CHILE!!!!!

March 16, 2013

Dear Family and Friends....

Where to even start???? Well, Chile is the BEST. Seriously. Chileans are my kind of people. I feel like in the pre-existence, I was probably Chilean...I LOVE THEM. I seriously am obsessed with Chile and my mission...  I am probably going to never come home...okay es una broma. Yo prometo. quizas. 

So here in Chile, which of the following do you think happened in these first three days?

A. My first contact was a drunk. And I didn´t realize it until afterwards when my trainer explained what Barroco means. 

B. I made my first ridiculous mistake with the language (I told these two cute old men that i was ´´estoy pecando para está aqui¨ or that I was SINNING to be here--I mean to say pagando which is I am PAYING for the opportunity to be here jajajajajaja)

C. I accidentally made the okay sign which is VERY rude when speaking with the cute abuelia less active...good thing she is as sweet as the nectarines here! (Sammy, the nectarines here are to DIE for. and I am here just in the nick of time to have nectarine season all over again!)

The answer is.....drumroll.....

D all of the above!!! They are all ridiculously hilarious stories and good thing both of my companions have really good senses of humor...we laugh a lot together!

hahaha but seriously it´s all true. I am in the Centro Zona of Osorno in a threesome, and I seriously love it so much. My trainer is Argentinian and doesn´t speak much English, while my companion is from the states as well and out of the two of us I have a lot more Spanish background. They are sister Reese and Sister Centurión. But what´s awesome is that Sister Reese and I have a goal to not speak English at all so I have been completely, fully spanishly immersed. Since we live too with another companionship with a nicuraguan and a Pervuvian, we are learning all types of spanish accent!! But thank heavens for Hma Centurion since her spanish is very clear--after appointments a lot of times she has to translate what the Chileans were saying since their accent is kind of tricky.

 I think the best way to describe where I am is as very similar to the area of the Philippines were Sheralie lived--kind of the nicer suburb area of Osorno. Actually, it isn´t as nice but there are definitely some areas that the other Chileans call ¨cuico¨a slang for rich. Oh!! And get this--we are in the same ward as the mission president, talk about pressure!! 

There have also been so many miracles this week. I don´t know where to start. For example, the Lord is really blessing me to be able to understand much more than I should be able to--whenever it is most important to, I can understand Spanish. Another miracle are the little things that have happened--we were contacting and there was a woman who got very angry with us and told us she used to be Mormon but no one at the church cared about her and her sons. We left and were waiting to cross the street when I looked at hma centurion and asked if we could go back...she said if I really wanted to we could, and so i walked back and bore my testimony that I was sorry she felt unloved, but that I wanted her to know that I was here, paying to be here in Chile, because the Lord and I loved her so much. I started to cry and I could see her heart softened. She launched into a long explanation of what had happened (which I didn’t really understand but I nodded the whole time) and than gave us all hugs. She doesn´t live in our district, but It was a heart healed and I really really hope she returns to church. Another miracle: we were singing to a MA in our ward who just came home from surgery, and while we were singing (with another MA who is in the ward and lives next door! two MAs with one song!!) he was very visibly moved and I felt the love of god SO STRONGLY for this man that I started to tear up as well (I promise I don´t cry all the time. Just a lot of the time) and as I told him how much the Lord loved him I could just feel the importance of these people to the Lord.(oh and MA means less active or menos activa) But we also have some awesome investigators, including this mother, Carolina, who I really really hope things progress with.

kaykay, well, I have to go because I only still have thirty minutes to write, but I hope you all know how much I love you! Mail is very safe here! oh and the sun is shining and it is GORGEOUS here. and the bread is to DIE for--they sell it in little tiny stores tucked in the streets.

I’ll send you pics next time--I’m out and the comp is UBER slow!

BESOS!