Week 85 - A Rough Week.

This week we had a great zone conference. I got a package but it was opened.  If you sent me anything more than candy and the Liahona magazine I didn't receive it.

This week was kind of rough, to be honest. We lost many people.  "CF" didn't show up to church yesterday.  We received word that she didn't want to be baptized and that she didn't want to talk with us.  This saddened us.

Other news is that Chile is gearing up for their Fiestas Patrias celebrations on the 18th and 19th of September.  There's a lot of Chilean things I may only be able to get now.  I would like to get some before my mission ends and I return to the United States.  It may be my last chance to get certain items.

We are going up the hill with the cross on it today.  Supposedly, there's an old mine up there. We're going with two other elders.  I'm not sure what they mined.  My guess is copper, but I'll see if there is anything on it when we get there.

Elder Yaress was with my zone leaders today so I got to talk to him again.

Week 84 - Funny Story

This week has gone well.

We had two investigators in church Sunday.  One named "CF" and another named "C".

"CF" I think may get baptized next Monday.  We had a lesson with her and she told us after that she would let us know when she wanted to be baptized. Then Sunday came and she said,  "Elders I have a problem.  I don't know when I'll be able to be baptized because my dad is never here on Sundays." She thought she had to be baptized on Sunday. We explained she could be baptized whenever she wants.  She told us that she thinks her dad gets back next Sunday.  So pretty soon I think we may have a baptism!!!  I'm excited.

"C" is young, comes to church and is really funny.

I got the bike fixed.  Then on Thursday, it broke in the exact same spot.  The mechanism that changes the gear on the back wheel fell into the spokes and ended up bending some metal backward.  I had to take money out again.  The guy at the bike shop just laughed and gave me a deal.  He also told us he hopes we are never are hired to watch over the nuclear bomb button.  This week my companions tire has been going flat and yesterday my pedal fell off so the bikes are a mess.  I'm almost at the point that I don't want to fix them again.

On the same day the bike broke, we came back home and I gently set my glasses down.  The frame broke.  That day was honestly kind of rough.

A funny but freaky story this week:  I'm sleeping and I wake to my companion moving around.  My companion then talks to me and says "Elder, elder!  Go get your scriptures.  We need them."

I instantly jumped up and freaked out.  I looked at my companion and he's asleep.  He was talking in his sleep!  I woke him up.  He was very confused.  I told him what had just happened and we have been laughing about it ever since.

I taught the Hatian man from last week.  Turns out he is a member.  He taught me how to say "I am" in Creole.

Week 83 - Finances and the Bike Accident

Finances are becoming stressful to me.  I'm still not sure if I'm supposed to pay to fix the bike with my personal money or if the mission helps.  Either way, I think I'm going to need more personal funds.  I think I have to pay for the bike and I'm just naturally eating more.  I think part is stress eating.   I'm just hungry all the time and because of that, I have been buying more food than usual. Normally it would be fine but with the bike I'm worried.

Speaking of bikes I flew off my bike this week.  We were riding next to a train track and there was this area where there were two logs.  In between the two logs, there was a space just big enough for a bike tire to fall through.  I was biking super fast and my tire decides to go down into the hole throwing me over the handle bars about a good five feet.  I cut my hand and leg. I actually thought that I was going to need stitches in my hand.  It looked like a deep cut and the members that I showed it to felt it needed attention so we almost went to the hospital.  We even called the zone leader, the mission nurse, and Sister Diaz.  We told them we were going to the hospital.  I ended up going to the bishop's house because the members couldn't take me.  The bishop's son just happened to be a paramedic and looked at my cut.  He kind of laughed at me and said yeah it's an ugly cut but not big enough for stitches.  Oh, and because of the crash, my handle bar got bent.  Two days later my pedal fell off, so let's see how much money I get to spend on the bike now.

I also had an exchange with Elder Brooks. I had an exchange with him a long time ago at the beginning of my mission.  We talked about our missions and how the time has passed.

Elder Brown and I are doing good. Honestly, he's probably the funnest companion I've ever had.  He is a fun companion.  My last two companions were really serious.  I think the only problem is we should probably be a little more serious.  We also like food and together we end up eating more.

We had a investigator come to church today named "C".  He's a good kid and I could see him getting baptized.  His brother is a member and served a mission.

Week 82 - A Broken Bike and Avocados

This week was better.  I feel like I'm getting used to being a district leader a little bit more.  I felt the lesson went better this week.

I went on an exchange to Cabildo.  It was interesting.  We lost the phone on the bus.  We ran back and forth to the bus station hoping someone found it and turned it in.  Cabildo is supposedly the leading producer of avocados in the world according to the Chileans.  There were avocado trees everywhere. I really wanted to eat a couple of them.  I love avocados.

Elder Brown and I have been having a blast!  One of our investigators came to church.  "C", our investigator with a baptismal date,  didn't come to church but a group of Haitians did!  I'm actually thinking about learning Creole even though I'm still learning Spanish.  There are so many Haitians here.  All I've met are super humble and try to keep the commandments -- including the law of chastity which can be a stumbling block for many in joining the Lord's church.

Sunday we had the coach from the local American football team try to recruit us to his football team. Ha ha.  That's not why we are here.

We have bikes in our sector and mine broke.  I might be on the hook for repairs.  The gear shifting mechanism broke.  The bike shop said it would be about $15.00 to replace.  Our sector is huge and flat, so bikes work great.  It's fun to ride and not have to walk all the time.

By the way, La Calera is pronounced as La Ca-lead-da.  It is a hard Spanish rule that a single "r" pretty much gets pronounced as an English "d".