I feel that bloggers should always have something profound and eloquent to say. I don’t, sorry.
I have wanted to be back in Chile ever since I left in 2010.
The time is flying by, but I feel fortunate that I am able to enjoy every
moment. I wish you could experience every sight, sound, smell, taste, and
feeling. Above all, I wish you could laugh and visit with all the outstanding
people who have become my good friends. Let me know if you want to make the
trip down, and I will be more than happy to make accommodations. I might also be open to the idea of paying part of your ticket, depending on who you are.
Monday was a national holiday so we didn’t have to work! I
had an awesome lunch with the Diane family and then went up to their cabin in a
rural area called Olmué. (You should be able to see what I’m talking about in
the video below. Also, you can see the video better if you click on the youtube button. The video also shows some shots when I dropped off Elder Daine at the airport with his familia.) That night we did our own little FHE with just the three of
us before I switch houses back to the Guajardo family.
This past week I have spent a lot of time putting together a
lot of my resources along with collecting other materials in order to put
together a presentation for my bosses. We are working with a new client, which
is a Catholic University and organization called Duoc. My experience should
(hopefully) come in handy in putting together a strategy to offer to their
management as a consulting project we are working on. I am excited to
contribute, but the language continues to be a frustrating barrier in business
language. At least I should be able to come home and shoot more the breeze with
latinos at home. The video below shows some travel to Santiago and also a brief shot of a convention seminar we helped put together for el Banco Ripley.
I didn’t get out too much this weekend because of all the
rain that hit the area, but I did get to go to an awesome ward activity that
the sister missionaries put together. They turned off all the lights in the
church, added all sorts of obstacles, blindfolded us, and then gave us an iron
rod (a long garden hose) to follow to the chapel where they had covered
everything in white and had a little tree with lights. The fruit given to us
was an American marshmallow! It was a blast and also turned out to mark
everyone in the ward in some way. Small wards are the best.
It was a lot harder than I thought it would be
Some of the other highlights of the week were getting cozy
on the Guajardo’s master bed to watch Rudy together, eating lunch with South
West (Elder West) in Santiago with Ramón and Helgi (my “bosses”), winging a
musical number the day of for a baptism on Saturday, visiting a convert in a small
farming area known as Lliu Lliu (“jiew jiew”), eating lunch with Ramón’s family
today, and then going to the Campos’ house in Quilpué for hermana Campos’
birthday.
This is a Mormon dog named Bermutus. He followed my companion and me every day in the mission while I was here in Limache, and he still follows the missionaries. I laughed so hard when I walked through the lobby today at church and saw him sitting inside! He has followed me a few times when out and about. He does a good job at being who he is.
Igualitos
Birthday party for hermana Campos. We all sang a different song for her.
Last Sunday I dropped in on an old investigator I taught
here in Limache. His name is Alejandro and he treats me like his grandson. I
think he goes overboard a bit, but I’ll let you be the judge. As I mentioned
before about the “besito,” I haven’t specifically mentioned that it doesn’t typically
happen between men unless it is a very close family relationship. Well when I
said goodbye to Alejandro, he kissed me one the check, twice on the neck, and
then once on each hand. I’ll leave it at that without further comment.
Abuelito
This photo was on his wall in the living room (photo taken in 2008)
Sometimes I feel like a set apart missionary, and sometimes I don’t. I
went to an activity the other day in another ward I served in. I had just come
from Santiago and happened to be dressed in a white dress shirt and tie. When I
“saludaba” (said hello and gave the besito), I could tell that some people
thought I was a missionary for a couple of reasons. One, they responded to me
by calling me “Elder,” and two, because some of the hermanas froze as I went in
to kiss them on the cheek thinking I was doing something that missionaries
aren’t supposed to.
I don’t feel like a missionary when I am in a business
meeting in the middle of Santiago and an executive pulls out a cigarette to
smoke in the middle of his office, or when the presentations given at meetings
are not zone conference presentations anymore. I also didn’t feel like a
missionary last Sunday as I watched the sister missionaries use our Internet
here to Skype their families, and I could pick up my cell phone and call home
at ease.
The strangest case, however, was Friday night as I felt like
I was being pulled between the feeling like a missionary and me. I went to Viña
to visit a convert and very good friend named Giancarlo. We share the same age
and so we became very close friends while I was on my mission. It was different
(but awesome) to not only talk about churchy things on Friday night, but also
about how lame dating can be, or how we both have had similar young-adult-life
experiences. After chatting at his place for a while, we went out to grab a completo
(a big Chilean hotdog with avocado, tomato and mayo) and after went to a YSA
activity at the stake center. A girl had asked that I meet up with her there
and I tried to dance Chilean style with her, but I felt completely out of
place. It was a blast, but I also laughed at myself as I felt like I was
breaking mission rules.
