5 of 5 Chile wins the American Cup, out with a bang

On monday we watched the Chile vs Peru game and we won, of course. 

On tuesday we worked in little town about 10 miles out side of Arauco called Laraquete. I cant remember if I mentioned it yet but it has a ton of people and missionaries have never been there. It is a ton of fun working there because no one has seen us before. In cities where there have always been missionaries everyone already has a "no" locked and loaded when they see us. so, no matter what we say,  or how they feel, most of them just say the first thing that comes to mind which is no. But in Laraquete almost everyone says yes. They realize that gambling a 20 minute sacrifice is worth the possibility of salvation. After introducing who we were and what we do, one woman was even surprised by the fact that we were willing to go by her house and take the time to help her personally. 

Long story short, we are having a lot of success in Laraquete. Plus it's right on the beach and covered in rivers, so it's beautiful.

On saturday Chile and Argentina fought in the American Cup final. I say fought because the game was intense. What was supposed to have been an hour and a half turned into 3 hours of bonus time, injuries, and penalty kicks. In the last penalty kick that would decided the game every one in the room was on their feel. I'm pretty sure the whole country was. Sanchez kicked the ball, we all held our breath and Chile exploded. The first time in over 100 years of trying, Chile won the American cup! We all got into the car and drove around what was a tranquil little town but now the biggest Celebration I have ever seen. Everyone who had a car, filled it and joined the honking, yelling traffic jam. Everyone else ran around the streets screaming, hugging strangers and playing music. This continued until way too late.

That night I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep when I realized that my second to last week had come to an end. My heart dropped. I had totally forgotten that my mission was coming to a close. I would try to describe how I feel but it would just sound cheesy so I'll just say it feels weird. My feet hurt, my cloths are worn out, I still wake up more tired than when I went to bed, but it's still not enough. This is it. I have to use everything I have. This is my peak. I am the product of 2 years of intense molding and shaping and I still have the power and austerity to do the work. Chances are, I will never be able to do this again. There is not one person that I will pass by without inviting them to listen, not one person I teach that I won't invite to baptism, and not one less active who isn't committed to going to church. Sorry, I'm rambling. After two years of this, I've gotten really good at giving myself motivational speeches.

So, this is the last email. And to add to the cheese, I'm going to share my testimony because that's usually what you do at the end of things. If there were just a couple things I learned during these to years it is #1 that god exists. Not just as a power or influence but a personage. He is all powerful and perfect and we are his children and any child, if he chooses to, can become like their father. #2 that the book of mormon is the word of god. Not only is it his word, but for reasons that I don't completely understand, it also has his power. Anyone who reads it with intentions to know truth or to be better will feel it. Like really really feel it. And finally #3 that my greatest duty and my greatest joy will be that of finding, making, and raising an eternal family. Anything in this world that stands before me and that goal is not of god, rather of the devil, and is there to make me miserable. I know that this is the one and only true church on the face of this earth. I've had my doubts, more than anything on the mission, but I have been sufficiently patent and have postponed dramatic responses to my insecurity until I was absolutely sure either way.

I am absolutely sure that this is the truth.

With that I end this email and in a few days more, end my mission.

See you in a few days,

Elder Thompson

4 of 5

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

This week was good but it was unfair how fast it went by. We had a bunch of really good appointments set up but a lot of them fell so we ended up accidentally finding and teaching a bunch of less actives. It seems like every one of our coolest news turns out to be a member. And they almost all left the church because of another member that looked at them wrong or that didn't say hi to them or had some embarrassing situation. So we explain to them why we have a church, talk a little about the atonement, and by then they realize they are failing their second estate and that taking the sacrament is totally worth all the embarrassment or whatever they might otherwise avoid. It's almost the same thing every time. But we are getting good at just getting the point.

On thursday the Area President, Elder Gonzalez came to Los Angeles and had a conference with our mission. It was super good. Elder Gonzalez is really "choro" as they would say here. I think that would translate to direct, to the point, without sugar or anything. It was very inspiring.

