Friends First

Annnddddd...

I`m still here in Los Olmos. Training. My companion and I were able to read a few talks about what a consecrated missionary is, and what the blessings are from being such missionaries, and talked about the things we need to change to be better. It`s not all perfect, we both still are learning a lot, BUT a lot of positive changes have been made and we are moving forward. So that`s good! 

This week was good, we were able to find new people and start the process of teaching all the lessons again. We found 2 new investigators and a family of Less Actives....it amazes me how the first 6 months in Los Olmos, I pretty much knocked doors all day every day, and these last 3 months I have been straight teaching for a majority of the time....and when we DO go out to contact, we just find more people who want to learn more about our message. People from the same houses that I had contacted several times before. The Lord`s timing is real, and if we have enough faith to keep trying, to keep knocking the spiritual doors that remain closed, The Lord will at some point have them opened, in the opportune time for our progression. The key is the faith to keep knocking!  

One of them in a familia menos activa whose names are Tamara, Jorge, and Vicente. A super special family, I could feel that they are going to progress really really quickly if they choose to. It`s weird being in the position where I am right now, knowing that I will only see the beginning of the progression of a lot of the people we find over the next few weeks. If it is that I leave next change, and I am pretty sure I will.

We were able to dedicate a house last night that had a bad spirit in it. That was a new experience! This week my companion also had the idea to walk around with hot dog sausages to make friends with the meaner dogs in the sector, which has had it`s fruits! If the dog looks intimidating, we throw him a part of a sausage and make friends. I`ve always done that with the more ghetto guys at night and drunks, but never thought about trying the same with dogs! Make friends before they can consider you an enemy...I`m sure there`s a leadership attribute to be considered there. 

Well, a good week! Ready to keep working. 

Love you!

Elder Hixon

Amen Hermano!

It was a good week! Scarllette and Jorge were confirmed this week, and they both have interviews for their temple recommends tonight! Woo! Yesterday, as we were walking between appointments, we talked to the people to our sides, and found 3 less actives! 1 was active for a longgggg time, and is endowed, and knows a lot about the Church. Another was a girl named Zoila, who actually reads the Book of Mormon and the Liahona (church revista....like a mix of the Ensign, New Era, and Friend) frequently! Or at least that´s what she told us :) but she doesn´t go because her husband gets mad when she goes to church. Lame Husband. Ya know what? We´ve had the chance to meet a good amount of lame husbands here in my mission. I hope I´m not lame when I´m married. If you´re a Lame Husband, I invite you to ponder the 2 word Sermon that President Uchtdorf gave to us all a few years ago in General Conference: Stop It. Not excusing personal agency, every person, man or woman, is free to choose to follow The Lord....but there are so many good hermanas out here who are kinda held back by their husbands. Man. Elder Holland was right when he said, "Not always but often it is the men who choose not to answer the call to “come join the ranks.” Women and children frequently seem more willing. Brethren, step up."

Amen Hermano!

We are still on a baptism high this week. Baptisms are exciting and obviously vital to the work....but de nada sirven if the members don´t stay active afterwards. In my ward records....there are over 400 members, haha this week we had an attendance of 38 :) but reactivations are pretty gratifying, because they´re less hyped up and more like quiet accomplishments. In our mission there are 3 focuses of every week, 3 areas in where we are supposed to work: Baptize, Reactivate, and Retain. If we can maintain a balance between those 3 things, we should make a difference in our area!

I was able to go the the temple today, 

the veil worker who pulled me through was a really good friend of mine who I got to know in the CCM. Hermano Davis. He´s like the LDS version of Coach Dwyer (my JV Head Coach), from Eugene, Oregon. I was pretty happy to be pulled through by him. We were talking for a little bit after the session. Man. There are some awesome people in the world, not just from Chile, who I have gotten to know here in just a year of being a missionary. People from Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, The States, LOTS of people who have become good friends of mine! La Obra Misional really does unite the Lord´s Family, in more ways than baptizing. 

Changes next week!! 95 percent sure I´ll stay with my companion, 

but you never know what The Lord has in store. Maybeee we´ll get changed!

Love you all,

Elder Hixon

Baptisms!

Woo! 2 baptisms on Sunday! 

Jorge and Scarllette were baptized on Sunday, it was awesome. The most rewarding event of my mission! One of the many reasons that I am back here again. I know this.

Later, President Gwilliam invited me to go to a Fireside he gave in Nocedal, he needed me to play the piano for an object lesson he did with the apostasy and the restoration. Pretty sweet seeing my old ward. We also had stake conference this week. The missionaries were asked to do 2 musical numbers. We pulled out the Joseph Smith and Homeward Bound mix, and I put together a new one of Called to Serve and There is a Green Hill Far Away...pretty cool! Not the greatest, but brought the spirit so it`s good!

