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

June 25th, 2011

It sounds like everyone is having a great summer! I can`t believe that in a week from today August starts! I am a little excited because they say that after August it starts warming up. So good for me, not so fun for you guys.

 

I am glad to hear that Annie`s shower went well. I can`t believe that you are going to be a Mom! Wow, times chage... haha:) I`m glad that everything is going well. I am already expecting pictures of little Will in about a month and a half. Noah is getting so big! I love that he is missing his front tooth! It sounds like you are all staying busy and having fun. Everyone is getting married! I can`t believe all the announcments you have. I guess all the winter fests turn into summer weddings... lol :) Such is life!!.

 

So, my first week as a trainer was good. I really have no idea how to train but it makes me feel smart... haha:) When she asks me stuff I usually know the answer... so that is good. Oh, well first things first, Her name is Hermana Melanie Eborn. She is from Heber, Utah. She is the youngest of her family and she graduated in communications and is 21 (going to turn 22) and she is outgoing, likes to talk to people (which is good!) and her Spanish is pretty good. She was in the class for the people that already know Spanish the the MTC so that helped. She is fitting in well here in the ward. I feel like an old fart in this ward. Everyone keeps saying that Bishop might as well give me a calling. I feel like I have been here forvever (oh wait, I have) hahaha:) It`s nice to have a newbie, it spices things up a little bit. She is in awe with everything so it`s fun. I forgot what life was like outside of the Mission and the things that are different from home. So its fun and keeps life a little more interesting.

 

Things are great in the area. Glorian is excited for her baptism on Sunday so we are getting everything ready for that. Her daughter Paz said she wants to get baptized but still hasn`t accepted an exact date but we are going to keep working with her. Once her Mom gets baptized I think it will help her too. All the young women like her and she is going to all the activities, it is so amazing!

 

This week I was a little under the weather. I felt so bad for my companion because I practically lost my voice on Wed and Thursday. I could barley talk and she was nervous because the people couldn`t really understand her and so they looked at me and I could barely talk to tell them what she said. It was pretty dang funny. I figure I was just helping her learn faster :)  But I`m going back to normal and I can actually sing the hymns again!!

 

President and Sister Essig are sooo great! They are fun and down to earth. I think they are liking it. I will be going there on Friday for a training for my companion and for me. So it will be fun to see them again. Today I don`t know exactly what else we are going to do except show Hermana Eborn around town a little bit and see what happens. She wants to try a completo, which is basically a hot dog. So that is on the list but we will have to see what else comes our way. Our drain in our shower is really clogged so we have been scooping out the water with a bucket and dumping it into the sink to drain but we are a little tired of being redneck so we are determined to find something to unclogg our drain. That is about as exciting as it is getting today in Santiago Chile... haha:)

 

But I hope you all have a great week and that you enjoy getting everything ready for back to school and all the other things that are happening. Keep me updated on your lives and remember I love you and am always thinking of yall. Thanks for the letters and the support. Before we know it my time will be up and I will be a little lost lamb again, not quite knowing what to do with my life... haha:).

 

Well, have a fantabulous day and I will be chattin back next week! LOVE YOU ALL like a Chilean loves mayo (which is a lot!)

 

LES AMO!!!!!!

Steph

 

July 18th, 2011

Hi all,

 

I hope that your week has been wonderful up there in the sun. It has been a little crazy here for me. I spent the whole week thinking this was my last week in this area and taking pictures with everyone and all that jazz, and then when we got the call last night (at 2 am) I found out that I am staying!!! (yes, that will make 9 months in this area and yes, that is half of my time in Chile) haha !!! I will be training a new gringa who will get here tomorrow.  I am excited, but freaking out a little bit. It will be nice to have her excitment to be here to keep me working hard in this area. I love it here though, so it will be a good next 6 weeks!

 

Story of the week,

 

We went to one of our investigators house to help with some house cleaning. We get there Friday morning and she tells us to come in. We pass and we ask how she is doing and she says horrible. We have been fighting all morning here and turns out that her son punched her in the eye and all this stuff, her daughter of 20 (the investigator) was in the back crying and the son who punched her (18) was mad and in his room and then her son who is 3 was just kind of chillin. We had no idea what to do to help?!?!?! We decided to say a prayer. So we invite everyone to join and no one wants to, so we are just praying with the Mom, and then she wants to go talk to her daughter who is crying. We are just kinda chillin out in the living room and so we start cleaning, folding clothes and stuff. Then the son comes out of his room and goes outside. So I look outside and up pulls a cop car. I was thinking... you have got to be kiding me! What the heck do we do? They come in and talk to the screaming people inside and we are just trying to blend in by looking like just the house cleaners (2 gringas makes it a little hard) and we had no idea what to do, so we just cleaned until we couldn`t find more to clean. They were going to take away the daughter and the son to talk in the prison or something, I don`t even know, but we just said `exuse me` and walked out. We haven`t been back to see what went down. But that was the fist time something like that has happened.

 

There have been lots of soccer games with Chile playing whatever country so there have been lots of screaming and partying in the streets (that is until they lost last night) but now I think it`s over so things should be a little calmer.

 

Lets see, what else happened.... Its Hermana Players birthday tomorrow so all these people were going to celebrate with us, but now she won`t be there and I won`t be there until the afternoon, so the family Urrea had us come over this morning and we had cake and breakfast together. It was fun! I am excited to be here for Glorians baptism on the 31st. On Sunday her duaghter Paz came to church for the fist time and said she wants to get baptized so we are going to see if she will do it within the next 6 weeks, so I might be here for that too. All these people that I thought I would never be here to see get baptized are going to get baptized while I`m here, it`s great!

 

To celebrate the end of the transfer, on Thur we went to McDonalds in our area for lunch...

This is the excitement of our celebration!!! 

 

This video is of people on the bus today on the way to write/email home. People just get on and do random things. Today it was rapping but there is anything from violin to opera singing. It is pretty fun to see who gets on the bus. I haven`t watched it to see if it`s exciting but I just recorded the last little part. Hopefully you enjoy it. At the end, they collect money (as missionaries we don`t donate) but they said that all of the money was going to a good cause to make one of the rapper guys into a woman. So that just made it all the more interesting... hahaha:) We just started laughing!!!

