Ay ay ay Elderes

Alright, just to answer the question I know you all have_ yes I have made my companion check for my lice every single day, and no she hasn’t found any yet. So were going good!

This week we started off with the fiestas patrias (Chilean Independence Day), so that was fun. It’s just about impossible to get any work done because everybody’s drunk, ha-ha! So we honestly spent almost all day on Tuesday with a member family. We were gonna go with the elders from our ward and the two elders from the other ward. On Monday, there were cambios (transfers), but my comp and I didn’t have cambios since we are in the middle of training! But on Tuesday morning we found out that they were going to have two more elders in the other ward. The two elders in the other ward are both going to be training, so they had to go get their brand new comps. So on Tuesday we are in the member’s house, and all of a sudden enter six elders. As the pass by, I’m like "gringo...gringo...gringo...gringo...gringo...gringo..." ha-ha SIX GRINGOS Y UNA GRINGA. I’m dying! The new elder in our ward is Elder Rasbold, he has like 21 months in the mission and he’s hilarious. I always kind of wonder if he’s high but he’s super funny. On Tuesday we made brownies in the member’s house while the elders grilled the meat. We ate so much meat. That’s the 18 (Chilean Independence Day) tradition, lots of meat!! It was pretty fun, ha-ha. On Tuesday night, we went to the church building to have clase de canto (Singing class), and we got there early so it wasn’t open yet. We decided to explore a little bit and we found some train tracks. So we were taking some pics when a few drunk guys come out and start asking us where were from. I’m thinking "kay, I can’t say the US while they’re this drunk, but I also can’t say anywhere from South America cause they’re not gonna believe me. So I’m like "...... somos de .... por aqui cerca (we’re from around here).......... but ya know we gotta go BYE!" And we start walking away really fast. But one of them follows us. Luckily we were really close to the church and it was already open so we get in the door basically running, and the elders are like "what happened???" and were like "there’s a drunk guy following us!!!" But they got him to go away :) relax people, we are always so protected. On Wednesday, our zls announced that we were going to be doing an activity on Monday called the Field Day Olympics. They picked three team captains, one of which was me, and we picked out teams and we spent the week picking a name, planning it out and all that. It was pretty fun! My team was the “Black Mambas" ha-ha. We took second place!! We had a few different activities. One was the marshmallow toss where you have to catch a marshmallow with your mouth. Another was where you have your team in a line, and there’s a bucket of water and a sponge, and you have to fill the sponge with water rand run to the other end of the court and try to fill a bowl with water. Another was like beer pong, but with vinagre. And then we played human bowling with water balloons. The people are the pins, so we just got soaked, ha-ha! And then a relay race. It was really, really fun!! Honestly one of the funnest days I’ve ever had in my mission. I mean I’m excited but hahah. 

On a more serious note, we found a new investigator this week named Kernizan, from Haiti who came to church with us yesterday, He’s really neat, He has a lot of faith but he’s never felt that called to a church. So he turns up at church on Sunday with his Book of Mormon in his hand (which we had just given him) so excited to learn about god! He’s really neat, we are really hoping we can get a fecha (baptismal date) with him this week, so you’ll find out soon! We also found a few Venezuelans who are the BOMB. They’re so cool. There was four of them in this lesson, and the thing about Venezuelans is that they are very passionate about everything, it gets intense. These four people are all completely different. You’ve got Juan Carlos, an older guy with a lot a lot of faith, and very conservative. Then you’ve got Ander, a younger guy who’s pretty conservative but doesn’t believe in anything. Then there is Daniel, who is also young, has a whole bunch of piercings and tattoos, but also has a lot of faith, just not in a church. And then you’ve got Yolimar, a lady maybe 25 years old who is like super loud, really direct and super funny. They were all talking about God, and the conversation got pretty intense, so much so that my comp and I couldn’t even get a word in, ha-ha. They were obviously confused and they couldn’t come to a conclusion about few things, an finally one of them says "what do you guys think?" to us. There was a pause, and then I just started to testify of Jesus Christ. I testified that He lives, that everything we experience in this life serves the purpose of helping us to be more like Him, and that only He can forgive of us everything we have done. Then my comp jumped in and taught that there are lots of things in this life that we don’t understand, but Heavenly Father does, and that we can learn about His plan in the scriptures. So I explained the Book of Mormon and we only had two, but we said we wanted to give it to them and come back to give them more. As I held it here in my hand, I realized that everything had gone quiet. No one was talking, everyone was intently focused on us, even more people in the house had come out to listen to us. The spirit was just potent in that lesson. I learned that in the storm, that is the world right, Christ is where we find the peace. He LITERALLY calms the storm because he has provided the way for us to go home to live with Him again. It reminds me of a line from one of my favorite hymns "Be still my soul, the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below." The things in our lives that seem the most uncontrollable, like even nature, are under God’s control. He has a plan- and it’s a plan so that you- YES YOU and your family can be happy.  A quote by Joseph Smith I like that I don’t know how it is in English is "pase lo que pase, el Señor es parte de ello." 

I love you all and I know that God has a plan for you! 

Love, Hermana Stanley