Riding home from church with a cheese grater

Rayando la papa

Familia, amigos, amigas, y otras personas!

Well, another week in the life of a missionary in Chile! This week I actually experienced quite a bit of stress! I’m getting more and more stressed about the fact that in three weeks, the Lord will be entrusting me with the responsibility of my sector! That’s a lot of pressure, but I have three more weeks to be prepared! Hah pray for me! But I coped with the stress by working hard, and that helped a lot!! This week we got invited to go eat at a restaurant where a lady in my ward works. We went and we ordered completos. But nobody told us how HUGE the completos are. They were longer than a foot long, and we had to eat it all because this sweet Hermana was paying for us! It was SO FUN. That’s something I love about Hna Dinamarca, everything is always fun and funny. We were laughing so hard as we crammed more and more completo into our stomachs. Don’t worry, I got pictures! Directly after that, we had interviews with President! I never have anything to tell him, because seriously I’m fine! Life’s good, I love being a missionary! Not every moment is perfect, but most are good! He said that he has heard from all of my leaders that my Spanish is "incredible" to quote him, so that was nice :) This week, we put another baptismal date!! LA MARTITA will be baptized the 10th of February. Everything is still good for our baptism this weekend too! I’m so happy! the both of them have really grown in their testimonies and they will both be amazing members of the church! The really good news is that now we know the age of Marta because we asked to see her ID. Ha-ha she wasn’t sure if she was 62 or 82 (no joke) but now we know that she is 74. We are also starting to teach Alejandra y Jorge! Jorge has all kinds of crazy beliefs ha-ha! He said that he believes in the sun, so we said that Jesus Christ is the light of the World. He said he believes that we have power to change things when we focus, so we said faith! He said that we have power to heal one another with our minds so we said priesthood! He said that we are all god, so we said that we are all children of god with potential to become like Him! I was chatting with a less active member the other day who I had never met, when he all of a sudden said, "you have at least one year in the mission" so I said that I have three months, and he DIDN’T BELIEVE ME. I had to get the other missionaries to swear for me ha-ha! That gave me a little bit of confidence!! In the church building the other day, I found a cheese grater and I mentioned that I wanted one of those, so they gave it to me. And Dinamarca said that I wanted to grate potatoes. And I said no its for cheese, but she kept telling people I wanted it for potatoes, and I was like "no, I want it for CHEESE." And finally she mentioned that Rayar la papa is a phrase in Chilean, that means goof off. It was so funny once I understood. 

The other night, while we ere trying to go to sleep I was trying to see if I could say all of the books in the Book of Mormon and in the New Testament in order. Then I said, but don’t worry, I know all of the books in DyC. And I started to count to 137 in Spanish while my companion is just dying of laughter in her bed. It was good practice actually.  And so my dear friends and family, you can see that I am still the same goofy me I always was. I’ve been under a lot of stress, but I’m really happy! I love working in the Lords vineyard! I love working hard every day for other people! God loves you! 

