Today was an utterly fantastic day! Why, you may ask from the depths of your soul? I'll tell you why. We had a zone activity to the famous thermal springs of Chillan. And it was a blast.

The true greatness of the day is reflected in that we actually had to spend the night in Chillan with several other great Elders, who are all inspirations and wonderful friends to me. The night was full of hilarious stories and great new experiences as well, and we were well exhausted by the time we all fell asleep. We loaded up, early in the morning with two other zones, 50+ Elders and Sisters in all, and rode the bus for several hours. As we made it into the Alps, we were a bit disappointed to find that the normal snow capped peaks were lacking the snow. Regardless, we did not let that stop us!

In a group of about 12, we headed off in search of a backwoods trail that would take us to a natural hot spring high in the mountains. It was a fantastic journey, and quite a bit more difficult than I had thought, but we made it to the top, or quite near enough to the top. About ten minutes from the nearest peak was a great, steaming hot spring. It reaked of sulfur, but the great view and greater pictures we took made it all worth it. I had thought that because we walk all day, especially in the hilly country of Yungay, that I could handle this hike pretty easily. That was not the case, haha. 

We had several great experiences this week. Many were in the midst of difficulties, and were welcome blessings from the Lord.
The first, from a contact that we made the last week. The woman we had contacted had little to no interest in our message, but her sister had happily given us her contact information. This Tuesday, in the midst of pouring rain, we were pormpted to stop by this nice lady, finding not only her but two of her children in her home. I have never, in my mission or at other points of life, met a woman who has opened up so throuroughly in a first visit. She told us every single one of her needs and desires without anything more than a few simple introductory questions. She has a great desire to learn more and receive the blessings of heaven, and we will be happy to visit in the future.

As the week wore on, it appeared that several of our previous investigators would not be progressing, so we redoubled our efforts to find those who can. We were prompted to pass by several members who had been helpful in the past, and received great blessings from our visits. The first lady wasn't available, but her non member husband happily talked with us for almost an hour about every aspect of the gospel of Christ. Though he has a few points mixed up, he has an incredible knowledge about these things, quoting scripture from memory and sharing concepts I have only begun to understand myself. The second hermana was quite happy to let us in, because a friend of hers had recently experienced some bad problems. Because we had recently helped this hermana with her own experiences, she eagerly gave us three references (One of which has already turned out to be a marked success). How incredible these people and these blessings.

It hasn't been easy, and there have been marked problems and challenges every step of the way, but I am more reassured than ever that Jesus Christ is personally heading this work, and that He wants it, and us, to succeed. I love you all, and hope that you have another fantastic week ahead of you.
Elder Richardson