Porvenireno

January 13, 2013

LDS Church Porvenir, Chile

Mama,

Hey, this week was a pretty good week here in Porvenir. This place is so small. Super small. Haha. I think I will take a second to answer the questions that you had asked me.

Do you need your sunglasses?  No, haha. I am okay.

Is it sunny every day?  It isn't sunny every single day. But the weather changes super-fast, from raining to sunny. But... you can get sunburn when it is cloudy.

Are the days long or short? Sunrise/sunset (Is it like Alaska?)  Super long. There is sun until like 11:30 p.m. and the sun is up by like 4:00 a.m.

Is it snowy?  There is no snow right now. It has been like 36-45 degrees. Something like that.

Do you live close to the water?  We live like a few blocks from the water. There are tsunami warning signs everywhere.

What are the houses like?  The houses are all old and colorful. All the roofs of the houses are different colors.

Do you live with some members or in an apartment?  We live in our own house. It is super nice, actually. But we live on the Branch Presidents property.

What kinds of exercise do you do besides walking?  We do a huge amount of push-ups and sit ups; Tons of them. We also use my exercise bands to do arms and such. I do like...30 minutes of Cardio (plyometrics) every day.

Is the food there any different?  It is a little different. We still eat beans a lot. But here... we never eat fruits or vegetables because they basically don’t exist.

Was your companion new to Porvenir also?   This is his second cambio here.

Do you have a car, phone, and computer?  We do not have a car. Our phone??? Super dinosaur; Super old school. We don’t have a computer. We email on the computer in the church.

P-day Donuts and Ping Pong

This place is really different compared to other sectors. We are on the island of Tierra del Fuego.  We are legitimately an hour’s plane ride away from Antarctica. Isn't that crazy?  The king penguins live here!!!!! The big ones!! I am already making the arrangements to go see them. We know a guy who just went to see them and there are THOUSANDS of penguins here. But they are like two hours away The way people speak Spanish here is a lot different here as well; a TON faster, which is incredible because Chileans already speak super-fast. SUPER fast. But it is all good.

The work here is going alright. It is a sector that has a lot of challenges. A lot. We had 15 members at church yesterday... which isn't very many. But we are working on that. Actually, I do have some good news. We are going to have a wedding on Friday and a baptism shortly after. One of our investigators is getting married and is going to get baptized!  He is pretty cool his name is Cristian. He has a mullet. I am jealous. Ha.

This week we are going to Punta Arenas for interviews with President. We are leaving on the boat tomorrow at 7 p.m.  We will be returning from Punta Arenas on the boat on Friday morning, and we should get back just in time for the wedding. But, we also got permission to take an avioneta (a 15 passenger plane) if all fails so we can make it back to the wedding. How legit? Right?  We will be in Punta Arenas for a few days and I will be going on an intercambio with Elder BORUP!!!! How sweet is that!  Also, we will get to go to district meeting. We aren't usually allowed to go... because it costs like 40 bucks to travel from the island to Punta Arenas and back!

Hey, I am glad everyone enjoyed the Christmas cards! That is why I made them. It took me FOREVER to draw on the back of all of those!  A really long time! So I am glad that everyone likes them.
Hey... I gotta go. I am going to try and send a picture. Dropbox doesn't work on this computer... so patience. :)

Elder Warren

P.S. Sorry it was short today... I had a ton of emails to read today... and I can’t print them. So I just have to read them.