 

Well, we have to go clean our apt. to get everything ready, and we have to go preach the word, so all the other details of my life will have to wait until next week :) Plus, I can`t think of much more that happened this week. Life is pretty dang good here, just doin' my thang and that is pretty much it. I will send you more updates next week when I know more about what is happening. But have a great week! Mom, have a Happy Birthday!, Annie, have a happy baby shower (don`t pop too soon) and everyone else, keep doin what your doing :) and remember to be happy- I thought since I was using `happy`a lot, I might as well keep it up...

 

From your happy missionary in Chile

con MUCHO MUCHO cariño

Steph

July 11th, 2011

So, there is so much to tell you this week. I hope you don´t get to bored. But THANK YOU ALL for the birthday wishes. It was a great day. I sent a ton of pictures that I took throughout the day. We went and visited Maria in the morning and then we went to lunch at the Family Ñancupil and that was fun (see attached video). The family Urrea had told us a few days earlier that there is a lady in their complex who is going to be at their house on Sat so if we could just happen to ¨show up¨ and teach her a little about what we believe. We went over and of course it was all a lie...they had cake waiting for me. They have a tradition here where after they sing Happy Birthday they start chanting, Bite it! then you go into take a bite of the cake and they either shove the cake in your face or they push the back of your head to plant your face into the cake, so they did that, but it was really gentle and I only got a little bit dirty. It was fun. Then we went and taught some regular lessons and then we went to Glorian´s (who is going to get baptized at the end of the month). I didn´t know she knew it was my birthday but then they brought out a bunch of gifts and flowers. Her husband had bought the flowers and her daughters picked out earrings (that are really cute) and eyeshadow (which has a bunch of weird colors) Conny drew me a picture of the church, and they got me lip gloss in the shape of a strawberry, and a stuffed animal duck (that the girls named ¨duck¨ but in spanish, original I know... haha)  I have no idea what I´m going to do with it, should carry it around or what? But it was fun, then they gave us more food. But it was a great day! Everyone is so nice and kept saying, I know it´s not like  when you are at home with your family- and it wasn´t -but I figure it is the only birthday I am going to have in Chile so I might as well enjoy every minute of it. Mom and Dad, thanks for celebrating in Jackson for me.. haha:)

We had interviews with Pres Essig this week. He is super nice and when I told him that I have been in this area for 7 months he said that SLC is telling them to keep the missionaries in areas longer, so I don´t know if that means that I´m not going to get transferred next week or what but we will see what happens. Hermana Essig said she lived in the pink Murdock house that was rock on the bottom (I´m not quite sure what one that is) but her maiden name was Sorensen, her Mom was related to those Murdocks and her Dad was David Sorensen who taught at Snake River- music and history. So she thought you might know him or have heard of him. They are so cute. Sister Essig is working on her Spanish and trying not to freeze to death. It´s funny. The thing is that it´s just as cold inside the house as outside, so it doesn´t matter where you are it´s just cold. But during the day it´s not too bad.

For the 4th of July, what did you all do? Turns out that Hermana Stevens couldn´t come into town so we hung out with Hermana Moss and Hermana Hadlock again and ate some good old McDonald´s to remind us of home, that was pretty much all. Not too exciting, but it was good.

We have found some new investigators this week that are super cool! Barbara and her 7 month old baby, Felipe, live in our apt. complex and she used to live with an old Bishop (who was bad, because he wasn´t divorced and was living with her. Felipe is his son!) but that is how she got to know the church, then she wanted to get baptized but knew that they needed to get married but he wasnt doing the things the church believes, so she didn´t want to marry him. They split up and she just moved to our apts a month ago and we just started talking in the parking lot and then went to visit her on Friday. She told us this story and said she wants to get baptized as soon as possible. So we are super excited for her.

We also contacted this guy from Colombia (so he is pretty black) and he is HILARIOUS! He is a hair dresser and talks so cool. It is so funny to talk to him. We had an amazing member come with us and the lesson went really well last night. He said he is going to read about the BOM, so we will see what happens.

We have been teaching this guy, Claudio, English and he is kinda interesting. This week he was playing charades with us like we didn´t understand Spanish. It was hilarious. He was explaining to me how you make this Chilean food. and he got out all the pans and the ingredients and was putting things in the bowl and pretending to stir and taste the food and all this jazz. It was hilarious! We were just laughing the whole time.

Oh, then Jose, who just got baptized a couple weeks ago... his house is pretty interesting, with all the cats and probably hasnt been cleaned for I don´t know how long. There are spider cacoon things (where the mom lays the eggs) under his old tv that is right by the couch and well ya...BLECH!!  Hermana Player had to go to the bathroom so I told her that if she used his bathroom and took pictures I would buy her some bread. So she did it and from the pictures it looks pretty nasty, so I bought her some bread and I think she deserved every piece of it. What we don´t do as missionaries to get a little excitement haha:)

Yesterday we broke the rules because we aren´t supposed to give money to people, but we were walking to an appt and this nice lady came up and said "Sisters how are you doing?"  we started to talk to her, shes a member from another part of Santiago and came to give medications to a lady she takes care of. On the way a guy robbed her, ripped her purse and took everything. She said she only had about 20 bucks so that wasn´t a big deal but  the meds and her cell phone... that was the worst part. She asked if we had coins so she could take the subway back to her area and we said it´s against the rules to give money and she said, "Oh that is ok" I´ll figure something out. So then we walked away and we felt so bad. We thought, Jesus would have given her money. So then we turned around and went to find her. She knocked on a door and a lady gave her 20 cents and she was all excited, so we gave her a dollar and she only needed about 40 more cents to buy a subway ticket. So we felt better, even though we broke the rules.

That is pretty much all that happened this week. It sounds like things are going pretty well there. I hear Noah is rockin' it at baseball and everyone is busy busy. Have a great week and remember I love you all so much and thanks for all you do for me! Ya´ll are the best!

CON MUCHISIMO AMOR!!!!

