¡Hola Err´body!
Yes, I am alive, and I am in Chile. Those are the important things, yeah?
I
traveled with a few other elders, which was such a blessing. I felt
like such a lost little baby the whole time. And there´s no way I could
have handled that luggage on my own . . . muchissimas gracias to those
elders.
In the meeting with the new arrivals, we were all
asked to bear our testimony. I discovered at that time that my American
accent is brought out in a big way when I get nervous. BUT that meeting
was great because . . . drumroll . . . I met my new compañera! Her name
is Hna Suarez and she is EXACTLY what I need for a trainer. She doesn´t
speak English, she´s been out for over a year, definitely knows what
she´s doing, and is very in tune with the Spirit. Needless to say, I´ve
learned approximately 16billion trillion million things in my first
week. Woohoo! It´s a bit tiring only being able to talk in Spanish, but
one of the Hermanas we live with is from the U.S. too, so that´s a
relief.
The sad news is, Hermana Oldroyd was transferred
far, far away, so it might be a while before I see her. But I´m
convinced that I will eventually!
We are in a
place called Tomé. It is an adorable coastal town. There are dogs
everywhere, and luckily none of them have given me rabies yet. I think.
You can see the ocean from basically everywhere, and the view from our
house is INCREDIBLE. Our house has thin walls and huge windows though,
so it´s pretty cold. I´m pretty sure it´s colder than outdoors. My best
friend here is the space heater we use when we sleep and study. I never
thought I would say this, but . . . I underestimated the cold-ness of
this place. I froze the first night, and ever since then I´ve been
wearing like 29 sweaters and 6 pairs of leggings at a time. Just call me
the 29 sweater lady. (I really wish I could tweet that right now).
The first day was pretty hard, I´m not going to lie.
I have literally never been so lost in my life. I had no idea what was
going on. Everyone said that Chile is the most like the U.S. in South
America. Buuuut . . . seriously, people. it´s different. Nevertheless, I
did what I have been told is the remedy for all - WORK. I am gaining
such a testimony of the blessings of being diligent. Even though it was
hard, I stuck it out and followed the schedule and did my best. It
honestly only took me ONE day of this to feel like myself and to feel
comfortable with the schedule and responsibilities. Now I am happier
than ever, and I absolutely love this place. ¡¡¡Yay Tomé!!!
Hermana Suarez didn´t waste any time, and we´ve been contacting and teaching ever since my arrival Tuesday
night! We´ve taught several lessons and I´ve even asked someone if they
would commit to baptism! She didn´t, but, still. I was surprised and
how quickly we´re diving into the work here.
Okay can we just take a second and appreciate . . .
FOOD. The food here is amazing. I haven´t eaten a single thing I didn´t
like. We ate lunch with members every day the past week. Let me just
give you an idea of what it´s like. We went to a member´s house for
lunch, and we were late because of District meeting. We called to ask
where it was, and they didn´t know we were coming until that point. The
mom was cooking when we got there and she was all stressed out because
she had no idea ahead of time. A few minutes later she brings out the
most amazing mashed potatoes and beef I have ever had in my life. And
she had no idea we were coming. Like, okay then, just whip out this
gourmet meal! I don´t think we´re going to go hungry.
The ward here is EXCELLENT. We met a ton of members
and they´re all super nice and super eager to help with the missionary
effort. And the kids are adorable, of course. I´m really excited to be
in this ward, for sure.
I love you all! Thanks for all the emails and love and prayers! All is well!
Love, Hermana Glazier
