4-3-11

Monday: Today was a good day. It really was. We got up and went from our home in hualpen to concepciòn, so we could renew Elder Bernal`s VISA. It involved a LOT of walking. But we finished up soon enough, and went to the office. All of the mail was for just two elders. We met up with the Zone Leaders and went to the mall here. It was SO pretty! Too bad my camera was out of batteries again. I got to eat McDonlad`s for the first time since NOvember. I also got to show Elder Bernal the iPad, but he wasn`t impressed. His loss. When it was time to leave, I asked Elder Bernal which bus to take home. He didn`t know. But we guessed and got lucky. At internet, I got letters from Mom and Dad. I was so relieved to hear form Daddy! He DOESN`T have cancer. He has, however, been working a lot. I don`t think I would be strong enough to work as much as he has been. His letter was just what I needed. He said how proud of me he was and happy he will be for me to come home. We`ll eat at Fuddruckers. At the house, we discovered we didn`t have toilet paper. I told Elders Hickman and Gomez to be men and use their hands...so they did. Then, they played a prank on me. They had a carton of eggs that were all hard-boiled. Hickman even proved it by eating one first. He offered one to all of us, but we had to open it with our foreheads. I was down, and did it. Turns out that out of the whole dozen, they had left one uncooked. Three guesses who hit their face witha raw egg. Yours truly. We laughed so hard!

Tuesday: We woke up and hustled off to Talcahuano for the Distrizona. Let me tell you that that fishing town is FRESH! It has quite the potent odor. There, I received a letter from Jess. During lunch, I decided I am really excited to go to institute after the mission. We had veggie lasagna today. The dough had spinach in it and the beef wasw beggie burger. Not too bad, actually. The mission is so short. As I get closer to my year mark (not like I`m counting or anything), I just don`t feel like I`ve been here for very long. If that`s all I have left, then dang. And double-dang. It`s speeding right along. All of our appts. fell through again. This makes two weeks since I`ve taught. We make appts. and the people just ignore us. One of our contacts, a yount woman, told me I was hot. It doesn`t mean much here. If you`re white or have eyes of a color other than brown, you`re a model. We also taught a catholic pastor. I did badly. I taught WAY too much info. I wanted to answer all his questions. Bu tinstead of helping him, I think I condemned him. Triple dang. Tonight, Elder HIckmanand I wrestled. This man is built like a bear and, unlike me, can gain weight. 60 lbs. more than me. I couldn`t go offense but he couldn`t pin me like alan used to. I miss him.

Wednesday: Today we walked a lot. We got up and got ready for the day. For comp. study, I suggested we read in Preach My Gospel to learn how to better find people. We didn`t get through all of it before we had to go drop off our laundry at Hna. Nuboa`s house. So we did that and wandered around, talking with everyone and their mom (not leterally. Literally, we contacted everything that moved.). We found an inactive member from another ward. He doesn`t go because of a member that bothers him. I bore him testimony about how imprtant it is to take the Sacrament to renew our baptisimal covenenants and remember Jesus Christ. In my personal personal study, I also enjoyed reading Alma`s explanation about justice and the Plan of Salvation in chapter 42. We ate lunch with a family in Bio Bio, the sector next to ours. Elder Gomez is just a smiley little guy. I think of Elder Calhoun from "The Best Two Years" when I think of Elder Gomez. All of our appts. fell through again. Surprise. A real shocker there. We did a LOT more contacts and nobody opened the door until the last one. That last door opened and there were some really receptive people. We have an appt. with them tomorrow! We`ll see how that goes. I`m tired of hollow primises. But I`m not giving up. We had set up an appt. with Cecilia on Sunday to come by with a member at 8:30 in the gangster neighborhood. We risked all that, and she doesn`t even get off work until 10!

Thursday: We woke up this morning and my comp. had the flu. Or, at least, he threw up, but he felt better by noon. We finished reading the chapter on Finding People in Preach My Gospel. I read in Alma 43 about how Moroni PWN`d the Lamanites. It was pretty epic. It was a noticeable effort by the Lamanites in numbers, but the Nephites were better motivated, prepared, and had their armor. We planned out our week and the few new people we`ve found. But all of those news have been "too busy" to actually sit down and talk. During our planning, the Bio Bio Elders made brownies from scratch. Mmmm. In the afternoon, all of our appts. fell through. I mean GOOD GRIEF! We set up an appt. for today just yesterday! We pretty much just wandered around aimlessly for hours, talking to people. In the night, I called Fernanda to congradulate her on her Patriarchal Blessing. It was really good to talk to her. It brought a lot of nostalgia for the beginning of my mission. I just LOVE the Millahual family. Papà Joel is going to leave in May for five yars, because of his job in the Army. Kamila also is going to live with her mom, down in Coyaique, after 11 years here, with her aunt and uncle. I was so sad to hear that. I didn`t get to say goodbye. After I hung up, Fernanda called me back to talk with Kamila. She told me she`s actually staying! She said she loves the red hoodie I gifted her.

