April 11, 2011

Companion Elder Barlow

Hello Hello.

This week chugged right on by. First thing that I wanted tell you about was Elder Colman. You may remember that when I first got to Chile, I lived with an Elder Colman of Panama. He was an older missionary, 29 actually, really really short, and had a big smile. In the final months of his mission, he became ill. He inexplicably lost a lot of weight. He was pretty skinny when he finished the mission on March 13th. He returned home to Panama and was hospitalized shortly after with bad kidneys. He received dialysis and other procedures, but on April 9th, he passed away. Elder Colman was the only member in his family. His sister, in a letter to our mission president, said that this whole experience has led her to believe she needs to serve a mission. His father now has a testimony of the Plan of Salvation, even though he is still not a member. Although it is sad that he died, I cant help but be happy. He was an incredible example for both his family, and for me as a new missionary. He was the best example I had. I have lots of stories about him, and one that just happened this past week. But I´ll save em for another time. Elder Colman was awesome.

Elder Van Dyke w/ Elder Colman

Now that the tough stuff is out of the way...

The weather turned on Saturday to start feeling a little more wintery like. It rained for the 2nd time since I got here. It was all dreary and smoggy all weekend until this morning. I already like winter here. Its different. I just realized I hit the 7 month mark. Where does the time go? This week we worked through CIMI, our massive list of members, in an effort to both clean it out and find new investigators. It paid off. We found some good people. My companion is not feeling well, so I need to make this short for his sake. He needs to sleep. I want you all to know the work that I am involved in is the most rewarding work on the earth. I love it. I am even starting to love my trials, as we were counseled during conference. I hope you all find the same happiness in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Gotta run...

Love you all, Elder Van Dyke