Reunited at last

It was exciting and sad to pack my bags and realize my mission is over. Hno. Munoz took us (the Elders, and Hna Bramwell and I) to the mission office. It was fun to see everyone there and the excitement everyone had.

We had our closing interviews. I don’t really remember too much of what Pres. Essig said, but he told me to keep up the good habits I learned on the mission. Surprisingly he didn’t tell me I had to go home and get married, I guess he just figured that is implied haha.

Then we went to the mission home and had a lunch and a testimony meeting. It’s amazing the power a room full of missionaries can hold. Then I went out to meet mom and dad. It seemed so surreal to see them in person and give them hugs. Of course mom was crying but it was pretty awesome.

They told me they had gotten lost in Santiago for 5 hours trying to find their hotel/apt. But they managed to get to church on Sunday to visit Los Mares and San Francisco.

So we went back to the apt and hung out. Dad and mom wanted me to write the people I wanted to visit to make sure they were going to be around so I tried working a tablet for the first time in my life and I hated it because I didn’t know what I was doing and it felt so weird to be on Facebook and everything.

But we started visiting people, everyone wanted to feed us meals and pop. Every house we went to mom said, “I can’t do it anymore!” and me and dad just laughed and said, “Well, you have to.” Haha oh the joys. We got to see quite a few people. Everyone seemed happy to see us and they kept telling me I have to come back.

So we hung out  in Santiago. Went to Los Buenos Muchachos with the family Ñancupil. It was awesome to have the bbq there and see all the awesome dances from around Chile. Everyone went out to dance except for me jaja.  We toured around Santiago, went downtown to the markets and Plaza de Armas, went up San Cristobal, and Santa Lucia.

Then we went to our condo in Con Con. It was kind of chilly but it was fun to see a different part of the country. We were right on the beach and drove down to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso. They were really pretty. I loved Valparaiso because of the streets and the feel of everything. Viña was a little more ritzy but we walked on the sand (which felt sooo amazing after all that time) and ate churillanos for the fist time (famous in Viña, it’s French fries with cheese, hot dog, sausage, beef and onions.) It was then time to come back and get ready to go home. The family Ñancupil and Clarita Marin and her family came to the airport to see us off. It was so awesome.! Hno Ñancupil got pulled over and they wanted to arrest him because he didn’t have the registration for the car, it was in his brief case, so Jorge had to take a taxi real fast and bring it (stupid Chilean cops) and Hna Clarita bought me a book of Chilean slang there at the airport and they sent us home with gifts and hugs. I couldn’t help but cry as I said good bye to them. I hope that one day I will be able to see them again.

Valparaiso

Santiago Temple

Dinner with Ñanupil family

Hasta la vista amigos

 In The End

Thinking back as my experience as a missionary, it really was the time I have been happiest in my life.  Realizing all the miracles the Lord works everyday, it’s amazing. This really is the work of the Lord. A year and a half earlier I never could have imagine what was going to happen. I fell in love with the people of Chile, their culture, their wit and the members are so firm. The retention rate is horrible and a lot of my converts and less actives I taught are already starting to fall away but I continue to pray for them and hope that they will once again fill the happiness that the gospel brings. But there are also the firm ones. Glorian Seguel is now working in the Young Womens, Maria Villavicencio is sewing the baptism clothes for the ward, the family Marin who was inactive is still going to church and I know the Lord will watch over and keep them. These people have changed my life. The Lord has blessed me so much to be able to server here. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity and now, solo hay que perseverar hasta el fin. Hasta ver!

Friends reunited!

Meeting my new nephew William and enjoying these crazy kids

A happy welcome home!

Areas:

Villa Primavera          Recoleta                      6 weeks

Los Mares                  Pudahuel                     9 months

San Francisco             Pudahuel                     6 months

Lampa                        Lampa (Colina)           6 weeks

Baptisms:

                                    Baptism Date            Birthday/Age

Carolina Arellano      Nov. 28 2010             Dec 17 (10 yrs old)

Guillermo                   Dec. 26,2010             Boyfriend of Camila Valenzuela

Maria Villavicencio    Jan 11, 2011              1/12/45

Clara Marín                April 24, 2011            May 20, 1967

Diego Hernandez      May 15, 2011               Aug, 30, 1999

            Belmar

Jose Arevena              June 19, 2011             May 16, 1957

Jorge Urrea                June 26, 2011              Jan 29, 2002

Glorian Seguel           July 31, 2011              Sept 17

Paz Leyton                 Aug 28, 2011             March 19

Claudia Diaz               Dec 11, 2011             June 28, 1977

Matias Remirez          Jan 1, 2012                May 4, 2000

Companions:

Sarah Buckner           West Jordan, UT        3 months (6 wks Villa Primaera, 6 wks in                                                                          Los Mares)

Ashley Dymock          Paradise, UT              3 months  in Los Mares

Maria Player              Nibly, UT                    3 months in Los Mares, 6 weeks in San                                                                              Francisco (trio with Bramwell)

