Hey Everyone!!
So this is it. It's my last e-mail in the MTC before I
leave on MONDAY!! I can't believe that this time is already here. It's so weird
to think that I've been here for a little over 2 weeks and I'm already leaving
for Chile. To be completely honest, I'm freaking out a little. I was talking to
some of the other Elders who are going to Chile and they said the've met a few
people from there. They keep telling me that whenever they talk with their
Chilean accents, it's impossible to tell what they're saying. This is what I'm
pretty nervous about because I think I know Spanish pretty well at this point,
but I know when I get there, I'm going to have to start all over again. Let's
just say next week's e-mail may be a little interesting with a little bit of
frustration mixed inJ
So not much happened this week, but there were a few
things that stuck out. One of our Hermanas as I've said has been pretty sick so
one night she actually had to go to the hospital... They didn't really know
what was wrong with her and it's been going on for a week or so now. She kept
saying her stomach hurt all the time and it was really only after she ate. It
got to the point where it was really bad and they couldn't figure anything out.
After a few days of this I told her it was Celiac. I KNEW just because of all
of the symptoms. The doctors took blood while she was at the hospital and they
never even mentioned anything about it to her. I kept insisting that I was
right though just because it seemed so obvious to me. Finally around Wednesday
I told her (being the esteeemd district leader and all) that she just needed to
go to the health clinic to tell them to take blood and test her for celiac. And
lo and behold, I was right. The doctor wouldn't fully admit to it just because
the day before he said there was no way that she had it but after checking the
blood test he gave her a list of things she should "try to avoid"
since her stomach "may hurt". Man, I felt so good about myself haha
Also, another of our Hermanas got some pretty unlucky
news this week. It was actually really sad. She was having some stomach pains
to and she went to doctors appointments all week. Finally on Wednesday they
figured out was wrong and basically told her that her chances of having kids
were practically 0 because of the surgery they may have to do while she's in
Texas for her mission. I cannot believe how well she held up though. We all
felt so bad because I can't even imagine getting that news especially while I'm
on my mission. There wasn't really anything we could do for her but to just let
her know that we're all thinking and praying for her. Our Hermanas are a pretty
strong bunch and they definitely keep us in line :)
Now let me tell you about the worst day of the week.
Pioneer day. First off, the only thing that we did for Pioneer day back home
was eat boiled wheat or whatever that stuff was but everything was still open
down in California. But no. Everything closes here. I mean EVERYTHING. This was
the worst day just because they didn't deliver mail, and mail is definitely the
best part of the day. I don't sound too bitter, do I??
Another pretty cool thing that has happened over these
2 weeks is that we've had 4 different teachers. You're normally only supposed
to have 2 but It's been pretty nice just
because it's something new to look forward to every day. My favorite though has
to be Hermano Johnson. He's the best! He always knows how to wake us up and
make class way more fun especially when you've already been in class for 5
hours. My favorite thing is his accent. He went to Peru on his mission so he
talks like a true Peruvian. It's pretty funny... Half the time you can't
understand him just because they leave out all of the "s" and the
"d" in everything. So we all started talking like him by the end of
class just because it was way more fun. The best part of the day with him
though is "Historitaym" or story time. hahaha That's just how he said
it to us one day and wrote it on the board and we all thought it was hilarious.
It's pretty cool hearing returned missionaries stories because they always have
great things to say. I can't wait until I get a few of those stories myself.
So yesterday we had in-field orientation. This lasted
from 8 in the morning until 9 at night. It sounded like it was going to be an
eternity but luckily they put SOOOO much effort into making it way fun, it went
by so fast. I don't understand how fast yesterday went by. It was pretty crazy.
Basically in the orientation they just teach you a few things that you need to
know before you actually head out that they don't really talk about in class
such as, how to work with members of the church when you get down there and how
to find people to teach and all of that stuff. It was pretty cool because they
totally rearrange the rooms and make it look like the environment you're going
to be in. That's what made it so interesting. The teachers were great and it
was just a nice change of scenery.
So as of now our lessons are getting a lot better.
We've started to really like teaching our investigators but unfortunately it's
already time to go and quit doing that. It's kind of sad to be honest. But the
language isn't really much of the problem anymore. It's just trying to answer
the questions that the investigator asks you!
Sometimes they ask the hardest questions EVER! I panic half the time and
that's when I feel like I'm back in 7th grade Spanish. But the majority of the time it flows out
perfectly :) or almost perfect J But like I said, I'm going to have to completely re-learn it all next
week. It'll be quite interesting.
So I don't know if I've said this enough but I LOVE
our district. We're definitely the best district here! There's one Elder in my
district named Elder Townsend and he and I just go at it everyday cracking
jokes. It gets to the point where everyone in the class is bawling. It's so
funny. I don't know what it is but as soon as we both see something funny, we
just make it 30 times worse and keep laughing about it. It makes class a lot
more fun.
Sorry to make this e-mail so short but first off, we
only have 30 minutes on the computer and that goes a lot faster than you may
think. But I just wanted to say thanks
to everyone who's supported me while I've been here. I know this is what I'm
supposed to be doing right now and sometimes it's pretty tough but getting all
of the letters and packages and everything makes it a lot better :) Here's my
new address for the next few weeks until I get out a new one:
Elder Kyle Riches
Chile Santiago North Mission
Sucursal Correo Patronato
Casilla 60
Region Metropolitina (Santiago)
Chile
The one above is for letters and the one below is for
packages:
Elder Kyle Riches
Chile Santiago North Mission
Unit # 2011379
Maria Graham 312
Recoleta, Chile 8420164
dearelder.com still works while I'm in Chile but you just have to
use the pouch mail section instead. It'll get to me at some point just not
every day like it did here. So it's still easy to send me letters!! hint, hint...
Like I said, thank you all so much for the love and support and I'd LOVE to
keep hearing from all of you :)
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