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!"

La hermanita speaks!

La hermanita calls home just two days out of the year: Christmas and Mother's Day. So you can probably imagine our excitement as we anticipated Christmas morning. We each took turns talking to her, and it was so wonderful to hear her voice!

I apologize for the above photo; la hermanita has been having trouble sending me photos. This one was mailed to my mother, scanned, and then emailed to me.

So why just twice a year? Well, as you can imagine, it's pretty easy to get home sick when you're on a mission, thousands of miles away, etc. So it's pretty standard that missionaries only call home twice a year, to keep them focused. When I was in Argentina I was most homesick during Christmas time anyway, so I thought it was the perfect time to call home (plus it's obviously Christmas day).

So my sis is doing well, and struggling at the same time. She's been working hard, which she says really helps her to be focused. She gets discouraged at times because she feels the responsibility she has to share the gospel of Jesus Christ very strongly, and is afraid she may not be able to measure up. She often feels as though she's not doing enough. She's very hard on herself at times. Each of the letters I write to her include a you can do it part, because she needs it. However, she's always very positive, as well, because she has faith and knows the Lord is with her.

Here's an excerpt from her last letter:

"We found people to teach on Christmas. It was a good, nice day. Christmas was nothing what I thought it would be. I was ready to be sad and stuff, but it didn't really happen.

Changes happened today. I have a new companion. Her name is Hermana Knight. She is from Utah. She seems great. We are in my sector, so I get to show her around, which I am a little nervous about. My (last) companion, Hermana Alegre, and Hermana Talbot, my companion from the MTC, are companions now. Small world! I am excited for a change, but I am scared to have a new companion, a new way of doing things. I know that I just need to trust in the Lord and what he wants."

On a side note, I've been reading a book about Christ and His atonement. I read it years ago before my mission, and it is amazing! It's been a very special thing for me to read during Christmastime especially, and it's addressed so many of la hermanita's concerns in her letters. I know the Lord is helping me to help her at this time in her life, and I'm so grateful for that.

She's engaged...in a good cause, that is!

I haven't gotten a photo from La Hermanita for a couple weeks now. I can't write a post without a photo, however; it just feels wrong! So here's one of La Hermanita before she left for Chile. Hopefully I'll get some new pictures soon! Here's some news from the sis:

"Well, I have to tell you about my exciting week. First, I got proposed to. He didn't get down on one knee, but it was still pretty good for a drunk, or druggy, I am not sure which. He said to me, 'Marry me and I will convert to your religion.' My companion reminded me that we need to bring at least one soul unto Christ. She tried to convince me that I should go ahead with the marriage, then I would have my one soul. I told her I would think about it :)

"A cool thing. I was talking to an Elder the other day who is from California. I was speaking to him in Spanish and didn't realize it, because we almost always talk in English. I thought I was talking in English. I didn't realize it was Spanish! Cool!

"So my companion and I split up for a while on Saturday. I went with a young woman and my companion went with another missionary (to teach). I had to lead, and direct the lessons we taught...I DID IT! It was such a confidence booster for me. I didn't understand everthing that people said to me, but wow. I sure was able to grow in those 2 hours. Usually my companion leads and directs the lessons. But the young woman didn't say anything, so clearly I had to do it. They were just scriptures, not a real lesson, but I did it. I know I can do this. I was so happy afterwards, knowing that I can do it. I still need someone to speak spanish though, companion wise because there still is a lot that I don't understand."

Just a couple notes, here. First of all, Elders are what male missionaries are called.

Secondly, sometimes missionaries separate for the day and spend the day with two other individuals so they can get more work done. It's nice to spend some time with someone other than your companion as well. La Hermanita has had the same companion now for almost 4 months. Imagine! Having to spend 24/7 with someone you previously never knew, for an extended period of time. La Hermanita and her companion have had some trying times, especially since they come from such different backgrounds, speaking different first languages! But they have been open with each other and have worked things out. Go sis!