Hello Everybody!
Yet again...more than a week has gone by. I always anticipate to write weekly...but it just doesn't happen! Sorry about that. :) Hope everyone is doing great!
Last week we had a full week of activity with the visiting Circuit Overseer and his wife. Hermano Gomez. It definitely was a full week too. From Tuesday to Sunday non-stop. They even allowed us to attend their Pioneer Meeting...(that makes 3 for us in the past month..we're so spoiled! :) Very encouraging. A lot of good points on how we should Maintain a Self-Sacrificing Spirit. 23 attended which is almost half of the congregation! During the week I had the opportunity to work with a variety of Brothers and Sisters. Its so neat to hear their experiences from their lives and in the ministry. Its going to take me hours to write them all down! I really enjoy working in service with the kids. One major reason is that their vocabulary is comparable to mine! They mispronounce things..they speak relatively slowly. Its great for me. Plus..for conversation I can ask them all day long "Whats your favorite color/animal/song/subject in school?" without them thinking twice..whereas with the adults I may get a sideways glance. Although...the other day I had a pretty profound conversation with a 6 year old on the topic of marriage. It sounded as if he had his whole life and goals planned out so simply. Maybe over the years things just get a little more complicated than they should! Shortly after this coversation I took a great fall! I was walking over a bridge...not very carefully...and fell! (not on purpose) We had a huge group of brothers and sisters behind us and I think they weren't sure how to react, but once they saw me laughing everyone burst into laughter. It didn't hurt at the moment..but now I have some pretty scratches on down my left leg for proof.
Last week too I experienced something new as well. Jenesia and I were in the dining room area with the father of the family we are staying with. All of a sudden we hear this thunder like sound and loud banging. It lasted a few seconds as we looked around trying to figure out what was going on. It sounded as if it was coming from the roof. Its not abnormal for the cat or something else to be jumping around up there... but no. The dad informed us that it was a little after-shock of an EARTHQUAKE! Thats right. I forgot about earthquakes in Chile. I then prentended to duck and cover under the dining table with a worried look on my face while asking important questions like "Is this the time of year for Earthquakes? What do we do in case of an Earthquake? Will your windows shatter?" I was slightly afraid. The answers were as followed: "The earthquakes are yearround. We can't predict the time. In case of an earthquake...hold on or go under a table. No the windows won't shatter." Atleast I think those were the answers. It doesn't sound like Donihue gets the brunt of Earthquakes...so I may just have to deal with the little aftershocks here and there!.. Yikes! We survived though. :)
Spiders have been a fun thing here. I have never been a fan of Spiders in the past...and well...I'm still not! They have this one Spider..the Rincon...which is a poisonous one and can be found in various parts of the countryside...which is where we are living. In the beginning, Jenesia was the fearless spider killer. I'de spot 'em, she'de kill 'em. I think she even killed a Rincon! However, now I'm in my own room and I feel bad calling her in for every spider...so I have gotten more adept at killing them myself. There is a spider called a Tiger spider that eats the Rincons...so if we see those we try to keep them alive. Before I go to sleep I always seem to think of the variety of spiders! Great dreams let me tell you.
On our way to meeting one day we saw the names "Stephanie + Francisco" graffitied on a wall. I had never met a Francisco before so it was funny to me to make up some elaborate stories. I told the girls that the Francisco I meet will be the man of my dreams. Little did I know that on that very day I was to meet a Francisco. We went to a congregation goodbye party for Vikki y Pedro who are leaving Donihue...and I was playing cards with a group of people and all of a sudden the brother across from me tells me his name is Francisco. He's about 80 years old and very sweet. I asked him if he enjoyed writing on walls for fun. (just kidding)
Ok..."Living in the NOW." What are we doing? Well...now we are in the VERY VERY VERY south of Chile. Check out the map please. Look up PUNTA ARENAS. We are there. We flew in yesterday with Vanessa. The daughter of the fam we have been staying with. Her first flight ever in an Airplane!!! It was a blast! She sat by the window and soaked everything in while I sat in the middle a little unnerved by some of the turbulence. She was more composed than I was! I guess thats not hard to do. The flight was 4 hours to get here in comparison to 3 DAYS in a bus. So thankful we opted for the flight. Can't beleive the distance is that much! We are almost to ANTARTICA! And guess what?! We saw Penguins today! We took a ton of pictures. They are adorable in their natural habitat. We saw them leave their homes and take flight..(not literally because they can't fly) to the ocean to get food. Definitely a highlite of being down here. We are currently staying with a family that the CO in Donihue connected us with. So grateful to be staying with the brothers and sisters down here! Straight of Magellen...do you remember learning about that in school? The explorer...Magellen. Thats where we are...the ocean/land he explored! We are getting a mini-history lesson everyday. Always learning something. Tonight we leave for Puerto Natales...to see the Torres del Paine..its another National Park...kind of like Yosemite or Grand Canyon. Its an all day hike tomorrow! We can't wait..but we need to rest up!
Our trip in total is going to be about 3 to 4 weeks in the South of Chile. After our hike we are flying to Cochrane where Vanessas older brother is serving a congregation of 14 publishers and we will be helping out in the congregation for 2 weeks. We can't wait! After that we will be doing Kingdom Hall construction in Concepcion. So..there is a briefing for now. More details later! Oh..and the time difference is only 3 hours now between California and here!
Miss you all. Everyday I always have some memory of someone...whether its a song...or sign...or place. You are all in my thoughts! Great to hear from you. Hope all is well in the states! Talk with you soon!