On sunday I wasn't going to tell anyone it was my birthday because I had forgotten until that morning when I was filling in the date on something so I didn't want to be "that guy" and tell everyone it was my birthday to make them feel bad. But some how my branch president found out and announced it in sacrament meeting. So afterwards I got a lot of hugs including an older woman came up and gave me a kiss on the cheek that made everyone in the room uncomfortable being that I'm a missionary. The rest of the day we just contacted in the freezing wind because all of our appointments stood us up. At night I listened to music and ate way too much candy. It was a good birthday

Today Chile plays Peru in the semi finals. I even bought an official (replica) of the Chilean Jersey.

Till next week!

3 of 5

This week went by way too fast. On monday we just relaxed because there is nothing else to do here in Arauco on pday. On tuesday we did splits as a zone and I worked in a dirty suburb of Concepción. It was pretty fun. On wednesday we had an awesome lesson with a family that has been taught for a long time and they have decided to be baptised on the 11th, my last saturday in the mission. They have a lot to do/change before they can get baptized but we are pretty sure they can do it. 

On Friday we watched the Chile vs. Bolivia game and Chile Classified for the semi finals! A couple weeks ago the copa americana started and we got permission to watch all the games that Chile plays. I never knew but it turns out I really like soccer.

On Saturday most of our appointments fell so we decided to walk down the big highway and contact the houses down there. We contacted for about 2 hours until some one finally let us in. It was an old lady who has tryed a little bit of every church and it's really sure about anything. We quickly taught her the restoration and at the end we felt impressed to ask her to pray and ask god's opinion about what we had just shared right then and there. So she said a quick, sort of uncomfortable prayer and when she finished she looked at us as if she were going to say "well, I did it and nothing happened" but before she could say anything we saw her fill up with light and tears came to here eyes. We waited quietly until she finally said "wow, does this happen to everyone?" So we kind of explained what happened and the whole time she kept telling us that she feels really warm and really "tranquila." Normally answers from god come over time and come as a whispering but comforting influence and not as a powerful shout. But God is God and he does what he wants and it will be interesting to see why this women needed such a powerful response.

On sunday we were invited to visit a family of investigators but they lived way out in the Forest. They told us to take a bus to Carampange and they would pick us up there. So we got to Carampange and she didn't answer her phone so we asked someone if they knew her and they did. Then for the next half an hour we walked about two miles through the Forest asking people every once in a while for directions and Everyone knew who she was. We eventually got to her house and she wasn't there so we taught her neighbor and found a couple more people in the middle of nowhere.

That's about it. I got my package and it is awesome! just enough food to get me through these last three weeks.

Love yall!

2 of 5

This week we spent most of the time contacting the rich part of Arauco. I'm personally a fan of rich people in Chile because unless they really really want to listen to our message they say no. It saves us a lot of time. So after a total of like 5 hours of knocking doors, we found an awesome family who are really looking for something. And we don't have to pass by anyone else who doesn't want us to pass by as they keep pretending to be busy.

It's funny how in the beginning of my mission I thought "once I learn spanish, the work will be easier" or "once I can really teach someone it will be more fun." But even after 23 months of doing nothing else but this, it's still hard, and  there are always higher goals to put. And every day I am surprised by how exhausted I am when we finally get home. I wouldn't want it any other way.

On sunday an older man fed us lunch and afterwards he took out two guitars and next thing I know we are jamming together and he is ripping out a sick jazz solo. Never under estimate old people.

On saturday all our plans fell through so we went to teach a recent convert the restoration again and by the time we got past the first point, five of his cousins or friends showed up and they liked it so much that they all came to church on sunday with him.

Arauco 1 of 5

This is one of the five email I have left. I keep finding different ways to count down.

Arauco is awesome. We haven't gone a day without pouring rain but it is still beautiful. It's right on the beach and you can hear the ocean in some parts. All the street signs are made of wood and there are a lot of dirt roads and forresty areas. I met the ward on saturday and there are some awesome student age return missionaries in the branch which makes a big difference. The branch president is a young guy as well who served in new york so he speaks really black english. 

