¡Nuevita!

¡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