I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving, and had a great week!

This week was extremely productive and fulfilling for us, as we had lots of great lessons, and a great baptism! The primary president´s nine year old son, Vicente, got baptized, and it was a great experience for us, and for their whole family.

While being here in Calama, I´ve really grown to love this family, getting to know them in Río Loa, and here in Caspana as well.  Vicente´s dad, Claudio, is not a member, but feels that the church is true. He simply doesn´t feel he´s completely ready yet, or good enough for baptism. 

We decided it was very important to just help Claudio feel the Spirit, and that this is where he needs to be. The baptism itself was a very special experience, and then Sunday night, we had a Family Home Evening with them, and watched ´´the Testaments´´, about Jesus Christ´s visit to the Americas.  By the time the movie ended, we were all teary, and had felt the truth of the story extremely powerfully. Afterwards, we bore our testimonies, and explained that the the Love of Christ is often difficult to describe. That we don´t need to understand all the facts to feel the Spirit´s influence in our hearts in the form of a testimony. Claudio told us that no words could accurately describe what he felt during the video, and when we left, we asked him to give the prayer... something he previously has not been comfortable to do publicly. However, he willingly did so, and it really touched his wife, Paz, to see his step-by-step progression. It really shows how the Spirit can touch hearts, and prompt us to do things that bring us closer to God. 

That family home evening, was an extremely spiritual experience, and I left, absolutely extatic. Truly putting your heart into the work, to help others discover the joy of the Gospel for themselves, is a joy that is hard to match. Nothing compares to the joy someone can have to see another´s progression. Nothing in my life has come close to the overall work, disappointment, but also joy of the mission. There is nowhere I would rather be :)

I hope everyone else has another good week, and that everyone remembers the Spirit of Christmas, during this wonderful season. Love you all, and I´ll write again, next week!

-Elder Checketts