First off, that's so crazy! I'm definitely grateful that Caelan was not hurt too bad in the car accident! By the looks of Ginger, it seems to me that it would have hurt her more. I'm glad she's ok, though. How crazy! But yeah, ciao Ginger! That car is gone! And I am definitely happy that everyone could help out so much so that you could go to Caelan! I can't even imagine how stressful that must of been trying to the figure that out! But it all worked out, in the end.
This week wasn't quite so crazy for me, but still a good week. First off, all the investigators are doing well. Cristina especially, and her family are just awesome! We had a little scare when we went Saturday. We asked her if she was still able to go to church, and she told us that her work ended up telling her that she couldn't have Sunday off, even if it was just to go to church. First off, that's stupid. But it's ok, because right after she said that, and we were freaking out, she told us she quit her job... can you believe that?!?! This girl is golden! But she told us that she has wanted more time with her family, and that job legit takes so much time, and so this was the last straw. So, long story short, she's awesome, and they are coming to church this week. And, turns out, her son also sells some pretty bomb completos! And they're only $1200, which isn't the cheapest, but not bad, either, compared to the rest. So we have an 'in' with ice cream, and completos!
That's another thing that gets me, that irks me, about Chile. Everyone here works way too much! The average work schedule is a 12 hour day!!! They wake up, send off their kids to school, then go to work. Then they get a little 45 minute to 1 hour break in the middle of the day to eat, and then they work again until 10:00 or even to 12:00!! Then they go home and sleep and do it all over again! Que feo!!! But then there are other schedules for certain jobs. For example, 7x7. If you work in a mine, you work 7x7. Which means one week on, one week off. One week you head off to work, usually several hours away from home, and you stay there and work your shift all week without going home, then the next week you have off. It kinda sucks. A lot. But that isn't the worst. There's a carabinero in our branch, which is basically a cop, and he works 15x4. Fifteen days on with a four day break!!! That's just stupid! And the Chileans they just do it! They think that's the best way to do things! They are just so absorbed in working!
So funny story. Elder Barney now not only has problems with cats, but with dogs too! Well, I guess we both have problems with dogs now... we had a bad experience. So we were walking one day on the edge of the city with the desert on one side and houses on the other. Here in Chile, there are stray dogs everywhere! And you have to be super careful, because they are super territorial. But we were walking, and were passing a couple of dogs just chilling there, and one of them gets up, so we automatically are a bit more careful, because that's the first sign. Then it does the second sign, which is putting it's head down and circling us, all the while staring at us. I was kinda scared at this point, because it was a big ol' heffer! It was a massive dog! But we pass it, and the final sign happens, which is it comes in growling. So I scoot away a bit and stick my hand up, which is just instinct, and that sets it off. It comes at us barking and biting and everyting, and the other dog starts coming in too! So we are yelling like idiots, and dodging dog bites. I bend to the ground to look for a rock, because they run if you throw one at them usually. But I bent down because they were on Elder Barney for a little. I couldn't find a rock, so I looked up to see what was goin on, and my companion was gone. He was just gone. I look to the left, and my comp is 200 feet away, booking it into the desert, with the smaller dog on his heels. I was like, wait, there's another dog, and I look, and it's running at me. So it comes, and I legit couldn't run away from it, so I waited, and as it came to bite, I swung down with all my strength, and punched the dogs head. I was having a real stressful day, and was super angry at things, and so I kinda feel bad for the dog a little, because I nailed the sucker. I punched the head to the ground, and my fist was still going, so I hit it again on the ground. But it was probably the best punch I have ever or ever will throw. But it got up and came at me again, but at this time I had found a couple stones, and I just started pegging it. I will admit, I've gotten pretty good at my throwing, just because I throw rocks at crazy dogs all the time. But then Elder Barney was coming back from the other dog, because it had stopped chasing him. But it was just a real crazy 1 minute of dogs. But now, we are definitely scarred, and give every dog a huge berth.
Anyways, the work moves forward here. We are working crazy hard. This week we hit a speed bump because we were bajo en ánimo (low in spirit), but we picked ourselves back up, and now are back at it stronger than before. I have a new commitment to the mission now, because I have experienced what it feels like to work hard and focus, and it is definitely more worth it than being trunky or chueco. Elder Barney and I are going to have the best week this week, and keep improving after that! I hope all of you have a fantastic week, and don't get in any more car accidents. If a dog attacks, throw a rock at it!
Les amo a todos!
Elder Schmid
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