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!
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