Madeline Eborn        Heber City, UT           3 months (Trained in Los Mares and San                                                                          Francisco 1)

Alexandrea                Lewisville, ID              6 months (4 ½ months San Francisco, 6 (Lexie)Bramwell                                              wks Lampa)

Wendy Elizabeth       Santa Ana,                  3 weeks as trio with Bramwell in Lampa

Escobar Orantes        El Salvador                

People I love:

Villa Primavera

Carolina Arellano

Resplendor 3745

Baptism of less active family

Guillermo

Mauricio, Isabel, Camila, Ayleen Valenzuela

Jose Maria Caro 3005

Torre F #409

 (boyfriend of Camila Valenzuela

taught him but got baptized a week

after we got transferred)

Cecilia Torres

Corner of Jose Maria Caro Diagnal

Bus driver, fed us lunch a lot

Andrea Carter

Nueva la Obra (yellow house)

Recent convert, fed us, split with us

Los Mares

Maria Villavicencio Calderon

Juan Guzman 325

(Baptism)

Familia Aros (Zamora)

Eduardo, Rossana, Franco, Andrea, Connie

Pje Venezuela 7417

Store, fed us, awesome, called 1^st Christmas

Bishop Miguel Avilez

Monica, Eli, Diego, Barbara (granddaughter)

Av Pajaritos 6575

Valle Verde

Bishop and RS pres

Elder Barros

Yolonda, Roldolfo, Juan Carlos, Estefani

Pje Hualas 0178 Valle Verde

Area 70 and Gospel Principals teacher

Ervin Carcamo Alvarado

Lilian, Sebastian, Sofi, Consuelo

Pje, Ingeniero Pierre Lehman 7856

Fed us, fun kids

Alfredo Cardenas

Tatiana, Andres, Franco, Javiera

Pje Las Hualas 0200 Valle Verde

RS and YM

Victor Corro Zamora

Pje Arco Iris 284

Recent Convert, old, walked to church

Fernando Garcia

Claudia, Ignacio (Nacho)

Pje Colombia 419

Semi-Inactive, cute chubby kid

Eugenio Lovera, Rita Olguin

Francisco

Laguna Sur 7051

Bishopric, RS Pres, 1^st Christmas

Jorge Ñancupil

Alejandra Calderon, Jorge, Jose

Los Cernicalos 511

Mission leader, did everything, laundry

Angelina Yañez Osses

 Leslie, Fernanda, Maite

Los Carpinteros 7145

Lunch every Tues, laundry

Hilda Diaz Gajardo

Mosia, Elizabeth

Curacautin 7009

RS Presidency

Juan Carlos Roman

Alicia, Eva, Leo, Cata, Antonia

Poesia 7353 and

Reina Sofia 265

Awesome, Seminary teacher, fed us, “Ni un brillo”

Andrea Gallardo

Pracila, Natalia

Villa Militar Block C #104

Neptuno 97 con Pajaritos

Inactive, presented daughters

Catalina Diaz Cifuentes

Moved to Maipu

RM de Argentina

Cristian Aceituno y Catuska

La Travesia L31

Bishopric, works at airport

Enrique Cardenas (German)

Lago Peñuelas 099 Valle Verde

“Raquete Camote”, LOVED missionaries

Evelyn Reyes

Pje Pajaritos 49 (con Lago O’Higgins)

Primary music

Orfilia Cerón

Leo, Danny, Carolina, Grandma Carmen, creepy dad

Pje Lejania 7361

Fed us, visited mom (convert)

Claudio Marín

Margot (Giddy), Claudio, Natali, Francisco, Matias, Isadora

Bienvenido 7007

Les active

David y Andrea (Pavez) Gonzalaz

Diagnal Tiniente Cruz 557 #308

Awesome, fed us, she finally got pregnant

Clara Marin Barrera

Valentina

Travesia 6988 F44 (Condominios Los Torres)

claramarinb@gmail.com

Baptism, Husband lives in Valle Verde

Luis Urrea (b-day Sept 10, 1973)

Alma Carter(b-day Jan 3, 1972), Jorge (b-day Jan 26, 2002)

Buen Vivir E #102 (Travesia con Las Torres)

Less active, lived in Mexico, baptized son, threw me b day party

Glorian Seguel

Humberto, Paz, Constanza Leyton

Villa MIlitar A #102 Valle Verde (Neptuno con Pajaritos)

Baptisms

Diego Hernandez Bermar

Curacoutin 7088 (frente de la plaza)

Lived with LuLu Reyes

Roldolfo, Esteban, America, Evelyn

Amazing lady always sharing the gospel, happy with lots of trials

Jose Arevena (May 16, 1957) y Ximena (Sept 16, 1956)

