Fruitillar

View to Lake Llanquihue and volcano Osorno from Frutillar village

Countryside

Frutillar is a city located in the southern Chilean province of Llanquihue, in the Los Lagos Region.
Frutillar is situated on the banks of Lake Llandquihue, Chile's second largest lake. It consists of two population centers: Frutillar Bajo (lower Frutillar), located on the shore of the lake, which preserves its traditional German-style architecture; and Frutillar Alto (upper Frutillar) which developed around the railroad station and later the highway and is now larger than Frutillar Bajo. The railroad was built in 1912. In February, the town celebrates the "semanas musicales", a music festival celebrated for the people — one of the most important celebrations of classical music in Chile. Most of the concerts are now held at the Teatro del Lago, a cultural center located over the lake in Frutillar Bajo, which is still uncompleted, but already in use.

Soon after the first 47 German families arrived at the country by disposition of then president of the Republic, Mr. Manuel Montt on 23rd November 1856, the village of El Frutillar was officially founded, and today some 5000 inhabitants live there. These families came after Mr. Bernardo E. Philippi and Mr. Vicente Pérez Rosales, who gave an important impulse to colonization in the south, made negotiations in Germany. Among these first families we can mention some names like Wilhem Kaschel, Heinrich Uschel, Theodor Niklitschel, Christian Nannig, Christian Winckler, Adams Schmidt, who showed their spirit and laboriosity as brave colonists who imprinted their heritage to the following generations. They built their houses near the mountains, since the soil around lake Llanquihue was swampy, and decidedly devoted to agricultural labor, as well as to industrial activities, like a mill, a distillery, a tannery, and some stores where food and other implements were sold. Frutillar was an important lake link between Puerto Montt and Ososrno, what contributed to its rapid commercial and industrial growth and development. The railway arrived in 1907, the station was built and a small village was formed in the proximities of Frutillar Alto. Frutillar offers important cultural events, being one of the most important ones the Semana Musical de Frutillar, which has made classical music present year after year since 1968 with philarmonic and symphonic orchestras conducted by famous directors, chamber, choral and jazz groups, and important local and international opera performers. The German Colonial Museum was constructed in 1972 to pay homage to the brave German immigrants who arrived to these desolate latitudes and gave origin to choral activities with the creation of the mixed choir "Jacob Junginger". Frutillar has preserved the urbanistic style imposed by German colonists who arrived 142 years ago to settle in the area and developed different economic activities such as hotels, gastronomy, nautics, sports fishing, and other recreational and traditional events offered for the enjoyment of visitors.

Half Way Mark TODAY!!

3/26/2007

well, hello. you guys are never going to believe what has happened to me. this week has been the mostttttttttttttttttttttt amazing week and a real bummer at the same time, which is always how life goes.

I just wanted to respond to last week. I am not going to lie, when I read that granny was going to get baptized, we were in a bank, waiting for my companion and I totally burst out in tears. It was the most amazing thing ever. I had never been so happy or excited. I was shocked, every time I read it I started crying, I know that it is a blessing in the family, we have waited for so long to have her with us in the gospel. I know that the lord is blessing us because i am on a mission. I just feel it. if we don’t receive any other blessings for my mission, that one alone is worth it. That makes me feel so good and so happy. it is amazing. I can’t wait to see her pictures, is there a date, what is happening, keep my in touch with alllllllllll of the details.

Well, another subject. Interesting news. They closed the sector that we were in. it is dangerous for sisters. They pulled us both out. My companion went to alerce, which isn’t that far away. And for me, well I am no longer in puerto varas because there are no longer sisters there. I am in a town called frutillar, it is about 40 min away, on the other side of the lake. it is gorgeous as well. we are opening a sector here. they have never had sisters here. so my companion, hna jennigns, the gringa that was with my in punta arenas at the beginning, we are here, neither one of us know the sector or the city but we are going to learn it together. There are two elders here with us. so that is the big news. it is sad because i was only in pto varas for 6 weeks. I wasn’t ready to leave and I will tell you why....(I am with my first gringa comp!!!)