My comp is Elder Oliveira from Brazil. He is super cool. This week we had a baptism right away. His name is Leandro and he was part of a recently activated familily. Next step is to get them all to the temple...in a year. Also, Sergio from my last sector got baptized! 

As cheesy as it sounds, the closer I get to the end, the more it doesn't seem like it will actually come. There is a lot of work to do here in Arauco and even though I am a distracted person, I haven't had very much time to think about how the time is running out. We are getting all the members excited about working me to death this last transfer and my comp and I are going everything we can. We even started standing up in the buses, presenting ourselves and passing out passalong cards every time we have to travel. Which is like at least twice a day. This week went by way too fast but I blame it on the fact that we lost 3 days to conferences, transfers etc.

Today for pday we went to an embarrassingly cheesy Jesus themed Churrasco restaurant where all the tables had bibles and as you came in, the greeter gave you a piece of paper with a scripture and said "god bless you." We also went to an antique Mapuche store. I bought an indio picaro and a stone replica of the heads on easter island.

Till next week!

Cambios

So it looks like i'm leaving los Angeles this cambio. I'm headed to Arauco to be with a black Brazilian. I left behind most of my stuff and i'm only taking what I will need for the next month and 15 days. Today we are going to have a pizza party with our bishops familiy and say good bye to some ward members and usual cambio stuff.

This past week we had some awesome lessons and found some good people. When we were knocking doors this 40 guy forced us into his house and right as we got in it just reeked of weed. He sat us down and explained to us how a month ago he got out of prison after 10 years because of drug trafficking and shooting a couple people. Yep, That's only 10 years in Chile. So he started showing all his scars from prison. That included taking his pants all the way off. We listened to him talk angrily about the world and the system and whatever then left as quickly possible. 

That's basically all that's happened this week. To make up for a short email i'm going to send some pictures.

Winter like a light switch

Looks like this week some one flipped the switch into winter because it just got super cold. And it looks like it's here to stay this time. 

Like usual this week was pretty tough but rewarding. There were a couple days where we just contacted all day without getting into a single house which is pretty frustrating. But at the same time we are teaching some of the most impressive people I have ever met in my mission.

It looks like I am probably leaving this cambio so this whole week will be focused on getting my child ready to lead the sector by himself which I know he will do well.

On a trunky note, I've decided that I want to work as a lot tec at a car dealership. So keep your eyes pealed for car dealerships that are close to the house.

That's about it for the week. Sorry that my letters are getting pretty short, I will be sending some pictures hopefully next week.

Antuco round two

Today for pday we went to the volcano Antuco. This time we didn't have the convenience to go in our own car so going in a bus took up our whole pday. Long story short, I have tons of pictures but not any time to send them today.

This week was sort of tough because all of our really good investigators decided to wait a while before making a decision. So we are back to finding news again. This week should be good though because we have a lot of cool new people to visit.

That basically it for the week. It's possible that I get transfered out of this sector in two weeks which would be exciting because after a while things in the same area get pretty mundane. But, what ever happens happens, the work is the same.

Alright, times up. Talk to you next week!

Skyped

Well, yesterday we did skype so there's nothing new to talk about. But it was awesome to see you all. Really, every time we do skype I realize more and more how much I love you all and how grateful I am for your support and love. I am more than excited to be home for a couple months and do a bunch of fun stuff together. But we also have our work cut out for us for these next couple months so there wont be much time to dwell on it. 

Talk to yall next week!

Rainy day baptism

On Saturday Olga got baptized. We found her about three months ago and we had an awesome couple of lessons with her but after that we kind of lost contact. She was always sick, she had a ton of family problems, and she was trying to start a business. We didn't know but she had kept reading the book of mormon. She said that it gave her such a peace that she couldn't even go a day without reading it.

Not very many people showed up to the baptism because it was raining but it was still a cool experience.

On friday another ward asked me to play the guitar for their talent show. So another elder and I played some jack Johnson and some death cab. It didn't sound very good at all but it saved their talent show because the only other person with a talent was someone who cited poetry.

