Hermana Hess en Chile: Week 2 in Paradise

Next Monday we are going to see the penguins!

Sorry that last week I didn’t write much... I was really stressed out with everything and had a really rough 3 days with my comp :)

Out the plane window

Some cool things about Punta Arenas:

The sky is still blue. The Strait of Magellan is right across the street from me! So cool! And there are a bunch of islands on the horizon. One of them is the Isla Tierra del Fuego. Torres del Pine, a world wonder is 4 hours south but it is really hard to go for p day, so.... in a year!! It snowed last week but melted out and now it’s just really rainy and cold. The sun rises at 9:30 am and sets at 4 pm. It is dark by 4:30. It’s really strange because the sun just sits on the horizon throughout the day and never gets high up in the sky. We can see the Southern Cross, a constellation that we can’t see in the states.

Punta Arenas

Plaza de Armas. If you touch the foot of Magellan, there's a high chance you'll come back to Punta but if you kiss it, its guaranteed :)

We live in an igloo, and three days ago, our bishop was ice fishing and got eaten by a whale. He’s the 5th to go in just this month. The killer whales are migrating so there are a lot of them that are on the hunt for food. Apparently every year about this time this happens...

Just kidding.... :) we live in a casa and no, our bishop didn’t get eaten by a whale. The killer whales are farther south.

comp y yo

... 2016 called... they don't want bangs so I'm growing them out

These elders are in our zone. I’m the only gringa, and there’s 4 other gringos

Our casa is pretty big. We have our main "living room" and our bedroom and another room for storage and a bathroom. However, our heater is only in the living room and it is like Grandma and Grandpa's heater so, every night we pull out our mattresses and sleep in the living room where it is warmer.

We have to shut off the heater at night though because it is gas and there have been 3 deaths in our area of people that slept with the heater on and the fire went out and they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. It stinks because we get home at 9:30, sometimes 10 p.m. and can turn on the heater until 11 when we go to bed. Usually the living room is still freezing. The sleeping bag was probably the best purchase ever! I have a new respect for the pioneers. Honestly. When we wake up, we can see our breath.

The alarm clock is by my comp. One morning, it had gone off for about 1 minute and my comp wasn't moving at all. I had a moment of panic that maybe my comp had frozen to death. But no, she just didn't want to crawl out of her bag to turn it off. We listened to the alarm for another 5 minutes.... I don't know how the pioneers did it. Yes it is sooo cold at 9 pm in a skirt with 3 pairs of leggings on and 2 jackets, a scarf, beanie, gloves, and 2 socks and snow shoes. The pioneers had none of that. I am so grateful for the legacy of faith and hope that they left. They are my heroes.

In the beginning, I was really miserable. But with every passing night, I am starting to understand the convictions that they had to leave everything. I am starting to see the vision that they saw. we had a powerful lesson a couple days ago.The Holy Ghost was so strong. I felt like shouting to the world, "I KNOW THAT THOMAS S. MONSON IS CALLED OF GOD" I felt the Holy Ghost testify to our investigator the truthfulness of my words. I'll happily spend the rest of my mission freezing cold if it means that I can help this one family come unto Christ and be dressed in white 4 times: baptism, family sealing, endowment, and marriage sealing.

one of our investigators

she made us a Persian dinner. In her country they eat with their hands so....

I have learned sooo much this past week. It was rough and still is to go from a comp that never really talked to a comp that won't shut it, a comp that lived the "letter of the law" to a comp that lives more the "spirit of the law". I testify that God answers prayers. He is always with us, in every situation. He will give us the strength and patience that we need. I have learned a lot about charity this week too and how merciful is our Savior. I testify that He lives. I testify that He knows us by name and knows our struggles. I know that He loves me.

btw... I think I am going to have a huge culture shock when I come home... Futrono was a small pueblo. Punta is a bigger city and I felt soo uncomfortable at first.

Some things that I forgot existed and are still a little weird to me: stop lights, paved roads, a chapel, supermarkets that have everything you need. We don't have to go to the fruiteria to buy fruit and then the verduria to by veggies and then the carniceria to by meat. It's all in one place! So convenient. Washing machines. We have one in our house! No more washing clothes by hand!