22 October 2012 - La Cantera, Coquimbo

¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

Mom said something curious about a strange "Tim" character having proposed to Rachel Bradley, so I'm guessing that must have been a rough heartbreak for the kid when he found out she's still waiting for me to get home. Hang in there, babe.

To answer mom's questions, yes, I have been able to conduct a number of baptismal interviews. They are truly some of the most spiritual experiences I've had on the mission, because you can feel the mantle as you sit as a judge in Israel and follow closely the Spirit to help the candidates prepare fully and entirely for such an important step as is baptism. I feel as if everyone could just understand, truly understand, the very first question, there would be so many more baptisms wherever we work. Do you believe God is your Heavenly Father? As we come to know our relationship with Him, we may more fully love Him, trust Him, and follow Him. We may pray to Him, believing He will respond, and then follow the revelation that He gives to each personally through His Spirit. There is a difference between believing that Jesus is the Christ and following Christ, and that is the gravest problem the world faces.

I do interchanges with missionaries often to learn from them while they learn from me, and we both always learn from the Spirit. For instance, last week Elder Boss came to my area for a day and we were able to edify each other greatly. I asked him if he felt like he is receiving revelation in his studies, to which he responded "no." He studies hard and every day, but he doesn't feel like he ever has any "aha!" moments or something like that. I suggested to him that we nearly always do not realize that we receive revelation in the moment, but after that fact we will come to realize it. That very day, I had read 3 Nephi 1, and as I read verse 23, there was something about it that pleased me. Nothing great or out of the ordinary, just that I liked how it explained clearly and simply that baptism is for repentance and the remission of sins, and will lead us to greater peace and happiness in our life, but I didn't think too much about it as I continued my lecture. Then, in the taxi coming from Elder Boss's area to mine, I began talking to a lady, Karina, who wasn't very interested in changing her religion or anything of the sort, but asked me what we were doing here far away from our homes for 2 whole years. I opened right up to 3 Nephi 1:23 to answer her question without even thinking about it too much, and didn't even realize until right after that it was a clear prompting from the Spirit to have that scripture fresh in my mind, and the Spirit brought it back to my memory in the very moment Karina needed it. From there, the conversation took a whole new turn, and in the 3 remaining minutes of the trip, we were able to set her baptismal date and get her address and a time set for the missionaries to pass by, and leave her with a Book of Mormon to read and pray about.

Also, every first Friday of the month, Elder Oberg and I go down to Viña del Mar for a meeting with the President and the assistants concerning new topics of the missionary work that we want to stress with our missionaries, and then we replicate the meeting exactly as it was covering everything we talked about to the missionaries here in Coquimbo on the Tuesday afterwards. Leadership is all about communication.

Last Saturday, the entire mission got together in Valparaíso so we could meet and listen to Elder Dallin H Oaks. It was an enjoyable morning, and of course very inspiring. He is quite a lively man, and his wife is spectacular. It is always an uplifting experience to be with an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially since he's most likely the next prophet after President Monson. He spoke a great deal about personal revelation and had us share experiences that we've had with revelation and what we've learned in our lives and missions about revelation, and then he commented on it and added things in from his own life. It was cool because I had just barely been discussing revelation with Elder Boss earlier in the week, and now I'm going to be looking out for a few other things that Elder Oaks mentioned and counseled so that I may understand and be edified more fully by the wonderful medium of revelation that God provides His children. I love you all!

Love, Elder Kimball