Alo!
Wow, what a crazy week. Unfortunately, the baptism with Lorena fell through. After we had done the pre-entrevista con ella, she began to feel a little bit of fear. Not a problem. We visited her with President Essig, and she´ll hopefully be getting baptized the 9th.
We´ve also been working with two other investigadores, Emilio y Celinda. Emilio is almost completely blind, and Celinda has elephantism. They both have very poor self image, but want to do the right thing, so we are helping them to progress a little at a time. Emilio is an inactive member whose health problems began occurring after he left the church, and we encountered him lost in the streets. His faith is weak at times, but he wants to come back to the fold and gain forgiveness for his past.
We are also working with a family who has very strong belief in God and the Bible, but has problems with organized religion because so many of the churches have problems. We went to teach them on saturday (my birthday), and in the middle of the lesson the lights went out. The spirit told us to finish the lesson, which went well, and when we left we realized that there was NO light except cars and a few stars. When you´re in a city of 5.5 million and can´t see any light, that´s big. We made our way through the streets as safely and quickly as we could and returned to our apartment. Along the way we could here the radios going, and as the news reports came in we learned first that all of Santiago was out, then that regions 3-8 (nearly the entire country) didn´t have power. I´m not entirely sure what the cause was, so if any of you know more, tell us. :P
At any rate, that meant that we had to return home early, and since the power was out we did what we could to end the day, prepared whatever emergency supplies we had, and went to bed. Extra sleep was a wonderful birthday present.
We´ve been having adventures with intercambios, porque Elder King y Elder Dearden are the Zone Leaders. This means that they have to do the interviews for District Leaders´ Investigators, so Elder Binks and I have had various exchanges this week. There was one day in particular that it worked out that I was with an elder with only one change´s worth( 6 weeks) more experience than me, and an accent like a true texan. This made it fun to teach and work. We spent a lot of the day translating for each other, and relying on the spirit to hope that what came out of our mouths during lessons was somehow related to what the investigator had just asked/said(I´m pretty sure that for the most part, it was).
Overall, we´ve had a wonderful week! Thank you for all of your emails and prayers! We need them.
Les Amamos.
¡A Dios, Con Dios!
-Elder Wheelhouse
Tidbit #1: Fletés y the Voz form
In Chile, we have a huge gang called the Fleté (think FLY-tay). They don´t bother people when they are individual, but when they gather in groups of 3 or more they will harrass women and Gringos (yes, that is a real term here), and if they have more than 5 or 6 then you need to be careful. Once a year, on the 11th of September (the day that Pinochet took over in a coux) they basically take over the city, rioting, burning, and breaking things. If you stick to the main parts of the city and don´t mess with them, they´ll typically leave you alone, but it´s still an adventure, and the missionaries have to be home by nightfall. Typically around 10 or 11 the power gets cut, and the fleté go home. Overall, don´t be alone and don´t mess with them and you won´t have any problems.
Another fun thing about Castellano (note that i´m talking about the Chilean "Castellano" and not true Castellano) is that they have a unique form of speech, caused by their natural isolation and historical way of life. This form is called "Voz". It is not officially recognized as a grammatical form, even in Chile, but everyone uses it. Por ejemplo, the formal ¿Como está? would normally become "¿Como Estas?" in the regular "tu", or familiar, form. However, they use an even less formal "¿Como Estais?", which when you add the accent and the dropped s at the end sounds like "Comb is thai" (english equivalent). This means that unless you are expecting it, you have no hope of understanding what they are saying with experience solely in grammatically correct spanish. Plus they will throw on the word "po" to the end of words and sentences, which in reality means NOTHING whatsoever. I will write out a typical conversation in the next letter.
Gotta run!
-Elder Wheelhouse
Monday, September 26, 2011
Santiago, Part 2!
¡Hola!I don´t have much time today either, so I´ll make it as brief as possible. Thank you all for your prayers and support! I need it.
One piece of important, spiritual-nature type news before we continue: We have our first Baptism on Sunday!
We encountered a Hermana Lorena Ortíz one evening about 3 weeks ago as we were knocking doors. We received feelings to remain on a road at the very outside edge of our sector, and after being rejected (not just the nice Chilean rejection that we normally get, but actual rejections) 5 or 6 times and a series of empty houses, we were invited in even before we said who we were to the house of this Hermana.
She began to regale us with a story about her Father, who had gotten severely sick and had to go to the hospital. He asked for the prayers of many people from many religions, and she promised God that she would "get closer" to the next church that came by. Three months later, we knock on her door (not literally mind you, the system here is different, but we´ll explain that later) and she instantly felt that we were of God.
We began teaching her and she was already familiar with our church, because her parents had been members for a number of years when she was young. They had left the church for various reasons, but the basic standards that the church has were already a key part of her life. Although she fought (and occasionally still fights) us every step of the way, it is only because she wants to know for herself, and after she knew that she wanted to be baptized her first sentiment that she expressed was fear to lose the church like her parents had.
