Falling

Hola!! 

Welcome to the craziest week yet of my mission!!

It hasnt been the best...but I will start with today. 

Well last night. We were all laying in our beds talking when Hna Raziera (from Brazil...she is teaching me portuguese!) said she felt itchy.  I asked for how long she had been itching and she said two weeks. I demanded to see her stomach and turned on the light. I wasnt surprised to see a bunch of little red dots...but with whitness under and (since I am a total bug bite expert now)...I had to give her the sad news....that SARNA has hit us once again. That would be scabies. For my THIRD TIME!!! whooooooo!!!!

So this morning when we all got up and my two favorite people in the world (Solange and Aracely) came over...we teased them by kissing their faces and then screaming that they had sarna. We all ran around for a bit. It was funny. Everyone we know probably already has it. Anyways,,,,

We walked out to a country part of our sector near the river. It is the beginning of spring here and I am convinced that there is not a more beautiful place in the world. There are flowers springing up of every color imaginable. We walked out along a train track for awhile until we came to the edge of the river. It was beautiful. I stood there and cried at the beauty for awhile and then we set out some blankets and all our food (pure manjar, chocolate, flan and cookies) and ate and sang for awhile. We ended up staying for about 6 hours. We took a nap in the beautiful sun....got almost ran over by wild horses and cows and caught a ride back in the back of a truck. It was lovely. Then we came back to the house and made mini pizzas and ice cream. 

Okay....on to the not so lovely parts of the week. 

My leg has been killing me lately...wel for about 6 months to be exact. Some days I can walk pretty well without limping...and other days I could walk faster crawling...I know that it doesnt really matter how much it hurts..I just have to work. So that is what I have done. But it has progressively gotten worse. And worse and worse. Until last week I started falling down...all the strength I have in my leg (which isnt too much) would just give out. So my dear Aracely helped me by almost carrying me around. But I went in to see the doctor again. He took a look at me..saw I couldnt walk...took a look at my back and said it was all lopsided. Like all my back was in the right side of my body. Basically I have a hernia. And its rather large and between my last vertebrae and my sacrum. Not sure why it took so long to figure that out..but here we are. The doctor was absolutly amazed that I am able to walk 10 miles a day with it...(let alone to the bathroom). I asked him what to do...he didnt hesitate for a moment and said "you need to go home and not get out of your bed for 6 months". Well obviously that is not an option. And I told him that....and after some fighting and him saying nonsense like "if you dont rest now you will ruin your back and leg forever". We came to an agreement. I would rest for a week and do some more hardcore physical therapy. And then the mission doctor came and started talking nonsense about going home. And I just started to cry. I have never let those thoughts enter my head. And I told her that..I´m not going home! I have walked in pain for 6 months...I can walk in pain for 6 more months. I´ll deal with the damage when I get back. 

Sadly the mission doctor said that wasnt up to me...and she would talk to president. It was pretty much the most miserable moment in my life. We left the doctors and tried to catch a bus home...but it was raining and 10 at night and in the big city and I was lost. Then I got a call from Aracely saying that she was in Conce..and if we were still there. All I really wanted to do was talk to my parents,,,but since that wasnt an option Chelly was a close second.  She ran to us and helped us find a bus. And we went home. And I said I was not answering the phone if president called. I went to sleep miserable. 

The next morning we worked everything out. I would stay in and rest as much as I could for a week...and we would walk as little as possible. And thats what we did. And even though my little baby only has three weeks in the mission..I sent her out with Solange to do visits (because Solange is amazing and like the best missionary ever..and its only been three months since her baptism!) And it all worked out okay. And I let president know that going home is not an option...now or ever. I´m chilena and will be staying here in my home. 

Ohter news....we took Patricio (who got baptized a month ago) to Manuel (who should be getting baptized this month). They are both around 23 years old and found that they have the same drug addiction in common (it happens to be the strongest drug in the world). They both like to traffic drugs and carry around guns and stuff like that. And they have both changed incredibly!! Watching Patricio testify to Manuel that he can overcome his drug addiciton and change his life because HE did it was amazing!! 

I love the people here so much. I love being a missionary and I just love Chile. This is my home and the people here really are my family. I´m not sure exactly when is my time to come home (my plans never work out exactly as I think they should)...but the day I leave here will be....oh I cant even think about it. 

Love you all!!

Hermana Orchard

ps Aracely added all the photos that I was behind on to my facebook...so dont be surpirsed when they are there. 

oh oh ohhhhhhh!

Hollllaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!

Before I say anything else...
Dad...can you make my blog private? I have been having too many people come up to me saying that they read my blog. Like a girl from Mexico who found me...said she recognized me from my blog and started to recount countless stories from my mission. I put too much personal things about the people and places here to have it be public. 

This week was wonderful and hard like all!! Last Monday I took baby to the house of Solange for breakfast. Solange is an awesome 22 year old who got baptized 3 months ago and lives all my herself in a big house! Her house is basically our house now. We keep half our food and clothes and blankets there. Anyways, she is super awesome and accompanies us everyday. And has already started her papers for her mission!! She is so incredible! Anways, we went and ate breakfast at her house with Aracely. 
I havent talked enough about Chelly. She is basically the most amazing thing on the planet and my newest best friend! She is 20 years old and got baptized 1 year ago. Before she was baptized she would literally get into fistfights on the street all the time! Everyone knows she is super strong and no one dares to mess with her. Anyways, she met the missionaries and got baptized in three weeks. She dropped all her bad friends, drugs and what not without a second thought! It wasnt an easy sacrifice though. Her parents were super mad and almost kicked her out of the house. And in secret she just finished her mission papers! She accompanies us everyday and is basically our third companion. She´ll be getting her mission call soon and I am praying that it is to the States because I cannot live without this little chucara! I used to think I had to sacrifice a lot to come on a mission. But Chelly has to work super hard at a factory lifting bags of wood to pay for her mission. She cant talk about it with her family because they cant know. And when she gets back...she will have no where to live and no family. How selfish we sometimes are thinking that giving up 18 months of studies or fun party time is too big of a sacrifice. Sometimes we just dont understand anything! Our sight is so blurred I think...in the states. We have everything...big nice families...money..food...everyone has cars...we have minimum wage (which is the greatest blessing...I see the results of not having that down here). Yet we dont really have anything. As a nation we are empty of love...we focus so much on material things (like good jobs and studying) and altogether fail to take time for what really matters.
I hope I never forget the difference between my two countrys and can always be more chilean than american. 

