Allo!
I am still a bit behind, sorry about that! Hopefully you will forgive me, I am sure that is what Zach would want you to do.
As always, Elder Van Pelt is uber homesick. He says that if it wasn't for all the support he has received from friends and family and the knowledge he has of the gospel, he would be hopping on the next flight home. As everyone knows Zach is awesome at immersing himself in the gospel, so that is what he is doing to keep his head in the game. He wants so bad for the people of Chile to have eternal families. He got a package that my mom sent him, full of lots of American treasures, so that was a pick up for him.
Zach has felt a little insufficient in his companions eyes, that he is too young to be doing this work. He had an interview with the mission president where he addressed his feelings and president Bluth gave him some advice he really took to heart: Forget everything and what people are saying and just love. There is no defense for love. After this instance, Zach was later on splits with Elder Reynolds ,who is his zone leader and a convert to the church, where they gave a lesson on Joseph Smith. During this time it hit him that Joseph Smith was so young when he was given the task to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ. He stayed pretty quiet during the lesson, until the end when he testified that showing love makes a difference. Zach said he felt the spirit testifying through him with love, even though his Spanish is still not that great.
Elder Van Pelt and his companion this week had been having a hard time finding anyone to listen to their message. One day, after they had been knocking on doors with no success, they came upon a door which was opened up to them. They told the woman that they were missionaries and she immediately invited them in. He was so surprised to find that she was so welcoming, even feeding them before listening to their lesson. After the message he asked her why she let them in. She responded by telling them that two other elders had come by her house 3 or 4 times, to which she usually declines to hear the message. When she saw Zach and his companion, she got a distinct feeling to let them both in because she felt bad for declining to listen to the other elders. Zach was very thankful for the elders before them who planted a seed for this woman to have her heart softened enough to hear Zach's message for her.
Elder Van Pelt has heard a lot of weird things since he has been gone from home (like the missionaries work for the CIA and that the church steeples are direct antennas to communicate with America). One of the members this week told Zach about a very special fruit, a banana. She told him to rub a banana peel on his face at night to get rid of his acne, which he of course is trying. He hasn't seen a difference, but his face smells like fruity goodness now.
Now, we have seen a trend with Zach over in Chile... Grandmas really seem to not like him, or the missionaries. Good thing we get another peek into this hilarious trend! Zach and his companion were out tracting when they saw an old grandma walking across the street and seemed unhappy to see them. She was crossing the street with a stray dog slowly creeping up behind her. There are a lot of stray dogs in Chile, they usually just follow people and bark at them, but this "baby dog thing" (as Zach called it) decided to jump out from behind her and bit her leg. She immediately looked at Zach and his companion and said "that dog bit me!". Zachs companion asked if she needed help to which she looked at her leg, threw her arm in the air and sassily turned away and stomped off. Zach said that she deserved it because she needed to be humbled. Sounds like it didn't work.
Zachs message for this week is about the Book of Mormon. He wanted to testify to us that Christ lives and the Book of Mormon are words that are intended for us in this time. He said that if you ever have any doubts about your purpose here on earth, to turn to the Book of Mormon and let Christ into your life.
Until next week!
Hasta luego!
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