Super Mega Ultra Happy!

BAUTISMO!! Dylan (member friend), Ignacio, Cristobal, ME, and Hermana Navarrete

Hello!!
Guess what?!? We've moved! I thought about putting together little cards to send to all our friends with the address to let them know, but I'm working with a limited budget. We had cambios (transfers) yesterday in the morning and they said "You're not transferring, but you are moving to a different house!" So instead of one or two people packing, it was everyone and everything and cleaning and washing and packing and agh! Loco! But also fun. Our new house is smaller but I get the top bunk and it is a beautiful, buttery, light yellow, and it has a little patio and I plan on having breakfast picnics every morning.

Funny thing of the week (and really my whole time here): I have an admirer. A 16 year old boy in my ward. He, and also his parents, have made it very clear me that he wants to marry a gringa. Wow! That's awesome! But maybe not one who is serving a mission! And also 4 years older than you! And also 6 inches taller than you! Silly lil' guy. I just laugh!

Apparently we had a temblor! That's like an earthquake but a little smaller. Chile is so ready for earthquakes that no one even feels them anymore.

Okay so we have a lot of awesome people in our lives here in Javiera Carrera, but this week was all about Ignacio and Cristobal. We went to the temple, and it was awesome for them to see it in real life. They want to go ASAP. Then, they got baptized! Woohoo! Can't really describe the way I feel, but super mega ultra happy describes it almost. Their lives are so hard but they are strong and the gospel REAL LIFE BLESSES people and I have so much faith in them!

Okay, gotta blast but I love y'all! Hope you're smiling big and laughing and hugging everyone you love! 

LOVE HERMANA SIEBACH

PS--I promised pictures this week, so I got lots!!

Elsa and her cute grandson whose name changes every time I hear it. Spanish is hard!!

El templo! They're always smiling, promise, but the second you whip out a camera, it's all business. Silly boys.

Final moments in the casita. Chao chao!

Welcome to myyyyy hoouuuseeeee! Cute and yellow. Just how I like 'em.

Our old neighbor has a Scout dog who is my friend. This was our last goodbye :-(

My cute district! Girls rule!

I'm a Vampire--Who Knew?!?

Wowow! CRAZY FRIDAY NIGHT! Hermana and I rebelled, hopped on the micro, and left our area...but not until after asking permission from President Morgan heh. Hermana Navarrete had a tooth emergency that I don't really understand because I don't speak the kind of Spanish that includes words for dental anatomy and hygiene. She's fine, and that's not the important part of the story! The important part is that when we got on the bus, Maneater by Hall and Oats was ringin on out over the radio. My little heart soared! Naturally, I translated all the lyrics for Hermana and I think that she does not appreciate Hall and Oats the way that I do. Triste. I was trying to think of a way to tie this song into the gospel, but I cannot. So that's it. Just know that I am happy :)

In other news, I have two full grown blood sausages sitting in my tummy at this very moment. We had almuerzo (lunch) with cute Hermana Teresa Tapia. She is so great. She teaches me all the things about Chile and adds -ito on the end of every word: tomatito, jugito, bailito, hermanita. Todos. She came out of her little kitchen with plates full of potatoes and sausages. Sweet, yeah? I love both of those things. We said the prayer and as I was about to take my first bite, my companion and cute little Teresa Tapia were just giggling away. Suspicious. So, like anyone would do, I took the bite and politely said, "Yum! And what is it that I am eating?" They said they would tell me after. During the meal they were talking about strange foods and I piped up and said "There is this type of sausage from Germany that is straight fat and blood--how nasty is that!" They got a real kick outta that. Wasn't sure why. At this point, I am done with my food. What was inside of my sausage? Blood and fat. Classic. It was actually not bad, but I feel a little nasty now.