Steph

 Cake in my face

 All of the birthday gifts I got from the people here. Family Urrea gave me a sweater. Glorian and her family gave me strawberry lip stuff, eye shadow, flowers, earrings, a stuffed duck, and Maria gave me more flowers

 Left to right Back: Paz (12 years old, is reading the BOM and is super fun) Glorian (the mom, who is going to get baptized on the 31st) then Conny and Me (Conny is 3 or 4 and talks a lot and really fast. She is so cute!) They gave me a bunch of stuff. The prettiest white roses and pink gerber daisys and a bunch of other stuff. 

 The family Urrea. Jorge (9, who just got baptized) Luis, Alma and me. They gave me a huge delicious cake and a sweater

 Maria (my first baptism in this area) and she sang to me and picked these flowers out of her garden that smell SO good! 

 This is the Family Ñancupil. They are awesome! They are like my family here. They had us over for lunch and she made tacos (because she knows I love them) and then she made an orange pie... this is them singing to me. Their son, Jorge, who got back from a mission a little while ago is recording and their other son is Jose, he is getting ready for his mission. The Dad, Jorge, is our mission leader, and the Mom, Alejandra, washes our clothes and takes care of us.

It was a great day!

Peace out

Steph

July 4th, 2011

Hi my American Family,

 

I hope you are all having fun on your 4th or July! When you are watching the fireworks think of me :)  I didn`t realize how much I LOVE the fireworks until I knew I`m wasn't going to see them. So, next year I will definitely be hittin' up a lot of shows. I`m glad to hear that the family reunions went well (Good work Mom and Dad) Everyone is growing up like crazy (and Annie just keeps growing out... haha) But I`m happy you are all doing good!

 

Not too much happened this week so this might be my first short email :) Brace yourself haha..

 

We had a conference to meet our new President, President Essig. He is so great! He is super calm and humble, and excited to be here. They are from North Logan and his wife said that when she was 5 they lived in the Murdock house in Thomas for a year. That was all we had time to say but if I see her this week I will ask her more, like her name. But that was cool! They have their son here for a couple weeks, but then he is going home to go to the MTC and will then be serving in Orsorno (southern Chile). Everything has been a whirl wind for them but they are awesome. It is going to be good.

 

Also, I was talking to a senior couple of missionaries, Elder and Sister Taylor. They are from Texas ( I don`t remember what part) but they worked in the Temple for a long time and said that they knew of Granny and Grandpa. So, it`s a small world. I probably won`t have time to talk to them more because they are getting shipped out to Easter Island. They have been here for almost a year.

 

Glorian is still excited for her baptism on the 31st. She is making more friends in the church so thats good. Her daughters are so cute! Paz is 12 and Constanza is 3. I wish I could just put them in my suitcase and carry them around with me. We have transfers not this Monday, but the next Monday (the 18th) so we will see what happens. I imagine, I will be leaving but only time will tell. I am ready for a change though. Since I have been here so long, it will be hard to leave the people. This week we went to visit a member, Andrea Gonzalez, and she had pancakes (which are more like crapes here) and hot chocolate waiting. It was so good! It is so fetching cold outside, and she is so sweet! Then we got talking about how we can fix all the problems in the ward. Because ward council was horrible. I am so grateful for the orginazation that we have at home and that everyone knows what they need to do and they do it. But it all comes with time I guess.

 

That is about all that happened this week. But I´ll try to spice it up for next week. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!!! I am going to have a great day and will be thinking of you all! I love you and hope you have a great week and maybe even get a little sunburned for me :)

 

SIEMPRE CON MUCHO AMOR,

Steph

 This is Hermana Moss from Mapleton UT (she knows Steve Whyte) and Hermana Hadlock from Mesa AZ. I freaking love them. We get together about every p-day and it's so fun. But Hermana Moss goes home in 2 weeks so I´m going to miss her.

 Pregnant ladies parking only. I thought of Annie when I saw this and had to laugh!! :)

Last week when everything was closed we were just walking around Santiago and found this fountain so we took pictures by it. This is Hermana Player and me (just in case you couldn´t tell :)

 

LOVE YOU!

June 27th, 2011

Happy Family Reunion week,

It sounds like things are good there. I hope you are soaking up some sun for me! Here, it is pretty warm during the day, but in the morning and at night it is fetching cold! It is horrible when your 9:00am appointment falls through and you have to be outside. But, only like 3 more months of winter so there is hope :)

This week was a great week. Most exciting, yesterday Jose got confirmed and then Jorge (the little 9 year old) got baptized and confirmed. It was so great! He had quite a bit of family there and a lot of the members stayed too, so it was awesome. He was super happy. On Tuesday, we went and visited Glorian, who has been investigating for a while and she said she believes it´s true but doesn´t know if she wants to get baptized, and then we kept talking and we asked her when she feels like she would want to get baptized and we were thinking she would say in Dec or something but then she said she wants to get baptized the 31st of July. So we are super happy for her. She is so cute. Yesterday she brought her 4 year old daughter to church with her who LOVES to talk, she never stops but she is the cutest thing ever. In Relief Society they pass around the calendar for people to sign up to feed us lunch on the weekends and all of our investigators were so excited they all wanted to give us lunch. They are awesome.

We had our last conference with President and Hermana May. They go home on Tuesday. It was a good conference, but weird to think that I won´t see them again for a long while. I haven´t interacted much with them, but I love them so much, they are awesome. It is going to be fun to get to know Pres and Hermana Essig when they get here. We have a conference with them on Friday and then we have personal interviews next week. Changes...crazy! When we said our good-byes Pres May gave the Sisters a hug. It was a little weird because I haven´t hugged a guy in 9 months but then it wasn´t too weird because its like he is my mission Dad. (ya ya, I know I´m going to be so awkward when I get home... haha:)

On the way home from the conference we were in the subway and I was standing up behind people sitting down and all of a sudden the old guy that was sitting there passed out and fell hard to the ground and I felt exactly like you, Annie, when the old lady passed out in the middle of the road (it was not a good week for people passing out in weird places). I wanted to help but as Missionaries we aren´t supposed to do anything, It was crazy. After a few min. he woke up and I´m not sure what happened after that, it was my stop.

