Week 28: Observations of Life in Chile

Dear Friends and Family,

Hey everybody, glad to hear from my family, my mom, dad, and sister. It's always so delightful to hear from them!  :)  So, this week has some interesting things in it. First, in two days it will mark one month with my companion, five months in this sector, and 17 months left in my mission. Anyways, it feels like in the moment things are just going slow as molasses but in reality, I look back and time has just FLOWN!

So I've been hearing a lot that people want to know more about what it is like down here in Chile...well, I'll tell ya. So first off, down here, there is no air conditioning nor central heating. They have it in other parts of Chile, but here in the capital, it's apparently TOO expensive. Anyways, so they have cement blocks with mortar as the walls...nothing else. So, it can either be really cold or really warm when you wake up. Neither is that great, haha! :) Also, everyone has to buy gas to cook, there aren't gas lines that are fed into the houses and into their appliances. So, everyone has to buy gas tanks and hook them up to their appliances (much like a BBQ). There are always gas trucks rolling around with a loud speaker saying "Gasco! Gasco, Gasco! Gasco en cinco, once, quince, cuarenta y cinco kilos." It's quite annoying. Some other things that are real typical down here, are people's homes. You see a house and you think, OH, that's quite large for being in Latino America...then, you figure out it's two, three, four, or sometimes even five different little houses that comprise just one big building. Anyways, it's quite interesting. People have lots of stuff here and cleaning isn't really a big issue or concern of people. As long as their clothes are clean, they are fine. Haha, people like nice TV's, cars, clothes, phones, headphones, etc. They just don't have nice houses...but FAR from it! So that's a little bit of what everyday life is here and some of my observations of life in Chile.

So as for the people we are teaching, the FHE with B's girlfriend fell through so we are doing it tonight. She came to church yesterday and was very receptive when we invited her to the FHE. I'm excited to do it, she could be a fantastic investigator I'm pretty sure! :) Also with F, things are stalling with him right now because he has a problem with tithing. Hopefully he can get over that and we can continue on. O's mom cannot really progress for various reasons. Anyways, glad to hear that everyone is well! :) Take care and know that I am praying for you all!

Love,

Elder Adam Bushman

"The Elders who are going abroad should deal out kindness to those they are sent to watch over, and your smiles will be far better than your cursings could be." - Brigham Young