We have been teaching her for 3 weeks now, and on Sunday she will be baptized. What a blessing! God knows us personally, and our struggles. He knows what we need. I can testify, like she can too, that the blessings we receive from the Gospel of Christ are of greater value than anything else we could receive or do in this life.
I don´t have much time, so I´ll have to explain more in little tidbits each email from here out. The two pictures i´ve attached are of the four of us here in Chile at the Stake Activity for the 18th (Dia de Independencia para Chile), and of the Coins (without the 500 peso piece, unfortunately).
Prepare for General Conference! I´m so excited to hear 10 hours of English, and hopefully some jokes that I can understand without asking my companion a half hour later!
The Gospel is True!
I love you all.
A Dios, Con Dios
-Elder Wheelhouse
Monday, September 12, 2011
Another day, another peso
¡Buenas Dias!
Before we begin, please note the utter absurdity of the subject line. The Chilean peso is worth approximately 0.0021691973969631236442516268980477 of a dollar, or a fifth of a cent. Add that to the lack of tax, the cost of international shipping, the different value of products caused by a different supply/demand, and a completely different monetary system, and I can evaluate that this time that I´m paying for in the internet café will cost me: some vaguely defined amount of money that I do not understand, but honestly doesn´t really matter that much, dollars(also an approximation).
At any rate, I wanted to continue with my story from last week of the first bit here in Chile. The flight from Salt lake to LA was in the smallest plane I´ve ever been in, followed by the flight to Chile in the biggest plane I´ve ever been in. Along the way we had many opportunities to talk about the gospel in both English and Spanish, and in our group of 41 we were even able to place a few copies of the Book of Mormon and set up a few commitments to meet with missionaries via the international number.
As we landed in Chile, I was watching very intently out the window to see how different everything was. Sure enough, as I watched in the yellow glare of the airway lights, I glimpsed something moving across the Airway. I let out a chuckle as I realized that the first moving thing I saw in Chile was indeed a dog.
There is a rumor in Chile that Santiago has more dogs than people. I don´t know if that is true or not, but it is rare to go more than 10 seconds(literally, that is no exaggeration) on the streets of my mission without seeing a dog. Every house in Santiago has at least one dog, and everyone here walks with their heads down, not because they are mean people (to the contrary, actually), but because you have to watch your step. You never take of your shoes until you go to bed, and you learn very quickly how to identify which dogs will be trouble and how to avoid them. Most motorists don´t even slow down when they see a dog in the road, because the dogs have learned to move, and if not the general consensus is "oh well, it´s not like we´ve got a shortage". Brutal, but the quality of life for these dogs isn´t that great anyway, so it´s really easier that way.
As we exited the airport I noticed something else. It looked, felt, and seemed almost the same as Utah, even with the mountains in the right places, but the smell of the smog was crazy thick. The Valley is like a Giant bowl, with natural barriers on all sides. This means that all of the pollution, which is heavier than the other gasses, stays in the valley. Santiago has specific limitations on cars here, but in a city of 5.5 million, that means very little.
As we´ve proceeded to meet and greet and learn more about the city, I´ve learned that Chileans have a very unique culture. I don´t have much more time, but next week I´ll send the rest of my observations about the city, and I intend to use the rest of my emails to talk about the work alone, so if you have any questions about Santiago, ask them this week!
Thank you for your letters, prayers, and concern. I hope to hear from you soon!
A Dios, Con Dios!
-Elder Wheelhouse
Next week: Fletes, Fereas, Fiestas, and Finger Sculptures!
Before we begin, please note the utter absurdity of the subject line. The Chilean peso is worth approximately 0.0021691973969631236442516268980477 of a dollar, or a fifth of a cent. Add that to the lack of tax, the cost of international shipping, the different value of products caused by a different supply/demand, and a completely different monetary system, and I can evaluate that this time that I´m paying for in the internet café will cost me: some vaguely defined amount of money that I do not understand, but honestly doesn´t really matter that much, dollars(also an approximation).
At any rate, I wanted to continue with my story from last week of the first bit here in Chile. The flight from Salt lake to LA was in the smallest plane I´ve ever been in, followed by the flight to Chile in the biggest plane I´ve ever been in. Along the way we had many opportunities to talk about the gospel in both English and Spanish, and in our group of 41 we were even able to place a few copies of the Book of Mormon and set up a few commitments to meet with missionaries via the international number.
As we landed in Chile, I was watching very intently out the window to see how different everything was. Sure enough, as I watched in the yellow glare of the airway lights, I glimpsed something moving across the Airway. I let out a chuckle as I realized that the first moving thing I saw in Chile was indeed a dog.