Friday: I feel like my time here is being wasted. Nothing happened today. All of our appts. Fell through, all the doors we contacted stayed closed, and all of the people in the streets were too busy, in a rush to go do whatever gobbledygook they were in the middle of. This morning, I came out of the shower, and a scoop of flour fell on my head--courtesy of Elder Hickman`s April Fool`s Day tomfoolery--and promptly turned around and reshowered. We walked all over our sector, trying to invite people to the coolest thing ever--conferenc3e. But no one listened at all. Which is bad. I`ve learned a lot of things in the mission that I wouldn`t have learned in my protected life in Utah. I`ve seen single mothers, 13 years old. I`ve seen bruises from a beating given by a drunken father or husband. I`ve seen corpses filled with bullets because the wife wasn`t faithful. I`ve seen alcohol turn calm proffesors into red-eyed fiends. Why would anyone willingly do this to themselves? It`s so sad. But I won`t be like that, and I know WHY. Love is true and eternal. Where it is, obedience follows and blessings will come. When we came home after another long day, we found various objects of ours taped to the ceiling with electric tape, including my journal. I took off the tape, and, with it, parts of my journal cover. So now it has splotches. I felt a bit upset, but when Elder Bomez found out what he did, he felt so bad I didn`t feel upset anymore. It wouldn`t help anything to blame. But now I can remember all the good pranks we had!

Saturday: Today was a really good conference. None of our investigators came, but I had a spiritual feast. I had a real one, too, consisting of flavored water, fruit snacks, homemade bread, brownies, and tostitos. I feel nautious, but in a good way. It`s because we just got home from the Priesthood session at 11:20 PM...at night. As we listened to the opening choir, I saw their beautiful smiling faces and heard their angelic voices and thought of mama singing. She`s always had a beautiful voice. I found the cure for sleepiness during conference: taking notes. It really made a difference for me. I loved listening to the stories that everyone told. Elder Eyering advised us to lend service. He commented of a time his Dad had volunteered for him to weed, and how happy it made him. I remember my Daddy volunterring me to weed at Grandfather`s. I made them so happy. President Monson spoke on how we men should act as holders of the Priesthood. He spoke a lot about marriage. He said that men have to stop waiting and get married. Good women are waiting. He said we need to "choose our love and love our choice." He gave us consejo of ways we con show our love and devotion for each other. I felt good as I mentally checked off the things on the list that I`d do. That I WILL do.

Sunday: So I felt bad last night. Really bad. I even dreamed that I was lying in bed, feeling nautious. Then I realized I wasn`t asleep yet. My stomach had been hurting me so much that I had gone dizzy with pain and lost track of time. I got up and threw up. But I didn`t feel better until I had done it four more times. Ugh. I realized that conference is just as much a family time as Christmas. We went to all our few investigators that we had. It was about 12:30 and they were all still in bed. Argh! I`m so tired of lazy Chileans! The whole country`s like that. When we got to the church, they wouldn`t let us listen to conference in English. They said, "You`re in Chile, you should learn Spanish." We had carried that TV 6 blocks yesterday from another chapel, specifically for us. The Secretary wanted to use it for the moms with kids to retreat to. I can understand Spanish, but not in the cultural hall with an echo. It would have been a waste of time for me. It was the first time that I was really angry/frustrated in a long time. I felt bad afterward. Thankfully, we had senior missionaries to whom the secretary listened. I found out how I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel chills on my back and arms. But no burning (or chills) on my chest. Why not? I really don`t know. Instead, I`m filed with a deep love and a feeling that seems too big for me. I have happy thoughts and want to do good. A lot of the talks had recurring themes. A big one was young men to stop waiting and get married. As I`ve said before. I`m different. This seems to be a big need in the world. I`m always part of the minority, it seems. What do I need? For me? I think it would be selfless service. I`m grateful that I have the mission to help me in this. It`s like my own personal counsel. Elder Scott spoke of his wife in such a wonderful way.