Week 3 In Chile

Sent: Mon, April 4, 2011 10:56:18 AM
Subject: Hello

HOLA HOLA family and friends! Como le van?

I just finished reading your emails and I feel SO full of love for you all! Seriously I love hearing from each of you and hearing about the exciting things in your lives. I hope Kevin feels better! I LOVED conference this weekend. I've always loved watching conference, but watching it as a missionary is extra special. You will be happy to know that I watched it in English! Yay. Ha ha I was able to do exchanges with a sister who speaks English and we watched in with other English speakers. I was surprised that there really aren't many missionaries from the US. The majority are from Latin America so basically English is non existent in my zone. But it's a blessing because I get to speak lots and lots of Spanish. ha ha Also, how funny that I was on the MTC thing. They had lots of cameras around but I didn't think I would make the cut, But I was really hoping I would be on there a little so you guys could see me ha ha. Thanks Aunt Peggy and Grandpa for telling my family about it!

Wow, I can't believe all of the commotion in the world these days. It looks like people have a lot to be worried about. I am grateful I am a missionary because as a missionary I have no time to worry. And its true what Blake said, lots of people are motivated to find religion because they are scared of the end of the world. It is a special thing to bring the comforting message of the gospel. Yesterday, we had 4 investigators attend conference and I think they really felt the power and the love of the prophet and apostles. Its amazing how general conference is for everyone. Members of the church or not.

OK, Answers to some questions: The weather here is starting to cool down. The first two weeks were sunny and warm, I have quite the tan :) but the last three days have been very foggy and overcast. Since it's right on the coast, we get lots of fog. Last night, we were kept up by constant fog horns from the boats, and seagulls are my alarm clock, but I love it. I have fallen in love with this city. (I am sure you can assume that from my emails)
A typical breakfast for me is vanilla yogurt and granola and fresh fruit. The fruit here is so good!. I am a little hesitant to drink the milk here, but vanilla yogurt has proved a perfect substitute for me. Lunch, we eat at the members houses. Virtually every lunch has a avocado salad (typically tuna, mayo, avocado, tomato and lettuce) and then a main course, typically chicken and rice, but yesterday was Italian food and then fruit for dessert. We eat at 1:30 pm. We get back to the pension at 10:00 pm and I usually will snack on bread or crackers or something that is about it! Oh, I cant remember if I told you, but our hours are 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. which is really nice. We don't eat very often, but when we do, we STUFF ourselves hah.
Yesterday, I expericned my first flea (pulgas as they call them here) One stupid flea got my like 20 times. I think that is a bad since, because apparently, they like my blood. I will have to do something about that.
Let's see, I don't remember the other questions, Oh yeah, Hermana Jacobo is great. She is 22 from El Salvador. I understand her just fine. I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with the language. I am starting to think in Spanish, which is weird and exciting at the same time. There are times when I don't understand anything, but during lessons, I feel like I am blessed with an extra dose of the gift of tongues because I can understand almost everything and say what I want to say. Its a huge blessing. But, often, after we close with a prayer, I will have a harder time understanding. Its the gift of tongues for sure :)

I had an interesting experience this week. We were walking to an appointment and we passed someone on a bike and we said "Hola", like we normally do. Like a minute later, he chased us down on his bike and in English, said, "Hey, I have a question for you!" Hermana Jacabo doesn't understand any English, so it was kind of up to me. He proceeded to ask "Why do you always say hi to everyone?" He was implying that we only say Hi because our leaders tell us to, so we can start up a conversation about the church. He told us that he was baptized in the church, but was now atheist for the last 10 years. The conversation was fine, he was nice, but clearly only wanted to argue, so we testified about the church and said good bye. But I'll be honest, his question really bothered me. I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation "Why do you always so hi to everyone?" A couple days later in my person study, I came across a scripture (they actually shared it several times in conference) John 13:25 (I think) "By this shall men know, ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another". Like a light bulb, the spirit taught me something very important. We say hi to people because we love them. No mission President wastes his time telling his missionaries to say hi, we just do it, because we truely love the people. And because we love them, we serve them, we help them carry their bags, we pick up garbage in the streets of their city. Because we love them. And through these acts of love, people will recognize us as disciples of Jesus Christ. I was so grateful that I learned this. A couple days later, conference solidified this thought. Charity is key. I hope you all use charity everyday in your interactions with people.

Which reminds me, How cool was Elder Uchtdorf's comment about using technology to share the gospel? I bet we will see lots more face book statuses!! haha.

Anyways, I am healthy, happy and hard working. I hope you are all well. I hope you all can feel my love for each of you. I pray for you all in each prayer. Keep it real fam... keep it real :)


HASTA EL PROXIMO LUNES,
Hermana Royal

Hermana Royal and Hermana Jacabo

A lovely picnic on the balcony of our apartment.

What a view of the Harbor