So I thought this letter was going to be pretty short and to the point since I was in our house from monday til saturday... but Saturday, Sunday, and monday were crazy enough to give me even more to talk about! haha. So here I go.
FIRST off, I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!!! WOO HOO!!!! Its so weird. I dont even get to meet her :( Butttttt im really really really super excited!! Thank you for all the pictures and fotos and updates via email i got!! Shes so cute and iiiii really want to meet her.... like right now. haha. but it will have to wait :( So anyway! Shout out and a welcome to the family Elle Nielsen!!! I miss you. Teach her to say Unkie!!! haha. During the week I thought a couple times, "oh yeah.... I might have a new niece right now.... but i wont even know until monday!!" haha. weird!
But okay. Now Ill tell you a little about my crazy week! So as I said last week, my companion had pnuemonia, so we were confined to the house from Monday-Friday... Kind of. haha. Ill explain. But so FIRST thing... So I did emails and mail and such on monday, and despues the elders quorum president came to our house with instructions de la presidente de la rama to take elder sutt to the doctor to get another check up, and to take me as well and get me checked since i was coughing and sick... So we went. We had no choice. When our Presidente de rama tells us something, it happens. we do it. haha. SO we went.... and LONG story short, it turns out I had acute bronchitis or something? I have no idea. it was in spanish and i had the elders quorum president with me translating haha. but the POINT is, the asked me if i could get an injection to help because basically my throat was a bit inflamed and thats why i was coughing. SO i said "uh... si?" so then the nurse came in. And it turns out that they do like allllll of their shots in the butt. hahaha. Elder Sutt had gotten one the week before, but i thought it was just a pnuemonia thing. So i laughed and made fun of him and told him i wasnt going to be getting one. But it turns out I got my first shot in my butt Monday night. In Chile. And I had NO idea what was coming. hahahaha. It really hurt.
BUT! (no pun intended) im alot better now! I still have an occasional cough come out, but besides im healthy! haha. I couldnt believe what i got myself into... haha.
Then tuesday, elder sutterfield was really upset because it was 18 de septiembre!!! The huge fiesta!!! (I will provide pictures!) but he had to stay in the house... and its his ONLY 18 de septiembre he gets to experience during his mission. but he had to spend it inside. so he was upset. But a member family called us and asked if we could join them!! So he called el presidente de la rama and got permission to go! (p.s. our pday got moved from monday to tuesday because of the fiesta. so this was technically our pday as well haha) So then he was really happy. So we went, ate a TON of food, played a few games, flew kites, played the guitar, and went to some competition of La Cueca that I explained last week. So we were gone for a few hours and it was alot of fun! haha. Also, I SWEAR its a crime and nobody is telling me to drink water here. I dont even ask cuz i get too nervous haha, but my companions will ask for water FOR me (so they dont have to drink my soda for me hahaha), and everybody freaks out and cant believe it and doesnt understand and will offer every substitute on the earth BESIDES water. Some people seem to even be offended. I dont get it. But eventually I end up with water. Or juice. haha whatever.
Besides that, and our expedition Monday.... We were in the house the whole week. haha. Soooo what did I do im sure youre wondering? Well remember how i said I was going to have a lot of study time? Well this week I read the Book of Mormon, Principles of the Gospel, and Preach My Gospel!
No. Seriously. I read them. All of them. Front to back. hahaha. (okay I still have 20 pages left in PMG!)
I was reading (slash studying slash learning) THE WHOLE WEEK. Now, I HAD started the Book of Mormon the Tuesday before... but still. I read the Book of Mormon in a week and a half. Thats CRAZYYY. I finished Friday at noon haha. I couldnt believe I did that. And like Ammon, Im not meaning to boast :P I was just amazed. I didnt even know I could do that. haha I felt so accomplished!! But seriously I would just wake up, read, eat, read, occasional guitar break (Elder Sutt has a guitar. Im learning guitar on the mission too, Dad!), read, read, read, sleep. haha. It was awesome! And for those of you that havent read the Book of Mormon, I highly recommend it. You should read it too ;) its a really good book. hahah. but anyways! Yeah. I read the Book of Mormon this week. And then after that read Principles of the Gospel, which is basically just a bunch of definitions to things, but still really good to know! and then I decided I needed to read PMG all the way through so I at least had SEEN all the material in it! And I still have 20 pages left and then I will have read through all of it. And its seriously been a HUGE testimony builder! now more than ever I know without a doubtttt that this church is true, joseph smith was a prophet, and the book of mormon is for sure the word of God. And Im also now motivated more than ever to get out there and tell people about this message! So for ME, the week in the house was an AWESOME opportunity to learn ALOT. I loved it and accomplished alot! (But Elder Sutterfield was dying and going crazy and wanted to leave ASAP hahaha)
So yeah! That happened. and I loved it. But then on Saturday we were finally able to go to work again! But, saturday morning as I was doing personal study in our kitchen (because thats where our heater was at haha. Its still pretty cold in the mornings, but heats up during the day) I looked out the window and saw one of our old lady neighbors running across the street to the house to our right, yelling and flailing this broom around in the air. I was really confused, but within a few seconds saw that she was running after her dog who had run to fight the dog at the house to our right. But it turned out to be an intense fight haha. The two dogs were going AT it, and both old lady neighbors were going after them nailing the dogs with their brooms as hard as they could to get them to stop. So finally I thought "oh geez I should do something. Especially cuz that dog now has the other dogs neck in its mouth and is about to kill it" ha. So it turns out 3 of us elders all went to help at the same time haha. and we all run outside but before we got there the dogs finally broke it up. It was crazy. I hate dogs now. Any desire ive ever had to have a dog is now GONE. haha. But so yeah I finally went back to work and it felt good! And my spanish wasnt lost either after a week in the house :P I even gave my first lesson/spritual thought on my own too! haha. It was awesome.