This sunday is mothers day. Which means it's my final skype sesh. We are probably going to do it at like 7:00 pm my time.

Well, i'll see you all in a couple days

Hot again

Once again, it got hot. Los Angeles just can't quite make it into winter. 

This week was pretty fruitful. We started it out by working with a couple frustrating people who are too lazy to get what they want. With some people we show them what they can get and they develop a real desire to get it but the natural man pushes them back on to the couch and they "can't" get back up. The sad part is, as sad as their story is, there is nothing else we can do to help these people.

So, after working with a lot of people like that, we found some awesome families. Like 4 families that were really excited to hear this message. And it's those moments that give us patience to work with the other people because once they act, they'll feel the same way.

A couple weeks ago we heard that an 19 year old kid got in a motor cycle accident. A couple days later we heard that he died so we went to go visit his family and there he was sitting on the couch. We talked with him and he says he doesn't remember anything from before the accident. He barely recognized his parents. I mentioned that I thought I heard that he died and that I was relieved to see him and his family freaked out. They started making a bunch of excuses like "you must have heard of someone else" or "people die all the time, but not you honey." Then they all looked really uncomfortable. I don't really know whats going on there but I never know what to expect down here.

Besides that, not much happened. Olga going to be baptized on saturday! She is pretty happy about it. Today for pday we are going to try a new Sushi delivery place. 

Love you guys!

Freezing rain and shoulder pain

This tuesday we decided to "get ripped" as a house so we got up early and worked out hard. Our bodies were just dead for the rest of the day but the worst part was waking up at 3 in the morning with my shoulder twice it's normal size and it feeling like I will never be able to use it again. The next day we had a conference so I talked to President, who is a surgeon, and he just said I have to wait it out. So, now it looks like I'm ripped, on one side.

This week it also got super cold and rainy. I loved it. There is nothing quite as satisfying as sitting in front of a fire after an exhausting day.

On saturday, Elder Oaks came to Santiago and some of the missions in Chile were invited to participate through skype. It was an awesome conference. Exactly what we needed. We taught a lesson to Olga right afterwards using some of the principles we learned and she committed herself to get baptized on may 2. Sunday was her birthday, she was sick, all her family was over, and it was raining and she still walked/took a bus to church.

This week I got the souls of my shoes fixed. I had to carry them around all day and when we taught a crazy evangelical prophet, I left them in his house. I called him later and he said he didn't have them. So the next day I some how got his wife to accidentally say that he stole them and was wearing them, and in some round about way I got them back and invited him to repent. "By their fruits, you shall know them."

T-3

This week was another week.

We found a bunch of cool people all of which were families. All of our good progressing investigators are sick, have weird family problems or something that impedes them from letting us pass by so this week we spent a lot of time looking for new people.

On Tuesday I had to do a baptismal interview way off in the Forest. So we walked for basically an hour on a dirt trail to get to the ladies house and then we walked back. My shoes are just about to give out but they can make it for another few months.

Speaking of that, I officially have 3 months left in the mission. As cheesy as it sounds, I didn't ever think I would ever get to this point. And now that I'm here, it's a lot different than I thought it would be but it's good.

Well, talk to you next week!

Last conference

This was my last conference in the mission. As well, it was the last conference of like half our zone so we went hard on buying snacks and things. As always, it almost didn't work but right on time we got the TV working and it was an awesome experience.

I feel like the more I learn, the more I can learn. Every conference I have gotten more and more out of the talks and every time I study I can learn more and more within that small hour of study time. 

This week one of the elders in our house was sick and I pulled the short stick so I had to stay back with him for two days so I spent most of this week sitting down. Sometimes I complain about walking so much but this week I started to miss using my legs.

For Pday today we traveled to Concepción to eat lunch with President Bluth. We had a goal of baptisms for our zone and we were promised that if we got the goal, president would give us lunch. So we got our goal and he gave us lunch and it was delicious.

