Reliving the Prodigal Son!

 

Dear Family and Friends!

I hope that you’ve all had a wonderfully splendid week!  I hope that it’s cold there, because if I’m cold during the summer here, you better be cold in the winter!  It started to snow a little bit in El Calafate this week!  That’s crazy!  The weather here in general is crazy!  It’s bipolar!

But here’s for the miracle of the week!

I think it was the beginning of the last transfer when we had an investigator named Cristian who, a week and half before his baptism decided that he didn’t want to learn any more and dropped us.  So that was really hard, and it’s been a pretty omnipresent memory here in Calafate for us.  So last Wednesday for some reason we started talking about him and we decided to call him during Weekly Planning the next day.  So we did and he picked up the phone super excited and said that he had been waiting for us to call, that he had repented and that he wanted to continue learning.  He said that since he dropped us that his life has been just not the same and it’s been super hard.  He would have called us but he lost our number. He then asked if we could meet in the chapel in that very moment, so we said “Yes!” and ran out the door to go find him!  I felt like I was reliving the parable of the Prodigal Son!  So we met him in the chapel and he was like, I never want to stop coming here again!  He then asked us if we had a contract for him to sign saying that he would continue faithful until he died, and we said no, but that there was something better that he could do, that is, get baptized!  And he said yes to this Saturday!  (He already has attended 3 times and received almost all the lessons!)!  We were on a spiritual high!  We put an appointment with him for Saturday and then parted super happy!

So then Saturday arrived, and we called him to try to get ahold of him and we couldn’t!  We went to the church and waited for him for forever and he never showed up!  We passed by the refuge (he was kicked out of his cousins house when he started listening to us the first time) where he’s staying like four times and could never find him!  So that night we called and called and called and could never get ahold of him.  Sunday morning we went be the refuge again and he wasn’t there.  I was super nervous.  I had done everything that I could think of, and couldn’t think of anything else to do.  So we went to the church praying that God would do his part and help Cristian arrive to the chapel.  The first hour passed, and he didn’t show up.  Second hour started, and he still wasn’t there.  Halfway through the second hour he still hadn’t showed up, and I had basically given up hope.  Then someone walked into the room, and I turned around and there he was!  I can’t even express how happy that I was!  We then gave him the white shirt and tie that we had prepared to give him and he looked so good sitting there in Sacrament Meeting!

He then told us what had happened.  On Thursday, the same day we called him, he had left his phone charging in the refuge and someone entered through the window and stole it!  Which is why we couldn’t get ahold of him!  I can’t help but see the hand of God in all of this!  If we would have called him even hours later than we actually did, we never would have found Cristian, maybe ever!  But God told us exactly when we needed to call him, and how Cristian has returned to the fold and is going to get baptized this week!

We had a miracle this week!  And a really big one!  I can barely believe it, and I experienced it!  I love this work!

I testify to all of you that God’s hand is in this work, and even if we don’t understand what is passing, he does.  I admit, when Cristian dropped us, I was frustrated, sad, and questioned why.  But now I understand that God had his hand there the whole time.  God knows what he’s doing, and quite often we don’t.  We just have to have faith, and keep on having faith until the end, because everything is in his hands!

 ¡A BAUTIZAR!

¡Les quiero un monton!

Elder Trenton Behunin

My little Christmas Tree all lit up!

Our branch Christmas Party!

We got permission to go see Calafate in the dark (okay semi dark) after the branch party. This was all the Christmas Decorations they had up!

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I love Chocolate!

Ingredients of Animo soda! (Energy Soda) Whale oil (from Puerto madryn), Glacier water (from Calafate), petroleum (from everwhere), Guanaco guts (also from everywhere), penguin blood (from Trelew and Tierra del fuego), Sea lion extract (caleta olivia), and lead (I don’t know) and DRIVE TO BAPTIZE!