November 26, 2012

Well, it sounds as if the weather is really starting to heat up in Chile.  Kyle said it feels like they are walking all day in a sauna!  He also mentioned that earthquake season has arrived.  They had at least one earthquake almost everyday last week, which has him just a little "FREAKED OUT":)

He is continuing to keep his cooking skills in practice and tried to make brownies for FHE this past week.  Apparently, the end results were not quite as good as they use to be at home, but as you can see in the pictures below, his crepes were awesome, so apparently he is not going hungry!

He also mentioned that his birthday is just around the corner and he just thought he would throw out a little hint to all of us here at home, that he would love to hear from you!

November 19, 2012

From the following excerpt from Kyle's letter, it sounds as if the Primary Program was a success!  

"Sunday was AWESOME! We had 6 of our investigators come to church, YES!! Also, it was the primary program so all the kids were singing and gave their talks and it was the cutest thing ever!! Everyone loved it. It's really cool to see that all around the world the primary prepares for this and toward the end of the year they sing and give talks during sacrament meeting. It really reminded me of home. It was the cutest thing ever. They all had matching ties and the primary president made these pins for all the members of the ward. Speaking of the ward, we had 199 people at church!! I couldn't believe it!! That's the most there's been for awhile! The bishop was super happy with the turnout, and so were all the missionaries :) "

The following picture is of a family that He especially loves.  They are moving soon and will be missed by all the missionaries.

Villanueva Family

November 12, 2012

This was a REALLY good week for Kyle since he was able to teach 32 lessons!  On his P-Day they went to a city called Patronato, which had several authentic shops to buy items made in Chile.   He was excited to be able to purchase all of his Christmas gifts.  

Next he shared the "whoops of the week" ...

We were on the way to the doctors office so we had to take the metro... it was about to leave so we started running and I slipped through the doors of the metro and was super excited that we made it! As the doors closed behind me I turn around to talk to Elder MAteos and see that he didn't make the metro. hahahaa He was on the other side of the doors!!! I try to open the door but it wouldn't freaking open! I was freaking out so i scribbled on a piece of paper as fast as I could that Id wait for him at the next stop ahaha lets just say it was the longest 2 minutes of my life!! I was without my companion on the metro in the middle of chile.... there you have it! haha love you!

He is excited for the primary program on Sunday.  Here are a couple of pictures of him and the kids at the rehearsal.

 Next is a picture of his favorite dog, Josefa!  

November 5, 2012

Hello!  We received another letter from Kyle today.  Actually, we receive one every Monday!  :)  He sounded pretty good.

He for sure let us know that Summer is hot in Chile.  He is starting to carry around a 2 liter water bottle with him everywhere he goes!

He also finally got his Visa and I guess it was quite a process.  He mentioned it is like going to the DMV 3 times!  I guess he had to wait forever and ever but he finally has the paper work to show that he is legal in Chile.  Yay!

He has been able to get to know lots of new people the last couple of weeks.  Just this past week he taught 30 lessons so he was super excited about that.  He seems to be playing a LOT of Bingo with his new friends.  I guess they absolutely love it there and think it is the most fun game ever!

He also recently got called to be the ward/primary piano player.  Kyle says, "And everyone here thinks I'm freaking Mozart because I can play the piano but I'm really terrible at it! It's pretty funny."  

Next is a little blurb from his letter that we thought was funny ...

"Sunday was a good day too! It was super hot once again and wearing our suits to church kills me every single week. I'm really not looking forward to summer... We worked in the far sector again and found more good people to teach! I have also discovered a food here that I really can't eat... its a drink/dessert actually.. It's called mote con huesillo... It's basically apricot juice with a dried apricot in it with cooked wheat.... I really want to throw up every time I drink it. People here think it's so good and it may not sound too bad, but I really can't do it anymore haha We had lunch once day and the members gave us this for dessert and since I'm tall and bigger than all of them, they always give me more food including a HUGE bowl of more con huesillo... I thought I was going to die....." 

Anyways, he seems to be doing great!  He did get to go to the ward Halloween party, so below are a couple pictures of the missionaries all "dressed" up!  Enjoy!

October 22, 2012 ... Transfers!

Kyle seemed to have a tough week, mainly because he got the stomach flu.  Ugh!!  Never any fun, especially when Mom is not around to take care of you!

On a more positive note, Elder Bednar came and spoke to Kyle and about 450 other missionaries.  He said he was "SO funny"!  He told the missionaries that when they are listening to people speak at church, they are in a way trained to write down everything.  He said, "if you do that, you are stupid".  :) He was trying to let them know that if they are writing everything down, then they are missing the important stuff.  Kyle said he learned a lot from what he had to share.  He also mentioned it was neat as Elder Bednar gave the mission some sort of powerful blessing that they will find people to teach and that they will have success.  Kyle mentioned it was a truly incredible experience to be in Elder Bednar's presence.

The biggest change is that Kyle is staying in the same place, BUT he has a new companion, Elder Mateos.  He is a "little guy" from Uruguay, who Kyle can't understand yet!  :)

 Kyle's missionary "family"

Kyle and some of his missionary friends

Kyle absolutely loves, loves all the letters and packages.  Please keep them coming!!  Many thanks!!

October 15, 2012

We received another fun letter from Kyle today.  Here is a little bit of the excitement that he was able to experience this past week ... 

"Another really exciting thing happened this week! Let's just say when the heat comes, so do the earthquakes!! It was so scary! I had my first earthquake here... it wasn't a tiny one either. haha It was a 5.7 and I know that isn't too big, but when you're in an appartment eating your lunch and every thing starts to shake.... for a long time.... things can get a little crazy. To be honest, it was pretty fun just because I've never felt an earthquake like that before. Don't worry, we all have our 72 hour kits ready so if something were to happen, they've told us what to do :) The funny part about that thought was like I said, we were eating lunch and Elder Gaete looks at me and says that he's still hungry so he's going to eat the emergency bag... haha literally 3 second after that, we had an earthquake... He learned his lesson."  

Kyle is doing great and absolutely LOVES hearing from everybody.  Please keep sending off the letters!  

Below are a few more pictures from the week!  Enjoy!

 Kyle touring Santa Lucia.  

It is basically a little flea market type of thing with everything you can imagine.

 Kyle venturing out on a hike in Santa Lucia.  

He mentions the coolest part is when he got to the top, he could see all of Santiago.

 This is Kyle and some of his "friends" he passes by each and every day!

 Kyle eating at his favorite Sopaipillas place ... looks way yummy!

October 8, 2012

Hi everybody!  Here are a few more pictures to share from Kyle's last month.  Sorry, we are a little behind in getting these on the blog!  We are also having a bit of a struggle opening up some of his pictures so they are not all here from this past month ....  But here are a few to enjoy!

 Kyle out in the city shopping around with other missionaries

 Kyle learning how to make homemade bread for the first time!

 Kyle is definitely not going hungry on his mission!  

 Kyle making sopaipillas in the house with his famous guacamole!

 Kyle and the Soto Family

Kyle wearing his big hat to celebrate Sister Soto's birthday ...

Of course he is always smiling ...

We sure love and miss you Kyle!!