Los 3 Antonios

Wow. Two big changes that have happened this week:

I left the south of my mission and am now serving in more of the city part of Santiago (Nuñoa).

I have two companions #triolife.

I honestly love change, and so I am thriving but also for sure still settling in. My area right now is SO DIFFERENT compared to the more humble areas I have served in. The people are always racing to activities and can't talk, or those who stop and listen only work here and live two hours away.

The first thing one of my comps told me when I got to my new area was that finding people to teach is extremely hard. Of course, we got right to work our first night to get some new friends progressing.

After two and a half solid hours of talking to every single person we passed by, we received PURE 100% rejection. We tried to stop people in different ways, knock doors, pass by the houses of those who have been taught in the past, and connect with each person authentically, but nothing was working.

After realizing we weren't getting anywhere, we stopped on the side of the street and offered a prayer, PLEADING for heavenly help.

During my whole mission, I have never needed extra help to find people, but DANG was I humbled… and also… WOW, I honestly love the fact I can't find people with just my own abilities in this area. I AM GROWING SO MUCH.

After our prayer, we continued to talk to every single person (even if it meant running after them jeje #mycompsmighthatemelol) and still experienced another hour of rejection; however, not one of us lost faith.

Three and a half hours of hearing "NO" finally passed, and... GOD BEGAN TO BLESS US BIG TIME!!! We began to find families, people that lived in our area, and individuals who wanted to come to church.

Within the last 2 hours of our night, we found more than 11 people who wanted to hear more about the Church of Jesus Christ. The next day we found about the same amount of people.

I know a lot of the time, life doesn't work out like what I just explained. Many times, God wants us to wait and accept His timing, but God answering our prayers quickly reminded me that this is His work, not mine. Nothing is impossible to Him. He wants His children to succeed.

Mormon 5

21 And also, the Lord will remember the prayers of the righteous, which have been put up unto him for them

(the righteous are those who obey and act on God's word no matter the situation. We continued to talk to everyone even though the outcome was not what we wanted)

23 Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power?

(we maintained our faith and positive attitude, remembering the blessings God was giving us throughout the night)

24 Therefore, repent ye and humble yourselves before him

(often, humbling ourselves means coming to God through prayer and respecting His timetable)

I know with a surety God listens to every prayer. He WANTS to manifest His love for us through answering our prayers.

Our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, said:

"To be sure, there may be times when you feel as though the heavens are closed. But I promise that as you continue to be obedient, expressing gratitude for every blessing the Lord gives you, and as you patiently honor the Lord's timetable, you will be given the knowledge and understanding you seek."

GOD LIVES! HE LISTENS! HE LOVES US!

Highs:

Gerardo wants to get baptized!!!

My new companions are just absolutely incredible.

Once/dinner with Hna Liberon

The last noche de hogar with Patricio and los elderes

Hermana Dos Santos and I sang the hymn "Love One Another" to some of the members, and their reactions were so precious

Running in the city for exercise

The stories of my Brazilian companion (Hna Fornazario)

The members love la obra misional in my new ward

We had no food this week, but one of my comps, Hna Santamaria, saved us with her cat food and hot chocolate last night

MY NEW AREA IS GINORMOUS, and we are walking so much