I. Love. Chile.

Allo everyone! I am now in Chile for the next 18 months and I couldnt be more excited about it! Waking up every morning and putting on my tag is the best feeling. Im so blessed to have the opportunity to wear Christs name dailey.


Few things I have learned so far 
- Nobody has a front door here, only front gates. Because of that we yell "allo!" Really loud outside so the owner knows we are there.
- Pan (bread) every day! All day every day. They sell it for less than an American dollar here and its pretty good
- To say goodbye always give a kiss on the cheek then say "Chao!"
- street dogs and cats EVERYWHERE. Never touch them
- Chileans only eat huge lunches at 2pm so instead of going to eat "once" (Chilean way to say dinner) at members homes, we have member lunches every day of the week!
- Chileans don't pronounce the letter "s" ever. Little confusing for me at times but Im getting used to it
- my area has small homes that are all cramped up to each other because I'm way North. I love it. But down south is "fake NYC" we call it. Its pretty well developed and nice in the heart of Santiago I just don't get to go there


It has been so much fun. I took an 8 hour flight to Santiago and landed at 7am. Immediately met my new companion, Hermana Mcmullin. She is from Arkansas, plays piano, and studied photography in New York! Her spanish is amazing and many people said "oh shes the best" so I'm very thankful. 

We went right out into our Zone: Zapadores, Area: Villa Primavera. Taught some lessons and met our friends. Chileans laugh at my last name and call it raro (weird) because in spanish it means "from the hole". I don't know enough Spanish to explain so I just shrug my shoulders and laugh.

We taught a new convert Massiel and her mom Marcia one day about temples. Marcias son passed away when he was a little baby. Being able to teach about eternal families and temple work to a person who thinks her son is gone forever was a heartwarming experience. Marcia was so intrigued and asking several questions. My testimony grew so strong in that moment. I felt the holy spirit set fire to my heart. She said "Wow this is so beautiful". I know this gospel is true and being able to teach it to others is an experience like no other. If you are thinking about serving a mission or even serving others in general, don't hesitate. Go and do.

We ate lunch with an Abuela and her two nietos yesterday. She had the table all set up nice for us, it reminded me of my mom setting up for family dinners. The kids were pretending to be cowboys with guns. One boy turned to the other with a finger gun, lowering his voice saying "Estas serán tus últimas palabras!" (these will be your final words) then fake shot him. It was really funny in Spanish especially cause he is 5.

Our apartment is actually outside of our zone, so to go to our neighborhood we have a 15ish min walk. It could be faster but we need to walk around la Chimba!! La Chimba is what we call this triangle shaped neighborhood. There are tons of people who sell drugs or alcohol outside of their gates and its very sketch. Well, Hna. Mcmullin is throwing me into the deep end for training. She said one night "okay take us home".... well I was leading us the right way then kinda led us into la Chimba. She kept quiet and wouldnt help. After getting catcalled 3 times in the span of a couple mins I realized we were in la Chimba. I turned us around and we went home safe. We are moving into a closer house in April.

We taught this lady a little lesson and while doing so her adult son came in with a pack of cigs and a bag of something suspicious. He handed her the cigs then handed us the suss bag. He said "try it"... we were very hesitant and he said "su carne de caballo. Pruébalo pero no lo tragues" So we tried the horse jerkey. It was very odd. But im still alive and healthy. He kept offering more. Its rude to say no so I ate more and kept the rest in my hand till the end of the lesson. There is a video of us trying it on my google album.

My mission president is cool! We share our zone with some Élders and they are also fun! I love saying hello to every person on the street and I love just being a missionary! 

Saying bye to the MTC district was sad but thankfully we will be friends forever. Me gusta laundry.

I hope you are all doing well! If you want to hear more shoot me an email!

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