Mollie #29 - Angol, Chile - Running like a Hamster, Leaving my Investigators, A Missing Shoe

Since you're worrying about my hair...

     Mother, since you were worried about my hair, and how I'm doing it now that it's rainy, I thought I'd share photos to clarify what I said through Skype. I don't need a straightener, because I braid my hair, like I did for Mother's Day. Then the next day, I take it out, and it's automatically curly. I have to manage it some, but overall it looks okay, so you don't need to send me one.

Messy hair from taking out braids

     This week was crazy! I don´t even know where to begin. The week started out with cambios, and I'm not training. Phewww... Hermana Nelson is my new companion, and she is really great! She has a system we use concerning how to progress and effectively use each day.
     Sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about the lives of the people here, and it is hard to see the step-by-step process of achievement and progress. There is a lot that I can learn from her, and we get along well!

  I think I told you on the phone that she runs marathons. Well, we run together, sort of. I run really slow, and she runs really fast. It is like when Jake and I go running. She runs back and forth on the block 3 or 4 times, and I run it once in a straight line. But Hey! I am running and that counts for something, but improvement is slow. We weren´t all made to be speedy quick chinchillas! Some of us are hamsters. Hamsters with asthma x)

    The hijas and I get to do splits every week, because our senior companions are hermanas de capacitación (in training). This week I introduced them to my investigators more or less. 

     We had to split the sector this week. It was traumatizing a bit. Their was a strong need to split the sector. To walk from one side to the other is about 40 minutes, and we were losing too much time walking back and forth.

     Also, having two companionships visit the same people causes problems when you visit on the same day.

     Anyway, I had to give up a lot of my investigators to the other sisters, which hurt a bit. My investigators have needs that only I know, and I can´t explain everything to them, because it was told in confidence. I am hoping they will be able to earn their trust. They are good sisters, but it will be hard not to see these people every other day.

  

I love the kittens here. They are everywhere. We try to keep the dogs away from them. They are always there to play or cuddle with.

    So, the chapel or church was flooded the other day. I told you all a bit about this on Skype. Anyway, the other sisters had a baptism and left the water on too long...needless to say, the entire chapel was more or less swamped.
     We had a crew of missionaries sweeping and pushing the water out of the tiled halls and into the bathroom which has a drain. My companion and I took off our shoes, because we didn´t want to ruin them. We left them in the Primary (children's) room.
     We then helped with the water situation. When we returned one of my companions shoes was missing. She had to sit through a baptism, and sing a musical number with me barefoot at the church. We spent an hour scrutinizing every nick and cranny of the church and found the plain back shoe inside of one of those long handled, black dustpans that stand on their own in the corner of the church. The culprit was never found.

     This Sunday I did a musical number with the youth for Mother's Day. It was a lot of fun!!! I got almost all of the youth to participate! The bishop told was a most likely, impossible feat. The youth here are fantastic! A lot of them go to church on their own without any parent or support. I am always looking for ways to support and help them.