12-18-11

Monday: Today, my fever was crazy. I woke up with a fever of 102.4. I
was getting kind of nervous. Physically, I just felt weak. Our first
activity of the day was to go to the Government building to finish the
process of getting my second ID. It was a possibility that I would get
arrested, so I bought a candy bar on the way, for nourishment. That`s
smarts, man. Luckily, the woman who was attending me was actually
working her first solo shift, and we didn`t have any problems. She was
actually really nice. On the way to use Internet, I didn`t feel good,
so we went home for a few hours. There, I laid down and tried to rest.
But I got..."hot flashes" is the best word I can think of. I`d be
shivering one moment, then Ii`d break out in a sweat the next. It was
awful. So I called Hna. Martinez to ask which meds. I should take. She
told me and told me to drink lots of water. We eventually left to get
something to eat. We entered at the same time as someone else. He
ordered 3 completos and 3 drinks. Then he gave my comp. and me one
each. He wouldln`t let us pay, either. How nice. Then, we found out
he`s a member from Talcahuano. We wrote the family after that. Kevin`s
opening a sector, over there in Ukraine. Alan`s just a stud in
everything he does. Daddy wants Dev and Cass to do what`s right. I
hope that I can be as good of a Father as he is. He just loves, loves,
LOVES his family. I went with Elder Smith in the evening, to have our
FHE with the Rodriguez family and Manuel. Manuel didn`t show up. We
waited for an hour-and-a-half. But Soledad Rodriguez is so awesome.
She`s my mamita for this sector.

Tuesday: This entry`s going to be a little shorter, because I was just
sick all day. We went to distrizona. Our Zone`s doing really well,
with their baptismal dates. I taught about How to Begin Teadching. We
went through the 10 points laid out in Preach My Gospel. Everyone
repeated the points, applying it to one of their Invetigators. I even
got Elder Brady to memorize 4! His problem isn`t a learning handicap,
it may jsut be a lack of mativation and maybe laziness. But with
enough encouragement and positive reinforcement, I think we can get
him going. But before the class even started, I just broke down from
the pain. Elder Smith went with Elder Hall to buy me some medications.
I spent the rest of the day in bed, pretty much. Elder Smith gave me
some pineapple ice-cream we had in the freezer.

Wednesday: Today was the same as yesterday, but with less activity in
teh morning. The good news is that my fever`s down to 100-ish and my
throat and ears don`t hurt anymore. so that`s great. I thought about
Alan today. I know it`s a day early, `cause TOMORROW`S his birthday,
but I found one of his emails I printed up. He`s so awesome. On
Monday, he invited me to work out and beef up with him after the
Mission. Totally going to do it.

Thursday: So last night, chile played against Ecuador and won. As a
result, the whole country took their cars to the streets and honked
non-stop `til 1 AM. We live next to the busiest intersection in town.
Ugh. As of this morning, we hadn`t done any work for the week, due to
my fever. I decided I would work today because 1) it needed to be done
and 2) I had cabin fever. So I got up and studied like I was supposed
to. We had lunch with the Neira family--barbeque again! it was so
good. Last week, Madelyn said I copied my "Scripture Shortcuts" system
and that others were much better. She just kept insulting me. But she
was better-behaved this week. her younger sister, Eileen, is a huge
fan of swimming and we got to talk about that. Madelyn is going to
BYU-I in April. She speaks English?! Anyway, we came home and made our
smoothie (OJ, pineapple sherbet, Kiwi, and apple). YUM!!! My comp. was
loathe to see his week-long vacation come to an end. We did contacts
for a while, before Hna. Martinez called me. She asked how I was. I
told her my throat and ears don`t hurt, but I still have a fever. She
said I still had to get my anti-biotics from elder Corliss in Lebu. My
comp´s out of money, so I took Elder Smith. we picked up the meds. and
some letters. I got one from Kevin and one from Elder Calaway`s
girlfriend. She was thanking me for the letter I sent her, telling her
hw awesome I think Elder calaway is. It was a good letter.

