1-11-11

Monday: Today was a good day. It´s been a while since I´ve started an entry like that. We woke up and went around visiting families, looking for, and using, Elder Orellana´s cable for his camera. He was going to grab some of his mission photos he had stored on Luis´s computer (for some reason). But when we finally got to Luis´s house, his hard drive was inaccessible. So Orellana´s pictures were pretty much destroyed. After that, we finally went to cañete to write the family. Mama and Daddy went to their wolf creek time share for New Year´s. Afte rthey left, the batter in the house thermostat died and the kids had to be in the cold for a few days (They didn´t know it was the battery). They got to experience a piece of a Chilean winter that I got to go through! Daddy dressed up as Santa for another family. A girl asked for a fuzzy stuffed animal. She pulled a box out of his bag, and sure enough, she got one! Daddy said I´ve matured since I´ve left. My heart soared when I heard that. I don´t know why, but I seek his approval sooo much. Was I that way with my Heavenly FAther? What was I like before this life?

Tuesday: Okay, so remember the guy from my last week in Temuco, who said he´d get baptized if we found a scripture in the Bible that spoke of baptism in the name of the Father and of the son and of the HOly Ghost? Matthew 28:19, Baby! In the Distrizona today, we were asked why we baptize/want to baptize. I thought about it, and decided that I really want to just help people return to their Heavenly Father--their family. That´+s what everything boils down to, in our eternal existence: being with and progressing with those whom we love, and being happy while doing it. After reading "The trilogy of Scousen", about things before and after this life, I realized I was very very small. I was scared of fading away. But then I realized how foolish that was when I remembered how I preach every day to people that God loves them. Our God is so...grand, and he cares for each of us. Baptizing is the first simple step to show our love and devotion for him. I want to be a part of that process, for a reason that´s too deep for me to be able to put into words. When we went by Sis. Olivares, she asked me about my lovelife history. I told her. She gave me a look and said, "Look at me with your 3-colored eyes." I laughed at that, and she gave me encouraging advice.

Wednesday: So 8 months have already gone by, huh? Wow. Time flies when...you...heck. I think time´s normal. It´s passed quickly, but it´s not really a surprise. And it´s gone slowly as well, but I wish I had more time. I love being on a mission, and the adventures I have for myself and the blessings I can give to others. Sometimes I miss myu family and home, but not terribly so. My senior mission will be awesome with my wife! During lunch, Sister Olivares told us she was worried. We sat up straighter in our chairs and asked what was wrong. She said the Branch President of Cañete, the city two hours away and the branch that ours is a part of, told/asked her to move to cañete with her family. Before he even asked, he said, "Remember this is what the lORD WANTS." And after she and her husband said they´d think about it, he started persuading them and giving them reasons. Hno. Olivares was exco0mmunicated two years ago and re-baptized the past suymmer. Two weeks ago, same time as this interview, the Branch Pres. accused him of doing what he had done two years ago, again. The Pres. asked us to start bugging them about moving. My comp. said no, and I thought it sounded fishy. The Olivares not only provide for the missionaries, but are the members that all the new ones look up to. Apart from them, every member in the village is under 3 years. It just doesn´t feel right...

Thursday: I got to sho Hna. Olivares photos of my family today. It was really fun to look at my Christmas photos again. We went out and nobody wanted to talk with us...again. As we were visiting with NIkko again, I saw something, I can´t remember what, but it made me miss my mom. I remembered that nothing can give love like a mother. Like being held by her. I think the thing I saw was a Sister holding her little boy. I wanted that embrace. I longed for it and ached for it. I felt wounded. I felt weak. I missed my streets and my clean home. I realized today how many things I can´t show of myself to people to maintain a professional atmosphere. It made me feel alone. Sure, I can be a friend, but I can´t spend hours listening and chatting. I can´t hang out on a whim. If sojme pretty girl startedcrying and looks to you for help (like what happened today), you can´t do squat. You aren´t a person, you´re a missionary. When people look at me like that, they look at my plaque, not my face. I felt...excluded. I missed my friends and hugging, and being...in my comfort zone. I despise myself for feeling this way. I´m not gonna quit, but it is hard being a missionary. I´ll stick it out until I change more. Whenever I read my scriptures when I feel bad, I can feel an instant change and happiness. I can use them as a tool in emergencies.

Friday: Today was kind of a bummer day. We had to stay at the house and wait for some people to come by, who had asked to borrow the chapel chairs. They came two hours late. But, luckily, Sis. Olivares had to drop off lunch, ´cause she´s going to cañete (temporarily). I got sick this afternoon and had to go home, ´cause I couldn´t even stand up straight. My stomach just HURT. So we came home and I laid down. After a while, I killed time by reading the scriptures. I read the book of Jarom. There was a really cool part where the prophets had to reprimand the Nephites. They said, "In asmuch as ye obey the commandments, ye shall prosper in the land." So I took a memnt to think how I´m doing. There may be a few little things I can work on, but if that´s what it takes, then by George, I´m gonna do it! We´ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!

