Sept. 5th, 2011

Greetings!

 

Hows life rollin for you all? I am just here in my little world still trying to believe that I have a new nephew. WILLIE! I am soo excited. And it`s so wierd to think that Annie and Calvin are parents. Not that they are bad parents but I just can`t get over it. BUT I am super excited and even more excited to be holding him.

 

Noah, I can`t believe how old/big you are! And you are playing baseball and basketball?!?! LUCKY! You are going to be an allstar by the time I get back! Thanks for praying for me everyday buddy!

 

And how is the fair this year? Basically  the same as every other year- except the people are older and it gets more and more fun to people watch with all the creepers...love it! I am missing so many rodeos!! haha:) But next year... and to think that this week I am going to have 1 YEAR in the mission. WOW! It really was just the other day I was at the fair watching the rodeo and eating a carmel apple. Except now I look in the mirror and think "Wow am I 40 years old or do I just look super old?" haha:) Love life!

 

I like my new area a lot. It is about the same as my old area but there is an area that has new houses that makes me feel like I`m in a subdivision in AZ or something with a pool and all that jazz but then there are areas that are a little more poor but, not too drastic a change from my last area. The airport is in my area and another little town that is outside of the city (I think we are going to go there this week) and that is pretty much all. It`s a big ward so we share it with the Elders and they have the part that is more dangerous.

 

Yesterday after Sunday school I get a tap on the shoulder and it was Enrique Cardenas. He is a Grandpa from my old ward in Los Mares and couldn`t believe it!!! We left without saying goodbye and that we weren`t going to come to lunch this week so he had to come say goodbye to us. He is so cute! It was fun to see him. And in this Ward they have me playing the piano and if you thought I was bad before I came to the mish wait until I haven`t practiced in a year and then see how it sounds but they are patient and tell me it`s ok. They are all super nice.

 

So about the investigators here. There is a guy, Luis, whos wife and daughter got baptized about a year ago and he goes to church and everything but says he doesn`t ¨feel¨ like he is ready to get baptized so we are going to work with him. We had a great lesson and he said he is excited to have us here. So hopefully we can help him make up his mind.

 

Also, there is a guy Browlio, who has been inactive for 7 years. He is a  returned missionary and everything and his girlfriend isn`t a member but they want their daughter to be raised with beliefs in God so they went to church for 2 weeks but to a different ward and then we visited them and tried to convince them to come to our ward (they say it`s a little to sketchy, but it`s really not) and he came yesterday to check it out and said he is going to bring his girlfriend, Sandra, next week. They are awesome and soo nice.

 

We also have two other invstigators that are pretty good but didn`t come to chruch so we have to find out whats up and all that jazz. But that is pretty much my area, life, and week.

 

as for the pictures...

 I might have sent you this already but this is a school on strike. They put the chairs and desks in the fence. oh Chile...

 Hermana Eborn and me at a ward activity this week. They have a saying here that says ¨Pasamos Agosto¨ (we passed August) because it`s the coldest month of the year and lots of old people die so they had a party to celebrate that we all make it through alive.

 Hermano Amable (nice), yes that is really his name. He is the cutest old guy ever. When I was here on splits a while back we contacted him and taught him the first lesson but he lived in the area of the Elders. They taught him and he got bapitzed about 4 months ago. He is sooo cute. His assignment is to welcome the people when they come into the church, so he gets there at 9 (the meeting starts at 10) to make sure he fulfills his calling. He came to the party in his getup to dance the cueca, a typical chilean dance. So I had to take a picture with him and his outfit because he was so excited to be there and dance. I told him that maybe he would find a lucky lady to be his wife and they could dance the night away... haha:) ( I can't seem to get this picture to rotate...sorry)

 

and that is all I have for now. But I hope you all have a great week and remember I LOVE YOU and have some fun for me :)

 

BESITOS

Steph

 

Aug 29th, 2011

Howdy,

 

How has the week been for ya`ll? There has been lots going on. I hope everything is going ok with the kids, Annie with the house and the baby, crazy.!! I have had a good week here. Paz got baptized yesterday! It was AMAZING! She was so nervous but so happy! Her Mom who got baptized a month ago gave a talk about the Holy Ghost that was so good. All the members said ¨I would have thought she was a member her whole life¨ she was so nervous but it was so great. They started crying so I started crying... haha:) It was a great day.

