I can´t write very much this week, because we are going to the cemetery here in Punta Arenas…sounds exciting huh? But really though apparently it´s world famous, and BEAUTIFUL….you all should google it today and check out what I´ll be standing in. Be jealous. Just kidding…but seriously google it.
GUESS WHAT?! Another baptism. It was awesome. Claudia and Boris got married Friday morning and then she got baptized on Saturday. It was such a special weekend. I am pretty sure that she understands better than anyone I have taught so far in my mission. I feel like it is because she really just has to pay so much attention to understand anything. At first I was really worried about the ward here more or less ignoring her because they didn´t know how to communicate, but I was proven to have faith insufficient. The ward has welcomed her with open arms. Many people try to talk to her and everyone just gives her big hugs. All the primary kids there learned how to say congratulations on your baptism in signs, and they all told her one by one…so cute. I hope that this endures as she becomes a faithful member in the ward. We are going to try and set up sign language classes for the members to come to while we do English classes. There is one young man here that knows sign language and so hopefully we can help him help others. I think he would be very willing. He baptized her, and he loves her family. I am trying to learn signs to teach her better. She can read lips really well, so she can understand what I don´t know how to say with my hands. She is just so special. This was a very special weekend for her and her family. For us, too.
I am really starting to get to know the ward here better. I am excited to work with them. We ate lunch with Hermano Ayancan yesterday (he was the old Stake president here). He was telling us that the ward is really struggling. We want to help them. When it is my time to leave Magallanes, I just really want to leave it in better shape than when I got here. I know that change takes time to become reality, but I just really feel like we need to really focus on the members here, and their families. I want to really work closely with Bishop Muñoz to help figure out what his goals and visions are for the ward here, so that we can help him. He does so much by himself here. He doesn´t have a bishopric, and I can´t help but think that it would be overwhelming without one.
This next week we have a lot of members signed up to go with us, so I am really excited about that. I really think that we need to find a lot of nuevos this week. We are still praying to find a family that will be a strength in this ward. We have a few couples that might be great potential, but we need to work more with them still. But the Lord knew what we needed, and the next meeting we had, we was with a woman named Karin and we watched the Restoration video with her, and she told us that she got piel de gallina (goosebumps) during the 1st Vision. It was neat. She has lots of progress to make before baptism, but I am really willing and ready to help her through it.
I am happy. I am focusing on trying to have a great attitude all day long. There are times when I just have to remind myself that I am on a mission, and though things may not be going as I would always like them to, I am still a missionary! And that is something that always brings a smile to my face. I feel very blessed to be trusted with this magnificent work.
So far this has been a mas o menos harder sector, but I am really excited for the challenges that I´ll have here to help me progress and develop as a person and a missionary. I hope that I can help in anyway possible here. I am excited to work hard and love the people. I know that is when I have the most happiness in the mission. Gosh, I am very happy right now, I hope that I can learn a ton this cambio, and that I can just love every second of it. Even the hard ones.
Anyway, that is about it for today. Tell everybody that has to get hand written letters that I am sorry that it´ll take longer to get to them now because I am at the tip of the world…and I live pretty far away from the post office. But they are written and will be on their way soon.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! Thank you for all your love and support. You are all the very greatest. Thank you for being in my life.
-Hermana Bertagnole
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Glad dieciocho is over...now back to work!
Hola Familia bonita!
Sounds like things are going pretty well back in the casa. Dad, thank you so much for your advice about the ward in your last letter. That was really exactly what I needed this week. It is a little hard to make the adjustment to a new ward, but I am trying to focus and all the good things that they do, instead of all the different things. I am very blessed to be in this ward. There is lots of work to do, and I am just trying to help in any way I can. You gave me some good ideas of how to help the Bishop here. He has a very big calling…no counselors to help either. Bless his heart. Mom, I really loved your message about being grateful. That is so true. I am really trying to work on that. Sometimes when I find myself complaining, I just have to stop and think about what I´m saying and just remind myself that I am a missionary. That is the biggest privilege that I have ever had in my life. I need to be willing to do anything that it takes to call myself a disciple of Jesus Christ. When life is hard…welcome to the Savior´s life. The best lives ever lived were not easy ones…they wouldn´t be fulfilling if they were. We have to be grateful for the trials we are given. They are only opportunities to improve and grow, and become closer to our Savior.