The only other story I have to share is another dog story. Sunday on our way to church (By bike) I got chased by two dogs. and dogs will usually chase us, but usually were fast enough and the dogs just trail off. But so sunday I was riding, these two dogs started to chase me, but I wasnt losing them. And they were going crazy and caught up to me and were right next to me. So i didnt know if they were gonna bite or what. But eventually one of them was just WAY to close and wouldnt leave and was coming at me so i kicked it in the face. hahaha. It still didnt work so i just had to stop the bike and get off and play Alpha Male Dog (or whatever its called). hahaha. Seriously i hate dogs. It sounds ridiculous and I feel ridiculous but its the worst. I never want a dog. Sorry future wife. hahaha.
Other exciting news! I might have MY first chance to do a baptism this week!! We have a family of 4 lined up for marriage and baptism this week! and Not for sure yet but we told them they get to decide who baptizes them and it sounded like they wanted me to do at least one of the baptisms! haha. So im really excited if that gets to happen!! the only thing is we have to make sure the wife doesntttt drink any coffee at all this week... so were nervous about that but praying hard haha. We even bought her last can of coffee off of her last night hahaha. Just to make sure :)
The language is coming alot alot better! I can understand alot better! I need to start writing down words i hear but dont know again! So im going to be doing that. but its alot better. still frustating at times.... but better :)
Welllll I cant think of really anything else?? Ive been in Chile for a month now!!! Dang that went by really fast. Also crazy haha. I loveeee the mission and the experiences im having and the chance i have to grow, learn, and share!!! The church is true. And its really really cool. haha. I love you and miss you all!!
-Elder Heyman
p.s. Shout out to Jawad! Jen can you tell him to send me an email por favor? haha. Gracias. But okay! miss you all!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
An Awesome Week!! 09/17/2012
Hola people of the united states!! (and argentina (Mom, dad, curtis))
Ive survived another week! and it was a really awesome good week!! So ill just start from the beginning!
We've had a lot of blessing come this week! thats why it was such a good week haha. But so Tuesday I had a memorable moment as I had my first bible basher as we were giving a lesson!... We were giving a lesson to a recent convert, Robinson (who is the funniest guy in the world) and as we were in the middle of reading a scripture his dad came out of the back room and walked up to us and stared at us for a second, then asked us "Do you guys dance??" Except he was asking in a mean tone haha... it was the most random qusetion ever. Anyway, Elder Sutt answered that as missionaries, no, but normal members of the church do. The guy then left, returned with his bible (and his wife) and began yelling at us about who knows what and reading bible versuses to us and things... Totally ruined the moment haha. But Elder Sutterfield handled it well as I sat in silence and finally we just got up and left. Robinson was extremely apologetic. But as we left I just started laughing and said "Heyyy my first Bible Basher!!!" haha. And then wrote down a note to write home about it. haha.
Wednesday we had a last minute change in schedule and spent alot of the day with the Branch President, running around Linares and buying things for the house, and for the fiesta we had saturday! more about that later. But so it was alot of fun to be able to spend that time with the Branch President. We seriously have the best branch president ever. Hes the nicest man alive. I will also explain that later as well. haha.
So thursday we also had an awesome mini miracle/answer to our prayers. We've been struggling to find people to teach lately, and havent had alot of success. So as we were biking to Los Cristales in silence, out of nowhere Elder Sutterfield said " man I really want to rent or buy a huaso outfit for the 18th of september. That would be awesome to wear to the church activity saturday." Well, not even 30 seconds later we look to our left and a house had a sign in the window that said "Renting Huaso outfits!" So we were like No way!! and went to check it out. Welllll.... turns out the lady didnt have what we were looking for hahah. BUT we then asked if she'd like to hear our message and she let us in her house to talk to her! and she's married and has 2 kids, and this lady just asked every single question in the world that our message as missionaries answers haha. She doesn't attend church but has really strong faith in christ. And so basically as she was talking she just asked question after question after question and we were thinking "this is perfectt! We have every answer you neeeeeddd!!!" haha. So that was a blessing to run into her like that. We knew the Lord sent us there because it was just too perfect of a situation! haha.
