Valdivia and McDonalds

Good Morning America!!!

  

Greetings from Valdivia!

Valdivia is the biggest, prettiest city that I have seen in Chile so far. It is a small but bustling city that is nestled in between rolling hills. It´s like Rosarita meets Spokane Washington. We are in the middle of a bowl of mountains that are covered with verdant green and there are two sprawling rivers that cut through Valdivia, and we are in the residential area that is on the edge of the river. I think Hermana Espinosa is tired of hearing me say, about five times a day and every time that I see the river "OH!! Que linda!!! me encanta el agua!!" 

But do you know what they have as the taste of America here?

This morning, I asked Hermana Espinosa "Hermana, what do you like to do on Pday?"

"Oh hermana, I like to do to Messdonnna."

"sorry, what?"

"Messdonna!"

"OH! McDonalds!!" heavens! What in the world is MCDONALDS doing here?! Seriously? 

But hermana Espinosa is 29 years old, from Buenos Aires (her accent is already catching) and one of the skinniest woman that I have ever seen. She has a quiet but very strong character, and at times she reminds me a bit of Sheralie.

To be honest, when I got here in Valdivia it was a bit like I got poured over with a bucket of cold water--Reality shot. Hermana Espinosa sat me down and told me: "Valdivia is NOT in a good state. There has not been a baptism in the zone for five months, and not a baptism in our ward for a year now. Everyone is worried...president, president of the stake, everyone. Right now, the sector is progressing. But we have to work hard. The problem is that we are never in our sector because we spend about three weeks of six on exchanges."

whew.

So basically I am excited, cause it is going to be a good challenge. I have already cried, worked hard, and found a lot of comfort in the scriptures.

With Hermana Espinosa and I, it´s taken a bit of time to adjust to each other--two very different missionaries, with 2 different missions, experiences, 2 different styles of teaching and 2 very different personalities. But I already adore her.

But one thing that I know without doubt, and I watched her, almost open mouthed gaping--because she is a master teacher. She teaches with so much clarity that the investigators can’t help but understand. I am already learning so much from her and I can tell that it will be a turning point in my mission, for so many reasons.

Love you all!!!

 Hermana Monroe