Well, I made it! I'm here in my first area! I wasn't able to email before, this is my first chance, and there is so much to say!
So first off, the travel. We left Monday afternoon at around 3 o'clock from the CCM to reach our flight at 6:55. It was me and two Elders from my district and 20 other missionaries from the CCM. Half of us were going to various missions in Chile, and the other half to Uruguay. We got there super early, and so we had to wait a while for our flight! We were all so anxious and excited and everything that a brand new missionary is! So it was all 23 of us sitting relatively close together, and as we were sitting, a man decided to sit down next to us. He sat down right smack dab in the middle of all of us missionaries! Haha he didn't stand a chance! We were like a tank full of pihrannas, and he was a chunk of meat dropped in the midst of us! The missionary closest to him began talking to him and managed, with his broken Spanish, to spin the conversation to our purpose, and why we were all there. He was a little curious to see all these young white people in good clothes gathered together, and so we explained how we were missionaries and everything. We were all trying to get our own words in, so I kinda felt like we were dumping a ton on him, but he seemed alright. And he did decide to sit there, so hey, es su culpa (it's his fault)! We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon, and he started to read it. But then we had to board, so we just left him with the book.
So the plane ride was exactly as you'd expect it. Our flight was literally from sunset to sunrise, and I didn't sleep one dang bit. I was stuck in the middle seat in between two older women, and one of them smelt really bad... pero, está bien (but, it's okay)! I tried to talk to them, but they just wanted to sleep. At least, that's what I think. I couldn't understand them whatsoever and they ended up turning around and stopped talking to me. Luckily, though, our plane was nice, and had this touch screen display in front of us with all kinds of games and music and movies and tv shows. It kind of bummed me out, because I couldn't watch anything, but they had good music! I listened to a bit of Andrea Bochelli (I think that's how you spell it), and played a couple games of chess with one of the elders, who I found out was also playing because he couldn't do anything else haha! He was in another part of the plane, and both of our player names was 'Elder'. But after the ridiculously long flight, we landed in Santiago. We got there a little late, I guess, because we had to quickly rush to our next flight! This was a problem, though, because none of us had ANY idea where to go. We legit ran across the airport and back looking for where we were supposed to go. Even when we found a line that we thought we were supposed to be in, we were wrong. We went through security only to find out that it was the wrong place, and had to go somewhere else! We finally found the line we were supposed to be in, checked in our luggage, and ran to the gate. We got there as they were boarding! Talk about close!
The second flight wasn't nearly as long, but it was also less fun. It was just an average plane without anything special. So I tried to sleep the whole time. But when we finally got to Antofagasta, I looked out the window, and realized the full magnitude of how crazy dry this place is. It really looked like Mars! It was just dirt! For miles and miles and miles! There are NO plants here! If it's not fed water by the city, it's not growing! And even then, the plants in the city are almost as brown as the dirt they're living in! It's crazy! Our mission pres picked us up, and we took a ride to to a point where we could get a good picture of the arch. We took some pictures, then he took us further into the city where we saw some cool ancient ruins! We took some more pictures, and then headed on to his house. It is actually a very nice house! It's on a street very similar to ones in San Diego. The only difference is the lack of green. It is very close to the ocean, as well. While there, we had our interviews and everything and then had a nice lunch with emenadas and some sort of hot dog thing. After this we FINALLY had a few moments to rest and nap, but were woken up again for dinner. All the missionaries from the mission office came as well, and it was fun. We eventually were able to settle in for the night and sleep.
The next day was the big day when we learned what would be our first area, and who would be our first compañero! We had a couple meetings to introduce us to the mission, had a lunch, and then we found out. They did it kind of interestingly... all the future trainers were on one side of the room, the nuevos on the other. Each nuevo had a letter with their name on it, and were sent to the middle of the room to read it aloud. It basically just said welcome, this is your zone, this is your sector, and this is your trainer. So I got mine, and I was sent to Alto Hospicio zone, the Los Cóndores zone, and mi papíto (daddy) was Elder Crabtree! This was awesome, because as we were talking to all the new trainers, I was thinking to myself, I really hope this guy ends up being my comp. And he did! So we had a few hours to chill while we waited for our buses, and we used this time to kind of introduce ourselves. Elder Crabtree is from Ogden Utah, and this is actually his last transfer, his last cambio. He leaves on January 15, which means I will be his last compañero. He is super awesome, and super funny! I can tell I am gonna have fun!
So the bus ride from Antofagasta to Alto Hospicio was another 8 hours. It was ok though, because the bus wasn't too bad. There was actually a movie playing for the first couple hours, McFarland USA. It was in Spanish, though, so I was basically almost watching it from memory. It was unavoidable, too. The TV was directly in front of us! So we just decided to enjoy it haha! But after that, it was another overnight trip, so they turned the tv's off, and we tried to sleep. Halfway through, though, I really had to use the bathroom. So I went to the back to use it and everything, and when I got in, I couldn't find the lock to the door! Or the light switch! So I was in a tiny bus bathroom in the pitch black with the door open, trying to use it! If that wasn't difficult enough, the road we were on was kinda bad, and so I was being thrown all over the place! And the toilet, which was already small, was even smaller because it's flipping Chilean! So... I had a bad time. The rest of the ride went without incident, though.
So we get here at 3 AM, and we needed a ride to our casa, So mi papíto called our mamíta and she came and got us. I then saw just how poor our area was. Mi papíto told me it was one of the poorest sectors in the mission, but I didn't realize how much. It's just so crowded, and so dirty, and everything you'd think of when you think 'developing country'. There are also a ton of stray dogs just wandering around, and they like to bark at the tires of passing cars. It was super weird to see! But we got to our tiny apartamento, and went inside, it's even smaller on the inside than it looks from the outside! Elder Crabtree told me the lights don't work, so he took out a flashlight, and we just went upstairs and went straight to bed. It was so nice to finally go to sleep! I thought, though, that we would have a bit of extra time to sleep since I got there so late, but nope. We got up with the rest of the missionaries. I woke up to two tiny Latino missionaries standing right next to my face trying to wake me up! It was a little surprising! They introduced themselves as the zone leaders, Elder Jamarillo and Elder Cordova. They're our housemates.
So we get ready and everything in the normal missionary routine, studied for two hours, and then went to a weekly planning meeting at the church building. (Apparently Elder Crabtree is District Leader.) We planned for a while, got lunch, and then we struck out to do everything we need to today. And that's where I'm at now. The first thing we did was come here for emailing. So, let me say now what I was 'supposed' to say. I'm safe, I made it here to Chile, and I am doing alright! Everything is going great! I'm crazy excited to start!
After this, we have appointments with some investigators, and I'm super nervous because my Spanish straight sucks, pero, está bien. I'll just cry myself to sleep tonight. ;)
Anyways, I love you all! Los amo a todos!
Elder Schmid
(P.S. legit nobody knows how to pronounce Schmid. I've tried to explain, but they're not catching on. It must be a Latino thing. I'll just try to get them to call me Elder Guapo! (Elder Handsome))
No comments:
Post a Comment