This week was full of activity. Thursday, we had our Christmas activity. We played soccer and did relays, ate food, I got to sit next to the (Mission) President and his wife; we had a great devotional talking about Christ, and we ended by eating kettle corn and watching It's a Wonderful Life. We had an activity for the Relief Society (an organization for the women of the LDS church). We brought an investigator and learned how to make Christmas bags from wrapping paper. Then, on Saturday, we went to the temple. There are nativities there, lights, choirs, etc. It was fun and great to go. Then we eneded up taking a (member of the LDS church that doesn't attend very often) again last night. I know that the spirit was there and will hopefully help the people that we are working with. The most unusual thing is that we had a rain on Saturday night. It is almost summer here!

"This week was full of adventure. I met my new companion on Tuesday and we started to work. Her name is Hermana Humphries. She is from California, the Los Angeles area. She is pretty much awesome. She talks to everyone. She has no fear whatsoever. She is has the sensitivity of the Spirit (of God) with her. And lots of times she has just gone right up to people and started talking to them. I am just kind of there to help her when she needs help. She is really capable. She has to take over our area in 5 weeks...(crap, thats how long I have left) so like the last two weeks...I am going to need to give her more responsibility. I don't really find training her hard...she is great. I just have to tell her about the rules, etc. She has a really good Spanish base too. And she takes me running in the morning...awesome. I already feel skinnier. The President (of the mission) told me today, "Hermana Cornelius, I wish I had 12 more of you!" What a compliment!

"The coolest thing that happened, happened yesterday. As we were working in our area speaking to someone about the gospel I got a call from the assistants to the president (male missionaries that work closely with the president of the mission). They tod me that they were in our area and wanted to know where we were. I told them. They came up to us and filmed us descretly, as we were speaking to this person. Later they interviewed us for a video that they are putting together for the misson. But how freakin' awesome: just as we were doing a contact, they showed up and filmed it! It couldn't have been more perfect."

"Thanksgiving Day, eating a meal made by my companion from Honduras. It was delicious!
"Missionaries in action......and me with some of the gorgeous flowers they have here in Chile.

"Today was change day (the missionaries may get moved around to new areas and switch companions). But it has only been 5 weeks since the last week. Many missionaries left today to be home with their families for Thanksgiving. So, we had changes a week early. I am still with my companion…but only for one more week. Next week, I will be training a missionary from the United States. I doubt she will speak much Spanish.

"How do I feel? Excited, nervous, and positive. I will have six weeks to train and really enjoy my last change. Even if training isn't fun (I will try to do everything within my power so that it is) I am going to love my last six weeks…I have to work until the end! I worked hard this week. I am losing weight, eating better, and trying to improve my Spanish. I have been relying on the Lord more…I feel positive. But none of our 6 baptisms happened. They all fell through...that just means I am going to have to work harder. I hope I get an excited companion...I am so ready to work really hard my last change. I want to get home...feeling exhausted."

Here is a picture of me....with my hair a lot lighter...what do you think? And one of my companions...she isn't my real companion, but I live with her. Her name is Hermana Nava. She is from Mexico. She, along with her other 6 sisters, are all serving missions. All within Central America and South America. Amazing right? We had training this past week. I chose to sit in front and for that the President (of my mission) called on me. He said, ¨Hermana Cornelius, you have had a lot of success in your mission; what has helped you to be able to make bautismal dates (with people who want to join the LDS church)?¨ What a compliment! Wow, and he said it in front of everyone. It felt REALLY good afterwards. The freakin' Mission President told me that my mission has been a success. Woo hoo!