Saturday: Okay, so nothing groundbreaking has happened since I´ve gotten picky with myself. At least not in the past 24 hours. I´ve been picky with myself for quite some time. I got really exited when Hna. Olivares came over and siad she had someone for us to teach. We were like, "really?" and she waws like, "no." Then she laughed...in our faces. We watched a movie after lunch (for dessert, we had bananas and what I thought were grapes. [Sis. Olivares was in a joking (evil) mood and replaced one of my grapes with a black olive) called "The Ultimate Gift." It waws about the change that a yount man went thgrough as he completed tasks that his deceased grandfather left for him. He learned to work, he learned how to learn, he learned how to make a real friend, he learned to dream, he learned the value of money, and he learned how to love. The process, more than the experiences, reminded me of how I´ve changed. We visited some members, and watched "together forever." I watchred a father pick up his little girl, with a smile on his face. I thought of my next hug I´ll give Daddy...at the airport in 16 months. We´ll both cry, and I´ll feel safe. I remember would always pick me up and hold me and I was devastated when he told me I was too big. Haha! But I realized that teaching about families while being away from mine is hard.

Sunday: I just love life. Elder Orellana waited until last night to tell me that I had to give a talk. We happened to run into Jessay, the daughter in the Olivares family, and the YW president from cañpete. So he wrangled all three of us into giving talks. Writing a 15 min. talk in Spanish took a lot out of me. But I gave a really good talk about love. I was a subject that´s very important to me. I then had to prepare my lesson for Sunday School. I taught about the Sacrament. I leanred that the Blessings say that partaking of the emblems is an act of testifying that we´pre willing to do all of the other things we´re promising to do. Tomorrow I need to pick up my carnet from Temuco. It was a four-hour trip, and it was smoking hot. We left at 4 an got to the home abut 9:00 (fine, it was 5 hours. Bite me. :) ). We didn´t have keys (anymore) so we met up with Elder Oversby and his new comp. at Robin and Bilha´s home. It was really good to see them again. Like coming home again. We came home and I wasw even more happy to see Elder LIsonbee! He´s really one of my bestest friends on the mission. He was a little worse for wear after his transfer with Elder Rodriguez. He was really abused and tempted by him. He resisted briliantly but at a cost. He´s disanimated for the mission. We cheered him up, and then he told us his trilogy--the history of relationships he´s had. He had one that ended badly--like me--with a lot of similarities. I just love him. I wish all the best for him.

Monday: I was very sad to leave Elder LIsonbee today. We couldn´t just talk, the two of us, because Elder Oversby insisted on being included. I don´t mnind that, but every time I complimented Lisonbee, or said i´d missed him, Oversby would say, "What about me?" So I wrote about 20 little notes for LIsonbee and hid them in his Scriptures or shoes, or somewhere like an Easter Egg hunt. We went to the Centro to finally get my carnet. I watched anxiously as the clerk looked through the first stack of ready ID´s...then the second...and the third and fourth. He spoke with someone and came back to me. He said it would arrive later this afternoon...but we had to leave at 3 to get back by 9. So I have to come back in 2 more weeks. We went by the MIllahuals. They love me. Elder Hall, someone who also started in that ward and someone who they love, is in Fundo El Carmen, another sector that shares the same ward. But Mamá said she´s had many "sons" but only one "bebé." (baby) Fernanda told Elder Hall and Oversby that the sweetest and most tender missionary she´d met was called, "merrell." Oversby was offeneded and told her that I didn´t know anything about women. When Fernanda heard that, she got really mad and told him off. Hearing that she had defended me from his attack while I was gone made my heart warm. Mamá said that she says "good morning" to the picture I left them every day. It was good to return. 2 more pdays and it´s mamás birthday. I´ll do my carnet then.


Okay, so here´s a brief Spanish guide for the Chilean-specific spanish words. It´s a bit different down here...

CULTURA CHILENA

GESTURES

Pull on the ear (to scold, reprimand)}
Pointing to the eye (watch out, be careful)
Hand motion with fingers down (come here)
Thumb and finger close together (a little bit)
Finger to neck (to get stood up)
Closed fist (tight with money)
Popcorn popping hand motion (a lot)
Most chileans pucker their lips to point at things
Thieves, people that steal (wave the fingers)


COMMON PHRASES AND SAYINGS

Cachar (cachai) To understand, get something
nada que ver No way
Echar de menos To miss someone, something
caerle bien (mal) To get along with someone
Portarse bien To behave oneself
A lo mejor Possibly, it could be that
Al tiro Right away
No salva a nadie Worthless
Vale la pena It´s worth it
¿Adonde la vio? You´re crazy, whatever
Andar pato To be broke
¿Cómo amaneció? How are you (upon waking up in the morning)
¿Cómo le va? How´s it going?
¿Qué tal? How are you? What´s up?
¿Cuanto calza? What´s your shoe size?
¿Cuánto mide? How tall are you?
Ser pesado To be a mean
¿No es cierto? Right?
a ver Let´s see, let me think
Me cuesta It´s hard for me
Hacer tuto To take a nap
Pelar To talk about someone behind their back
Meter las patas To get into trouble
"a mal tiempo, buena cara." Keep your chin up
"Deja que los perros ladren." Let them say what they want
"En boca cerrada no entran moscas" It´s better to keep your mouth shut
"No hay mal que por bien no venga." Everything happens for our good
Dar la hora A person who does nothing on his job

SPECIAL VOCABULARY

la pega Job, work
Sin falta without fail
a la pinto excellent, first class
capo smart, cool
buena honda somebody cool, nice
cochino nasty, dirty
chancho hog, sloppy
una cuestión a thing (when you don´t know what it´s called)
porfiado stubborn
mañoso pricky, a brat, awnry
chueco crooked missionary (breaks rules), crooked (wheel)
huaso cowboy, redneck, uneducated
¡Pucha! Shoot! Fetch!
plata money
zapatillas Tennis shoes
carepalo (cara de palo) straight forward
una consulta I have a question
Once dinner
¡Chuta! Shoot! Dang!
patos malos bad kids, dangerous