Earthquakes

Dear fambam,
Sounds like you are all doing good! ready to end the school year and get down to some serious summer! Sadly we are just starting winter here and its getten pretty chilly these past couple nights. the weirdest thing is the fog! nobody knows why its so foggy but its crazy! nobody can see anything! it makes my hair really nice and lionlike so its fun to look in the mirror after weve been out on the streets all day! Both of my companions so far left for their casa this week during changes and i received my new comp, Hermana Martinez from Columbia. she has about the same time in the mission as me so its really good that were both young, fresh, and ready to work. I know were going to see many miracles this change and i can already feel that im going to learn a lot from her. She comes from a very humble circumstance and is the only memeber of herfamily. were opposites so i feel like we`ll be able to connect with everyone because we cover all the angles! im not super excited for my birthday but thanks for the birthday wish anyways. I am still here in Llolleo in the coast of San Antonio so im glad to not have a new sector. This week we also had another earthquake. it wasnt anything serious for the poeple here but it was the strongest one ive felt! it was during the night so i woke up thinking it was a dream an wondering why i wsnt snapping out of it! it is such a weird feeling to feel the earth literally moving beneath you, i guess its just something you have to experience for yourself to understand! But all is well that ends well i guess.
It was good to hear that everyone seemed to learn something from the stake conference. It was our ward conference here this past week and the topic was eternal goals. God has such a different perspective for us then we can see for oursleves. In the bible dictionary it saying ´´only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.`` if the temple isnt our goal, we arent focusing in the right direction. Eternal goals can change our whole perspective, it doednt matter if we are less actives, the pres. of relief societry, investigating the church, or al the lowest point in life...the temple has the answers. And to prepare for the temple, we have to make our homes sacred places. I have gained such a testimony of the spirit in the home. its something we should make a goal eternal!
Love you all and hope everything is going good! Have agood week! ALSO PS i need recipes for simple desserts (cookies, brownies, ice cream in a bag...) if someone could send me some that would be great! LOTS OF LOVE FROM CHILE!!!! hermana phelps

Flea Bag

Dear family! i finally got some pictures to load so hopefully you end up getting them! We have had some struggles this week but i cant complain too much! The one picture is with members from my first ward i don't have many from this area yet. One is of the port here in San Antonio but its super ugly right now because you cant see much thanks to the fog. But you get the general idea! the others are a sign that is a tsumani warning which is actually really scary because there are a ton of earthquakes here in CHile and the tsumani rate here on the coast is actually really high thanks to the endless movement of the earth! dont worry though I definately know the security routes to higher ground. Actually the people are being more accepting recently because there was a huge flood earlier this month in the north where it never rains. And yesterday in the South there was a huge volcanic erruption  that has never errupted in all the years anyone can remember. From what a can gather the people think they are being punished for the laws the government is passing and they are completely sure God is punishing them. Gladly many people need a message of hope and a loving Father in Heaven at this time so its all working out good. Hopefully the natural dissasters continue to avoid this area here of the mission! We have a baptism coming up for a young chap named Javier. he is 23 and a really good investigator, he always does his part with the reading and stuff. The only weakness is our teachings im really sure. But hopefully everything comes through and we have a baptism here on the 10th! What a good mothers day present! Also may 21 here is some sort of holiday of a battle with Peru so im pretty sure we´ll be celebrating in some sort for my birthday!
A few interesting things have happened this past week. There was an outbreak of FLEAS (yuck) all along the coast and guess who was lucky enough to experience it? Yup, yours truly! It hasnt been a fun experience but at least im not the only one scratching. Almost all the missionaries and half the population have them. We're getting our house sprayed this week i hope so keep your fingers crossed for me! Other than some other health problems though, all is well!
 Love you all tons and Remember to say your prayers always. Love hermana phelps
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1st Tranfers, Moving over to the COAST!!

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_chile.htm


So I got transferred! I am now in an area called San Antonio...not the one in texas but almost. My sector is called LLo Lleo and its my first day so we only got off the bus and came to write so i havent seen much yet bu the air is freshly respirating in my lungs. I am happy for the change and even happier that I don't have to train or anything crazy like that. Time to just settle down and do some real missionary work! My companion is named Hna Cahuna from Peru. She seems pretty nice so I have lots of hope or the weeks to come. She also goes home here in 6 weeks so ill have changes again here the next transfer but that's okay! It was sad so say goodbye to Maipu, my place of birth here in Chili. Its crazy how much love you can gain for the people in your sector. I have been taking lots of pictures but the truth is i think something is wrong with the cord to my camera because i still cant send pictures.

