Week 2 was a blast!Somewhere in the past week everyone I talked to decided to slow down or something because I can now understand almost everything that is said to me. The only things that go over my head now are political discussions(one member apparently bashed on the U.S.A and everything I stand for while I sat oblivious) and slurring drunk men. We contacted, or rather were contacted by a drunk or two this week. Quick funny story- We were waiting for a micro after a district meeting, when we see a man on the over side of the street walking goofy and yelling stuff. He spots us, and yells "Elders!! pray for me!!!" we could tell he was either drunk or crazy. Turns out both. Like 5 minutes later he comes walking back the other direction waving his hands in the air and exclaims, in tears, THANK YOUUUU. THANK YOUUU. The proceeded to keep on walking while crying and shouting for joy. We laughed the whole way back to our sector.
Well I should start by trying to answer all your questions. My pday is Monday. Last week we did nothing but shop and write emails. This week we played soccer at a church with some Elders in our zone. It was on cement because grass only exists...nowhere...in Chile. If you want to send packages you can send them through pouch mail. It will arrive at the mission home, then get to me a few days later at the next district meeting. The address is Elder Charlie Van Dyke Mission Chile Santiago Oeste Casilla de Correo 149 Chacabuco 166 Maipu, Chile. Kiera asked what the weather is like. Hot. Not that hot because we are just starting summer, but still pretty toasty. We had a nice breeze that blew the smog out yesterday. I could acutally see the mountains and downtown Santiago. It was pretty.
I got photos but forgot my adapter, so next week. I email from internet cafes, they are all over the place. Just a hole in the wall. My first thought when I saw my pension was...EW. I had to sweep the carpet before I could vacuum. Its still super grody. I just never take my shoes off and don´t touch anything. We are going to buy some cleaning supplies today that should help. We have NONE. We eat almuerzo with a member family everyday. Its usually really good and really big. Rice, chicken, noodles, fruit drink or coke, salad. I haven´t had anything really gross except kidney beans. Cait asked how we cook in our little kitchen. Well we use a match to get the stove on. We don´t have towels so we air dry any dish we wash. We have a fridge in the main area that I had to clean because apparently the smell of sour milk is enjoyable to Latins. To answer your question--I don´t know. I don´t cook much there except noodles and breakfast.
Someone asked about my room mates. I though I told you last week but maybe not. They are Elder Colman from Panama(he changed his last name to make it easier) and Elder Campana from Peru. They are both great missionaries and very latin. They don´t believe cleaning. They are both learning English. Campana isn´t half bad. He is as good at English as I am at Spanish so it works out.
Someone asked if there is anything I want. Not right now that I can think of but I´ll think about it this week. My slackline would be fun though. So this week I really got comfortable with my area. I learned that although we have a pretty average area as far as poverty goes, we also have the worst area in the mission goes as far as crime. About half of my area got closed off to missionary work a few months ago because of crime. All of the "flightays" or gangstas live there. Its called the legua. We had to go in there the other day because a woman came to church who lives in the legua and requested that we come by her house after church. There was a baaadd spirit in that place. We ain´t going back.
This week we set a record in our sacrament meeting attendance. 117. We have 806 members on our ward list. Our job is to find all these people and bring them back or find out where they moved to. It takes a big portion of our day, so we try to limit our work from that list and look for some new investigators. We did some knocking these past few days. Hot and cold. Got a few really good "news" and a few less than courteous people. One thing I have learned is that no Chilean can say no to a lamina(picture of Christ). You can have someone talking to you through a intercom from inside their house, but as soon as you mention free lamina they open the door and come to the gate. Thats the other thing about this country. Rarely do i knock doors unless i´m in a highrise apartment complex. Usually we just yell halo. Ask Matt. He can explain.
Okay I need to start sticking to the list of things I made. First on the list is Jaime. He is a progessing investigator with a baptismal date for Dec. 4th. He is about 55ish, lives alone, but has older kids. He keeps all our commitments and is enjoying the Book of Mormon. He loves the idea of becoming clean from his sins through repentance and is excited to get baptized. Can´t wait to see him in the water.
Another family I wanted to tell you about is the familia Sandoval. They all got baptized a few months ago and are working towards the temple. There are 2 young couples. One is Pati and Rodrigo. Rodrigo is the bomb. Tattoos, earings, killer 2 foot rat tail in the back. But he is a sucker for his kids and his wife. He got the priesthood a few weeks ago and cleans up nice for sunday. His wife Pati is due any day with another child. It will be very rewarding to see them get sealed in the temple. The other couple is Gabby and Joty. They don´t have kids but are working for the temple as well. Then there is Hrma. Edith. She is the mother of Gabby and Pati, and has another son, Amelio, in the bishopric. She is incredible. No husband. Successfully raised 4 kids. The whole family is just awesome. Always willing to come out and teach with us, always faithful. This area and perhaps whole country lacks people like the Sandovals. Hermana Ruz told me this week that she contacted Adam Allen via facebook or something and somehow ended up finding Matt Dorius. I can´t remember if you guys talked or not. So if you are friend requested by a Chilean don´t be surprised.
Earlier this week, I think it was Tuesday, we had to go on a visa run for Elder Martinez. Every missionary has to do it twice during their mission and it happened to be his time. We had to go to the mission office out in Maipu, get his documents, then get downtown to a police station and wait in lines, then go to another government agency to finish off. It took most of the day but was fun because I got to see a lot of Santiago. Beautiful city in certain areas, not so much in others. This week I bought shoes for like 60 bucks. I hope someone is watching my bank account. No I didn´t want to spend that much money on shoes. I had no other option. They are these super ugly cheap running shoes. The next option was like 85 bucks or 40 something pesos.
So I have a few questions for you guys...What is college football like?How is the snow? I wish I could have seen it one more timeMatt-how have you stayed away from this country for so long? It is the best. I already love it and don´t want to leave. You better come down here when my work is said and done.
Well I need to get going so I wanted to leave you with a quick testimonyI have been studying in Alma and came across one of my favorite scriptures. It is when Alma runs into his fellow missionaries after 14 years of preaching to the Lamanites. He talks about his joy being full because they were still his brothers in the Lord. This scripture gets me every time because I think of my friends serving around the world, and the day when we will all see each other again. It also gets me thinking about my family. I´m so glad to have an active family who make good choices. I cant wait to see all of you again when my time here is down. I know we have a prophet today, his name is Thomas S. Monson. I know that the priesthood is real, and it is the same power that the disciples of Christ had when they were on the earth. This gospel is perfect. Hope you all have a great week.
Thanks for all your words of encouragement and testimonies
Elder Charlie Van Dyke
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