The Book of Mormon

Dear Family,

Just a quick story. 

There is a recent convert in our ward who is a PE teacher. He is a great guy. He and his wife were baptized in Feb of the past year. They have been coming to church off and on and we have been working with them these past few months. The Elders Quorum helps a ton. We went to his house to read the Book of Mormon with him becuase he hadnt been reading. We told him to have a question in mind as he read. We read and he told us about everything that he is going through. His question was answered and he was able to recieve comfort from the words in the Book of Mormon. We were with one of the counslers in the Elder Quorum and he testified of the truthfulness of the book and we left spiritually uplifted. 

The Book of Mormon is true. It testifies of Jesus Christ. 

Christ lives. He is the Savior of the world and I love Him.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Elder Gehring

Moto taxi

Doble Banana

Twin Banana

ps. We toook a moto taxi this week. Also I ate a double banana a couple days ago

Light

Hi there,

So I finally can send fotos. I am so happy. I will write a little so I can send lots of fotos.

In our house we have a long driveway type thing that we have to walk upon getting home every night. Its usually really dark and you can't see much. Last night there was no difference. We opened the dark gate and went back to our dark rooms and I entered the dark bathroom. I turned the light on and felt a sense of relief as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. I thought to myself how amazing it was that the tiny lightbulb had made such a dark room so bright. I went to plan and then to bed without thinking much else of it. This morning we woke up and did exercise outside. It felt so good to be out in the bright sun in the early morning. We finished exercise and I went to take a shower in our bathroom. I entered and turned on the light. I was suprised to notice that this time, in complete opposition to the previous night, the light did nothing. I felt like the room, that just 9 hours before had been so bright, was so so dark. All this morning I was thinking about why it seemed so bright in one moment and in the next so dark. 

 

I learned something from this. Last night my eyes were adjusted to the darkness in the night and the light of a lightbulb made me feel happy and secure. In the morning I went outside and my eyes were adjusted to an even brighter light (the sun). I then went back to the lesser light of the lightbulb and felt like I was missing something. 

It is the same in our lives. We are children of God. If we expose our spirit to a greater light like the sun (repentance, read the scriptures, great personal studies, obedience with exactness, etc) we feel great!! But in the very second that we let ourselves adjust again to a lesser light (Just okay personal studies, disobedienca, reading every other day The Book of Mormon etc) we feel empty even though in one point in our lives maybe it felt like a relief. I realized that we feel discouraged in the mission when we let our spirit drop to a ''lesser light'' and we are excited when we then return to a ''greater light''.

I made myself a promise with the Lord this morning that every decision I make with be one to help me recieve the ''greater light'' I know that as I do this, I will never be discouraged, I will never worry about Chelsea getting married, and I will never feel alone or sad. 

I hope each one of you will always search the ''greater light'' in your life. Christ is the Greater Light. I testify of Him. He is the Master and I serve Him. 

Love you lots,

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Gehring

Baptism Selfie

Bowling pose

Companion bowling foto

Eating pizza

Elder Mamani y yo

Foto of the family, brush for the sand, mosquito killer

He gave me a hug

He hugged me for a while

His name is Andrew-he is 14 months old

I found a turtle

Lunch one day

Me presto sus lentes

Monkey names Cesar

More pizza

New house not quite settled yet

Our bedroom

Pixa party after Ward Council

Robbing paltas

Robbing more paltas

Scared kitten

Selfie with Cesar

Selfie with Cielo

The heavens were opened

There is a guy who makes these

Tiago is his name

 

Pacú y K´jaras

Hello,

Today I think I'll just make a list of things that might be interesting for you all.

1. I ate the best fish in the whole world. Its called Pacú. 

2. My companion got his flight plans. I'm going to make him work harder than he ever has.

3. I went running in the huge patio that we have now in our new house. What I forgot is that the family who lives in the main part of the house have a dog. He got scared and chased me... I was then scared and ran very very fast. 

4. We taught the family that is married again. They are wonderful. We taught the Book of Mormon to them and their eyes were opened. They felt the truthfulness of it and now are reading it daily. We are sure they will soon be baptized. The Book of Mormon is key.

5. K´jaras is pork, chorizo, with corn, and potatoes. You eat it with your hands and with lots of spicy sauce. Its very good. We cant eat pork here in the mission but we ate the corn part and the potatoes. Also the Chorizo because we can eat that. It was to help a member in our ward who is going on a mission in April. It was a great fundraiser. A less active member even came with us. We bought him a plate too.

6. We met a man named Wilbur the other day. I have never met someone here who has such wonderful and high goals for his family. We are sure he will be baptized soon. 

