CHILE CHILE
HOLAAA todos!!
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UPDATE: Estoy aquí!! I survived the red eye from Mexico City to Santiago and got right to work that night in my area 45 minutes outside of Santiago called Puente Alto. My trainer (my first companion who teaches me everything about the mission field) is awesome. She has only been out for 8 months so we get to learn a lot of spanish together!
We wake up at 7 am, pray, workout, get ready for the day, eat breakfast, scripture study, language study, go out and knock some doors/meet people on the streets, eat lunch with a member family in our ward, and go back out and teach more people, and come back by 9:30 pm.
The first week, I WAS EXHAUSTED!! I was falling asleep everywhere. In lessons, while studying, on park benches, at lunch, while working out, and I somehow even managed to even fall asleep standing up. However, this week I have had so much more energy. My body is getting used to the schedule faster than I thought. PRAYERS work!! Chocolate also helps :)
The food here is amazing. Why people say Chilean food is gross I do not know. We have a lot of chicken, bread, soups, bread, fresh juices, bread, fresh produce, and some more bread. There are these farmer markets everyday that have some of the best produce I have ever had.
In Chile, lunch is the big meal of the day. Everyone comes back from school and work to eat lunch with their families and then they leave again to go back out after lunch is finished.
It is winter right now so it has been so cold, but walking helps warm me up. Being outside is honestly one of my favorite things about the mission. We try to talk to everyone. It has been so cool getting to know the most random people and having them become our friends.
We have a set time where we go door to door shouting "Alo" at each house because the houses here all have fences and no doorbells and "Alo" does the trick.
There are also SO many dogs here but we have only ran into three mean ones and the rest make my day. I normally am not a huge dog lover, however, for some reason chilean street dogs have a special place in my heart. Recently we have had a lot of them follow us around for multiple hours. It makes us feel safe haha.
Speaking of saftey... probably around 30 times a day people tell us to be careful and then they grab my arm and tell me again to be careful. Chileans have my back and are very worried for me because of my hair and eyes haha. I stand out a lot haha. I feel pretty safe during the day but sometimes at night its a tiny ínteresting but it's ok!! I honestly am clueless most of the time.
Language: CHILEAN SPANISH should not qualify as real spanish. It is so hard to understand. What normally happens is I start conversations with other people and then I look at my companion in complete panic when they say something back to me. Then after the conversation is over, I ask what we were talking about. I think my companion leaves out any mean things that were said to us.
This language experience has humbled me. Some highlights of the week include:
1. Telling someone on the street to enjoy their caca (poop) instead of queque (cake)
2. Talking about fish (pescado) instead of sin (pecado) and no one corrected me the whole lesson
3. Describing in a story how I was so pregnant (embarassada) instead of how I was so embarrassed (still don't know the word in spanish)
and then some others I will save for emails in the future.
Though I have failed a lot speaking the language hahaha, 80 percent of the people here have so much patience and love that I have such a desire to learn their language and culture.
The gift of tongues is so real (if you dont know what it is, https://www.
I have never been good with words or communicating how I feel in english, so when I first started to learn spanish, I was so confused how I was supposed to be able to do it all day long in a new language!! However, I have had amazing, unforgettable experiences during lessons where others and I can feel the power of my words (guided by the spirit) that only comes through the power and guidance of the Spirit.
I am running out of time and I know technically the spiritual thought is the most important part of my email oops but I will share a really good one next week to make up for it haha.
I am so grateful for everyone's emails. I APPRECIATE AND LOVE THEM MORE THAN YOU KNOW!! I am so sorry I am the worst ever at responding. It feels like I never have time haha, but know they don't go unnoticed
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