Wow. This is my last week with Elder Thomas! Wild. Transfers will be this Tuesday, at which point I will have a new companion and potentially be in a new area. I sure hope I stay here in Los Olmos, I have grown to love this ward in these 3 months and hope I can serve at least another transfer here.
My testimony of home teaching was fortified this week here in Santiago. Home Teaching hasn`t been a super functioning organization here, as our Elders Quorum consists of about 6 people, and 4 of us are missionaries :) But this last week our President took the initiative to print out a list of names of people who have not been to the chapel in a long time, and on Wednesday night we all split up with our home teaching companions to go find these people. We all took a part of the list with us and when to go find those who were ready to receive home teachers. I went out with our President, a man named Fabian, and we went to a couple of streets looking for these families. We did not have any success until, just like every story you`ve heard about missionary work, the last door we contacted.
A girl named Karla opened the door and let us in, and her husband Gonzalo was there along with one of her 4 kids, named Amaro. She quickly grabbed us chairs and sat us down, and we began to explain to her why we were there and that we want to visit her and her family as home teachers, to be able to know that all is well and serve her family with whatever things she might need. To our surprise, she got a little emotional and told us that she has been trying to reactivate in the Church and wants her children to be baptized (she has 4 kids, 3 of them above the age of 8), and she wants to have an eternal family.
If you don`t believe me, that`s okay, it took me a couple of days to believe it too :)
Long story short, she was up and ready for church at 9:30 on Sunday, with her 13 year old girl Tamara and her 8 year old Amaro, and we all went and had an uplifting experience. Elder Thomas, Nacho, and I went over on Monday night and we had an AWESOME, Hixon-style family night, starting with a song, prayer, spiritual thought, share time, lesson, activity, and treats. It was so awesome. They are all pretty animated to receive us and she really is determined to find herself back in the Gospel, and someday at the temple where her family can be made eternal through the covenants we get to make inside. Pretty amazing the power that a Mother can have, as this mother is changing the course of her family`s destiny through her determination to have her family a temple-centered family.
Thank you to all home teachers who fulfill their callings, especially mine, Brother Streeter and Brother Dean! You two have had a greater impact on me than maybe you both will ever realize. And of course, thank you to my Mom who really has changed my family forever. Not only by birthing us, but by forcing scripture study, morning devotionals, family nights, relevations, and every other good thing we have in our home. Love you mom!
And love you all :)
-Elder Hixon
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