Friday was a reaaaally fun cool day. We had a Conferencia de Nuevos in Talca. So basically all the people who are new go and we have a training with the Mission President (president Humphrey) all day and learn a bunch and all this stuff haha. So that was really really good. learned alot. President and Sister Humphrey are awesome. Haha. Funny story from that that I think Dad, you will find funny/unbelievable/appreciate. We were split up into Spanish and English groups so we could have the lessons in our native language, and then we switched classes midway through the day. So during our time with President Humphrey, mid-lesson, mid-thought, mid-sentence, one elder gets up and answers his phoneee and walks out the door to answer the call. It was really funny because Elder Esparza was sitting next to me and as soon as he saw the kid leaving he whispered "oh nooooo....." hahaha. any everything got really awkward really fast because president humphrey was just speechless in unbelief, then gave us a quick lecture about NEVER answer your phone like that cuz its so rude, and then he chewed out the kid. haha. Anyway just made me think of you and what you would do dad if that happened hahaha.
So another cool blessing of friday was after the conference when I came back to Longaví, it was AWESOME because out of nowhere I was understanding ALL the spanish that was being thrown at me and speaking it perfectly too! (okay not perfectly, but i was communicating fine haha) IT WAS THE BEST FEELING EVER. I was even joking with people and making them laugh and I could laugh cuz i understood things and blah blah blah. haha. I dont know what happened. But it was an awesome blessing. Unfortunately it didn't last forever, but since then I can definitely see huge improvement in my ability to understand and to speak! I cant wait til it STAYS that way and can always understand and talk! hahaha.
Anddd another awesome blessing of friday was what the branch president suprised us with. FOOD. SO MUCH FOOD. He bought us so many things of cereal and milk and some granola bars and mac and cheese and so on and so forth. Mom must have been praying that I find a way to not be hungry so much. hahaha. Well Seriously it was crazy. And he just did it for no reason. Our branch president is seriously the nicest most awesome guy ever. Ive really been blessed!!!
Okay and finally saturday! So since tuesday is ACTUALLY 18 of Septiembre, the Branch had an activity ALL day Saturday. Started at 10am until 10pm (but i guess people were there til midnight haha) It was just loaded with a baptism, games, games, games, games, dancing the el baile nacional- La Cueca, more games, food food food food, asado (bbq) and soooooo on. So we were there ALL DAY. It was a ton of fun. And the best part (besides the food) is that they have a bunch of tradicional games that they play. And one game is their own version of horseshoes. And so they had a tournament. Peru (the peruvian elders) Chile (their best players) and USA (Elder Sutterfield and I) and usa dominated them all hahaha. I dont even understand how the games works because elder sutterfield for some reason wouldnt explain it in english to me and I couldnt understand anyone else, but all I know is we dominted, and the chilenos were really really mad hahah. It was funny. But anyway, yeah the day was really awesome and really fun!!
Okay and last but not least, some other news. So everyone in our house is a little sick. We've all been coughing a bunch and blah blah blah. But so elder sutterfield has been sick for awhile, and so long story short, the branch president said "okay were gonna take you to get checked out". Turns out he has pnuemonia. and the doctor said he has to be bed ridden for 7 days. Soooo..... Elder Sutterfield and I will be spending alot of time getting to know the new house this next week!! We'll be in the house allll day until friday... Woo hoo. haha. No but actually I see it as a blessing too because I can now spend this time doing alot of studying on stuff that I've noticed I need to learn while we're out teaching haha. Doctrine, stories, THE LANGUAGE haha. So yes itll will be long and boring and terrible, but I think we'll survive. Hopefully. haha. Well that was my week! hope all is well with everyone else!
Its really cold in the mornings and warms up during the day! Im continuing to improve alot with the language! The food is still good! except their meat is kind of disappointing.... haha. oh well. uhmmmm I cant think of much else.... Im loving it! Its alot of fun and such an awesome experience. Im learning so much! haha. Iiiii dont know. Anyway. Cant think of anything else.
The church is true!! I love you and miss you all! Tengan una buena semana! Español es tan bakán. jaja. Chau.
-Elder Heyman
Ive survived another week! and it was a really awesome good week!! So ill just start from the beginning!
We've had a lot of blessing come this week! thats why it was such a good week haha. But so Tuesday I had a memorable moment as I had my first bible basher as we were giving a lesson!... We were giving a lesson to a recent convert, Robinson (who is the funniest guy in the world) and as we were in the middle of reading a scripture his dad came out of the back room and walked up to us and stared at us for a second, then asked us "Do you guys dance??" Except he was asking in a mean tone haha... it was the most random qusetion ever. Anyway, Elder Sutt answered that as missionaries, no, but normal members of the church do. The guy then left, returned with his bible (and his wife) and began yelling at us about who knows what and reading bible versuses to us and things... Totally ruined the moment haha. But Elder Sutterfield handled it well as I sat in silence and finally we just got up and left. Robinson was extremely apologetic. But as we left I just started laughing and said "Heyyy my first Bible Basher!!!" haha. And then wrote down a note to write home about it. haha.
Wednesday we had a last minute change in schedule and spent alot of the day with the Branch President, running around Linares and buying things for the house, and for the fiesta we had saturday! more about that later. But so it was alot of fun to be able to spend that time with the Branch President. We seriously have the best branch president ever. Hes the nicest man alive. I will also explain that later as well. haha.