You know that story about the missionary in Ghana who was wondering if he was where he needed to be when he found a kid wearing his junior jazz jersey? I had that moment. except for it was better because it is mine. Monday was a very hard day. No one could understand anything I said and I couldn't understand anyone and Hermana N was complaining about something or other and I was feeling very discouraged. We were walking down Santa Raquel (if you want to look it up). I looked across the street and painted on the loading dock door of an old building was PPG. Same blue color and font and everything. I cried. Grandpa is everywhere here, but HOW? I'm in Chile! It makes no sense--I'm not supposed to have family here! But I do and I'm so grateful:)

The ward here has lots of old people and very, very few young men and young women. Most people here don't have a calling and if they do, many of them don't take it very seriously. It makes me sad because the church should be such a happy place full of growth and love! And sometimes I feel little snippets of that but you have to look very hard.  I was reading in Alma 62 I believe this morning. Moroni, Pahoran, and Helaman form an army of thousands and defeat the Lamanites in a very short amount of time. I am not them, and I don't have to kill anyone, but I have a lot of things to do here and not very many people to help me, and also a very short amount of time to do it, but I feel encouraged by their story because when God is on our side, we can actually do anything that he wants us to do. How cool is that?

Updates! On my cute friends! 

Elsa- she's my cute, spunky grandma friend. We never plan times for our lessons with her because she's convinced that if we plan, she will miss them. She would rather we surprise her. So we do! Every other day! At about the same time! Oops! A little predictable, but it's been goin' alright. She came to church on Sunday with her grandson! She arrived 15 minutes early because she wanted a seat near the front where she could more fully receive the messages of the meeting. Amazing. I love it!

Ignacio and Cristobal- these two amazing brothers are getting baptized this Saturday! RSVP if ya wanna come! They were supposed to have their interviews this past Saturday, but immediately before, Cristobal called to inform us that he was in the hospital with (infirmities that are also not in my vocabulary--something about his head?) WHA! No! TEARS! First of all, we don't want him to die or be hurt; second of all, if ya don't have your interview, ya can't be baptized! Sunday morning he called to say he was feeling much better but needed to rest and wouldn't make it to church. We asked if we could pass by after to play Uno and he said "POR SUPUESTO! Hehe, little did he know that 'Uno' is code for "we're kidnapping you and taking you to your interview". We did that. But after a game of Uno. And also they came voluntarily. And they are getting baptized and they are so excited! AHHHH I'm so excited for them. Their lives are hard but I think they're about to get a little (a LOT) bit better.

Sonel and Reinar - they are Haitians and I love them so so much. Their lives are also hard and they are far from their families, but they can feel the peace and joy that comes with the gospel. We talked to them about temples and eternal families and that's their goal now! Sweet!

Okay I love you bye! Keep smiling and hugging your friends!

CHAO

LOVE HERMANA SIEBACH

PS-All the good cibers (that won't put a virus on my camera card) are closed for the Dia da Independencia so ya gotta wait 'til next week for pictures, lo sientooooooo! :'(

Why is it Not Christmas???

Vive Chile! and America! I like that they have the same flag colors because I can celebrate all my favorite countries at once. September 18th is Chile's independence day and everyone is PUMPED. 

This is Us. Feliz! Because life is sweet!

HOLA FAMILIA!

It's crazy cold here, and people have little snowmen in their windows, and half the songs on my little ipod are Christmas songs, and I'm just in the Christmas Spirit, dangit! I'm confused.

I finally made cookies! Happy day! we searched all over our area in the tiny little shops and finally found brown sugar in a little cake making supply store--BLESSINGS! But chocolate chips don't exist, so they are a tiny bit boring but they are GOOD. Now I just need to give them to all my cute friends here!

