NO WAY!

That was my reaction when I heard where I will be going my last transfer of the mission. I'm going to be in Parral (close to Cauquenes) to be with Hermana Romero. She's only in her second transfer, and came to Concepción a few weeks ago for her new missionaries conference. I don't know if anyone remembers a week when I said that we had absolute craziness, divisions with new missionaries and mini-cambios and whatever else? Well when we had divisions with new missionaries she was my companion! I loved her so much after just one day with her and I never thought I would be her companion. I'm so excited! And the best part is, no one in Parral knows when I end my mission so I'll be able to focus well.

Christmas was great! It was a tough week as far as work goes, but we tried to enjoy the most we could. We had an awesome Christmas conference with the WHOLE MISSION (first and only time my whole mission) and it was great. We spent Christmas Eve with a great family. It was a calm, classy dinner and they gave us some small gifts. We then decided to follow the Chilean tradition and stay up until midnight to open all our presents! It was a little bit anti-climatic waking up on Christmas day and not having any presents but it was still fun. 

This Christmas season I feel like I have learned a lot about my Savior and what He really means to me. What he did for all of us means that anyone, anytime, in any situation, can start over. Whenever we what, no matter what we have done, no matter how old we are. (I was reminded of that when I watched one of my favorite videos again). It also means that no matter what I'm going through, there's someone who understands. I've had some tough moments in the mission where I didn't even understand myself, and realizing that someone actually does understand was all I needed to feel better. I'm so grateful for that knowledge and I am going to do all I can to let others know the same. 6 weeks is a very short time and I won't be able to do everything in that time. But I'm going to give all I can because He deserves the best. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

I love you all. 

Hermana Glazier

Photos: reunited with all my old companions at the Christmas conference, Christmas Eve with Hermana Lorena.

Pan de Pascua

If anyone were to ask me what Christmas is like here, I would just say, "lots and lots of pan de Pascua." (similar to fruitcake). No snow, obviously, but it's actually been nice and chilly here in Concepción this past week. It even rained a couple days, so from what I hear, we've been having the same weather as Utah!

This was yet another crazy week - divisions with new missionaries, exchanges with hermanas from our zone, ward Christmas activity (the primary kids from the Collao ward did a Nativity that gave me some ideas for next year with the Glazier fam, including some fancy light effects haha) and much more! We once again are barely keeping up with everything and trying to enjoy the ride. Today we had a zone activity and rushed around to buy some gifts afterwards. Some things never change - I've never been one to buy my gifts very far in advance. I also hate shopping with all the crowds. I should probably change one of those things. 

On Saturday we stopped to talk to a man in the street and invited him to church. He surprisingly said, "Yeah, I want to go" - not just the normal "yeah, maybe I'll pass by sometimes". And he showed up the next day at church! He loved it and seemed to get along with some of the members. Hopefully we'll be able to keep on teaching him. 

I also was very excited to hear on Sunday that a relative of one of the members got baptized in a different part of Conce. (Actually from the Concepción South mission). She was at the member's house one day and we asked if she would like to be visited by the missionaries. I wrote down all her information and passed it on to the office. This was about 2 or 3 months ago and I never heard anything else. In fact, I've passed on the information of dozens of people to the office but it's not likely I'll ever know anything about what happens afterwards. Anyway, a couple weeks ago she visited Collao again and told us she had been visiting with the Elders and going to church and was trying to decide if she should be baptized. We encouraged her to keep praying about it. I was so happy to hear that she had made the decision. It feels good knowing that sometimes the smallest things make a huge difference. 

I hope everyone's been enjoying the Christmas season and have found small ways to serve others. Thanks for all the love and support. I love you all!

Feliz Navidad, 

Hermana Glazier

The only pictures I have this week are from the Zone activity. A major asado. The zone leaders went a little overboard on the grocery shopping and we ended up with a loooooot of meat. 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

We've been teaching this classic Christmas tune to one of the Hermanas in our house. She's from Argentina but we practice English with her a lot. Her companion, who is from Brazil, is not happy with us - she's been listening to the first 2 lines of "Rudolph" for about 3 days straight. But the good news is, she still has taught me a few words in Portuguese! I love being able to learn and teach languages. It's so fascinating. I would love to be able to talk to anyone in the world in their native language - wouldn't that be amazing?