We watched a video with our investiagators this week. There is a scene when Christ is carrying his cross and the people are spitting at him, people are mocking him after being whipped, etc. I realized in that moment that I have nothing to complain about. I had had an experience this past week when someone made fun of me for my spanish and for being North American. It hurt. I have been mocked a lot on my mission. But all that pain went away when I realized what Christ went through. What a privilege! To walk the footsteps of Christ! Even though our scale compared to his is VERY small, but still, I am doing this for Christ, and what a priviledge it is to walk in a part of his life. So, we have an investigator that has massage beds...2 bucks for 40 minutes. Its like this jade rock or something. Wow. I was/am so relaxed. We went this morning. I really needed it. I think it relaxed me too much though, haha. I didn't really care about anthything today. I was in bed most of my pday (my preparation day to prepare for the rest of the week)....just relaxing and resting. I need it so much!

Today I went to buy food at the local UniMarc. They didn't pass my credit card right, so I had to wait for like 20 minutes while they tried to fix it. As the situation was happening, a human being would want to get annoyed and frustrated. I felt it, but didn't show it. And moreover everyone was watching me. One, because I am a blond and stick out like a sore thumb and two, because I am a missionary. I realizad I had the opportunity to be a representative of Christ. I remained calm. When the problem was fixed, I told her thank you, that it was ok and not to worry. I would not have done that without the (Holy) Spirit…without saying my morning prayer. The Spirit is so wonderful…it is the only thing that helps us progress, without it, we don't progress. I am grateful for this opportunity to have been a representative of Christ.

I thought yesterday would be just a normal day, a normal Sunday. At church we had the priviledge of hearing a great talk. For awhile, I have been praying for something, and have not yet recieved the answer, until yesterday. I just haven't felt the love of the Lord in my life, that he loves me. I have been praying to feel something of His love, like a hug or something. I haven't felt it each time I have prayed. As he talked, he said something that answered my prayer and the Spirit started to grow inside of me. He shared a story about how much God loves his children. I started to cry...but not just tears. I was crying hard…but from happiness and the Spirit that was in me. I felt SO loved. I can't explain that all encompassing feeling of love that my spirit felt. I was trying not to cry afterwards, but I felt so happy. Members were coming up to me, asking me if I was ok. It was a wonderful experience. The Lord always answers our prayers…but not always in the way we expect. I wanted to feel like a hug or something…He gave me much more than that. Answered it in a much more powerful way. I can't deny now that He loves me…nor will I ever be able. That feeling made such a lasting impact on me…never to be forgotten.

"I went to lunch yesterday and the hermana (the lady we were eating with) asked me where I was from. I told her the US and she was surprised because she said my Spanish was so good! What a compliment...that made me feel awesome.

"Well where do I start? With the festivities? The 200 year mark in Chile wasn't that bad. The festivities lasted for four days. So the first night, there were losts of people out in the street. One group invited us to dance with them and some guy gave us cheezits on the street. Haha. Then I'm thinking, "Wow, this is only the first night, tomorrow, the actual independence day will be worse." Haha, I was wrong. I think people got tired of the festivities, because it really quieted down after that.

"So, last Monday night, well, I should say Tuesday morning, I get a call at 1:50 in the morning from the Hermanas (the other sister missionaries) that sleep in the room right next to mine. I thought to myself how strange that they are calling. I didn't think much of it and didn't answer it. I put it on silence and wanted to go back to bed. But not long after, both Hermanas came into our room and told us that someone was downstairs. They had been hearing things for like 10 minutes: drawers opening in the kitchen, rustling in the living room, etc. Wow, your mind just goes crazy fast in those types of situations. I was super calm (thanks to the Spirit of the Lord), and we closed the door, tried to put a chair under it, and said a prayer. We felt that we needed to call our leaders, so we did. Then we waited, listening. We heard nothing. About 10 minutes later, we go down the stairs (me, with a comb in my hand to protect myself). No one was there, except they left the sliding glass door open. Nothing was taken. It was obvious that someone had looked through a couple of the drawers in the kitchen, but nothing was out of place. I didn't feel fear. The next day, we called and told the Mission President what had happened, and the Elders (the male missionaries) came over to see what needed to be done in the apartment. We left them there and went out to work. As we came back in the night, probably about 6 of the neighboors were bundled outside of our house. They asked me to explain what had happened. I did. One neighbour just says, "It could've just been a cat!" They tried to convince me, being a little contentuous, that nothing happened, that the guy couldn't have gotten in. I had to be patient and calm with them. No one believed us! So the Elders, being awesome, re-inacted the "break-in." They got in from the street and into the house…perfectly. Totally possible! So, I have been living in another area all this week, taking the bus everyday to my area. Then, the landlord wouldn't answer his phone…so we couldn't do anything to secure the apartment more. Finally, on Saturday, we got a hold of him. In about an hour I will be moving back in the apartment. No worries, it is safe and secure and I feel at peace about it. This week has been crazy."