So thursday we also had an awesome mini miracle/answer to our prayers. We've been struggling to find people to teach lately, and havent had alot of success. So as we were biking to Los Cristales in silence, out of nowhere Elder Sutterfield said " man I really want to rent or buy a huaso outfit for the 18th of september. That would be awesome to wear to the church activity saturday." Well, not even 30 seconds later we look to our left and a house had a sign in the window that said "Renting Huaso outfits!" So we were like No way!! and went to check it out. Welllll.... turns out the lady didnt have what we were looking for hahah. BUT we then asked if she'd like to hear our message and she let us in her house to talk to her! and she's married and has 2 kids, and this lady just asked every single question in the world that our message as missionaries answers haha. She doesn't attend church but has really strong faith in christ. And so basically as she was talking she just asked question after question after question and we were thinking "this is perfectt! We have every answer you neeeeeddd!!!" haha. So that was a blessing to run into her like that. We knew the Lord sent us there because it was just too perfect of a situation! haha.
Friday was a reaaaally fun cool day. We had a Conferencia de Nuevos in Talca. So basically all the people who are new go and we have a training with the Mission President (president Humphrey) all day and learn a bunch and all this stuff haha. So that was really really good. learned alot. President and Sister Humphrey are awesome. Haha. Funny story from that that I think Dad, you will find funny/unbelievable/appreciate. We were split up into Spanish and English groups so we could have the lessons in our native language, and then we switched classes midway through the day. So during our time with President Humphrey, mid-lesson, mid-thought, mid-sentence, one elder gets up and answers his phoneee and walks out the door to answer the call. It was really funny because Elder Esparza was sitting next to me and as soon as he saw the kid leaving he whispered "oh nooooo....." hahaha. any everything got really awkward really fast because president humphrey was just speechless in unbelief, then gave us a quick lecture about NEVER answer your phone like that cuz its so rude, and then he chewed out the kid. haha. Anyway just made me think of you and what you would do dad if that happened hahaha.
So another cool blessing of friday was after the conference when I came back to Longaví, it was AWESOME because out of nowhere I was understanding ALL the spanish that was being thrown at me and speaking it perfectly too! (okay not perfectly, but i was communicating fine haha) IT WAS THE BEST FEELING EVER. I was even joking with people and making them laugh and I could laugh cuz i understood things and blah blah blah. haha. I dont know what happened. But it was an awesome blessing. Unfortunately it didn't last forever, but since then I can definitely see huge improvement in my ability to understand and to speak! I cant wait til it STAYS that way and can always understand and talk! hahaha.
Anddd another awesome blessing of friday was what the branch president suprised us with. FOOD. SO MUCH FOOD. He bought us so many things of cereal and milk and some granola bars and mac and cheese and so on and so forth. Mom must have been praying that I find a way to not be hungry so much. hahaha. Well Seriously it was crazy. And he just did it for no reason. Our branch president is seriously the nicest most awesome guy ever. Ive really been blessed!!!
Okay and finally saturday! So since tuesday is ACTUALLY 18 of Septiembre, the Branch had an activity ALL day Saturday. Started at 10am until 10pm (but i guess people were there til midnight haha) It was just loaded with a baptism, games, games, games, games, dancing the el baile nacional- La Cueca, more games, food food food food, asado (bbq) and soooooo on. So we were there ALL DAY. It was a ton of fun. And the best part (besides the food) is that they have a bunch of tradicional games that they play. And one game is their own version of horseshoes. And so they had a tournament. Peru (the peruvian elders) Chile (their best players) and USA (Elder Sutterfield and I) and usa dominated them all hahaha. I dont even understand how the games works because elder sutterfield for some reason wouldnt explain it in english to me and I couldnt understand anyone else, but all I know is we dominted, and the chilenos were really really mad hahah. It was funny. But anyway, yeah the day was really awesome and really fun!!
Okay and last but not least, some other news. So everyone in our house is a little sick. We've all been coughing a bunch and blah blah blah. But so elder sutterfield has been sick for awhile, and so long story short, the branch president said "okay were gonna take you to get checked out". Turns out he has pnuemonia. and the doctor said he has to be bed ridden for 7 days. Soooo..... Elder Sutterfield and I will be spending alot of time getting to know the new house this next week!! We'll be in the house allll day until friday... Woo hoo. haha. No but actually I see it as a blessing too because I can now spend this time doing alot of studying on stuff that I've noticed I need to learn while we're out teaching haha. Doctrine, stories, THE LANGUAGE haha. So yes itll will be long and boring and terrible, but I think we'll survive. Hopefully. haha. Well that was my week! hope all is well with everyone else!
Its really cold in the mornings and warms up during the day! Im continuing to improve alot with the language! The food is still good! except their meat is kind of disappointing.... haha. oh well. uhmmmm I cant think of much else.... Im loving it! Its alot of fun and such an awesome experience. Im learning so much! haha. Iiiii dont know. Anyway. Cant think of anything else.