Things are really pretty much the same old thing here. We couldn´t work very much since the last time I wrote you all on Thursday, so to be honest not very much has changed. This week we didn´t have many appointments, and we couldn´t leave the house without set appointments…to say the least, I got pretty bored the last four days, but today is the last day of the holiday, and tomorrow all is back to normal. Thank goodness. I am really ready to get back to business.
We did get to go to the ward activity for Dieciocho. That was way fun. I got to see the Cueica for the first time…it´s pretty sweet. The Cueica is the national dance of Chile…everyone knows how to do it here. A little girl in the ward tried to teach me…I got it on video…I´ll show you when I get home. To say the least…it was clear that I am a gringa…I wasn´t the best Cueica dancer there. Oh well.
We are going to be having another baptism this Saturday! This will be Claudia…the woman that is deaf. She is such an amazing person to me. This ward is not an easy ward to be deaf in either. Mostly it is made up of very elderly people, and I worry about her being able to communicate with people very well, but she can read lips very well. I can communicate just fine with her, but then again, I do speak much slower than most in Chile. But we are going to work with the Bishop here to assign some people to help her understand, whether it is learning signs, talking slow to help her read their lips, or taking notes with good old pin and paper. Hermana McMaster can speak/sign pretty well in American, and there are some that are different, but she can understand pretty well. I am nervous that when she leaves it will be difficult for me, but I am trying to learn as much as I can and help the ward do the same so that she can get the most out of meetings as possible. She is so smart and so faithful. I am pretty sure she would come even if no one was helping her understand. She´s really pretty independent, which is good. There are a couple of inactive people that can sign fluently, so that actually might be something to get them motivated to come back and serve. Pray for us to come up with a solution. I know that she is doing her part; we just have to figure out how to best help her…we have to do our part now.
Well, also this week we had interviews and capacitacion with Presidente. It was awesome. I told him that I am a bit worried that soon I am really not going to be the new sister in the mission. He told me that I really need to be focused on progressing and growing up as fast as I can, because we have a lot of sisters leaving soon, and he´s going to need me as a leader. I am a little worried about this, to be honest. But I am going to really try and push myself really hard this cambio to learn as much as I can fit in my head, just so I can be a better servant and be available to do whatever the Lord requires of me. I am scared, though…I´m not going to lie, but President expressed his confidence in me, and that helped a lot. Now I just can´t let anything get in the way of my progress. I think this is the point in my mission that it is beginning to change from just a really cool experience to a whole lot of responsibility. But I am really grateful for the opportunity to become the missionary that the Lord has in mind. Yesterday was a hard day, just because I realized that this is not going to be easy to do, but really I know that I am going to grow so much. I am grateful for the opportunity. Here I go. Thanks for your prayers.
Well, because I don´t have much new news this week, I´ll tell you all a little bit more about Punta Arenas. It is a lot colder and really pretty windy, BUT the houses here are heated with gas stoves instead of wood stoves…and we are very blessed to have one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom, so when it is cold we turn them both on and we are roasting in no time! We have the warmest house in the mission I think. Unlike in Ancud, we don´t get to walk by the beach everyday to citas, BUT you can see the Magellan Strait from our house…pretty legit. I think one P-day we are going to get up early and go watch the sunrise over it…and touch the point of the world where the Pacific and Atlantic meet…who knew!? The food here is pretty much the same. Although the mamita here lets us serve ourselves, so we don´t have to eat as much food as we did in Ancud…thank goodness. Hopefully I can drop a few pounds here. Oh man, gotta love the fact that everyone is shoving food in your face. I love Chileans! Que mas…It´s warming up a little bit now. I got lucky to be here in the Spring and Summer…I hear it gets pretty bad snow in the winter. Also the Spring and Summer is when the penguins come!!!! So before too long, ya´ll will be getting pictures of me and the birdies! Get excited…I am.