Then we go to Sandra, who is another investigator who is waiting for her husband to get divorced so they can get married and then she can get baptized. But we were teaching about the importance of going to church and she said she didn´t know why it was important so I opened up the BOM to the 10 commandments and had her read and immediately after she gets done she says ¨I´m sorry Hermana, I forgot about this commandment¨ it was sooo funny. She felt so horrible to forget about one of the 10 commandments and she already says ¨I´m living in sin¨ because she isn´t married to the guy she is living with. She is so funny. She then proceeds to tell us a little bit about her life and she says ¨I´m still half hippie¨ and so we start laughing because she does still kind of dress like a hippie and she has the curly mulletish looking hair do. But then she says that she is only half hippie because she doesn´t do all the bad stuff anymore. She then tells us how she had smoked marijuana and whatever else. It was pretty funny:)

On Saturday, we had a ward activity. It was a talent show. It was pretty good. They had a little bit of everything. The Relief Society did a Flamenco dance, the YM and YW did a dance to High School Musical and the High Priests did a skit that was hilarious! It is interesting though, because everyone thinks they are the bomb and that they are going to be famous or something. But there was everything from rap to little kids singing. It was good to get a lot of non members, inactives and people there. It turned out good.

Well I have more to say, but I already ran out of time. Its not important stuff but just my usual ramblings. But I´ll tell you a little about my pics.

  Jorge and his dad Luis and us yesterday looking into the super bright sun :)

 the Mission changed offices and this is the view outside the new office. It is in a little sketchier part of town but this part looked pretty

 This is Esteban (the friend of Diego (the kid who got baptized about a month ago) who lives in our ward) He turned 14 yesterday and they invited us over to have some cake. Then his brother shoved it in his face.

 This is Glorian (who is going to get baptized next month (I´ll probably be gone)) and her daughter Constanza at the baptism yesterday

Hope you all have a good week! Tell everyone HI for me at the family reunions and I will talk back to you next week!

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!

Steph

June 20th, 2011

Good morning,

I hope you all had a great Father´s Day! I missed not being there with you all, but it has been a good week here. I´m glad to hear that things are ok in Texas, it´s fun that Granny and Grandpa have so many visitors. They are amazing! I´m so excited that Brooke is home from her mission, it seems so surreal, if I´m not there it´s like nothing should change! haha:) Ya right!!

But where to begin with my week, time is short so hopefully I don´t start rambling about to many things. Some people graffitied on Maria´s fence (who got baptized in Jan, my first baptism in this area, and her fence is basically like a wall), it was a gang sign that meant woman lives alone and then some other stuff that we didn´t understand. She was really nervous about what was going to happen so we went and painted it with her. It was really cold but we got it done before dark and then when we left you could still see it so we went back a couple days later and sanded the parts where you could still see it, but now it looks a lot better. And she feels a lot safer. Who would have thought that I would spend my time covering up gang signs, but whatev. :)

All this week we have been getting Jose ready for his baptism. He was nervous but everything went well. We told him on Wednesday that he had to bring a towel, and wear white underwear. He then tells us that he doesn´t have white underwear and can't buy any until he gets paid on the 3rd, so we told him we would get some for him.  So what do we do? We go to the store and get some white boxer breifs (they didn´t have a section at all) and we have no idea what size or any of that jazz, so we just get some. Then he has his interview and everything goes good.

We go to his house to get him and his wife, Ximena, on Sunday morning for church (his wife never really liked us coming over and didn´t really like that he was going to get baptized, but she has been warming up to us and said if we came by to get her she would come the the baptism) So we are there picking them up and we ask if he has his towel, he starts looking for it but can´t find it. So they are rummaging around in all these bags they have in their cat filled house and we are just kind of chillin' but then we see a towel on the chair that the cats have been sleeping on and we ask if we can just use this because it was time to go and everything but they say, no there is a cleaner one in one of these bags. So they are lookin and looking and finally Ximena finds it. She pulls is out and what do you know, it has the butts of 3 women in string bikinis, Hermana Player and I just bust out laughing and try to talk them into taking the other cat towel but they insist on taking this one. So we go to the church with his porn towel!! We are sitting there getting everything ready before sacrament and Bishop comes up and asks us to talk, and of course we have to say yes. I was the 2nd person to talk but the 1st person still wasn´t there yet so I got up and talked, which I don´t mind doing but looking at the people´s faces makes me want to laugh because they are trying so hard to focus and listen but it´s hard with my heavy accent. But it was ok. I have talked in that ward at least 3 times and Hermana Player still hasn´t givin a talk in her whole mission. So I told her next time, I´m going to turn the time over to her. I remember when I had to talk my fist Sunday in the mission. I don´t remember much but I know it was really bad... haha:)

Anyways, Ximena really likes the church and things are going good. Quite a few people stayed for the baptism so that was great. Our Bishop was baptizing him and they get in the water and Bishop gets all the hand positions messed up so we have to go help him and he didn´t show Jose what to do or anything, but I was thinking ok, after the prayer he will show him and everything will be good, but nope, Bishop lifts up his leg and pulls Jose back over it and Jose has his mouth open and doesn´t have his nose plugged or anything and just falls back like a dead fish. Luckily, he didn´t start coughing or chocking or anything, but it was so funny, Hermana Player and I couldn´t stop laughing. I wish we could have had it on video because it was so funny. And so we were laughing about that and then we were thinking, oh man, Bishop is probably seeing his towel right about now and started laughing again. Nevertheless, it was a really good baptism. And we had it replaying in our head all day.

When we went to visit him last night he was very happy. He loved every min of it. And his wife Ximena actually sang with us and read a scripture. She accepted a Book of Mormon and said she will read it. We are super excited.

We are also excited because Jorge (the 9 year old who used to live in Mexico) is going to be baptized on Sunday. We are excited, I made him a little count down chain because he always asks us how many days til he gets baptized. It is going to be a great day. We are all really excited. His dad Luis still says he has an addiction to vitamin C because we told him to take one whenever he wants to smoke, but he has been clean for almost 4 months! It´s amazing. They are working with the young single adults in our Ward here and so they are doing good.