The church is true!! I love you and miss you all! Tengan una buena semana! Español es tan bakán. jaja. Chau.
-Elder Heyman
Pictures from 4th Week in Chile 09/17/2012
1. The national dance La Cueca! p,s, thats our chapel haha
2. Their version of horseshoes that we dominated!
3. This is one of my favorite little kids hahaha. Mario Alegría. This was an outfit for their parade haha
4. Water balloon volleyball was a game we played. It was alot of fun haha.
5. We had a tug of war on saturday as well haha
6. Arm wrestling which included contenders of all ages. Its really fun when EVERYONE gets involved haha. Women, kids, elders, old folks literally everyone did.
7. The little kids were trying to high five my hand hahaha. That's the inside of our building though haha. really small. Thats the chapel in the background!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Alooooha! September 10, 2012
It's aloha right? haha jk. hola mi familia and amigos y todas las personas que leen mis cartas!
SO ill just start out with my funny stories of the week! Nothing super crazy... but I had some language messups this week hahaha... (ps sidenote, im typing on the really weird keyboard so excuse my lack of precision with spelling and grammar)
So first off, here in Chile they use pesos. And the way it works is basically that 500 pesos is equal to one dollar. Tada. anyway, so if one way or another the amount due when you buy things comes out uneven or is low (for example 2,050 pesos) those 30 pesos are basically worth... 13 cents? and they dont really have change for that much, so they just round and have you pay even numbers! So instead of paying 2,050, you pay 2,000. I hope that makes sense... haha. SO ANYWAY. Now that you understand that, my story. So sometimes they round off the numbers and you just pay, or sometimes they ask you to donate it, kinda like when they ask you to donate a dollar or something in the states... they'll ask "would you like to donate 50 pesos to the fire department?" because the fire department and police departments here are strictly volunteer and they dont get paid! haha. So basically my companion and I went to the store to buy some stuff, and as I was paying, my total was something like 2,010 pesos? and the lady asked me "Would you like to donate 10 pesos to the fire department?". and honestly, I don't even know why I responded because I have no idea what she said. But somehow I knew she was asking me to donate money, and just instinctily i replied "no, gracias!" and the lady freaked out! She said "Nooooo????" and looked at me in amazement and her eyes got so wide... And I got really nervous because I had no idea what I did. But luckily my companion saved the day and said "Si! Si! El queria decir Si". So after we left he explained how I denied the FD 10 pesos and was about to make her get out like a penny and half worth of change for me that they NEVER use because its worth nothing. hahaha... I felt bad but just laughed haha.
And the second story! Each day one of the members from the branch makes lunch and we go to their house and eat! Chile's independance day is September 18th, so its coming up quick. and a specialty of "el dieziocho" are these empanadas they make? Empanadas with onions, eggs, some meat, and the specialty is an olive in it? Idk. So we went to this hermana's house to eat lunch and we were going to eat these special empanadas. The other elders were explaining to her how it was going to be my first time eating them, so the hermana said "Ohh you better like them!". so basically she serves us these empanadas, and they were really good, minus the olive haha. but anyway mid-meal the hermana comes back out and... This is how the conversation went in english:
Her: How are the empanadas?! Do you like them or not??
Me: No, no I like them alot!!!
Her: *Walks off yelling something to her husband in the other room*
Me: *confused, so i just continue eating*
So in spanish after she asked me if I like them I responded in a "english" type of response. "No, no! me gusta mucho!!!" but spanish doesnt work that way. "Me gusta mucho" (what i wanted to say) means I like it alot, while "No me gusta mucho" means I don't like it at ALL. So basically I told this woman to her face that i hated her empanadas, and she got mad and was yelling "Well too bad! You're gonna be hungry then cuz theres nothing else!!" hahahahaha. I was clueless. but luckily the other elders explained the situation and fixed it and she calmed down and all was well.... hahahaha. Oh man. IIII'm still learning!
But okay! Really long stories I apologize. OKay but now update of the week.
We moved today! As in we moved houses. I forgot to mention that in my last email but hey we moved houses this week! We just upgraded to a bigger house with more room. So were excited about that! And it was super anti-climatic and exciting as moving houses usually would be in life. haha. The last house was really small for 4 people so long story short we got permission to find a better house and move if we wanted! So we did that.
We had another baptism this week! Lucia Flor Fuentes was baptized this week a couple months after her 2 kids, so thats really good and we were happy about that! I was able to do the confirmation again this time! Except this time DURING church.... I don't know why haha dont ask. But anyway it went really well and was awesome! So were glad that family has been baptized and they really awesome people so just everybody is really happy haha.