Alsino Sur 87A

Batpism, crazy cat lady

Edwardo Cuevas

Maria, Valentina, Valeria

Travesia 6988 N #11

Alexis Lucero

Jaqueline, Estefanye, Matias, Alexis

Rariruca 234

Fed us, good people

Juan Pablo Nuñez Varas

Marta Brunette 7185

Ward secretary, single, family inactive

Julia Toro Nuñez

Camilo, Christopher

Los Nudos 6995

Fed us, went with us to Jose y Ximenas

Victor Varas

Claudia, Marvin, Natalie, Jared

La Mampara 286

Used to be bishop

Hernan Rojas, Ana, Benjamin (grandson)

Las Taguas 494

Cute old people, we worked as park keeper

Barbara Hernandez y bebe Felipe

Condominios Las Torres 0 #44

Was baptize Sept 25, 2011 after I left

Gave her my blowdryer

Cecilia Ñunez (32+-)

Condominios Las Torres L #4_

Activiating her

San Francisco

Jaime Robles

Yamile, Maykool, Felipe

Cerro Calan 9522

Bishopric, laundry, did everything, fed us a ton!

Claudio Rojas

Carolina, Jose, Carolina

Rio Trancura 9741 #53

RS, washed our clothes

Roberto Briones y Vicki

Cerro San Luis Sur 9545

Fed us

Luis Cabrera

Anita Salazar, Almendra

Rio Clarillo 9736

RS Pres, has since separated and moved

Luis Naranjo

Roxana (recent convert), Camilo, Fernanada (recent convert)

Cerro Paine 927

Luis never got baptized, went to church for 1 ½ yrs. Dj. They are moving

Raul Urra

Fabiana, Benjamin

Guzman Riesco 885 A #31

Bishop, fed us

Alejandro Peña

Silvia, Valentina, Agustina

Rio Trancura 9677

Fed us, accompanied us, made cakes

Carolina Pedreros

Michael, Aaron

Bravo Luco 1396A

Awesome! Has since moved to Quilicura

Cristian Moreno

Veronica, Alan, Evelyn

St. Marta 9579 (at the end on the right)

Accompanied us

Paula Troncoso

Matias, lider misional, Agustin (rambunctious kid)

Jazmin 1304

RS

Broulio Hernandez (inactive)

Sandra Velasquez (investigator), Fernanda

Rio Trancura 9743 Casa 085

2^nd Christmas, fed us, skyped Bramwells funeral

Maria Uribe

Katherine, Pedro

Cerro Tololo 1229

Inactive, made brownies

Claudia Diaz (June 28, 1977)

Manuel Alvarez Ramirez (Dec 24, 1961), Barbara (Dec 4, 1994), Coni (Oct 23, 2001), Martin was born just before I finished mission

Jose M Carrera Parcela #45, Noviciado

Baptism, Barbara baptized after I left. Only country baptism

Inez Contrerez (Sept 13, 1953)

Matias Ramirez (March 4, 2000), Ingrid (March 26, 1983), Victor (drunk)

Patricio Edwards 1323

Matias baptism, mom not member, grandma active

Yris Villarroel y Ariel Concha

Bravo Luco 1082

Fed us, crochet white booties, accompanied

Camilo Soto, Edwardo y Nayareth

Patricio Edwards 1257

Camilo drunk, kids liked church, hung with Matias

Cecilia Rojas, Danae, y Fernanada

San Ignacio 1157

I taught Fernanada piano

Cynthia

Baptized in Lo Prado lives down town, accompanied us, married Sebastian Rodriguez

David y Iris Valdes

Tranque 1105

Accompany, eat

Familia Jara

Deyanira Fuentes

St Victoria 1365 (with the doves)

Fed us, super nice

Marcos Valdes

Angelica, Gabriel, Jose

Olmue 1271

Victor y Luci, Milagros (down syndrome)

St Emilia 1335

Peruvian, fed, he’s not a member

Ivon, Solange, Franco, Nacho, Angel

Serrano 964 (con Tiniente Cobo)

Inactive

Reinaldo Rojas Meriños

Maria, Jecelyn, Margerie, Wilson

La Campana 1178

We taught grandma and got baptized, Wilson mission

Hugo Rodriguez

Margarita, Sabastien, Matias, Franchesca, Thomas

Lo Espejo 916

Fed us, made skirts and dresses

Susan y Mitchel Montano

Javiera, Antonela

Cerro Calan 9532

Inactive, YW

Bernardo Calderon y Elizabeth

Ande 9402 (004)