Anyway - it was a hectic week. There are times in the work where it feels like we're pushing a car uphill and for every foot we push it we have to stop at let it roll back a few inches. Then there are times where it gets momentum and we have to run to keep up, and meanwhile some other things are neglected. I often feel like I'm not keeping up with everything, but we're trying to enjoy the road anyway. I especially love focusing on Christmas and inviting everyone to learn about the greatest gift that has ever been given - our Savior.

I love recognizing and remembering that no matter how much we lack, the Savior makes up for the rest. This week I was studying a talk by Elder Maxwell called "Notwithstanding My Weakness" (follow the link at read it if you have a minute). I love it 1. because it's so well written and 2. because it's so true. Our spiritual progress is never going to be a checklist of things nor anything like it. It's about trying and constantly repenting. Right at the beginning of the talk he mentions that some of us have "false insecurity". Why do we doubt our abilitites, lose hope, or feel discouraged, when we know deep inside that we only have reason to rejoice? I can't help but love everything that has to do with Christmas because it reminds me of that. 

I love you all,

Hermana Glazier

Ramuntcho

Dang, I'm still not used to this only 1 hour thing. Next week I'll write the blog first, deal? But for today enjoy some great photos of Ramuntcho - a beautiful beach where we went for a zone activity today. 

Love you all!

H Glaz

Thanksgiving is every day, man

I chose that title because this Thanksgiving passed like any other day. I thought it couldn't get any less eventful than last year, but apparently it can! As I was eating my carbonada (typical Chilean beef and noodle soup) at lunch ton Thursday, I suddenly remembered that it was thanksgiving. I mentioned it and everybody just said "Oh yeah, that's cool," and we carried on. I didn't feel bad though in all honesty, because EVERY day is like Thanksgiving here! 1. sometimes the food portions are VERY LARGE and 2. I'm constantly and eternally grateful to be here. No matter how much I complain about being tired or how strong the sun is or whatever else, I really do love this place and these people. And most of all, I love talking about the Savior every chance I get. 

That's why I LOVE the new video the Church is using this Christmas season. If you haven't heard of it yet, go to http://www.mormon.org/christmas to watch it. We as missionaries have been invited to use this video in all of our efforts this month. I love it and it's a message that we all can relate to. There's nothing like the mission to make you realize how unimportant the gifts and out-of-control commercialization are at this time. I love focusing on the greatest gift any of us will ever receive. I'm thankful that in my family we always focused on that and that we always did something as a family to serve our neighbors or help out other people and that we always read the Christmas story from the scriptures. Keep up that focus this year and it'll be 100% more enjoyable!

Well, my last piece of news is that we have had an onfortunate occurence here in Collao. This morning I pulled my sheets and blankets off my bed in one large swoop and threw them in the washer without checking to see if any items had gone unnoticed. As were about to go out the door I asked Hermana Corbett to call me because I couldn't find my phone. She said that it didn't ring - it was just turned off. That's weird, I thought, because I had just charged it yesterday. As I went into the kitchen I heard a clunking noise in the washer. In that moment I knew what I had done. I always make fun of people for making those dumb kind of errors and think to myself "how can you just not take care of your stuff like that!" and yet here I am. It's what I get for making fun of people. We'll see if the classic rice-drying method will restore it or if I'll just have to pay for a new phone. Haha I'm so embarrassed. 

Have a great week, love you all!

Hermana Glazier

BIG-TIME cambios!

This past week we saw huge changes in the mission. There were lots of surprising transfers and changes (things that are exciting for us :)

I'm excited to be with Hermana Corbett! She's awesome and we're getting along great. The first week was crazy but things are settling in now. 2 new Elders also came to the ward so it's been like a good jump-start for everyone. We've got some great activities coming up and we're starting to be more united with the ward (that's what happens when you have 2 new Elders who need help from the members to find where people live, etc - everyone is obligated to get involved!)