 

Then last night they called with our news on transfers. They told us that we are both staying here in this area. I was freaking out! I didn`t know how I was going to live with 10 and a half months in one area. Then the zone leaders called and said there was a mix up and that both me and my companion are going to go to San Francisco, which is a Ward in our same Stake. It`s like we are going from a Pingree ward to a Thomas ward. It`s basically on the other side of the road. Well, not really but it`s here close. Then when they told me that I couldn`t believe it either. I was freking out again! It still doesn`t seem real. I have been there quite a few times on splits and so it`s crazy to think that I am going to be serving there. But I like the area a lot. It has a little bit of everything, rich, poor, and everything in between. It`s really close to the airport so the planes are always passing super close. It will be a good change. The Sisters that are there right now are just switching with us and will come to my area.

 

Yesterday we were walking to our apt after lunch and we saw this guy on his motorcycle get hit by a car. It was crazy!!! We didn`t stay to see what happened but it just added to the craziness of the week. This week there were a bunch of protests and everything for the schools. The public transportation and everything went on strike and they did a bunch of stuff. They were making bon fires in the the streets and they burned a Catholic Church and they burned a car and a kid got shot and who knows what else, that is just what the people have told us this far. But nothing happened in my area so it was just another day for us.

 

I cant really think about what happened this week, my mind is still crazy from the changes but I think that is pretty much all that has gone down this week. My letter is so short I`m sure there is more... but nothins comin so I`ll just save it for next week :)

 

I know you are all super busy but I hope your busy things are good. Keep me updated on the nephews and when I have a new one :)  I can`t believe it`s already fair time and all that jazz. Time flies! I am always thinking about ya`ll and pray things are good. Remember I LOVE YOU and have a great week!

Besitos (Chilean style)

Steph

Paz (12) and her little sister Cony (4) before the baptism

Celebrating Paz`s baptism. Luckily it wasn`t raining

Glorian, Paz, and Cony at their house saying goodbye

 

Aug 22nd, 2011

What a week! It`s amazing how time changes. It`s hard to be here without Granny but like Annie said, she has always been a missionary and is probably working her tail off (as usual) on the other side preachin the word. On Wed I read a talk in the conference Ensign for this conference in April. ¨The Atonement Covers All Pain¨ by Elder Richards. It is so good. It made me feel much better. Then come to find out that was the day that Granny passed away. The Lord works in amazing ways. I know she has helped me this week because we found 9 new amazing investigators (which to find 9 new investigators in a week is really good). I was thinking about her and how she always loved watching the movies on Lifetime. I never liked them because it was the same lame story; a couple and then he cheats on her or beats her so she has to escape from him. But I just watched them because she liked them and plus she always had chocolate to eat while we watched so it made it worth it... haha:) Then I was also thinking about when she came to our house and brought P90X to work out. She puts it in and starts doing it and AnnMarie and I are over there dying trying to keep up with her. She is so amazing!

 

And this coming Sunday Paz is going to get baptized! She is excited and it will help her and her Mom stick together to come to church and everything. Her sister Connie is 4 and said the prayer the other day and it was so funny I started laughing because she prayed for all the random things that kids pray for and then at the end she said, oh ya, please bless the kids so they dont have a knife because that is dangerous. I LOVE their family soo much. We have transfers next Monday (we find out Sudnay night). So I will let you know what happens. I am 99% sure I`m leaving but the question is if Hermana Eborn is coming with me or not. She doesn`t want to leave because this area is amazing. It will be hard to leave. I started crying last change when I said good bye to Maria (my first baptism here) and then I stayed so it was ok but now I think I have to say goodbye for real.

 

Doing contacts in the street this week was pretty great. We were talking to this guy and he said he had to go because his boss was waiting for him in the truck and was looking at him angrily and then he went over to the truck and gave us a bunch of avacados...haha::) It was great! Yesterday we passed a guy that we had contacted before and he had warm freshly made bread and gave us some bread. You never know what is going to happen in the streets of Chile!  Then I contacted this kid who was about 16 and he wouldn`t listen to me and was just being rude so I told him ¨Hey, be somewhat of a gentleman and listen to me.¨ Maybe it`s not the best thing to do but it at least got him to stop and listen for a min.

 

Oh, on Wed we ate soo much food. We had a huge lunch with an old guy in our ward who LOVES the Missionaries and so he gives us everything he has. Then we went to Glorian and Paz`s and they had hot chocolate and cake waiting then we went to Maria`s and she had hot sopapillas (that are a little bit like scones) waiting for us. What can we say? The people just love us... haha:) One of our new investigators made us 2 kinds of empanadas yesterday... And this is the life of a Missionary. The only thing that changes in our daily lives is the food we eat!  But that is pretty much all that has happened this week. I hope that you are all doing ok and keepin on the sunny side of life. We are here to be happy so we have to make the best of each moment.

 

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH and wish you a great week!

con todo mi cariño,

Steph

 

I tried to send photos but there is some kind of virus that won`t let me either on my camara or the computer, I`m not sure but I will try next week.

Chou