Another 6 weeks has passed....can you believe it. I only have 18 more weeks left. I was transferred from my area, after being there for 4 changes (24 weeks). Crazy!

I am with an Hermana from St. George, Ut. This is only her third change here (she's only been here 4 1/2 months). I am excited to work with her and that means that we will be depending on my spanish....:) Hope that goes well. It makes me feel good. The Lord has confidence in me. We are up in the mountains. I haven't seen a level part of the area yet. Oh fun, summer is arriving....I am excited to work in another area. I am up in the north of the mission...it is different from the south where I was. People are a little harder here, but its ok, the spirit is what softens them up.

We didn't have baptisms this past change; the first time that I have not had a baptism in a change. Its ok. I had to learn that it didn't mean that I was a failure. My companion from the MTC (the missionary training center) is now there, in my old area. She is going to rock it and everyone is going to love her.

We had an activity as a Stake (a geographic region of LDS members) celebrating the indpendence of Chile, the 18th of September. We had a sack race as all the missionaries in our Zone...I beat all the Elders :)

"I feel honestly good to say that I speak spanish. It is a great feeling! I am not perfect, but I feel so comfortable in it now. I haven't slept in like 3 days and we played soccer today. This week will be different for me. We have 2 weeks of training and it begins tomorrow. We do practices and focus on a specific theme, like the Book of Mormon, etc. We had the opportunity to hear from two leaders in the Church. It was very inspiring. I got to see a friend from the MTC from a different mission.

We will be having 3 baptisms this Sunday. The Family Bravo is ready. They have stopped drinking tea, and I am so excited! (In order to be baptised into the LDS church, one must refrain from drinking coffee, tea and alcohol) Ignacio said the other day when we talked to him about his baptism, he said, ¨I am decided.¨ And with conviction. It kind of surprised me....in a good way. Can you pray for them? I was praying, praying for a baptism for this change and look what we got....an entire family. How freaking awesome.

We have had weather of like 72 this week...so weird for the winter. But I like it."

"There weren't a lot of hopes for baptisms the next few weeks. I have been praying, praying for someone to be able to get baptized this week. Then on tuesday we got a reference from Elders (male missionaries) in the North Mission. A ward member has been sharing the gospel with her family and they live in our area….wow. We contacted and taught them about the Restoration (of Christ's church on the earth) on tuesday, the two teens went to a church activity on wednesday; friday we passed by and shared a short message about how the Spirit (the Holy Spirit of the Lord) will help them to know that what they are doing comes from God. Saturday we played soccer with the teens, and sunday the mom and the daughter came to church. The family consists of Tamara (15 yrs), Ignacio (14 yrs), and Claudia, the mom. The mom of Claudia is somewhat interested and the dad doesn't listen (yet). Tonight we're meeting with the family. This week we are setting a baptismal date. What a blessing! I don't feel like I deserve such a wonderful blessing! Pray for them? The mom drinks coffee and smokes occasionally. Pray that she will understand and be able to overcome these things that will keep her from getting baptised?

"A funny story. Yesterday we walked by an area where they were selling all sorts of things ( I believe every Chilean breaks the Sabbath day because of these ¨sunday markets.¨) A guy that obviously was selling fish (I could tell by the fish tails hanging off of his shoulder) said hi to me and told me that he would be my captain fisherman and that he does everything for me. Now my companion jokes that I have a capitan pescador (captain fisherman). I also got called ¨sweetie¨ by a guy on the street. This week has been full of adventures.