Lived in Panama for long time, son serving in Pocatello mission

Lampa

Familia Caceres

Raul, Melody, whole fam

Lo Castro Parcel 15-B Sitio 1

Lunch every Sunday, accompanied, farewell party and gifts

Diego Muñoz

Food man, took us to Santiago when finished, fed us

March 19th 2012

HOLY CRAPPERS! The mission is almost over. I remember thinking a year and a half ago that this would never come. But to say the least, it`s been a good week. I got my bike fixed, we went to find a place to weld it and this random guy who was building a house fixed it. I batted my eyelashes a bit and he didn`t even charge me :) It was working great until Saturday night when we were on a busy road. We were riding on the sidewalk, and I was gawking off, looking at the stores and went off the little lip and when I tried to go back on the sidewalk, it didn`t work very well and I fell, I didn`t want the bike to fall on me so I did this little jumpy, skippy thing and then fell down. haha:) It was so funny. This guy comes out of his store and makes sure I`m ok, all I have is a few scratches, but nurse Bramwell cleaned the gravel out of my knee. It was pretty funny, I wish I could see a replay of that thing. But now my wheel and handle bars are a little crooked, but it`s not that big of a deal... haha:) 

I have a question that I have never thought of until this week, why do we celebrate St Patricks day and why is it a tradition to wear green? I always just did it but we just realized we don`t even know why. On another note, this week we went to 2 new parts of our area. We found some really great people and it was fun to explore. In one of the areas, it was kinda lame but there was this big hill, so we decided to make the trip worth it and climbed up it. We could see everything (even though there's not much to see... haha) and almost had to slide down on our butts, but it was a nice little detour. Also, good news- this member fixed my camera card so it doesn`t have a virus, and he backed up my pics for me. So next Sunday (when we eat with them again) I`m going to take my other card with a virus on it and he is going to do the same. I was so excited yesterday! But you know I'm getting ready to go home when you look at me, I look like a bum - my only black skirt isn`t really black anymore, its more of a rustic black so this morning I cut the tag off and now I'm wearing it inside out because on the inside it still looks good :) Only in Chile right... haha!

We don`t know what we are going to do for P day, we decided we have to live it up my last one so we are going to go to Santiago and do whatever we can think of. Last week we went to the cemetery just to see how it is and that is all we had time for because I locked the keys in the house and it took a while to find a way to get in (it`s a little harder when the windows are caged in and you are locked outside the house but inside the fence... haha:) Hermana Bramwell is a genius and got us out. 

This week our plans are 1) live it up! Tomorrow I have my last district class, then on Thursday a couple missionary invited us to lunch (he is Mexican and is going to cook us some GOOD legit food) and then on Friday we have to help the RS prepare for the birthday party on Sat night. So it`s going to be a good week. I can`t imagine how I'm going to feel Saturday and Sunday knowing Mom and Dad are like 30 min away. It`s  crazy, after being half way around the world for so long, 30 min is nothin! But then I'll have the lovely delight to be on the airplane for 14 hrs to come see ya'll. :) Who knows, maybe we will get bored and send a little message to update you on how things are going in the Chilean world. It`s still pretty hot here, I`m not sure how hot but I imagine about 80 during the day. But in the night it gets pretty cold. So we`ll see if I freeze my rostrifying neenees off when I get into Salt Lake. I think I've turned into a warm weather person. But ya, I'm just blabbing off so I'll just stop because I`ll probably do it even more when I get home. Thanks for everything! It`s been one heck of a ride! I don`t want to think about how it`s going to be leaving Chile. I hope I don`t cry :) I'll just have to think in the excitement of seeing all of you and not all the friends and good memories I'm leaving behind. But at least Mom and Dad will help me transition between the 2 worlds. They can tell me the things that are really cool and what is really lame (and I just think is cool) because my judgement is pretty bad now I think... haha:) Anyways, have a rockin week and I will see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhh!!!!!!

LES AMO MUCHO!!!

XOXO

Steph

March 12th, 2012

So this week has been a little crazy. Paula was going to get baptized but turns out they got kicked out of their house and are living in Santiago with her G-ma now. So that was super sad:9 Also, Hermana Escobar got transferred today to a different area for her last two weeks because a Sister went home. So now it`s just Hermanna Bramwell and I ruling this joint. It`s going to be interesting to see how much we get lost, but we are excited to be together still. Here in a couple weeks we are going to have our 6 month anniversary :) I have never heard of a pair of missionaries being together so long. Luckily, we are basically the same person so we still get along and love each other.

Also this week I complete 1 1/2 years in the mission!!!! WHOOT! Now I can really say, it`s all just down hill from here. I thought my last weeks were going to be the longest weeks of my life, but up until now it`s flown by. I guess having a lot of changes makes the time go by faster. This week our bikes have caused us a few problems. Hermanna Bramwells tire was flat so we went and filled it up and he said there wasn`t a hole in it, then the next day it was flat so we went to go fix it again but the place was closed for lunch (when we go to fix it we have to walk about 20 min to the place each time) so we dropped it off at a members house and went to lunch. We get back and fix her tire, go to our apt (at the other end of the sector) that wasnt there and find that Hermanna Escobar`s tire is flat... haha:) So, we walk back and fix her tire. But meanwhile, I have been hauling a lot of people on my bike and with all the weight, the metal part where my seat  broke so now my seat is really low and turns whenever I move! haha:) It makes it for a pretty fun adventure. So we are going to see if we can find a place to get it welded this week. So now our bikes are better we can finally get back to preachin!! haha:)