So, to start off about my week, all i can tell you is that i know the church is true, It is sooooooooooooooooo true and I have no doubt in my mind, god works miracles and he is working them in my life. He shows me every day. The biggestttttttttttttttttt most wonderful thing happened to me the other day and I have been dyinggggggggggggggg to tell you about it!!!!! It is about alejandra, she is amazing, she is the excommunicated member.
Alejandra was gone the entire week working with her husband. We weren’t able to pass by her house but she showed up to church on Sunday by herself and with her kids. The kids were perfecttttttttttt at church and the little boy stayed in nursery and everything. It was awesome, they stayed for all and she got to listen to everything. She is doing sooooooo awesome. Then when she gets home all heck breaks loose. She is fighting with her husband because they work together and their lives are just work. So things are terrible with that. But spiritually she is growing and doing awesome. We passed by to teach her and her son was being crazy so my comp went to go play with him so I could share with her what we planned. We started talking about her life and what has happened to her. She was teaching me about the scriptures, I know her mission was awesomeeeeeeeeeee, I know she was an amazingggggggg missionary. With all of the problems she is having, I was prompted to tell her about what happened in our family when mom and dad separated for a time and what I believe helped us get through it and become a family again and be a family strong in the church, what things were affected with that and how we overcame certain things. I don’t know why I told her and I told her that. As I was talking she started crying and all of a sudden she asked me if she could see the pictures of our family that I had showed her before. I showed here the pictures of me with the grandparents the day I got set apart, me with mom and dad at the mtc, me with Erich and nate at the house the day I left, and me with paige and the animals before I left (could you send me those pictures again pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee). She was looking at these pictures and started crying again. I didn’t know what happened. She is balling and tells me that she has to tell me something, I was a little nervous because my pictures made her cry. She said that when she was in the mtc she had a dream that was so real and so vivid. She dreamt of the pre earth life. That we were all in heaven and all dressed in white. She was with someone and they were talking and they were really really good friends, when they called everyone into a council, they were going to tell everyone where they were going to go, their assigned place to come to the earth. When they called alejandra they told her that she was going to chile and she was pumped, she was so excited to go to chile, felt privileged. But then she realized that her friend that was next to her the entire time, her best friend there wasn’t going to go to chile, she was going somewhere else, probably the us. Alejandra was sooooo sad, she felt more pain than she ever had before. When she woke up from her dream she wanted to cry, maybe she did cry because she wasn’t going to be with this girl. But in her dream she promised that she would find her and be with her. Alejandra thought it was weird that she would be in chile because her mission was in argentina and even weirder t his girl was blonde. She talked with her comp and they couldn’t figure out who this girl was and so for her entire mission she looked for this girl, she looked for her to baptize her and bring the gospel in her life. She never found her. When alejandra had this dream she was closer to god because she was going to the temple and had been endowed and all, she was very close. So, when she looked at my picture with straight hair, she realized that I was her friend in her dream, the dream she had over 6 or 7 years ago. I was the one that she was looking for her entire mission. God knew that she was going to go astray, we knew in the pre-earth life and I promised her that I would find her and bring her back to the fold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew that we knew each other before. I thought about all of the things that could have happened to me for me not to go on the mission. How it worked out perfectly that iw as there in that area, my call was to find her and bring her back like I promised. I knew from the first day I met her that she was special. That is why I was so insistent and dint´ give her options, why I called her everyday to make sure she was reading, we even sang a hymn to her on the phone, we left notes, chocolates, everything to show her how much we care and how important she is. She told me the first day I came she felt something special, different, she didn’t know why or what. The second time I met her I told her how amazing she was. As I look back I understand why I did what I did. The spirit was telling me I didn’t have much time with her and I needed to fulfill the promise I made to her. It was theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hardest thing to say goodbye to her. She told me in the scheme of things this life is so short and she is going to get re-baptized and we will have the eternity. I know that we will be friends forever. She is amazing. This is the sort of thing that doesn’t happen to me, things that other people tell me and happen to others. I know the church is true and guided by god and for that I was there at the right time. This sector only had sisters there for 5 months in all of it’s history, just perfect for me to come and bring her back to church. If she is the only soul that I helped save on my mission, so be it, it is worth it. Luckily we are only 40 min away, we have to go to pto varas to watch general conference Saturday and Sunday and every Tuesday for district meetings. So I will see her this weekend, she has a car too and so hopefully one day she can come here on a pday or something, who knows. It was sooooooooooooo hard to say goodbye. They own their own tour company and said that we can come back anytime and go on any of their trips free and the door is always open. J

So, I saw hna agurto, she said I am wayyyyyyyyy fat. But it is true and sad. She is awesomeeeeeeeee. I love her. It was sooooooooo awesome to see her, we talked a ton and she was all pumped because I was able to talk with her so much and when she left I wasn’t talking so well. She is awesome. I miss her. I was so happy to see her,

Tell allie jagoda, happy birthday. Happy birthday tia also.

