Week 25: Uncomfortable Visit

An investigator that we have been teaching for quite some time has finally decided that God exists. He is about 60 and many missionaries have taught him throughout his life, since his wife joined the Church. He's been open to trying to receive his own testimony, but has many doubts and has been afraid to commit to really change. I think he is opening up a little more now because he is starting to worry about what will happen when he dies. He shared his experience about how he came to decide there was a God. He had a horrible migraine one night, and he tried all sorts of things to get rid of it that usually help, but nothing worked. He couldn’t sleep because it hurt so badly, so he decided to pray to God. He asked God "if you really exist, get rid of this headache.” He said the instant that he asked in prayer, miraculously the headache went away, and he felt this strange warm energy in his body that he had never felt before. He said it was the craziest thing he’s ever experienced, and now he knows there is a God. The bummer is he still is dragging his feet to make big changes or really pray to God to ask if the church is true. I think one day he will be ready for the gospel, but maybe not while I’m here in Chillancito.

We did a small service for a relative of a recent convert. The relative works by making little chocolate eggs and such and selling them. We helped her wrap a bunch, which was fun. She also gave us some to sample, which were ubers yummy! :D

We had two mini-missionaries come to Chillancito this week for four days. A mini-missionary is a member between the age of 16 -18 that is considering serving a mission, but wants to have a trial run. They come from nearby stakes and do divisions with the missionaries, and basically become their companion for four days. Luckily, since there were only two, my companion and I didn’t have one, and didn’t have to split up. I would have been nervous to be with one since they probably wouldn’t help much with the lesson. They were with the other two hermanas for the four days, and it was fun for us to hear their stories and such.

Friday, we put on an activity that we missionaries and our ward mission leader made up. The Sandwichaso! Everyone brought their own sandwich creation for others to try, and then there was one winner. There was also karaoke. I attempted to sing the only English song they had (the fire rain song by Adele) but I didn’t know it very well. I failed. Lol! But the activity was a success. We had some investigators come and it was a lot of fun! :)

I saw a bright teal lizard. Woo! The first semi-exotic creature I’ve seen.

We found a new investigator who is very interesting. He is probably about 23 years old and is a little off. We found him by contacting him in the street, and then he ended up coming to the activity, which was great! So we made sure to visit him the next day. It was definitely an interesting experience. We both felt a little uncomfortable the minute we started talking with him in his house. Not horribly, but enough that we were abnormally uncomfortable. Every time we would try to mention something of Christ and such, he would get really fidgety and stand up real quick and say he needed water, or air, or something. Then he would walk around for a minute and sit back down. It was very hard to talk about our message. If we talked about our lives or conversational stuff, he was fine and would be calmer. Any time we tried to bring up who we are as missionaries and our purpose to help people find Christ and be baptized, he would get all fidgety and would start talking over us and change the subject.

Anyway, I’m out of time. I guess you will all have to wait till next week to hear more. Lo siento! I just never have enough time.

Week 24: Learning the Language

This week was better - I didn’t have a single migraine. Yaaaay!

Monday was p-day, and we got our hair cut for free by a member in our ward who cuts hair for her job. Then we all went and ate at a Chinese restaurant. The Chinese food wasn’t very good though. A lot of the food here in Chile is very bland. A lot of it looks yummy, but ends up having very little flavor. Some things are very yummy though! Just the majority - no. Haha! 

I also saw my first falling star here in Chile. The stars are pretty much the same constellations as at home. I still see Orion & the dippers and such.

Tuesday, we had our last class of district before transfers, and we had a fun Easter egg hunt as a zone in the church. I also went on my 1st division (which means my companion & I split up, and we each worked with a member as our companion for a while). I was very stressed about it since I am still a horrible teacher and fault a lot in the language, but I ended up enjoying it. I felt more confident than I expected. I definitely think the Lord helped me a lot! I went with a YSA sister who served a mission for nine months, then recently returned to her home because she was having problems with her knees. It was nice to go with her because she knows the lessons and such. There was an old investigator I found with her. She has been traveling for the past month, so we haven’t talked to her for a long time. Before she was extremely hard to understand because she would speak real fast, but this time I found that I could understand almost every word she said. It was such a neat feeling to realize that my Spanish is improving! Another investigator we went to told me my Spanish is very good for only five months on the mission, so that was nice.

Week 23: Syd's Rebuttal

1st off, I want to say in response to Lauren... I AM NOT a LIar!! Thank you. Lol! I never said there are lots of white peeps around here. I’ve said (at least I think I have) that lots stare and say us whiteys are beautiful because we’re different. But there are more people here in Chile who are almost white, and there are actually some white people around here. Maybe I said something about that, and that’s were she got confused. 

2nd, Her mission sounds quite different than mine! I shall try to talk about that in my next email.

3rd, I have to go sadly. But one fun fact, is yes, the students here are starting school this time of year. They have school in the winter also. And it has been getting quite cold here. 

This week has been annyoing. I’ve had six days with migraines out of eight all the sudden. I have no idea why, but very annoying.

Week 22: Five Months Out

HOLA!

 I have officially hit my 5 months mark. The longest I’ve ever been away from home. :O How crazy is that! And it’s definitely been the longest I’ve gone without actually hearing your voices. :( The good news is, I think I’m starting to finally adjust better. Only one more month and I will have hit the 1/3 of my mission mark. (6 months) Que loco!

This was a very good week. I’ve been feeling happier with my companion and the hermanas in my casa. Por fin! :D Plus, conference was fantastic!! I always love conference, and this time was especially great. I got to watch it in English too. Although we all had to watch the women’s conference in Spanish, but that’s okay. I understood most of it, so I was able to get something from it. It’s still not as good as when it’s in English though, for me. Some of the older English-speaking missionaries stayed in the Spanish sessions of conference because they felt more comfortable listening in Spanish now. O.o And some of the older Spanish missionaries came and listened in the English session too. The Spanish people are encouraged to learn English on the mission, so a lot of them learn quite a bit.

Transfers are in two more weeks. Time really does seem to fly here, even when things are hard. I think I will stay in Chillancito, which is good, because I’m content here still. I think I will probably have a change in companions, but who knows? Cambios are almost never what people expect.

My favorite talks from conference were:

- Lawrence E. Corbridge - about how Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God

- Gary Stevenson - about the four minutes and olympics

- Henry B. Erying - about how to recognize the good from the bad

- Russell M Nelson - about how truth is truth always, and that doesn’t change

- Boyd K. Packer - about how we can all know that the church really is true

- William R. Walker - about how precious our heritage as families and as a church is

- Marcos A. Aidukaitis - about how you will know the truth by the fruits of something

- D. Todd Christofferson - about how Christ really existed and its not all just psychological

I loved the conference! I felt the spirit a lot, and felt like a lot of the talks were just for me! I’m sure a lot of us feel that way, because if we really listen the spirit will help us hear and feel what we personally need. 

I just want you guys to know that I know this church is true. I know that God really exists, as well as Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They all care about our journey in this life, and want us to gain salvation. I really feel that God truly does love each one of us, and never forgets us. I know that this church truly is led by inspired apostles and a living prophet, and that the Lord is at the head of this church leading it. Have a great week. Study all the talks again when you can! Chao!