Not much else is new here, we have our last conference with President May this week and our new President gets here on the 28th to take over. It will be interesting to see if anything changes. But that is my life this week. I hope you all had a good week and that you are doing good. I love and miss you all like crazy!!! Time is flying by though, so I hope you enjoy every min of it, beause I am. Have a great week and I will be chattin with yall here soon.

LOVE YOU!!!!

BESITOS XOXO

Steph

 Hermana Player, Ximena (Jose´s wife), Jose, Bishop Avilez, and Me yesterday at the baptism

It rained a quite a bit on Saturday and still is raining a little bit but here is the roads on Sat morning, they don´t have any drains or anywhere for the water to go so there are lakes everywhere. I am glad I bought those sweet rain boots now. (Actually a lot of people have commented that they really like them)

Jose´s new baptism underwear

Jose and Ximena. I loved this picture.

 The look on Jose´s face is exactly how he is. It´s so funny. We told him that he has to smile because it´s his baptism day, he should be happy. He then said, I am happy and I am smiling haha. So we just have to take it for what it´s worth. :)

LOVE YOU

Steph

Happy Fathers Day

Hi Keith, Amber, Noah, and Easton,

 

It looks like you had a rockin birthday party! Noah, I loved your green hair and all your science projects! It looks like you had a good time. How does it feel to be 6 years old! Before you know it you will be going on a mission and I will be writing you.

 

Keith I want to tell you....

 

HAPPY FATHER´S DAY!!!

 

I will be thinking of you and hope that everything is good.

 

I LOVE YOU ALL LIKE CRAZY!!!!!! Miss you but send my hugs and kisses,

Steph

June 13th, 2011

Hi there,

How are things in the world? We hear a little of the stuff going on and sounds like a pretty good time to be in the mish and not worry about anything. But hope things are good. It sounds like Noah had a fun Birthday party! I wish I could have made some slime :)  I loved the pictures! The kids are growing up so fast! That is sweet you went to meet Buckners. I love her and miss her! I also can´t believe its almost Father´s Day- HAPPY FATHER¨S DAY Dad, Keith, Joel, Calvin and Grandpa. I hope you have a great day. Here is a hug and a kiss from me!

Not too much happened this week. We spent all of last Pday looking for freaking rain boots. There are a ton of boots here, but to find ones for the rain that aren´t expensive was a trick. And then when we found some decent ones of course they didn´t have my giant size so I settled for some fancy zebra ones. I attached a picture. I still had to spend 20 bucks on them but at least I won´t have wet feet... haha:)

Fabian still doesn´t know what to do because he doesn´t have the support of his family to get baptized and everything and plus he drank two beers right before we went to visit him. So we don´t really know what to do with him? He came to church though so that was good. I love it because he still wears his jeans, a sweatshirt and his beanie! But someday he will change.

Jose (the one that is a little crazy with the cat wife) understands better than we think he does. He stopped drinking tea because we took him herbal tea to drink instead . He is pretty set on getting baptized on Sunday so if that is the case we have a lot to teach him and hope that everything goes ok. He is one of a kind, I don´t even know how to describe him but he wants the Gospel so bad and knows its true. If you could only see us trying to direct the lesson, letting him comment but not too much because then he goes off on whatever problem he has (and they are always the same) but he is doing good. So if everything goes as planned, I will be letting you know how it goes with his big day.

Maria (who got baptized in Jan, yes I have been here that long!! haha) says "Hi". She is so cute, so concerned about how you are all doing and thinks you are the best to let me come here and teach her. I love visiting her, it makes my day.

That is pretty much all that has happened here, nothing exciting really. We are really tired because we play soccer at 6:30 in the morning 2 times a week instead of 1 (our zone leaders go home this transfer and the next so they are trying to get into shape, so we stepped it up a notch... haha:) The life of a missionary) It has been fun. I love this zone, so I guess it´s ok to have sooo much time here :)

I hope you have a great week! There are lots of exciting things going on, so enjoy the summer and tell everyone "Hi" for me, Happy Father´s Day, how is everything in Texas?? What exciting/unexciting things are happening? Anything else that comes to mind? Thanks for all your letters and love! I am loving the mission so far and as Mom said ¨It´s all down hill from here¨. Brooke Hall comes home this week so be sure to tell her "Hi" for me and to write me! I haven´t talked to her in a long while. But thanks for everything you do! I love you all SOOO much and will talk to you next week.

LES AMO!!!

Steph

 My sweet new boots

The virgin Mary at the top of the hill

 There was a pub named Montana so I felt so close to home, just had to take a pic.

Enjoy :)

Happy Birthday Noah

Noah,

How are you doing? I am sure you are rocking the field in soccer!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I hope you have a great birthday! I can not believe you are going to be 6 years old!!! I bet you are getting so big,  reading, and everything. WOW!   You will have to tell me how your party goes! Grandma said you are going to have a science party, that is so cool! Are your friends coming or the family, or a little bit of both?

Amber, you are so great! I bet this party is going to be so fun, I¨m sad I won´t be there but next year, next year. :) How are things going? Are you staying super busy with Primary and everything? How is Easton?  I´ll tell you right now, I´m already excited to do your hair :) So put it on the calender... haha:). If you need anything just let me know!

Keith, how is work going? Are things picking up with the warm weather or are not too many people building/remodeling? I hope things are good. Tell everyone "Hi" for me!

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH

Steph

June 6th, 2011

Hi Family and who ever else that reads this,

 

How are things crackin in good ol´ Idaho? That is crazy about all the flooding and jazz! But at least it´s warming up. I hope things are good!

 

Transfers were today but I got the call last night and I´m staying where I¨m at. Which is crazy! I thought for sure I would leave because I have 6 months here but now I will have 7 and 1/2, and if the new President is overwhelmed and forgets about me I might just have 9... haha!! (I hope not, that is way to long to be in one place) but it will be good to be here this change because Jorge Urrea (the family that was living in Mexico that are reactivating) will be baptized here in 3 weeks so that will be exciting. So ya, there is not too much that changed.