Each week on fridays we have activitys at the church. So this week friday and saturday night we had sports night! And we played volleyball and basketball and "baby" futbol. SO that was fun. But mannnnn.... these latinos are GOOD at soccer. I felt stupid playing with them. it was so hard hahaha. plus it was "baby" football. Which is basically mini-indoor soccer. So it was especially hard. I was getting really frustrated and competitive.... So eventually I had to switch out and sub and I went and played ping pong instead because I was getting so heated hahaha. It was just really frustrating when I A: wasn't even good. B: Didn't know the rules C: Would have people yelling at me to do things and trying to explain rules and things to me in spanish when I had no idea what they were saying so then I would get even more confused and frustrated. So i stopped playing hahahaha. Oh well :P
I like the food here alot. I'm pretty sure i explained how its normal stuff but just served in random ways, but I like it alot! Minus the "longanizas" (sausages) and soda, but other than that its not bad! Ive always been really picky about my food and realllllly hesitant to try things... but im doing alot better now! haha.
It cooled back down during the week but its getting hotter now, so I'm enjoying that!
I still have yet to receive mail, just because I don't get mail often. I think I explained that too. But I have some meeting this week or something that I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get stuff.... FYI.
And to my family! So I came up with a system. Since I{m really bad at writing haha I apologize. But so here's what I figured I'd do. I'll write my normail email each week, and mom and dad each week too. But then I figured each week I can write something to one sibling too! And at that rate, you'll all get a letter from me at least once a month! It seems like a good plan to me. and then when theres birthdays or baby births or other exciting things I'll make sure to send you something too haha. But para que sepan (Just so you know. FYI) thats my plan. I just go start with Curbo down to Bub haha.
Thanks for all the emails and updates! I love reading them. They all make me laugh. It's weird to think we're all spread out all over the world! Ah! haha.
The language is still difficult and frustrating, but ive been able to figure some things out to help me, thanks for your advice! It's still coming, but just slow haha.
I cant really think of anything else grand or exciting... So I shall wrap this email up. I love you all and miss you alot. I know this church is true and I'm real happy to have it in my life! Im loving chile and the time I have here. Its so awesome. The people are awesome and I just love the experience haha. I can't wait to actually be able to communicate fluently with these people so I can REALLY start doing some work here, rather than just tag along trying to figure everything out haha. I just cant wait for that to start. Cuz then the mission is going to be REALLLY fun hahah. But alright! I love you and miss you all! The church is true!!!
-Elder Heyman
p.s. cant remmber if i have many pictures this week... or any good ones. Ill send what I've got!
SO ill just start out with my funny stories of the week! Nothing super crazy... but I had some language messups this week hahaha... (ps sidenote, im typing on the really weird keyboard so excuse my lack of precision with spelling and grammar)
So first off, here in Chile they use pesos. And the way it works is basically that 500 pesos is equal to one dollar. Tada. anyway, so if one way or another the amount due when you buy things comes out uneven or is low (for example 2,050 pesos) those 30 pesos are basically worth... 13 cents? and they dont really have change for that much, so they just round and have you pay even numbers! So instead of paying 2,050, you pay 2,000. I hope that makes sense... haha. SO ANYWAY. Now that you understand that, my story. So sometimes they round off the numbers and you just pay, or sometimes they ask you to donate it, kinda like when they ask you to donate a dollar or something in the states... they'll ask "would you like to donate 50 pesos to the fire department?" because the fire department and police departments here are strictly volunteer and they dont get paid! haha. So basically my companion and I went to the store to buy some stuff, and as I was paying, my total was something like 2,010 pesos? and the lady asked me "Would you like to donate 10 pesos to the fire department?". and honestly, I don't even know why I responded because I have no idea what she said. But somehow I knew she was asking me to donate money, and just instinctily i replied "no, gracias!" and the lady freaked out! She said "Nooooo????" and looked at me in amazement and her eyes got so wide... And I got really nervous because I had no idea what I did. But luckily my companion saved the day and said "Si! Si! El queria decir Si". So after we left he explained how I denied the FD 10 pesos and was about to make her get out like a penny and half worth of change for me that they NEVER use because its worth nothing. hahaha... I felt bad but just laughed haha.
And the second story! Each day one of the members from the branch makes lunch and we go to their house and eat! Chile's independance day is September 18th, so its coming up quick. and a specialty of "el dieziocho" are these empanadas they make? Empanadas with onions, eggs, some meat, and the specialty is an olive in it? Idk. So we went to this hermana's house to eat lunch and we were going to eat these special empanadas. The other elders were explaining to her how it was going to be my first time eating them, so the hermana said "Ohh you better like them!". so basically she serves us these empanadas, and they were really good, minus the olive haha. but anyway mid-meal the hermana comes back out and... This is how the conversation went in english:
Her: How are the empanadas?! Do you like them or not??
Me: No, no I like them alot!!!
Her: *Walks off yelling something to her husband in the other room*
Me: *confused, so i just continue eating*
So in spanish after she asked me if I like them I responded in a "english" type of response. "No, no! me gusta mucho!!!" but spanish doesnt work that way. "Me gusta mucho" (what i wanted to say) means I like it alot, while "No me gusta mucho" means I don't like it at ALL. So basically I told this woman to her face that i hated her empanadas, and she got mad and was yelling "Well too bad! You're gonna be hungry then cuz theres nothing else!!" hahahahaha. I was clueless. but luckily the other elders explained the situation and fixed it and she calmed down and all was well.... hahahaha. Oh man. IIII'm still learning!