So everyone tells me that I am really forward and blunt, very direct. Oh well, I am that way, such is life.

So really that is me, alejandra is amazing. I know that lord doesn’t want me in that sector more because he knows that I can’t not be friends with her and want to hang out with her all the time, and so it is better. So, my comp finishes her mission this transfer, so I should be here for at least three months. She is way full of energy.

Alejandra told me not to every go stray and I told her if I do she has to come and bring me back like I found her. Really, out of all of the places in the world, and times in life, it was perfect and I found her at the right time, it was meant to me. She thanked my comp for bringing me to her. I can’t wait to hear when she gets baptized and all that. I cant´wait to see her again, she is amazing. Well, that is me. I hope all is well at home. The church is true and god is guiding my life and sent my to my long lost friend. I know we knew each other before and we will have a friendship that lasts forever. The blessing of the mission. Love, hna pratt

oh yeah, we went on a trip last week, gorgeousssssssssssssssssss, we were almost in argentina, across the lake was argentina. It was awesome. that is me. choa

I’ll send you pictures next week because I don’t have batteries to be able to send you any right now. really mom, look into meeting alejandra in las vegas, i will send you her address but she should email you some time.

I hit my half way mark today!!! 9 months!!!!!!!!!!!

Always an Adventure on the Mission

3/19/2007

Well, every week is an adventure on the mission. An exhausting week but in the end full of miracles and tears at the same time. The wonders of the mission really.

That is awesome about alli´s baseball team, how exciting.

I am sending a picture of alejandra and her son, the excommunicated member, she is sooooo awesome. And yes I know that I am fat but the funny thing is everybody here things I am soo skinny. It is funny but I swear I look fatter in the pictures than in real life. Oh well.

Erica, great job sharing the gospel, don’t be afraid, fear comes from the devil because he doesn’t want us to do it, if we have fear we don’t have faith, just do it, you can do it, show her how important this book is to you.

Yes, I love my new area, it is just way different, one is not better than the other, just really different. There are lots of Germans and this is the most expensive city in the mission because there are so many tourists. Mom, alejandra works in tourism they own their companies of tourisms, she says get into the business and send people her way!! She speaks English, so does her husband! J

The fruit is normal, no any better than what we have, they have other types we don’t and we have others they don’t, like cranberries, blueberries, and others they don’t have. I ruined one of my skirts but I am going to go and try to buy another, I but bleach on my kaki and it didn’t like it J the nylons you send me from the boxes are no good, they last one day.

