We received the email from Sean a little later in the day
today, but it sounds like they made a trip to Concepcion which took up most of
their P-day. It sounds like they are having
success working with the members, which is important and part of the missionary
work now.
It would be interesting to see what magic they are doing for
the little kids at the family home evenings.
Maybe we will need to send him so magic tricks to use.
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Hola McAlister Family,
How is everyone doing? It sounds like parents could have had
a better week with being sick. Also, the Super Bowl doesn't really sound as fun
and I was thinking they would make the commercials better this year, But its
sounds like that's a no! Is the truck a gift for Todd´s birthday and that
looks to be in really good condition. I hope it works fine and does well for
you guys. Now I have a question, has my Camaro sold yet? I did get the package
today, and guess what else I got today, my scriptures cases I got from the CCM!
I also sent some letters and my SD card for you guys are that was really hard
to do. The lady made no sense to me and my companion had no idea what she was
talking about. You guys should receive it in 3 days at least or sometime this
week!
This week was okay we thought we found some good
investigators! So we started working with them and helped them to progress, but
they ended up dying (A missionary term.) So we lost pretty much all of our
investigators this week! It was a hard week in that way, but we are really
helping the less active members here. We have gotten around 5 of the less
actives back into church and now they are active. So we are doing really well
with them and we are working with the members and challenging them to a
competition of who could get more people to the church this week. Now we are
have the members working hard in the missionary work, but it’s all hard work
and prayer right now for us.
This week we had to update this list we have of all the
members of the church, Actives, Less Actives and Semi-Actives. The list said we
have about 800 people to work with and my companion doesn't know how to use a
computer, and we only have one in the church anyways. So a lot of Friday, the
whole day Saturday and in the morning during church I worked on this list. We
had to update this list because there was going to be an update in the
afternoon on Sunday. I felt like I worked in the office the whole time this
week. So we had a pretty bad week this week, and also every single guy that is
homeless thinks we can give them a home and things, they have been hard to deal
with this week. I hope that you guys can pray that we can find a family of 3 in
these next two weeks so we can have a baptism before Elder Coronado leaves. So
please PRAY!!!
For the first time in my life I really thought I was going
to die (HaHa). There was a bus super full going to Concepcion today, so me and
my companion pretty much rode outside the bus holding of for our life's. The
scary thing was we are outside a moving bus in Chile. Now you guys might not
understand this, but the bus drivers in Chile think they are in NASCAR with
shape turns. So half of the time the bus is tipping to one side and they don't
know how to use breaks at all. They don't care with side of the road they drive
on when there are cars coming from the other direction. But I´m alive and that
was probably the scariest moment in my life and that happen today! I’m alive
yeah!!!
I have really nothing else that happened this week. I could
tell you that magic has been helping us get kids to want to come over and they
keep on asking their parents so they can see more and its really fun to use
magic in Noche de Hogars. So Hualpen has become a place of magic for the
members of the church! Also guess who started it (HaHa) yes it was me!
That's all I have for this week, it was boring and kind of
bad, but it’s part of the mission. I love you guys and I hope that you guys get
the letters and the SD card. I hope that you enjoy this week and have fun.
Sabrina make some hoops for me and Todd and Derek just win a game (HaHa). I
love you guys and thanks for all that you have done for me. Keep reading and
praying every day and listen to the spirit and then you can receive blessings!
Love you guys!!!
Elder McAlister
This week I shared with Sean the Bishopric message I wrote
for Ward newsletter, so I thought I would share it here are well:
A Perfect Brightness of Hope
The dictionary defines hope as, “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events can turn out well or to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.” Hope is the center of that triangle of Faith, Hope and Charity. It seems to me that everyone has within them the power of hope. No matter how hard things may be going, down deep we search for and are sustained by this great quality of hope.
What Is Hope?
In his October 2008 conference address, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf defined hope. “Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. In the language of the gospel, this hope is sure, unwavering, and active. The prophets of old speak of a “firm hope” and a “lively hope.” It is a hope glorifying God through good works. With hope comes joy and happiness. With hope, we can “have patience, and bear … [our] afflictions.”
Where Do We Find Hope?
The Apostle Paul indicated that the scriptures were written that we “might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Mormon wrote a letter to his son Moroni stating that hope comes from the Comforter, the Holy Ghost (Moroni 8:26). Like faith, hope can be cultivated. We attain hope by doing things that invite the Spirit into our lives.
Why Is Hope Important?
Pessimism, doubt and despair are the opposite of hope. These negative emotions lead us away, not toward, our Father in Heaven. President Uchtdorf: “Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear. Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls.”
I pray that each of us may continue in our “Good Works” with a firm hope in the great blessings of the Gospel to the end that we will accomplish our work here on this earth. I hope we will follow Nephi’s admonition to: “Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).
Brother Rick McAlister
Until next time, have a great week and check out the pictures of the scripture covers Sean got while in Mexico…
A Perfect Brightness of Hope
The dictionary defines hope as, “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events can turn out well or to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.” Hope is the center of that triangle of Faith, Hope and Charity. It seems to me that everyone has within them the power of hope. No matter how hard things may be going, down deep we search for and are sustained by this great quality of hope.
What Is Hope?
In his October 2008 conference address, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf defined hope. “Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. In the language of the gospel, this hope is sure, unwavering, and active. The prophets of old speak of a “firm hope” and a “lively hope.” It is a hope glorifying God through good works. With hope comes joy and happiness. With hope, we can “have patience, and bear … [our] afflictions.”
Where Do We Find Hope?
The Apostle Paul indicated that the scriptures were written that we “might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Mormon wrote a letter to his son Moroni stating that hope comes from the Comforter, the Holy Ghost (Moroni 8:26). Like faith, hope can be cultivated. We attain hope by doing things that invite the Spirit into our lives.
Why Is Hope Important?
Pessimism, doubt and despair are the opposite of hope. These negative emotions lead us away, not toward, our Father in Heaven. President Uchtdorf: “Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear. Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls.”
I pray that each of us may continue in our “Good Works” with a firm hope in the great blessings of the Gospel to the end that we will accomplish our work here on this earth. I hope we will follow Nephi’s admonition to: “Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).
Brother Rick McAlister
Until next time, have a great week and check out the pictures of the scripture covers Sean got while in Mexico…
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| Book of Mormon cover from Mexico. |
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| The Bible cover from Mexico. |
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