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! :'(