love,

Hermana Stanley

3 Months and Going STRONG!

Well you guys, a lot happened this week! Firstly, I completed my first three months as a missionary. It’s surreal I can’t believe that I’m already one sixth done. It’s sad and exciting at the same time! On Tuesday, we got to watch the first presidency announcement! I’m really excited for the new focus we will have on temples, and receiving the blessings they contain for us! We went and visited one of our investigators whose name is Lucy. She’s a little old lady, and we had a lesson with her where she really only wanted to rip on the JW´s. It was kinda funny.... But she loves everything she learns with us and she has been progressing a lot! Remember when I told yawl about Cristobal? Who is going to baptized February 3rd? He loves us so much! One day we were walking down the street and a motorcycle started honking at us, which happens all the time so we just ignored it. But it kept honking, so we looked and it was Cristobal. It was so hot that day and we had nothing in energy. He stopped and bought us each a soda, then ran across the street to give them, to us! We have been answers to his prayers, and him to ours :) Its really cool how the Lord works like that!! On Wednesday, THE POPE CAME TO MAIPU. CHILE, SANTIAGO, MAIPU, PLAZA MAIPU. It’s the sector right next to me, my zone, I’m in plaza Maipu as a I type this email! It was really cool! Which reminds me, if you want to see something cool I can see from my apartment, google "catolico temple Maipu" that’s where he was! It’s cool that of all the places in the world, I was like three minutes from the pope! Don’t get me wrong, that day was LA HIEL. No one was home ha-ha but it was cool. I realized something scary this week. It is almost certain that in one month, Hna Dinamarca se va, and although I won’t be senior companion, I will be directing because I know the sector.... I’m STRESSED. I do not want that responsibility so early on, but I think the Lord must think I’m ready and I need the experience. Prayers for me please, ha-ha. We are teaching a lady whose name is Lucrecia, and she is LOCISIMA. She is 60, was a carabinero, or a police officer, for like 40 years, and now she teaches guitar and voice. She sings folk music! she made me sing for her, so I sang a little bit of Diemainacht. I’m gonna grab a video of her next time for you! But seriously, this woman has all of the sass. I love her :) Yesterday we had lunch with a Venezuelan family! Turns out I love Venezuelan food! There are a lot of Venezuelans here in Chile because the economy is good here. They speak so fast. Not quite as fast as the Chileans, but fast and different. I can understand them pretty okay actually. Alright, yawl want random stuff about Chile? Here goes. They don’t have mops. I have not seen a mop since my house. They cut a hole in a towel and throw it over a broom. I think it’s pretty smart. They also always use the last name of their mom and their dad. First their dad, then their mom. But for short they go by the first apellido. Por ejemplo, my companion’s name is Pia Javiera Dinamarca Parra, and she goes by hna Dinamarca, her father’s name, even though she has no relationship with her father. I thought it was interesting. It’s also quite rude down here to have your hands under the table while people are eating. That’s about all for the week!! I love you all! Being a missionary is the greatest thing ever because you get to watch the Lord work miracles in other people and in you :) 

love 

Hermana Stanley

We don’t know how old Marta is because she forgot... no joke. One day she said 60, next, 70, then 90. Then 80 :) 

Martita and Teresita walking to church

Mission Hair

Sickie

Well what a week :) First, remember how I told you all about our miracle Cristobal? He found us on the street and we started meeting with him a bunch this week, and now he has a baptismal date for the third of February! He came to church yesterday and he loved it!! Really, seeing the change in him in just one week has been such a miracle and I’m honored to get to see it more! At the end of my training my companion will have six months here in Maipu which means that she is going to leave and I have at least three more months here :) I’m perfectly content with that :) On Tuesday night I started to feel really sick to my stomach. We went to an investigator’s house for an oncecita, and they realized I was feeling sick because I couldn’t hide it on my face, but she still made me eat a plate full of tomatoes and cheese. It was not fun. Then Wednesday I was so sick I had to call Hermana Woodward, who gave me permission to stay in one day and rest. But we had to go the office to get something and while we were there all of the missionaries were like "whoa, Hermana Stanley, what happened??" It wasn’t great, but it’s over now :) While we were there they gave me the package. I just about cried because I was so miserable and then I got a package! We made a lot of progress this week in our sector. Apart from Cristobal, we also have Johana and family, Humberto and family, Marta, Polonia, and Alejandra, who are progressing rapidly! Your prayers for them are always welcome :) On Friday we had the opportunity to watch the funeral of President Monson! It was a beautiful service and President Monson lived a beautiful life! During the service I realized how much I miss singing and good music. I just wanted to stand up and sing with the Mormon tab! I think maybe I will be a music major ha-ha, jk I have no clue but I miss singing! I took a picture of our mission hymn, YOU GUYS SHOULD SING IT ONE DAY!! It’s awesome!! I can almost play it without a hitch, I just don’t have time to practice. But it’s coming along! That’s all for the week! 

Love you all, keep writing me!!