But okay! Really long stories I apologize. OKay but now update of the week.
We moved today! As in we moved houses. I forgot to mention that in my last email but hey we moved houses this week! We just upgraded to a bigger house with more room. So were excited about that! And it was super anti-climatic and exciting as moving houses usually would be in life. haha. The last house was really small for 4 people so long story short we got permission to find a better house and move if we wanted! So we did that.
We had another baptism this week! Lucia Flor Fuentes was baptized this week a couple months after her 2 kids, so thats really good and we were happy about that! I was able to do the confirmation again this time! Except this time DURING church.... I don't know why haha dont ask. But anyway it went really well and was awesome! So were glad that family has been baptized and they really awesome people so just everybody is really happy haha.
Each week on fridays we have activitys at the church. So this week friday and saturday night we had sports night! And we played volleyball and basketball and "baby" futbol. SO that was fun. But mannnnn.... these latinos are GOOD at soccer. I felt stupid playing with them. it was so hard hahaha. plus it was "baby" football. Which is basically mini-indoor soccer. So it was especially hard. I was getting really frustrated and competitive.... So eventually I had to switch out and sub and I went and played ping pong instead because I was getting so heated hahaha. It was just really frustrating when I A: wasn't even good. B: Didn't know the rules C: Would have people yelling at me to do things and trying to explain rules and things to me in spanish when I had no idea what they were saying so then I would get even more confused and frustrated. So i stopped playing hahahaha. Oh well :P
I like the food here alot. I'm pretty sure i explained how its normal stuff but just served in random ways, but I like it alot! Minus the "longanizas" (sausages) and soda, but other than that its not bad! Ive always been really picky about my food and realllllly hesitant to try things... but im doing alot better now! haha.
It cooled back down during the week but its getting hotter now, so I'm enjoying that!
I still have yet to receive mail, just because I don't get mail often. I think I explained that too. But I have some meeting this week or something that I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get stuff.... FYI.
And to my family! So I came up with a system. Since I{m really bad at writing haha I apologize. But so here's what I figured I'd do. I'll write my normail email each week, and mom and dad each week too. But then I figured each week I can write something to one sibling too! And at that rate, you'll all get a letter from me at least once a month! It seems like a good plan to me. and then when theres birthdays or baby births or other exciting things I'll make sure to send you something too haha. But para que sepan (Just so you know. FYI) thats my plan. I just go start with Curbo down to Bub haha.
Thanks for all the emails and updates! I love reading them. They all make me laugh. It's weird to think we're all spread out all over the world! Ah! haha.
The language is still difficult and frustrating, but ive been able to figure some things out to help me, thanks for your advice! It's still coming, but just slow haha.
I cant really think of anything else grand or exciting... So I shall wrap this email up. I love you all and miss you alot. I know this church is true and I'm real happy to have it in my life! Im loving chile and the time I have here. Its so awesome. The people are awesome and I just love the experience haha. I can't wait to actually be able to communicate fluently with these people so I can REALLY start doing some work here, rather than just tag along trying to figure everything out haha. I just cant wait for that to start. Cuz then the mission is going to be REALLLY fun hahah. But alright! I love you and miss you all! The church is true!!!
-Elder Heyman
p.s. cant remmber if i have many pictures this week... or any good ones. Ill send what I've got!
Pics from 3rd week in Chile. 09/10/2012
1. An even bigger, massive completo. It was huge. But I liked it alot. haha
2. We did a service project this week. We were chillin' with some cows hahaha. We just helped clean up this recent convert's farm.
3. The farm:
4. The recent convert: Rodrigo. He is seriously the strangest, weirdest man I have ever met. But he is sooooo funny. hahaha. He's a strange man.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Monday, September 3 (2nd Letter from Chile)
THIS WEEK WAS CRAZYYYY.
So first off, Monday night was the craziest night of my life. We went to a families house for a lesson, and mid lesson we heard gun shots off in the distance... So we all were like "uhh.... okay." It was also the investigators birthday, so we were expecting a nice happy short time at the house. But, the ladies husband who she hates (they dont live together) came to the party, and they were just fighting and arguing all night. And the kids were fighting with them too... it was just really awkward. BUT, even more, the aunt was there too. She was in a different room watching the Jospeh Smith Restauration video... and midway through she comes walking out of the room and starts offering a prayer in "languages" on the husband about how he needs to change and stuff? Like she was rambling and mumbling in some weird languages speaking nonsense yelling things. It was really creepy and weird. We didnt know what to do... The Holy Ghost (which wasn´t very strong to begin with because of the fighting) was just GONE. Weird. So then as we left on our bikes, my companions chain fell off, so I pulled him on my bike off the dirt road up to the freeway, because he was explaining the gunshots never happen and it was really weird, so the freeway would be safer... Well as he was fixing the chain, I turn around and see a group of 15 SUPER sketchy kids off in the distance, dressed in all black on the side of the highway. Which is also really weird and never happens, and they started heading our way, so I said "Elder you need to hurry up..." hahaha. So we booked it out of there. As we biked back, 3 ambulances with lights flashing went flying past us, so we figure somebody hit their mark with that shot :/ So LASTLY. After all that, and we´re already super freaked out. Were biking along the highway, and remember how I said there´s a ton of dogs around, and theyre always going crazy? We were on the right side of the freeway (2 lanes), and a dog saw us on the opposite side and started freaking out and started charging at us. I was a little ahead so I was fine, but the dog was charging RIGHT for Elder Sutterfield. So he was like "oh no..." BUT.... as soon as the dog hit the road, a car was heading the opposite way as us, and I watched the whole thing as the car just nailed the dog, not even stopping, and the dog yelped a little and then just died in the road... It was crazy, we were freaking out, and the spirit was just GONE. We just wanted to get back to the house for the night where we could be safeee. hahaha
SOOOOO that´s my crazy story for the week! At this rate I´ll have one for you each week! :) haha. I told you. It´s crazy here. Definitely not the USA anymore haha. But i´mmmm loving it. Its alot of fun.
