Aug 15th, 2011

I think I have seen the movie ¨Together Forever¨ one too many times... haha:) I`m such a missionary...

What a week!! I`m sure you all are busy with summer coming to an end, things in the family, work, and just life in general. But I hope everyone is doing ok. I hope you all keep me updated on everything that is going on. If you have memories of Granny it would be fun to hear about them. I know we all have a TON because we have a great family an have all had a LOT of good times! It is a blessing that she isn`t going to suffer any longer and that her and Grandma B can be best friends up there and take special care of Grandpa to repay him for all his hard work. People are always worried about what is going to happen with two wives but like Mom always said, ¨God has everything planned out¨ and I know they are going to be up there partying. so we might as well be here partying a little too  :)

This week has been good. A little crazy but good. Hermana Eborn rolled her ankle on Tuesday morning when we were running and we thought it was ok until about 3 o'clock when she couldn't walk anymore. So we spent a day in the house with her ankle elevated and on ice. That stunk but now she is feeling almost back to normal and can maybe start running the end of this week.

Paz, the daughter of Glorian (who got baptized a couple weeks ago) finally decided to get baptized on the 28th of August. I am SOOO excited! She is so ready and loves the church and knows so much. She is 12 and so cute. They did a stake activity here where each ward represented a South American country and they did a dance and told about it and had typical food from there. We couldnt go but I heard it was awesome and Paz danced and the whole family went and loved it. They brought back pictures and it looked super fun. So it`s practically like she is already a member but now she is actually going to be a member. And the best part is that I will for sure be here. It is the last day of the change and I will probably get transferred so it will be the best going a way gift ever!

Also, Ximena, the wife of Jose (who got baptized about 3 months ago) (the crazy cat lady) she wants to get baptized on Sept 18th. Which is independence day here and so she said, I can get baptized and we can have a big party :)  So we are excited for that. She is scared of the water but we are going to help here with that. The funny part is, that she doesn`t like us (the missionaries) at all. But she loves the church and everything. She just tolerates us because she knows that we have to teach her everything. So hopefully everything goes ok and we don't die of cat smell before then... haha:)

That is pretty much all that is going down here in Chile. All the schools are still crazy but not where I`m at. Nothing really happens here. It has started warming up (depending on the day) sometimes we leave with just long sleeves on, which makes me love my life! And hopefully we are leaving beans season. Everyone feeds us beans because it`s warm and like they say ¨has lots of protein¨ but as it gets warmer, they snap out of the warm food season. Things are good here in the south.

I hope you all have a good week and that you are doing ok. Annie keep me updated on the baby (and if you cant, just tell someone to tell me when you have it) and good luck with work, home, life, ect.  Have a little fun and remember I love you all so much and am always thinking about you!

CON MUCHISIMO CARIÑO

Steph

A little taste of Sanitago last Monday

 Hermana Whyte, Hermana Ellsworth from AZ, Elder Coats from SLC, and Elder Saenz from Argentina. We have all been in this stake for at least 7 months so we took an alumni picture (Elder Coats goes home today)

Just some people who set up in down town (Plaza de Armas) and were playing so we just stopped for a second.

BESITOS

Aug 8th 2011

CELEBRATE.....I officially have 11 months in the mission. I remember my first month in Chile, I thought, "Wow, I am never going to be that old." But I guess that`s how the cookie crumbles.

 

This week....I feel like I have done a lot of things but when I put it on paper it`s not that much. There has been a lot of protests with the education. They want to to be free (ya I don`t understand) but they have been protesting for a long time downtown. Lots of schools have already lost the year and are going to have to repeat. On Thursday night we were in the street and people just start making all this noise. I was thinkin, "What is going on? There isn`t a soccer game tonight." Come to find out. it was part of the protest for everyone at 9:00 start pounding on their pots and pans in their houses. It was pretty funny because there were people everywhere just pounding on pots. We couldn`t help but laugh.

 

There is this old guy in our ward, Victor. He got baptized 2 years ago. He is so cute! He lives alone, has never been married, and is on dialysis. We go visit him every Wed. and he always makes me smile. This week he gave me a little Buddah guy that you can put incense in to burn. It`s so funny. He also gave me a random little painting thing he did about 3 months ago. I am starting to collect all this stuff that I have no idea what the heck I`m going to do with it but oh well, good memories I guess :)

 

Another thing, they have so many holidays here. Yesterday was Kid`s day (ya, just like Father`s Day or Mother`s day) so all the kids were so happy with all their new toys and stuff. Then on Fri. it was balloon day. So everyone had balloons. They just make up different days to switch things up I guess. But it`s pretty fun.

 

Glorian got confirmed yesterday. She`s so cute! She knows so much and studies the BOM like crazy. It`s awesome. Everyone in gospel principals jokes that she is too fast finding the scriptures and interpreting them. As for her daughter, she said she still doesn't want to get baptized. She wants to but doesn`t want to do it super soon. So we are trying to be patient :) But we have been having a lot of success. We have found 8 new investigators this week and last week too. It`s amazing how people are being prepared to accept the Missionaries. (And it helps that I`m a blond gringa... haha:)  I figure if they are the ones that are contacting me, està bien :)

 

As for winter,Its still here, but its not too bad. Everyone raved about how horrible it was so I was expecting the worst but ìt`s not too bad. It rains about 2 times a week, cloudy about 3 days and sunny 2 days. So I`ll take what I can get.

