There and Back Again, a Sister Missionary's Tale : June 24th, 2013

Ok so about the crazy subject title. We have taught Milo some american slang lately and that´s one that he has come to master.

this pday is pretttyyy dang awesome so far. We did our studies, ate some pan, heard the elementary school out back pound some reggatone...kinda sounded like a dance party, and then took the cab to viña with a collectivo driver who was very friendly. sometimes they're really grumpy and get peeved because we don't know good spanish...hahahaha. Things to know about collectivos : the first time you ride them or a microbus) you feel like you might die. after that, its like the most epic thing ever. (its like mitch driving on trail creek road...but 10 times crazier!! joking...joking...) imagine driving through all the concrete chilean houses in their curvy roads, few stoplights, many hills, and seeing the sahweet pacific ocean out your window. yeah be jealous!! i love chile!! (plus they were playing bon jovi and sweet child of mine on the radio...soooo that was cool. shhhh.)

anyways....ok YES the broadcast last night was like the greatest thing ever. I don't know what the effect will be while i am down here, but i think its awesome. Like for reals, that is awesome. Plus, I love Elder Holland´s "buenas tardes" last night. ohhh man i thought i had a bad gringo accent. we had a good laugh about that here! That broadcast seriously pumped me up!

So...this week. Until the broadcast, a bit lame. We got sick...boo. We both dress warm and all, but i think because everybody is getting sick this time of year. Plus the air weighs down more because we are closer to the sea...i think. People always say "abrigense!" which means pretty much put on the layers you moron. I can't blame them. it gets dang cold some days! not like colorado, but just like this sea coldness. I really tried to tough it out and beat it, but we went out to almuerzo and we both accepted defeat because we could hardly breath. We went back and studied instead as to not make it worse. i did however finish the 3 book of nephi, and started into Mormon.

Okay....3 nephi rocks. what a happy time to be alive for them!! man its sweet because so many people waited so long for the Savior to come, and he finally comes. The Gadianton robbers make me crazy though. And seriously, I love the way the Savior teaches. Its so simple, but clear! He is very direct, but so loving. That is a very good quality in a good missionary. Hermana Schrader calls 4 Nefi the sad book. Its so true. It starts out so happy and everybody is friends, then turns into awful chaos that actually did happen. I can't imagine being Mormon, surrounded by thousands and thousands "as numerous as the sands of the sea" who all are eventually destroyed. so so sad =(. Mormon is definitely the best author ever though. I think he basically beats anybody else, and is super humble about it too.

Its pretty sweet that mormon is perceived as a "sober child" when he is ten years old. shows how flipping amazing and important he is. May I suggest a chapter to read? Mormon 8 and 9. YOUR MIND WILL BE BLOWN. seriously. i can't believe i have read the book of mormon so many times and never. Mormon is dang direct and if you put him speaking like an Elder Holland or Monson (because he uses much boldness), its pretty amazing!!!!

Its also really sad too. He loves his people, but can only do so much for them. Poor guy. Okay, seriously i'm psyched about the scriptures!! if anyone be wanting a book of mormon discussion, when i get back i'll be the first to sign up.

okay so cute moment of the week. we were at hermana sonias and sharing a scripture with her husband who isn’t a member. she was trying to clean the dishes because she was going to meet her sister in viña to go shopping and was in a hurry. she then came and sat down halfway through and said "soy como marta!" i am like martha. (martha, mary, Jesus story when one is listening and one is cleaning). it was so cute. hahahah. she then shared that in relief society yesterday...she is awesome.

We ate colombian food this week. courtesy of milo and liliana, and it being leo's birthday. chilean food is so so, depending on where you're at, but colombian food???? oh my goodness its delicious. it was like fried bananas, rice, beans, chorizo, pig hide(sounds nasty, but its like bacon). i'm a fan.

we got two new investigators this week!!!!! they are 15 and 16. Okay so I love teaching that age because they aren't always blind (by the craftiness of men...hehe jk.) they let us in and we taught them about the book of mormon. it was interesting. the girl said she didn't really like to read and kinda had that look on her face of "why are you in my house". i briefly bore testimony of the book of mormon and the look on her face kinda got serious for a minute. it was kinda cool. we get to visit them again on tuesday. so psyched! we didn't get to see too many others this week which was super lame, but this week is last week of cambio. dunno if i'll get transferred, but i'm kinda keeping my fingers crossed to be here one more! Plus, my spanish is getting better each day and i can finally understand the colombians and chileans!!! (they both talk dang fast. at least down here.)

We saw Hermano Rave. I make sure we see him at least once a week. he is such a sweet old man. Hermana sonia came with us and she gets to work. We cleaned his kitchen, and it was sad because he really is partially paralyzed and can't do much. we cleaned his kitchen and i trimmed his fingernails. now i know that doesn't sound exactly appetizing, but the look on his face afterwards of being grateful for something simple...it made me feel really good.

You may be inquiring of the pictures of us with paint on our faces. Its a simple game we did for fhe at hna sonias. you basically write numbers twice and put a circle around them, and count up to about 35. then you have to draw a line from a number to the other duplicate of that number without touching any other number or line with your pencil. it is actually super fun. if you touch them, then you get marked with paint by your opponents. it was crazy!

we bought empanadas this week and while we were there, what song meets my ear? concerning hobbits, from lotr song. yes. pretty much made my day. i kinda was super psyched as you can imagine.

Hermana sonia has recently wanted to learn a few english phrases each day. she kinda half jokes that she needs to know them if she ever visits us in colorado. i wish you could all meet her because she is amazing!!!!!!

Well yes. i promise next week stories will be better. we didn't have too much luck and we need members to visit some of the others to help us on some parts.

hope y'all like da pictures. chile is insane. its still weird to me sometimes that i'm on the other side of the world, but i promise you it is flipping awesome and i love it.

have a good week. les quiero.

hermana emily hanks