Well I AM FINALLY HERE!!!!! Chile is
FANTASTICO, but in all honesty I do not think it is that much different than
home. Here you kiss (on the cheek) when you greet, but I feel like people are pretty
similar. They don´t refrigerate eggs here which is super weird (I refrigerate
them when I get home), and sharing spit isn´t considered gross. People use
their own utensil to dish out from the main food dish and it isn´t weird at
all. That is going to take me a while to get over. Oh and their big meal is
lunch, so around 2 we have lunch with the miembros. Sometimes we get invited in
for once, which is kind of like a small dinner in the evening around 8ish but
mainly only lunch. AND OH BOY IS THE FOOD HERE GOOD!!!!! Even though I can´t
eat bread and a few other things, I can eat most things. The produce here is
amazing, and I even like tomatoes here!!! That alone is enough to prove that
the Lord is watching out for me because they have tomatoes all the time!
Anyway, I will now commence the
story of my arrival. Our bus from the MTC to the airport was really late so
they were trying their best to get 30 missionaries on a plane that was leaving
in less than an hour to another country, but there were problems. Everyone
eventually got on (I think we made the whole plane late), but baggage was
crazy. One of my mtc companions, Hna Adams, got to Chile with only her purse.
They had made her check her carry on and none of her suitcases or bags were there
when we arrived. I think she went 3 days before she got anything. There were
other missionaries with the same problem, but I was blessed with all of my
bags! We spent all night on the airplane and landed in the morning in Santiago.
Only about 16 missionaries from our group were going to our mission (or maybe a
few less) so we split up. The line to get into the country was not too bad at
all. I think I waited an hour or two max. After customs, we met our mission
president and wife, President and hermana Wright, and they are super nice! We
definitely didn´t look too great after 24 hours of traveling and basically no
sleep, but we were all soo excited!! we went right away to the church and met
our new companions. My companion is Hna Stegagnini from Italy. She knows NO
english at all, so communication is very difficult. It is forcing me to pick up
español that much faster though, and I am super grateful for that!!! In our
apartment is another companionship, Hna Alvarez from Peru and Hna Achucarro
from Paraguay, but I am the only one who speaks English. I can normally get my
point across, but I have a super hard time understanding people when they talk.
It is amazing how much I have learned and improved though in just one week! Our
apartment is pretty nice and even has a washing machine in it. In Church
yesterday, I got to get up and bear my testimonio. I don´t speak too much, but
I know how to share my simple testimony and I LOVE TO SHARE IT!!! The ward
miembros came up afterwards and said they could understand my testimonio, so I
guess that means the gift of tongues is real!
The Lord is teaching me a lot here,
and it is not easy. I am super grateful for every moment though!!! I am
learning how important it is to be united with your companion. Sometimes we have
different ideas about things and it makes it difficult, and I am still learning
how to work with her. My companion is super nice and watches out for me. Celiac
disease is not common here at all, but apparently a year or two ago another
Hermana had the same problem so some people understand. My companion always
explains my problem and makes sure the ward members understand when we go and
eat. I think she is getting frustrated because of the lack of communication,
but she is very patient and I am teaching her a little English too. I am
learning more and more that the Lord is the only way this work can be done. THE
ONLY WAY! The only reason I can communicate when I need to is because the Lord
is blessing me and needs His work done and the world to know the Gospel! I am
learning patience with myself and others. I also am learning how ESSENTIAL ward
members are in this work. Missionaries can only truly do so much, and the ward
members are the ones with the true power.
Two cool things really quick. One is
that our ward is having a traveling visitors center come next month AND I AM SO
EXCITED!!! I believe this can and will cause miracles here. We are very
privileged to have this opportunity. Second is that officially in our mission
we have sister trainer leaders (or something close to that name) which are kind
of like zone leaders for the Hermanas. We have 6 in our mission and will get to
go on splits with them. In the meeting for the sisters when the President
announced it, I had many questions and prayers answered. He read from D&C
138 (specifically verses 55 and 56 i think) and talked about how we had been
prepared before we came to earth to preach the gospel RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT IN
THIS PLACE!!! I know this is true, I needed to hear this then because I was
having a hard time that day. I know I am here for a specific purpose even
though I may not know exactly what it is quite yet. The gospel is true, and
Christ has showed us the way!!! Keep the faith ALWAYS and do the little things
because the little things are actually really big things and important (reading
scriptures, praying, etc.) I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
con amor,
hermana taylor
p.s. sorry if anyone emailed me this
week because I did not receive it.
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