So the other big change/news is that we now only have 1 hour of internet time instead of 1.5 hours. This is just to let you know that it might be harder for me to respond to my "abundant" *cough cough* emails. Ha. You get to this point in the mission and everyone forgets about you...nah, I don't feel forgotten. I'm just glad that it's at this point they've changed the rule. 

I would just like to take a moment to give a shout out to my little brother who is a STATE CHAMP! Good job, man. Like I have mentioned several times - I'm determined to improve my sports abilities after I get home, and I have great siblings who are going to be able to teach me :)

Well, I love you all, keep working hard and doing good things! 

Love, 

Hermana Glashzieier

p.s. I shouldn't have promised photos of this week because I didn't take any ha! Here are some surprise-attack-while-on-the-computer attempts and a shot of me and H'Meyer eating amazing home-made bread, a kind relief-society president's way of saying thanks and goodbye.

Goodbye Hermana Meyer!

Well, it's happening - cambios again. Hermana Meyer is going to Chillán, and Hermana Corbett is coming! I will miss Hermana Meyer but Hermana Corbett's great too. I'll send pictures next week. I'm always nervous about walking around with another blonde hermana (we get a lot more attention and "hello"s) but I guess we'll just have to tough it out :) I'm also nervous because the other 3 missionaries from our ward are leaving - I'm the only one staying! My memory will definitely be tested these coming weeks.

This week we had stake conference and wouldn't you know it, I was the only person in the stake qualified to play the piano. They called us about 2 weeks ago with an urgent request for someone who knows how to read music to help with their choir rehearsals. I accepted, thinking that they just needed someone to help fill in for a couple practices. I ended up playing all of the hymns for both sessions of stake conference. I'm about 98% sure that it will be the first and last time I will be asked to accompany the hymns and choir at a stake conference because I know there are MANY other people who play a lot better than I do. But I'm grateful that I at least had the ability to fill in where I was needed! 

This also relates to what Hermana Arrington (mission president's wife) spoke about in the conference - how her sister once had to help deliver 3 babies in a medical clinic in Africa. She was shocked when they asked her to help, because she had no experience and thought there surely was someone else more qualified. But there are times where we really are the only ones who can help. Each of us is needed somewhere - even when we think someone else could do the job better or that we aren't up to the task. But as we trust in what the Lord is asking us to do, we will see that our past experiences really have qualified us for what we're about to do. And if we alone don't have the ability to do it, He knows exactly how and will help us. I love that message because it's so true in every part of the work - the Lord needs us to help even when we think someone else must be more up to the task. The truth is, He called and needs US. 

I love the work and I love all of you who are patient and kind enough to read my letters, write me, pray for me, etc. 

Love, 

Hermana Blazer (as they announced my name in stake conference)

The Smallest Cupcake

This week we were given the smallest cupcakes I have ever seen. They were so so so small. But that made me love them even more. Now I'm sure you're thinking, okay, Hermana Glazier, you might be obsessed with tiny things, but it's not as interesting to everyone else. But don't you worry, there's a lot more meaning here than you might think. When the Lord says "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass," he means it.

I've been thinking a lot about the little things this week. The small and simple and how it makes us great. In Relief Society yesterday we talked about some of the small acts of kindness that President Joseph Fielding Smith was remembered for - buying a coat for someone, letting a small child sit by him in conference, things like that. I was so touched by that as I realized that when someone is in a position of fame, wealth, power, etc. it's those tiny things that everyone judges them about. One uneducated or impolite statement could label them forever as ignorant and bigoted, while these small acts of kindness from Pres. Smith left him remembered as a great example of love and Christian goodness. The church provides unmatched amounts of aid for natural disasters and other situations around the world, but most people's impression of the Church comes from their one Mormon neighbor or classmate. Just like a tiny cupcake is fascinating because it's so small, the President of a worldwide church worrying about one child is touching because of its simplicity. The cupcake, or the act in and of itself is so small, but it actually probably takes more effort, more patience, more humility, more creativity. 