That's about it this week. Here are some pictures:

The cold

It finally got cold! Hurray for sweaters!

This week went by really quick and was pretty uneventfull besides the baptism. Her name is María José and she is super cool. She is like 21 and had listened to the missionaries forever but when I got here and basically forced her to read the book of mormon and instantly she felt the desire to be baptized. The book of mormon does it once again. She is super happy, her Catholic family isn't but she feels great. 

I am more than excited for conference. I have already bought snacks and stuff. It's going to be good.

Alright, times up. 

Love you all!

Preparing for winter

This week the weather has been slowly changing. The temperature hadn't dropped but it has gotten progressively more humid. Today was the first cloudy day in months! I honestly really missed the clouds. We also found and bought a wood burning stove for our house. Next step is to set it up some how.

A couple days ago a puppy followed us as we walked to an appointment then it continued to follow us for a couple hours. A lot more people gave us their information when we had an adorable puppy with us.

That's basically all that really happened this week.

We had a bunch of people come to church which means we have a baptism on saturday and 3 more in a couple weeks! 

For pday today we are just going to get everything done early and try to get some rest because we are all exhausted. 

Mi hijo

Well, this week I gave birth to Elder Minson. He's a gringito from new mexico. This week has been pretty fun helping him get use to the mission life. This week we worked super hard and had some cool lessons but at the same time, no one came to church and a couple really cool people that we had been teaching for a while told us not to pass by anymore. That is always a really sad experience. But as always, I have the hope that some day, other missionaries will find them and they will be ready.

On sunday we helped an old lady paint her house. It took a couple hours and when we finished she asked us to do the second coat. We couldn't really say no so we finished the second coat right when we needed to be in our house. But it was a good experience. At one point a bunny jumped into the pan of paint and hopped around the room and painted everything. 

For pday today we decided we were going to make our house the best house in the mission. we called some people and got our hands on a wood stove for our living room. We also got a bunch of cleaning supplies and garden tools and now everything looks spotless. And someone in our ward gave us an oven. I still don't know why, I asked him and he just responded with "because it's for you."

Our new zone is full of a lot of my old friends so whenever we do stuff as a zone, I always come out with a six pack from laughing too much. It makes for a good refresher every once in a while.

Thats about it. Have a good week!

Morning sickness

This morning I woke up with some unexpected morning sickness. Later a got a call that this transfer I'm going to have a kid. A brand new missionary. They get here tomorrow and I'll find out which one is mine on wednesday. Exciting stuff!

I think I commented a little on this last wednesday but this week we witnessed a straight up miracle. Last sunday Luis showed up to the chapel asking to get baptized. We explained that there is a process but he insisted that it be quick. So we decided to get together every day. For some reason he was able to understand everything right away. Lots of things were new to him but at one time he said "because of what I feel when I am here, I will believe anything you tell me." So he instantly left everything bad behind and committed himself to a better life. On Saturday morning he passed his baptismal interview and was baptised later that day. 

Now, this guy has been through a lot trying to leave behind this "heavy backpack" of guilt and feel better but nothing had worked. That's what made it so cool to see him come out of the font with so much less stress in his face. On sunday he was confirmed and told us that he is going to start working towards baptising his whole family.

You never know what will happen next on the mission.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. I bought 5,000 pesos chilenos worth of pens today. I finally snapped from being tired of lame pens. Also, everything is super expensive here so what is 10 dollars here would be like 3 in the states.

Love you all!

Deciding moments

This week was another long, hot week. Monday it cooled down and we all got excited because we thought that summer was ending but after Monday, it was hotter than it had ever been before. Alright enough complaining.

Once again very few people were in there houses when they told us to come by. The others were in their houses but they pretended not to be there as we could see them sitting on their couch through their window. But we kept going. And going and going until it seemed ridiculous to keep doing what we were doing but we knew we had to keep going and every once in a while there would be a small deciding moment. Something that would have been very easy to miss. Something that wouldn't have happened if we didn't keep going. But because we tried our best we were able to find people exactly at the moment necessary to help them.