Conference was super great! I went with a question of what is my purpose here as a missionary, why is it important to leave my family and pass through these challenges. The answer was obvious...because of families! They are the basic unit of life. Never can I remember a topic being so profound in a conference. It seems like every talk focused on marriage and families. I got to go on splits and watch the Sat. session in English so i learned the most but I feel like i got inspiration the Sunday session too! i almost cried when elder Holland started talking and i couldn't hear his voice! I dont know how these people do it to not hear the tones of the prophet or  understand the lyrics of the beautiful choirs. I guess i felt especially blessed to know English! One talk i particularly enjoyed was the one about dancing and hearing the music with your heart. I know a think or two about awkward dancing and let me tell you...if you're not hearing the beat with your heart...is it really even dancing or just random movements? It was special to hear of the natives of Arizona making an appearance in the conference. I have never been more grateful for my family. Immediate, extended, and those who don't have the same blood but are family none the less. We are all here for each other because everyone has their week moments. Heavenly father knew we would never make it home solo so he gave us families to help us feel his love here on the earth!

Nothing super exciting happened this week with the work in Maipu. I am a little sad you didnt send a picture of dad in the bee suit! you better have captured that candid moment on film! Easter was something else that's for sure. I have never had a clearer understanding of the role of the Savior in our lives. How blessed we are to have a perfect plan from the father who gave up his son so that we could be saved! Funny things this week include English lesson with some members, i will have to video tape the massive amounts of charades that go on. Hna Day spent 20 minutes cursing my language book about how all the sentences were wrong when i finally pointed out that she was reading the "find the error in the sentence" section. Chilean desserts for the week included that they eat hard cream of wheat with jelly after lunch. Its not quite as delicious as it sounds but almost! Have an awesome week. Work hard, Pray Harder!

Dustin's Companion has had gall-stones for 6 months and finally had surgery 2 weeks ago. She hasn't been able to get out of their appartment much for awhile.

Hola Familia! Another week of missionary work! My comp is STILL sick though, so its kinda rough. holy cow its like i'm dying slowly from the inside watching my misson tick by! I feel bad for her spending her last few months of her mission in the house, but we are getting out some every day now which is good. Just not full days of missionary work. We found a new family this week who i have lots of hope for. They have tons of questions and crazy stories. They invited us in for a beer to get out of the heat, not the best invitation but we went inside and stated sharing with them. I was with a member from the ward, Maria Jose and we took advantage of the situation. thank goodness they were only on their first beer and not drunk yet. We felt the spirit so strong with them, it was awesome. When we returned for our next visit, they showed us a video up close and personal of their dog giving birth. That was fun too! but it opened the door to talk about the plan of salvation. I guess we're taking what we can get from the circumstances. I starting reading Jesus the Christ by James E Talmage. Holy deep doctrine....but I'm learning so much about our Savior Jesus Christ. I dont think im going to attempt to read it in spanish just yet but maybe one day! Before i forget...FELIZ CUPLEAÑOS GRANNY HAMBLIN. Sorry i had to miss the party but don't worry I'm saving some souls down here for you! I hope spring break is going good for you all and the nice weather holds up. Still no pictures but we have changes in 2 weeks and ill be finishing ym training so i might be in a new area where the computers work but i don't know! Nothing else too crazy happened i guess. I hope everyone is enjoying their spring break and is getting ready for the end of the school year. ITs crazy how fast it goes huh? Sending lots of Chilean love! hermana phelps

