Sean McAlister Called to Serve: Bienvenido Elder Chávez!

Great to hear from Elder McAlister this week. Sad to hear the things with Manuel have hit a snag, but I have faith it will work out. Sean’s new companion, Elder Chavez, sounds like he is outgoing with lots of energy, which will help keep things going in this last transfer. Their house sounds interesting with five nationalities represented in the six Elders living there.

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Glad to hear all went well this last week with you guys, and I am happy to hear that dad had a good Father’s Day. Sounds like everyone had a full week of work and also working around the house. Looks you guys all got new bikes and they are pretty awesome! I just wish I had a bike!!! (HaHa)

Well I am a father of 2 kids and I have a step son in the mission! So I got told happy Father’s Day from all my kids, it was kind of funny. My new companion is Elder Chavez, and he was born in Argentina, but lives in Utah in bountiful! So it’s been a fun week, he is by far one of the most crazy and outgoing companions that I have had since my dad Elder Donoso in the mission. But it’s been really fun and I really have seen how bad my English is now!!! I need to start to study on how to talk English. So far i feel like we are going to have a lot of success and we are looking for a good 5 weeks together. I went to Concepción to pick him up on Tuesday, and I left my house at 6:30 in the morning and we got back around 7:30 at night, so it was a long day. But just talking to Elder Chavez it sounds like I don’t remember anything from the United States! (HaHa) At times I feel like I’m not even from the states!

Well this week Manuel was doing really well until Saturday, he had an interview with our district leader and he didn't show up. Then he didn't show up on Sunday either. So we are not sure what’s really happening with him. We have been finding some new and we have pretty much killed off our old investigators, other than Francisco, who’s out of town. I know that Manuel is going to be baptized, but we feel like he still doesn't have a testimonio, but we are going to keep on working with him.

We watched the Copa America, which is so cool and i love it! We can only watch the games the Chile plays in, but it is so cool. Chile has been doing pretty good, but I’m not sure that they are going to win the cup here. It’s so much fun to be in Chile, and just listen and hear people shouting when Chile makes a goal. I think this week is going to be a lot crazier with the game on Wednesday!

This week we had a class of English, my companion and I taught it! It went well and we taught it very well. The problem was that the only guy in our class was a little drunk. But he was very excited and shouting out answers. It just made me laugh out loud at times!

Now in our house, we have a Chileno, un Argetino/gringo, un Colombiano y un Español and another from Colorado. The house is so much different now, and it’s a little bit crazier than before. Our house before was really calm and funny, but now they are just crazy and loud! It has been a big change in the house!

I did my package on Tuesday, when I went to pick up Elder Chavez, and I have eaten a little bit at a time. Thank you guys so much for the package and I really loved it. I think I ate the pudding right off the bat but it was really good and I really want to say thank you for that!

Well I really hope that you have a good week and I really love you guys! Miss you guys and ton and keep on being cool, love you a ton. I can’t wait for next week!

Love you guys!!!

Elder McAlister

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Spiritual thought time! From some of the things Sean has shared about less actives being offended and not coming out to church, it made me look into this issue. There is a great talk given by Elder David A. Bednar in the October 2006 General Conference called "And Nothing Shall Offend Them". He said the following in that talk:

"To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

"You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended."

"One of the greatest indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others. A thing, an event, or an expression may be offensive, but you and I can choose not to be offended—and to say with Pahoran, “it mattereth not.”

Like Sean is seeing in Chile, I have seen too many people drift away from the church because they have been offended somehow. But as Elder Bednar teaches here, we choose to be offended, or choose how we react to being offended. As hard as it is sometimes, we need to be able to separate the people from the Gospel, because the actions of someone does not change the truthfulness of the gospel. How to help people see this can be a challenge, but helping them understand this can have eternal implications.

Well that’s it for another week. Sean did send a few pictures this week, so enjoy them and have a great week!