Chile wins the Copa America!!

A real rollercoaster of a week for Elder McAlister. A postponed baptism, Chile wins the Copa America, a death of a friend he made in Chillan, and a strong turnout in the ward this last Sunday.

Still sounds like he is excited for the work, but nervous that his time in Chile is winding down so quickly.

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Family,

I really forgot about the 4 of July! But happy 4 of July even though it already happened. I’m glad to hear that everyone had a great week and I wish I could have been there for the 4th. It still sounds to me like the house has really changed and i am interested in what it looks like. I can’t believe that the USA won in women’s soccer and that must have been cool to see!

This week was a very interesting week! A lot of things have happened, but to start of Chile won the American cup!!!! The game was crazy and we got permission to watch the whole entire game. We ended up seeing it with a family and I can tell you guys that Chile went crazy! My comp did get made fun of a lot because he is from Argentina. I went out today and buoght myself a jersey and I am a true Chileano now!!! The celebration after the game lasted about 3 hours and the city of Chillan was out in the streets screaming at the top of their lungs! It was pretty cool!

Well Manuel was doing so good for his baptism, and all of a sudden on Saturday right before the game he says he doesn’t want to be baptized and so he didn’t get baptized. The week was really crazy and we ended up helping him out a lot. He also passed his interview that he needs to have with our district leader. All was looking good and we ended up changing the baptism for Sunday, but he ended up calling us and saying he doesn’t want to be baptized. So we will be getting to see him on Martes and find out what’s going on! Other than that, we have really strengthened the ward and we had an assistance of 78 people this last week and we were so pumped about it!

We passed by a Hermano that has been in the hospital for such a long time, we ended up stopping by on Saturday and we found out that he is super bad and we couldn’t even enter the room where he was. We said a quick prayer in English because he wasn’t conscious and we left right after. On Sunday we heard right after the sacrament meeting that he had a heart attack and the hospital called the family and friends telling them to come say good bye to him. We ran over and we couldn’t touch him but we did another prayer. After we finished, we left his room and let his family enter the room again. He ended up dying around 45 minutes later. It really got to me because when I got to this sector and he was perfectly fine! Running around visiting with us and doing all kinds of things for this ward. Then he entered into the hospital and me and my last comp visited him all the time. With time things got worse and he entered into a more of an emergency room type deal, and we couldn’t visit him anymore. I got to become really good friends with him, and I really can’t believe that he passed away yesterday. We ended up going to his viewing and visiting members because he was such a big part of this ward. Please pray for his family, they are not members, but they know about the church. He lived with his mom to take care of her and he passed away at the age of 42. 

This week like I have had a good, spiritual, sad and emotional week but I really have learned a lot of things, and really I have felt that the plan of salvation really does have a purpose and is the true plan of God. I have received that testimony again, and it was crazy. I really did feel that God does love each and every one of us, and he puts special people in our way to help us progress!

Well I really love you and I hope that you guys have a great and fantastic week. Time is really flying by in the mission and I have little time, but I can help a lot of people change in such little time. I hope you guys have a great week and i can’t wait to hear from you next week! Love you guys!!!

Elder McAlister

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Spiritual thought time! This week I have been thinking about the ways of the world, especially since the some changes our government has enacted.  So this week's though comes from President Monson in his 2008 General Conference talk "Examples of Righteousness". In the talk he was speaking to the youth when he said:

"My young friends, be strong. The philosophies of men surround us. The face of sin today often wears the mask of tolerance. Do not be deceived; behind that facade is heartache, unhappiness, and pain. You know what is right and what is wrong, and no disguise, however appealing, can change that. The character of transgression remains the same. If your so-called friends urge you to do anything you know to be wrong, you be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone. Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow. There is no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience, your own moral cleanliness—and what a glorious feeling it is to know that you stand in your appointed place clean and with the confidence that you are worthy to do so"

What great wisdom in this advice. The world has a way to make things we know to be wrong sound and seem okay, when in fact they are not. When we are blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have that ability to judge between right and wrong, and it is up to us to stand for the right.

Well that’s week 101 of 104 in the books, only three weeks until he returns home (but who’s counting?). Here are a couple pictures he sent from watching the Copa America….

Elders watching the Copa America at a members house.

Chile wins the Copa America!!!