Keeping It Cool

The wind here is absolutely ridiculous and it seems that Mother Earth herself is trying to show us who is boss. It has been a fight to stay warm sometimes and my hair is ALWAYS in my face. So...I cut it all off and am now bald. #rashdecisionswithprecision

So we had a pretty interesting week as far as unexpected things. We might as well start with the bad first. We were teaching Joan the other day and the lesson was going really well. He has already received all of the lessons and is ready to get dunked and we were discussing his baptism of which he was very excited. His Dad came home from work and began to scream and yell and swear for the dumbest reasons. We tried to have a conversation and compromise and love him but he would not stop yelling and accusing us of pressuring his son and put his finger in my face. I honestly couldn’t take anymore and in the nicest voice I could summon asked him to lower his voice. That is when he lost his mind.

Elder Amaya was pretty much frozen with fear and the member we had with us is a recent convert. I realized I was the one with the most experience and that they were expecting me to do something. Now this man is a bear. I mean freaking enormous. He began to come towards me with his hands in fists. Now, I am confident in myself and my ability to protect myself, but I was by far the smallest person in the room. I stood up quickly and held out my hand and said, “Stop right there!” He stopped and I felt the Spirit testify to him through me. I told him that he knew the church was true, that he knew I was a representative of Christ, and that he knew that I possessed His power. I told him that if Joan didn’t get baptized because of his stubbornness, his blood would cry from the earth and condemn him at the judgement. He turned white, then purple and kicked us out. It was hard to leave the family like that but I know Joan has a testimony and will continue. The seed has been planted.

We were pretty low in spirit when one of the members of our ward, who is an ex-bishop, found us in the street and told us his secret...his daughter isn’t a member and almost nobody knew. I was able to really feel better about my work here when he told us because he said he wanted me to bless his grandson in sacrament meeting and teach his daughter the lessons to baptize her. Her name is Catalina and she is 17. She was actually born just outside Las Vegas and has a 3 month-old baby. His name is Ismael and I blessed him this Sunday. We have a family home evening with her in a couple hours.

We also visited a less active family and had a great experience. Instead of boring them with the typical “come to church” speech, I felt inspired to just ask them about their last spiritual experiences. They have three teenage daughters and usually hate when the missionaries come over. Their mom told me I am the first missionary to be able to connect with the whole family and that I teach in a way that is so naturally spiritual. She made fun of me because last week I told her I don’t see myself as an overly spiritual person and I really don’t. I have come to realize that spirituality has nothing to do with how much we talk about Christ or who has the biggest testimony. It is simply our understanding of gospel principles and the simple ways we apply them in our life day to day.

I know this church is true. I honestly don’t know how, I just do. It is a blessing. It is a challenge. And it is the only true way.

With much love,

Elder Aidan Rich

Elder Rich and Elder Amaya. "It gets dark early so sorry the lighting is bad." (Punta Arenas gets about 7 hours of daylight this time of year.)

I guess this is why missionaries go out in twos. So you have someone to buzz your head for you.

#rashdecisionwithprecision?

No more problems with wind-blown hair.

Pablo's baptism - Elder Rich, Pablo, Elder Amaya

Pablo was baptized by his brother-in-law.

Pablo's baptism

Pablo's son who was screaming and running around the whole time. Also, a kid gave the closing prayer and when he said "amen," his little brother screamed, "AMEN BROTHER!" I was laughing so hard. The church is true where ever you go.

Shutting Down Chile

The entire city is closed down due to the game yesterday [Chile vs Argentina in Copa America] so I am writing really fast in the chapel. That’s what its like in Latin America. Soccer and some random Catholic guy who died a long time ago is enough to shut down an entire country. It also was really windy last night, like you-have-never-experienced-anything-like-this wind. I was honestly nervous for the house but I guess Chileans are used to it and build their houses accordingly. I literally got knocked over twice as I walked around the house to tie down our smoke stack.

Mom it is interesting that you could feel your dad in the temple. Whenever I feel an ancestor near it’s usually Grandpa Bert. I have never really said anything about it before but he is by far the one I feel the most.

We had a baptism this week and it was so beautiful. I won’t be able to send pictures until next week.

I love you so much.

Elder Rich

Better and Better Each Day

We are going to have another baptism this week and I am really excited. I am fine and really happy. I am starting to feel a little tired. I love being a missionary and I love serving, but I feel like I have been in this process of being a missionary or at least trying to be one an eternity. I would be coming home this week if I hadn’t needed to return home. I think my spirit is just worn a little thin - haha. I think more than anything I am just becoming better and better each day, and the enemy doesn’t like it.

I feel his temptations so much more vividly than before, and I am CONSTANTLY tired. Mentally, emotionally, physically, and sometimes even spiritually. However, when I LOOK FOR IT, I am comforted and strengthened by the Spirit. I love what C.S. Lewis has to say about time. The only periods of time that matter are the present and eternity. The past is of little use to the devil because it is frozen in time and he can’t change it. He can make us reflect and regret but that is about it. He uses the future to mess with us, and cause us worry, despair, fear, and even sometimes, false hope. If we are incapacitated or affected by these fears, he is winning.

I love you so much.

Elder Rich

P.S. Also I think I come home in early February....really not sure???

Indoor Success

This week was really boring to be honest but we saw MIRACLES. My foot was still bugging me so my Zone Leaders condemned me to the house for most of the week. It was a good opportunity to get to know Elder Amaya better and do some Deep study of the scriptures. We called and set appointments and left the house but didn't do much street contacting due to the fact that nobody is ever in the street. Too windy and cold.

