Week 19-December 8, 2014
wow sounds like a good week as always, haha tell benjamin i miss him too!!!
and glad lydia is healthy and natalie is a great teacher for YW and that mandy is still a super star in all her activities :P
my week was awesome :) Hermana Flores is fantastic. she seriously is awesome. super fun to be with, we are already friends and she is super funny and super patient with my spanish and the spanish 24/7 thing is awesome for me. i feel like im improving tons.she doesnt speak any english but because she is from honduras her spanish is more clear and slow than chilenos. basically every other spanish is easier than chileno. haha i can understand everyone now except young men haha and i can say most of the things i want to say, its just still a little choppy in grammar and sounding natural i think lol but its all good.
also funny story for dad, we are doing practicas of interrupting now because hna flores is super good at interrupting chilenos and i am not haha but its completely necessary here and not offensive like in the states haha. these people just talk and talk and talk and if you want to teach you just have to jump in and take control haha but i told hna flores that you had always taught us not to interrupt and we laughed about how when i get home you may have to retrain me not to interrupt...
we may have also contacted a couple of drug dealers this week, one who was named Fu, so that was fun :P
also i am learning that missionaries are very annoying but its a good thing :P its the funniest thing to wake someone up for church and they are mad at you and then a half hour later when they are in the chapel they are teasing you and worried about how they saw you walking with some sketchy guy in the street. its our JOB to be super annoying and not leave people alone. haha hna flores even told off an old man yesterday because he said he didnt have time to share with us but his wife just died so she said that NO this was not just a product we were selling, it was his salvation and that YES we were going to come back and teach him the plan of salvation and if he listens and reads the pamphlet and doesnt feel anything we will ¨´leave him in peace´ but not until he gives us a chance. lol he was like ´then you will leave me in peace?´¨ haha it was super funny but you could see in his eyes that he understood that we cared about him and he wasnt mad. i learned that i need to be persistent because that way the people see how important our message is and know that we care... anyway all is well and cant wait for christmas! and ya maybe ill be home for the next one! and to answer moms questions..
yes we eat with members every day. our bishop is fantastic and our ward is huge (200 people yesterday in church). the primary is like 30 kids or something and they bless babies every week haha and ya there are members that we know better than others or who work with us the most or who make us pumpkin pie for thanksgiving and we stop by their house all the time to use the bathroom :P i think because there are so many missionaries in the ward and everyone is a convert (the church has only been here for like 50 years), the people know and are connected to the missionaries much more. its totally different than our ward where we sometimes knew who the missionaries were but we never really talked to them and we only ate with them like once a month. but anyway, im doing well :) miss and love you all!! can we skype chirstmas day or is another day better? and no i havent gotten the small package yet..
love,
ashley
haha i still have a stocking! haha and you have pictures up of me?? haha also i really wanted to send you guys a nativity from here, there are some really pretty ones here and hna osterloh bought a couple for her family, but i will have to bring one home next year..
soooo we recorded a video this morning singing for you in spanish and everything but the computer wont let my camera work so we cant send it :( and now i have like no time left..but know that i love you and will be thinking of you and hope you have a fantastic birthday!! thanks for all your love and support always and your fantastic example for me all my life..you are amazing. love you tons!!!
