WELCOME!

Bienvenidos a la Mision Chile Santiago Norte! We love the Savior, and are blessed to be part of this great work, to share His gospel, and invite others to come unto Him. We are grateful to have this incredible opportunity to associate with such fine young men and women and other couples who are serving in this wonderful part of the vineyard. We decided to share this mission through a blog, with any who would like to know more.... All of the lessons, talks, training, conferences, and meetings are obviously done totally in Spanish, but for the sake of this writer, the notes are here in English, for speed in typing, and therefore, mixed with a bit of both worlds. We hope all of our missionaries, families, and loved ones can enjoy this blog, in spite of the writing, grammar, language, errors, etc. This will be a miraculous journey, and we invite you to share and enjoy it with us.

Lovingly, con cariño,
Presidente Michael May
Hermana Carol May

Monday, March 14, 2011

Isla de Juan Fernandez and Eucalyptus Trees/Armor of God

How important it is that each of us put on the armor of God each day to protect us from the harmful enticings of the adversary (2 Nephi 9:39). What does putting on the armor of God mean to us? In D&C 27:15-18 we are taught:

15 Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.

16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you;

17 Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;

18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen.

We recently visited the branch located on Robinson Crusoe Island. It was a wonderful opportunity to visit and get to know the members on the Island. We are very grateful for the dedicated service of Pedro Chamorro who has served as branch president for the past 25 years. His daughter, Maria Belen, has been called to serve in the Chile Osorno mission and will enter the MTC this Thursday. She is the first full time missionary serving from Robinson Crusoe Island! She will be a fantastic missionary.

We had the opportunity to hike back into some of the remote areas of the Island. It is very spectacular with many beautiful trees and plants. There is a particular tree called the Eucalyptus that really thrives on the Island. It has a large root system that soaks up much of the water and moisture around it, so much that much of the plant life and other trees cannot survive because of lack of moisture.

In order to keep the population of the Eucalyptus trees at a level where other plant life can survive, workers have to kill some of the trees. They do it in a very interesting way (see attached photo). They remove a 8 to 12 inch segment of the bark from the base of the tree. Without the bark to protect it from the heat of the sun, the tree begins to dry up and eventually die.

What a great example for us of the importance to put on the armor of God each and every day so that we are protected from temptation and sin that can damage our living testimony. Is my prayer that we as missionaries can wear the armor of God so that we can be strong, valiant and worthy to proclaim His living Gospel to the wonderful people here in Chile.

We are grateful for your dedication and diligence in bringing souls to Christ,
President May
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