7. I studied a lot this week about the plan of salvation and our gift of Agency. I read in DyC 121, Alma 40, Alma 41 and Alma 36. I learned a lot about what will happen after we die. I realized that agency is a law written in the heavens and that it is an eternal gift. Forever more will we be able to choose. What street we walk down, how we act with our companions, what we say to those who reject us, what we write to our families, after the mission what school we go to, who we will marry, what job we will take, and I think most importantly, who will we follow. Christ is our savior and if we choose to follow Him we will live in His love and glory forever. I learned that we are tempted by the devil so we can choose. It says in DyC that it is necessary that we are tempted. Every choice I make I am now thinking of the eternal consequences it has. I want to choose everyday is such a way that I can progress spiritually. Daily I will choose to repent. Daily I will choose to obey. Daily I will choose to follow my Savior. 

I love the Lord. He is my Savior and Redeemer. I chose to follow Him before this life and I will forever choose to follow Him, so long as my life continues on this earth. 

Choose daily to love Him. Choose daily to become like Him. Choose daily to be changed by Him.

With lots of Love,

Elder Gehring

Moving

Hello familiy.

We have to move. This past transfer one companionship in our ward was taken out and now we are just 1 companionship. We used to live as 4 but now we are just 2. Our apartment has 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms a living room kitchen and washing room. A storage room for our materials and air conditioning in our bedroom. We were spoiled to say the least but now its time to leave it all behind.

 

Its so hot here, we were sad to leave our A/C. Every where we looked  the  rooms with AC were waaaay too expensive for just one companionship. 

 

This week a brother in our ward called us to offer us 2 rooms in the back part of the lot of his house. We said it would be great! We went to check them out and its perfect. 2 rooms and a bathroom. Just big enough for 2 missionaries and a few extra supplies for the zone. We took pictures, got it approved by the office staff and then set a moving date (this Tuesday)

 

When we got to church on sunday we talked with  the brother and he came up to us telling that the rooms were ready now. Turns out he had put AC  in!!!  YA!! We are the most blessing missionaries in the whole mission. I know I shouldn't worry about if it has air or not but it sure helps the morale of the  companionship. Apart from the air situation we are also very blessed to now be living with  members and closer to our area where we teach everyday. 

Other than the exciting news about the move coming up, the work is going forth in our ward. We are starting to have family home evenings as small groups of families in the ward. 3 families in one house, 3 in another, and then every monday we switch place to help out the recent converts and recently rescued families. We are planning a movie night every thursday where we are going to show the restauracion and other church movies to help find new people to teach. Our ward mission leader is a hard worker and loves to serve the Lord. We are grateful for him and his service. This week we talked with 2 new families in the streets, well we talked with hundreds but 2 were extra special. They are married!!! That never happens here! We are now teaching them regularly and I know they will soon be baptized. In both the families, the mothers name is Esperanza. The translation to English is Hope. They have given us a lot of esperanza that the work will continue to go forward in our areas haha.

Hows the spring break going?? I heard it is really cold and rainy. You have no idea how much we would love a day that is cold and rainy! Its usually just hot and sunny here. And humid. If it rains, it just makes it hotter. And then after days of rain come days of sun... and heat. I sweat a lot and my shirts usually take a wash by hand and then by machine to get  all the way... we somewhat white again.

My compañion is from La Paz and every day has a long sleeve shirt on. I'm not sure why. I think its so he doesn't get  sun burnt.  I was forced one day this week to wear a long sleeve shirt because the others were still drying on our line from the hand wash I gave them. Mom, dad, I don't think I have been so close to death before. It was so unbearably hot. So much sweat and so so much heat. Its okay though. I drank lots of cold water and  survived. The Lord blesses  the missionaries. 

There is a man in our ward who accompanies us every single day. He is one of the funniest, most willing, and humble people I know. He is  60  years old or so and loves to eat. We have found that he looooves something called churiqui. (i think thats how you spell it.) ITs a food usually found in the streets. Its part of the stomach of the chicken and its cooked on a wooden stick. Its so good. You have no idea. it costs  2.5 bs which is about 25 cents. Its served with a little potato on the tip and  with a spicy peanut salsa. There is a  plaza in our area where a little old lady sells this stuff every day. He always accompanies us and then we buy him  churiqui. We have become such good friends with him. IN the beginning he talked a lot and it was hard to teach with him but with his help everyday, he has gotten so much better. He teaches really really well now. He bears his testimony and he helps the people resolve their doubts. We are blessed to have the help of amazing members here in Antofagasta.  

Also this week another missionary got home to our ward. That makes like 8 or 9 returned missionaries in our ward., We are growing a lot and as missionaries we are excited to see the work pushing forward.

This week I was reading about the pre-earth life, our purpose here and where we are going. I studied a little about the 1st state, and  the 2nd state. I studied about the reward for those who keep the first and 2nd states. I learned a lot and  invite you all to do the same.

Abraham 4

Alma 42

Alma 12

Moses 3

These chapters will help!

