October 29, 2012

Hello everyone,

¿Cómo están ustedes?  Things are going pretty well here.  Things
haven't been all that new this week, but one thing that was fun was
being able to go down to Rancagua this past Friday.  Now I get to go
down to Rancagua once a month for a meeting with some other
missionaries and the Mission President.  It is usually a pretty good
meeting where we are able to talk about how we can help the mission in
general to improve, which includes helping to get missionaries
motivated to work along with more capable to have success in their
sectors.  One of the best parts of those meeting is always that we
have a lunch in the mission home where we eat really good food.  This
last time we had lasagna with salad.  It was really good.  One of the
other really nice things is being able to see some mission friends
that are currently really far away.  It gives a good chance to see
people that you otherwise wouldn't really see often.

We are currently teaching two young women named Fresia and Scarlett.
They are both really great.  They are the cousins of a recent convert
in the ward.  It is great because they have already gone to church,
participated in many activities, and have even gone on a temple trip
to visit the temple with other youth in the ward.  It has been a
really good opportunity for them to get to know a lot of people and to
feel comfortable.  I feel like they will probably be baptized fairly
soon because they are learning and progressing very rapidly and are
very receptive.

I am really happy with this ward that I am in.  There are quite a few
strong families here.  There is also pretty strong leadership in the
ward that can help to support the members of the ward to grow in their
testimonies and in their abilities to serve in the church.  I think
that there is a lot of potiential in this ward to be able to have a
lot of success and growth in general.

Summer is officially here.  It is already hot, and I have already
gotten a sunburnt face.  We played baseball today with other
missionaries in the area which was really fun.  I think this next week
we will play volleyball and have a little barbeque.  It should be
pretty fun.

Alright now to the feature part...
How to survive in Chile:

Here's one about food again.
Salads in Chile are really not salads.  For me a salad involves a mix
of vegetables, maybe even with some fruits or meats or something like
that.  However, here in Chile, a salad just means vegetables.  Usually
alone.  For example, a bowl of chopped up lettuce tossed with some
vegetable oil and lemon juice is a salad.  Okay, well that one is
really not all that weird.  But also, a bowl or chopped up tomato with
oil is a salad.  Or a bowl of chopped up celery with lemon juice and
oil is a salad.  Or a bowl of chopped up cabbage with lemon juice and
oil is a salad.  Or even beets with lemon juice and oil is a salad.
Well I think you get the point.  Here a salad really just means some
type of vegetable usually with lemon juice and vegetable oil.
Occasionally two vegetables can be mixed, like tomato and onion, but
that is somewhat of a rarity.

Also there are some popular national foods.  One is called "Mote con
huesillos" which is a drink with peach juice a rehydrated dried peach
and wheat that has been soaked in the peach juice.  It is alright for
me, but usually when I am looking for a refreshing drink, I don't like
to eat a lot of chewy wheat, but that may just be a personal
preference.

Another really common Chilean food is the empanada.  There are many
different types of empanadas.  Personally cheese with shrimp is my
favorite.  But by far the most popular here is called Pino.  It
contains either small chunks of meat or ground beef with onions, half
a half-boiled egg, and an olive inside a dough thing (you can look up
pictures).  Personally that type is not my favorite, but it is the
kind that everyone makes here.

Alright well I think that is enough for today.  I hope that all is
going well back home, and I will talk to you later.

Chao,
Elder Stollenwerk