Well, that´s about all that I have time for, Familia mia. I love you all tons. Thanks friends for your emails. Love you guys. Sent off some letters to you all this week.
Abrazos!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Sounds like things are going pretty well back in the casa. Dad, thank you so much for your advice about the ward in your last letter. That was really exactly what I needed this week. It is a little hard to make the adjustment to a new ward, but I am trying to focus and all the good things that they do, instead of all the different things. I am very blessed to be in this ward. There is lots of work to do, and I am just trying to help in any way I can. You gave me some good ideas of how to help the Bishop here. He has a very big calling…no counselors to help either. Bless his heart. Mom, I really loved your message about being grateful. That is so true. I am really trying to work on that. Sometimes when I find myself complaining, I just have to stop and think about what I´m saying and just remind myself that I am a missionary. That is the biggest privilege that I have ever had in my life. I need to be willing to do anything that it takes to call myself a disciple of Jesus Christ. When life is hard…welcome to the Savior´s life. The best lives ever lived were not easy ones…they wouldn´t be fulfilling if they were. We have to be grateful for the trials we are given. They are only opportunities to improve and grow, and become closer to our Savior.
Things are really pretty much the same old thing here. We couldn´t work very much since the last time I wrote you all on Thursday, so to be honest not very much has changed. This week we didn´t have many appointments, and we couldn´t leave the house without set appointments…to say the least, I got pretty bored the last four days, but today is the last day of the holiday, and tomorrow all is back to normal. Thank goodness. I am really ready to get back to business.
We did get to go to the ward activity for Dieciocho. That was way fun. I got to see the Cueica for the first time…it´s pretty sweet. The Cueica is the national dance of Chile…everyone knows how to do it here. A little girl in the ward tried to teach me…I got it on video…I´ll show you when I get home. To say the least…it was clear that I am a gringa…I wasn´t the best Cueica dancer there. Oh well.
We are going to be having another baptism this Saturday! This will be Claudia…the woman that is deaf. She is such an amazing person to me. This ward is not an easy ward to be deaf in either. Mostly it is made up of very elderly people, and I worry about her being able to communicate with people very well, but she can read lips very well. I can communicate just fine with her, but then again, I do speak much slower than most in Chile. But we are going to work with the Bishop here to assign some people to help her understand, whether it is learning signs, talking slow to help her read their lips, or taking notes with good old pin and paper. Hermana McMaster can speak/sign pretty well in American, and there are some that are different, but she can understand pretty well. I am nervous that when she leaves it will be difficult for me, but I am trying to learn as much as I can and help the ward do the same so that she can get the most out of meetings as possible. She is so smart and so faithful. I am pretty sure she would come even if no one was helping her understand. She´s really pretty independent, which is good. There are a couple of inactive people that can sign fluently, so that actually might be something to get them motivated to come back and serve. Pray for us to come up with a solution. I know that she is doing her part; we just have to figure out how to best help her…we have to do our part now.
Well, also this week we had interviews and capacitacion with Presidente. It was awesome. I told him that I am a bit worried that soon I am really not going to be the new sister in the mission. He told me that I really need to be focused on progressing and growing up as fast as I can, because we have a lot of sisters leaving soon, and he´s going to need me as a leader. I am a little worried about this, to be honest. But I am going to really try and push myself really hard this cambio to learn as much as I can fit in my head, just so I can be a better servant and be available to do whatever the Lord requires of me. I am scared, though…I´m not going to lie, but President expressed his confidence in me, and that helped a lot. Now I just can´t let anything get in the way of my progress. I think this is the point in my mission that it is beginning to change from just a really cool experience to a whole lot of responsibility. But I am really grateful for the opportunity to become the missionary that the Lord has in mind. Yesterday was a hard day, just because I realized that this is not going to be easy to do, but really I know that I am going to grow so much. I am grateful for the opportunity. Here I go. Thanks for your prayers.