This past week I have been staying with the Daine family. I
love them very much and I will always feel indebted for the service they have
rendered in my behalf. I woke up early one morning to make them an “American”
breakfast, but what came out were probably the worst hash browns ever known to
man. Hermana Daine made it up to me by surprising me with French fries, eggs,
and ham for breakfast the following morning!
Today is the 20th of May and so you may hear about a big earthquake in Chile today. Some guy has predicted that an unprecedented earthquake is supposed to occur today, but despite all the buzz on the news, so far it has been really tranquilo. Last week, however, there was a mini earthquake that got our hearts racing!
To say it is such a cliché, but my favorite part has truly
been being around all the people I love here in Chile. I enjoy simply observing
what they do, and finding ways in which I can live life more fully. Sometimes
it takes leaving home or going to another place or country to realize how many
distractions we often let into our lives that are camouflaged as important or
convenient. I see and know that true and lasting happiness comes by striving to
apply the Atonement and Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. Living close to
our Heavenly Father opens the windows of heaven, and blessings are truly poured
out upon us. After we are tremendously blessed, we should give to others a
portion of what we have been given. Seriously—what else matters?
My bedroom at the Daine's
Barros Luco sandwich on the way back home from Santiago. Avacado, cheese, and steak.
American breakfast made better
Church grounds "Cumorah" in Casablanca. The stake had a big primary activity on Saturday and I helped with the transportation.
The Bishop's son Jared Guzman
The Limache ward's collage on the word of wisdom
Juan and Regina Daine after being sealed in the Santiago temple
I still can’t believe that I’m really here in Chile. I can't begin to describe how incredible of an experience it has been, and I feel so fortunate for the opportunity it is to be here.
Things are going really well. At Surmount (organizational development) and its
sister company Piedra Blanca (consulting), we are receiving new clients. Right now I have gone to training workshops with a retail bank called Banco Ripley, and an investment management bank called Sura, who just bought ING here in South America. I am working alongside a good friend named Ramón Páez, who has already taught me great skills in public speaking. As I continue to improve my language abilities and prepare to participate in facilitating the workshops, I have helped in translating a lot of material I have brought from home related to strategy and marketing.
My favorite part of being here has really been visiting so many great people from the different areas. If I haven't been able to visit yet, I have called. I have attended two wards in which I served, and look forward to seeing more people I know during my stay. I feel so happy to see so many I love still active in the church, and living successful lives.
Yesterday I went to Viña del Mar to have lunch with President Gillespie and his wife who were my mission presidents for about the last six months of my mission. They are getting ready to leave on June 30. It was great to talk about old and new things.
While in Viña I tried calling two investigators, Maria Angelica and Felipe Silva, I was working with when I was here at the end of 2008. I tried calling the numbers I had but both the numbers were bad. I took a bus to their house and knocked on their door, not knowing exactly which house it was and even if they would be there. Felipe answered the door, and there I stood with a big grin on my face. He just stared at me like he couldn't believe his eyes. After a few seconds he smiled and just started to chuckle. They were so surprised and happy to see me and I was so glad to have found them. Call it coincidence or a miracle, but they had just barely moved back to this house from an apartment in Santiago and just happened to be home. They never were baptized but I love them so much. You'll see more in the video.
This past week I also had the opportunity to take a good friend of mine, Diego Diane, to the airport in Santiago with his family. He left on Wednesday morning for a mission in Brazil. I have since changed houses and am living in his unoccupied room for a time.
Familia Diane
Parque China with Rodrigo and Rocio
My best smile wearing a bib before heading to Santiago
Alejandro, yo, Hector Jaime, y Precila. Before their missions, these two RM's helped me out quite a bit in my second area called Paso Hondo, Quilpué
I'm back home in Chile!
I arrived early yesterday morning and had the day yesterday to rest up and hang
with some great people. I am staying with Cristián and Ximena Guajardo, and their three children
Rodrigo (9), Rosio (5), and Teresa (3 months).
Yesterday I had
time to roam around the area for a bit, which was unreal given it's been four
years since I was here last. It was fun to recognize many of the same doors,
shops, and smells I used to know well.
I have also realized now
how stinking rusty I really am when it comes to speaking Spanish. Business
vocab and other daily conversation is very different from what missionaries
speak and hear; and plus, Chileans speak faster that what is humanly possible
for the rest of us.
I really love
being a Chilean. It's great to be able to eat "once" (not once, but like the number 11 in Spanish) again, which is like a little meal in the late evening, hear and remember all
the funny sayings (mitsch!), and to be able to hug and give besitos.
This is my first
video. It's not much, but what the hay--the skies look really cool. Whoever is
reading this, I think you're great.