There is a rumor in Chile that Santiago has more dogs than people. I don´t know if that is true or not, but it is rare to go more than 10 seconds(literally, that is no exaggeration) on the streets of my mission without seeing a dog. Every house in Santiago has at least one dog, and everyone here walks with their heads down, not because they are mean people (to the contrary, actually), but because you have to watch your step. You never take of your shoes until you go to bed, and you learn very quickly how to identify which dogs will be trouble and how to avoid them. Most motorists don´t even slow down when they see a dog in the road, because the dogs have learned to move, and if not the general consensus is "oh well, it´s not like we´ve got a shortage". Brutal, but the quality of life for these dogs isn´t that great anyway, so it´s really easier that way.
As we exited the airport I noticed something else. It looked, felt, and seemed almost the same as Utah, even with the mountains in the right places, but the smell of the smog was crazy thick. The Valley is like a Giant bowl, with natural barriers on all sides. This means that all of the pollution, which is heavier than the other gasses, stays in the valley. Santiago has specific limitations on cars here, but in a city of 5.5 million, that means very little.
As we´ve proceeded to meet and greet and learn more about the city, I´ve learned that Chileans have a very unique culture. I don´t have much more time, but next week I´ll send the rest of my observations about the city, and I intend to use the rest of my emails to talk about the work alone, so if you have any questions about Santiago, ask them this week!
Thank you for your letters, prayers, and concern. I hope to hear from you soon!
A Dios, Con Dios!
-Elder Wheelhouse
Next week: Fletes, Fereas, Fiestas, and Finger Sculptures!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
CCM and Chile!
¡Halo!
Ok, before I go any farther, I have the address for the Mision Home, it is as follows:
Elder Wheelhouse
Santiago Chile North Mission
Sucursal Correo Patronato
Casilla 60
Santiago Chile
I don´t know the address for pouch mail, but the Elders here say that the regular mail is faster and more convenient because you can use multiple pages, whereas in the pouch you can only use one. Just make sure to use Jesus Stickers if you plan on sending anything other than letters, or a particularly thick envelope.
Also, I am soooooooooooooo sorry that I could not get to all of you in phone calls, we ended up having a traveling group of 41 and only 12 payphones in the airport to use in an hour and 45 minutes.
And, tres, we ended up not having time last week to write our weekly letters. ¡Lo siento con todo mi corazon!
At any rate, Chile! ¡Guau! What a thrill! Exiting the airport, other than the international-only processes, was like stepping out into a Utah morning, with the Andes allá and the city allá, fue like coming home. The east side of the City especially is even nicer than some of the nice places in Salt Lake, and the Mission home is BEAUTIFUL! After some rest, an interview, and orientation I met my Companion, Elder Dearden from Boston, who is also one of the Zone Leaders for San Pablo, our zone. I discovered that we had been assigned to open a new sector, called Lo Prado. It is interesting because I technically don´t have a district, only a sector. one of my good friends from the MTC, Elder Binks, is also in the same apartment as us with the other Zone Leader, Elder King. As we started working, it quickly became clear how much work we have ahead of us. Miraculously, the gift of tongues kicked in and I have been able to understand a lot of what has been going on, and even speak and teach some.
I need to go, but I´ll continue next week. I´ll write some about the fun things we have here. Suffice it to say, I feel safer here than in Puerto Rico, so you don´t have to worry. :P
Write Back!
A Dios, Con Dios.
-Elder Wheelhouse
Ok, before I go any farther, I have the address for the Mision Home, it is as follows:
Elder Wheelhouse
Santiago Chile North Mission
Sucursal Correo Patronato
Casilla 60
Santiago Chile
I don´t know the address for pouch mail, but the Elders here say that the regular mail is faster and more convenient because you can use multiple pages, whereas in the pouch you can only use one. Just make sure to use Jesus Stickers if you plan on sending anything other than letters, or a particularly thick envelope.
Also, I am soooooooooooooo sorry that I could not get to all of you in phone calls, we ended up having a traveling group of 41 and only 12 payphones in the airport to use in an hour and 45 minutes.
And, tres, we ended up not having time last week to write our weekly letters. ¡Lo siento con todo mi corazon!
At any rate, Chile! ¡Guau! What a thrill! Exiting the airport, other than the international-only processes, was like stepping out into a Utah morning, with the Andes allá and the city allá, fue like coming home. The east side of the City especially is even nicer than some of the nice places in Salt Lake, and the Mission home is BEAUTIFUL! After some rest, an interview, and orientation I met my Companion, Elder Dearden from Boston, who is also one of the Zone Leaders for San Pablo, our zone. I discovered that we had been assigned to open a new sector, called Lo Prado. It is interesting because I technically don´t have a district, only a sector. one of my good friends from the MTC, Elder Binks, is also in the same apartment as us with the other Zone Leader, Elder King. As we started working, it quickly became clear how much work we have ahead of us. Miraculously, the gift of tongues kicked in and I have been able to understand a lot of what has been going on, and even speak and teach some.
I need to go, but I´ll continue next week. I´ll write some about the fun things we have here. Suffice it to say, I feel safer here than in Puerto Rico, so you don´t have to worry. :P
Write Back!
A Dios, Con Dios.
-Elder Wheelhouse
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