Well, because I don´t have much new news this week, I´ll tell you all a little bit more about Punta Arenas. It is a lot colder and really pretty windy, BUT the houses here are heated with gas stoves instead of wood stoves…and we are very blessed to have one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom, so when it is cold we turn them both on and we are roasting in no time! We have the warmest house in the mission I think. Unlike in Ancud, we don´t get to walk by the beach everyday to citas, BUT you can see the Magellan Strait from our house…pretty legit. I think one P-day we are going to get up early and go watch the sunrise over it…and touch the point of the world where the Pacific and Atlantic meet…who knew!? The food here is pretty much the same. Although the mamita here lets us serve ourselves, so we don´t have to eat as much food as we did in Ancud…thank goodness. Hopefully I can drop a few pounds here. Oh man, gotta love the fact that everyone is shoving food in your face. I love Chileans! Que mas…It´s warming up a little bit now. I got lucky to be here in the Spring and Summer…I hear it gets pretty bad snow in the winter. Also the Spring and Summer is when the penguins come!!!! So before too long, ya´ll will be getting pictures of me and the birdies! Get excited…I am.
Well, that´s about all that I have time for, Familia mia. I love you all tons. Thanks friends for your emails. Love you guys. Sent off some letters to you all this week.
Abrazos!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Una carta de su Magallanica
Hola familia mia:.
Well, I am no longer Chilota, I am Magallanica...but considering that I was born (in the mission) in Chiloe, I might always consider myself Chilota...we´ll see. So yes, Magallanes is my sector here in Punta Arenas. This whole area in the southern part of Chile is technically called Magallanes...You´ll have to do some research to find out all the reasons, as I am still not exactly sure. From what I understand, supposedly it is an "independent republic" but I am pretty sure that it is still very much part of Chile. They do have their own flag though...but I think that is kind of like the Confederate flag in the United States. :)
Anyway, my new compañera is Hna. McMaster. She´s awesome. This is her last cambio in the mission, so it´s kind of sad, but she´s a really hard worker, and I am learning a lot from her. She´ll be way fun to work with. My first Saturday here we had another baptism! It was a young man, Miguel, who´s mom and step-dad are recent converts from May, and he has been working with the sisters for awhile now. His step-dad got to baptize him! He is awesome. He´s 17 years old and just a really good kid. It was neat to see their family get completed. Sandra and and Amador (his parents) also have another little girl who is 4, and she is adorable. They want to go to the temple so badly so they can be sealed. They are just a great family that is going to be such a strength in the ward here. I am sending pictures!!! It was a great start to the cambio.
Also we will be having another baptism the 25th of September. She has been working with the missionaries for a little while now, and she has been coming to church as well. Her only problem was she was living with a menos activo member and they are not married, but they are going to get married the 24th so we challenged her to be baptized the 25th and she eagerly accepted. Claudia and her future husband, Boris, are deaf...so I am learning a new language now too. I am learning how to sign now! It´s so fun. It´s different than sign language in the US, so sometimes I get confused from what little I remembered from those classes that the sister missionaries used to teach, but it´s way neat. Claudia can read lips really well, and to be perfectly honest, she understands the concepts way better than almost any other investigator. She is so smart. It is such an inspiration to me. We are trying to get the members to at least try their best to communicate with her at church. There is one young man that can sign, so we are enlisting his help to teach a sign class to the members. I want to take it too. I can pray in signs now though! It´s fun and she is so sweet about it.
As far as the transfer goes, I have learned that it´s kind of like starting all over again...I am learning and praying for a love for the people all over again, just like I did when I first got into the mission. I hope that it comes sooner now that I can understand them, and communicate with them more now. I know that it will come. I am learning to work with different members, different leaders, different investigators, etc. but they are all great, so I think the love is coming quickly. I already just love Hna. McMaster. She´s great. I feel blessed to have her as my comp. Also I am SO happy because I get to see my Mama Aponte about 3-4 times every week. It is so so great!