Hermana Escobar went to get her visa so Hermana Bramwell and I went to Santiago and worked with another sister in a place that is super nice. I felt like I was in the states (it was a lot like CA) and it is where Hermana Bramwell started her mission so it was fun for her to go back there. Then on our way into Santiago to meet up with Hermana Escobar we got stuck in this huge traffic jam in the bus for about 1 hr. It was so hot and all the babies were crying. Then after all that time, they told us to just get off and walk to a different road and take a different bus. So when we got back to good old Lampa country it felt so good. But that was pretty much my week. Nothing too exciting. I'm excited to see you all here in a couple weeks (well at least Mom and Dad, and the rest of you in 3) but I hope things are good! Easton- have a rockin Birthday!!! I loved your dinosaur cake! It was awesome! I am loving that Annie is taking photo classes so she can show me all of the things going on. I seriously think Easton is the size of Noah when I left. I have the feeling I'm going to be floored when I get off the plane. Anything else going on? That`s all from my part...until next week :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!! MUCHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steph

March 5th 2012

Can you believe it? We have gone all the way from 18 fast Sundays to 0! Only 3 more weeks of Sister Whyte (well, actually I^ll have 5, but only 3 more of riding bikes in the streets of Chile. But it`s been a good week. We actually didn`t have fast Sunday because we had Stake conference. It was via satellite from SLC and Julie B Beck talked about how our mission is to serve the Lord, Elder Andersen talked about tithing, and Elder Perry talked about the BOM. Everyone but Elder Perry talked in Spanish. Everyone was so excited to hear their real voices and thought their accents were funny. But it was a good conference. It was in Colina, about 1 1/2 away so we went as a branch in a bus, it was fun, like a little field trip. 

This week we took an adventure to the counrty. There is a place called Chicauma, it`s further north and there is no public transportation but there is a recient convert there, so we went on our little bikes and went pretty well, but then with time, every little incline made my legs feel like they were going to explode haha. We never got to the members house but we found a nice lady who listened to us and gave us some water (she doesn`t have water, but the city brings it out to her every 2 weeks,. there were a lot of floaties in it, but it didn`t matter, it was better than dying). We only went about 7-8 miles but we are going to go back to explore some more this week. I was going to attach some pics to show you our adventure but my camera has lots of viruses and it won`t work (I`ll have to put that on the list to buy when I get rich, new camera) so you`ll just have to wait til I get home. But it was fun. 

Yesterday at lunch the member taught us how to make calzones rotos (broken underwear) it`s a dessertish snack here. It`s kind of like a scone but not really at all. But they are pretty good and she was so excited to teach us, it was fun. I`ll have to make them for you when I get home. On Monday we went to Santiago and I felt so weird, there were so many people I didn`t know what to do with myself. I adjusted to the country a lot faster than I thought. But we are going again today so we can get a few things to take home with us. And good news on our end, our water heater got fixed so we don`t have to take cold showers anymore. It`s been a joyous last 2 days to take hot showers. Luckily it`s been in summer and not winter. But that is pretty much all that is going on here in Chile. What is going on there?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALVIN (a little late, but better than never) you are getting so old :) but it happens to the best of us. I feel like I`m 30 and people always think I am about 26 so who knows. But I hope you had a good bday. Annie sent me pics of some of you. All my little nephews aren`t so little anymore! and mom sent me pics of Keshia and her baby. SO CUTE! Congrats! Also, mom and dad said they have a ton of wedding invites and baby showers- oh the changes of life. But for now, just have a great week and remember I love you and will be seeing your perty little faces soon.

LOVE YOU!!!!! XOXO

Steph

Feb. 27th, 2012

Seriously, when I went to write this letter, I realized that this week was super lame as far as stories go. Nothing happened. I am loving the area and everything. People are nice here, at least they usually stop and talk to you (which is nice because it`s hard to chase them down when you are dragging your bike with you). And I am loving the whole bike factor too because my last pair of shoes are pretty worn down and probably wouldn`t have lasted me another month. So gratefully God sent me here where we ride bikes 90% of the time. And I should like it when member accompany us but I secretly don`t because then I have to haul them around on my bike, sitting behind me. And after about 30 min my legs feel like they are going to explode... haha. :)

But yesterday, the Elders had a baptism of the cutest guy ever. He is 76 and lives super far away from the church. He is a farmer and lives by himself, but he loves coming to church. He is super humble and doesn`t have money to take bus (plus the bus doesn`t go out where he lives) so he walks 1 1/2 hrs to church every week. And we saw him on the corner in front of the church on Friday and he said he was waiting for his baptism interview. It was 6:10 and the interview wasn`t til 7. But he was afraid to be late so he stopped working early to come and make sure he was on time. He is seriously one of my favorite people. 

