February 25, 2013

Hey everyone,

How are things going back home?  Things are going well out here.  The
most exciting news of the week is the fact that we had a baptism on
Saturday!!!  I had the opportunity to baptize Nidia, and it was a
really great experience.  You could definitely see that she felt the
Spirit very strongly, and I know that she will continue as a very
strong member of the church, helping to strengthen and lift others in
her path.  I attached some pictures of the baptism with Nidia, my
companion, and me along with a picture of some of
the branch who came to her late night baptism (as you can see it is
already pitch black outside since the baptism started at 9pm because
of her work schedule.  It is great to see that she is already very
well incorporated in everything.  She is even going to be part of the
choir that will perform at the District conference this next Saturday
afternoon.  One thing that is really inspiring to see in this branch
is the fact that the new members bring a lot of excitement to help
advance the work here.  If all of the members had the same excitement
as these new members do, the branch here would explode with growth.
Now we just have to try to help them to get to that point.

Oh something exciting for this week.  When we were getting ready to
leave for church on Sunday morning, I looked out our front gate to see
a couple of horses that were "just chillin' " (as Kari would say) in
the plaza in front of our house.  I realized that that isn't something
that you would normally see everyday in the States, so I figured I'd
take a picture to send home and share with everyone.  I honestly have
no idea where they came from, but I thought that it was kind of neat.
After a while they must have gotten bored, because we looked out a
little bit later and they were gone. I guess that's just the life of a
gang of stray horses.

As far as the new mission goes, it will be interesting to see what
happens.  It seems like basically our mission will be split in two.
Half of us will most likely end up in the Santiago South mission and
half in the Rancagua mission.  It sounds like the Santiago South
mission will also take a few missionaries and stakes from the Santiago
West mission and the Rancagua mission will do the same with the
Concepcion mission.  It will be interesting to see what happens with
everything.  The changes will take place at the end of June so there
is still some time to wait.

Well I hope all is good back there.  Take care and I'll talk to you soon.

Elder Stollenwerk