"I am getting tired of people that lie to us. I hope that I can have a better outlook, because I hate knocking doors now (to talk to people); it makes me just mad and sad. I get on the verge of tears. I have been in Chile for almost a year. One year of Chileans, well, people rejecting the gospel I should say. Five more months...."

How cute is La Hermanita?

"Yeah, I am trying not to think about home....only 4 more changes is weird. I have had nightmares about going home....sometimes I just want to serve the mission for my entire life.

Well, last night was a night of waiting and anxious feelings….are we going to have changes (was I or my companion going to be moved to a different area)? The Assistant to the President finally called, and after talking for a good few seconds….we found out that….we didn't have changes! WOO HOO! I am very happy to be with my companion…Hermana Romagoza. Speaking of her…we sure have had an adventure this past week….

"Last change, everyone told me to take care of Hermana Romagoza. She is just such a doll….well at the beginning of the change she told me that her foot was starting to hurt. We are missionaries…(we walk a lot)...I didn´t think much of it. Well, last week it started to get a lot worse. So, we were by the doctor one day and we went. He gave her some antibiotics and told us to wait a couple of weeks to see what was going to happen. The next day I asked her how her foot was….she said, 'Hermana, I am not going to lie, but it really hurts.' It was swollen! So we called the doctor, and he told her to rest. She rested for a day and a half and then we went back. We got an x-ray….he is pretty sure she has a fracture. Everyone told me to take care of her…and I end up giving her a fracture L I know it isn't my fault, but we do walk a lot in this area. So, we haven't been working at full pace this past week. The more we walk, the more she hurts. Tomorrow we will know more…pray for her? Diego and Andres got confirmed (they are now members of the LDS church)…thanks for your prayers. Can you pray for their father, Marco? That he will have the will to stop smoking? And Julianna and Reyel? That they will have support from their families for their baptism? Please…thanks so much. I have a lot of work to do in this sector and I don't know if I have the energy to do it. But I know that Christ will help me...."

"God did miracles (this week). Monday I was down because of the baptisms that didn't work out. But it turns out a family that we have been teaching have been attending another ward (you have to attend at least 3 times before you can get baptised). I didn't realize that (they were attending a different ward). (Let me just interject here that a ward is simply a group of members that meet at a certain time. So this family was attending church at a different time than La Hermanita was, and she didn't realize it). And the boys told me Monday that they wanted to get baptised this Sunday!!! BLESSING! So, the entire week we went to their house to teach them the lessons. It was a great week. The mother is less active (she's a member of the LDS church but doesn't attend very often) and the husband is investigating as well. This family is AMAZING. I am so incredidably grateful to be a part of their lives right now. I love this family. We went to the temple with them on Saturday. I know the Dad will be baptised next. He just has to stop smoking first, but he will quit. This last week was amazing, teaching this family. We did so many things with them; we played soccer, went to the temple, had a get together after the baptism - they are progressing rapidly, and Diego and Andres got baptised yesterday! They will soon recieve the Priesthood and serve missions someday. This family wants to get sealed in the temple....in one year...at least after the Dad gets baptised. It is my wish to be there and see this family be sealed for time and all eternity (this means that after the family dies and leaves this life, they will still be joined as a family in the next). All the bad things that happen in the mission.....this family has made it so worth it. God is blessing me SO much."

"I am completing a year this week! Ah! No lo puedo creer! (I can't believe it)

Well...Chile played Switzerland today. I heard from my window an irruption of screams. Like the entire city. I heard horns blowing, I think I even heard fireworks. Later, we went to go buy a few things for the week and that is when Chile won. A guy ran into the store, decked out in a Chilean flag, amongst other Chilean attire, cheering for his team. It was a little crazy, but fun to see the love the Chilean people have for soccer. People will be happy, at least until we play again; how can we relate soccer to the gospel? Maybe they will let us into their houses now. Chile is advancing.....woo hoo! Its worse than American Football, the noise and the emotion!

