Melipilla: Hector's Baptism

Well, what a week, let me tell ya. This week was probably one of the craziest but best weeks of my life! What you have read in the news, I have literally witnessed. For the past week we have gone from long days of 24hr lockdown in our pension to limited movement, no street contacting and incognito adventures. In order to not call attention to ourselves we've been wearing street clothes, no tags, venturing out only to visit our investigators and returning home by 4 pm. We've had our bags packed and ready by the door in case we needed to be evacuated to a safer area. Luckily, we never had to be evacuated but many of the missionaries did. Our mission president checked in with us every night; we had a prayer and sang a hymn on a conference call with all 185 missionaries. We had to follow different rules this week because of all of the protesting and dangerous rioting. It was honestly so crazy! When we left the pension to go visit amigos we did our best to look like Chilenos. As you'll see in the photo below, we didn't do a very good job fitting in! 

But that wasn't the craziest part of my week. On Tuesday, Elder Staheli was having severe stomach pains. We kept thinking it would get better but after every attempt to get him comfortable, it was obvious that something was seriously wrong. We knew there was a citywide curfew of 8 pm and if we were going to be out past curfew, it would be risky. The ward mission leader, Pedro, first drove us to a nearby medical clinic. After two hours in the waiting room, Elder Staheli's pain become worse so I called the Mission President and told him that we had to get him out of there! I had never seen someone in so much pain; I called every member in our ward with a car, to find someone to drive us into Santiago, 90 minutes away. The hard part was finding a car with gasoline. Due to the civil unrest over the past few days, there was a gas shortage and no one had enough gas in their tanks to get to Santiago. Miracles happen, not only did we get a car with a full tank of gas but also a BMW X5 that could get us there quickly! I won't disclose how fast Pedro drove on the empty roads but it was a complete miracle that we got to Santiago in 40 minutes; I still have no idea how we got there so fast. President Mitchell met us at the hospital and had everything arranged for Elder Staheli to be seen by a doctor immediately. The poor guy had a ruptured appendix and was close to death! They took him into emergency surgery that night and were able to save his life. I remember constantly praying as we were driving to Santiago but I felt a sense of peace that everything was going to be okay. The Lord is watching out for His missionaries, "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." (D&C 84:88)

Elder Staheli recovered at the hospital in Santiago and was able to get back to Melipilla just in time for Hector's baptism! Elder Staheli and I have been thinking about Saturday, October 26th, for a long time now and I honestly couldn't believe that the day had finally come. Saturday, my brother, Hector, was baptized and confirmed in Church on Sunday! Hector asked me to perform the baptism and it truly was amazing to be a part of his baptism and an instrument in the Lord's hands to help him come unto Christ and officially join His team!  I will never forget the Spirit that I felt as I was in the baptismal font with my literal brother, Hector! It was definitely a special moment. After the baptism, Hector shared his testimony about how he never imagined he would be in this situation but he is because of the change he has felt in his life and the peace that he has had. The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ truly brings peace and happiness. I truly can testify of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have been able to see it in Hector's life and at the same time I have been able to feel it in my own life. We can do anything through faith in Christ. I am so grateful for this Gospel and for the opportunity to be a representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ and help bring true happiness to the people here in Chile. This week, I was able to see miracles. God is in the details of our lives and if we just keep going and keep putting all our faith in Christ, then we will have no need to fear and miracles will come. Obviously we have our work cut out for us here in Chile!  If all these people here had the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they would not be looting, burning down buildings and protesting with violence.  So Elder Staheli and I will keep working hard to bring more of our brothers and sisters unto Christ! Hope you all have a great week, just enjoy.   

Love you all,

Elder Zwick