Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

HOLA MADRE 

Actually wait

okay

I have a story that goes along with that phrase now and my life will never be the same

remind me in a second because I`ve got to introduce you to my companion and my area and all of that cool stuff right now hehehe!



MY COMPANION HERMANA RHOADS IS THE MOST AMAZING HUMAN BEING THAT I KNOW

SHE`S SO AMAZING

I AM SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE HER AS A TRAINER

Granted, the first two days were really rough because 1) I didn`t know what I was doing and 2) I JUST REALLY DIDN`T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING. So, we didn`t talk much the first two days, but then suddenly some mental switch flipped in my brain and I remembered who I am and WE ARE ACTUALLY THE BEST PAIR OF HUMANS THAT HAS EVER EXISTED TBH [to be honest]

Hermana Rhoads has been in the field for casi diez meses [almost 10 months] and she is totally awesome. She is so much fun that I just can`t even explain and she has made my transition into the real world an awesome transition and I am just SO SO SO SO grateful for her. She is just SO AWESOME and to be honest, that was one of my big fears of starting out in the field: getting a new companion. But she is so awesome. 



And the field

let me tell you a story about the field

once upon a time there was a place called el campo misional [the mission field]

AND IT WAS AWESOME

the end

So, if you were worried about my health or my adjusting-ness at all, have no fear. Because this is actually so amazing. I love the field and I love actually getting to speak Spanish all the time; it is so much easier to learn Spanish when you`re surrounded by people who only speak Spanish. That`s something that I have really appreciated about Hermana Rhoads; she made it clear from the beginning that we speak Spanish when we speak, pero [but], because I am still learning, we take a break once we`re in our pajamas. She`s so awesome. And she loves palta [avocado] and that is really a blessing. A real life blessing.

OKAY NOW LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY ZONE AND AREA/SECTOR ALRIGHT 

OKAY SO I AM IN

drumroll please

ZONA INDEPENDENCIA

and I am serving in the Los Olivos ward! 

And also, there are 8 missionaries in our ward, pero, porque la mayoría de los misioneros trabajan en la oficina [but, because most of the missionaries are working in the office] (that also means that we`re the only hermanas in our sector), we have most of the work. And our sector is huge.

Huge as in we should be a biking sector.

But the roads are too dangerous, entonces [then], we don`t have bikes and we just walk everywhere

and walk
and walk
and walk
and walk
and walk
and walk
and walk
and walk

and there`s this hill across the street from us called Cerro Blanco and sometimes we have to walk up that thing

it`s like

a 90º angle

it`s insane

and we walk up it

with our feets

and our piernas [legs]

and then we walk all over the rest of the place all the time and there is just a lot of walking and unfortunately, we have very few progressing investigators, entonces, we also talk to a lot of people. But not a whole lot of people because, and I don`t want anybody to worry because nothing bad has happened yet (that`s a great way to start a sentence I know), but our sector is poco flaete. 

And by poco I mean that it is probably 2nd in our mission in flaete-ness. 

And if you were wondering what flaete means, it means basically, gangster, BUT PLEASE DON`T BE WORRIED I AM A SMART HUMAN BEING AND ALSO RATHER TALL AND ALSO WE ARE VERY SAFE HUMAN BEINGS LET ME JUST TELL YOU [I have never been one to worry excessively about my missionaries, since they are on the Lord's errand, but it's always reassuring to know that she is a smart, safe human being. teehee]

But that brings me back to my original story that I need to tell you. 

The other day in the street we went on this type of weird splits thing with some members of Recoleta and invited people to their ward conference and when I was walking around with a few hermanas, there was a man that pointed at me (which happens very frequently because I am tall and gringa do not worry I am safe) and then just started saying, `HOLA MADRE, MADRE, HOLA MADRE,` a lot and even the ward members were like, `that is a new one` but in Spanish because that`s the language they speak. Somebody also called me princesa [princess] and many people are eager to have families, but PLEASE DO NOT WORRY I AM SAFE.
[I have to admit, that last statement just made Lee and me laugh out loud! HAHA] 

Also there are so many dogs.

Much dog. Very street. 

There are probably more dogs than there are humans and there are also many kitties, but it is a mission rule that we may not touch any animals, whether they`re pets or not, we may not touch the animals no no no. 
Okay, let me tell you a thing: here in Santiago, graffiti (how do you even spell that) is totally legal, so there is graughfittiey everywhere but here`s the thing: it`s all more beautiful than anything you`ve ever seen in your life. There is some darn good grrahffeetiy here.




All of these pictures you`re getting are of my CCM district and also our last group of Latinos, just so you know.






Also, I get to visit the temple on May 14th! Woohoo! The drive from the CCM to my area was literally twenty minutes. OH LET ME ALSO SAY

Hermana Paulson is way out in the campo and she is the only one of our newly arrived missionaries that got what she feared literally since day one: a biking area. That was one of the first things she told me, and he aquí, she`s in a biking sector. 

To be honest, I don`t remember what he aquí means [it means 'behold'] but it´s at the beginning of like every scripture, so I have a feeling it`s something about and it came to pass. But anyway. 

ALSO BEFORE I FORGET

What happened before I came here to the what`s it

the field 

that`s the name

before I came here and when Hna Paulson y yo fuimos contactando [and I went contacting], we talked to this one little old lady that insisted we call her abuelita [granny] and she thought that I was Hna Paulson`s mom and then when she talked to Hna Hokanson and Palmer, she referred to us as `señora alta y su hija` [high lady and her daughter] entonces, that happened. 

Also, lately it has been SUPER SUPER DOOPER SMOGGY and we were wondering why but then somebody told us it was because that volcán errupted again and so it`s actually ash/smog?? And she also told us that there was a lot of destruction, for which we are praying very much a lot for. I also heard some news about a tsunami in Japan? Aaahhhh, this is all very not good :/ I am sending many prayers out. 

Oh, these pictures matter a lot: one is of me and Hermana Cardús, the hermana that I was acompañante[companion/escort] to in the temple, and the other one is Hermano Ceballos. He was our night teacher the first two weeks and if you zoom in on his face, you will know everything you need to know about him.


 

But anyway, I have taught lessons already and it has been crazy! Sometimes it`s hard for me to open my mouth but I just have to remember that I have been set apart to do this work and it is my job to open my mouth and if I do just that much, it will be filled with the words that our investigators (and conversos recientes [recent converts] and menos activos [less actives]) need to hear. This truly is an amazing and special calling and I am more than grateful to be able to do this work. 

Okay, I`ve actually got to go now, but I will talk to you all later! I love you all very much and quizás [perhaps] next week I will have something more than just facts and things to tell you about. 

Oh, I should mention that Hermana and Presidente Videla are AMAZING and I love them so much :) and it`s nice to have the elders in the office: they`re a bunch of bros. 

Anyway, I love you all so much! And I will for sure have a thousand more things to tell you next week and I love you so much, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

I CANNOT EXPRESS IN WORDS MY LOVE OKAY JUST KNOW THAT IT EXISTS AND IT IS MUY FUERTE [VERY STRONG]

STRONGER THAN THE SMELL IN THE STREETS OF SANTIAGO

it`s a very distinct smell

let me tell you

Sending love from Chile!

Until we meet again,
Hermana Schomburg


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