I´m finally at the point where the language is frustrating me :/ The reason im frustrated is because the people here automatically assume we don´t know the language... so they´ve gained confidence in my companion because they HAVE to talk to him since i´m "handicapped". But ive just become frustrated because they don´t even TRY talking to me... If they ever have a question about me or want to know something about me or whatever, they just ask my companion. It´s like im not even there! I get referred to as "him" alot... When they talk and I cant understand, i ask them to speak slower or something to help me understand... but they just immediately give up and turn to someone else. It´s just frustrating :/ because I can speak! I just cant understand :( anybody have any tips for understanding the language, besides "patience"? haha Im not expecting to learn it by tomorrow... Its just frustrating and I need all the help I can get haha. That´s my venting sesh.
So this week we also had our wedding! It went awesome! Quite different than a wedding in the states... but it was still happy and fun so thats good :) Everything was done in the chapel. Usually people want something bigger/a bit nicer than a chapel, but here when we tell them they can use it for free and we´ll help with stuff, they get really excited because the chapel actually has a heater and such! haha. Kind of funny. I´ll just attach some pics of that!
Well the next day since the couple was now married, they could be baptized! So we also had 2 baptisms this week! It was awesome! It went really well and Benjasmin and Jordani (the married/baptized couple) were extremely happy! ANDDDD after the baptism while we were waiting for everyone to get changed up, the Branch President came up to me and after 2 or 3 tries to make sure I understood what he was saying (an extra try or two because I was in unbelief) he informed me that I was going to be confirming Jordani a member of the church, giving her the gift of the Holy Ghost, and giving her a blessing. IN SPANISH. I was freaking out. I was asking "Uhhh isnt it supposed to be on sunday??" Hoping to get a day to practice or something, plus its usually done on sundays in church anyways. and he said since we´re a really small branch they just do it then and there... So.... I once again was freaking out. I started praying HARD hahaha. I whipped out my book which told me the order the blessings supposed to be done and started translating asap. I was like "why are they asking me?! She wants a GOOD blessing!" hahaha. I was just freaking out about it. But, so I stepped up and placed my hands on her head and gave her the blessing. In Spanish!!! I did it! Day 10 and I gave someone a blessing in Spanish! When I was done I was in unbelief. haha. I couldn´t believe I did it. haha. I hope they understood it all... haha. But so yeah. I was definitely giving some prayers of thanks after that experience. haha.
Okay and lastly a quick explanation because I´m going to attach a photo, we have ward activities every friday night, and this night we had a costume dance. So obviously we werent allowed to dance, but we got permission to dress up a little bit. It was very last minute, but so yeah. That´s what the picture is haha.
Well! That´s kind of all I have to say for this week! The weather´s warmed up really fast, and I continue to play the piano whenever it´s needed haha. We bike lots, I still like the food... and literally I can´t think of anything else haha. OKAY! I love you all and miss you so much! Keep me in your prayers por favor! You´re in mine ;) hahah.
-Elder Heyman
P.s. Okay I remembered one last thing... So I guess I only get mail once a month kind of?.... (long story) So continue to send me letters! haha but just so you know... Which p.s.s. It makes emails more fun to read now :) haha. Okay miss you and love you!
Pictures from 2nd Week in Chile! Sept. 3
1. Looks like I forgot to include a picture of me and my companion last week haha sorry.
2. The famous "Completo". A hot dog with tomato, avocado, ketchup, mustard, and mayo haha. Its delicious.:
3. Investigator had this in their house? Its cool, and we had to take an embarrassing picture with it haha.
4. Me, Jordani, their baby boy Cristobal, Benjasmin, and Elder Sutterfield after the actual marriage at the registro civil!
5. The 4 elders in costume! They were last minute throw something together with what we have costumes haha.
6. Benjasmin and Jordani not leaving, but coming to their celebration haha. We all threw rice as they walked by.
7. Small humble wedding reception in the chapel! We had a dinner of some meat (not sure what... haha) rice, lettuce, bread... the usual haha. We blew up some balloons for them, and that actually is toilet paper hanging from the cieling above us... haha. It was awesome.
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