Anyways, so last monday we ate some breakfast with Solange and Chelly and then went to Conce. There we met up with Hermana Tejerina and went to lunch. It was so fun seeing my mamá again and talking to her! She goes home in just a couple weeks..which breaks my heart. 
Tuesday a man came up to us in the street with a cute little 2 year old in his arms. She was all dressed up in a little party dress and the man looked a little stressed. He came up and put the girl in my arms and asked me to take her home with me. Thats not the first time that has happened. We never know if we should laugh or cry in these situations. 

Wednesday I heard noises in the night so I got up and turned on the lights....which woke up the other hermanas. Whatever it was went away but we all stayed awake the rest of the night huddled together. The next morning some inspectors of the mission came over to inspect the house. They said it was completely unsafe and showed about 10 different ways for someone to easily enter the house. Also there are some uncovered cords in the shower that I never really noticed..but they said we could easily be electrocuted in any moment, Dont worry...the house is safe now!

At night we had an awesome lesson with an investigator Manuel. He has lots of problems with drugs and everything. Here in Chile they have a special word for partiers...because they are more than partiers Its like their job and very being! Anyways...Manuel went one whole year partying every night without stop! Literally everynight he would leave and party until noon and then come home and sleep for a few hours before he went out to party again! For a year! haha anyways, getting him to give up his lifestyle and addictions has not been easy. We decided to read 3 Nephi 17 with him...about when Christ comes and blesses the people and children. Its always my favorite. Before we went I called a member to come and give Manuel a blessing. The member didnt answer so I just left a message thinking he would never show up. So we went and read the chapter and talked about how Christ didnt heal all the people at once...He had that power and there was lots of people sick and hurt. He could have just reached out His hands and healed them all at once. But He didn´t...he went around and healed one by one. Its the same with us...Christ and God listen to our prayers one by one...watch our lives one by one..and are with us one by one. 

We were talking about this and Manuel put his hand over his heart and said Ï feel something¨¨Like a jumping...or laughter from my heart!¨And he started crying and it was really wonderful...and just then the member I had called for the blessing showed up with the stake president! We taught some more of a really powerful lesson and then they gave him a blessing. And it was just...really great. I wish every lesson could be like that. 

We have been going out to some new country parts lately....trying to find a family with 12 kids that will feed us fried chicken and bread and baptize their whole neighborhood. We have yet to find them but have seen some really truly beautiful parts of Hualqui! We went to this place on the side of the huge Bio Bio river. Its almost spring and all the trees have bright pink and purple blossoms and we are just surrounded on all sides by colors! Colors of trees and flowers...colors of houses..I feel like even the sky has a different color here! Its so beautfiul!

One day we tried climbing up a hill in the rain to get to a house on top. It was super muddy and we came up to this little cliff. I decided I wanted to climb up it to see the view...only I was in half heels and a skirt...and well....dont have the strength to climb up a cliff. My foot got stuck in the mud and I lost both shoes and fell. I was covered in mud and a mess. Aracely had to climb up the cliff to help me down and put my shoes back on. The constant rain cleaned us up fast enough though! 

We found a dying dog in the street one day. It had gotten in a fight with the pack of dogs and had lost in eye and was bleeding everywhere. We knew it was going to dye soon and it was raining so we put our umbrellas over it and bought it some bread to eat and watched it die. It was really sad.  My poor companion is a huge dog lover and was sobbing hysterically. 

I have been having lots of problems with my leg lately. Well....pretty much consistently fro 6 months now. So I am used to it...but its easy to get really frusterated about it. But I tell myself the only option is to work...so I work and normally can walk the whole time. But friday night we were late coming home and I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I felt like all the bones in my hip and leg were broken and I just couldnt walk anymore. We were super far from home and we didnt have any options. I was stressed because I knew we were going to be late getting home...if we ever got home. So I prayed for a miracle...and a family from our ward pulled up next to us and offered a ride home! It was truly a miracle becuase....no one has cars...we were in the middle of no where late at night. Miracles happen! And almost everyday I am able to see at least one miracle in connection with my leg. 

Today we had breakfast with Solange and Aracely again...and then watched 17 Miracles. Then we went to hermana Cecilia´s and she made us lasagna. I havent had lasanga in a year! Hermana Cecilia is like my mom here. Always feeding us...I feel just as at home in her house as I do in my own! 

My new little hija is Hermana Piriz from Montevideo Urugauy. She thinks I am crazy but is okay with that.  We get along great!

I love Hualqui!
I love Chile!
I love Chileans!
I love this month of dancing and food (its independence month here...not day..MONTH!)
I love being a missionary!

Oh and if you see new stuff pop up on my facebook its because I gave Solange my password to add photos and stuff. We made a video today explaining what happened when we were robbed....except after it was done I realized that it was in spanish and no one would be able to understand it. But there it is!

Love you all!!!


Hermana Orchard