Earthquakes, Transfers, bus wrecks and all that jazz

FELIZ CASI NAVIDAD!!

Except it doesnt feel anything like Christmas here. Our days are filled with endless sun, HEAT and BBQ`s. 

I have been thinking about a Christmas present you can all get me (because I know you all want to give me a Christmas present). Anyways, I thought of a real good one. 

I want ALL OF YOU to do something nice and thoughtful for someone else and then WRITE me about it! Snail mail or email...nothing would make me HAPPIER! Cant wait to hear about all of your great acts of LOVE and service! :) 

Its kind of hard to write this today. My head is in a fog. I think I have the flu. And they just announced tranfers. All I have to say is "Bye Mother!". My dear madre and trandadora is leaving me. I feel abandoned. Luckily I get to stay in Chillancito for another 6 weeks and welcome in my new latina companion. I think she is from Guatemala. Now is probably the time I should learn spanish. And Hermana Lee`s is staying too!!! YAYYY!!!! That made me so happy!! There will still be many tears though I am sure. 

So I had the wonderful opportunity of experiencing my first earthquake!! We were at an FHE singing christmas songs when everything just went crazy. It was super fun not gonna lie...I was sad when it was over and hoped for another!! Everything here is just like being on one crazy ride. The busses her are better than any roller coaster. They go like 80 over these hills with 100 people stuffed inside. We always have to stand...but we arent really standing because most of the time we are airborne! Its an adventure I cherish everyday. And one day our bus crashed into another while it was trying to pass another bus on a one way street. The drivers here are crazy. I love it. 

Last P-day me and my companion got on the wrong bus home and ended up going on a nice 2 hour tour of Chile. It was great because we had all our groceries with us (just cookies) and had a little fiesta! 

Remember that time we ate a cow in a sauna? 

I had my first chilean BBQ on saturday! Not sure what to say about it. Except that I dont really like meat as much as I thought I did....I mean eating 3 or 4 hunks of steak and sausage is fine...but after 7 or 8...it just doesnt taste as good. BBQ`s here are different. Well more of how they should be. You just eat meat. And nothing else. And a lot of it. It was also really hot and with the heat of the fire and sight of blood and endless meat everywhere..we were all feeling a bit faint towards the end. 

Your carnivore daughter might just be coming home a vegetarian. 

Yes you did read that correctly. 

I dont want to eat steak..or pig...or any other animal ever again. 

We think Americans eat a lot of meat...uhh well I think Chile has us beat by..well a lot. 

Last night we got to thinking about tranfers and how not fun it would be having to lug around our presents. So we just had an early Christmas! It was great! We sat on the floor underneath our huge paper Christmas tree and ate chips and salsa and opened presents.

I dont think I have mentioned dear Maria before. But she is getting baptized next week! We were gonna do it on Christmas but we decided that would be too mean to the leaders. Anyways, she is awesome! We are also teaching her whole family now so hopefully they can join her in a few weeks! She owns the best bakery in Chillancito. Basically lessons with her are the best! Except I dont really understand the whole hot drinks on super hot days thing..

Even though in none of the pictures she is smiling..she is a very happy person and one of the sweetest ladies on the planet! She is always a little nervous about church and will hold my hand very, very tightly for the three hours. She also keeps talking about her 40 year old son she wants me to marry. hmmmm maybe one day. Änyways, pray for HER! I love her to death and am super happy I get to stay for her baptism! 

One day after a lesson with Maria we were carrying around an extra cake (Maria always gives us cake). And we came across a homeless man. He was just sitting in his usual place on an abandoned buildings doorstep. Normally we dont go up to homeless men because they just flash us. But today I felt like we should just give him the cake. So we did. And as we walked away he said "Thanks..its my birthday today". And I just thought...isnt it so great that we have a God that cares about each person so much? I certainly didnt know it was his birthday. But God did. And he cares about him. And through us...we can remind others that God loves and cares about them too! God´s little tender mercies are everywhere. I hope we are always looking for them and trying to be the answer to somone else´s prayer. We dont know everyone and what a person needs at a specific point in time. But God does. And our job is simply to follow His leading one step at a time. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week before Christmas! Dont forget to write me about your service act! 

Love and miss you all! 

Hermana Orchard

Hermana:'))  aquí están las fotos:), lo siento por enviarlas un poco tarde.

le quiero mucho:') cuidese^^

me in front of our new apartment complex! (those objects you see in the grass are wild horses!!) 

all that meat was split between 6 people

us at the BBQ

A good peach cake

YW´s in excellence

Me and Maria

ME. MY COMPANION and maria

Another good cake

Moving and such things as that...

Okay okay okay. I have to start this off with a confession I have been hiding for awhile. 

I like fruitcake. 

Like I actually enjoy it and get EXCITED when people give it to us everyday. AND I ACCEPT seconds!! 