We may not be in the spotlight like the "important" people of the world, but we have chances to be important every day! We are important to that person we invite to sit next to us, that person we hug, that person we call, that person we sincerely listen to and pray for. These small acts of service are the lifeblood of the church and the kind of love that the world needs more than ever. A warm greeting from other people means a lot more to someone coming to church the first time (or returning after some time) than a perfectly executed activity or lesson ever could. 

I can testify of all this because I experienced it this week. The members of the church are always serving us - feeding us, driving us home, helping us teach, etc. But there was one small act that impacted me more than a lot of those other things. We were walking to an appointment and I stopped to talk to a man waiting at the bus stop. We started to introduce ourselves and he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with us. He said he was atheist and didn't want anything to do with our church. Having recently heard the words of Elder Holland reminding us to be persistent, I calmly explained that the truth we share has really blessed us and we know that God wants all of His children to have it. I'm not sure how he segwayed into it, but he starting talking about the United States and how they're going to close the borders and that we're terrible people because of Obama and we're discriminating against immigrants and how we should go back to America and...I'm not sure what he said, in all honesty. That's basically the impression I got - but, after being in Chile for over a year, I have absolutely no knowledge of anything even closely related to politics. I tried to explain that to him. I said we have no idea what's going on there because we've been in Chile for a long time and that we're only here to help our brothers and sisters. He wasn't having it and kept insisting that we were somehow responsible for the injustice and that we should leave Chile, so I told him that he was always invited to share and that it really would bless his life. I assured him that whether he believes it or not, we are brothers and God really does love him. At this point the bus came so we shook his hand and started to walk away. I didn't feel bad because he was attacking us for something we have absolutely nothing to do with, but I did feel sad that people let themselves get so confused sometimes. As we walked away from the bus stop, a woman that had arrived while we were talking was also getting on the bus. She was a little bit rebellious and grumpy-looking, but if she hadn't been getting on the bus we probably would have talked to her as well. She had a large cart of things that she was most likely going to sell. I thought to myself, for a split second, what she was probably like. I know her type. Has talked to the missionaries before, is willing to talk for a second, but will say that she's too busy and that maybe in the future she'll visit the church. She had overheard the whole conversation with the other man, and probably saw the concern in our faces as she turned around to pull her cart onto the bus. She said loudly and sincerely, "Que les vaya bién, chiquillas." (Doesn't translate but just wished us well). I felt that she said it sincerely and from the heart and that she was really concerned for the discourteous way we had been treated. That moment changed my view of her. It was something so, so small, but meant so, so much to me. It was a tiny little cupcake that was just what I needed to keep going. 

I'm grateful for the little things that happen and for the little opportunities I have. 

Now go out and do some good!

Much love, 

Hermana Glazier

Halloween

Halloween was celebrated by eating a few halloween-themed cookies (basically a 5 minute party). It was a great week.

I hate doing this, but I literally have no time left! Just know that I'm well, it was a great week, this week will be greater, the work is true, amen. 

Love you all!

Hermana Gla

Yes, we're real!

It's funny to me how fascinated people still are by the fact that we're from the U.S.

One day we were standing on a corner reviewing our plans and a young boy (probably about 10 years old) came up to us. We asked him where he lived and if we could share with his family. As he was responding, he stopped mid-sentence and moved closer. He tentatively poked my hand as I was trying to write down the information. I looked up at him and he said "Oh, I just had never touched someone from the United States". He seemed very excited to have discovered that yes, we are just like any other person...he soon after ran away. 

Then, another day, we were waiting outside an investigator's house. She wasn't home, so we were waiting a good few minutes outside. Suddenly a group of teenagers ran up, asking if they could take a selfie with us. I was really confused but we accepted. They said it was for their school newspaper or something. I don't really know. The best part was they passed by about 2 or 3 times before actually asking us if they could take the photo. 

As far as the work goes - this week we tried to do more service. As I may have mentioned before, people hesitate to put the hermanas to work. We decided to do surprise service and just arrive at members' houses in our work clothes so they couldn't say no! 2 sisters gave us some small tasks but one still said she had nothing we could possibly help with. 2/3 is pretty good. We'll definitely be repeating that one! 

Yesterday was the primary program in our ward. That thing will NEVER get old. One of the couselors in the bishopbric stood up after and commented on how close the Lord the kids are. It's totally true. Little kids are so easily molded, they're like little sponges. The older we get the harder it is for us to change our attitudes or ideas. The more time we spend in the mission, or in an area, or whatever, the more we think "yeah, I've got this. I know what I'm doing. I've already learned it all". The key is believing in our ability to improve without being prideful. The Lord is always willing to guide us as long as we are willing to listen. 

Thanks for all your love and prayers, 

Hermana Glazier

photos: yet another soccer activity! This time we made zone t-shirts.

me and a completo - the young women were selling them for a fundraiser for their upcoming temple trip

Papa John's Saves the Day

One of my favorite moments this week was a great "hablar con todos" moment. In our mission there's a big focus on "hablar con todos" - "talk with everyone". We try to contact everyone possible in our path. This week we were walking to an appointment and Hermana Meyer found a Papa John's flyer and starting looking at it. You know, just looking ahead to p-day lunch options. A few minutes after, we went up to a woman waiting at the bus stop to talk to her. Turns out she was a member from a different ward that had been inactive for a while (this happens quite often, in all honesty). As we were inviting her to return to church, a VERY drunk guy came up to us. He started asking us if we had any fliers. He was standing so close that the smell of alcohol started making me nauseous so I turned away to finish talking to the other woman. I assumed my companion had handled it as we walked away about 10 seconds later. As we reached the next block on the street Hermana Meyer said, "I totally just gave that guy a Papa John's flier". "Are you serious?!" I turned around to see him very intently examining the Papa John's flier, saying "que rico!" (like "how delicious!"). I couldn't stop laughing the whole way to our appointment. And the best part it, we found another flier afterwards so we can still order pizza if we want! ha.

We also had a very rainy day this week - it was POURING on an off for about an hour. I like the rain, but every once in a while it's inconvenient. Especially when I run right into a street that I can't see thanks to my umbrella (yes, this really happened. It was like something from a classic comedy show). Luckily, right as it started pouring we were close to a recent convert's house that we were planning on visiting. She's a cute abuelita who recently fell on her stairs and is now in bed with a cast on her foot. We visit her pretty regularly, always with the intention of re-teaching her the lessons. We haven't gotten very far though because she doesn't retain very much and she loves to talk. She cracks me up and she loves when we visit her, even if she doesn't get a lot out of the lessons. The last time we visited her we shared a scripture with her. As she started to read I fell asleep for probably a good 5 minutes. Luckily she didn't notice, as she was still reading when I woke up to see my companion trying not to laugh - our dear abuelita was struggling to read and was replacing basically every other word with a completely different word. Oh how I love these abuelitas!

Today we had a "zone activity" - in other words, the elders all wanted to play soccer. We ended up going even though we knew we'd probably be the only hermanas. I didn't even have my tennis shoes because I accidentally left them in the mission office after last week's zone activity. But it was still fun. After a lesson about talents in church I'm determined to develop my sports "talents"! I may not be a natural like my siblings...but I want to try more. Hopefully they'll teach me when I get home!

Well, I'm short on time...I will hopefully have more to tell next week. Love you all, the work is true, stay strong, be good. 

Love, Hermana Glazier

Made a diligent effort to take photos this week...haha. Enjoy!

How Can I Keep From Singing?

That was the title of my mom's email this week and I love it so much I'm repeating it!

It's true - there's so much good in the world that sometimes I just can't help but sing! I basically am always singing something quietly. Even if I can only have hymns and EFY music, I'm still a music junkie at heart! 

Something that I've been trying to master my whole time here is this - thinking positively. That's the key to everything we do here - a positive way of thinking. Believing people are going to say yes. Believing that it's worth it going out that door. Feeling like someone is actually listening as we pray. Knowing that someone really WILL be blessed if they act on our words. And sometimes just smiling and saying "yeah, I'm doing great!" even though you're 1000000000000% exhausted. 

This doesn't mean just hoping or saying these things are true without having any reason to and then doing nothing to make it true afterwards. Sometimes being well means admitting you aren'twell so you can get well. Or instead of just assuming someone's listening to our prayers, askingif someone's really there and then looking for the answer. Thinking positively isn't ignoring problems, it's recognizing they exist but finding the solution and believing it will work. 

I'm not really sure what to say about this week...I don't have a single picture! Uh-oh. I'm having one of those "old-in-the-mission" moments. It's interesting, this has actually been happening a lot - I'm more forgetful these days. I keep accidentally leaving things everywhere. I left my agenda in a member's house, then I left my agenda, Book of Mormon, and cell phone in the pharmacy (luckily the lady was nice and ran out and gave it to me), and right now my running shoes are still waiting for me in the mission office - left them there after a zone activity. My trainer used to do the same thing ALWAYS. It's weird - It's like noticing as you get older how you're becoming more like your parents.

As far as the work goes...we're teaching 2 Mexican girls in our ward - one's a recent convert and her roommate has a baptismal date for this month. It's so weird how different their accent is from a Chilean one! I still don't understand a lot of things they say. I hope I can still use my Spanish after the mission and learn all those little things that vary from country to country. Speaking of that, I'm determined to learn more languages after the mission! I LOVE knowing another language and I feel like it's something I should keep expanding. 

Well, I hope everything's going well over there in the land of United States. I feel very, very disconnected from any and everything new and I sometimes forget that the world hasn't just been on pause for over a year. I'm determined to enjoy my time here while I can - it's kind of great not worrying about anything outside. 

Much love -

Hermana Glazier 

CONFERENCE!

What an excellent weekend. I loved every talk and I am so excited to start working on some of the things we were counseled to do and not do. Most of all I have an ever-stronger testimony that these men and women are really inspired servants of God who know what they're talking about and we can trust. I am so excited to keep telling the people of Chile of the great blessings we have as members of the church!

It's been a busy week but we struggled to keep up with all the work in our area. With a LOT less working time (extra trainings and meetings in the mornings, and General Conference) we're going to work harder this week to make up for it! I'm excited to keep working with Hermana Meyer. Some of the mission has transfers today, but not us! Staying the same for another 6 weeks and we're excited about that. We get along great and work well together. 

I have loved hearing from home about all the General Conference times and family get-togethers! We had a nice little "conference breakfast". We made French Toast. It wasn't actually the best because of limited ingredients and toppings but we loved it anyway! 

I hope everyone's doing well at home! I'm praying for you all! Have an excellent week and keep on saying "I think I can, I think I can" (that's what I've had to do sometimes here and wouldn't you know it, that little children's story actually works!)

Love y'all, 

H'Glazier

Survived!

This was a hectic week - divisions with new missionaries, trying to take care of all our recent converts, less-active members, and investigators while finding new people and working more with the ward (including being in charge of the Young Women's activity this week), and most of all, a baptism! Despite all the craziness I'm grateful for all we were able to accomplish and I know the Lord is helping us an guiding us through it all. I'm exhausted but happy. 

Francisca was baptized on Saturday! She's great. She comes from an atheist family. Hermana Oldroyd was actually teaching her when she was here but she didn't progress too much towards baptism until now. Hermana Meyer said that a little before I got there she recently had decided/discovered that she actually believes in God and had begun to change a lot. Through many great lessons and a lot of testimonies, she was finally able to make the decision to be baptized. Even though her family wasn't supportive and she was very alone in her decision, I know she won't be alone in the Gospel. 

I love knowing that the Gospel changes people and that even if we don't see the results of our efforts right away, there are always people that will be changed by our example. The Lord loves every one of His children and knows what they need and when. 

I don't have much time to write more, just know that the work is moving along like always and that I'm loving it more than ever! Even though it was a very rainy week, spring is in the air for real this time!

Con amor,

Hermana Glacer (as I say these days. I've finally settled on the easiest pronunciation of my name)

Gotta Eat to Live

18 de Septiembre Chilean Independence Day

And the week of 18 de Septiembre we basically just live to eat. So many asados, empanadas, mote con huesillo, pajaritos, etc. (One day I will make all of these things for you so you'll know what they are). Maybe. It's crazy how I've gotten used to eating this kind of thing. Also, the work was kind of complicated seeing as everyone we should have been visiting was either busy or out of town, including Francisca, who has her baptism scheduled for this week! More news on that next Monday. 

Despite all of the festivities, and even sometimes as a result, we were able to see many miracles this week. My testimony was once more reaffirmed that this work is not ours, but His. The Lord sets everything up, guides us, prepares the people, and if we're doing what we're supposed to he lets us come in an put in the finishing touches. He sometimes puts us in the right place at the right time, helping us know what to say even though we don't know why we're saying it, feeling like we should talk to a person we never would have talked to, or seeing someone change that we never thought would. Especially giving us the strength to keep doing better and giving us just what we need to believe that things will always work out for the better. I love knowing that it isn't all weighing on me and my abilities. (If that were the case we'd all be in trouble). 

Well, love you all, enjoy this week and don't forget about your dear daughter/sister/cousin/neighbor/friend here in Chile!

Love, H'Glazier

Spring is ALMOST in the air

This week I am very pleased to hear that my General Conference excitement is infecting a few of you people over there. And just think - we'll be watching it together!

This was quite the week. 18 de Septiembre (the biggest national holiday here) is coming up and everyone's getting out of classes and getting excited. It changes the work a little seeing as basically all the people we've been teaching left on vacation for the holiday. But we are very excited to keep working and participating in the festivities on the side. Empanadas here we come! 

We even had a zone activity today to celebrate 18 de Septiembre flying kites! It's a tradicion for the holiday so we went to try it out. It was fun even though there wasn't a lot of wind. And more importantly, now I have a great $2 Chilean flag-print kite as a souvenir. We had to buy them during work time on Saturdayand felt kind of dumb carting them around all afternoon, presenting ourselves as missionaries with this kite (folded up but still long) sticking out of our bags...

Last week we got haircuts. We were both very nervous to go, not knowing where or who or how to explain what we wanted. Almost backed out a few times, thinking yeah I can just do it when I get home. But in the end I was just thinking "Okay, I can knock doors, asking people to come in their house, in a far away country, not knowing any of these people, with another north American, without any fear. And I'm chickening out of just a simple haircut?" And we went! Final verdict: next time I'll just wait until I get home. I just wanted a trim and side bangs (they had grown out really long). The lady didn't understand what side bangs means I guess and cut them straight across saying "but you can style them how you want afterwards". Doesn't exactly work that way...so here I am with new bangs! It was weird at first but they're "growing" (ha) on me. My companion also ended up with hair a LOT shorter than she wanted. Looks like we need to start studying more vocabulary that doesn't have to do with the Gospel. 

This week we had a great service activity with all the missionaries around Concepción. We helped clean out the cemetary (taking out all the dead flowers and everything). The cemetary is gigantic and so cool! Definitely would be creepy at night, but I enjoyed it. Not to mention I got to use the Mormon Helping Hands jersy thing for the first time in my life! Service feels so more official with those things. 

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty exhausted these days. There's a lot of work to do here and I always feel pretty behind schedule (there are so many members, new converts we should be teaching, investigators, etc.). But I'm learning a little every day. I think that's how life is always going to be...we're never going to be able to do everything that we want to, We're here to learn how to prioritize. And if we put what the Lord wants first, things will work out fine.

Thanks for all, 

Hermana Glazier

p.s. I'm here until February 10 so you can still send me mail until like...the end of January. Just in case anyone was wondering.

p.p.s. we're making up for the not having many photos last week...