Investigators to pray for:

"Marcos, Andres and Diego- that they will go to church and accept the gospel/know that it is true and get baptised soon.

Julianna and Rayel- Support from their family, that they will get baptised this weekend.

Carla and Nicole- Go to church next Sunday and get baptised on the 30th of June.

We have four baptisms planned! Pray for these people please!

"Being Senior Comp. is strange. My companion has a lot of confidence in me. I lead the lessons and decide stuff. Weird. Its a great feeling sometimes, but a lot of responsibility. She is a great support. She is very tranquila (laid back) and I know we will have a great time together.

"Last night we were talking to this viejito (older man). He started talking about himself and starting crying for having lost his wife amongst some other things. I just felt this great love come over me in this moment. I really could feel the love that the Lord has for this man, as well as the pain from the hurt that he has. I became teary eyed. We really feel the Lord's love as missionaries. I will never forget just this blanket of love come over me. That is extremly powerful love. There is a level of love that we grow to understand amongst our brethren and within our families. I am so grateful to have felt that love that the Lord has for Jaun and testify of it to him."

"Today was good. I got a new companion from El Salvador. She has 5 months in the mission and all the missionaries told me to take care of her. I am really exited to have a Latin companion again. That will really improve my Spanish. I am terrified to be Señor companion though (this means that La Hermanita is responsible for what the companionship does. She will make the big decisions!). I feel the responsibility on my shoulders. My companion's name is Hermana Romagoza. She seems very chill and very sweet. I am excited to learn from her. I know she has a lot to teach me. I really hope we will make a good team. I have a goal not to speak in English for these next 6 weeks. Nothing de ingles. I can think in Engish and listen to music, but I need to start thinking and doing in Spanish. It will be a blessing.

"There a a lot of people that can get baptised at any moment, but they just have a small desafio (challenge). We just have to work so that we get over that.

"It sucked having my last companion leave. By the way, I told you that I dyed my hair dark brown right? Anyway, my companion is here with her parents (her previous companion is done with her mission, and her parents are picking her up). We went and had lunch with them today. It was emotional. Dad and Lisa want to come and get me. It will be the same type of situation. I am going on only having 6 more months in the field soon. Crazy. Crazy.

"This week will be crazy. Getting to know new companion, trying to get into the groove of things. I just don't want to be bossy in any way. I just want unidad (unity) so that we can work together and carry the weight together. I know God has trust in me. I just have to trust in him and myself."

"Nothing has happened with Olivia yet. Her granddaughter said she was out of town and she doesn't come out when we go by.

However, God is blessing us...

"So on Friday, we were planning for the week. We realized that one of our investigatores could get baptised at anytime. And we felt like we should do it asap, or in other words, the next day. It was a little stressful, getting everything done and ready, from the interview (anyone who gets baptized is interviewed first, just to make sure they feel ready) to getting the keys to the church, etc, but so worth it. We said prayers and Lorena, nine years old, got baptised on Saturday. It was a beautiful, beautiful baptism. She is just this little, beautiful innocent girl, that has gone through some rough family situations. It was great to see her following the example of Jesus Christ. Then she got confirmed yesterday. The Spirit was strong in the sacrament meeting when she received the Holy Ghost (those with priesthood authority from God give new members a blessing to always have the Holy Spirit with them). God did a lot of miracles for this little girl and her family this weekend. It was such a change from last week, which was rough. God blessed us so much this weekend! He is doing miracles!"

"This was a really rough, rough weekend for me. I've had a challenging past 2 days. I want to share with you my weekend, beginning with Friday. This is about Olivia, our investigator who is just wonderful! Well, we went to her house to prepare her for her baptismal interview questions. Everything was great. Her friend was there, accompanying her for the weekend. It was rough. She was contentuous. We tried to keep the Spirit and things focused on Olivia. Olivia answered all the questions great. She is prepared. Then, we get a call that night. I answered and she said, "no me voy a bautizar." (I'm not getting baptized). My heart sank. I asked her why. She said that she earns little money to pay tithing! Olivia has never, ever had a problem about tithing until her friend showed up...and she said that her son didn't want her to get baptised either. That's not a problem; she is the mom, she runs the house and does what she wants. So, the next day, Saturday, we went over there with a member and his daughter. His daughter is 8 and recently got baptized; she has talked to Olivia before and has shared her testimony with her, so we thought she would be good to bring over.

