First Week in Chile

So here I am. It's much different than I expected - the people, the country, the work. But I´m really starting to like it. The flight was long and I barely slept. The first week was hard. I´ve gotten a lot of blistering on my feet from all the walking, but luckily it's starting to callous over. I´m getting better with the language daily, but because the Chilenoes have such a different accent, it's very difficult to understand. The meals are really different - small breakfast, huge lunch and a small "once" or eleven late in the evening. The food is really challenging for me, because even though it tastes great, it is very difficult to eat so much. And they have salad with every meal and there´s always tomatoes, which I hate. They also like to give bananas for dessert, which is hard. The people are great. Our ward is our area and it's the strongest in the stake or zone. The Stake President and Patriarch are both from here. The saddest thing is how many inactives there are. There are about 120 actives and 750 inactives in the ward. So there is significant work trying to bring them back. I love the people, though. They´re friendly, they know of God, frequently funny, and know how to feel the Spirit. They definitely live in poverty, though. The main city is nicer, but the homes are usually quite small, dirty, and poor.  I love the people. I feel the Spirit when we teach. And while it's already so hard, I know this is where I need to be.

Con Amor
Parry