Love y Amor-
Steph
Yet again...more than a week has gone by. I always anticipate to write weekly...but it just doesn't happen! Sorry about that. :) Hope everyone is doing great!
Last week we had a full week of activity with the visiting Circuit Overseer and his wife. Hermano Gomez. It definitely was a full week too. From Tuesday to Sunday non-stop. They even allowed us to attend their Pioneer Meeting...(that makes 3 for us in the past month..we're so spoiled! :) Very encouraging. A lot of good points on how we should Maintain a Self-Sacrificing Spirit. 23 attended which is almost half of the congregation! During the week I had the opportunity to work with a variety of Brothers and Sisters. Its so neat to hear their experiences from their lives and in the ministry. Its going to take me hours to write them all down! I really enjoy working in service with the kids. One major reason is that their vocabulary is comparable to mine! They mispronounce things..they speak relatively slowly. Its great for me. Plus..for conversation I can ask them all day long "Whats your favorite color/animal/song/subject in school?" without them thinking twice..whereas with the adults I may get a sideways glance. Although...the other day I had a pretty profound conversation with a 6 year old on the topic of marriage. It sounded as if he had his whole life and goals planned out so simply. Maybe over the years things just get a little more complicated than they should! Shortly after this coversation I took a great fall! I was walking over a bridge...not very carefully...and fell! (not on purpose) We had a huge group of brothers and sisters behind us and I think they weren't sure how to react, but once they saw me laughing everyone burst into laughter. It didn't hurt at the moment..but now I have some pretty scratches on down my left leg for proof.
Last week too I experienced something new as well. Jenesia and I were in the dining room area with the father of the family we are staying with. All of a sudden we hear this thunder like sound and loud banging. It lasted a few seconds as we looked around trying to figure out what was going on. It sounded as if it was coming from the roof. Its not abnormal for the cat or something else to be jumping around up there... but no. The dad informed us that it was a little after-shock of an EARTHQUAKE! Thats right. I forgot about earthquakes in Chile. I then prentended to duck and cover under the dining table with a worried look on my face while asking important questions like "Is this the time of year for Earthquakes? What do we do in case of an Earthquake? Will your windows shatter?" I was slightly afraid. The answers were as followed: "The earthquakes are yearround. We can't predict the time. In case of an earthquake...hold on or go under a table. No the windows won't shatter." Atleast I think those were the answers. It doesn't sound like Donihue gets the brunt of Earthquakes...so I may just have to deal with the little aftershocks here and there!.. Yikes! We survived though. :)
Spiders have been a fun thing here. I have never been a fan of Spiders in the past...and well...I'm still not! They have this one Spider..the Rincon...which is a poisonous one and can be found in various parts of the countryside...which is where we are living. In the beginning, Jenesia was the fearless spider killer. I'de spot 'em, she'de kill 'em. I think she even killed a Rincon! However, now I'm in my own room and I feel bad calling her in for every spider...so I have gotten more adept at killing them myself. There is a spider called a Tiger spider that eats the Rincons...so if we see those we try to keep them alive. Before I go to sleep I always seem to think of the variety of spiders! Great dreams let me tell you.
On our way to meeting one day we saw the names "Stephanie + Francisco" graffitied on a wall. I had never met a Francisco before so it was funny to me to make up some elaborate stories. I told the girls that the Francisco I meet will be the man of my dreams. Little did I know that on that very day I was to meet a Francisco. We went to a congregation goodbye party for Vikki y Pedro who are leaving Donihue...and I was playing cards with a group of people and all of a sudden the brother across from me tells me his name is Francisco. He's about 80 years old and very sweet. I asked him if he enjoyed writing on walls for fun. (just kidding)
Ok..."Living in the NOW." What are we doing? Well...now we are in the VERY VERY VERY south of Chile. Check out the map please. Look up PUNTA ARENAS. We are there. We flew in yesterday with Vanessa. The daughter of the fam we have been staying with. Her first flight ever in an Airplane!!! It was a blast! She sat by the window and soaked everything in while I sat in the middle a little unnerved by some of the turbulence. She was more composed than I was! I guess thats not hard to do. The flight was 4 hours to get here in comparison to 3 DAYS in a bus. So thankful we opted for the flight. Can't beleive the distance is that much! We are almost to ANTARTICA! And guess what?! We saw Penguins today! We took a ton of pictures. They are adorable in their natural habitat. We saw them leave their homes and take flight..(not literally because they can't fly) to the ocean to get food. Definitely a highlite of being down here. We are currently staying with a family that the CO in Donihue connected us with. So grateful to be staying with the brothers and sisters down here! Straight of Magellen...do you remember learning about that in school? The explorer...Magellen. Thats where we are...the ocean/land he explored! We are getting a mini-history lesson everyday. Always learning something. Tonight we leave for Puerto Natales...to see the Torres del Paine..its another National Park...kind of like Yosemite or Grand Canyon. Its an all day hike tomorrow! We can't wait..but we need to rest up!
Our trip in total is going to be about 3 to 4 weeks in the South of Chile. After our hike we are flying to Cochrane where Vanessas older brother is serving a congregation of 14 publishers and we will be helping out in the congregation for 2 weeks. We can't wait! After that we will be doing Kingdom Hall construction in Concepcion. So..there is a briefing for now. More details later! Oh..and the time difference is only 3 hours now between California and here!
Miss you all. Everyday I always have some memory of someone...whether its a song...or sign...or place. You are all in my thoughts! Great to hear from you. Hope all is well in the states! Talk with you soon!
Love y Amor-
Steph
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