El Monte, Chile: Elder Uchtdorf

Well I'm here in El Monte! El Monte is a large, rural area with fields for days. Elder Segovia is my new comp, "my son," as we call it out here when we train. I love him and we are having a blast!  We ride our bikes around all day. Elder Segovia is from Mexico and he can really cook; he loves spicy food and now I love it too! Our hard work in El Monte is finally paying off and we have found eight people to teach this week.  Now, if we can just get them to show up to church, then we will have eight baptisms in March! Thursday was Zone Conference with five zones. It was the best one I have had in the mission so far! The assistants and President Mitchell talked about obedience, the Book of Mormon and baptism. These three things go hand in hand! 

Just when I didn't think the week could get any better, Elder Uchtdorf came to Chile!  He spoke to all four Santiago missions; there were 800 missionaries in the audience. I saw three Utah friends, Elder Banz, Elder Brasher and Elder Anderson! Elder Uchtdorf shared his wife's conversion story and spoke about the two great commandments. I loved his message. Elder Uchtdorf and Sister Uchtdorf wanted to shake all 800 missionary's hands. So we waited in line quietly for our turn to shake their hands. When my turn came, they saw my name tag and said, "Elder Zwick, we have to give you a big hug from your grandparents!" Elder Uchtdorf gave me a big hug and then I looked over at Sister Uchtdorf and hesitated, Elder Uchtdorf saw my hesitation said, "Elder Zwick, this is an assignment, hug Sister Uchtdorf!" All the missionaries came up to me after and said, "Dude, why in the world did you hug her?" I said, "Well, if one of the Twelve Apostles tells you to hug his wife then you better do it!" Haha, it was a classic. I may never live that one down! 

I can now say that Elder Uchtdorf really is one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ is real, He is there for us. This is His church. I have been reading the story of the first vision in the Pearl of Great Price! Elder Uchtdorf told us we need to read it every week. 

What a week! I think this week was the best week of my whole mission. On Sunday, I was able to see all of my Melipilla families at stake conference! It was truly like seeing my family members again. 

Love,

Elder Zwick