Week Six

It has been another really fast week. We taught a total of 14 lessons this week, which is the most we have ever done. It´s funny, I thought that, because I would be in South America, that people would be more receptive here. That´s definitely not the case. There are plenty of people here that don´t want to listen to what we have to say, and some are really clear about that. But, the people we are teaching are so great. They have already made a huge impact on my life in a short amount of time. We are teaching 3 families right now and all of them are making a lot of progress. One of the families has a son named Jesús. He is a beast. I´ve never seen a child that is so close to God. We taught him and his dad the other day and he said the closing prayer. It literally sounded like something out of Isaiah. The problem is that a lot of the men here work a ton, including on Sundays, so they can´t always make it to church. They sacrifice a lot for their families. I really do admire that and hope that I can show that same kind of sacrifice for my family one day. For some reason, a lot of the Chileans, at least in the rougher parts of town, think that we are either Germans or Russians and apparently, from what they say to us, they don´t like Germans or Russians very much. I got my first kiss on my mission this week. I gave 200 pesos to some really drunk guy and he kissed my hand. It was magical. It really has been a great week. I´m growing to love Coronel and Chile, as well as the people here. As I do, I find greater joy in this amazing work. Service to God and others really does bring the greatest happiness in this life. I was reading Alma 7 and Mosiah 3 recently and it made me think about how much God and Christ love us. I can´t comprehend the sacrifices that have been made for each of us and how the people in our lives show the same characteristics. We are who we are today because of what has been given for us and because of those people who have made those sacrifices. I know the only way that I´ll gain a greater understanding of the love Heavenly Father and Christ have for us is by becoming a Father. I look forward to that awesome responsibility. I know that the mission is preparing me for that. I´ve also learned to be a little less prideful this week. Sometimes, because I´m older than most of the missionaries, I feel like I don´t need to listen to what they have to say. That´s definitely not true and I´m learning that. We can learn something from everyone. I think a good exercise is to look at the people in your life and figure out what they are there to teach you. Everyone in our lives can teach us something. It´s up to us to find out what that is. I hope everyone is doing great. Thanks to those of you who have been writing to me. It means a lot. 

Elder Reynolds