Are You Ready for Some Football!

Caroline, Alex, Elders Schwartz, and Sandoval

Dear Family!

It is great to hear that everyone is doing so well!  And thank you for the weekly photos, i really enjoy that.

This week went by so fast!  Lots of good things happened, but it's making me sad that time is going by so fast because Elder Sandoval only has twk weeks left!  We gotta make them count!  Mercedez and Claudio are doing well, we had a good family home evening with  Mercedez this week.  Our family home evening with claudio didn't happen because he found a job, which actually is good news.  This week I got to go on divisions (splits) with the Assistants.  I went to their area, and I went with Elder Schade, who I was rooming with in Chiloe.  He is a really cool guy, so we had a really good time together.  I learned a lot, that's for sure.

This week during my scripture study, I was reading in Alma, and it has been so interesting, because this time reading Alma, I have been able to really connect personally to the characters: to Alma, to Amulek, and to Ammon, because they are missionaries.  I am kind of walking in their shoes, and I feel like I understand a lot better how they feel and do and say.  Anyway, this week there was a passage in Alma 14 that really stuck out to me, verses 9 to 11. See Alma chapter 14 here.  It helped me to understand why bad things happen to good people, or why Heavenly Father allows bad things to happen.  I know that every unjust thing that happens in this life will be made just in the life to come, just as Alma testified to Amulek on that hill on that sad day.

Dad, you had some questions about trek......if i remember right, there was a music night, and some old time dancing too, right?  I remember that i really liked that part, or maybe it was a musical devotional....... whatever it was, i really enjoyed it.  I also liked the log cutting activity....... and it was fun because we had free time every once in a while and we were able to meet up with our friends and just talk.  I remember that in that activity i really got to know Dakota Smythe a lot better, which was cool.  Oh, and the end with President Score dressed up as Brigham Young with Porter Rockwell, that was good too.

It makes me really happy to hear that you are working with the missionaries in our ward, keep it up!  Give them references (referrals), that's what they need!  

Today was good.  Alex and Caroline from Chiloé came up here to La Reina to see Elder Sandoval and me, and that was a lot of fun.  We had lunch and played soccer.  It was a great time.

Anyways, sorry this email was so short.  Thank you so much for your love, for your emails, for your thoughts and prayers and everything.  I am really, really blessed to be here in Chile, in Tobalaba.  It's where I want to be, but more importantly, it's where I need to be.

I love you all.  The church is true! 

Until next week!

Elder Schwartz