Getting Over the Hump

Wow!

What a long, wonderful, depressing, and wonderful week. I have never felt so bipolar in my life! We all blame it on the mission!

Pday we get to explore Santiago. The only ones in the world of Mtcs. SO AMAZING! THey have all the American stuff here. Like all of it. Even their own walmart (Leider). I ate a cumpleto today. They are definitely as good as they sound! We also had chilean icecream. SO SO SO great! I love the people here! Because we life on  temple grounds we get to see all the people that go. On the weekends it is PACKED! Whole bus loads come and stay here at the CCM. We talk to them all during breaks in our broken spanish. They are so wonderful! I also decided I am adopting every Chileno baby ever born.

The CCM is so great. We wake up every morning to songs over the intercom. They play everything from gospel choir to motab to primary songs to vocal point. (yes folks, they play vocal point) The hardest though is when they play OVCCs Glorious. I cry every morning that it comes on and am sometimes so homesick I cant eat. But other moments are glorious. We eat lots of bread. And they have lots of Nestles icecream. Wowsa. So much food.

My district did a musical number at our devotional on Sunday. My district sany  Joseph Smith{s first prayer in Spanish to the tune of Come Thou Fount. I played my favorite come thou fount arrangement and made up the rest. The mission President of Santiago Sur (maybe oeste) and his wife came and spoke. It brought me so much hope. Sunday will always come! No matter what hard times you are going through, know that Sunday will always come! Although sometimes Mondays suck the next day too. :)

I finally got Spanish scriptures. I study them a lot. Its easier to understnad them with the gift of tongues. REAL STUFF! Our district is trying to memorize dyc 4 in Spanish.

Last week we went to the temple.

 It is beautiful and small. I was really sad that day because we had written home right beforehand and I was really homesick.  But I felt peace and didnt cry the entire time we were in there. It was great! And our session was in English. :)

My fav Chilean words so far: bakan (bacan) for cool. It just makes me think of bacon every time. And I also love: Paralelepipedo. Paralelegram.

My teachers are the most amazing men. Hermano Meneses is a walking miracle who had a stutter as a boy and had a blessing that healed him. His dad became reactivated while he was on his mission and they were sealed as a family 2 days after he got home. Each teacher acts as an investigator. The investigator he acted as was his dad. It was powerful. Hermano Traverso speaks English really well. He learned it from video games and then more on the mish. He is married with a baby. He helps me feel the spirit so strongly. His conversion story is powerful. He served with David Archuleta. Hermano Pino is a punk and a spiritual giant. :) He does the whip for us when we have bad days. He can also beatbox (not as well as Jonathan) too and its so cool! They ahve changed my life and my heart. We dont get them after this week. :( Also the latinas that we arrived with and the 6 weekers left this morning. Super emotional. I love them all so deas rly. They have all helped me through my hard times. (Kate, if Chileanos try to add me on fb then add them! :) It is probs my teachers)

I can feel your prayers and your love. Thank you! Let me be brutally honest. This is not easy at all. I have never felt so hopeless. And yet so loved. The language is frustrating and I often want to give up and go home. But the wonderful moments are happy and I cant want until these people are real.

I love you all dearly! Please forgive me for not writing you all individually. I may have more time in the field but no promises. I really really appreciate all of your support. It makes it worth it right now when I feel so hopeless and in deep dispair.

This church is so true! I wouldnt be here if I didnt know that. God is a God of miracles. And He is also a God of process. Our learning here is a process. And that process includes learning to rely on him through the process. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. (Missionary Work and the Atonement)

Hermana Leah Kelson