Staying in Punta Areans

11/22/2006

Well big news. I am still here in punta arenas for another cambio. I am going to celebrate Christmas and thanksgiving here, well they don’t have thanksgiving and so I am not going to celebrate anything really. But that is okay. Hna agurto left this morning for Osorno, she is going to be in the sector of the pres and hna Faulkner. She needed to leave, six months in one sector is a lot. She was excited and nervous. It was actually really sad. We had become really good friends and really close. Obviously since we have spent every minute of every day together for three months now. It is really weird that she is not here. It was hard to say goodbye and to know that we aren’t going to see each other again until I finish my mission and even at that it will only be at the temple in Santiago when I pass through on my way home. Such is the life of the mission. People come and people go. I learned a lot from her though, a lot. She has helped me so much. I feel a little empty today though a little sad. But I will get over it. My new companion is hna Moreno, she was hna morphis´s comp at the beginning who has been here in punta arenas for one cambio but in the other sector of hnas. It is going to be interesting. I am a little nervous and don’t have much confidence with it but I know that is really bad of me. I know I can’t be that way. I know I am not trusting in the lord. I am going to learn a lot of Spanish in this cambio because she doesn’t talk very much with the people. It is going to be the exact opposite of what hna agurto is. Hna Moreno is Chilean also. So I just need to pray hard and have faith in her and the lord and that he has put us together for a reason. It will be great. It is really weird not to have hna agurto. Mom if you are feeling really nice and want to send hna agurto a Christmas present she lovessssssssssssssss corn nuts. Just send it to the mission to Carolina agurto. It would be awesome if she got that from you. She loved them. So that is me. I am with my new comp already because she only had to move across town. That is me.

Hna agurto and I finished reading the book of Mormon out loud in Spanish. First time I have read a book I didn’t understand. J Well I can understand it a little bit better now but not too much. It was fun.

The pumpkin patch sounds awesome LeAnne, I bet it was so much fun. So awesome. Mom, the pictures of the house look great. I hope you had fun moving over the weekend. It is coming along it seems. You guys are probably pumped.

So I am getting better at Spanish. I had to give another talk in church on Sunday. It went well I think. I had two people later quote my talk or tell me it was good. I understand so much better. I have really improved in the last two weeks. I just have to keep practicing. It is funny I have translated a few things for people and people will stop me in the street to have me translate something for them, I had one guy track me down, running to have me translate something for him. It is funny.

If anyone feels nice they can send me their weekly forecast from here so I know what the temperature is, I know it is cold and that is about it. It always rains without clouds here, it is really weird. In the harbor now that it is summer, well kind of, there are always cruise ships there. Yesterday there is a hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee one from the USA, so today there are tons of gringos in the streets, it is funny.

What else can I tell you guys. Oh yeah hna was sick last week so we didn’t work to much. It sucked, I hadn’t realized how much I like to work. It was super fome to be in the house with nothing to do. I wanted to go out and do something. I realized I really like to teach the gospel, I really like to talk to the people, practice my Spanish and try to express my feelings about Jesus Christ and how he has made it possible to return to our heavenly father. I like the days we just walk and walk and walk because we are doing our best to find people, we are dedicating all of our time to the lords´ work. I love it. Being in the house made me a little homesick and bored really. But she needed her rest and to get better. Such is life I suppose. It was a good realization though.

We had an English class on Saturday, I prayed in English and it was the worst thing in the world. I am not going to speak very good English at Christmas time, heads up, it is going down hill. Oh, a gringa is arriving in punta areans, an ex comp of hna agurto. It will be way fun with her on pdays. We can talk trash about hna.

So we found an awesome menos activo family, they are in the pictures, with four kids. The mom was smoking, drinking tea and coffee, she gave it alllllllll up, cold turkey because she wants to get back into the church and give it her all and be an example to her kids. She is so awesome. She had the best conversion experience last week. She prayed the entireeeeeeeeeeee night and pleaded with the lord and talked with him. She has dedicated herself to do all that is possible to live the gospel now. We are teaching her daughter now so she can be baptized. She is so awesome, eva is the mom. Like eve, adam and eve but is Spanish eva. She is awesome. We were really pumped with her. They are so awesome, the little boy reminds me of Nate.

Happyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy birthday pageeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I can’t believe that she is so old already, it is crazy how fast time goes. Super fast.

So, yeah I am a little worried about this cambio. I have butterflies in my stomach. I know my weakness with the language and I don’t understand a lot, there are a lot of dichos, in English, slang, there is a lot of slang that I don’t understand and slowly learning. I need a lot of help still with the language. I just need more faith. It is going to be a trail of my faith. The people here really loved han agurto, I just hope that we will be able to fill her shoes, hard to do because she is awesome but still. When she left she even told me she loved me, it was huge for her. Well in Spanish there are two ways to say that you love someone le amo and le quiero and amar is stronger and querer is a little softer, I don’t know how to explain it. She said querer but still it pretty much means the same.

I am really going to miss her but I will get used to it in a week or so, I need lots of prayers right now. I am feeling a little week and I don’t like it. I couldn’t sleep last night. It was hard to say goodbye and I didn’t want to. The downfall of Latina comps is that I will probably never see them again. There is always the next life though. But pray for me and hna Moreno. We need a lot of the lord’s help and I know my attitude is not fair to her. Not at all . I need to change and I know it. We have a lot of work to do in this sector. A lot. Life will be great. The lord has a reason for why we are together right now in this sector and I have faith we can make a great companionship. Just a little sad and mixed feelings. Have a great thanksgiving. Enjoy it, eat some pie for me, some cream cheese pie with cherries and broccoli casserole, mmmmmmmmmm. Peace out. Love ya all, tell everyone hi and happy thanksgiving for me! We have pday on Monday again of next week.

that is me. i am great really so don’t worry about me, prayers no más. we will be in touch next week.