My focus this cambio will be the same as last cambio. The family. I just have realized very quickly that that is where success is on the mission. I realized it with Miguel´s family. I am realizing that it is so much easier to become inactive when you´re family is not there to support you. I don´t worry at all about Miguel being inactive, because right now it is easy for him and his family to have the goal of the temple. It is within their reach, they are so close they can almost touch it. And that is driving them. Without that it is so easy to lose sight of what the real goal is. I really want to help the members activate or complete their families and GET TO THE TEMPLE! I learned this week just how important and crucial those covenants are. They too are necessary for our Salvation! We are praying hard to find a family that is prepared and ready to here this glorious message. I just love having that as the focus. And I feel even more strongly about it this cambio than the last. I know that there is at least one prepared and waiting in this sector.
As far as the weather goes here, it´s cold and windy, but it isn´t as bad as everyone makes it sound...but granted I am here during spring. ... but I hear the wind will get really bad. That´s ok... I´m tough. :)
Also, the reason that the Pday is Thursday is because of their Independence Day. It´s the 18th of Sept. and this year is the 200th birthday, so it´s going to be nuts. Lots of borrachos, so we are only allowed to work on set meetings for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It´s taking a hit on the work, but I know it´s for our safety...I´m going to get so bored in the house though. Oh well, supposedly this holiday is bigger than Christmas. And people just party for 4 days straight...I´ll send pictures of the Ward activity (it´ll be calm compared to the others, hahaha).
Well, that is all I have time to write for now....
OH funny thing: The law here for the 18th of September is that everyone has to have a flag waving outside their house for the entire month of Sept. or else you get a ticket...Luckily our house owner took care of ours. We have the Chilean flag and the Magallanes flags hanging. I figured Scott would get a kick out of that law.
LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!!!!!! Love you!)
Well, I am no longer Chilota, I am Magallanica...but considering that I was born (in the mission) in Chiloe, I might always consider myself Chilota...we´ll see. So yes, Magallanes is my sector here in Punta Arenas. This whole area in the southern part of Chile is technically called Magallanes...You´ll have to do some research to find out all the reasons, as I am still not exactly sure. From what I understand, supposedly it is an "independent republic" but I am pretty sure that it is still very much part of Chile. They do have their own flag though...but I think that is kind of like the Confederate flag in the United States. :)
Anyway, my new compañera is Hna. McMaster. She´s awesome. This is her last cambio in the mission, so it´s kind of sad, but she´s a really hard worker, and I am learning a lot from her. She´ll be way fun to work with. My first Saturday here we had another baptism! It was a young man, Miguel, who´s mom and step-dad are recent converts from May, and he has been working with the sisters for awhile now. His step-dad got to baptize him! He is awesome. He´s 17 years old and just a really good kid. It was neat to see their family get completed. Sandra and and Amador (his parents) also have another little girl who is 4, and she is adorable. They want to go to the temple so badly so they can be sealed. They are just a great family that is going to be such a strength in the ward here. I am sending pictures!!! It was a great start to the cambio.
Also we will be having another baptism the 25th of September. She has been working with the missionaries for a little while now, and she has been coming to church as well. Her only problem was she was living with a menos activo member and they are not married, but they are going to get married the 24th so we challenged her to be baptized the 25th and she eagerly accepted. Claudia and her future husband, Boris, are deaf...so I am learning a new language now too. I am learning how to sign now! It´s so fun. It´s different than sign language in the US, so sometimes I get confused from what little I remembered from those classes that the sister missionaries used to teach, but it´s way neat. Claudia can read lips really well, and to be perfectly honest, she understands the concepts way better than almost any other investigator. She is so smart. It is such an inspiration to me. We are trying to get the members to at least try their best to communicate with her at church. There is one young man that can sign, so we are enlisting his help to teach a sign class to the members. I want to take it too. I can pray in signs now though! It´s fun and she is so sweet about it.
As far as the transfer goes, I have learned that it´s kind of like starting all over again...I am learning and praying for a love for the people all over again, just like I did when I first got into the mission. I hope that it comes sooner now that I can understand them, and communicate with them more now. I know that it will come. I am learning to work with different members, different leaders, different investigators, etc. but they are all great, so I think the love is coming quickly. I already just love Hna. McMaster. She´s great. I feel blessed to have her as my comp. Also I am SO happy because I get to see my Mama Aponte about 3-4 times every week. It is so so great!
