so yesterday we had lunch with one of my favorite members
here in valdivia. we started talking about the ward here and how it´s
kinda going downhill. (at least that´s what paola said). the ward here
in Rio Cruces has almost 600 members...and only 80 attened every sunday.
my branch in la union had more sisters in the relief society than the
ward here. it´s super sad! hermana paola said it hasn´t always been like
this. i´ve only been here for 6 weeks so i just figured it´s always
been like this...and yesterday when i found out that there are so many
members that aren´t attending church i almost died. and the active
members aren´t motivated at all to go and visit the less-active members
or magnify their callings. paola was super sad and really overwhelmed.
we asked her why she thinks the ward is going through a rough time right
now and she told us there´s a lot of factors but that the main reason
is that the members aren´t living the gospel in their homes. the members
here aren´t doing the simple simple things like saying their prayers,
and reading the scriptures, and going to church every sunday...so they
are falling away. it´s way hard to see and i feel a lot like paola most
days. way overwhelmed. but i know i am here in this ward for a reason
and one of my goals for the mission is to strengthen every ward im in.
so that´s what i´m doing here...one step at a time. "by small and simple
things, are great things brough to pass". that scripture not only
applies to me as a missionary, but to the members too. that if they are
going the small and simple things, great things will happen!
if i´ve learned one thing here in the mission it´s how to be a
member of the church. a GOOD member of the church. i´ve caught a vision
of who i want to become and what i want for my future family. i can say
without any doubt that when i go home i will LIVE the gospel every
single day of my life...even when it´s hard. i´m so grateful for you
guys...for teaching me the importance of prayer and scripture study. of
course there are people here in chile of examples of who i want to
become, but there are also examples of who i do not want to become! i
guess that´s something great about the mission...is that we come,
change, and go home completely converted to the gospel of jesus christ.
this week we found 2 less-active families in our sector that we
didn´t know exsisted. we have a family night planned with one of the
families tonight and the other family is super awesome too! i love them
SO MUCH. when we knocked on the door they told us to come in. they told
us they want to come back to church...and you could tell that they both
really have the desires to come back. so we sang a hymn with them and
when we finished the mom was like "can we sing more?" IT WAS SO TENDER!
i´m way excited to work with this family and help them get to the temple
(because they aren´t sealed).
so president rappleye goes home this week. SUPER SAD! i´m so
grateful for him and for the opportunity i´ve had to work with him. our
new mission president is from mexico! i´m excited to meet him.
well i hope you all have a great week getting moved into the new
house! send me pictures plz! i love you all SOOO MUCH! so so much! i
love being a missionary and i love the gospel with all my heart!
love, hermana steele
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