Yesterday was Sept 11, a sad and scary day in the US, but also here too! Not sure how many years ago, but the president of Chile was assassinated on September 11th and now the people use that day for all their political protests and apparently it gets pretty violent. We had to be back in our casa by 5 PM! Waaaa! That is early! But it's all good because all the people who aren't protesting hide in their homes and don't answer their doors so we didn't have anyone to talk to anyway. Hermana Navarrete is from Chile and has legitimate fear of this day, so I was a little freaked, but nothing too crazy happened. Also I think we are more safe here in Javiera Carrera because there are about 7 people under the age of 65 in the whole sector, and we are sharing the gospel with them all now, so they know you're not supposed to kill. Nice, huh? 

In other news...I am actually kind of like an alien here and it makes me LOL! Hermana and I counted as we were walking down the road this week and twenty cars in a row--TWENTY--came by and the drivers were seriously not watching the road! No, they were staring out their windows gawking at my blonde hair. It's natural, I swear.

Sunday night we had a fireside! It was for missionaries and investigators and recent converts. Technically I was not supposed to attend since it was 3 zones away, but another Hermana somehow convinced me to sing a duet with her there. This is about how it went:

"Hermana Siebach, want to sing in a fireside?"

"Yes"

WILD! We sang 'Divina Luz' (Lead Kindly Light) which is my all-time favorite and I hope it was good, but who knows!?!

Wowowow, Mom and Dad! What an adventure you had in Houston! I'm so proud of you guys. Our ward here has a huge problem where there is zero unity and everyone is so enveloped in their own lives. I get it. Life here is hard and everyone is scraping by. Sometimes I feel pretty guilty for the incredibly privileged life I have. We were talking to the bishop about ways that we can help the ward. I suggested that we find a service project and hype it up so everyone will want to attend. I was told that we are not in my country and they don't have the resources for that kind of thing... it is hard and frustrating because I can't fully express myself and share the fact that in reality, you don't have to have tons of resources to serve other people. Just a willing heart. I'm grateful for y'all's example in my life. I know that at any moment, you would drop everything to help someone in need. I have seen it countless times. Thank you so much. And please pray for the people here to feel a little bit of that same desire.

My birthday last week was the BOMB.COM. I had very low expectations for it, but it ended up being awesome! In Almuerzo, my cute friends in the ward surprised me with a tasty cake and a scarf that I am so so grateful for! We taught this crazy lady named Bernarda the plan of salvation and she was hilarious. We get to teach her again today yeehaw! We ate sushi for dinner, so that was great also because I love sushi. Sushi here consists of rice and cream cheese and avocado (of course!) and sometimes chicken. So not really sushi but still tasty. People are so nice and it's hard to make a day on the mission different and special but they did it! Blessings!

This is me on my sweet lil sushi birthday!

This week was actually really quite hard. Almost all of our lessons got cancelled and no one wanted to answer their doors. Also a few of our investigators just disappeared?? Not sure. We're sleuthin. BUT one big miracle of this week was a full house of Haitians! They are awesome and the most loving, faithful people I've met here. We went to teach Sonel, who is a referral, but when we got there all his friends were there too so we ended up teaching all of them! I love talking with the Haitians because they are also very bad at Spanish so we just struggle together.

I love you and I hope you are all safe from every natural disaster that seems to be happening all at once! Everyone asks me "Como esta su gente?" As if I know all of the people in all of America heheh! I say, "I don't know but I hope they're super duper!" And I do! I hope you are doing well, and smiling and laughing and dancing!

LOVE 

HERMANA SIEBACH

PS: Sorry all my pictures are selfies and inside of the casa! Turns out that's the only time I really use my camera, but please enjoy our fun celebration wall!

These are all my cute little casa friends! They are teaching me patience because I love them but I don't love Glorious by David Archuleta 17 times back to back!

Click here to join in the fun and listen to GLORIOUS by David Archuletta seventeen times :)

I'm Two Months Old! And Also Twenty Years--Yeet!

Heres my cute district! When you stop being distracted by my blazing white shins, you will notice a cake.
It says "Bautismo" on the top, which I like to interpret as "Happy Birthday Hermana Siebach, you rock!"

