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."