My focus this cambio will be the same as last cambio. The family. I just have realized very quickly that that is where success is on the mission. I realized it with Miguel´s family. I am realizing that it is so much easier to become inactive when you´re family is not there to support you. I don´t worry at all about Miguel being inactive, because right now it is easy for him and his family to have the goal of the temple. It is within their reach, they are so close they can almost touch it. And that is driving them. Without that it is so easy to lose sight of what the real goal is. I really want to help the members activate or complete their families and GET TO THE TEMPLE! I learned this week just how important and crucial those covenants are. They too are necessary for our Salvation! We are praying hard to find a family that is prepared and ready to here this glorious message. I just love having that as the focus. And I feel even more strongly about it this cambio than the last. I know that there is at least one prepared and waiting in this sector.
As far as the weather goes here, it´s cold and windy, but it isn´t as bad as everyone makes it sound...but granted I am here during spring. ... but I hear the wind will get really bad. That´s ok... I´m tough. :)
Also, the reason that the Pday is Thursday is because of their Independence Day. It´s the 18th of Sept. and this year is the 200th birthday, so it´s going to be nuts. Lots of borrachos, so we are only allowed to work on set meetings for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It´s taking a hit on the work, but I know it´s for our safety...I´m going to get so bored in the house though. Oh well, supposedly this holiday is bigger than Christmas. And people just party for 4 days straight...I´ll send pictures of the Ward activity (it´ll be calm compared to the others, hahaha).
Well, that is all I have time to write for now....
OH funny thing: The law here for the 18th of September is that everyone has to have a flag waving outside their house for the entire month of Sept. or else you get a ticket...Luckily our house owner took care of ours. We have the Chilean flag and the Magallanes flags hanging. I figured Scott would get a kick out of that law.
LOVE YOU ALL TONS!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!!!!!! Love you!)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Me voy al parte mas sur del mundo…para ensenar los penguinos
Me voy al parte mas sur del mundo…para ensenar los penguinos J
The next time you´ll be hearing from me I will be writing you from a snow bank. I am getting transferred to Punta Arenas. Goodbyes are the very worst thing in the world.
Right now it is very bitter sweet news. I am sad to leave this magical place, Chiloe, but at the same time I am very excited to meet the people of Punta Arenas, see Hermana Aponte (!!!!!!!!), and meet my new companion. I am really grateful for the opportunity to serve there. It´s hard to say goodbye to these people here in Ancud though, they are so very special to me. It´ll be hard saying goodbye to Hermana Kelley, too. She is so special, and I really enjoyed working with her. I am grateful for change and the opportunity to improve through it. I hope that I live up to this calling as I should. I am trying to do so. Sometimes I feel like I don´t do it exceptionally, but I am grateful for the Savior and the opportunity to improve through Him. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve Him. How blessed we are to see miracles happen every day. They exist.
I am halfway packed...I still have to pack my clothes, but that should be pretty easy. This is when it really starts to set in that we are only missionaries. We are just the herramientos en los manos del Señor. I am really excited to get transferred there, though. I knew I had to leave, and if I could have picked that is where I wanted to go and at the time I wanted to go. I have always just felt like there is something special there that I need to be there for. From the beginning of this cambio, I have felt like I might go there next. I feel like my time down there is going to be a full of special miracles. I know that the Lord´s hands are guiding this work and people are called to different areas for a reason. It´s hard to know that my work in Ancud is done...it seems in so many ways that it has just begun, and that there is so much left to do...but that will have to be the work of those to come.
I can´t believe I completed one-third of my mission this week. THAT IS CRAZY! Time is going so quickly that it is frightening me.