Hermana Eborn (the girl I trained) is now training. I saw her in the office when we had changes and she asked me for words of advice, did I have any... no! But it`s crazy to think that I`m getting old in the mission. I still feel like I'm a newbie who is the one that needs help. But oh well. On the bright side of being old. In a month I'll be seeing my family, that is good news. Everyone is all grown up and I`m afraid that I've just grown out... haha:) just kidding but not really :)

Well, I tried to attach some pics but the USB port of this computer doesn`t work so maybe some other day. But now that I`ve spilled my guts out, how are y'all doing? Any new news? I heard Noah is rockin' the piano and Annie is going to be a photographer, our family just keeps getting cooler. :) But have a great week and know I freaking LOVE you all.

XOXOX

Steph

Feb. 20th, 2012

Lampa is rockin' my socks off right now. It`s the best place ever! It`s kinda in its own little world. It`s about 35 min north of Santiago and has 1 stop light. Everyone is pretty nice and it`s just a branch here, but we usually have about 150 to church (the biggest ward I`ve seen is about 130) but the other branches are super small so they can`t be a ward/stake. But there is a lot of country but there is also a little town. it`s hard to explain. But we have bikes and we only had two so I was packin' around Hermana Bramwell and my butt and legs were dying (that`s what I get for not riding a bike for I don`t know how many years) haha:)  I seriously thought I might die. But on Sat. they sent us another bike so we are so happy that we can cruise along without one person dying.

We take a lot of buses to get to places (members that live in the middle of no where, and for district class) On Tues. when we went to class, the freaking bus driver ripped me off, charged me more than it was and then it went to Santiago instead of Colina (where our class is) so then we had to take another bus back and finally got there. There is a senior couple that lives a couple blocks away from us (los Arellanos) she is from Idaho and he is from Mexico but they have spent most of their lives in North Carolina. They are so stinking awesome, so at least we were lost together. It`s kinda like home here. Lots of hills and dryness. It`s kind of like Inkom (the closest I can think of to describe it). There is only 1 grocery store that is really small. The other day we left our bikes outside without locks and no one stole them :) They also give directions like we do. We were taking the bus to lunch and they told us to get off where the bug palm tree is and then go to the end of the road and take a right. But the problem is that there are lots of palm trees and we passed it by about 2 miles... haha  Everyday is an adventure!

But we have found a lot of great people this week. There is an 11 yr old girl named Paula. She is so cute and loves what she is learning. She went to a baptism that the Elders had (we share the branch) and it was AWESOME and then she accompanied us to our apt. because her dad was drunk at home so she didn`t want to go home (some parents, I just want to strangle them) but we are hoping that she stays excited to get baptized on the 11th of March.

So, that is pretty much it. I`m out of time but I hope things are good there. Have a great week and you better be enjoying my letters because you're only going to be seeing 4 more of these babies. :)

LOVE YOU!!!
Besitos
Steph

This is on the way to district class. Nothing exciting but it was my fist time outside the city in over a year so it was pretty exciting :)

Hermana Escobar, Bramwell, and I this morning trying to not look tired... haha:)

Hermana Bramwell and I feeling like we are doing a reenactment of Dumb and Dummer

Feb, 13th, 2012

I´m getting transferred! I can´t believe I´m finally leaving this stake after more than a year! I am going to a place further north, Lampa. Its kinda in the country but a little bit of city. (I´m just going off of what Hermana Player tells me, my comp, she was there). I will be riding a bike, so that will be fun/an experience. I´m going to have to invest in some shorts to wear under my skirt. I am still going to be with Sister Bramwell (from Rigby) and we are going to be in another trio with a girl from El Salvador (Hermana Escobar). It´s funny because she is the one that trained Hermana Bramwell. I am SUPER excited to go and have a little bit of a change. It was hard to leave people there but it will be fun to get to know new people and a new place for my last 6 weeks.

Luckily President Essig gave us our changes on Saturday night so on Sunday we could say goodbye to some people. We went out to the country with some members and said goodbye to Claudia. She is doing a lot better. She is at home but on bed rest. She is so cute and is just waiting. It was so hard to say goodbye to her. Also Margarita, the 84yr old granny, told us she is going to get baptized. She wants to wait til her grandson gets back from his mission in May but she was so cute. She just said, ¨I´m going to get baptized.¨ we were so surprised because she usually has a little doubt. But last week they had a family lunch and she was nervous about what her kids were going to say about her getting baptized. But they said it was just silence and all she says is ¨I¨m going to get baptized!¨and surprisingly her daughter didn´t say anything about how she shouldn´t ect. So we were really excited and when she started crying when we left we all started to tear up... haha:) I love cute little old people. 