Now, what we have all been waiting for, my big story for the week. Okay so at the beginning of the week we went to visit alejandra, it was awesome, she started telling us how she feels like we are her family, her sisters, and her friends and that we are helping her a ton. That she didn’t have anyyyyyy desire to go back to church at all and we have given her this desire back. She said she feels the spirit differently with us than with the other hnas that would pass by. The spirit is so much stronger or we just have exactly what she needs. I really feel like we were all really good friends before and hna Ramirez and I said, alejandra, we are going to come and find you and bring you back to the fold so in the next life we can maintain our eternal friendship and be there all with our families. I know I knew her before. She is so awesome. So we have been calling her everyday to make sure she reads her scriptures and to see how things are going. Her work is really bad and she is having marital problems. They were on the point of separation. She has so much faith. She called us Saturday night to tell us that she couldn’t go to church. I talked to her on the phone for like a half hour telling her that she can’t afford not to go and we would do anything and everything to have her there. It was stake conference and a broadcast from salt lake. She didn’t want to go because her son is like Ethan but worse. He screams hysterically about everythingggggggggg. He is a pain in the butt at home and even worse at church. She doesn’t feel like she can handle them and with all the people there and she is someone returning to church she didn’t want to make a scene. I kept pushing and pushing, no tiene que ir a la iglesia, no hay opciones. Finally, yeah, we are going to get the elders to come to her house, give him a blessing and it Hill be great. I have never had so much faith in something, I have never wanted something to work out so great, luckily I had been fasting for her tambien. We prayed and prayed that she would go. We got to her house with the elders. Cristobal, the son, never has wanted anything to do with me, screams when I look at him. But I tried to be his friend and slowly he was okay with me, it was a miracle that he let the elder give him a blessing. Alejandra was shockeddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd how he changed so quickly and dramatically. We went to church and he was perfect for like 20 min. but then a kid pushed him and started screaming. We went and played with them for the whole time so alejandra could listen and enjoy the conference. She loved it, It was exactly what she needed. He played with us for an hour and a half and was perfecttttt. We are best friends now. It was theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee biggest miracle and a trial of faith. Alejandra has so much faith. It was so awesome. It seems small but it was hugeeeeeee. So we passed by her house later and she totally changed with us. She has really gained confidence in us. She opened up hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and told us everything that happened when she got excommunicated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She tried to go back to church for 2 years and nooooooooooooot one of the leaders helped her. Her step dad excommunicated her for something that I don’t agree with, yes the law of chastity is a big deal but I have heard of worse things happening and never was an excommunication, and the on top of that, her step dad ran off with another woman while he was still bishop and never confessed or got excommunicated!! The whole thing was a mess and she spilled it all out. I have never seen so much pain. She cried and cried because she said she had such a special relationship with her heavenly father, she was so close to him and she wanted to gain it back, she knows she sinned, but nobody ever helped her get re-baptized, they just kept shoving her off and off. Can you imagine being a returned missionary with an amazinggggggggggggggg testimony and then messing up and trying to gain it back, doing everything possible to get it back and nobody is there to help you. The pain in her tears. She is so awesome. The faith she has. She now wants to regain her testimony, start over to know if the bom is true and the church is true. She has changed, she was not all that happy before and when we went by yesterday she was so happy, she was doing awesome. She couldn’t wait to tell her husband how awesome the kids were at church and how she is changing and how the true gospel really helps. It is so awesome to see how the gospel changes lives, how Christ works in our lives. I know I don’t need to be here when she gets baptized but I hope I will be, I hope I can see her and her husband get baptized. They are awesome people. The church really is true. God answers prayers. The priesthood is powerful and blessings are powerful and work if we have the faith in them. It is amazing. The change in alejandra is amazing, it is like a part of her burden has been lifted from her face. She seems more relaxed and is feeling the joy that comes from the gospel. I have never been so blunt and direct with someone before. I tell her everything I think, there are no excuses, you have to go, you have to read, do it now, can’t wait. It is because I know it will change her life, I know what I am saying is correct. I know the church, I know she needs it. I know she will get re-baptized but she needs to start with the small things. I know she will feel the spirit if she reads her bom. I know we will help her with everythingggggggggggg to make sure. We have done everything, left notes, called her, went to her house to go to church whit her, made homework assignments, the works. She will do it. She is awesome!!

oh yeah, transfers are next week, they are the 28th of march. so I won’t be writing next Monday but i will next Wednesday. hna agurto finishes her mission this next week. she is going to be coming to puerto varas and i am going to be able to seeeeeee herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I am sooooooooooooooooooooo pumped. i miss her a ton. yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. so don´t expect anything from me till Tuesday. Today we are going on a trip to petrohue, by the volcanoes. i hope to have some awesome pictures after. take care, thanks for the package, i got it from erica and mom, loved it. thanks! love ya all, peace out

Every Week Gets Better

Hna Ramirez

Wet Jamie

3/12/2007

The time changed here, we went back an hour. And so I think we are only three hours different now.

Okay, so I have had the most interesting week, the best and the worst, it all comes together isn’t that the truth. And yes mom, y our long johns are funny, the members probably think a lot of interesting things as they wash my clothes every week. And LeAnne, there are no washing machines in Peru, but in Chile there are washing machines but hardly any dryers. Don{t get too confused. That is okay. And yes our house is nice and it is big. Well nice for the states is different thing than nice for here, for here we have a really nice house, the fleas are disappearing slowly because I am spraying stuff all over almost every day. Slowly I am not their bate.