 

 

Yesterday morning we had a little shake of an earthquake, it was a 5.6 and its not an earthquake til it gets to 7. But it was at about 6 in the morning, I woke up from my bed rocking a little bit and thought, is it really un temblor? then it kept going, and so I told Hermana Player ¨It´s shaking¨ she was still half asleep, and it wasn´t getting worse so I was like, ok well l´m going to go to the bathroom and if it gets worse we will get up. But then it stopped and we went back to bed. I was supprised that I woke up. This is only the second one I have felt since I have been here and there has been a lot. Everyone is talking about the volcano that started errupting in the South of Chile so that is pretty interesting too.

 

But last Monday we went to the hill of San Cristobal, where there is the Virgin Maria and a good lookout of the city. We knew it wasn´t going to be very clear because it hasn´t rained for a long time and the air is just like smog everywhere. But Maria (who got baptized in Jan) gave us 4 dollars to ride the cart thing up the hill, so we deecided we should go, so we went and just our luck, the cart was broken, so we decided to just hike up there. Its not a bad hike but when you are in a skirt and church shoes (well, missionary shoes) it´s a little weird. But we got up there and we are walking around and I look and see some people that look like they are from the US then I look again and it´s a girl, Lauren, that was in my ward at USU in the summer of 2009 when I lived below Old Main. I couldn´t believe it! It was so crazy and she was with a kid that I had seen before there but didn´t know. She is from Logan but just after that summer went to BYU Hawaii and now is doing study abroad in Valparaiso for 6 months for her minor in Spanish(she goes home in June). I was freaking out I couldn´t believe that of all things I run into her. It was cool to see her for a few min. The view was kinda lame, we couldn´t see much but we at least went.

 

And like many of you already know. On Wednesday I hit my 1/2 way mark!!!!!!!! HOLY Tostidos! 9 months!!! It seems like I just left, and I¨m a baby in the mission but then it seems like I haven´t seen you all in forever and that this is what my life is, was, and always will be. It´s all sorts of weirdy. But I´m excited. We are going to celebrate with ice cream or something. (I know, it sounds a little risky, but that´s as risky as it gets in the mish... haha:)

 

Oh, on Saturday morning we went to an Elders area in our district to help them invite non active people to an activity. So we went and visited this one lady Betty who is an angel! She wasn´t going to let us in at first, so we were just talking through the fence then after a few min, she said, well let me go get my keys. So we went in and she said she hasn´t been to church in 3 years and there have been so many Elders pass by and teach her everything but she was excited to have us there. She opened up her heart to us and we had a good lesson. She said she would come to church on Sunday with her grandson who isn´t a member but should get baptized. :)  When we went to leave she started bawling and told us we HAVE to come back, and when we had to tell her that we wouldn´t be at church it seriously broke my heart. She took my face in her hands and said, ¨I will never forget you.¨ I didn´t want to walk out her gate because I don´t know if I will ever see her again but she is so great! It made my day to teach her.

 

That is pretty much all that happened to me this week. I took a lot of pictures because I thought I was leaving so I attached quite a few. I hope you enjoy :)

 

 We ate at subway after our hike up San Cristobal and it was pretty much amazing! (it´s really different than at home, but still good!)

 This was the best view of Santiago that we could get on the hill, but at least on this side you could see the mountains, the other side of the city was just a smog all over.

 Lauren and Me (I can´t remember her last name)

 The PMS parking sign. I have no idea what it means in spanish but it was funny!!

 Brooke sent me a rub on canada tatoo so I put it on last night while we were waiting for the call about transfers. Love representing Canada even though I´ve never been there... haha:)

 

 

Well, I hope you all have a great week and I will talk back to yalls later.

CON MUCHO cariño!

Steph

 

May 30th, 2011

Hi ya´ll,

How has your week been? There´s so much stuff going on it seems like. But that´s good I guess, and that is what summer is all about. Keith, I hope you had a good birthday! Tell Clendon and Granny that I´m praying for them and I hope everything goes ok. Like we have always heard, ¨We die to live and we live to die.¨ Such is life I guess.

This has been a crazy week for me too. So we ate at a members house (the same member who served us half a lasagna the last time, you think we would have learned) but she invited us to eat sopapillas pasadas, which is basically a mix between a donuts and flat bread thing (sopapilla, but a little more weird) and it was in this soup cider stuff of brown sugarish stuff (chancaca, and that is about what it tasted like, caca) and cinnamon and orange peels. Basically it was like dumplings in this soup. It was SOOO NASTY and of course she doesn´t just serve us one, she serves us four!!! and we are sitting there dying. One, because it was so much and two, it was disgusting. But we finished and afterwards we felt like we wanted to throw up. Then in the night time, I went to bed and felt so sick. It hurt to move. I ran to the bathroom like 10 times about to throw up and I finally did and I was so grateful because then I could finally sleep. I felt bad for Hermana Player, she didn´t throw up and didn´t feel good for 2 days. But now we are all back to normal and are never going to eat those nasty things again.

On Tuesday we went and taught this old grandma who we had contacted. She is ¨catholic and will die catholic¨ so it didn´t go too far but she is so funny. She was saying that we are young and beautiful and said ¨you have to date¨ but not just any regular guy like my son (a creepy, drunk  35 year old who lives with his mom) you deserve to marry some handsome guy from your church... haha:) It was hilarious because she was so worried about us settling for a lame guy. I love old people.

I also learned about this place here (well it´s about 2 hours away) but they have empanadas that are 2 pounds. I want to go some day just to see them. This place is famous for em.  oh and then we were teaching Fabian (the 24 year old guy) the 10 commandments and we get to adultery and start to explain the law of chastity. We get done and he looks like he is pondering and we are thinking, oh this is good! (because he has a girlfriend and they have been together for a year and a half and don´t want to get married) and then he doesn´t tell us that he is going to obey it but proceeds to ask us ¨So... you two ...are....(a funny awkward pause)¨ and so we break in and say ¨yes, we are waiting til we get married to have sexual relations¨ and we are laughing a little bit then he says ¨Wow, that´s cool¨... haha:) it was so funny. I love awkward moments these days. But he is so funny I love teaching him because we ask him how is reading is going and what questions he has. And he says no, its all really clear but can we talk about the stuff that I liked, then he goes on to read like half the chapter. Its so great.

