A Lamb Named Gaby

Wow this week has been the craziest! I got a whole bunch of stuff to say so get ready! So I´ll start off on Tuesday. We went to our district meeting as usual in Tomé, but instead of going back to Quirihue after it finished, I stayed in Tomé with Elder Stewart (one of my zone leaders) and Elder Barnes. I had to do this cause there was a conference on Wednesday and Thursday for the new missionaries in Concepciòn and I had to be in Tomé the night before in order to get there on time. Anyways, so I spent the whole day with these two in Tomé going to their appointments and lessons with them. First thing about Tomé. It has the biggest hills in the world. And walking up one of those suckers takes soooooooo much effort. I`ll send some pictures of them but the pictures just don't do them justice. But it was a great experience to be in another sector with different people and companions that speak English! Haha. They made me do a lot of contacting though, but I was surprised to find out that I was able to understand people perfectly AND talk to them! I was actually able to do all 10 of my required contacts all by myself!! WOOOOO!! It was such an awesome feeling to finally be able to communicate! I think it`s largely due to the way people talk there compared to the people  in Quirihue, cause Quirihue is much more campo, or country-like.

But the next morning I had to catch a bus to Concepciòn and I rode with Elder Kingford! Haha So we both made it to Conce and walked to the mission office where the conference was being held. The conference went great especially cause I was able to see everyone from the CCM! Elder Holt was there along with Hermana Long, Poulson, and Burnham. It was so good to see them and hear all their experiences in their sectors. After the 1st part of conference ended we were assigned a companion (a senior missionary that was in a sector near Conce) and then we went out to work with them. I went with Elder Jackson who was a gringo!! Two days in a row with gringo companions!! Haha Anyways, his sector was Talcahuano Sur which had the best weather in the world!! It`s just west of Conce kinda on this peninsula type thing. But I had such a great time with him! We went to a ton of lessons and he made me teach big parts in all the lessons and again I was able to understand AND talk perfectly! I really got me excited to get back to Quirihue and talk to people. 

The next morning I headed back to the mission office for the 2nd part of the conference. It was pretty short and soon I had to say bye to every one and get a bus to Coelemu and then back to Quirihue....by my self! AHHH!! Haha It actually wasn't that bad and I was able to get back with no problem. It was just a little bit weird not having a companion for a couple hours haha.

So while I was gone, my companions went and bought a lamb. Yes a lamb. We were having a get together with all the members and we were going to eat lamb! Haha. So we named the lamb Gaby (hahahha). So Friday afternoon we had Hermano Miguel come over and help us kill Gaby. It was pretty gross and I admit I had to go to the other room haha. But on Saturday afternoon we were able to eat Gaby! Oh boy was she good haha! We had about 20 people there hanging out and socializing, it was pretty great! 

Busy week with lots of fun, but not too much success in finding more people to teach which really bums me out, but it`s a new week now and I plan to find all those people who have been prepared by the Lord! I love and miss everyone back and home and I hope everything is going well!

Elder Evelo

 

 

Tough Week

This week has been pretty tough for us. We are having a really hard time trying to find people to teach. And our only investigator, Angelo is almost never at home so it`s hard to tell if he is even progressing.
 

During the beginning of the week we focused on trying to find more people to teach. And that consisted of a lot of contacting and a lot of tocando puertas (knocking doors). Don't get me wrong I really want to find more people, but walking all day back and forth across this city is not very fun. But we were able to get a couple of people to be willing to have us over in the future, so hopefully we`ll be able to visit them and that they will feel that our message is true.
 

Friday`s lunch was interesting cause we had some kind of fish haha. It has some weird name that i cant remember but it had a TON of bones in it haha. But it was delicious! My second fish lunch was a success! Friday was also awesome cause our mission momma came back from her trip to Santiago. She is the best person ever and she is trying to teach me more of "Chilean Spanish" haha. 

Sunday I was officially "baptized" into the Quirihue family. For this Elder Watson (new to Quirihue as well) had to eat a spoonful of Aji which is this suuuuper spicy salsa stuff. Hoooooooly crap I think I can still feel the burn in my mouth. I think I handled it better than elder Watson though cause he turn bright red and started sweating and crying hahaha. But he`s a gringo and I have that Mexican stomach so I'm not surprised. 

I'm going to try my best to talk to everyone this week. I need to practice my Spanish and we need to find people so every person I see I'm going to talk to. Wish me luck haha. I hope everyone is having a great time at home! Chau!

Elder Evelo

 

Awesome Week in an Awesome Mission!

Hola peoples!

 

It´s been another awesome week in this awesome mission! 

Tuesdays was pretty slow. We didn't have any lessons with investigators, only with members. We teach a lot of lessons to the members cause there aren't to many especially in Quirihue and the mission really try's to focus on strengthening the members cause there are sooooo many that are inactive. 

Wednesday are super great cause we have almuerzo con Hermana Bustos and she makes the best food. The foods here isn't tooo crazy weird. They eat a ton of tomatoes though and I'm actually starting to like them now haha. A ton of people give us watermelon with toasted flour. Holy crap its great! I'm gonna get fat from it but I don't even care haha.

Thursday we had our clase de Zona in Tomè. Afterwards we had almuerzo at some member´s house in Tomè. The guys name was Domingo and he was suuuuper weird haha. But he gave us salmon and whoa. I thought I  hated seafood, but that salmon was one of the best things I've ever tasted. After we ate Domingo offered back massages haha cause he was like a professional back massager or whatever you call it. 

Friday we had interviews with President Arrington. He´s a pretty freaking awesome guy! And I got my first package after the interview!!! (Thanks momma). After we got back to Quirihue we had lunch with hermana Alicia who always gives us a ridiculous amount of food to eat. I. Love. It. 

Saturday was out day of service. After our daily studies and stuff in the morning, we went to Hermana Eliana´s house to help her clean her home and stuff. We cleaned like crazy and till about 7. It was great to do service for her though. She doesn't have hardly any money and helping her out made her so happy. Service is really one of the best things you can do for people.

Spanish is kinda a struggle for me right now. I understand everyone but its hard for me to speak. And I always want to speak! But I know I just need practice and time and it will come. I miss everyone back home and I hope you guys are all having a great time with your stuff!

Elder Evelo