First week in Rancagua!!!

FAMILY HELLO DID YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU HELLO FRIENDS I LOVE YOU ALSO ALRIGHT HERE GOES.

Sorry, I just have a lot of love and not a long of time to express it.

SO. Rancagua. Cachopoal. Wow. Super different from La Florida! Yeah, there's a lot more people here...it makes contacting a bit harder in the streets, because people are seriously from everywhere in Chile! We contacted someone who lives in Antofagasta! They didn't want to talk much, but if they had, we couldn't have taught them anyway...maybe I could have passed it along to Kristen... :)

It's really awesome here. I'm living with my companion, Hermana Castañeda, and two other hermanas: Hermana Kenny, who is a gringa with 8 months in the mission....she's my inspiration right now, she speaks spanish super well! Her companion is Hermana Neida from Columbia. (I'm getting the parrot thing.) She's so sweet! She's super little, but she's a fireball! Why are all little people fireballs? Anyway, it's her last cambio in the mission, so she's working super hard to make it count!

We are super close to the oficinas, so yes, mom, I will be able to get my Christmas package as soon as it arrives in Rancagua! Wahoo!! Stoked about that.

We live in an apartment that is pretty nice...IT HAS A WASHER. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO WASH OUR OWN CLOTHES IN OUR OWN CASA. It's the little things, guys.

Something that is different between Talca and Rancagua...in Talca, we contacted a lot, but almost every house had someone at the door to talk to. Here...I think we've contacted most of the week, and I could probably count on a hand and a half how many people have opened their doors. So...if we can't contact on the street, and people won't open their doors...hmm. Whatever...I'm just starting to get worried about your salvation and stuff.

The people of Chile REALLY LOVE to give us things! The other day, one of the people we contacted let us into her house, and in the middle of us talking, she just got up and left the room. We were a little nervous as we waited for her to return from her super abrupt departure, but she came back a minute later with a beautiful bracelet for each of us and cookies! I tried to say that we couldn't just take her bracelet, but she seemed a little offended by this, so I took it. It's really pretty. Also, the cookies are super delicious with Nutella. Another menos activo gave me some really beautiful earrings! This is something really characteristic of the people here. They really love to give things.

I've been getting used the people we're working with, including los menos activos! The other day, we had a lesson with a sister menos activo. She's 48 years old, and she has the energy of a five year old. At first it was really shocking, because...I can't even describe this to you. She was sitting then standing then jumping then walking on stilts then writing on the walls and talk talk talking and by the way I'm not kidding about the stilts or the writing on the walls thing. And she kept calling her dog "My Little Dog Child." I almost just started laughing hysterically, because I literally didn't have another reaction to this scene. Luckily, I mustured up some self-control and kept my silence.

We also met an 87 year old woman named Sarah. She let us sit with her on her front porch, and we listened to her talk for a while. She was being taught by the missionaries ten years ago with her husband, but after a few lessons, he decided he didn't want the elders to visit any more. Well, he passed away five years ago, and she was more than happy to listen again. She told us a lot about her life, like how she met her husband, and how one day she just announced to her family that she was getting married in a month, even though none of them had the slightest idea that she had been dating anyone at all. She also told us that literally everyone in her life, other than her children and a few cousins, had passed away, and she was just waiting for her turn. Obviously, we turned to the Plan of Salvation. We told her that she's going to see all these people again, and they're going to be waiting for her on the other side of the veil. When we said that, I saw her eyes light up. "Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire," she said. "Nunca he sabido. Miiiiiiire." She said she'd like to be with her husband again. It was really a beautiful moment. It was the first time that I've told someone that they can see their family after this life and they've been surprised by the news. Usually people say, "yeah, I know." NO, you don't. FAMILIES ARE ETERNAL. Even I can't wrap my head around that sometimes.

I don't know what will happen with her, though. My companion isn't all that jazzed about visiting her again, not really sure why...

I'm going to learn a LOT THIS CAMBIO. I've decided that I'm just not going to be negative about it. Nope. I'm going to make this a learning experience. I'm going to have an attitude like Ammon...when adversity came, instead of feeling like it was an impossible task, he saw it as an opportunity to prove his faith. 

But just so everyone knows...if you ask God with all your heart to help you change yourself, you've literally asked for it.

EVERYONE. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. PLEASE keep praying and reading the book of mormon and watching messages from the prophet and living the way you should and writing me letters because I absolutely love hearing from you all.

HERE GOES WEEK TWO IN RANCAGUA! WAHOO!!

Love, Hermana Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, hey there folks.....

So nothing happened this week.

Love, Hermana Thomas.

GOTCHA. This week was crazy! I think. (Sometimes I start these letters off, and I start saying "oh, wow, this week was so crazy!" and then I get into my letter and I realize that I don't really have anything to say, so I end up talking about playing with kittens...?) (Sometimes that happens.)

