AJ's email from last week ...03/05/12

this week was absolutely miserable. not for anything that happened really during the week or anything like that but because of the weather. of course the week after i say that the weather is starting to get better, we have the hottest week of the whole summer. it was terrible. everyday this week, it was between 90 and 94 degrees...inside our house. so regardless of how hot it was outside, when you have no where to go to try and cool down even a little, its miserable. but apparently its going to cool back down starting tomorrow and then hopefully it will only get better going into fall. im ready for it to be cold again. ive never really liked the heat.

      tuesday we had divisions so i was with elder mcbride here in el monte. it was weird talking english for a whole day again cuz i havent done that for over 2 months now. and it made me realize that more often i feel more comfortable speaking spanish than i do english. there is still a lot i have to learn about spanish (lots of words) and sometimes my mind goes a little blank about what im trying to say, but i have to think more to talk in english than spanish now. but i had a good time with him. we had a pretty good day with several good lessons. but my favorite was a house blessing that we did with a woman named marilen. we found her knocking doors and she was very interested from the start. she asked us what makes our church different from all the rest and she had several questions that were perfect for us to answer cuz they were things that we wanted to teach anyway. and then at the end as we were walking out, she told us that we surpassed her thoughts and that she wants to learn more. so im hoping for the best with her. the only problem is that she works turns and so her schedule is dificult and it changes from week to week. so as long as we can find time to teach her, it should work out.

     thursday we found out just how small our sector can be sometimes. we took one of the members out with us to go to a cita with joel and veronica. and when we got there, we found out that they already knew each other. dont ask me how but they had seen each other around and had talked a couple times. but they dont live close to each other. and it always helps having one of the members with us cuz they help us answer questions sometimes and help the people see normal people like them that have the same experiences.

     then friday was a really good day. it was a little weird a one point though. we went to a house of an inactive member that just moved here from maipu. and he came by the church one time and asked if we could come by. and he talked to me in english but not very well. i had a very hard time understanding what he was saying. and then he wanted me to talk to him in english but he didnt understand me. so i just got tired of trying so i started talking to him in spanish and then he answered in english. it was weird. then he showed us that he can play the accordian (however you spell that) then at the end, he asked me to say the prayer, but in english. and i havent said a prayer in english out loud in over a year now. it was hard and i had to pause after every 2 or 3 words to think about what i wanted to say next. then after that we had an activity in the church. it was by the primary and it was like a little disney movie night. several of the organizations performed a part of a disney movie and it was fun to watch. the relief society did alice in wonderland. the older primary kids did alvin and the chipmunks. the middle primary kids did lion king. the younger ones did snow white and the seven dwarfs. and then us with the youth and their leaders did shrek. and i was the wolf. so i had to dress up in a night gown with a hat. elder vilar was puss in boots. it was pretty funny though.

       saturday we went to a meeting of the jehovas witnesses so that we could set an appointment with one of the leaders there. that was interesting, seeing everyone looking at us as we walked up to the building and then went in. but it was good cuz its a good guy that we want to teach. him and his family have lived in washington before, in seattle. so they speak english pretty well and like speaking it. but they are here in chile cuz a lot of their family is here and to share their church with others. so i can respect that. but im still hoping that we might be able to change their minds a little.

          then sunday made me really happy. we went out to see the parents of ursula who live in el monte (ursula is one of the people that got baptized in melipilla just after i left and i was pretty close to her family) and i was so happy when we got there and their whole family was there. i never got to say bye to them before cuz of the special changes and so to see them again was amazing. but they have changed after the last 8 months. the 5 boys are all so much bigger and her and her husband are working in different places now. but it was nice to talk to them for a little and then we planned a noche de hogar with everyone on saturday

         with the pictures this week, most of them are from the activity on friday. and then one is of whats called a chorrillana here. its what we eat every monday after playing soccer and its big enough to fill both elder vilar and i both. but today it was especially huge so i had to take a picture. but its so good and its something that i plan on making when i come back. cuz its just my kind of food. french fries with meat and onions on top and then 2 eggs on top of that. its delicious. but anyway i hope that everyone is doing good. chao