Well, we got there and the friend of Olivia was there! We talked to Olivia to try to help her, to see what the problem really was. She changed her reasons again for not getting baptized. And her friend...kept interjecting! Olivia was totally sad and passive during this time. I was praying, praying for the Spirit and my companion was trying to keep things loving and peaceful. Well, then the member, the dad of the daughter, starts fighting back a little at the friend....there goes the Spirit. It was just not a good experience...we tried our best, doing everything we knew how to do.

Oh my gosh. This sector these past two changes, I have never, ever felt or seen such strong opposition with the people we are teaching! It is crazy! Satan is SO strong right now. I feel like we did everything we could. We are going to go when her friend is working, so we can really talk to Olivia. This was my weekend, and I had some rough challenges."

(pictured is La Hermanita with the other sister missionaries in her mission, and a Chilean street)

"This is my companion, Hermana Aranda, and I. Like our aprons? We did a noche de hogar (you meet with a family and share a spiritual message) and made tacos for a family. It was fun.

We didn't have a baptism this week, but the Elders did. That is one every week for our area in the month of May. And we are planning on 2 next weekend, one on our side, one with the Elders.

Chile is getting cold. It was a fast week. We are having conference this weekend and they called me today to ask to lead music. I don't lead. That puts me way out of my comfort zone..but what do I do? I had to say yes. But my comp is teaching me. I am going to be so nervous Wednesday.

Last night was good. We worked to the death, running to the last house because we had like 4 more mintues left (before we were supposed to be home). It was great. I love working hard. This is peoples' salvation!"

By the way, happy birthday, little sis!

"We had a baptism yesterday. It was like pulling teeth to get it. I swear that is why there are missionaries. Satan works so hard on people who are going to get baptized. I think only people who focus on nothing but baptism have the patience to fight the fight. It is exhausting and stressful, but so worth it. It was a 10 year old boy. He is very cute, but very devious. God seriously did miracles to get this kid baptised. Literally did miracles.

Can you pray for our potential baptisms? We are hoping for 2 this weekend. Rosa- pray that she will have the desire to get baptized May 16th and that she will be consistent in reading the scriptures and praying for that date. Paulina-pray that she will be happy to get baptised, even if her boyfriend doesn't do it and that she will get baptized May 16th without any problems.....That would help me and these people and the Lord so much! Please pray for them!

I think there are between 16-20 Hermanas (sister missionaries). I tried to count, but that is my guesstimate. There are an odd amount right now. I am sure more will come next change.

I am feeling really good with Spanish. I am speaking and understanding and feel good about it. Clearly, there are still things that I can't say or don't understand, but I am feeling confident and very grateful to our Heavenly Father."

"We had a nice surprise this week. We had an investigator call us to tell us she wants to get baptised the first of May. WOW! Incredible. it was such a miracle and we are so happy to plan it and be apart of it.

It is starting to turn cold here. I feel more able to work when it is cold. The sun just sucks the living day out of you.

We had interviews this past week with the president of the mission. He is so inspired! It was good. We are starting a new way of teaching, kind of, more short and sweet, which produces more simple lessons. I have felt an upgrade on my spanish this week...which makes me feel good. I feel like I can really communicate better now. I have been telling more stories and such.

Have you checked out the mission blog lately? (santiagomissioneast.blogspot.com) The president of the mission took a photo of us.

I am hitting 10 months this week! Ah. Crazy. I am getting into the big numbers now. One of the Hermanas here said that it is weird when you start having companions that are younger than you. I bet that will start happening in these next few months."