The Lord lives. He is the Firstborn of the Father in spirit and the Only Begotten in the flesh. I testify of His eternal divinity and personal love for each one of us. He is my Father and my Brother. My King and my Savior.

Hurrah for Israel! 

Love,

Elder Gehring

Cambios otra vez

Dear familia,

Tuvimos cambios otra vez este miércoles pasado. Elder Oliart (mi compañero anterior)  ya terminó la misión. Elder Mamani es mi compañero nuevo. Es de La Paz, El Alto y habla muy bien el español así que me va a enseñar aún mas. Era parte del Barrio Antofagasta con otro Elder pero ahora se quitaron 2 elderes. Ahora él se quedó conmigo. La cosa es que él también solo va a estar conmigo por un cambio. Este es su último cambio. No sé por qué pero a Presidente le gusta ponerme con personas que se van a casa. Pero estoy contento. Estamos trabajando duro. Enseñamos 40 lecciones esta semana!! Para nosotros, es bastante! En la zona hubieron algunos cambios. Dos elderes llegaron,  3 se fueron, 1 hermana llegó y 1 se fue. Estamos animados. Tenemos la mejor Zona en todo el mundo. 

We had changes this last Wednesday.  Elder Oliart (my previous companion) finished his mission.  Elder Mamani is my new companion.  He is from La Paz, El Alto and speaks Spanish very well so he is going to teach me even more.  He was part of the Antofagasta Ward with another Elder but now they have taken out 2 elders.  So he stayed with me.  The only thing is that he is only going to be with me for one change also.  This is his last change.  I don't know why it seems the President likes to put me with persons that are soon going home.  But I am content.  We are working a lot.  We taught 40 lessons this past week.  For us, that is a lot.  In the zone there were several changes.  Two elders arrived, 3 left, 1 sister missionary arrived and 1 left.  We are excited.  We have the best Zone in the world. 

Algunas cositas de esta semana:

Some of the things from this week:

1. Conocí un mono que se llama Cesar. No habla pero es muy amable.  Lo agarré y saqué una foto. It was a really monkey!!! So cute. 

I met a monkey named Cesar.  He doesn't speak but he is very friendly.  I held him and took a photo.  It was a real monkey.  So cute.

2. Rescatamos a un hermano que se llama Limber. Era inactiva pero lo enseñamos, los miembros lo hermanaron y tuvo su entrevista con el Obispo este domingo. 

We rescued a brother whose name is Limber.  He was inactive but we taught him, the members fellowshipped him and he had an interview with the Bishop this week. 

 

3. Fuimos a la Foianini (la clinica principal) porque Elder Oliart quiso  examinar su rodilla. Hace poco le dolía mucho. Its okay, I ate some of the little candies on the doctors desk while we waited. 

We went to the Foianini (the main clinic) because Older Oliart wanted his knee examined.  A short while ago it pained him a lot.  It's okay.  I ate some of the littlie candies on the doctor's desk while we waited.

Encontramos muchas muchas muchas familias nuevas para visitar, la orientación familiar en nuestro barrio por fin está mejorando, y la obra de salvación se está apresurando. 

We found many new families to visit, the family orientation in our ward is getting better and the work of salvation is going forward at a greater pace.

Esta semana les invito a leer 3 Nefi 18-20. Aprendí mucho de la Santa Cena esta semana. 

This week I invite you to read 3 Nephi 18-20.  I learned much about the Sacrament this week.

We met a man named Daniel this week. He is a member now for 9 years but has been inactive for 2. He is writing a missionary in Peru and recently moved to our area. This missionary in Peru, he told us, has been praying that he would go back to church. We showed up looking for a different referral and ran into him. He came to church sunday, has the goal of going to the temple, and partook of the sacrament for the first time in a long time. I saw the joy on his face as his humbly and worthily partook of this sacred ordinance. I know he is happier than he has been in a long time. The Bishop now knows him, we have visited him with the YM president and a member of the Elders Quorum. He has the Melquesidec Priesthood and the Bishop Bruno is already thinking about what calling he can hold in a few weeks.

The work is real. Happiness comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ. I testify of Him and of His eternal sacrifice. El bautismo es una ordenanza necesaria. La Santa Cena hace posible que renovemos nuestro convenio bautismal. Sé que el poder de la trinidad se manifiesta por medio de las ordenanzas efectuadas por el Sacerdocio. La Restauración nos dio esta autoridad otra vez. 

Baptism is a necessary ordinance.  The Sacrament makes it possible for us to renew our baptismal covenant.  I know that the power of the Trinity is manifest through the ordinances effected through the Sacrament.  The Restoration give us this authority again. 

 

Amo mi Salvador. Amo esta obra. 

I love my Savior.  I love this work.

 

Hurrah por Israel!

Elder Gehring