Lets see, on Thursday we went to get my Carné to be legal in Chile. Mine expired so we had to go get another one. It was fun to see Missionaries that I haven´t seen in ages that I was in the MTC with. It´s crazy how times change, but yet we are all still the same. Hermana Player goes home today and is super nervous but  super excited. I don´t even want to think about how it must feel. Yesterday a little kid in the ward got baptized. It was perfect because he turned 8 the same day. He is so cute. He was born with lots of problems and after 12 or more surgeries he is the cutest little kid. He asks the funniest questions and had the best comments. We only taught him 2 times but he made us laugh. In one of the talks for his baptism, they said you are a special child of God and he just asks, ¨Why am I so special?¨ and then they said that he was going to remember the sisters that taught him forever and he said ¨uh oh, I can´t remember their names.¨ haha it was so funny. 

That is pretty much all I can think of that happened this week. Thanks for all your prayers for Claudia, she is very grateful. Things are going great, just REALLY hot (about 90 everyday) and they say it´s even hotter where I´m going. But I hope things are good there and that your lives are normal and grand. Let me know whats going on and what´s new (or not so new). 

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

XOXOX

Steph

Saying goodbye to one of my favorite families in the ward. P.S. Do you like my BRIGHT yellow shirt? It was a Christmas gift from a member :)

Baptism of Maximo yesterday

ENJOY

Feb, 6th 2012

Bueno,

This week was about the same as the last year and something weeks but I did do some new things. I tried horse jerky for the first time. It was actually pretty gross. We have an investigator who has a liqour store and we were there and he gave me some horse jerky. It was kinda tough and had a weird flavor. I don`t know if it`s just because it`s spiced with the things of Chile, but it wasn`t the best thing I`ve ever eaten. Also, we helped an investigator who makes flowers and stuff out of leather. It was pretty cool. It`s a lot of work but she makes barrettes for your hair, rings, necklaces, everything. It was cool to see how she does it. 

Also we had a zone conference with Pres Essig and I had to give my goodbye tesitmony because this was the last conference I will have. I didn`t even realize, I just thought my comp, Hermana Player, would have to give her testimony (because she goes home next week) so I just got up there and rambled a bit I think. But if they don`t want you to get trunky why do they have you give your final testimony 2 months before you go home? haha!! jk:)  I`m not that trunky. But we did do service of helping a sister in the ward learn how to make a red velvet cake. To say the least, it was delicious! Everyone loved it but they thought it was so sweet with the cream cheese frosting. They only put 3 things on their food: oil, lemon, and salt. So anything out of the ordinary is super sweet.

The bad news is, well I don`t know very much, but Claudia (the convert from the country who is pregnant) is in the hospital and might loose her baby (she is 6 1/2 months along). We don`t really know what is happening because her husband just called yesterday and said she was in the hospital. They are all so excited to have the 1st boy in the family so I hope everything turns out ok.

and how could I forget to tell Dad and Mom HAPPY ANNIVERSARY  33 years tomorrow! WOW when they said eternity, they really meant it :) You two are the greatest parents ever! I hope you are all doing grand and have a great week. There are transfers this weekend so I'll let you know what happens. dun dun dun...my last transfer! Well, keep it real, and keep it fun, but save some fun for when I`m there too :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

Steph

Jan. 30th 2012

It sounds like everyone has had an exciting week. Keith and Amber, I hope you enjoyed your cruise (although, how can you not, it`s a cruise) and it looks/sounds like Ethan had a rockin b-day party and Dad lived it up in Vegas. So many things going on it seems like. But I`ve been good here too. This week I learned a little quechua (it`s an indian dialect of Peru) a lady in our ward speaks it and taught us a few things but it`s so weird and I don`t remember anything, but it was cool anyways. And another sister in the ward taught us how to make a cake. It`s soooo moist and good. I am actually really excited to do it when I get home so you can all try it.

Hermana Player finishes her mission here in 2 weeks! She went to the temple and we went to go get her in the subway station. We were there waiting for a long time and I had to go to the bathroom so bad (yes, yet another bathroom story) but there aren`t public bathrooms here but I asked the worker anyway. He radioed his boss and said, I have some girls here who need to use the bathroom. His boss answered back that it`s just for handicapped and pregnant people. The worker said back, they are young women from the United States can they use it? And he didn`t answer back so they worker took us up stairs and we had to enter into a whole group of workers and they were discussing, if we could use it or not (I don`t know why it`s such a big deal to use the bathroom, but it was) and in the end they escorted us to the bathroom. I should have known there would be no toilet paper, there never is. But at least I got to the bathroom. 

On the bus ride back we were doing contacts and missed our stop, but we live almost at the end of the route so I thought, oh no big deal, the bus will just go up to the round about where it ends and come back to our stop on the other side of the road. So we just wait, we are the only ones on the bus. And then it pulls into the gravel place where all of them park and the workers wait their turn. Feeling so stupid we get out and are walking across nothingness and all the workers are whistling, making kissing noises, and yelling ¨I love you¨ in their best English... haha! It was so funny because we felt so stupid but at the same time I couldn`t help but laugh.