And even though my entire body hurt at the end of the week, for some reason it was worth those small 20 minute deciding moments.

Long story short, we have two people who told us that they want to get baptized in a couple weeks. And they are both awesome people and very fun to work with.

Thanks for all your support and letters!

It's still hot out

This week was another week.

It started out pretty good. Actually it started out really good. We found some people that we had lost contact with because of vacations, work, etc. and had some cool experiences with them. Actually, to be more specific, we were teaching María José who was pretty cool but she wasn´t really into it. So we left her the challenge to read the book of mormon from the beginning and we left her the promise that she WILL start growing a testimony if she does it right. So she did it, and after two weeks without talking to her we found her in her house and she told us she wants to get baptized. The Book of Mormon does it again. But seriously, it is one powerful book.

A similar situation happened the next day, he had lost his book of mormon but even though his family was on vacations up north, he went alone to church for the first time. He also wants to get baptized.

Long story short, the church is true.

Unfortunately, on friday in the morning I came down with a fever and the weirdest bowl behavior and was bed stricken for till sunday morning. I'm fine now but it was a weird weekend.

Thanks for all your support and emails. Have a good week!

It's still hot

This week was another week.

It started out pretty good. Actually it started out really good. We found some people that we had lost contact with because of vacations, work, etc. and had some cool experiences with them. Actually, to be more specific, we were teaching María José who was pretty cool but she wasn´t really into it. So we left her the challenge to read the book of mormon from the beginning and we left her the promise that she WILL start growing a testimony if she does it right. So she did it, and after two weeks without talking to her we found her in her house and she told us she wants to get baptized. The Book of Mormon does it again. But seriously, it is one powerful book.

A similar situation happened the next day, he had lost his book of mormon but even though his family was on vacations up north, he went alone to church for the first time. He also wants to get baptized.

Long story short, the church is true.

Unfortunately, on friday in the morning I came down with a fever and the weirdest bowl behavior and was bed stricken for till sunday morning. I'm fine now but it was a weird weekend.

Thanks for all your support and emails. Have a good week!

Hawaii

Good news: I got accepted to BYU Hawaii. I haven't decided yet but if I don't get into Provo, I am probably going to Hawaii.

Anyways, this week was hard. It was probably the hardest I have ever worked at something in my life. We did all that we can but nothing was turning out. We were talking with everyone, planning better than ever but NO ONE was in there house. This week we got the address and phone number of more than 70 people and when we planned an appointment no one showed up. Our days were full of at least like 10 appointments and they all fell. I think I might still be getting used to being out here again.

On saturday we started a fast to be able to have someone progress and all of a sudden, almost half of the appointments were there! Baby steps!

For pday we are just getting things clean and organized. President will be visiting all of the houses next month so we are going to get everything organized. That's about everything for the week.

Love you all! 

Cyber cafe

Once again I have the curse of using a Cyber cafe computer which are slower than ever. Long story short I have very little time to write.

Los Angeles is awesome. It is so hot. Like over 100 degrees sometimes. My new companion is Elder Galbreath from Moses lake, Washington. He likes farming, soil testing, tractors, and working hard. And that is exactly what we have been doing. This week we were able to set up baptismal dates with 6 people and we are not stopping there. 

I want to emphasize how hot it is here.

Our ward is giant and very helpful. There are plenty of members willing to just walk around with us as we find and teach new people. It helps a ton.

I have never been as exhausted as I have been every night this week. The only thing that saves me are frozen grapes and the book "Jesus the Christ." I suggest reading and eating those things.

Ok times up, Love you all. And good luck packing up the house!

More conferences

This week we had the rest of the multi zone conferences. They were awesome but we kind of did them by muscle memory because we were all focused on the big activity on Monday. 

