Temples.

Hola Familia.

Well thats fun that you are in Wisconsin Mom with David and Mary (and Alisa and Greg). Thats also cool that Andy is running Marathons again.

This week was pretty cool I guess. Two things:

So on Saturday night at like 8:15ish me and Elder Given are walking in the street in the flat part of our sector looking and walking towards the two giant hills in Chamiza. When suddenly EVERYTHING goes black. The power went out. Its rather interesting to see two hills full of lights just go black. Then look around and realize that all of Viña and Valparaíso are without power. People start running out of there houses and everything (apparently this what they do when there is a loss of power because sometimes shortly before a big earthquake the power will go out). So not just the power goes out, but also the cell phones aren't working. So we walk to the Church (where there is a better view of things) and also to a members house and then we just went back to the pencion. Let me tell you...it was dark. The stars looked amazing. But, it was dark. The cell phones start working and the Zone leaders call to make sure that everything is ok and Elder Mace tells me that he had just talked to assistants, who told him that there was no power from La Serena to Valdivia. For those of you who don't know Chilean geography...go look at a map. its a really big span to have without power. I mean, in the end nothing happened, the power came back on at like 10:40ish. But still, some major power transformer in like Coquimbo failed. Which caused a power failure in all they way down to like Valdivia. Pretty crazy.

So on Saturday, two couples from the ward went to the Temple and got sealed. So in church on sunday they invited them to share their testimonies. It was really cool. The two husbands were both baptized a little over a year ago.  Its cool to see recent converts go to the temple.  The Soc-Soc (RS) Presidenta testified about the importance of being obedient. To both our earhtly parents and Heavenly Parents. I loved hearing her testify about the importance of obedience. it really is the key to everything. the other hermana said something that really called my attention. I think because I have had similiar experiences in the Santiago Temple. She said when she finished her endowment session she just felt like she was part of a family. It made me think of something. yes, the Church is same everywhere you go. But sometimes there are different feelings between different wards and stakes. BUT, something that I love about going to the temple in Santiago is that, apart from the language and maybe the floorplan, it is EXACTLY the same as the Temple in Dallas, the Provo temple etc. Everything is the same. The Spirit. The white clothing. everything. It doesn't matter where you are in the world. The Temple is the same everywhere. And it really does make you feel like you are in a giant family. I don't know if this makes sense. it was an interesting thought that I had...but I am not sure if i can explain it well. In the end,  Anyway, I love the Temple. Through the temple we are sealed together as families and in a way, return to our heavenly home.

Things are going well I guess. We are struggling to find investigators. But, sigamos no más.

Mom, did you realize tomorrow marks 8 years since the family moved to Texas. THAT'S CRAZY. Maybe you can finally repeat those famous words you said outside the Manti, Temple when commenting on the weather, "...I am from Texas" haha. I love you Mom!

Well I hope you all enjoy conference. I am SOOO excited. I don't think you understand. Well I gotta go. I love you all!

Go to conference!

Elder Hyer