Wow ok this week was absolutely crazy, so my brain totally feels like mush right now. I'm not even sure what I'll write but here it goes!
Ok so Monday ended with an awesome going away party in Cunco that they surprised me with. There was a branch group chat where everyone communicated and got together. It was so fun but so sad at the same time. It was so hard for me to leave there that night. Some really sad goodbyes. They know I love them and will remember them so that's the important part. I finished packing and Tuesday the next morning took a bus to Angol and then to Puren! Ok so it turns out I was wrong last week about the cambios and almost every single trainer out of 33 of us got switched around! It was a totally crazy transfer! Also ya Dad Elder P is my zone leader hahahahahah. That's really cool. I'm with Elder G now who is just totally awesome. I just feel like I'm walking on eggshells not to offend him sometimes and end up in an Elder A situation. He's awesome though and now we are in our groove. I feel like he's training me! A lot of it has to do with him knowing the sector better but also hes just kind of a machine! He's a convert of about a year and a half and has an awesome story and testimony. Seriously I think that out of the 33 new missionaries here they let me be comps with the best two that will probably be assistants together one day. He's awesome I forget I'm training sometimes. I do think I'm supposed to learn humility this transfer though and kind of hand over the rains a lot, but honestly it's kind of refreshing to do that after bein so in charge. Puren kind of makes Cunco look like a metropolis hahahah. They're about the same size (maybe Puren a little smaller) but Cunco was full of people who worked and studied in Temuco, so it was pretty urban and modern. In comparison, Puren is way way way country. Elder G tells me I teach like a primary teacher (which I'm proud of hem hem) which is probably why I'm here hahaha. The closest "big" city to puren is Angol, which is like the equivelent of Fresno hahaha probably smaller. One cool thing is that Chile is kind of like California in that its got two mountain ranges with a valley in the middle and to make a comparison I've kind of gone from like the Sierra Nevadas to east of Santa Barbara or something. It's really pretty here, but super isolated. Our branch is 20 old ladies but they're all really nice hahahaha. Us and the branch president are the only active priesthood here and hes pretty busy studying and working so it all kind of falls on us but that's ok I'm kind of used to it. So not only transfers made this week crazy but also conference and the fact that we are moving to a new house, and we should also have a baptism this Saturday WOOOO. That's a ton of stuff though so I feel like the days are just totally not long enough. The whole moving thing has taken the most time wow. Our current house is kind of like a midevil dungeoun in every sense of the word. It's cold, wet, moldy, flea ridden (a huge problem this week but I think I got it under control. I might need more permetherin in a few months also some alegra but I'll take inventory and get back to you), dirty, and filled with the remains of past missionaries. Also very little food. The good news is that we are moving to the equivelent of a nice warm cozy grandma's house beneath an actual grandma's house who's a member, and who will now be cooking and doing our laundry for us like an actual mamita. I am so relieved hahahaha but it's been really crazy translating and managing all the negociations. Finally we are moving in today! That's why I'm on so early. It will be way better there. Hna M is our new mamita and she used to be a professional cook so we are going to eat really well. I will get fat though. O well. Conference was awesome highly reccomend 5 stars out of 5 98% rotten tomatoes hahahaha jk it was great though. Pretty complicated planning though because we traveled to the stake center in Angol with the branch and watched the other sessions in the chapel. Hna E came though and she should be getting baptized this Saturday if all goes well! She's awesome and really loves the book of mormon, and just lacks a little confidence and committment but well see what happens. I believe that it will turn out. I'm really excited! Who would of thought that would happen in Puren! We actually do have a ton of people to teach here strangely enough. It's just really hard to help them progress and to find them in general, because a lot of people don't have phones or work too much etc. From what I can tell the missionaries have kind of already entered every house here and taught most of them, so it's a lot of reteaching and focusing on the spirit etc. We will see what happens. Seriously we are really busy. The work definitely is not easy here either but I know we can do it! Elder G is super dedicated and excited so that's really good. Spiritually I'm good -- just kind of shellshocked by all the change. That's kind of normal for transfers though. I'm really working on making the stem from testimony and faith to dilligent action. Sometimes I feel like I struggle finding personal conviction to the work which is weird. I think Satan jsut attacks missionaries a lot but it's ok. I'm also trying not to be too hard on myself but keep raising the bar too. It's a hard balance for me. I loved the talk about being children of God. How cool was that. I think I took it for granted before the mission but I've seen the power of that simple truth as weve born testimony to people who've never heard it before. Really cool. I love the company of the spirit and am striving really hard to be a more dedicated and convicted servant in the Lord's vineyard. I love the mission and through the changes this week I have really felt the Spirit bouying me up. I'm so grateful for that. I think my goal this week is to serve a more Christ centered mission. That should help. I want to think of Him more I guess. Ok that's kind of it hopefully it's good! I didn't have a ton of time yesterday and today to kind of plan my letter so I hope it turned out ok. Also I need someone to do research on fleas and send me a brief. The hardest part is knowing when and where they are biting me so that I'm able to stop them. That would be great. We are moving today so I had to get on early, but I'm going to get back on and print out your guys letters in around 5 hours so send stuff out today -- it's not too late! I love you all so much! I'm doing great here but I feel like it's going way way too fast! I miss you guys too! Trevor
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Elder Trevor SmithElder Trevor Smith is a Mormon missionary in the Chile Concepcion Sur mission, the same mission where his dad served. Although this is Trevor's own mission, he grew up hearing about the beautiful land of Chile and the loving people that inhabit it. These are the letters from his experience there. Archives
July 2017
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