AAALLOOOOoooOOOO from Chile!! I'm here and safe and can't believe it!! haha Wow..there really is so much that I want to tell you and could tell you, hopefully I can paint a picture for you of what the past few days have been like...
First off, my companion is Hermana Hardy. She is incredible. I just sit there and gape at how amazing of a missionary she is; she knows how to love and connect with the people and really bring them to Christ. She understands her purpose as a missionary and she knows how to work with the members. There are so many things that I need to learn from her, and I know that I was paired with her for a reason, so I'm praying that I'll be able to soak in all the lessons I can from her. She is from Nevada, studied American History at BYU before the mission and she has 2 transfers left...but not trunky in the slightest. If anything else, the number of days left is a big motivation and push for her to accomplish everything that she's wanted to on her mission. She knows how to work hard.
As for "Conti" this area is the promised of the promised land. It is a quaint little pueblo that I've already fallen in love with. It has a lot of hills and trees and broken sidewalks and colorful houses and beautiful flowers. It was really affected by the big earthquake (that happened exactly one year ago) and a lot of people say it was a lot prettier before, but it's great. And there are so many people here that are prepared to hear and accept the gospel. The chapel was being remodeled for a while (from earthquake stuff I think), but has just recently opened back up.
So the "Puertas Abiertas" or Open house for the chapel was our big project we were working on this week. We were concentrating on inviting people to that and encouraging people to find out more about who the "Mormons" were. Thanks to the help of the amazing ward here in Conti, it turned out to be a HUGE SUCCESS! We had our whole zone come up and for the whole afternoon on Saturday they were out talking to people in the plaza and pulling people in who wanted to have a little tour of the new church and learn more about what we believe. Once they got led to the church, Hna Hardy and I led them through the different rooms, which the members had set them up with their respective auxiliaries...like the Sunday school and the YM-YW, Relief Society...and they explained to them what it was that this specific part of the church did. They ended up in the chapel where we taught them about the sacrament and the importance of being baptized and cleansed through Christ. We got so many people that wanted to be taught more, and had been prepared by the Lord to be open to our message. A handful of people even accepted baptismal dates right on the spot, so we'll be working a lot with these new people in order to prepare them and teach them more. President Humphrey and his wife also came up, and it was their first trip to Conti, so it was a really big deal, and such a big testimony builder to me. Mitch, I can really see how good members make all of the difference. The people here in Conti, just are missionary people, and it is so cool to see their excitement about the gospel, and invitation to everyone to enjoy what they have. It makes our work as missionaries so much easier!!
Other than that, we've been teaching, or "sharing" is how it translates, with several others who are preparing for their baptisms. In the past couple of weeks there has been about 11 baptisms, of people that Hna. Hardy taught, so I'm trying really hard to keep the ball rolling!! There are 3 young men who remind me a lot of Curtis! haha Guillermo and Gaston are 18 and 19 and they are fun, energetic boys who like to play soccer and who have completely changed their lives around after hearing about the gospel. Everyday they don't smoke, drink or break the law of chastity is a celebration!! wa-hooo! They have dates for this Sunday and next, so we'll be making sure that they are prepared. Along with Eduardo (who's 18 and just got baptized a couple of weeks ago) we tease them that they make up the Jonas brothers. haha Also, a sweet 12 boy, Sebastian, is a son of a recent convert who has the simplest desires to be a good boy and wants to change and be baptized as well.
Missionary work really is a juggling act! I'm learning that it takes a lot of skill and practice to get good at it! Along with finding and teaching people, we get to keep track of the recent converts and coordinate members to come with us to help us teach, and make daily contact with the people we're teaching, and make sure that they're progressing, and coordinate family nights and probably a lot more things that I have yet to discover!! But it's really exciting! We hold an English class on Wed. and then also, we've formed a choir that meets on Thurs. There's a recent convert who is studying music, and he led us all in a song on Saturday for the Open house as well as Sunday in church. The choir is pretty much all made up of recent converts or investigators or Young Single Adults in the ward, so it's been really great.
As for the apartment and sleeping and food: Pretty nice! Hna Hardy, and I are with another companionship, Hna Kraemer from Ogden (been out 1 transfer and didn't speak Spanish before) and Hna Robertson (been out about a year) from Orem and they are really cool, chill girls. Bedding is taken care of. I love hopping into bed at night with all of my lovely little critter friends :) I've already gotten used to the fact that I'm going to wake up with 5 new flea bites every morning. They say that some areas are worse than others, but that everyone has to deal with them. I guess I'll just have to layer on the deet a little more! haha I just have a lot more pity for the dogs who have fleas..
Oh! and one last thing I was going to tell you about, is Hna Hardy and Hna Robertson had to go to this leadership training last night, leaving me and Hna. Kraemer to teach a couple of lessons last night and tonight. Keep in mind that I can pretty much communicate Spanish and Hna Kraemer can navigate the city, and that's pretty much it. Ha! IF ONLY I COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO SAY! seriously, these Chileans know how to really make it impossible to understand them...and they all know they're hard to understand. I'm getting better and better at picking out the words that they are taking off the s's and adding "po's" onto everything. I'm still pretty hesitant to jump into a lesson or ask questions (a key to good teaching) since I won't be able to understand what they say back. Usually I'll be fine to start off, and then they just go off, and I look at Hna Hardy with a look of HELP and she takes over. So I was pretty amazed that I came out the lessons alive last night without Hna Hardy :) Just goes to show how worthless we are in this work without the spirit. We can only work so hard and do all we can, and the people who experience the change of heart and gain a true testimony of the gospel do their part to feel and accept the spirit and the Savior working in their lives. This work shows miracles every, single, day.
Well, it sounds like everyone is doing greeaatttt! Thank you so much for the encouragment and support! It was so fun to talk with you all on the phone (minus Jed)! Know that I miss you and love you all! Hopefully you can all feel my prayers and love and excitement for you as you keep on keepin on in your lives! Curt- I can't believe the b-ball is done for good, wow! good luck with futbol tryouts, I'm sure you'll do great. I'll be waitin for the "info" ;) Jed- Congrats on the good scores in school and also for keepin this Amanda girl around. I'm really proud of you! haha Don't mess up a good thing! Clint- dont break any bones skiing and try not to have too much fun! Rach- good luck with all the cords and patients, pressures on to not break anyone's heart (HA! okay, bad joke) Dad- YOU CAN DO IT! You're amazing, and I know this time of year is crazy, but gotta love it, right? Mom- you've always been the best secretary, no matter the hours you keep :) don't worry a smigen about me. I don't know what I want to do for bedding, but I'll keep ya posted.
I love you soSOso much!! Your testimonies and example have helped me so much! I feel very inadequate for the work that I've got in front of me, but I'd feel even more inadequate without the life and experiences I've had growing up in such a good family, in such a good atmosphere, with the people that I've had the opportunity to know.
Les QUIERO MUCHO! con amor, Hermana Kelli
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