Spiders and Spanish

Feb. 14, 2015

Is is really Monday again? haha If there is anything about the mission that is crazy, its the distortion of time. I swear, hours seem like weeks but the days are like seconds. It continues to be super hot here. Fun fact i felt my first earthquake here. We have had about 5 since I've been here and usually i just hear them or i sleep through them. Nothing too serious though. Its kinda just a casual conversation here... ¨hey how are you? did you feel the earthquake last night? oh good glad your house is still intact.¨  it was only scary because i was dreaming when it happened about something and then woke up freaking out and the bed was shaking and it was that time when you wake when you're not really sure what is reality! But all is well. This week has confirmed several of my nightmares of the mission. First of all, I  taught my first lesbian this week so that was fun. Imagine trying to teach someone with these beliefs in English as if that's not hard enough. She pretty much told us she wants to be sealed to her wife and family is super important to her. its was actually really sad because she has such a strong testimony of the gospel but cant progress any more because...well because that's just not in the plans of God.  Fear 2- i got presented with my fear of milk. A family invited us for breakfast before church so i was pumped. They aren´t super financially stable. like many families we teach here, and they just had cereal for us which is perfectly OK. The problem was the milk, as you all know is my phobia. It was warmed in the microwave and in a pitcher that honestly was the farthest thing from clean, I'm talking dog chewing marks and like mold growing on it. Oh i prayed so hard to not throw up. Heavenly Father answers prayers i know this for a fact! Another random custom here is this obsession people have with their lawns. Except they aren't lawns its like their dirt paths outside. Every night you can find the people outside watering their lawns and sweeping the dirt off their dirt porches.It is so humbling! I seriously love the people here so much, Hate the spiders though! this one was a foot from my bed last night! It is huge. As for the missionary work, we didn't have much success this week. My companion is super sick, she has had this problem with her stomach for 5 months and she cant really walk anymore and is super weak so it has been hard. But we still work in our sector every day. No baptisms though! Always next week! I seriously love my mission so much. Thanks to everyone for the support, especially my family! The pictures are of the spider, my roomates!  Sending the hot chilean sunshine your way this week and you all battle the various elements of round valley! oh Eagar 's, i got your package finally. Thanks so much haha my roommates continue to make fun of me how every package has peanut butter. You all know me to well. Te amo mucho! Hermana Phelps

Feb. 22, 2015

Holy Cow! i know i say this every week but is it really Monday again? I'M sorry i cant send pictures this week. We went to a different Internet cafe thing and it is sooooo slow! haha it has taken me 20 minutes to open this email so sorry if i didn't write anyone back. It continues to be an interesting life down here . There was another earthquake that i felt. We were in the street so it was kinda scary but nothing too terrible. there was this cute little grandma that ushered us into her house and made us get under her table and then gave us candy and grapes. It was so cute! The fruit here seriously is so good! its so fresh, i would love to just eat fruit here all day but sadly i know i am am going to get so chubby. It is not uncommon here to have noodles with a side of bread and potatoes. Pray that i dong come back and win biggest loser! Each week continues to be a miracle! i still mess up a ton but i have learned to just laugh it off most times. I think of brooks every time i see a man driving a bike like the one from nacho libre. They are seriously so common here its awesome! the children love to climb in them and ride around. Also whoever wrote the movie 101 Dalmations and had the idea about the Twilight Bark lived in Chile at some point. It is a real thing here! I also dont ever have to miss Idaho because i get a cool ref4reshed every morning in the shower. The work is going super good though. 