In answer to your questions, Mom, I did give Karen the skirt, but the shoes I am packing. Karen looked so cute in the skirt I had to let her have it.) As far as souvenirs went, I stayed pretty cheap and little. I did invest in the lana (wool) here in Chiloe. Wool stuff here is so cheap....like 6 bucks for a wool scarf cheap. I bought a few wool things to bring home and also some wood work done by a friend of ours...se llama Domingo...he´s awesome. But that´s about it. I figure I can´t carry much around with me right now...especially a Punta Arenas. Also, you´re right...I need to polish my boots...I´ll get on that ASAP...the boots have been the least of my concerns, but I need to take better care of them. Spit shine, here we come! ;) As far as food. Lunch is HUGE here... at least when you´re feeding the missionaries. I usually just have a little snack for breakfast and dinner, although I think this next cambio I´ll just have tea (herbal....it´s huge down here...and they have some delicious flavors...mmm mmm) and a few crackers. Word has in down south they eat a ridiculous amount of meat...ugh. Oh well. It´s cheap down there.
Well, I am out of time this week. I´ll write with new adventures next week. Love you all tons!!!!!!! Miss you and am praying for you! Thank you for everything!
LOVE YOU.
----Hermana Bertagnole
PS: Well, also it sounds like everyone is getting hitched! Congrats everybody!
The next time you´ll be hearing from me I will be writing you from a snow bank. I am getting transferred to Punta Arenas. Goodbyes are the very worst thing in the world.
Right now it is very bitter sweet news. I am sad to leave this magical place, Chiloe, but at the same time I am very excited to meet the people of Punta Arenas, see Hermana Aponte (!!!!!!!!), and meet my new companion. I am really grateful for the opportunity to serve there. It´s hard to say goodbye to these people here in Ancud though, they are so very special to me. It´ll be hard saying goodbye to Hermana Kelley, too. She is so special, and I really enjoyed working with her. I am grateful for change and the opportunity to improve through it. I hope that I live up to this calling as I should. I am trying to do so. Sometimes I feel like I don´t do it exceptionally, but I am grateful for the Savior and the opportunity to improve through Him. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve Him. How blessed we are to see miracles happen every day. They exist.
I am halfway packed...I still have to pack my clothes, but that should be pretty easy. This is when it really starts to set in that we are only missionaries. We are just the herramientos en los manos del Señor. I am really excited to get transferred there, though. I knew I had to leave, and if I could have picked that is where I wanted to go and at the time I wanted to go. I have always just felt like there is something special there that I need to be there for. From the beginning of this cambio, I have felt like I might go there next. I feel like my time down there is going to be a full of special miracles. I know that the Lord´s hands are guiding this work and people are called to different areas for a reason. It´s hard to know that my work in Ancud is done...it seems in so many ways that it has just begun, and that there is so much left to do...but that will have to be the work of those to come.
I can´t believe I completed one-third of my mission this week. THAT IS CRAZY! Time is going so quickly that it is frightening me.
In answer to your questions, Mom, I did give Karen the skirt, but the shoes I am packing. Karen looked so cute in the skirt I had to let her have it.) As far as souvenirs went, I stayed pretty cheap and little. I did invest in the lana (wool) here in Chiloe. Wool stuff here is so cheap....like 6 bucks for a wool scarf cheap. I bought a few wool things to bring home and also some wood work done by a friend of ours...se llama Domingo...he´s awesome. But that´s about it. I figure I can´t carry much around with me right now...especially a Punta Arenas. Also, you´re right...I need to polish my boots...I´ll get on that ASAP...the boots have been the least of my concerns, but I need to take better care of them. Spit shine, here we come! ;) As far as food. Lunch is HUGE here... at least when you´re feeding the missionaries. I usually just have a little snack for breakfast and dinner, although I think this next cambio I´ll just have tea (herbal....it´s huge down here...and they have some delicious flavors...mmm mmm) and a few crackers. Word has in down south they eat a ridiculous amount of meat...ugh. Oh well. It´s cheap down there.
Well, I am out of time this week. I´ll write with new adventures next week. Love you all tons!!!!!!! Miss you and am praying for you! Thank you for everything!
LOVE YOU.
----Hermana Bertagnole
PS: Well, also it sounds like everyone is getting hitched! Congrats everybody!
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