Hello all!!
It's been such a great week here in Chañarcillo! I have learned so very much and everything is so new and different, but I love it. :) I'm excited for the time that I'll have to be here!
I'm going to try and explain the last week well, but it seems like there's so much, so we shall just see... :) Okay. :D So here in Chañarcillo, it's a ton different from Zapahuira, but in a good way obviously. :) It's kind of a newer sector from what I understand, because there are a lot of new houses and little developments here in our part of the ward. It's shocked me how different everything is from Arica... I can't really describe it, but it's just different. :) The ward is a lot smaller, and we're working really hard as a ward to get 100 people at church every week, or they'll have to close the ward. So that's the goal! The ward is really aware of that fact, and so I think that's been helping people do their visiting and home teaching, inviting people to church, and all around missionary work. We have lots to do, but we can do it! Yesterday we were feeling a little discouraged, Hna Severtson and I, but when we realized that we were getting down, we took a step back, looked at the blessings we did have, and that seemed to give us the energy needed to keep going forward with mucho ANIMO! :D (And animo in spanish just doesn't translate the same... Kinda like excitement and courage and a bunch of words mixed into one... :)) I am really excited to be here though. We have lots of work to do, but with God, all things are possible. :)
Okay. Now for more of the in's and out's of life here in Chañarcillo. :) Hermana Severtson is so great. We are getting along fabulously and learning so much from one another. She's 20 and from Arizona (no Mom, I had no idea that that's where Megan was born, but SUPER weird small world moment again. :P She lives 15ish minutes away from the base... :P). It's been interesting having a gringa companion, but it's been a lot of fun. :D We've been laughing at our spanglish we've been speaking while we're out and about. :) In the pension though, we do speak Spanish most of the time because Hna Delgado (YES we're living together again! :)) doesn't speak English, but she is learning. :) It's fun living with 4 hermanas. :) We do not have a "mamita" and I miss Mamita Tita madly, but I'm excited for her and Hna Matias in their new adventures. Hna Matias is training a sister from Brazil, so that should be fun for her! :) She was nervous, but I know she'll do so great. :)
Dad asked about how the travel was, so I'll skip back to that. :) We were in a bus like we had when we went back to New York on the BYU tour, or choir tour, that kind of bus. At about 2 in the morning we reached a customs stop so we all had to get off with our luggage and send it through a scanner, like at the airport. It was freezing cold, but we survived. :P Hahaha and no Dad, it wasn't like Romancing the Stone, although that would have been an awesome adventure... :D When we got here to the bus terminal, our companions were waiting, and Hna Delgado was waiting for Hna Brewster to arrive. We waited for a couple hours, went and did grocery shopping, unpacked, etc and got right to work. :)
Copiapó is a lot bigger, from what I can tell, than Arica. It's a big mining city, and little fun side fact, this is where those 33 miners a few years back were trapped. Just my little "Copiapó claim to fame" moment. :) So lots of people from other cities come here for work and such. It's interesting because the language here is the same, but not. Hahaha obviously they still speak Spanish, but it's more "Chileanized". It's faster and more slurred together. They've been telling me the farther south you get, the harder it is to understand, and that's been true as far as I can tell. :P (Just a little side note though, people keep saying that I can speak really well and clear for having only a few months! YAY!!! :D) Arica is so close to Perú and Bolivia that it has a lot of foreign influence in culture and language and such. It's a lot greener here!! I know, that's a shock. :) You'll all still see the pictures and think, "That is not green at all...." But trust me, for the mission, it's really green. So that's been happy! :D It does get hotter here actually. It's really cold and windy at night, but during the day it's super hot and dry. So I will be using more sunscreen. Yay for sunscreen. :P
We have been finding new investigators these days. Obviously as missionaries, we are always finding new investigators, but it's been a lot of knocking doors this week. We decided yesterday however, that knocking doors, as fun and effective as it is, will have to go. Preach My Gospel talks a lot about how we need to work with and through the members, because they know a lot more people than we do, and they are the key to helping us help other people, as well many apostles and President Monson emphasized in these past couple conferences. We have planned a few family nights with members, in the which we invited them to invite a family that's less active or not members to join us, so we're excited for that this week. :) We do have a couple great investigators, one of which has a baptism date for the middle of November! :) Benjamín is in his mid-fifties, and his girlfriend is a member, so he wanted to learn more. His second time he met with us, he accepted the invitation to be baptized and he just kept saying how much happier he has been this past week or so. It truly is amazing to see the change in people's lives when they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I'd better get going, but I am so very grateful for your love and support. I'm glad to hear things are well at home and I love the letters and news that I get every week. You are all in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope and pray that you all will take a moment this week to ask our Heavenly Father who He has prepared to accept this gospel. I would love to hear thoughts and impressions you receive, and I hope you will act on those thoughts and impressions. You are vital in this work. It's not just for us missionaries. :) I love you all so very much and I know this church is true. I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ lives, and that he guides and directs this church through his living prophets.
Con todo mi amor y cariño,
Hermana Tuft
Hello Mom and Dad!
I love you both. I miss you both lots, but I am soooo very glad that I am here at this time. It is such a blessing to be here and I am more and more grateful for this opportunity every single day. Thank you both so very much. :) I was so glad to hear that everything went well this week! I loved hearing about Grandpa's birthday party and that almost all could join. :) And I'm glad he enjoyed getting that little note in Spanish! :) I wanted to do something. :) It's so crazy to me to be hearing about things getting cold there! It's so hot here, so it's weird to imagine Fall starting, and HALLOWEEN is this week..... That's a weird thought. :) Halloween was adopted here, and they even say Halloween... :P So that should be fun: "Trick or treat! We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints..." :P Hahaha :) And from what I've gathered Dad, I don't think they celebrate the Day of the Dead, but we shall see... :P I love hearing about the family and that all is well. :) I love that Spencer and Lindsay went to the stake dance together. :) I love hearing that they're getting closer and closer. :) I hope that Spencer can do a semester of school before he leaves though... I just keep thinking about how sad, but obviously excited, I would be if he wasn't there when I get home... :( It would be great for him, just selfishly I would love to see him. :) I would love if he and Lindsay would write me and tell me about their happenings. :) I know you can't force them, but I want to hear about their school lives, activities, friends, etc. If they get a chance this week... :) I'd better run, but give everyone a BIG hug from me, tell Kyle and Jess hello and I love them and that's crazy that Kyle's Elders quorum president and I'm excited for them :), tell the ward hello, and congrats to Mar and Rob this weekend! :D I love you both so much, my true Mamita and Papito. :D
To the sun, the moon, the stars, Chile and back,
Kristen :)
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