we had, and was so excited to share his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the answers that he has received to his prayers. He´s such a great example to us and to his family, and renews my energy to go forth and serve every time I hear him say that he wants to serve a mission.
Hmmmmm, I feel like I don´t have a lot of things to say this week...
One of the things Elder Diaz and I do to find people to teach is write down a list of less active members that live in a long street here or there and then pass by them to help them overcome their difficulties for why they decided to stop going to church. Often times, there are many opportunities to teach new investigators through the less active families, being their unbaptized kids, or friends of the family, or neighbors who the family knows or whatnot. We found Aníbal by searching for less active families, and now there are all sorts of openings to more teaching opportunities.
One of the families that we passed by on one of the lists we made was a family whose grandpa was one of the first 5 Chileans to be baptized here. It´s a family with 3 kids in their 20´s and 30´s who live there with their spouses and children also. The girlfriend of the son in the family is named Soledad and began coming to church with her boyfriend and reading the Book of Mormon together. She is so receptive to the Spirit and knows she has received an answer to her questions in her prayers every time she prays, reads the Book of Mormon, or goes to church, and she and the son, Pablo, are planning to get married in a couple of months! They are 23 and 24 years old, and didn´t know if they should get married or just keep living together, but they decided to pray and ask, and felt such a great answer that it was the right and best thing to do to get married. Ah, isn´t love wonderful? I truly do love you all!
Love, Elder Kimball
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