What a way to end the transfer

December 7, 2009

Dear Family,

What a week! And now I have to start another one. Hermana Chapman and I worked really hard last week and we almost met all of our goals. It sure does feel good to finish a week and have the satisfaction of knowing that you did everything possible that week to help move the work forward.

I am not emailing you from Los Andes today. I am in Huelen and my new sector is Compania. Oh by the way, during the bus ride to Santiago last week when I went to the doctor, I realized something. My first zone was San Pablo. What does San Pablo mean in English: St. Paul. Look at that, I have a connection with Dad. Yeah, so I am here in downtown Santiago. It is really cityish. There are a lot of departments and I have not yet seen houses; we’ll see what happens later today. I called Ha. Priscilla this morning to tell her that I got transferred and she said that they were going to take us to the bus terminal. We both cried and she said, “Darn it, Hermana, a Gringa making me cry.” So after we finished studying this morning Ho. Arnaldo, Ha. Priscilla and Gabi came to pick us up. Ho. Arnaldo asked me which bus terminal we were going to and I replied, “Pullman.” Yeah so we were headed there and then we passed it. No one said anything. I was really confused and asked why we didn’t stop. Ha. Priscilla said, “Here you have your Pullman bus Hermana.” And they brought us to Santiago. It was so nice of them to do and we stopped at a mall to window shop and eat lunch. I will never forget this family and their kindness to me. We got to the church in Avendida Mexico, picked up my new companion, Ha. McNeil and they brought us to my new sector. My companion just finished her first transfer in Chile and her trainer Ha. Padilla (Ha Atkin’s trainer too) leaves for home tomorrow. So she didn’t know how to get back to the sector and it was a life saver that they dropped us off. I sure didn’t miss lugging suitcases through downtown Santiago. We had to make the good bye part really quick, because we didn’t want to cry or think about saying goodbye. I left a lot when I left Los Andes this morning.

My new apartment is really nice. It is like a hotel. I am not kidding. I’m pretty excited to live there. I have heard that the ward is really strong and am excited to get to work this evening.

Sunday was soooo good. Man I always have a really good Sunday when I get transferred. Yesterday two babies were blessed and I just kept thinking about how this little baby just came from Heavenly Father last week. Pretty incredible. Then Constanza, our investigator, got up and bore her testimony. She is the one that is 18 and had a baby a few months ago. She said that she isn’t a member but wanted to share something. Last week her mom was sick, sick enough to go to the hospital, but her dad wanted to give her a blessing instead of take her in. Coni was really mad and yelled at him that it was “ridiculous”. Well the next day her mom was all better without taking anything. She knows the church is true and is continuing to read the scriptures to have more faith and prepare for a baptism one day. She made me and Ha. Chapman cry. Then I got up and bore my testimony about the Spirit. I explained that everything I believe, I believe because the Spirit has testified of it to me. I know I was sent to Los Andes for a reason and I hope I did what the Lord wanted me to do there.

It was hard to say goodbye to Isa last week. She graduated and left for her trip, so we said goodbye without knowing if I would go or not. She told me that I am her big sister and the best thing that happened to her this year. I told her that she is my sister that I never had.

Sofia is such a strong convert. She is going to church every week, reading, participating in activities, everything. She is a really good example for her family and friends. I have notes from her confirmation that I will send to you; it was a beautiful blessing.

My heart is still in Los Andes, but it looks like I will be talking to you for Christmas from Huelen. Transfers are always going to be the hardest part of my mission.

Love you all,
Amy