Hey everyone!

This week was a fun week for us all in the mission, since the 18th of September is the independence day here in Chile. Actually, the president asked us that we stay with members and investigators to party on the 18th, because he knew that not a lot of work would be done. So, we got together as a wawrd and had some fun getting to know each other. I ate way too many empanadas (it's like a calzone but different) and lots of steak and meat. It was all delicious, and at the end of the day I ended up with this huge sack full to the brim with bread. I still have some bread to eat from that sack, actually.

I also learned a bit of the national dance here too, called Cueca. Notable things about it is the use of a hankerchief and that most of the dance is in the legs. There is a really good dancer in the branch here, he taught me a little, but I am still very lost on how to dance it.

Aside from all of the parties and whatnot, I still managed to work this week, and found a couple of miracles along the way.

The first would be Juanito. He is the town friend- a dude who loves to socialize and knows just about everyone in Catemu on some level. We found him last week, and taught the restoration. It was a real powerful lesson, and he accepted to listen to us again after the 18th (everyone was busy until after the 18th). The 2nd lesson we invited him to church, and he actually came! It was kind of suprising, expecially condsidering that he usually goes off to play soccer with his friends sunday, but he decided to go to church instead! I saw that he was really interested in everything that was going on, and he is reading the Book of Mormon a lot. He truly has a desire to learn and progress, it makes me happy to see.

That's important to me because Catemu is a difficult area- it actually doesn't have it's own church building, and there aren't too many active members. The main member here is named Leonor. The next story will be about her, but the point I want to make is that to go to church is a real sacrifice here. It's a poor working town that doesn't have the time or money to go to church in another city too often, so if anyone comes at all it's a real blessing.

Now on to Leonor. She is this caretaker maid that is very loving, and has been a member for around 5 years. So far, I think she is the only member I  have seen at church. Yet, she is very strong in the faith, and cares for the missionaries here. She gives us lunch for like half of the week. The first week we arrived here in Catemu, she decided to invite a neighbor of hers to church- without our help. The neighbor came too! So far, I have yet to have a week without a person in church. I can see the lord working with each one of these people to guide them to us or to guide us to them.

Last miracle I want to mention for the week. We were working yesterday, when my companion says "hey, I want to go up the hill."There's a hill right next to the center of town here, and there are some houses there, but we hadn't gone up yet. We climb the hill, talk to a couple people, and head back down. We get down and literally the first person we shake hands with within 30 seconds mentions how he wants to change his life and to feel happy. His name is Elias, and he just wants to come closer to god and to stop drinking. If we hadn't changed plans in the middle of the day, we most likely would not have found this man, who had moved to Catemu literally 2 days earlier. I know the lord inspired my companion and me to climb the hill- not to meet people up there, but to put us in the path to find this other lost sheep.

Anyway, that's all I got for the week, see you next time!

Elder MacGregor

Hello from Chile!

This week is a special week for the country here. The 18th is their version of the 4th of July- the independence day of Chile. So, our mission president (the man in charge of the Chile Santiago North Mission) actually asked us to stay with members or in the house that day, because of the large amounts of rioting and drunks. Most of the people here are normal with their partying, having BBQs and whatnot, but a few bad apples in the bunch kind of ruin the experience for the rest. I plan on spending the day eating a lot and getting to know the new ward I have.

Speaking of that, this last week I got changed to my third area. It's in this tiny town in the middle of the montains called Catemu, the nearest town of bigger size being LLay-LLay (pronounced yai-yai) and San Felipe. It's a cute, picturesque group of homes that is now my favorite place in the world. It reminds me of rural Oregon and Idaho a lot, actually. The people here are nicer than in Santiago, there isn't a lot to do here, so people have the chance to listen to us a little bit more.

More than that, we are the first missionaries to be in the area in around 2 months. The mission president took them out for a time, and we have been put in to replace them. It's been a fun adventure, getting to know the whole area by ourselves, withoutt a comp who already knows the area.

But trust me, if there was a guide it would come in handy, at least to find out where people live here.

Not joke, one of the references in the area we had to find was the following "Lives in the Heroes neighborhood, on the only dirt street, in the house with the little birds and black puppy out front. Don't worry, they are always out front so you'll be able to find the house."

Half of the houses don't have numbers, half of the streets don't either. I think it's the closest I'll get to living in a medieval village. To be 100% honest, it's a lot of fun, and when you find the houses it feels like a bigger acomplishment.

The dopest thing is that the cities here have city shields, just like European cities. It's just cool to have a city coat of arms like that.

Also, eveen in this rural corner of Chile, there are still lots of haitians. I'm happy to report that things never change here.

This first week I also got to meet my first Chilean equivalent of a cowboy/farmer, called a Huaso (pronounced wasso). He has a horse and some cows, and the coolest hat ever. I have a photo of him and his cows if you want. He is a very happy man, who would love to have a haitian girlfriend (he told me that 3-4 times). I hope he gets one.

Oh! I also have a new companion. Welcome to Elder Rodriguez, from Nicaragua. He's a baseball fanatic, and is learning English to work in the tourism industry when he finishes the mission. He has around 5 months, so I am the older missionary of the 2, but he is also 22 years old. He was going to play baseball professionally in his home country, but chose to serve a mission instead. He likes to eat a lot, and is and overall dope dude.

We've been working really hard in this new area, and we've already found quie a few people to teach, but most of them will have to wait until after the week of the 18th, because lots are traveling out of town for the weekend. This week is basically a relaxation week (but not because I want it to, everyone is just making it a break week).

I do love my new area a lot. We also have the chance of basically starting from the ground up here, because there are only 3-5 active members in this town of about 5000. The church building is in Llay-llay, a 20 minute bus drive away. So my goal has been that in the next 4 and 1/2 months, there are enough active members here that we don't need to go to Llay-llay for church meetings, since the travel does limit the number of members here. It's basically because Catemu is a very poor town, and paying bus fares every Sunday (amounting to about 2 dollars every week) is an actual difficulty to the people here. It's kind of sad, because people here just have enough to live and work, and not much else. They just kind of make do with what they have. It's respectable.

I'm disappointed in myself this week. It has nothing to do with missionary work, but with a shirt I have. I bought a cheap ripoff Chile Soccer Team shirt for around 15-20 bucks, so not the cheapest thing in the world, but then again a real shirt runs you around 60-70. But anyways, I brought it home, happy with it all for about 3 to 4 weeks, then one of the patches fell off. My comp told me to put it back on with superglue. When I did, there was a drop of the glue that landed in a central part of the shirt and caused a stain, that I don't think will be able to be removed. I've washed it like twice since then. I'm just mad with myself to ruin te 20 shirt. But whatever. Knowing me, I'll buy a ton of shirts to take home and whatnot, so I don't worry too much. And it's not like the shirt is unusable, it's just a PJ shirt now.

Aside from that, I can't think of anything else to write for right now, but I plan on sending a couple of photos as well. Be safe everyone!

Elder MacGregor

Elder MacGregor has moved to a new area.  He is in a small town of Catemu (5000 people) north of Santiago.  It's just over the mountain range into the next valley.  He had to travel 2 hours or so on 2 different busses to get there.

His new companion is from Nicaragua.  They are opening this area together.  I'm sure they will have some great experiences.  Elder MacGregor didn't have video link this week, so he will have to be on the lookout for that.

He is excited to learn this new area and get to work.  I hope we'll have photos to share next time.