Yesterday, we had a District Meeting and we learned about how important it is to always use The Book of Mormon in our teachings. We had a lesson right after the meeting with a less active, and when we got to the house, this less active`s sister was also there. We invited her to join us, and she accepted the invitation and came in to listen. These 2 sisters have both been feeling sick, with pretty serious health problems, and we decided to apply what we learned in the Zone Meeting and teach about The Book of Mormon. This girl`s sister isn`t a member, so we began to explain what The Book of Mormon is. We taught about the Nephites and Lamanites, and opened and read 3 Nephi 11 with them. Then we read in chapter 17 were Christ heals the Nephite people, and we taught about Priesthood and Priesthood authority and how we hold that power today. When we offered to give this investigator a blessing, she burst into tears and accepted the invitation. We were able to bless both of them, give her a Book of Mormon, and both readily accepted the invitation to come to church this week! It was a miracle. AWESOME lesson! 

The sector is progressing, we also found a new investigator last night and she also accepted and committed to read the Book of Mormon, along with another investigator 2 days ago. We`re finding a lot of people and are using The Book of Mormon in contacts! Today I got together with Elder Fowles and Elder Jenks and their comps and we played soccer. Fun stuff! 

ALSO, we found a rat in our house this week! We were cleaning Saturday night, and out from under my chair.....a rat. Crazy. We caught it and put it in a bag and threw it out front. Crazy night! 

Love you all!

Elder Hixon

So Much Has Changed (Week 52)

Week 52....that is wild. 52 weeks ago, today, I got off a plane and was confronted by a guy named Russ who didn`t believe we were true Christians, accusing us of mocking The Savior by claiming that His Sacrifice doesn`t bring us all to Heaven. Wow. So much has changed since that morning!

We have 2 baptisms this Sunday, I`m pretty excited for those! Scarllette is super super super ready, along with Jorge. I`ll be baptizing Jorge! And the other Jorge (from Venezuela) will baptize Scarllette. Yesterday a lot of our appointments fell through, so we went around contacting our neighborhood, and actually found 2 people who seem really prepared! It was kind of interesting, here´s the story:

We started contacting our neighborhood, starting with a guy named Luis who I have said hi to every day since I got to the mission. To be blunt, this guy is a weirdo. He sits criss cross applesauce out on his porch, all day, every day. When I give him knucks he hits my hand way too hard, has a lazy eye, he`s a little strange! But we`re friends, he knows my name and recognizes when I come back, so I consider us friends! That was the first door we knocked yesterday, and as we were contacting him, a lady walked by with her little kid, apparently fighting about something. The lady was yelling at the little kid who was crying, and I looked back as they walked by and felt the impression to talk to them. Okay, after the contact we`ll go catch up to them. I didn`t even finish the thought when I remembered what I had read in the scriptures that morning, in Alma 31.

...5 And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold,what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have cast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty;and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?

 6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.

 7 Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent,

Yep. I nudged my companion and starting following the lady who was now just a little ahead of us, shouted "Bye Louis!" and we starting jogging over to talk with her. 

.....and she quickly rejected us. We pushed a little, because I was sure she was prepared, but nothing! As Chilenos would say, she didn`t fish us. A little confused, we started walking back to the street where we had contacted Louis, going to another neighbor from whom we buy brread from sometimes in the mornings, and caught him just before he closed shop. We had never tried teaching him before, but Elder Hair wanted to try, so we tried, and were able to teach him the whole Restoration! He accepted the folleto and the invitation to read and pray, and we look forward to seeing how it went. The next door we went to, another neighbor named Solange that we have talked to a few times, also listened to us as we were able to teach her about The Plan of Salvation. We have an appointment with her and her husband on Monday! It was a golden hour for that street, or really, a golden 20 minutes for those 2 doors. 

That was one of the many miracles we were able to see this week here in Los Olmos. Obispo Moroni, who has been pretty sick for the last few weeks, was feeling a lot better this week as well. Which was a miracle as well....imagine how the Nephites would have been without Captain Moroni! That`s our ward without Obispo Moroni, really. Nice to have him back.

Anyway, this Friday I complete a year here in Chile, and that is pretty wild. Time really does fly (even though it does feel like an eternity ago when I first came to this ward haha...). It`s kind of sad to think that a year has already gone away, I can honestly say that I feel like Ammon, willing to be here for my whole life if that was what The Lord wanted. I love being here, in Los Olmos, in Chile, serving these people and teaching (while also learning myself) more about our Savior Jesus Christ and His Plan for us. I am grateful for that plan, and I am grateful for the time I have had to be here sharing it! I hope I can always share it with the world, wherever I am, because there isn`t a happier thing to do. 

I love you all,

Elder Hixon