Then Sandra Galvez, an investigator who has read practically the whole Book of Mormon and still hasn´t come to church because she has crystals in her kidneys (she used to smoke, do drugs, and drink til we came along) and has to have surgery on her eyes because they are, well, I don´t know why, but ya... she has been really sick and all this jazz This week she told us that she knows she has to get baptized because God has answered her prayers and this is the true church. So she is going to get married in August (the guy she is living with is in the process of getting divorced right now) and then she will get baptized because she is ¨living in sin and knows it, and has to change¨.

So it´s been a good week. I also put Republica Dominical on my list of places to go. A lady in our Ward went with her company that she works for and showed us the pictures...LOVE IT! I best be saving my moneys to go some day...oh wait, I don´t have any money to save but someday I want to go.

Last Pday we went to this cathedral in Plaza de Armas and took some pics. This one is outside a church...

Then this one  is the mass thing (really I have no idea what it is but it was just at the front) that was there.

Then we went to this bridge that shows a little bit of what Santiago is like...

 If I could choose my next sector I would choose this ward. Its downtown and it´s huge (almost 200 people assisting). But we will see what happens. Changes are next Monday and there is a good chance that I will leave because I have 6 months in this area, but where I will go, I don´t know. I´ll let you know next week.  But the last street in my area is United States so I had to take a picture...

 so I felt a little closer to home (even though it doesn´t look much like home... but oh well)

That is pretty much my week. I will keep you updated on everything (if you haven´t noticed) and hope that things are good there. Enjoy the warm weather (the past couple days here have been pretty warm though. It´s a perfect day ¨All you need is a light jacket¨ ...haha:) Well anywho... Have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!

SENDING MY LOVE!!!!

Steph

Happy Birthday Keith!!

Hi Keith, Amber, Noah and Easton,

How are you all doing? I heard you (Keith) got a couple jobs so you couldn´t go to Texas but work is work right. Amber, thanks for your help with my blog! And Noah, how are you liking soccer. I hear you are doing really good! When does your season get over? Well, now to the big news

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH!!!!!!

One year older and wiser too right :) is it your 30th? WOW time flies. I remember when we were in the dirt box digging to China... lol:) Good times!

I hope you have great one and bet your bottom dollar I´ll be there for the next one (even if it´s just to watch your kids while you and Amber go out).

I LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!!!!!

Hope things are good :)

XOXO

Steph

May 23rd, 2011

Hey Fam!

 

How has your week been? I´m glad you are still alive and it wasn´t the end of the world. (Like the Evangelists thought) haha :) When we found out about that, we were laughing all day and some people were really freaked out about it. There was this man who was sitting in his car ready to go if something happened. We passed him at about 10 min to 9 (because that was when it was going to happen here) then we walked to a park, sat down and waited for the big earthquake for a couple min and when 9 came and went we were so dissappointed, but then we were walking back and the guy (who was about 60) was all frustrated getting out of his car that nothing happened. Was all this stuff a big deal there? What my real question is, is what did they say the reason was that nothing happened?

 

Well anywho, we found out that we can´t go to the temple anymore as a mission. They didn´t say why, they just said that we couldn´t so that stinks. We were going to go in June before President May left but now I will just have to wait til I go home. Diego got confirmed yesterday so that was super good! He was so happy and excited. And what topped it all off... One of the brothers in the bishopric gave him new shoes and pants and a sweater (because he doesn´t have much to wear to church besides his tennishoes and stuff.) So he was super happy and said ¨Now I´m ready to pass the sacrament¨ haha:)  It was so cute! (he doesn´t turn 12 til Oct but he is already excited. He just makes my day.

 

Oh man, yesterday I made a fool out of myself. (Obviously haven´t changed much). But when we go to visit inactives or whoever from the ward I tell Hermana Player who they are and stuff as we walk up to the door so she can know who they are, circumstance and all that jazz. So we went walking upto this gate yesterday afternoon. And I start telling her that his name is Angelo and he is the kid who likes Catalina (a girl in the ward)  but doesn't go anymore because Catalina doesn´t like him and so we need to help him find his own testimony and not go just for a girl. Then I ring the doorbell. And what do you know...he is standing right there outside and heard the whole conversation. I wanted to die! OH man, so when he opened the door I just acted like he didn´t hear and when he said they were busy I was ok with it because I didn´t want to face him after that. But oh well, life goes on. At least he knows what he needs to do. So that was my embarrasing moment for the week.

 

And also, on the night that the world was going to end, we were running home (becuase we have to be in the house by 10 and we left 3 min to 10) so we were running full speed to be home on time and Hermana Player tripped and fell. It was like she was sliding into home base. But it was so funny I just started laughing then I asked her if she was ok, and she just said ¨keep running¨so we got into the apt and she falls down on the floor and her knees are bleeding and her hands are scrached. I feel bad for her because I know it hurts but it was so funny I couldn´t stop laughing. And now we laugh together so it´s all good.

 

I also will add that I have been playing the piano in church so all those lessons are paying off :) oh and today on our way to the subway from our house this guy passed on his bike and yelled out ¨Good morning my queen¨ , we just started laughing because it was like this old bum, and then as Missionaries of course we relate it to the gospel. We said "Wow, I didn´t know we were Queens yet, I thought that was in the next life." But then we decided that he should get baptized because he has an eternal perspective so he will accept everything easier. lol !! Yes, I know, we are nerds but you got to have a good laugh every once in a while. Oh that reminds me of another contact I did. So Hermana Player was talking on the cell phone and we were just walking and there were these 2 guys that signal us to come over there, so we go over there and one is a weirdy but the other one is pretty normal. I ask them how they are doing and the weird one asks me what my name is, I tell him Hermana Whyte and he says, No what is your real name, and I say, that is  my real name. So then he goes off commenting on my eyes and my hair and so I start talking to the normalish one and tell them they always have the invitation to come to the church on Sundays, meanwhile the weird one is talking to Hermana Player and asking ¨What is your friends real name¨and then we start to leave and he takes my hand and kisses it. It was so funny. I should start a count of how many weirdies have kissed my hand, its so funny but it´s always the bummish looking old guys. (No worries Mom, I´m perfectly fine, nothing has ever happened to me. Remember I have a lot of protection so don´t worry) Its always great for a good laugh:)

 

That is pretty much all that has happened this week. I guess an Elder died the other day. We got a notice from Pres. May that they went for a jog in the morning and then he came home and colapsed and they couldn´t save him. It sounds like a pretty freak thing. I have no idea where he was from but he had more work to do I guess. We have started running again in the mornings because more and more people keep telling me ¨you were skinny when you got here, you have put on some weight¨ lol:) Crazy Chileans, so nice!  Maybe that wasn´t the best time to throw that in there but I promise I won´t die from it.

