La Cueca

Sept 23, 2013

La Cueca

Dear Family and Friends,

Okay...everyone please, in this moment, clap your hand twice and then wait for two seconds, and then clap twice again…keep up the beat...and then you know what?? You are now clapping the beat for the CUECA!! (Pronounced kway--kah) the national dance of Chile!!!! And it is soo soo beautiful. Seriously, I had a mama bev moment watching it on Wednesday where I almost started tearing up because it was so beautiful. But yup!! It was the 18 de Septiembre this week, or their national independence day...I mean week...where all we do is dance, eat and celebrate (well, Chile does. Not the missionaries.) The cueca is a two person dance with a guy and a girl that represents a courtship, and the two wave handkerchiefs and...okay...just go look it up on youtube please because I don't think I can do it justice.

To set the scene: Every single house, street and window has a Chilean flag. We were not allowed to work on Wednesday because everyone and their mom is celebrating, but we had a celebration in the church that was basically a huge eating fest with dancing. In order to properly prepare ourselves and attempt to be Chilean, Hermana Mahterian and I had a huge search for the traditional dresses, Vestidos de China. We searched ALL over Purranque (I don't know that that’s saying much, since it is not that big hehehe) but we couldn't find it anywhere, but one of the members found out, and when she was is Osorno bought us the typical dress and she was absolutely tickled pink that we were going to wear them. We went, completely decked out, with our hair with the traditional Roses (besitos, or little kisses, they´re called) with a belt with the Chilean flag and the handkerchief with our names embroidered on them that one of the members had also made for us....and the irony is is that we were the ONLY ones with dresses of china apart from the little girls. But the members were SO excited and kept oohing ahhing. We were the only ones with the clothes to dance the cueca, and the only woman who didn't know HOW to dance the cueca hahahaha. 

And the food? oh heavens...where to even start. Empanadas, alfejores (two little like...cookies with manjar in the middle, cazuela (a type of soup with veggies and meat), Mote con huesilla (its like mom´s cooked whole wheat but with brown sugar and canned peaches) and Alfachucas (shishkabobs!) whew. 

But some of the best parts were with Fernanda and Fabian. They were there at the church for MORE time than we were. And that is saying something because we were there for EIGHT hours. Fernanda rocks the cueca, and Fabian helped with all of the barbeque. 

My other favorite part of the week was when we went to visit Fernanda and Fabian this week. Fernanda had been completely inspired on Wednesday by the story of one of the elders who is a convert, and so when we returned to visit her, she told us that she had been watching the video of the restoration that we had told her about, a twenty minute thing. I asked her how she liked it and she told me "oh, well I am about halfway through…" Halfway through? But its twenty minutes! We then realized that she is watching the hour and a half movie of the church about Joseph Smith, which she had found on youtube. She also really wanted a triple since she wants to know more about the doctrina and convenios, so she had downloaded it from LDS.org, had found Teaching of Lorenzo snow, and had read half of Lds.org and is stoked about conference. Isn´t a testimony an amazing thing? Its been incredible to see her change, from her passive listening in the beginning to this HUNGER that she now has for every single thing she can find. Fabian is...not quite there, but they are going to be one powerhouse couple in the church. 

Oh! Other highlight! Gladys is trying SO hard to quit smoking, bless her heart, so please keep her in her prayers because she wants so badly to be baptized this Saturday. She keeps telling us "I think half the ward is going to come to see if I really do it! After 14 years and with a daughter in the mission..finally!"

Well I love you all!! Thank you for the updates and this week is the night of the Worth of Woman, and I am SO stoked so I´ll let you know how it goes!!

Love always,

hermana Monroe