I can’t believe it, in two weeks I will be at the half way mark of my mission. The mission has developed very interestingly but wonderfully. It is funny at the district meetings I am the only gringa. I talk sooooooooo much more in the meetings now, I am the normal Jamie in meetings now, don’t anyone worry. The missions aren’t that big of miracles. I am the same ole same ole. It is funny; I make people laugh because I am witty, graciosa.

You guys would be shocked at home many people here don’t know how to read. There are a tonnnnnn, which makes it a little hard to gain a testimony of the church and the book of mormon if they can’t read it. But it is not impossible. It always surprises me really how many adults there are in the world tat have no clue how to read. It is our entire life, we read things constantly, to do everything. It is crazy.

But there are ways that it is amazing how the mission can change a person. I have never been a person for small talk, in fact I hated it, it was the worst thing ever, that is why I never went to parties or didn’t like group things because I hate small talk. Well, let{s just say that the mission is justtttttttttt small talk. We have to do it to get to know the people and so that they will trust us to let us into their house and all. When nobody talks, I have to because I hate the awkward silence. I have become the queen of small talk, and in fact I love ., I am known as the preguntona, the question asker. Which is funny, because I love to ask questions but this is the best way to know what a person thinks and to gain their trust. Let{s just say, I love to talk to people now, depends on the person obviously but it is true. I live off of small talk.

We had our interview with the president this week, it was really good, he gave me a lot of good advice for alejandra, the excommunicated sister. We are really trying to work with her. I will tell more about her in a bit.

So hna agurto goes home in two and a half weeks, we have cambios the 28th, I can’t believe it. I hope I see her one last time, I was blessed to have been with her and become good friends with her. I miss her still. If not, I will see her in January when I finish the mission. She is awesome, she is special to me being my trainer, my mom when I first got here, she would be so proud of my Spanish now! J.

So, now what I have to tell you about alejandra. This woman is the most amazing person. Wow.