Alright, so until La Hermanita sends me some new photos, I'm going to be posting some of my favorite photos of her. This is one I took of her years ago at the Oregon coast. It's one of my all time favorite photographs. Isn't she cute? Here's what she had to say last week:

My new area is good. There are lots of people here that support missionary work and such.My companion is from Los Angeles. She looks Latina. She does have a gringa accent though. She is a power house. She talks to everybody. She knows how to teach so people understand. She really puts a lot into missionary work. That was what I prayed for. I wanted a companion that works hard. We had so much success this week. We found 12 new people to teach this week! The Lord is really blessing us. Its funny. She thinks that I am the reason for so much success and I think that she is. We love talking about the gospel and setting goals together. I have so much to learn from her. I feel very unworthy at times to be her companion because I just feel like she does everything better, but I am realizing that I just have a different way of doing things and that is ok. I am more quiet and I feel like she has to go over parts that I missed or stuff. But I talk simple. I keep things simple and that is ok. I am learning to have a better self esteem. God sent me here for me, my personality, as I am.

Earthquake!

Here's news from La Hermanita concerning the earthquake that hit Chile recently:

"Well two days after the quake things still seem hectic. Now that I have time to write, let me share with you my experiences. I woke up to, ¨Hermana, do you feel that?¨ I jumped off the top of the bunkbed and got into my companion's bed. Almost right after I got in is when the worst hit. I heard it was an 8 on richter in Santiago. I can't even explain how it was. As I said, I was really calm throughout it. I knew that everything would be ok. But now, with time and seeing the destruction of other homes, I realize how terrifying it was! I am just glad I didn't realize it the time I was going through it. It was like a really shaky rollercoaster. And the sound, the entire earth trembling, I won't ever forget. They said it lasted for 3 mintues. No way. It had to have been like 15-20 seconds. We said a prayer and it stopped not much longer after that. We have felt some good aftershocks. We had an aftershock of 7 on richter yesterday. There is so much to tell! Our apartment has some damage, but nothing really bad. Cracks and a little part of our wall looks like a sledge hammer got to it. But we are in a new building. It hit Saturday morning at about 3:40 am. By 4:00 pm that day our Zone went to our area, the poor part, and we helped families move stuff out of their homes. There were holes in the walls, stairs on staircases were not there, walls had fallen out. These people's apartments were destroyed. I was up on the 3rd floor with Hermana Talbot (she was my comp. in the MTC, we live together) this building that we were helping has 4 floors. There was like this weird silence. Then you could hear it. It was like that scene in Jurassic Park when they are in the stopped car and they hear the ground shaking because the T Rex was coming. It was like that sound. You could hear the earth tremble right before it got to us. So we ran under the doorways to get through the aftershock. Oh, that sound, it is just crazy. It makes me realize more that the Earth is real and what I learned in Science is real!!! We felt the building sway. Freaky. I was really fine until I had that experience. I keep having dreams about earthquakes and am trying to prepare in case another hits. No worries families. I am ok. I think Saturday was the most fulfilling day of my mission. Helping people. They were all like, where did you come from? Those people needed help and I am so happy we got to help. The pictures in the emails are from the apartments that we went to help. You can see the damage! Its incredible."

"We were planning a baptism this week (for a man named Alfredo, who is amazing) and the ward mission leader wanted us to do a special musical number. Well, I sang a solo at his baptism. I was so nervous, my voice was shaking as I sang. I know it sounded horrible. I will never, if I can, sing a solo again! The things the mission makes you do! Haha. But, never, never again. It was so embarrassing and awful.

"And another 6 weeks went by, time for transfers…but no. I am not leaving. Neither is my companion. Which means, with this change, I will have 7 months in this area! I really like this area, but I think I will be ready for a change in the future.

