My first set of cambios!

Wow. Pretty soon I won´t be the new kid on the block anymore! 6 weeks has flown by. My District Leader...the other gringo, is getting transferred and we´re getting a new DL, but I don´t know who it is yet.

Business to take care of:
-Gracias for the birthday package and money mom and pop! Also, Grandma GRACIAS!!!!! I´ll have to take my compi out and do something fun this Pday! :)
-I just got the first round of “dear elders”...so yeah, they take about 2 months to get here. For all those Dear Elder-ers out there, it´s probably much easier and certainly much faster to email me. And it´s allowed for me to receive emails, but not send them to qualquier persona...entonces...email me, but BE SURE TO SEND ME YOUR STREET ADDRESS SO THAT I CAN WRITE YOU BACK!!!!! Muchisimo gracias.
-Marla, thank you for your letter! It was great to hear from you! I am glad to know that all is well. Mom is excited to get to visit you this summer. Say hello to St. Augustine for me...one of my favorite places ever. :)


Well, the birthday was a great one! Pretty much a normal day, but still oh so good. The day before, Tuesday, we had a zone meeting and the Elders in our zone bought me a cake...I think it was an excuse to eat, but nonetheless, it was delicious! Unfortunately there is a tradition here called "Mordar la Torta"....basically you have to take a big bite out of the cake before they cut it. Que verguenza! Also the elders in this zone have this tradition of singing happy birthday in Chinese...? Chileans singing in Chinese is priceless. Hahah. Also at this zone conference I got my birthday package...perfect timing! Thank you!!!

For my actual birthday, it was a beautiful day outside! But it´s kind of random, when the sun is shining it is the coldest, so I was really bundled up :) The lady that owns the convenient store on the corner of my street and who also happens to be the owner of the house we live in gave me ice cream as a present. The ice cream here is super yummy, so that was a great treat. Also the best present I could have asked for on my birthday--for the first time in the mission, I felt semi-comfortable talking is Spanish!!! I can tell you that that feeling is not a permanent one, but some days are good Spanish days and others aren´t...but I am learning that the bolder I am with the Spanish, the better I speak. Que bueno! I am trying to make that a habit. Pray for me :)

The day after my bday...the Mundial started (the World Cup). It´s something everyone is talking about...and if we´re lucky we get to ride in a Collectivo (cheap taxi) that has a personal TV thing hanging from the ceiling (more for the benefit of the driver than the passengers...that tells you how they drive here as well :) hahah. But yeah, Chile plays on Wednesday, but at 6:30 in the morning; therefore I don´t think it will be a big deal while we´re proselyting, but I still don´t know. Chileans don´t get up early in the morning for anything but the Mundial.... ahahah (I´m not judging...a Chilean told me that :) But it is so true.

Funny story, the other day I was walking down the street and this young kid probably 13-ish years old yelled at me in English "Hey, what´s up, Man!?" Hilarious. My native companion began speaking English slang with him and I started talking in Spanish with him. That phrase is clearly all he knows in English, but it was a super funny situation...maybe you had to be there to appreciate it like we did. But so funny.

Anyway, I have to run...LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!! Thank you for all your letters and support LOVE YOU!