11 months old in the mission!

Hello everyone!
It was a good week this week, so I'll get started right away.

  On Tuesday we went to the temple as a zone and that was really a special experience like always. What a blessing it is to have a temple in my mission and to be able to go. We saw some good stuff with our investigators this week though. With Juan and Yasna we went to the temple and did a tour of the grounds and they really really liked it. They were really happy that they went and they felt the Spirit for sure. Yasna even bore her testomniy to us which was really cool. They both have testimonies and are basically members, but they aren't married, which is the hardest part for sure. So at the temple we really emphasized eternal marriage and asked them to pray and think about marriage, so we shall see how that goes. But that was a really spiritual experience. We also taught Alex, who said off the bat that he was gonna go to church, but on Sunday morning he called us and told us his mom needed help in the hospital cuz his little sister is there. So we are waiting to see the progress that he makes. Also, with investigators called Jenny and Carlos we had a good lesson 2. I just said that as if you know what lesson 2 is haha. Lesson 2 is the plan of salvation. It went really well. And afterwards was the best part. They asked if another night we wanted to have "once" (like a snack in place of dinner) and we said sure. They asked what we don't eat and we said we don't drink tea or coffee, just ecco (cereal based coffee replacement) and herbal teas and they said oh great! that's all we drink! haha, it was just a little way to show us how God really does prepare people to receive this gospel. And yesterday we found a reference and it turned out to be a good one!, which doesn't usually happen. It was a nice family and we taught them about the restoration and talked to them about how the gospel can improve their family life. They really liked it. Funny story though, here in Pirque the numbering system for addresses isn't exactly ideal. So we were looking for the number 4999. So we go down the street toward the number and it's not there. So we start heading up to the 5200s and we look and there it is. Number 4999, right between numbers 5251 and 5279.......we both laughed a lot at that. But we're happy with the things that are going on here in Pirque at the moment.
  Something cool about the sector, the stars are amazing here. There's like a bajillion. It's something I haven't seen in quite a while, especially not in Santiago haha. Little cool fact about Pirque.
  A ver, what else. Ahh yes, two important dates this week. Happy independence day to the United States. I wore an honorary U.S. flag tie that Elder Saenz gave me yesterdy to commemmorate haha. And today I turned 11 months in the mission......holy cow. I'm basically on the downhill slope home. It's intimidating. But good at the same time. I love the mission and am glad I still have 13 months to enjoy.
  Today for Pday we played basketball and soccer as a zone so that was good but I'm tired. And then immediately after, me and Elder Saenz went on the search for the aunthentic mexican food restaurant in the city. There's a place called Órale in the northern part of the city so we took the trek all the way up the entire metro and got there. And guess who accompanied us? The bishop from El Valle, my second (and favorite) sector. So it was really cool to catch up with him and hear about new stuff in that ward. But the food was also delicious. Elder Saenz says hes gonna become a regular over there now, even though its like a trip of an hour and 15 mins to get there- haha. You just gotta appreciate the finer things in life, o sea, mexican food.
  So here we are, ready to start another week in pirque. It should be a good one. We also have conference with the President this week and that's always good.
  Oh yeah, funny story time. So here in Santiago we use the busses quite a bit. And you never know what kind of surprise will be awaiting you when you get on. From people selling various pens, to CDs of all sorts, or nice wollen gloves (which I'm wearing at the moment :) or the entertainment people. And sometimes they're really good and it's cool when they are. Me and Elder Saenz have seen: a Colombian woman singing solo (not so good) a folk band using like flutes and a guitar and a big drum, they were really good, a clown who talked ridiculously fast and wasn't very funny, and even the most incredible accordian player I've ever seen. So it never gets dull here haha.
  But yeah. I'm loving it here in Pirque and in the mission. I'm really happy and can't wait for what's to come. I love you all and hope you're having a great week. Until next week! Oh, and I forgot my camera cord so next week pictures for sure. Love you! Church is true.
Elder Mayberry