Dear All,
Sorry again for last week. :)
Wow. A lot has happened! The Lord has tested me with the following:
-I had to take a bus from Viña to La Sarena my first night here (11 PM to 5 AM drive; if you do the math, I didn´t sleep in a bed for two whole days!)...And, well, I left my Spanish Scriptures on the bus! However, Elder Boyd and I are in the same apartment, and he had two pairs of scriptures. So he gave me one of his pairs. It says "Elder Boyd" on them, but that´s ago. It was a huge blessing to get those from him. And maybe I´ll get mine back one day. If not, I´ll just have to endure. It´s sad that I lost those, along with all the stuff that was in my brand new case, but...the Lord gives us challenges. And besides--this work isn´t about me. :)
-Blisters. I have a ton on my feet. My ankle has also been bothering me. However, to me, the pain is simply a reminder of the work I have been putting into this missionary work! My companion and I don´t live in our ward; we are looking for a new apartment and what not, though. But yeah--we have to walk a LONG ways to get over here. But it´s good for me. I´ve already lost a ton of weight, I think. ;)
-The language, obviously. The Chileans speak SO fast. But I love it. I understand more every day, and I can speak a little better every day, too. Diligence and patience. That´s all it takes. Right now, I just have to make due with what I know, and--most importantly--I need to have charity for these people. And I really do. :) (I will tell you more about the Chileans next.)
And I´ve been faced with many other challenges, too. But so far, It´s just been a blast! It´s definitely been an adventure, and I´ve been blessed with a good trainer, Elder Birchall. Allow me to tell you a little bit about him. :) He´s from California, and he is #10 of 11 in his family. He has THIRTY-ONE sobrinos (nieces and nephews), and his brother served here in the Viña mission. (We´ve met a lot of his brother´s converts, and that´s been fun!) He and I also have the same birthday...Entonces, we are exactly a year apart. :)
Wow. The Chilean food is the best. First of all, they don´t really eat dinner here. They have a huge lunch instead. And so we have Almuerzo (Lunch) appointments with the members instead. And so far, every meal has been super good. They put mayo on EVERYTHING, but...their mayo is different here--it´s better. ;) And their mustard is a lot different, too--it´s very good. They also love to drink soda. They LOVE tomatoes and avacados/guacamole. Overall, I think everyone in our family would love the food here except for Timmy and Logan. I know Timmy doesn´t like mayo or cilantro, and they have a ton of both. ;)
The Chileans greet eachother with kisses on the cheek. I knew that beforehand, but it was a surprise to me in my first sacrament meeting when everyone--the YW and YM included--was going around kissing each other and saying hello to each other. It´s just their culture. :) And yesterday...my companion almost got kissed by this lady after we taught her.
The Chileans turn their houses into stores, and their cars into colectivos (taxis), and I absolutely love it. It´s so cool! We ride the collectivos all the time. They are crazy drivers! Basically...they have stop signs and speed limits (very few actually obey), but...other than that, there are no limits. It´s crazy!
There are a TON of stay dogs here. Thousands! One day, my companion and I had ten or so dogs following us around. I´ve seen five or so dog fights, and those are pretty crazy. I´ve seen three dead cats on the sidewalk and one dead dog. :/ It´s pretty gross! And sad.
It´s super hot here, and every one is on their summer break. It´s weird to me because it´s February.
The members here are so cool. They understand that I am still learning, and so they usually don´t say TOO much to me. And some families even talk about me when I am right there, thinking I can´t understand them when I really can. It makes me laugh. But yeah--we have four Elders in our ward, and it´s been fun serving with the other two. They are both Latinos. One (Elder Briones) is getting trained by the other (Elder Trabares). They are both cool; Elder Trabares loves to tease me, and it´s hilarious. He´s from Columbia. Elder Briones is from Santiago, Chile, and we have become the best of friends. He always says: "Mi futuro compañero!" He and I are both pretty convinced that we will be comps in the near future. He´s fun because we teach each other our language. He´s English is already way good! ;)
Our main investigators right now are the Araya familia. They are SO sweet. They are getting baptized this moth! It´s Yasmine, Juan-Carlos, and their son Carlos. The Dad is so cool. He is a Chilean version of Dad. He´s hilarious, and he just reminds me of Dad for some reason! He quit smoking within days after we taught the Word of Wisdom. They are so focused and pumped for their baptism; I love it. :)
I am in the phase right now where I am beginning to forget a lot of English words, and at the same time, I don´t know a TON of Spanish. It´s a weird feeling.
Well, I think that is all for now. There is a TON more I could say, but words cannot suffice. I will share more one day. :) I love you all, and I hope all is well. Keep me in your prayers. Remember: Nothing will make you more happy than living the Gospel. And we have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who live and love us--no matter what.
Yours Truly, Elder Nelson IV
P.S. Enjoy the photos! :)
Basically...I included a picture of the ocean from La Sarena (where I am at)...some pictures from when we went to the Parque Japoneis (went there for you, Dad.) last week for p-day...and then a picture of Elder Briones and I...And a picture of Elder Trabares at the zoo. (Yes, the zoo animals were things such as deer, chickens, etc.)
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