Week 34 - The Weather Just About Blew Me Away!

April 21, 2014

Hey!

This week has been interesting. It was my first Easter in a country filled with Catholics and Pentecostals….and well, I thought it would be a bit bigger or at the very least a bit crazier. I guess the most devoted evangelicos just can't beat the ads and movies of a commercialized American Easter. The weather on the other hand just about blew me away! My dad's advice "hang on there for the 60-90mph winds and the rain and snow and cold" became prophetic as winter finally hit the Antarctic. We still have sun but it doesn't come up before 8 am and sets long before 7 pm. But by the time June and July hit, it will rise at 10 am and set at 3-4 pm. We had snow Wednesday through Friday, but the heat from a sun unimpeded by a stupid little thing like the ozone melted it before it could pile up. I have to admit that I'm going to prefer the dark, to the blinding glare of a sun that just doesn't seem to do much. We finally started getting wind Thursday, probably about 60 mph gusts nothing strong enough to knock me over but enough to catch me off guard and push me around.

Monday we played basketball with the elders from our zone. It was interesting playing with the 6´7" giant of a zone leader named Elder Gubler. We then went to the mall with Elders Hullinger and Rivera and then grabbed some food. We came home changed and had a little contacting before we had an english/restauracion lesson with this really cool Chilean diver and SEAL. Amazing lesson and then afterwords they gave us once and some cake.

Tuesday, woke up exercised, showered, studied, etc and then went to the district meeting. We were way early again but Elder Rivera and Hullinger were there so we ended up writing with them. District meeting was all right. We then had lunch with Hermano Diaz our Lider Misional and then headed out to work. We went and picked up the bishop but our cita fell so we went to a pf family. We taught a short lesson and then asked to mother to read a short verse. This is when she picked up a ceramic vase, threw it at her older son, missed it and hit the younger. She then started screaming grabatos at the top of her lungs. The other son we were teaching un-phased said he would say the closing prayer. He did and we quietly slipped out and went contacting out in the snow.

Thursday was just a waste of a day it snowed and the wind knocked me around a bit.

Friday was amazing! I woke up, normal routine and we left out to do some contacts. We came back and had lunch with Hermana Norma, it was delicious fried chicken and pasta with fresh baked bread, empanaditas, rice pudding and some Chilean Mountain Dew. We then walked around for several hours until we had our cita with Vanessa a less active in the ward. It failed and so we went to Hermana Anna’s house to teach her grandson. After a good lesson she then asked us if we had anything to do that night. We replied no and she told us about her sister that lived in the campo. We hopped into a small red sedan and booked it up the dirt road into the mountains, it was a crazy drive but when we got there we see this amazing cabin with a gorgeous view over the ocean and the tundra below. Ya when she told us about her old sister that had a farm in the country I didn't think her old rich sister. We had an amazing lesson, Hermano Diaz is a great teacher and at the end she was crying as we handed her a Book of Mormon.

Other than that, not too much happened Saturday or Sunday.

Well I just want you all to know that I love you all! Have a great week I know I will.

Elder Washburn

Questions for Elder Washburn

Have you needed to wear your thermals yet? If so which ones do you like the best. Wool or synthetic?

         Nope not yet.

What is your ward like? How often do you have to speak or teach?

It’s ok. I've spoken once.

Do the members like the missionaries? Are they helpful?

         They are not very excited to work with the missionaries but we drag them along anyway.

What's your bishop or branch president like?

         The bishop is a pretty nice guy he just works a lot.

Who are your Zone Leaders?

         My zone leaders are Elder Quezada and... GUBLER!

Anything you need?

         Nope as always.

How do the Chileans celebrate Easter?

         It wasn't as big as I thought. I talked about it in my letter though.

What is your favorite sector that you've served in and why?

         I really miss Puerto Varas.  I was only there a cambio but I got really attached to the people and absolutely loved it.

What do you think the biggest obstacle is for Chileans to embrace the gospel?

I've been thinking about how many members are inactive. I think you need to find more active members who are like Blair. Just good people that are willing to give of their time to let their neighbors know how much they are loved and sometimes someone who is willing to tell things like they really are! Does your ward reach out to the community and each other? There is that talk by president Hinckley that talks about how every member needs a friend, a responsibility and nourishment from the good word of God.  I think a lot of these people feel like they were baptized and then abandoned.

Church attendance and tithing.  And ya, I feel the same way and there are a few like Hermano Diaz, our ward mission leader, but they work a ton and we just don't have enough of them.