Then we were walking to an apt and this drunk homeless lady that is always in the street and tries to talk to us came up with her dirty face, ratty hair, and nasty alcohol breath and was talking to us and then when we started walking away she took me by the shoulder, turned me around, and tried to kiss me on the lips!!! Luckily, I turned my head fast enough and she just got my cheek. But now Im so scared of her whenever we see her we always take a different road. It`s so funny because my comps just laugh. 

We have been teaching the Grandma of this member who told us we had to paint our nails. She is so cute. She loves it when we come over. She calls us her angels. But her family always dresses her in the lowest cut shirts she always has her old lady cleavage hangin out, but she is so funny. She learned how to pray but she always forgets how to start. So she says she can`t do it but then when we tell her Heavenly Father she says oh ya, I can do it. She makes our day.

But that is my week in a novel of a letter. I hope things are going good there and that you enjoy your week. LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!! Thanks for everything you do!

LOVE ALWAYS

Steph

Some of the sister missionaries at the post office after sending letters (the position of the pic is super lame, thats what you get when you ask an elder to take it, but oh 

well)

The subway station

We ¨heart attacked¨ a member that lives in the country. It`s cool because in the country there aren`t fences so you can go right up to the house.

Hope you enjoy

Jan. 16th 2012

This week flew by, but at the same time thinking back to what happened seems like forever ago. But things are going good in our little trio here. We always stay up late talking and then in the morning we are so dead. So at lunch we always try to eat really fast and so we can take a little nap. It`s a pretty good system. We decided to make things a little more interesting this week so we rotated cameras. So one day, I had Players camera, Bramwell had mine and I had Bramwells. It was fun to take some random pictures of our day. I now have a lot of mission pictures... haha:). But on Tues. Hermana Bramwell went to the dentist in the richest part of Santiago and there was an Applebess. So we ate lunch at Applebees (we felt like the highest rollers... haha) and fajitas have never tasted so good. :)  Yesterday I tried a new Chilean dish. It`s called Carbonada, it`s basically like a stewish thing with rice and veggies. It`s pretty good and I was grateful that they served it a little cool because it`s so ridiculous when it`s 95 degrees outside and for lunch they give you this steaming soup. (just a note for when you give the missionaries dinner)

And yesterday we ate so much food! We had this carbonada stuff and then we found this new investigator who was telling us about how she doesn`t have any money and she spends it all on her medicine for diabetes. And then she insists on giving us watermelon, a la chileana (this is how I explain that she is Chilean so she served us 1/4 of the watermelon. So we were dying to get all of it down. And we were laughing so hard because the whole visit was an adventure. I used her bathroom but the toilet didn`t flush and then I go to wash my hands and the lift up faucet thing just comes off, so I just decided to forget it and then find that the door knob is broken and I can`t figure out how to get out. Hermana Bramwell heard me trying to get out and she asked the lady ¨can she get out?` but she didn`t pay attention to her and just kept talking. But then I finally got out and we choose to sing I Believe in Christ, but we forget that it is different in spanish so we are slaughtering the song and laughing. But in the end, she enjoyed the visit and so it`s all good. 

Then a member told us to stop by and they gave us 2 pieces of cake and 2 glasses of pop. The cake here is soo good! It`s all moist and delicious. (She said she will teach us how to do it:)) So we were dying from all this food and passed by a ladies house and she gives us pop and a completo (hot dog with avacado, mayo, ketchup, mustard, and tomatoes) We went running to the house (because we were going to be late) like big marshmallows. 

But we did find some really good investigators this week. We contacted a lady in the plaza and she was so excited. She talked to missionaries in a different part of Chile about 10 yrs ago but then moved here and hasn`t gone since. Her, her son and daughter came to the primary pool party and liked it so, that was good. Then we found this family, like all the missionaries talk about but that I have never found. We contacted this lady one night outside her house and set up an apt. to go back the next day at 5pm. Things happened and we didn`t stop by until 9:30pm, so we started getting to know her and she starts crying and says, I know what you are going to teach is true because every time I have talked to you I feel this burning inside and I know that you are sent from God. So then we went back the next day and taught about the restoration and the Mom started crying and said she knows it`s true. So things are going good there. But there always has to be some kind of doubt if they really understand but they are a great family. They have a handicapped daughter in a wheelchair and the other daughter is a little hard of hearing but they are so great. 

I hope things are going good for yall and that you have a great week! Keith and Amber, enjoy your cruise! Play on the beach for me:) I`ll be here in good old Chile land prayin for ya'll. Thanks for everything! 

LOVE YOU

Steph

Hermana Player and I on the bus coming back from the country. She was so excited because we just saw an airplane land and remembered she was going home in less than a month

Yesterday my 2nd convert, Maria, came to our ward because she was making a skirt for Hermana Player and came to give it to her. It was SOOO great to see her. She is doing so good and told me to tell you all "Hi" :)