Elder Aaron Mayberry: Third Cambio

   Haha, so yes, cambios are upon us again and I am with another new companion. But I shall elaborate more later. I got lots to say this email and I think it should be a good one, got some pretty entertaining stuff to say. But anyway, this week...

   Ok, so Tuesday we had our Mission Christmas activity. Twas lots of fun and very interesting. We started off by playing lots of sports, then after hours of that we went and had a buffet for lunch in one of the chapels, then we had a christmas deviotional from President Laycock, and ended off the day with a movie! We watched the original Christmas Carol. It was good. I really enjoyed the day though. Got to catch up with some other guys in the Mission, like Elder Erickson (my MTC comp) and Elder Walters (BYU friend), and Elder Hastings (Trainer). Heard some good news from Elder Hastings. Remeber the family we baptized back when I was in Puente Alto 2? The familia Rocco Perez. We baptized the parents first then the two daughters at the end of the change. Well it turns out that Elder Hastings got to baptize the other daughter, Maria Jose, and the Grandma now has a date to be baptized. How cool is that? So that was some good news to hear. Twas fun catching up with everyone about how things have gone and stuff.
   So then the week went on normal, actually, far from normal-haha. Of course we were all focussed on the Christmas phone call that was coming haha. So that was Friday and it was super good to talk to you guys. I was surprised that the whole family was there! But it was very good and I'm glad I had the chance to talk to you all. And it didn't make me too trunky either, which is good. Trunkee is the emotional state of wanting to go home. Its a made-up word that all missionaries use haha, even the latino ones. Elder Evans said that he got kinda trunky cuz all his family was just talking about how he was going home in 6 months. Don't do that to me when that time comes haha. But yeah, that was Christmas. It was pretty good!
    So then the week continued. We really weren't even feeling like cambios were coming until Sunday night, cuz we were preoccupied all week with the Christmas phone call. But yeah. Sunday. Juan Jose got baptized! He has been the most ready of anyone I have baptized. He was in his baptismal interview for like 7 mins. He is so cool and knew absolutely everything we taught him. He was definitely a blessing and miracle that we got to see at the end of the change. An investigator of gold as they say, cuz he was taught and baptized in three weeks, the shortest amount of time possible. So cool! I have some pictures. But the service was super good and super spiritual. Juan goes to church with his grandma, Carmen, because she is the only member out of the whole family, but for the baptism his whole family came. And, even better, was that they definitely felt something. After the baptism, the mom came up and thanked us and said the next time we come by that she would be there to listen to us. So now we might even have more investigators with his family. The blessings that were given to us at the end of this change are crazy. Church is true and blesses peoples´ lives!

So then sunday night. Cambios. We were all kinda dreading them. Cuz it's not fun haha. Like, Elder Evans and Elder Sáenz have both been in the ward for four and a half months, so they were kinda expected to leave. I didn't want to go myself, cuz we have some cool investigators, and also cuz I didn't wanna pack(its a HUGE hassle). But I also didn't want Elder Evans to go, cuz that would mean that I would have to lead the sector for a time by myself with my new comp cuz I know the families, investigartors, streets, etc, and all that responsibility would be mine. And sure enough, the call came, and Elder Evans, se va, Elder Mayberry, se queda. So Elder Evans was leaving, I was staying. Both the other Elders in the sector are staying too. So that's pretty sad, my mom has left.(Mom cuz he's my second companion). So he had to pack his bags and leave.

So this morning we headed to the place where we were meeting and waited for the changes. Elder Evans went to another zone and is now the zone leader there haha, something he didn't expect. And now I have a new companion, named Elder Frost. Turns out he was Elder Evans´s companion in the MTC haha. Pretty cool. But I like him, he´s a pretty funny guy. Now we just gotta see how we work together and stuff. But he´s from Orem, Utah. Like 5 mins from Provo. But he´s a good guy. I feel like it should be a fun change, with lots of success if everything goes right. Oh yeah, we got a different guy in our pension, Elder Salinas, he´s from the far distant land of Whittier.....HA. What a coincidence. Crazy. He went to La Habra high.

But yeah, that was the week, and also the change. It was a super good change and I learned a TON from Elder Evans. Should be exciting, this upcoming change. We have lots of potentials that we are teaching. I shall let you know as we progress in this aspect. But yup. That's about all I got for the serious buisness of this email. Now for some fun stuff.

   So. From being in Chile for almost three months now, I have come to a conclusion about the Chilean people. They are weird and stupid. Like seriously. They do some really weird and stupid things. So I thought I´d compile just a small fraction of some of the things I have witnessed and put them in a nice little list for you guys, so you can have an idea of who I am living amongst. Here we go...
   -Chileans like to do stupid things really early in life. For example, it is not rare at all to see a 14 year old pregnant, or a 10 year old smoking a cigarrete on the street. (An interesting statistic is that about 40% of the girls in high school are pregnant or have already had a kid).
   -It is not rare to see a baby drinking soda from a bottle. Normally its coke.
-Chileans love to take care of their gardens. By gardens, I mean dirt. Like literally, the dirt. They enjoy watering their dirt and occasionally sweeping it when it gets too dusty and dirty......No joke, this actually happens. And they arent trying to grow anything either.
   -Chileans don't think about consequences when they do things. (Re-read fact 1 haha) But this also applies to building. I refer to the attached picture of the house. Notice the addition on the side of the house. Notice how the ONLY thing holding it up is that wall. That wall is also a little crooked.
-Dogs. They are basically Chileans. Theres just as many here anyway. Look at the pictures.
   So yeah, love you all hope you all had a super good Christmas. You're always in my thoughts and prayers. Til next time!
Love, Elder Aaron Mayberry
P.S. Pictures: