11/28/22 My First Turkey Day Without a Turkey

 HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY and other people who are reading this for some reason!!!!! 

This week was a whirlwind of getting to know my new sector, my new comp, my new zone, all the things, and also of milagros!! It kind of feels like Thanksgiving just kinda didnt happen (welcome to this letter where i will not be putting in apostrophes because spanish keyboards be like that and im not on my phone, but on a computer!!) 

Monday I spent 13 hours in a bus from Calama to Vallenar, and got to meet the whole zone within an hour of being here! Its a super small zone because its just all the missionaries here in vallenar with one companionship of elders that live in a little town thats like 30 minutes or so away. We have our senior missionaries here and they live two doors down from us, which is really nice because... (and I discovered this within like 12 hours of living here...) our oven doesnt work. So im always over at the Pierces, stealing their oven! We are hoooooping that maybe we can get the oven fixed this week so i dont have to be annoying all the time. Its also super inconvenient, because I have to drag my comp with me every time I go over, and anyways. It is what it is. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with this guy... who we may never see again, because he believes a lot of what we have to say but isnt willing to act on anything. Every commitment or invitation we have, hes like... ehhhhh maybe but im not promising anything. And then obviously he doesnt actually do anything, therefore he doesnt progress. This is something I think a lot of people dont understand about faith. You can say all you want that you believe in something, but it doesnt really mean anything unless you act on what you say you believe. If youre not acting, do you really believe it? 

Wednesday we had a family home evening with a family who has a 17 year old son... who brought his girlfriend whos a recent convert... I LOVE HER!!! The family home evening was really fun, and it was good to be able to get to know a family in our branch (IM IN A BRANCH, DID I SAY THAT YET???) 

Thursday we did a ton of finding, and I got to talk to my family!! It straight up did not feel like thanksgiving. At all!! The only slightly thanksgiving thing that I did was I made apple crisp. It was a good day, but overall it felt very normal. We have an English class (which I go to to help with whatever they need, the Pierces teach it) and there was this hermana that was learning English, and whenever she had a question about something, she was like "Hey seester" which is super funny because of her accent and her very direct way of saying it. She continued this habit on Sunday at church, and honestly Im here for it (HAHA). At the end of the class they shared a message about gratitude, which was really good... except they did it in English, and it was only the second class, so I am fairly certain I was the only one to understand the message. 

Friday was crazzyyy. We had a chill morning, but then we were contacting in the street, lost track of time, started teaching this guy in the street, showed up a half hour late to lunch with the Pierces (I hate being late!!!) and still showed up earlier than their Chilean guests that they invited lol. Honestly it was soooo nice to have a very American lunch for once... we had cafe rio pork with corn tortillas and black beans and guacamole and lettuce and pico de gallo. The Pierces learned that one of the ingredients has a name that, here in chile, means something vulgar. If ya know, ya know. After that we were contacting in the calle more, and while we were walking down one calle, there was this guy who apparently theyve been teaching for a couple weeks... well we started talking to us, and it turned out he was on his way to this ward activity that we were having. But, he was going like an hour early. We still had some people to talk to before the activity, but he apparently wants to serve a  mission so he WENT WITH US to knock doors and to a lesson!!! But we had some spare time because we were waiting to be able to go into a lesson... so we taught him the plan of salvation... and PUT HIM ON DATE for baptism!!! For Christmas EVE!!! (But then he didnt show up for church, so im trying not to get toooo excited.) Then we had a lesson with a different friend of ours whos trying to quit smoking and decided to fast together. It was super spiritual and really beautiful, he really has a desire to quit smoking and to be baptized, its just a matter of helping him overcome this thing. Keep him in your prayers please :) We never did make it to the activity, and Andres had to go home early, so that was kinda awkward. 

Saturday we literally contacted in the streets like all day. It was exhausting but good!! We found a couple people that are maybe interested and were gonna go to their houses in the next week or two. 

Sunday was my first day in the new branch!! It was good but a little weird. This week was the primary program so they didnt have me introduce myself or anything ( they normally do), and next week is district conference so i wont be doing that next week either. And by then we will be halfway through my first of at least four transfers here (ok, obviously i dont know how many transfers ill get here but i hope a lot!! I love it here, its sooo green and pretty and I never wanna leave!!!) 

In the afternoon we went out to a lesson with the girl from a few days ago-Valentina. She wants to serve a mission, so yeah she came with us and it was soooo good!!! And then on the way home she was asking me what a bunch of stuff meant from songs she liked...... needless to say it was all super inappropriate  I was like, yeah don't say that. Or that. Or that. 

Today I made banana bread (using the Pierces oven again) and I got to go shopping in centro. We found really cheap jeans there.. I tried them on... and they were ugly. HAHA. But i bought a tiny Christmas tree that were gonna decorate. It was $4 so not bad. We also hung out with the elders and played some games, and ate the best empanadas ive had in chile so far!! I think theyre not chilean though, so yeah that is what it is. 

My comp is super cute!! She wants to learn English and so we're practicing all the time and she's kind of catching on haha. One problem we've had is we're suuuuper tired because we stay up late talking!! You would think 24/7 with someone you would run out of stuff to talk about, but nope, I could talk to her forever. She's teaching me all my favorite songs in Spanish and we're gonna decorate for Christmas today!! The apartment we live in is brand new, which is cool because it's really nice (and we have our OWN BATHROOMS!!!!!!) but it kind of sucks because there's a bunch of stuff the kitchen is missing for someone like me who bakes way too much. 

As much as I was a little bit done with Calama, I was also really sad to be leaving, but that's the way God is sometimes... if we hold on to what we're missing (Christmas with hna Sorenson , staying in a familiar area, staying in a nice apartment with a view of the city, etc.) We won't see the way the Lord is blessing us where we are (Christmas with the Pierces and hna García, meeting the people here and getting to share a branch with some fun elders, staying in an even nicer apartment with my own bathroom, all the beautiful flowers and trees here in vallenar). So like, just don't do that :) 

Love you all!! I will be decorating for Christmas this week :D 

xo-hna griffin