Pickett, Taylor PT

Hermana Santamaria and I really thought we had it all figured out with what would happen in cambios (transfers every six weeks). Still, we quickly realized our predictions would be SO FAR OFF after receiving a text from the President saying, "Give me a call after you see the facechart." And indeed, we didn't guess even close to what came to pass. I got 6 INCREDIBLE weeks in Ñuñoa, starting in a trio and ending with just the queen herself, Hermana Santamaria. Us thriving would be a big understatement. I fell in love with the city life, the members, cute restaurants everywhere, beautiful parks with caleta de familias, Orangetheory workouts every morning, and a FIRE district; however, my time in Ñuñoa has surprisingly come to an end. #ripinthechat. I am doing a WHITEWASH in ANOTHER TRIO in the ward Alvaro Casanova (Peñalolén). My two companions are from CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE (Hermana Briones) and COLOMBIA (Hermana Durán) *que la colombiana dance move @hermanaSantamaria. They ...

DIECIOCHO! CHI-CHI-CHI-LE-LE-LE... VIVA CHILE! Today is the biggest holiday in Chile (Chilean 4th of July), and the celebration begins on the 16th of September and continues until the 19th of September. Hermana Santamaria and I are just thriving out here, eating a huge meal (empanadas, choripan, asado, mote con huesillo, and some vegetables here and there) every other hour, talking to happy families in the parks, learning Chilean folk music/dance, and showing our CHILEAN PRIDE by wearing blue, red, and white every day and ending every street contact with "VIVA CHILE." Anywho, I was rereading one of my favorite talks by Elder Maxwell titled "Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father" (if you haven't read it, DO IT). He gave some hypothetical examples of how honorable disciples of Christ keep back a portion of their devotion, thus preventing greater consecration in their discipleship. After one of the examples, Elder Maxwell stated, "A small course correction no...

YOU GUYS! I want to live in Ñuñoa forever. This week, we had the MIRACLE BAPTISM of ANDRES!! Another STORYTIME... 4 weeks ago, when I arrived in this new area, Ñuñoa, Andres (he’s a police officer) was one of the first people I met at church, and I thought that he was a member until I asked when he got baptized, and he said, "todavía no" (not yet). I was shocked!! This king literally comes to church with his suit and tie, participates in the classes, and always makes sure to greet other members on Sunday (not to mention that he lives right next to the church). I replied by saying, "pero pronto que sí (Chilean jeje)!! se va a bautizar, le prometo!!" (but soon yes!! you will be baptized, I promise) And he looked a little like "what the, who is this girl?!" However, something clicked because when I asked if we could go over to his house that following Tuesday, he said "Sí!" At this time, I was in a trio and we all decided to fast for a miracle that ...

I got food poisoning this week and was SO VERY ILL for 24 hours, and I have never been so grateful for my health now. It was a good reminder to remember the little things we often take for granted. My obsession with Chilean hot chocolate and prunes has officially come to a hard close. #rip The weeks are zooming by as normal, so I am just soaking up my time with my companion, Hermana Santamaria. She is such an example to me of patience and perspective. Storytime: When it rains, usually the people on the streets run to their houses, making it hard to find friendly people in the streets, so this week, when it rained, we passed by members' and friends' homes that used to be taught by the missionaries. In my area, there are mostly apartments, so we interact a lot with receptionists (conserje) of the buildings. After a night of a lot of "no," we walked into yet another apartment and immediately could tell that the man at the front desk was not excited to talk to us. During ...