 

I can`t think of any other exciting news... Oh, in Moms letter she asked me to write about stuff that has happened. So here is a story from about a month and a half ago. It was, once again, a random catholic holiday and so everything was closed, so we were taking pictures by this fountain (4 sister Missionaries) and we were just kinda hanging out looking at the pictures and Hermana Player looks up and says ¨He has a gun¨ so we look over and there was this guy who was running from the cops and there was this undercover cop who is just walking normal and then when the guy running from the cops comes, he just whips out a gun and has it to his face. Then the cops caught up and took him away and the undercover cop just walks away. It was so crazy. We were all just looking at each other thinking, did that just really happen? We felt like we were in a movie... haha :) That was the most exciting thing that has happened in a while.

 

It sounds like you had a good little camping trip. I bet the kids loved it. And Mom and Dad came :) Did they remember their tent poles? haha

Annie, I still keep telling myself every week when I get your update. Wow, she really is going to have a baby. LOCO! But I`m super excited!

I love hearing about all the people that are going on Missions and getting married (oh the circle of life) I can`t believe all the changes. It seems like because nothing has changed in my life, everything and everyone should be on freeze too. Bueno.

 

 This is Andrea and David Gonzalaz, they are the cutest couple in our ward I swear. I freaking love them, and she makes really good food ;)

 

 This is the Moneda. To tell you the truth I have no idea what they do there or anything but it`s a government building that is on all the postcards so I thought I would take a picture of it... haha:)

 Hermana Sampson and I went on intercambios this week. She got here 3 weeks ago. She is from South Jordan and is awesome!

 

That is my week in a nut shell. I hope you all enjoy your week and know that I LOVE YOU!!!!!

 

LES AMO!!!!

Hermana Steph

Aug 1st 2011

So, good news....Glorian got BAPTIZED!!!! It was so good! She was nervous, but happy, and didnt really know what to feel. When we walked her to the font, she started crying because she was so happy. I love her so much and am so excited for her. All the members thought she was already a member because she knows so much. And her daughter Paz loved the baptism and I asked her afterwards if she would prepare to get baptized on the 14th. She kinda freaked out and didn`t accept, but said she wants to get baptized and is going to pray about the 14th.

On Monday, President Essig called with a reference for us. So we went to visit them. We walk in the door and there is this lady who had come to church on Sunday. Her husband is really inactive and she has been investigating religions and came to church to check it out. We planned to stop by later on in the week. But then we show up to this references house and turns out that the reference was her daughter. So we taught the daughter, the Mom, and the daughters boyfriend. It was super great!

Then on Thursday I get another call from President Essig and he said. Sister Whyte,  I just had the office print me off a list of how long people have been in their area. Have you really been in your area for 9 months?!? I laughed and told him yes and he asked ¨How are you doing with that? That is half your mission in one place. Do you want transferred?¨  I told him that I was ok for this transfer (the next month) but after that I am ready to leave. I was tempted to take special transfers but I would feel bad for leaving Hermana Eborn here, plus I want to see more of the people I have taught get baptized. That is one plus, we have been teaching Glorian off and on since January and I never would have thought I would be there the day she got baptized, but I was! So it`s all good.

On Friday we went to the Mission home for training for the newbies and the trainers. It was really good and best of all I got to see lots of people from my district in the MTC, there are 5 of us who are training this transfer. So it was awesome to see everyone again. That afternoon, I contacted this guy (who was a little older) and he randomly asks us if we like opera music,  then he just started singing to us in his opera voice. He wasn`t too bad, but it was just so funny I was trying my best not to laugh because who in the world just starts singing so someone on the street. But it was a good time:)

Oh, I felt so bad for Hermana Eborn. On Saturday it was raining pretty hard and there were a ton of puddles. She doesn`t have rain boots but we were just walking through puddles up to our calves and we were crossing the street were there was all this mud and she lost her balance and fell down. Everything was so dirty but it was so funny at the same time. It was right in front of a meat shop and everyone was staring, so it made it that much better. But it was all ok, because we found 8 new investigators this week (which is really good) so we are super excited for that!!

How is LaRee and everyone hanging in there? I hope everyting went well and that they are good. How is Granny doing? I am sure she is doing too many things, but whatever she wants to do let her do it I guess :)  It sounds like Annie`s baby shower with her friends was fun. I can`t believe all of them have so many kids. It is crazy how fast life changes! I can`t even imagine. It seems like I just graduated from high school a year ago. And poor Noah with staples in his head! That must have been a pretty big rock. Kids will always be kids won`t they. Did they have to shave a part of his head?  It is crazy to think that Eric Young is home. It seems like the mission life and real life don`t go together. He was a great missionary. All the missionaries talk about him and say he is so funny. So I`m sure he did well on his talk.

Well, I can`t think of anything else to say so I will write back next week and give you the next update in the life of Hermana Whyte. Have a great week and try to stay away from flying rocks, and keep on the sunny side. :) Remember I love you all and I love you more than a Chilean loves Colo Colo (the soccer team here that everyone is crazy about)

Besitos

Steph

Glorian