On wednesday we got together with Carla to go over the last couple of things before her baptism and she couldn't help but to break down. There are a lot of things that are happening with her, most of which would be inappropriate to say but she was just about to give up. Actually, she had a terrible long night because of how stressed she was then in the morning she was laying in bed and told herself that she was going to stop visiting with us. She said she was just about to decided to do it when I called her and convinced her to get together with us. She came and we had an awesome lesson. Now she says that she's positive that she is getting baptized next saturday. It's crazy how everything works out. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing but almost as if it were magic, everything comes together. That's just the mission

Everything else this week has just been preparations for the activity. We got all the buses contracted, the shirts made and paid for, the food bought, the DVDs made, we built signs out of wood (that was actually pretty fun) and got everyone organized into teams. The rest of today will be spent getting all the last little things done.

Plot Twist

To be able to make this big mission activity happen we had to drive down to the site and plan out the things we can do with the resources we have, we had to contract 8 buses coming from 4 different cities so that 250 people can get to the middle of nowhere, and do endless nit picky planning but in the end, it turns out that we probably can't do the activity where we wanted to do it. So this week we are going to start over.

Besides that, we have been pretty focused on helping Carla get baptized. She is to the point that she says "I already know I am going to do it on the 24th, I´m just terrified what my parents are going to do to me when it happens." Unfortunately, it´s most likely that she is kicked out of her house and cut off, at least from her parents. She is hoping that they don't find out until after she moves to Louisiana but we all know that the adversary doesn't work like that. 

I think that is all that happened this week, Lets see.. I haggled a Colombian into making a bunch of DVDs for 200 dollars instead of the 400 he wanted. we had an old woman cuss us out in english and the moral of her rampage was that "ice cream cones are a gay food"(that isn´t exaggerated). I have a sinus infection. 

Alright, now that's everything

My Mission Year

Well, there it was, my only full year in the mission. This is how it ended:

2014

On monday we went out to look for people to teach with the little time we had left in the day. We went to work in the rich part of town again, mostly because the houses are so giant that, it makes it interesting. But with just 2 hours we found 5 families. That's not exaggerating. We got into the houses of 5 different families. I have no idea how it happened. But I can't complain.

I can't remember what happened on tuesday, just getting work done then teaching some people.

On wednesday we had a ton to do in the office but at exactly 8:30, when we were allowed time to celebrate, we turned off our computers, took off our shoes and played soccer in the mini cultural hall thing we have in the office. After a half an hour, we were all exuasted and I had ripped my pants so we stopped and made classic chilean "choripanes" which are like mini hotdogs.

After finishing everything at the office we went home and waited till midnight to try to see the firework show in Concepción. Last time I looked at my watch, we had five minutes till twelve but all of a sudden

2015

we heard the boom of the fireworks. We quickly ran up to the top floor of the apartment building and watched them go off as we reminisced on 2014 and made the classic goals for 2015. Then some of us went to sleep and some stayed up telling stories.

The next day we had a zone activity. We all got together in San Pedro and had a classic summer day. Tacos and orchata made by the mexican sisters in the zone complete with soccer, volleyball, frisby, ping pong and blazing sun. By 3 we were all exhausted and way too sunburned so we just layed in the shade and talked instead. At 5 everyone went back to there houses and suffered the consequences of not using sunscreen. My arms are litteraly tuning blue from the burn. I kind of have to accept that I will get cancer now.

On friday we didn't have much time to work in the office but we had some awesome lessons in San Pedro. The girl that talked to us last week in the rich part of town, Carla, is now committed to be baptized on the 24th of January. She said that she is commited to do it but she is afraid that her parents will cut her off as their child if she gets baptized. When they found her book of mormon, they cut her off economically so it wouldn't surprise her if they would do something even more irrational if she joined the church. Today we are all fasting, Carla included, that when it comes time to tell them, her parents will soften their hearts. If you could, it would be a big help if you all could give a little time in your prayers so help her out. 

Today we traveled down to Traiguén to check out the site for the big mission activity. It was just as hot as usual. At one moment, we were driving though the country and there were endless wheat fields so we stopped and ran through them and took pictures. I will be sending those today. On the way home we had a free style contest to EFY music and we finally got Elder Medina, the Ecuadorian to do it in spanish. It was a good time.