Grand Tremblor

Dear Wonderful Family and Friends!

Wow. . . I seriously can't describe how fast the time goes in the mission. Just the thought that I am here, at the same computer, writing another weekly letter to you guys again is insane to me! Ha ha! Each week goes by faster and faster! It's crazy! And, as well, this week I am going to hit ONE YEAR in my mission. It really hasn't even hit me yet and I don't want it to. I can't believe it one single bit. It blows my mind of how something sooooo great can go by sooooo fast. I know I am on the Lord's errand and this is His time right now. But wow! Seriously a year ago I was with you guys! What the?!!!! And I know this next year is only going to go by even faster which scares me a little because this is the best thing in the whole world, being a missionary!!

Okay, well, I have more time to write this week so I will get straight into the letter! Saturday was a pretty scary day for us! Ha ha, well first off, there was a huge rain storm and it was pouring and pouring all day long. Unfortunately, right when you would think the people would be sympathetic, they all just leave you out in the freezing rain! Ha ha, but I'm from Arizona and I loved it! Ha ha but as we were walking and walking around in the rain trying to enter different houses, it got to the point where I was just about soaked all the way to the bones! It was horrible! Ha ha, but it was weird because I was still enjoying the rain! Ha ha you can tell where I'm from! :) Ha ha, but luckily we got into Jocelyn's house, who I just love to death! This family is awesome! Jocelyn is a less active we found knocking on doors and when she opened her door she just gasped out and lusted forward, grabbed my companion and I's shoulder and threw us into the house! Ha ha! Aww, I was so grateful for that because it was about at sunset and being soaked the coldness started to kick in strong. But she let us in and we got to know all her family. She is the only member is her family. She has four kids and her husband, Juan Carlos. They are all soo cool! Like you can just tell that this family is raised on a Mormon background! But Jocelyn was soo incredibly nice to us and got us hot chocolate ready and made us bread and we had a small little "once" as they call it here. But I was still completely soaked and that's when her husband walked in with a pile of clothes and told me to go change. His white shirt and clothes fitted perfectly! It was great! And it felt so nice to get warm again. 

But the scary part was while we were talking and eating over the dinner table, I thought I felt a big semi truck driving by. But then it kept going and things on the table started rumbling and that's when I looked at my glass of hot chocolate and it was like on the movie Jurassic Park when the dinosaurs are close and you can see the ripples in the water. And that's how my hot chocolate was. And that's when it kept increasing and that's when the lights went out and the whole entire house started rolling back and forth and was shaking in all different ways! And yep! It was an earthquake! And that was the strongest earthquake I have ever felt in my life! It was pretty cool but scary as well! It was ranked like a 6.5 or something like that, but it only lasted for about 30-45 seconds. But it seems like it lasts awhile. Elder Kimball jumped up and took the two little kids of the family while I went to the two older kids. But everything was fine! It sure did surprise and scare all of us though! So that was our weekend! Ha ha:)

But to start back at the beginning of the week . . .We were able to find another couple with one of them being less active and the other isn't a member and they, as well, are both named Carolina and Francisco--just like the same couple that I meet in my last sector that just got baptized this month! We were able to enter their house and they are awesome! I love finding families where they aren't all members! It's the best! We were able to teach them and we really found out the doubts and problems that Carolina had with her experience in the Church where she had seen the cold and ugly side of some members and had some bad experiences so she stopped going and went inactive. But now she is really open to listen to us and, as well, she wants her husband to know more of what the Church is. Francisco is super chill and really young and was born in the Catholic church, but has never been strong in religion. I'm so excited to start teaching them! We should be teaching them every Wednesday and Friday now because that's the only times they really have. This family seems so special to me. And we only visited with them for only like 25 minutes. Caroline looks just like my friend, Kylie Kendall! It's cool! Ha ha! 

Then we had like 3 straight days of divisions. One was with our new zone leader and we were able to work together. We went and met Marcos who is one of the two super good families we found right before my surgery. His wife wasn't there but we were able to teach him the Restoration. This is another family that I just love! They have two young kids and there is sooo much unity and love between this family. It really was great to teach them and to testify and promise them that their family can even be more united together and for eternity! Marcos is the one that looks like Marty!

Then the next day we had district meetings where I was able to teach my district about the importance of humility and a broken heart in ministering to our less actives and investigators. It was a great class! And the elders in my district are doing a whole lot better now, which relieved me of a lot of stress this past week! I am glad that Heavenly Father trusts in me to be one of His leaders here. I am so grateful to be an example to others. I love being a district leader and really just being one on one with the missionaries in my district to really get to know them and then to really help them. And in return they really help me too!

After the meetings, I had to go on splits with one elder in my district and we went to our sector where we realized that there is a whole other neighborhood that is being built at the edge of our sector. We found out that it is our sector now and it has been touch less by missionaries! So Elder Chacon, my companion for the splits, and I both got super excited and just contacted the entire sector all day long! Ha ha, I don't think I have contacted so much but we were just super excited to touch this new land. And this neighborhood is really nice too! They are all two floor houses and pretty well off! It is big too! In almost every house there are big complete families!! Ohhh yeaa! Elder Chacon and I both felt something really special in that area. Elder Kimball and I are going to keep contacting there to see what can be in store! Wish us luck!

The next day after that, which was Friday, I believe, I had to do another division. But this time is wasn't planned. I had to go with Elder Nash, another missionary in our ward, to Sanitago. That was because he has been having a lot of pain in his lower body parts, kinda like me. So it got to the point where he was having pain for like 4 days straight and we got ahold of the medico and they wanted to see Elder Nash in an hour at the office at the MTC in Santiago. It got complicated because it takes at least an hour and a half to get there by subway and his companion had to go do 4 baptism interviews. So knowing that I have had to go to the center a lot recently and I know the way really well, they told me to take Elder Nash there. So it was really last minute, but I left Elder Kimball and we went off! Ha ha, I will be honest, I am sick of going to the center of Santiago. In the past 3 weeks I have had to go there and back 10 times now! Ha ha! And it was worse because when we tried going back it was rush hour so it took about two and a half hours to return back to the mission and our sector. But at the same time I felt like I had done a good deed! :) Even though we lost a day in our sector, I felt glad that the leaders of the mission trusted in me to take him outside the misison.

As I have always been learning in my mission, there is always an opposition in all things! I know that with great sacrifices, bring great blessings and miracles. I would like for you guys to pray for Elder Kimball and I because now that we are getting back into things. We have finished all the divisions and splits and with all other distractions that have happened, we both feel that this week will be a week that we will both be able to focus on our sector and give it our all because we really do need to keep achieving more. We have a lot of investigators but we aren't able to have a lot of lessons with them and none are progressing. It looks like we will just have to keep searching till we find the ONE! :) But I hope you will be able to pray with us to help us recover our sector and get moving again because we have lost a lot this transfer with everything that has happened! 

I know Heavenly Father is leading this work. I love being under His command and I am willing to be His instrument! I know faith always brings miracles and I want to start this next year off great!!! I know it and I know I have seen those miracles and I know they won't stop now. I love this work so much! I love being a missionary! May you all feel this spirit as well!

Have a great week!

Love you all!!!

Love Elder Cowan