First of all, let{s just say that I have never worked with an excommunicated member, and it is not just like they aren’t a member. They have less rights then nonmembers. We have to work closely with our pres and the bishop. I don’t know exactly what her offense was and I don’t want to know. I am pretty sure that she should not have been excommunicated and maybe she still is a member because we aren’t sure if their was a disciplinary council for her or not. The bishop is investigating. But this woman is absolutely amazing, she is 35 with two kids. She got baptized at 21 and went on her mission at 22 in Argentina. We went to her house on Friday. Her tour business that her and her husband owns is sinking, they are having to fire everyone because they donj’t have any money to run the business, they are losing it all. But she didn’t tell us any of this, her workers told us but that is okay. She has health problems related to stress. She tried to get re-baptized for four years and the whole time the bishop, her step father shrugged her off and always gave her something else she had to do as if he didn’t want her a member. 4 yerasssssssssssss. Until finally she gave up because nobody was helping her and she was doing everything she could possibly do to be re-baptized. In the lesson the other day, she taught me sooooooooo much. When we are with her, the spirit is soooo strong. She showed us her mission scriptures, they are amazing, I asked if we could trade, I want her notes. I told her she needs to teach me because she knows so much more and she told me it doesn’t matter when I know but that I have the holy ghost and she doesn’t and that is what makes the difference. It was a shot in the heart. Ut I told her we are working on that, getting the holy ghost back to her. She opened up to us and started sharing how she felt, what she wants in life and about her testimony. She has the strongest testimony of the church. She started reading the book of Mormon again!! Miracle!!!!! I have only been at her house 3 times and I feel like I have known her for an eternity. I told her I am blessed to be here on the mission in Puerto varas because I know that I knew her before this life, I know it. There is no other explanation for what I have felt while I have been with her. She said she feels the same way. She says we are helping her a ton. At the end of the lesson I told her that we were going to get to her house at 8 in the morning so we would all go to church at 9, I didn’t give her any option, I just said we were going, and she said okay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, miracle!!! I had never in my life been so excited for church before, I couldn’t wait for Sunday, I even called her on Saturday to make sure we were good to go. I couldn’t{ wait. We got to her house on Sunday and her son, who is just like Ethan, stubborn, had been puking but we were going anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yearsssssssssssssss, of not going to church and she came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had never been happier for someone to come to church. It was theeeeeeeee biggest step ever!!!! Her kids were so rowdy in church, talking, playing because they have no idea how to act but I loved it!!! It was the best thing ever!!!!!!!!!!! She can{t participate in anything during Sunday school but I talked to her a bit and she said she felt really good to be there, she was really happy. I told her I couldn’t sleep the night before because I was sooooo pumped that she was going to go to church. She smiled and looked in my eyes as if looking in my soul to see if I was for real. I told her I just want her to get back to church. That is all that is important, so she can be happy. She had to leave early because her kids went crazy, but it didn’t matter she came and it was amazing!!!!
Now, the bad part, right. Because the best always comes with the worst. Always. We went by her house last night to see how she was doing and how church was. She wasn’t there. Somebody had broken into their office and robbed absolutely everythingggggggggggg, even the safe. Everythinggggggggg. I have never felt such pain for someone else in my life. I feel so bad, we still haven’t talked to her but I left her some notes of encouragement and love. I know that I came on the mission to learn how to love people and I am learning. I have learned to love alejandra so quickly. I feel the deepest pain for her and the greatest joy. I realized that I have a small small taste of charity, the pure love of Christ. That when we are happy he is too , when we are sad, we are too. I have never felt so much joy and pain for someone before, let alone someone that I barely know. We are going to call her again today. We also were talking about it and how many trials she has in her life, how much satan is tempting her and trying to keep her from coming back to the church. This woman must have been one of the most valiant spirits in heaven before because of how much is happening with her. I know that god has great plans for her, she will be a great leader in the church and a great example to all, will to amazing things, and that is why the adversary is working so hard on her. I know she will stand firm. I hope that I am here for the day that is gets re-baptized. Who knows, it is a long ways off because she hasn’t even met with the bishop yet but he is going to call her this week to set up an appointment!!!!!!!!i am learning so much from alejnadra, there aren’t words to describe it. I am truly blessed to know her and to be able to learn from her. The process of repentance is not easy or fun but I will do everything in my power to make sure that she stays firm and on this path. The worst is that her husband is hard core Lutheran, but if we can help him feel the spirit, he can’t deny it. In all of this, the president taught me a lot about the atonement and the miracle of forgiveness. If we don{t repent we are denying the atonement and what the lord did for us. Seriously she is teaching me so much. So, if you could just keep alejandra in your prayers that she will stay firm and rely on the lord. Also, she is giving me hope that one day tia can remember what she is missing and come back to the church. We need to remember how blessed we are to participate in the sacrament every week, what a blessing, to be able to say prayers in church, share our testimonies, because these brother and sisters can{t. we are so blessed with the gospel, it is the greatest gift. The true gospel of Jesus Christ does do miracles. It is amazing. I love it and I am learning so much. We are having a really hard time meeting our goals and finding new people. But the fact that alejandra is coming back can make my entire mission worth while. I hope everybody is great. I am praying for you all daily, granny especially and that our lost family members will find their ways back. They will. We just have to love them. I have learned that the mission is all about the love that we have for these people, that is what will help them receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. After all is said and done and alejandra is coming back, anything is possible. Thanks for your prayers, for your love.

We are in puerto montt today, only for the day. it is like Chico is to Oroville. Puerto varas doesn’t have anything and so we came to puerto montt to go shopping, my comp needs some things, just thought i would let you know. chao, hasta la proxima semana. sned my love to all

Time Is Flying By

3/5/2007
Well here I am again, another week here. The time is flyinggggggggggggggggg by. Seriously it is going by so incredibly fast.

So last week I got a setter from the family that I had been working with foreverrrrrrrrrr. Alejandra y patricio, we found them with hna Agurto and they got married by the catholic chruch, we had them with a baptism date and then changed their minds. Alejandra wrote me one of the nicest letters in the World. Thanking me for everything that I did for them. For bringing the gospel in their lives and that she doesn’t have sisters and i was like her sister while I was there. And that she is going to do everything in the World to make sure that her family completes with the plan of salvation and that they are going to get baptized march 17th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t believe it!!!!!!! I was so pumpppppppeddddddddddddddd. Seriously, it was like the coolest thing ever. When I left from Punta arenas I was a little sad because I didn’t know if I had done my part there, if I really had left the people better then how I found them and if I found who I was supposed to find. I won’t be at their baptism which is something that is a little sad but that is life on the mission, but I can know that I really did touch somebody’s life and made a difference by teaching the truths of the gospel. By teaching firmly but with love, not letting them think that their sins are okay, but that they have to change. Like the day i threw away their alcohol. I am so pumped for them. I can’t wait to see pictures of their baptism!!