We have been working with a few people and out of nowhere a young man named Pablo began to progress a lot. We finished teaching him all he needed to be taught and he decided to go ahead and get baptized as soon as possible. So we are going to be having a baptismal service this Saturday. I AM SO EXCITED. It's been a while since we have had success and all of the sudden with Pablo and another investigator named Joan who is also progressing, we almost have too much to handle. It is going to be Elder Amaya's first baptism here in the mission and I am happy for him too. Pablo's wife is a member and his brother-in-law is flying in to baptize him so that will be cool too.

The cold honestly isn't that bad. The missionaries made it seem like I was going to die here but I have been fine. We have met lots of cool people and there are actually a lot of people here from Colombia and Peru, so we don't talk with just Chileans. We knock lots of doors but here instead of ringing a door bell you just scream hello at the house until someone comes out. So I frequently have sore knuckles and a hoarse voice.

I love the people of Chile. They are small, grumpy, and very lazy and I don't know what they speak but it isn't Spanish, but I love them. I feel I am growing and helping further the work of the Lord.

Elder Rich

Faith in Every Footstep

So Elder Herrera received a surprise Tuesday night. We never received a transfer so we just assumed we were both staying here in Fitz Roy. We were doing service when we received a text telling us that he had a transfer the next morning and had to pack. There had been some confusion and he wasn’t on the original transfer paper, but he still had one.

So Wednesday I received a new companion named Elder Amaya. He is from Colombia and is so awesome. He just finished his training and just like with Elder Herrera, I am Elder Amaya´s ¨Mom¨ (second companion). His father is a professional clown/ comedic magician and Elder Amaya inherited all of that. We have already seen miracles as well as trials.

Wednesday I was with Elder Herrera, Elder Cabrera, and Elder Woolley (The two Elders from Porvenir) and we all ate lunch with one of our members. When we finished I stood up and almost fell back down because my foot hurt so bad. I thought I could just walk it off, but by the time I went to go get Elder Amaya I wanted to puke.

I visited a member who is a foot doctor and he told me I broke something in my heel from all the stress of walking and that I had to just be a man until it could heal. The next three days were terrible, but it has gotten much better and almost doesn’t hurt at all. So no worries.

The work is progressing and we are happy. I love you all.

Elder Rich

Elder Rich, Elder Amaya, and the sisters in the internet cafe where they write letters on P-Day.

The Spirit speaks in divers ways.

Adventures in Missionary Work

Six weeks ago I told president that if he was going to make me a leader, I COULD NOT handle the stress and responsibility of sister missionaries. He just smiled and said, “I love you Elder Rich.”

Fast-forward to yesterday where Elder Herrera and I are waiting for the hermanas near the chapel around 9:00 at night to give them some important documents concerning a baptism. These hermanas are usually very punctual, but they never showed. We waited and waited and waited and eventually just assumed that they had forgotten and were about to go home when we got a call from the hermanas. Hermana Torres, a sister from Colombia with an attitude that could fry and egg, talked with my companion and after listening for more than a minute he just handed me the phone. I mouthed, “What’s up?” and he just shrugged. I then listened as hermana Torres explained the situation and all I understood was ¨We don’t know.... the door was open...wasn’t there...we went inside.... bible...suicide.... life insurance.... door pushed me...ran out...we called the cops."

Now, unless you are telepathic or understand frantic Colombian Spanish, you are about as lost as I was in the moment. They told us where they were and Herrera and I went running through the city like maniacs to get to the sisters.

We show up and there are several squad cars, they are interrogating the sisters separately, some of the cops are talking with neighbors, and I was completely lost. I asked hermana Alvarez, a super reserved, Chilean sister, what the heck was going on. She was about as embarrassed as I think she could be and a shade of red I didn’t know was possible for Latinos.

She explained that they had had an appointment with an older gentleman who in their first visit said he had considered suicide once but then found a reason to live. He wasn’t there when they passed by for the appointment and so they left and came back later. When they passed by the second time, the gate was open, the door was open and all the lights were off. They screamed into the house and called his phone but never found him. Hermana Torres assumed the worst and decided they had to go in to save/find him. They walked in and found on his table and open copy of the bible, some type of insurance, and a flower. I admit that that is pretty weird, but the hermanas took it to mean the old man had taken his life.

They began to check a few of the rooms in the big house and apparently a door pushed back when they tried to open it so they fled the house and called the authorities and then called me.

Anyway, so Hermana Alvarez gets done explaining this and I am trying to process what spirit possessed them to go into the house and look for a corpse when I look up and see a little old man on the porch. I asked, “Um...is that him?” The hermanas looked up and both began to scream and cry and ask where he had been. Turns out he was in his backyard snoozing in a lawn chair and woke up to intruders in his house, cops on his porch, and some white kid looking really lost and out of place in the middle of it all. The cops left and the sisters went inside to have their lesson and LEFT US THERE. We just looked at each other and walked home, our hearts still pounding in our chests.

Moral of the story: Sisters are very spiritual and great teachers and nurturers, but when it comes to some type of real life situation, please let the elders do the talking and decision-making.

Love,

Elder Rich

Apparently Dominos is cheap and plentiful.

The usual: Ate dominos, got bit by a dog, got yelled at in the streets, had some spiritual moments, and ate cold dominos. Life is good.

Elder Rich and Elder Herrera. There's only a little over seven hours of daylight this time of year in Punta Arenas. Elder Rich said you can lean into the wind and it will hold you up.

The photo shoot was called "The YOLO Fridge - a wilderness experience"

Elder Rich cooked up a taco feast. Believe it or not this is very different then what he eats on a daily basis.