Sept 14, 2017
Second day in Chile and it's a p-day! They're on Wednesdays here so that's neat! I'm online for a little over an hour!
So yesterday, we arrived at about 6:30 a.m. I don't know how I didn't die because I only slept for 4-5 hours on the plane. The food on the plane was really good though, (compared to the Comedor at the CCM). It was some pollo con arroz (chicken and rice). I was actually on an aisle seat in the middle triplet of seats and there was no one in the middle seat, so that made for a comfortable [ride]! When we got in, we went [straight] to the mission office. We had a couple hours of orientation which was really boring because we just wanted to get out there!
The President is really cool. Last p-day, he had a district over for Papa Johns [pizza] and to watch Star Wars 7! He's way chill on rules and lets us leave the mission for p-days for about any reason.
My dad (trainer) here is super-dope! We get along really well and he's related to the Greens! He's cousins with Sydney! He's from Herriman, Utah, so we relate to a lot of stuff. He took me to get my first completo last night and it was pretty cool. It was just a big hot dog doused with condiments and avocado, which is surprisingly good. We're serving right now in an area called Las Amèricas. It's a barrio [neighborhood] with streets named after countries. It's pretty small but it has some good members in it. Elder Sims (mah dad) says there's only about 45 active members in the ward so there's lots of work to do. Yesterday, we were doing a little contacting when Sims went up to a middle-aged woman and started talking to her about stuff including her beliefs. He ended up giving her a Restoration pamphlet to read and we kept talking to her. I, of course, was talking less but I noticed her expressions and felt she was feeling the Spirit. I then bore my testimony to her saying that, though I couldn't speak the language well, I could testify of these things and that what you're feeling is Heavenly Father confirming these things in your heart. She had tears in her eyes and is excited to meet with us. We might today even. The Spanish isn't too bad right now, but the Chilean is killer! It's sometimes like they have a numb tongue, just going at it!
"com stà uste, de don è" [instead of 'Cómo está usted? De donde es?"]
But, I'm getting a bit more used to it with every interaction. Sims says I'm doing pretty slammin' for a first day greenie, but it's still some buns sometimes.
Today, we went to the stake center as a zone and played soccer, football, and a little basketball and later had some Choripan. It was like a Chilean cookout! And it tasted amazing! I seriously wonder what's going on in [North] America that they don't have these!
The peeps and other missionaries here are nice. The typical Chilean greeting with people you're mildy comfortable with is a handshake into a quick hug, then another handshake to top it off. It's pretty cool, actually. With women we do a horizontal high five into a fist bump. It's pretty bacàn, like what we do in the States sometimes. I have some pics of my apartment and comp (maybe) that I'll try to upload! Chao Chao!
Love,
Elder Sierra
P.S. We also have a mission dog named "Dude". He's in the pic. He was found one day when two missionaries were being attack by another street dog and Dude came up and straight "merced" it. He likes licking bricks and pushing them around. He also loves missionaries and follows them around a lot. He's killed another street dog since the last one (there are a lot of street dogs here).
Dude is probably going to the Celestial Dog Park.
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| DUDE WITH HIS BRICK |
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| OUR KITCHEN |
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| ELDER SIMS AND ME |
