Week 56

So every missionary that comes into the field hopes that their first Christmas will be something unforgettable. I got my wish, but not exactly in the way I pictured it. 

So the first note that I will make is that in Chile, when somebody says, "We have plans for Christmas", they are talking about the 24th.

So first, about three weeks ago, the Maneses family asked us if we had somewhere to Skype on Christmas, and if not, we could go to their house. So that was the first plan we made. We would be at their house at 5:30, then have dinner and stay with their family for the rest of the night.

Lots of other families asked us what we were doing on Christmas, and they invited us to dinner at their houses. We told them all no thank you, because in the morning we would be in a special zone meeting with the other missionaries, lunch with the Pinos, then in the afternoon we would be at the Maneses. So we had our whole day set for Christmas, already.

Or so we thought. 

'Twas the night before Christmas Eve and Hermana Chapman and I were scrambling around trying to figure out what we were going to do Christmas Eve because nobody had invited us over. It made me sad because I was thinking, "I thought we had good relationships with the members here. What's the deal?" We sang carols in the Plaza de Buin with the rest of our zone, then we talked to two Elders who serve with us in the same branch. They told us that they had plans for after lunch with several families so we could go and offer a few spiritual thoughts in the members' houses. We called the Bello family and asked them if they wanted to do a little Family Home Evening because we did tell them that we would visit Christmas Eve. 

As the Elders were about to walk away, I said, "Yeah, I think the members might have all assumed that we already have plans. Cause nobody invited us over for Christmas Eve." Elder Porter stared at us and said, "Oh, shoot! Just so that you know, when they say "la Navidad" here in Chile, they're talking about the 24th. Not the 25th."

Ohhhh myyyy goodness. 

Hermana Chapman and I just looked at one another and said, "Okay then. We'll plan out our day according to the appointments that the Elders presented us with."

So Christmas Eve in the morning, we went out and tried to visit some investigators and we did some contacting. Nobody received us because they were all cooking, but they said that they would listen to a carol at the fence. So we just sang. 

We went to the Pino family's house for lunch, and Hna. Pino gave Hermana Chapman and I headbands, and really nice belt clips to Elders Porter and Waite. 

We left lunch and went to the Navarete family. We could only be there for a little less than an hour, so we were going to share a message about the Savior, then our testimonies. Right when we entered the house, we got a call from the comesarios saying that they were taking the bikes out of our sector and giving them to another one. So Hermana Chapman and I went back to our house, waited for 20 minutes for the comesarios, then walked back to the Navarete's house. 

By then, it was 20 minutes till our next appointment, and it was far away. So we did what we originally planned to do and shared a pretty message, then us four missionaries took a colectivo (taxi) to the Bello's house. 

We were about 3/4 of the way to their house, then we got a phone call saying that the Bellos had to go out, and they would be gone for about an hour. So the Elders said that we could all go visit an investigator of theirs who lives in our sector.

We found out when we got there why we aren't visiting them. Ummm... They don't like sister missionaries. At all.

The Elders talked with the mom and the oldest daughter, and had a great conversation with the brother-in-law and the grandma, and Hermana Chapman and I sat at the kitchen table trying to make conversation with anyone who wasn't talking to the Elders. The little kids were nice, but the adults wouldn't look at us. When we asked a question, they ignored us. We tried to greet the oldest daughter and the mom with a kiss (like you do here in Chile), and they turned their faces away and walked past us.

Sooooo we were in there for about a half hour, then Hermana Bello called us and said, "Hermanas! We're home!"

We were like, "Oh good. Be right over."

So we chao'd out of there and headed to the Bello's house. The Elders couldn't go after all because they had to take the oldest son (who is in a wheelchair) to his kid's house.

We got a call from Hermano Parra telling us to come to his house at 8:30 to eat dinner with his family, so we told the Bellos that that was our plan for later. 

We talked and drank juice and went over the craziness that had happened in the schedule confusion, then at 6:10 we got a call from Hermano Maneses. 

"Where are you, Hermanas?"

We said that we were at the Bello's house. He said that they were all ready with Skype, and that they had something fun planned for us for afterwards, too. 

At this point, Hermana Chapman and I just wanted to cry. I was biting my tongue and just smiling, but Hna. Bello saw what was up. She said, "Go! We'll take you there."

So the Bellos drove us to the Maneses house. 

We were a bit of a frustrated mess, and they could both see it. But all in all, Hermano and Hermana both started cracking up when they heard about the confusion. 

We talked with them and had a great time anyways. Then at 8:30 we went to the Parra's house for dinner. They're a great family. They gave us each a gift. I got a little owl bracelet.  

On Christmas, we went to our meeting in the morning and President and Hermana Warne brought everyone cookies. Then we had our lunch with Hna. Gisenia, then we headed to Estacion to visit a family. They weren't there, so we scheduled a different day, then we headed to the Bello's house.

Hna. Bello is so cute. She dolled my companion and I up for our Skype call. (She's a professional makeup artist.) 

I loved loved LOVED the call. It was kind of (well actually VERY) trunky for me, but I loved seeing how much everyone has grown up and changed. It's amazing. I love my family so much. SOOOOOO much. You guys are the best support system, ever. I'm grateful to have a family that is strong in the Gospel and always rooting for their missionaries.

Anyways, that was our Christmas adventure. 

We taught some lessons this week with a couple of people, but our follow-up appointments are all for after New Years. We still have high hopes with the investigators that I've mentioned before. I'm starting splits with the other Hermanas tomorrow. Si o si. I'll be in Buin with Hermana Rafael. 

That's all for this week. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hermana Darley

 Photo from our Christmas Choir getup. Woooo! I was so sunburned.