Help!! They don't speak Spanish here!

Dear Peoples…

Hola! How is everyone? Oh cool! That´s great, yeah! Okay so here I am… I don´t know why, but it is always so hard to start emails, I don´t know how to jump into things… Okay, so I might have written some information wrong on my last email about my companion (oops). Her name is Hermana Alvaranga and she is from Honduras. I think I said San Salvador or something… Anyway, like I said she is a native so communication can be a little hard sometimes. But she´s trying to learn English and I am trying to learn Spanish, so we help each other. I´ll admit, I was a little worried about who my first companion was going to be, but I am sooooooooo blessed to have her! She works hard, and is such a sweet heart. She is an incredible teacher and has a very firm testimony. Though it´s probably frustration for her to just have me follow her around like a little puppy dog that doesn´t know anything, doesn´t speak hardly anything she is so patient and understanding. She takes care of me but is pushing me too… so that´s good news, eh? And about that Spanish thing…yeah, did you know they don´t speak Spanish here? They speak CHILEAN. Which is totally different from Spanish  My native companion said she didn´t even understand the Chileans here when she first arrived. Especially the old men. They talk like they have a mouth full of cotton, and a bunch of other stuff…like paper and marshmallows, I don´t know. But it´s great. And if I can understand the old men here in a year and a half I´ll consider it a miracle ;) But really, it´s been a little hard not being able to communicate. There have been moments when my heart is just overflowing with feelings that I want to share, but can´t find the means to do it sufficiently. There are times that I feel a bit foolish when I´ll say something that feels like decent Spanish and the people will look at me funny and look at my companion and say, ¨what did she say?¨ A couple of times people (usually the old men… hehe) will tell us they don´t want to listen to us because I have bad Spanish. Though already I´ve had moments frustrating enough that brought me to tears, I´ve had moments good enough that bring me to tears in the happy way  It feels great doing something good. The Lord is humbling me  I just need to take things one step at a time. PATIENCE, right? My companion, I think I mentioned is simply wonderful. She is super positive, is such a help for me. Nosotras somos un equipo!

Machali is the town and it is so beautiful in it´s own humble little way. I love it. I love it love it. I haven´t had any rocks thrown at me….yet…but it´s only the first week  Though one man told us he didn´t want to talk to us because he doesn´t like Canadians. Haha, I thought it was funny. The people for the most part are very amiable. All the women greet with a kiss, it´s so much fun. And YES I am working on a nice tan right now, while you´re all freezing your hinds off. Yes, be jealous. Even if it is a farmers tan. There are a handful of hills here in Machali, and I can already feel my calves toning up. Look out.

The Mission President is really nice, but intimidates me a little…eeee. But really nice and funny. We had our ¨actividad de navidad¨ today and it was a lot of fun, our mission is HUGE! They had a fun little welcoming skit thingy for the nuevos. That was nice.

Can you believe Christmas is 3 days away? I can´t. This will be a Christmas to remember with 90 degree weather! I´m not exactly sure when I will be able to call home, so don´t worry about gathering people, because I´m not sure when. I am not even sure if it will be Christmas day, but maybe Christmas eve. We have to coordinate with a couple other missionaries and members, so sorry I can´t tell you exactly when. Though it will most likely be in the morning, since we are 4 hours ahead of you. I am so grateful I get to have this opportunity to serve a mission and to invite others to better know Christ! And that I may know him a little better myself. This church is so true, I know it. I feel it. Everyone should serve missions. It´s a lot of fun, too! A lot more fun than the MTC. (don´t get me wrong, the mtc was great in it´s own way)

Oh, I love you all so dearly. I love you all so much. Happy Belated Birthday Eeek, I thought about you on your birthday and love you mucho. I hope everything is well!