"How fast time flies, no? I am going to be home before I know it. I realized the other night that I do speak Spanish, not fluently, but I can get my point across, I think, for the most part. And that is comforting. I am not really nervous to speak it anymore, well, a little bit, but not like before. Neither am I nervous not to understand. I usually get the gist of everything. I still don't understand a lot, but it is coming. I feel like I should know more though after 5 months here. And completing 7 months in 6 weeks...I feel like I should know so much more! But God helps me. I know that if I studied more or put more effort into it sometimes he would help me more. The spirit is amazing and really does help you! Its neat when I say something that I have never said before, like a new way to say a sentence, or just in a way that I have never before expressed myself in Spanish. That shows improvement I think."

La Hermanita shared a pretty funny story with me last week. If you know her, you appreciate that she is a very blunt and open person, willing to share her mishaps and embarrassments with humor. First, however, I need to explain some things that La Hermanita refers to in her email: the Word of Wisdom and tithing. The Word of Wisdom and tithing are part of the lessons that missionaries teach to people interested in joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Word of Wisdom is the practice of taking care of our bodies by eating healthy foods in their season, and by refraining from foods that are harmful to us, such as drugs, alcohol, tea, coffee and tobacco. Tithing is paying one tenth of all our increase to the Lord. We do these things because God has revealed them to us through His prophets here on the earth.

Here's the email:

"Ok, so I had another baptism this week! Woo hoo. And boy is there a story behind this one. I can't wait to share. Her name is Fraisia. She is a little cooky. She talks to herself at random times and starts talking about other things…different things than what we are talking about. Then one day this week we were teaching her. She said, 'excuse me,' and gets up and walks outside. We were teaching her the Word of Wisdom to prepare her for baptism this week. She goes outside and we see her through the window, preaching to someone about the Word of Wisdom. We thought it was maybe her brother. I got up and looked. No. She was preaching to the grass for all I know. It was so WEIRD. She was preaching about tea and coffee. I just looked at my companion, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I laughed, hysterically. She came back in and everything was normal…? My comp and I both felt like we should keep teaching her and we did. She passed her interview; she is a smart cookie. She asks really good questions, she had no doubts in regards to paying tithing or anything. She is just a little weird sometimes.

"So yesterday we go to pick her up for church. She walks out in this short, see through dress! Ah! Then in her house, she turns around to walk into her room- her dress was tucked into her underwear! And we saw two little cheeks hanging out! Crap, so we had to tell her about her dress being see through and short, but we weren't sure how to do it with love. So we explained that her dress was really short and could she put like pants on underneath? Well she put shorts on. At least we couldn't see her white underwear. The baptism was great. She was so nervous! They had to do it twice, but it was good. Then after the baptism we were waiting for her, everyone, to get dressed. Well, she walks out without the shorts on, clearly with RED underwear underneath. Oh I about died. What could my companion and I do? Nothing. She was with everyone else and yeah. That is probably going to be my best baptism story. But she presented no challenges, we found her and baptised her in 3 weeks. What a huge, huge blessing. She is just a little weird, that’s all..."

From La Hermanita

"I learned something this week about anger. I was talking to my mission president and he said that you just have to, ¨give your anger away.¨ Whenever we are angry, it isn't worth it. Sometimes we love to be angry and just fester over it, but we will feel so much better if we just ¨give it away.¨ We can focus that energy on things that are so much more important. I tried putting it to practice this week, and I really saw some good results. Anger just isn't worth it, it isn't worth what you feel and what you are giving up.
"My companion is great. But gosh I have been speaking so much English. Our entire zone, minus two people, are North American. I have spoken SO much English. I need to focus on Spanish, it is so hard. She is really funny. we are so sarcastic around each other, good fun. I forgot how funny North Americans are! I miss that humor. Latinos just don't have the same. I didn't realize how much I missed it!"

New Companion

"I had an ok week. Just trying to get the hang of things, being with a companion that doesn't know where things are. I have to lead. She has almost a year in Chile. I guide, but she has to guide the lessons in Spanish. Oh, I feel sometimes that I will never get to the point where she is at in Spanish. But it will come. Patience. I realized that I had missed living with an American, when it comes to humor. But Americans are much more upfront. I had forgotten that. I don't know how I feel about that after being treated so well for 4 months!"