Feb 9, 2015

Dear family! holy cow what a long week. I really feel like this week has been one of the toughest of my mission. It was bound to happen sooner or later right? i still see miracles every day though. we had one baptism for Luisa fall through. it was sad because she wanted to be baptized the 15 and we had plans and she was super excited, then she talked to her daughter who lives in the states who talked her out of it so we had to move it back another week.  really sad! but now we have another woman Scarlett who wants to be baptized and she is super excited. ive never met anyone so ready to change her life. She really thinks we are miracles because we found her just at the right time. It makes contacting in the street pay off! sometimes i seriously get so tired of ´¨ hola como esta, somos misionaras de la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dia¨ and then the people stop listening. But every once in a while you get a miracle like scarlet who knows right away that you have the answer! what i loved about this week was we got to spend a lot of time in the homes of members with thir families and i got to experiecne a somewhat normal life is like here in chile. It is usually pretty hot, about 90 i would guess so its nice but hot to be walking around all day.  my tan lines continue to be more defined! Im in a city called Maipu its still ¨santiago¨ kinda like the mesa is part of phoenix. It is a little ghetto, but not super bad.  i dont usually have fear that anything bad is going to happen. There is graffiti everywhere though and it is a city so it is hard to see how beautiful it is for a country girl like me who loves the mountains! My comp is really sweet she is from argentina so its extra difficult to understand because she spekas a different spanish than the people. its kinda like having a british person teach you the slang that the kids in RV use, but its a good thing we have the spirit. The homes are usually pretty modest, a little smaller than the average american home but its usually like a big apartment. Families are about the same size. It is different because lunch here is really big! then not really dinner or breakfast so we eat lunch with the memebers instead of dinner like in the states. Here are some pictures of me on sunday walking to church, some of our area and my comp with Juaquien one of the boys of a recent convert. I absolutely love the children here! its hard to talk to them becasue i dont speak very good and they dont really understand but its fun anyways. Our ward boundries are pretty big but our ward is about 40 people less than Eagar 1st i would guess. We get up at 6:30 and then study from 8 to 1130, i have exra study time because i am in training still. Im supposed to have 30 minutes of language every day but we honestly never have time. Ive taken to reading the book of mormon out loud in spanish every night with a roomate who is trying to learn english so we take turns reading verses. We get home about 930 and plan for the next morning then are in bed at 1040. then the same thing all over again! its tiring but there is no place id rather be! what else could i tell you! um sounds like everyone is doing good. Congrats mitchel and ashley haha i can only imagine how shy their children are going to be! studs for sure though! i got a christmas package from grandma pam this week and it saved my life! my roomies couldnt really understand why i was so pumped when everythiung was peanut butter! haha but it seriuosly is the best. A big thing here is the bread. It is called Pan. It is super cheap so everyone eats it all the time with everything., i suppose what is why there are tons of chubs here so no laughing if i come back chubby! i got a haircut this week which was a mistake! i had a memebr cut it who has a salon she is super awesome! i didnt really know how to explain i just want a trim so i literally said my hair is in your hands, make me beautiful. Its not super bad just shorter than i wanted! but its okay i guess it will grow! tell me more questions you want to be answered and ill try to start explaining more! i love you all so much! have a good week! love hermana phelps- now the chilean short haired gringo who talks with the skill of a 4 year old. youre welcome!

Inside this church is a rickety stairwell, last year and elder fell off the top and died, so we can't go inside:(

Walking to church Sunday

My Comp. and I with an investigator's son

Week 2

Hola,  how the heck are you? I cant believe it is already monday again! this week was the longest fastest week of my life. I dont even remember what happened! It passed in a blur of spanish! We did see some miracles though. First and formost I got your package from Christmas with the snowflakes! thank you soo much it was awesome they are hanging up above my bed! Its funny because one of my investigators was telling me how much she hates the dr pepper flavored jelly beans that come mixed in her favorite kind and how America is obsessed with dr pepper and then you sent me dr pepper gum! ha im going to bring her a piece and make her try it. Her name is Luisa and she is pretty much legit. She is about 70 i think and believes everything like the second we present it to her. She is ready for baptism right now but her sister has cancer and they think she is going to die this week so she hasnt gone to church yet. But she will hopefully! We also have a baptism planned for this saturday im hoping it goes through. His name is raphael and he only has one leg, he was in the army and knows everything is true but says he hasnt felt the spirit yet, But i know he will soon! 

It is HOOOTTT here thpugh. I already am dying and i think this coming month is supposed to be the peak. I really hope it doesnt get much hotter but i know im probably being a weenie. I already have a pretty sweet tan lines on my feet, from my watch, and from the straps on my backpack! oh something else crazy happened! Colton Wilson in argentina was serving in the city where my comp is from and ate lumch with her family every day and they were joking about how their daughter would be my trainer and now she is! what in the world!!! its so crazy, the world is tini let me tell you. 

<so you know how it is so hot? we were stopping my a recent converts house and had just finished fasting and she asked if we wanted some water so of course we said yes. She is 89 and really tender. When she brought us water.....it was filled with chopped pieces of onion! oh my gosh it was HORRIBLE! ugh i couldnt do it! she got up to go to the bathroom and we hurried and poured it down the sink. Ill send pictures but man oh man! I have my weekly talk i want you( especially the girls) to read called sharing your light by Niell F Marriot. Its super awesome. Well Im sorry I never rememeber good stuff to write about but i know this is the work of the lord. We had family home evening with a family this week and i was remineded of how amazing familes are. I have the best family in the whole entire world! thank you so much for your support. i love you tons and cant wait to hear more about how you are all doing! p.s. thats awesome nate beat bride and it snowed! haha pray for some snow down here!