Aventura de Chile!: Week 51

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 29TH, MAMA!!!!! I hope you have a super awesome day. I imagine that it won't be exactly the same because your favorite sister missionary isn't there. Hahaha ;) But asi es la vida, no?

Anyways, so this last week was a little trunky cause with the holidays coming, a bunch of the Elders and Sisters are already getting their Christmas packages. It's crazy how fast their parents have been able to get things to them.

Anyways, this week was pretty awesome. We only entered a couple of houses, but we met some pretty amazing people and were able to share some things with them. Hermana Williams and I started putting together Book of Mormons (Books of Mormon? haha) that have little tabs sticking out of them. Each tab has a question that people commonly ask. And then they open the book to where the tab is and the answer has been highlighted in the verses or in the whole chapter. :D It's sparked their curiosity even more and they are more motivated to read the book. Because really if you just hand it to them and say, "Read it! It'll change your life!" they're going to be like, "Uhhhh... Okay. It looks a little long buuut....." and then they don't end up reading it. But we've been giving the tabbed books to people and they immediately open it up and start reading. It's awesome!

We found a guy named José this week. He's confined to a wheelchair because he got gangrene in both legs. He lost one and said that the hospital tests are pending on whether he's going to lose the other. He said that he was really sad, but when we come and talk with him he feels peaceful. His whole family is part of a different religion, but he started asking a lot of questions about the doctrines they believe. They yell at him a lot for it and call him a fool, but he doesn't care. He told us that he's been searching for truth. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and explained a bit of the history of it. His face just lit up. He was excited to learn! :D We were so happy to have found him.

We found another man named Andres who kind of comes from the same story as José religion-wise. But he isn't as outspoken about it. His family practices their religion and he just kind of does his own thing because he says that some things just don't make sense to him. So we started talking with him and he seems really interested in what we have to say. We left him with a pamphlet to read and he read it and had a zillion questions. We scheduled a lesson with him for Wednesday so we're going to go back there and see what happens.

Kelli and Maria Raquel are our two investigators who have baptismal dates right now. Unfortunately, neither were able to come to church this Sunday, but next week for sure. We're going to put more focus on getting them some friends in the church so that they can feel more comfortable. M.R. is still smoke-free since she decided to quit that last week. Wooooo!!!!! I love progress!

We went to see Tito this last week, but we couldn't have a lesson with him because he and his family were just heading out to go look at a new house. HE'S MOVING! NOOOOOOO!!!! We don't know if it's within the boundaries of our sector or not, but we'll see. I hope so. He's such a good kid.

We contacted a guy named Francisco who was a referencia from the Elders. He's super cool and he says that God is basically his hero. We took out a cita for this coming Sunday because that's the only day he can see us.

So I was super beat out tired and I felt super lazy about getting up to brush my teeth, so I jokingly said to Hermana Williams, "Ugghhh I'm too lazy. Can you brush my teeth for me?"

She was like, "Okay!"

I told her I was kidding, but then suddenly she appears with my toothbrush in hand and says, "Open up!" So my companion brushed my teeth. Well we've been told that we're supposed to serve our companions soooooo.... ahahahaha!

Also, we went to a bike shop this week to just get a routine tire fill, but what I didn't know is that the back tire of my bike was already shot. So the guy who works there (his name is Leo) was filling the tire, it EXPLODED! And a quick stop at the bike shop turned into a wheel replacement. Luckily he did the whole job for 6000 pesos, which is nothing compared to what I thought it would be for a new tire. And while he was at it he made sure that the brakes were working okay and oiled everything up. He's cool. :D

In other news, I got bit by a dog this last week. We were talking to this lady and a ratty little fox terrier that ALWAYS bothers us snuck up behind me without a sound and nipped me in the calf. Luckily it didn't break the skin or anything, but MAN that dog bites hard! I was so grateful that I didn't have to go to Rancagua for a rabies shot.

Buuuuut speaking of which, I have to Rancagua anyways because I need to get a tooth fixed. I had a filling that fell out in the back, and it left a big hole in the back. Whoops. I'll send a picture. The hole is quite large. It doesn't hurt, though cause it's not a cavity. While we're down there in Rancagua we're going to go to Jumbo and see if we can find some good Gringo food.

What else?

Ah yeah. We started English classes again here. Unfortunately, they're not as popular here as they were in Santa Cruz, sooooo nobody shows up. I was teaching English for four and a half months, so being student-less is kind of a bummer. But we're spreading the word right now, so we're going to see what happens with that.

Ah yes, and thank you all for reminding me that I will be hitting my year mark soon. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! My gosh the time has gone by so fast! But I still have six months left, so I've just got to keep the pedal to the metal. LOOK OUT, BUIN!!!!

So that's all for this week. I really appreciate all of the prayers! Thank youuuuu!!!!! CHAOOOOO!!!!!

-Hermana Darley