First piece of business: We're living in the casa of La Florida again! We moved in last Monday night, and I disinfected LIKE CUH-RAY-ZEE. Crazy. It was also a great opportunity for me to teach the girls I'm living with how to disinfect. They were appalled that I was using hot, soapy water. They said the hot water would only spread the germs...but this is also coming from three girls who have been using disinfectant spray like febreeze in the bathroom...I love them. 

This week has been HOT. HOT. HOT. HOT. HOT. HOT. HOT. WHY DOESN'T THIS FONT GET BIGGER. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT. I thought my skin was melting at one point. I considered the idea of dying slowly in the shade, curled up with the one thousand dogs that I might as well call my companions since they are always following us everywhere...it sounded really nice compared to walking more in the heat. But guess what? Suffering the heat of the sun is just part of the mission. (This might be my most-used phrase here. "Es parte de la misiòn." I think Hermana Pineda wants to kill me every time I say it.) (Just kidding. We love each other.)

A funny moment with the language...we were walking back from an appointment with a family of menos activos. We were talking about how awesome they are, especially the husband, because he is ALWAYS smiling....ALWAYS. Anyway, I said, "Yo quiero abracerle!" ("I just wanna hug him!") But Hermana Pineda heard "yo quiero embarazarme" so you guys can just look that one up for yourselves. 

We visited a menos activo this week whose husband had a heart attack a few days ago. During this visit, she told us that she was not going to share any spiritual experiences with us because it would be like...oh, man, I can't remember the exact wording of this scripture..."throwing pearls at the feet of dogs"? She then went on to relate four very very VERY personal and spiritual moments in her life to us. So....

Anyway, I had a lot of moments this week that really made impressions on me. There are some really stalwart members that impress me so much with their faithfulness. One day, we visited a member whose entire family is baptized, but she's the only one who goes to church. I'd guess she's about 60 years old. The rest of her family wants nothing to do with the church. We decided to teach her a little more about the restoration. About a minute into it, though, her husband stormed into the room, raging about false prophets and the Mormon church of the devil. It was a little nerve-wracking in the moment, but he left peacefully enough, and we were able to finish our lesson without another interruption. The hermana apologized, and then tearfully told us how much she wishes that her family would re-accept the gospel. I can't believe that she can still be so faithful in coming to church, despite the heavy disapproval of her own husband. 

Another hermana has a situation similar...all the members of her family are members, but she's the only one who attends church. She was a reactivation. Her husband drinks really heavily, and expects her to do everything in the house and have a full-time job. He doesn't like when we visit, so we have to be really careful about the time we choose to go to her house. She is one of the sweetest people I've ever known, and she radiates a spirit that is so strong.

 

Anyway.........GUESS WHAT. CAMBIOS.

CAMBIOS CAMBIOS CAMBIOS.

Saturday night, our leaders were supposed to call us to tell us if we were being changed. WE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL 10:30 PM. It was absolutely excruciating to wait. We practically knew for sure that Hermana Pineda was going to have a cambio, since she's been here for five months in the same place. I was probably going to stay, and so were the other two.

WELL, LESSON LEARNED. Never assume you know anything, because guess what.....

I'm going to Rancagua!!!!!!!!! I was the only person in the casa with a cambio. What?! We were all shocked. I still don't feel like it's real...? It was just really unexpected. Hermana Pineda is going to be here for another transfer, with "Hermana Perry." (I don't know her, but I'm assuming she's another gringa.)

My area is Cachapoal, and my companion is Hermana Castañeda de Mexico! Wahoo!

Yesterday and today have been a little hard, because I've just cried saying goodbye to all these people I've grown to love so much. The kids of the Bishop here were so cute, they didn't want me to leave! At one point, I had all three of them hugging me! It was so precious. I said goodbye to our family of investigators yesterday, too...oh man. That was hard. They were so cute, they gave me a pair of shoes because they said that they are always looking at our feet and the awful condition of our zapatos! (They gave shoes to Hermana Pineda also.) Their daughter gave me two bracelets and the sweetest note, some hair pins...oh my gosh. I tried to not cry, but I love this family so much. I left them with my testimony, and both the mother and father cried as they thanked us for helping them bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into their homes.

Have I said that being a missionary is THE GREATEST JOB EVER?? 

I am so humbled by the opportunity I have now to go serve in Cachapoal. Obviously I have something to learn there! I'm sad to leave my lovely companion, but I know that the Lord has a plan, and this is part of it! 

So next week, I'll be writing from Rancagua! Crazy!

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. SO MUCH. Keep writing me, and keep reading your scriptures and praying.

I LOVE YOU GUYS MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW SERIOUSLY.

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooove, Hermana Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!