Friday: Today was a great day. I felt really good. I got up and did my
personal study (loved it) and all the usual stuff. Elder Smith
accompanied me to the store to buy a little bit of food. I got some
instant mashed potatoes, some milk and cookies, and more toothpaste.
We came back to drop stuff off, then we had to make the long walk to
our lunch. this Sister gave us unseasoned rice with unseasoned meat
last week. This time, we went with garlic salt. It totally did the
trick! the Sister doesn`t even sit at the table with us. In the
afternoon, we did some contacts--and we actually found some good
people. One guy, Leandro, is a dad. I asked him ho whe felt about
that. He said he loves it, and that it makes him happy. I got to tell
him that god has prepared a way for them to be together forever. He
seemed pretty interested in that. Another woman, Irma, was really
receptive as well. She said we coul dcome by next week. It just felt
good to be workin gagain, doing what I`m here to do. those times in
the Mission, when I`ve had to stay in the house, have just made me
feel bad...and restless. but working, just like obedience to all the
other commandments, brings a great measure of peace that I prefer over
anything. elder Smith and I went to use Internet briefly, so he could
coordinate his phonecall. After that, we had an FHE with the Llancapan
family. We read Alma 42 with them. and Hno. Miguel. their youngest
daughter, Ana, is a member, but inactive. We tried encouraging her to
read her Scriptures more. she wouldn`t commit. Are people like that
back home? Here, people won`t commit because they "might" mess up.
Well, that`s why we set goals, people. Anyway, we came home and I had
potatoes. Yum. My comp. won`t take part in the companionship, still.
It`s getting hard for me to stay motivated.

Saturday: Today was so awesome! I got up and got my studying done.
Elder Maldonado asked if I wanted to go by the feria, which is like a
one-ay-of-the-week street market. Everybody goes there, and sells whay
they want. I`m pretty sure that these wouldn`t exist if chile had a
health code. But it works for me. they had a ton of fruits and veggies
that were just so vibrant with their colors. But they also sell
miscellaneous stuff. Watches, for example. I got a watch with an
orange-and-black display. I was so anxious for lunch, today. we
decided we would call our families today, to set up our Christmas
call. It was SO AWESOME!!! Cassie answered the phone with Dev. It`s
going to be so great to be home, and do things with them. We talked
about a lot of things in little time. Gosh, I missed them. But I think
they`re more trunky than I am. They were already planning things we`ll
be doing when I get back. After the phone call, I was in a kind of
shock. I wanted more. I miss them a lot. But I`ll be with them again
soon. WOOT! We walked back from lunch, and worked until 7, when we
had a Christmas Devotional, provided by the Elders` Quorum. I liked
one of the messages, inviting us to live christmas on another level.
The first 2 levels are toys; decorations and the nativity; The 3rd
level is remembering Christ always and following his example.
Afterwward, we had refreshments. I love soda. There`s a pineapple
soda, KEM, that I just adore here.

Sunday: So this might be one of my worst streaks in the Mission. It`s
been 4 weeks here, in Curanilahue, and I still don`t have 1
investigator. I literally drag my comp through everything. I miss
having a companion that I can rely on. I`m getting tired. We didn`t
make it to our Meeting, today, because he didn`t get up on
time...again. Manuel, the guy that came last week, didn`t show up
today. The other Missionaries` Investigators are doing great. Alvaro
is going to get baptized this Saturday. I`ll have to do his Interview
this week. In Sunday School we`ve been doing the same 3 classes for
almost 3 months. It`s ridiculous how repetitive it is. I`m sorry. This
entry is really grouchy. I don`t know why I`m so on-edge. It actuallyw
as a gorgeous day. Most days are, here. It`s so green and colorful,
thanks to the yellow sunshine. It`s so great. We had macaroni-shell
spagghetti with a fried egg thrown on top. Typical Chilean dish. It
was delicious. In the evening, there was a broadcast from Salt Lake
City, showing the General christmas Devotional. Camilo, the other
sector`s investigator, went to see it. It was cool, because he got to
see the Prophet. Pres. Monson said that EVERY Christmas he reads "A
Christmas Carol" and "John Whitman`s Mansion." I`d never heard of the
latter. It`s a story of a man like Scrooge who had a dream of the
after-life. All the generous people got big mansions from their good
deeds. He had a little one because he never sent any "material." I
really liked that message. We played cards after the day.