 

Anyways, I hope you are all doing good. Tell Aimee and Taylor congrats on their mission calls. That rocks! And Brooke is going to be home pretty soon WOW. Whatever new things are going on, keep me updated. Keith, I hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Friday! Party like it´s 1999 ok. Have a great week and I will talk to you all later.

Peace and Blessins

Con mucho amor,

Steph

 

 This is part of a graffiti in my area ¨Mi mamá tambien me ama¨or in English, My mom loves me too. haha I loved it so I of course had to take a picture.

 Also in my area, there is the Plaza de Inspiración. We always go there when we need to get inspired.

 

I couldn´t remember if I sent this picture or not but it cracks me up so I just have to send it. I don´t know what the dog and cat did to get the punishment of the cone collar but its so funny. Good thing they don´t look in the mirror. haha (and if I alredy sent the pic, sorry)

 

THE END (and they all lived happily ever after...)

May 16th, 2011

To all my fans, haha:)

 

How has your week been? Lots of stuff happening with summer starting. Mom in Texas, Liz and Joel back from their cruise, Karlee going to Hawaii, and who knows what other secrets you have... haha:) It sounds like things are pretty good, so that makes my week. This week was pretty good here, we didn´t find any new investigators BUT DIEGO GOT BAPTIZED!!! He is the cutest kid ever! On Saturday we did his pre-interview to go over the questions and we ask the question "Have you ever participated in a homosexual relationship?" and he just busts up laughing, so obviously we just start laughing too. Then he says "What´s it called- I like girls" haha :) It was funny!! And he was so nervous for the interview, when we asked him a question he just started telling us everything he knew (which is a lot). haha:) He is the sweetest kid ever.

 

His Mom came to his baptizm and he was sooo happy. That is the first time we, and the people he lives with on the weekends, has met her. I can´t imagine letting my kid live with these people every weekend for the past 3 years without even knowing who they are. But the baptism was so great. We had kids from the Primary give the talks on Faith, Repentence, Baptism, and the Holy Ghost. It was great. Then LuLu (his second Mom that he stays with on the weekends) sang ¨He sent his son¨ then us and some of the Primary sang "Ï like to look for rainbows"  It was great! His Mom, him, and a lot of people were crying. It was great. One of the Brethern in the Bishopric baptized him and gave him a tie. He was so happy. His Mom is going to get baptized some day because Diego realizes the importance of the Gospel. He has been giving all the pamphlets to his Mom to read and she seems pretty receptive. He wants to come to church here but he said if the Lord tells him that he needs to go to the Ward where he lives during the week so his Mom will come, he will do it. He is super obedient.

 

Oh and we had intercambios this week (sorry I can´t think of the word in English, but it´s where you go with the other missionary for a day) but ya, I was with Hermana Nielson in my area. She is SO great. We were laughing practicaly the whole day. She is from California, close to Sacramento and will be finishing her mission next change. So in July. She went to BYUI and is going to go there after, so I´m sure you will meet her because we will be hanging out. But we went and taught another investigator (Fabian) who is 24. He is the one who said he is looking for the truth but doesn´t want to be part of a "church." We taught him the prinicipals of the gospel and he accepted to get baptized on the 5th of June. He said he needs to make a lot of changes. He´s not a bad kid but he is from the streets (he dresses like it too, all gangster style). He never has been into drugs but hangs out with those type of kids still but has been changing little by little and realized the importance of being part of a church and all that jazz. It was so funny because he was talking about all this stuff and how rough he is but then he said "really, I just have the heart of a Grandma"  it was awesome... haha:) We busted out laughing and told him that it´s ok to have the heart of a Grandma. He said he would obey the Word of Wisdom so now we just have to work on the law of chastity. BUT he didn´t come to Church yesterday. We called to wake him up but he didn´t answer. So I hope he still progresses and gets baptized on the 5th. He said if hes going to do it he would do it before I left and I told him that it´s a good possibility that that will be my last Sunday in this area (because we have changes the 6th)...so we will see what happens.

 

On Tuesday we had a conference with President May. We watched a talk by Elder Holland he gave at the MTC in Jan. To say the least it was AMAZING!!! It talked about how "Preach my Gospel" came about and basically pumped us up. It was a good conference. It was more focused on us as missionaries being converted and staying strong in the gospel. It was good.

 

I hope things are good there! Have a great week and keep me updated on everything. I love hearing from you.

I LOVE YOU ALL LIKE....I don´t know, but it´s a lot... haha:)

LOVE ALWAYS

Steph

That is pretty much all that happened this week

 

Diegos Mom, Diego and I after his baptism

 

  Alittle kid who is a friend of the family, Estevan (friend of Diego who lives in our ward, Diego liked being around him and started living at their house on the weekends) Lulu (Diego´s 2nd mom), Diego, Diego´s Mom, Brother Eugenio Lovera before the baptism. (I hope that´s right, I didn´t look at the picture, I just did it from memory)

 

So, yesterday we were walking and this dog starts to bark at us and we look down and what do we see... this dog and cat with these freaking collar things on. We were laughing so hard so I just had to whip out my camera and take a pic:)

 

This was last Monday in downtown Santiago in Plaza de Armas. I was walking and realized that it was a  picture moment I couldn´t pass up

 

 

That is my life in words and photos, so hope you enjoy :)

BESITOS