You know...that really dry bread with weird dried fruit and who knows what else inside. 

What is this place doing to me??
Also I have confused the smell of mold with the smell of home. hmmm

Time to move

And move we did. Finally!

Our new little apartment is lovely. As in it doesnt have mold..its a bit latrger than the last and its walls are a nice shade of lavender! Much better than the lime green. Sadly its in the sketchiest part of town. Like we cant walk back there at night...we have to take a taxi straight to the building. Nice going assistants. HA! But its fun! Except when we cant get a taxi and we have to sneak through fields and run away screaming from the literally naked men that chase us yelling stuff I am glad I still cannot understand. Oh its so fun! It really is. We havent seen any guns this week though! Thats always a plus. DONT WORRY! I AM SAFE! All the dogs will protect me. ;)

I wont miss taking twenty mins to prepare for bed. Prepare as in

drench my body in bug spray. Put tights on (2 pairs), then socks, really tight clothing that bugs cant crawl through. Then spray my mattress. Each sheet. Each blanket. And the air surrounding my bed. Open the window so we dont suffercate from the bug spray
and then turn little space heaters on so we dont freeze.

And maybe we will shower more now that we dont have to ....start a fire...turn the kitchen faucet on 3 times---run and turn the shower on after precisely 34 seconds--then run and turn the fire up...run back...turn off this faucet...and HOPE that maybe some warmish water will come out.

Yes we are enjoying our new little lovely lavender place!

Also our neighbors play in a mariachi band until like 4 am. So if we wanted to we could dance in our dance studio room (thats what we call the room we get dressed in and have all our suitcases) all night long! Maybe one night...:)

Our ward is so sweet. We had pretty much all the men in our ward come and help us move...plus all the elders in our district. But it turned out to be one of those cases where there are too many people and no one to direct. LUCKILY I have lots of moving experience and we were able to get it all done in an efficent manner. I knew there was a reason we moved so much!! Somehow in all that craziness I twisted my ankle. Im pretty sure its  not broken..just sprained. So I just soak it in salt water (the chilean cure for everything) and hope that walking 7 miles on it everyday will help it!! Fingers crossed! Right now it sill fits into my shoe so I think were good!

Our little house has had a fit of laughing attacks that has lasted a couple weeks. Its gotten to the point we cant say a prayer or sing a hymn without bursting into laughter and tears. Its kind of bad. But its like you have to be professional and focused for so long everyday...eventually your mind just cant take it anymore and it just crashes in the worst possible moments. Its fun though

We threw together a little thanksgiving activity for our ward last week. We played fruit basket. I am so used to playing that game really intensely though...litke pushing people over and screaming and turning it into a wrestling match. So first thing I know I`m knocking my investigators to the floor and throwing my companion into a stack of chairs. No one got hurt. Dont worry. ;)

We also made some pies for it...well we TRIED to make pies. We really made peach cobber with a topping hard as a rock. We didnt have a recipie or normal ingrediants so we just kind of threw stuff in. The members LOVED it though and asked how we made it..our response "how DIDNT we make it!?" Just throw your whole kitchen in. We also made cheesecake but since none of the ovens have temperatures and run off real fires-we rally burnt it. They still loved it though! It turned out to be a great activity.

We were invited to seminary graduation since we taught seminary. Our precious students gave us roses and we even got a certificate! I love them all so much! They are SO great!! And afterwards they had a dance! (we didnt stay for that). But they have dances all the time. Well not really dances they more of just turn on music and EVERYONE dances. Unlike our dances where no one does. So after the seminary graduation in the chapel they just opened the doors to the gym and everyone ran in there and did some tengo and quakas.

Today I got my visa! It took awhile but now I am legal! 

I`m having a hard time realizing its Christmas. Its been super hot and I was starting to think that maybe I wanted to be home for Christmas. But then I looked around and realized I AM home! Chile feels so comfortable and like home to me. I cant imagine wanting to be anywhere else. The people are so friendly...its hard to not instantly feel like family with them. And even though Ill be a sweaty and hot walking around knocking doors on Christmas day...eating more hot dogs, oil and mayonnaise than you would believe...I will be with these people! Who are the greatest in the world! Who are teaching me so much and love me even though I cant really speak their language and sometimes dont finish all their food.
Who care so much about everyone and always make very sure we arent hungry...and buy me socks when they realize I only brought 4 pairs (how did I forget that?)..and drop off fresh fruit everyday..and curtains for our new apartment...and make sure we know they want to help us with everything. I cant believe the generosity and the love these people are always shining with. They are so wonderful. Im frusterated at my lack of ability in expressing how truly amazing they really are. Just come see for yourself!

Transfers are next week. I am crossing my fingers for 15 more months in Chillancito! 

Go show some chilean love to someone today!
Here`s to a wonderful week!

-Hermana Orchard

Pictures: some people next to our Gracias board

Excited on moving day!
and my old bedroom.