Dear "Best Family in the World":
I thought this letter I'm including might interest some of you. I'm sure you are aware of the earthquake in Chile and the damage it caused. This letter is from the Mission President's wife of the Santiago East to her family. It's at the bottom of the email if you'd like to read it. Pretty incredible!
I've decided to try and have something to write on next to my bed so that I can record spiritual promptings when they come in the wee hours of the night.
Anyways, Elder Peppler and I have had a pretty awesome week. We just came from a Zone Leader Council with our mission president where were discussing some of the needs of the missionaries in this mission and how we can improve. I was amazed at how the subjects we were discussing paralleled so closely to things I need in my own life. My mission president is so wise and he is inspired. We talked at great length about culture; the culture of the mission and traditions and how we need to break bad habits and bad elements of the culture and keep and improve the good parts. I think it's easy to get stuck in a rut in life and never get outside of your circumstances and difficulties. It takes work and effort and it is sometimes painful to recognize things that you are doing wrong, even just out of ignorance or habit, and to correct them. If you keep doing the same thing you've always done, you'll keep getting the same results you always have. I found that I have been guilty of this in so many ways in my life-not even related to spiritual things. I often just expect things to change because I want them to and I hope they will. But it takes a good deal of examining yourself and seeking improvement, sometimes from an outside source, to break the cycle. In our mission, we are very good teachers. Those that we teach, we baptize, and retain them. But we're not so great at finding new investigators. If we can break the cycle, and find as much as other missions, we would be fulfilling our purpose in a miraculous fashion! I'm excited for the months to come. The future has never seemed so bright and so optimistic! I love this work!
Speaking of finding new people to teach, Elder Peppler and I were tracting yesterday in some apartments near campus and knocked on one young man's door. He seemed incredibly sincere and invited us in to talk a little more. As we sat down he informed us that he was from the Church of Christ and that his pastor was coming over in just few minutes to talk with him as well. I was a little uneasy at that, not sure how the pastor would react to us being there but we decided to stay and began teaching this young man, Craig, about the plan of salvation. When the pastor arrived, we shifted our focus to answer some questions that he had had about our faith. The pastor, Todd, was a graduate from Pepperdine university and at first was a little abrasive in his question about the validity of the Book of Mormon. He wanted archaeological evidence to support the stories in the Book of Mormon. As we talked we politely explained the need for faith and seeking answer from God through prayer and the Holy Ghost. As we bore testimony, I would love to tell you that he was completely converted at that moment; He wasn't, but his demeanor did change as did his approach. We began to discuss more the things we had in common. By the end he said he was willing for us to meet again to talk more and to bring some points that we believed in to his attention. He also mentioned how much respect he had for the Latter-day saints and admired their discipline. He said the closing prayer and prayed for everyone to be able to find truth. As we said our goodbye's, he mentioned that we were all brothers and children of God and all trying to achieve the same goal. I left humbled by the Spirit that was there and the miracle that had occurred. Just that morning Elder Peppler and I had prayed to be able to find new people to teach to bless their lives with the message of the restoration! The lord hears our prayers...isn't it incredible?!
My dear family, I love you all. My love has grown as we have been separated by this work I have been called to do. It has been a good thing. I am in deeper gratitude of all that you all have done for me and appreciate the wonderful relationship I enjoy with each of you! I am saddened by the struggles some are facing but confident in the atonement and the future.
I'll leave with a new favorite scripture an Elder brought to my attention today:
"Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice and be exceedingly glad...."
D&C 128:22
Love you all! God bless!
---Elder CabreraP.S. The letter about the earthquake in chile is below. Enjoy!
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