Hola Amigos!!

What a big week! Two birthdays at once! This week I turn TWENTY and my 2 month mark was yesterday! To celebrate, I cried. But what's new?? Learning a language is hard stuff y'all. And I feel like such a noob because compared to Chinese and Japanese and Russian and Norwegian and practically every other language, it should be a piece of cake, but holy nuts! Why am I not fluent already!! Good news though, I'm starting to be able to understand my old lady friends! So happy! Because they're my favorite, but also they're usually missing teeth and have given up on speaking real words.

Okay! Now! For my miracles that I couldn't share last week!

ELSA. Elsa is awesome. She's probably 60 and she's spunky and curious and awesome. She has a sister in the US who is a member. She went to visit, went to church with her, and came back to Chile ready and waiting to learn. And then we knocked on her door! Not really, we yelled outside her fence. That's how you do it here. We talked about how we can have eternal families with the gospel and she said "But my dad died without the gospel so I will never get to see him again" NOPE. Put that concern to rest! She came to church on Sunday and it was testimony meeting and the spirit was on fire and it was all around a great experience.

CRISTOBAL & IGNACIO! 16 and 14. Golden. They're getting baptized this month! They were also in church with us this Sunday. It feels like we have lessons with them every day and the days that we don't, they often call and ask us questions or ask for more things to study. WHAT? How does that even happen? Not sure, but I love it and I'm so pumped for the rest of their lives!

NELSON. Nelson is awesome. I can't remember if I've talked about him or not, but he is 30-something, single dad, Catholic, and loves talking with us. He doesn't believe the leaders of the Catholic church have the right authority. YOU'RE RIGHT. But we do. Check it out, yeah?

There's an elder companionship serving in this ward with us. One of them is a gringo and we have decided to teach an English class. We all asked our investigators if they would be interested and it was a resounding "SI!"  So that's happening!. I think it'll be great because English is awesome and also it'll get people to the church! It's a great place! More people should come!

Today I made applesauce with apples that apparently have been in the casa for 3 cambios now. That's roughly 5 months. And they were decently alright. Hermana Navarrete said they might inject their fruit here with something to make them last longer. I think she might be right. 

Ughhh, every week pday is loco! They like to schedule all the things for our pday so we don't actually have time to do anything! Today was slightly more normal except for the fact that we had to buy all our supplies and food for the next three weeks. I swear we spent 3 hours in the supermarcado! Cookie making has actually not happened yet ugh! I can't find brown sugar anywhere! But I am determined this week to make it happen. Also I bought a little notebook for recipes if any of you want to send me the easy ones!

Daily lunches with the ward Hermanas are awesome but they are without fail about 2 hours long! So so soooo much time, but the ward is struggling and we are trying to form good relationships with the members. Also, there is a special type of bean here that everyone feeds us and it expands in your stomach and makes you feel like you're going to explode--it's awesome!!! 

Speaking of exploding, Sunday I was fasting. but when that was done, I ate all of Chile! I had my first empanada, first completo, first sopapilla, first donut looking thing, and first drink thing with oats and peaches and other things I'm not really sure. All after 4 PM. Thought I was gonna die, but it was gonna be a happy death.

I have a spiritual thought but as per usual, I am running short on time. So here is an abbreviated version. Family history work is so great and important and I am FUMING with my old self for not taking advantage of all the resources we have for it. Everyone should do it! Do your family history work. This is someone's salvation and eternal happiness we are talking about. But also leave a few names for me so I can do it when I get back :-)))

Love y'all with the whole part of my heart that's not taken up by the people of Chile!

Keep smiling and hugging the people you love!

HERMANA SIEBACH

PS--All my pictures are about food. Classic.

Here are the beautiful mountains from the supermarket parking lot. Enjoy!

Dad, I ate the yolk of an egg! Are you proud?

My first empanada. We ate them in our bedroom because the rest of the casa is an ice cube.