super fast.
Tuesday we had district meeting and i got to meet some of the other
elders. the lesson was in spanish, and i can basically understand
everything everyone who is not chilean says but i have to really pay
attention. sometimes my thoughts wander and i get completely lost in
what they are saying.
wednesday president and sister Obeso came down to Punta Arenas with
Elder Vinas from the seventy. We had a all missionary conference in
the morning and elder vinas was so cool. President and hermana obeso
sp0ke too.
it was so fun seeing all the missionaries from our zone and i got to
see Hermana Coombs! she finally got her passport back and flew down
tuesday. shes still feeling a little sick but shes doing okay. i was
so excited to see her.
that night Elder Vinas gave a devotional for everyone in the ward and
any investigators interested. he basically taught all the first three
lessons in 45 minutes. it was amazing. sometimes in our lessons we
spend 45 minutes just on half a lesson. but he inspired us that if he
can do three lessons we can do 1.
Thursday was independence day and the whole city was shut down and the
streets were deserted. everyone was inside sleeping, eating or
partying with family. every house had a chilean flag outside. our ward
had a huge fiesta! so much food and music and decorations. the whole
ward is amazing their like one huge family. everyone loves everybody.
they played traditional games that are similar to ones in the us like
tug of war, three legged races, relay races, musical chairs. but
everyone was super into it, like screaming and jumping around. it was
the most exciting ward activity ive ever seen. it was so much fun.
they had a folk dance group and perform the traditional dance, the
Cueca and sing songs. all the little kids were dressed in cueca
attire. the missionaries were able to learn! we couldnt dance with
anyone but they brought us up on stage and taught us the basic steps.
everyone can dance the cueca, everyone learns it when their a little
kid. they had an open dance floor where people would just go dance the
cueca. it was so cool. even little kids knew the steps.
they had soup, empenadas, a rice, apricot drink for dessert, bread,
cakes, everything was so delicious.
okay so they taught us the cueca and then they had us perform it for
everyone haha. it was crazy. hma obeso and presidente were there and
learned it with us.
in ward council this past week hna Baker let it slip that i knew how
to tap dance, so the hermano that was leading all the activities came
up to me during the fiesta ad asked me to tap dance for everyone cause
they had never seen or heard of tap before. So i borrowed some
character shoes from one of the girls int he ward and i tap danced on
stage for everyone haha. it was really cool, they were all really
impressed just because they had never seen tap before haha. it was
crazy. now when people in the ward see me they try to imitate tap for
me haha.
they sang happy birthday to Hermana Baker (oh yeah, her birthday was
on wednesday! shes 20 now) and brought out a cake for her.
it was an amazing fiesta, the ward is so great. im so happy i got to
exprience something like that.
this past week was kind of hard with teaching and finding people just
because everyone was out of town or busy with the 18th and everything.
we went to a baptism on saturday night with one of our investigators.
church yesterday was good, some investigators came with out us having
to pick them up or call them! it was great!
we taught a couple the gospel of Jesus Christ and i was actually able
to contribute and talk so hna Baker wasnt all by herself.
its still kind of hard to understand the chilenos down here, depending
on the person. some people talk really fast and really slur their
words. but its getting easier day by day.
the days all kind of blur together, its hard to remember everything.
but it was a great week. i took lots of pictures and im gonna try to
send some.
they´ll be showing general conference in our ward building and im
hoping they´ll have a room that can stream english, fingers crossed.
we are super excited for conference, hna baker said the other day that
for missionaries conference is better than christmas which now that im
out here i realize is very true haha.
Its very cold here. but im getting used to it. thanks for the package
and warm stuff mom. yeah my boots are wonderful, my northface jacket
and all my tights and leggings. ive accepted the fact that there is
always some part of my body that is cold. in the mornings and nights i
can see my breath in our little house. we dont have to chop firewood,
we have a gas heater in our main room, but it doesnt really reach the
bedroom.
congrats on getting past the deadline dad! yay!
More about Hermana Baker? okay shes from salt like, she has 9
siblings, shes the oldest, she went to byu before her mission, she
wants to be a music teacher or go into music therapy. she sings and
plays the piano. so we end up singing a lot, and we start our lessons
our with hymns. she is very fun and is doing a fantastic job at
training because i know it probably isnt easy for her or anyone. her
spanish is great, i can understand her to the point where if she
started switching between english and spanish i wouldnt be able to
tell. shes a great teacher, has a lot of enthusiasm for the gospel,
shes great. shes been on her mission 10 months, and has been here in
punta arenas for 2 months.
we`re teaching some great people. One girl Named Luz who is probably
our age. shes been investigating the church for like four months. shes
a tough cookie, she doesnt want to committ to anything serious because
she needs a for sure answer from God. but she is super fun and even
though we cant really understand each other we`ve become friends.
we`re teaching a family whos oldest son just got baptized three month
ago, hes 16. they have another son whos 6 and little twin boys only a
year old. so cute. they`re a rock solid family, we`re working to get
them baptized.
<Natasha is another investigator, she has a couple month old baby boy
who is the world to her. gosh ive never seen a mother love her baby so
much (except for you mom, because you love me). but shes moving out of
our ward this week which is very sad.
all the people are great. very nice, they wont let us into their homes
all the times, but they also wont slam the doors in our faces. i like
them a lot, i just wish i could understand them haha.
its hard to describe punta arenas... its right on the water. but my
area is a little ways inland. (for hna Bakers birthday we walked to
the beach and took pictures at the end of the world) our area has a
lot of unversities and schools so lots of college kids and students.
the houses are small and colorful and definitely have a european
influence. the streets are kind of dirty, lots of mud and puddles and
garbage. theres´lots of graffiti, but i dont know its kind of
beautiful in an urban kind of way. we do lots of walking. or we take
taxis or collectivos which are like taxis but with a fixed price.
some days are really hard but i think i really like being a missionary :)
well i dont have too much time left. hope thats enough details for
you. i love you all so much. i show off pictures of my family to
people all the time here. i miss you, have a great week!
love, Hermana Williams
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