Still Here

September 2, 2015

         Today was another p-day.  We went to the mall plaza oeste, which is a giant modern mall here.  It is weird to be in a foreign country and see so much gringo stuff.  I got a few things to change up my room a bit.  I bought an exercise ball for pretty much no reason except to be my new anti-sleeping chair.  We mostly wondered around the mall for a couple of hours and ate some gringo food.  I got Taco Bell…and I will just sat that it was a bit of a let down. The best part of Taco Bell was talking to the Chilean who lived in the states for 10 years about how much better the fast food is in the US.

Miracle #359: A couple of random recent converts offered to buy us ice cream.  The miracle was their story.  It made me really happy to see that at least some missionaries make a huge difference.

         The fun part of the day was trying to avoid looking at really cute girls that are starting to wear less clothing because of the heat. I have to say that I am better at it than my comp.  There is, however, room for improvement. The goal of this next week is to win back all of my energy for the work.  In order to do that, I plan on trying to focus on my people with all my heart.  I am hoping that it will improve my happiness.

September 3, 2015

         Today ended awesome, but started really crappy.  In the morning, I was still struggling with everything about the mission.  I got irritated at my comp and in the end I was so fed up that I couldn’t even think straight.  In the end, I went to pray and decided that I wasn’t going to get up until I got an answer to my prayer concerning wanting to go home.  My answer was that before I could go home from my mission, I needed to consecrate one full week to 100% effort.  I love the work, so I decided to do this and try to forget about mission politics.

Miracle #360: P., our new investigator, actually read the chapter that we left for her to read.  NO ONE DOES THAT!

         I am really grateful for today because the Lord really blessed us with a fantastic day that changed my mind.  The best part of the day is that we did practically everything we could do  (contacting, lots of lessons, future investigator visits, etc.)   The heat is starting to kill us, especially me because it makes me so darn sleepy!  No matter how hard you try, you start to dose off after lunch.  Full on summer is going to wreck me.

September 4, 2015

         Today was a very interesting day.  In the morning we taught a few lessons, after which we had a companionship study which ended up more like an companionship inventory.  My comp came out with everything that is irritating him about me.  It actually turned out really well and I now have some things to work on.  The weirdest part of the day was going to lunch with president.  My parents sent him a message that got him worried about me, so he gave me a call and we went out to lunch with his wife.  They mostly addressed my question about how I didn’t feel like I was making any progress in the mission.  They told me that they definitely thought that I should stay and that I would make more progress in the mission than at home.  They actually said some nice things which surprised me cause I didn’t think that they thought very many positive things about me.

Miracle #361: I have my mind more on my work and feel a lot better and more hopeful.

         Here were 2 funny parts of the day.  The first one was that the new elder in our house brought fleas to the house so everything was fumigated today.  The second was that president drove us way out for lunch and then just dropped us off at the metro afterwards.    The rest of the day was spent with a young man (17) who we are helping.  His story is super sad.  He basically hasn’t had love in his entire life.

September 5, 2015

         Today was odd.  We started off the morning well by doing all of our studies and going to a cita.  We confirmed the appointment before going and when we got there, it turned out that they were “busy” and couldn’t visit with us.  Lunch was not too long after that so we went back to the house to do some language study.  This whole time our faces are burning from the fumigation crap that the dude sprayed on our pillows.  Nothing got rid of the itch!  The lunch was amazing with the best empanada that I have eaten in my life!

Miracle #362: My companion and I started English language study.  It is fun.

         The funny part of the day is how much my comp swears in both English and Spanish.  Every time I teach him a normal English verb, he starts to use it as a cuss word.  I find it hilarious, but I tell him not to do it.  Unfortunately, his swearing is affecting my Spanish.  To my ears, his swearing doesn’t mean much, but he knows how bad they are and he continues to use them.  Now I catch myself occasionally using them too.  I am pretty sure that we need to work on that.

September 6, 2015

Well today was good I suppose.  Our testimony meeting in church turned out to be Capitan Avalos story time as so often happens here.  After a REALLY long church, we went to a delicious lunch where we just stayed way too long with a family who has the worst language.  I tried so many times to leave, even sharing a spiritual message, but it didn’t work.  I was uncomfortable the whole time with all of the dirty jokes.  When we finally got out of there, I felt like the walking dead.

Miracle #363: The 17 year old that we are working with decided to make some changes in his life.  He started by taking out his face piercings.

         The funny part of the day was trying to talk to a returned missionary who recently came back from Brazil.  Because Spanish and Portuguese are so similar, she struggled to speak in Spanish.  She kept slipping in Portuguese words.  It was really hard to understand what she wanted to say, but it was even harder not to laugh.  Another good part of the day was seeing my companions excitement to learn English.  I really hope that he keeps it up and learns to say more that just swear words. 

         We found out that we have to spend another entire day shut up inside the house because of Chilean Independence day on September 11.

September 7, 2015

         Today was a rainy, miserable, cold, and fantastic day! My comp. fell asleep after lunch so I worked on the area book and read Jesus the Christ while listening to the pouring rain.  We finally left and went to visit this super old man who talked so much that I fell asleep.  Up to this point, I wasn’t the happiest missionary because I was freezing cold with my pants wet up to the thigh.  I don’t know how water got up so high, but it did.  The miracle of the day came when I needed it.

Miracle #364: We contacted a guy who had previously talked with the missionaries and I asked him if he wanted to be baptized.  He said yes! 

         The funny part of the day was trying to teach the worlds most difficult less active member.  She was bragging about how long she has been a member, but she hasn’t been to church in 3 months.  The horrible part of the day was getting more mission rules today.  Things are changing in this mission and the rules are getting more strict.  The new rule is that we have to wear a suit to every meeting including district meetings and all the ward activities.

September 8, 2015

         Today was a fun new change of pace. We started off the morning by painting for a service project.  It was for a lazy, wealthy, stingy Chilean investigator of the other elders.  He just left us the keys to his house and let us have at it.  It was quite a fun change to listen to music while painting. I’m not sure how much he will appreciate the finished product though.

         After the service project, we went to lunch at an investigators house and got an incredible Argentinian dish called milanesa.  She thought that all of the other elders were going to come too, so we got double portions! It was one of the best lunches I have had on the mission.

Miracle #365: A really cool person just gave us a bratwurst type sausage just because.

         There were a few funny parts of today, but one was finding out that one of our investigators has spent literally the past 4 months playing League of Legends.  Ugh, no way!  The other fun part of the day was re-contacting a street lady that I have already contacted.  It is a weird experience knocking on doors that you have already knocked on.  I even remember their names and religious backgrounds.  My comp doesn’t really get this because he hasn’t been here for very long.