November 26, 2012

SURPRISE!!!

I have a surprise for you all.  Yesterday, I was transferred in
special changes, and now I am in the south of the mission.  Yeah
that's right, I am no longer in Santiago.  Now I am a city called
Santa Cruz (literally Holy Cross).  It is quite the change from my
last sector.  My last sector was full of danger and such.  This one is
very calm.  But like very calm.  I think I will be able to start
sending more pictures home of the beauty of Chile since I can now walk
around in the street without the fear of getting robbed.  Like it is
so calm that I am almost sure we could leave our gate unlocked with
the windows open and no one would break in.  I'll just say that it is
quite a change from before.

My new companion is Elder Vásquez.  He is from Costa Rica.  He is now
getting to the end of his mission and I will probably be his last
companion unless something really weird happens.  He seems like a
really great guy, so I am excited to get to know him a bit better and
begin to start working with him.  I still have not been with a
companion for a full two change periods.  

Oh I thought that I would send home a picture of our thanksgiving
feast.  It was actually pretty small, but it was nice to have
something to celebrate with.

I also attached some pictures from yesterday.  Before I left, I took
pictures with a bunch of members.  One of the pictures is of several
of the members in our ward.  In another, I sent a picture of two kids
that I got really attached to.  They are really awesome.  I was really
sad to say goodbye to them.  I can't wait to be able to talk to them
again someday.  I think that was honestly the hardest part about
leaving- having to leave all of the people that I had gotten close to,
especially the members and the less-active members that I was working
with.  One thing that I can definitely say is that when you begin to
truly serve others, you really begin to love those people.  Then it
becomes even harder to have to leave them.

Well I am going to have to keep this one a bit short for now for a
lack of time, but I will be sending some more pictures with the
scenery of Santa Cruz.  Look it up on Google Maps, and you will see
that it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  However, it is a
pretty developed city for its size, having a hospital, the Chilean
equivalent of Walmart, and a fairly large downtown.

Alright, well have a great week, and I will talk to you later.

Elder Stollenwerk