I am sorry to hear about granny, it made me want to cry. But i know the lord is taking care of her. She is in his hands; my prayers are with her though. Send her my love.

Mom, hna agurto says thank you soooooooooo much for the package that you sent. She loved it. She was way happy. I miss her ton!!! I hope i can see her before she goes home at the end of this month.

I heard that hna moreno had to go to Santiago for health problems!! I hope she is okay.

Good luck with your thing dad, hope you pass.

Justin’s card looks awesome, he is such a big boy now, his own business and all JJ it is awesome.

So, we have to buy gas at the store to run our little heater thingy, and we have Wood stoves to heat us up. Gas is wayyyyyyy expensive; it is for the hot water too, we have to light it with a match every time we want to use anything with any gas.

Cares are the same, there are more cars like there are in New Zealand. I saw the murano the other day and my car always, well LeAnne’s car. I have no clue how much they are dad.

Ohhhhhhh, it is official that I am allergic to the fleas. I am getting eaten alive, the tissues from nana are great. But they puff up like they are zits, they don’t itch, well a couple of them but I have a ton, like 12 in a 2 inch square. Such is life, it is okay.

They have lots of fruit but the best is that everybody makes homemade juice, all the juice is homemade and it is delicious, we have tried juice of every fruit, honeydew, peaches, everything, it is soooooo good. I love it. There are roses everywhere, the city of the roses, it is really pretty here.

The kids have their first day back in school today alter their summer break. It is weird that i have been here during their entire summer break and back to school. They have to buy alllllll of the things they are going to use for school, paper, crayons, pencils, notebooks, everything for the entire year. The school doesn’t give them anything.

It is weird always talking on the cell phone now, and más encima, it is always in Spanish, it is cool though to think how much Spanish I have learned since I have been here. I can’t think of things in enligas lots of times but it is okay.

So we are preparing a kid to get baptized, he is 11 and he is awesome. He wanted to pay almost all of his Money for tithing. It was so funny. But awesome. There is a sister here that leaves with us everyday to share her testimony in the lessons. She is all for the missionary work. It is so awesome. Here family has more problems that i can imagine and through the gospel and sharing her testimony she finds happiness, it is awesome.

So, i am having interesting experiences, for starts, we are working with an excommunicated member. She served her misión in argentina. She is absolutely amazinggggggggggg. We don’t know much but we think she might not be excommunicated and if she was she never had a trial or council or whatever it is called. I really feel like I knew her before. She is so awesome. I know she is going to come back to church. The spirit was so strong with her; I can feel her spirit soooooooo strongly. She almost started crying as i was talking and it made me want to cry to, but don’t worry, I didn’t. I will do everything i can to help her come back to church because she needs it. It was a miracle; after years and years of not praying, she prayed the other day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She loves us at her house with her. We left her a chapter to read and she is going to read it, after years and years. Her scriptures are all highlighted and marked up from her misión. I told her she needs to teach me, I know she knows a ton of stuff that she can teach me. I can’t wait to pass by to see how she is doing. God Works miracles in our lives, seriously. I can’t wait until she comes to church. It Hill be a huge miracle but i know it is going to happen. She has to do it all by herself because her husband is solid Lutheran, but I told her we are there to help her in everything!!

Thanks for everything fam!! I am praying for granny, and always for the family! take care! i will be writing the next week! thanks for the prayers, letters and thoughts as always. tell everyone hi for me!! thanks for your help, your support and love. it is nice to have it back home, there are a lot of missionaries here that don’t have it. it means a lot. every once in awhile it will hit me that i have been away for 8 months and not seen my family for 8 months and i miss it for a split second and then i get lost in the work again, the blessings of god. i am where i want to be, i wouldn’t be anywhere else right now but here on the mission. it is a blessing for me. i am learning so much. the church is true and changes lives. live it like you really know it! :) there is nothing better than to obey and then see the blessings afterwards. take care. love ya all. hna jamie