WEEK SEVEN: Rough frustrating week which gradually got better

Hi friends! okay Im not going to lie, this week was rough. like. pretty stinking rough. Its HARD not being able to communicate with anyone. but dont worry, it definitely got better.

okay so first of all, we are in an abrir sector, which means that it was closed for awhile, and now its open again. SOO. missionaries havent been here for a couple of months, and so most of our contact information is messed up. ANDDDD since we are both new here, we have zero investigators. So we spent most of the last week walking and knocking and figuring out the area and trying to find new investigators. And lemme tell ya, it was frustrating! We had door after door slammed in our faces. Its so sad, because we have the greatest message in the world and no one wanted to hear it. I definitely started to get down on my self, I couldn't communicate, I was a little homesick, and no one wanted to listen. FRUSTRATING!!! 

but, on Friday we found out that we were going to go on exchanges with the STLs. I was super nervous at first, but I went with Hermana Antay, and she is seriously the sweetest. She was so patient with me, and she definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone! She would walk up to people, say HOLA, and then go completely silent, so I was forced to talk. hahaha. But it was so good. I learned a lot from her. Hermana Antay lives with Hermana Ollerton, who is from Alpine and arrived here the same day I did. She is super sweet, and in the EXACT SAME SITUATION I am in, the only english speaker in her casa. She said that every morning, just like me, she has a little breakdown. It was nice to talk to her and realize that I am not the only one struggling and that its all going to be okay in a couple of weeks.

Hermana Antay said something kinda cool though. She said that the Lord wants me to learn Spanish, and he wants me to learn it well and fast. If he didnt, he would have given me a gringa! She said to work my hardest so that I can help fulfill he purpose. A little daunting I think...

So anyways. On Saturday, we prayed for inspired streets. We both wrote down five, and the knocked on the ones we had in common. We said a specific prayer to find a family of five that wanted to be baptized. As we were knocking the streets, no luck. No answers. So yeah I got a lil bit upset, like I had so much faith that we would find this family, and we didn't!! As we were walking away, a mini van pulled into the street, and a little boy jumped up and ran up to us, and he said "hey sisters, will you come talk to my mom?" I guess this family had listened to the missionaries before, but there had been a mixup and they hadnt heard from them in a couple of months! but, heres the best part. THERE ARE FIVE PEOPLE IN THIS FAMILY! we are going to teach them tonight, so I am hoping for the best. 

Okay just a few funny things about chile. They put mayonese on EVERYTHING!!! rice, potatoes, bread, salads, everything. I think its a little bit gross. 

also, its funny because they say freaking all the time. Theyll be saying this long story that I dont understand and then they'll say freaking and it doesnt even make sense but its just so funny.

But yeah. life really is good. things are really super hard and im still struggling with the language, but im happy as can be here. 

I love you muchos! thanks for all of your prayers! 

love hermana poyffffff

ps I have pictures to send but this cafe is the worst. sooo next week. pinky promise

Week Six - Livin large in L.A., Speaking no English!

HI!! it has definitely been the longest week and a half of my life, oh my goodness! lots to write, so imma just hop right in!!

First of all, leaving the CCM was actually like super sad! that place was like paradise! It was sad saying goodbye to all of the hermanas in our zone too!

But anyways, there were 29 of us heading to Chile so that was crazy. We arrived at the airport and tried to find phones to call our families and literally everyone phone was broken. Of course. I was fairly upset... I wanted to call my family! oh well, mothers day!! 

Arriving in Chile was the coolest thing. Its such a pretty country!!! There are mountains and rivers and oceans and lots and lots and LOTS of trees! Its so stinking beautiful. President and Hermana Bluth were there, and they drove us to the mission home. Its beautiful as well! And its right next to the new temple grounds. So thats pretty cool. They fed us a HUGE meal and then shipped us off to a hotel for the night.I don't think I have ever slept so good in my entire life. Norton and I got to spend our last night together as comps, which was fun and also super bittersweet! I was definitely blessed with her as a comp!

Okay now for the good stuff. My trainors name is Hermana Peralta, and shes from Argentina! aaaaaand she literally speaks zero english. We are in the city of Los Angeles, Which is sorta in the middle of the mission. We live with another companionship, Hermana Naranjo and Hermana Giminez. One of them is from Ecuador, and the other is from Argentina too! Neither of them speak English either. Needless to say, I am learning spanish very fast. But they're real patient with me, they talk really really slow and enunciate everything. My nicknames are GuaGua (which is baby in Chile) and Barbie. 

Our sector is huge!!! We probably walk like ten miles every day. and there are dogs EVERYWHERE! I always feel so bad for them, I just want to pick them up and take them home. They make me miss my tbone! 

Hermana Peralta is new to this area too, so we have spent a lot of the last week meeting the members and figuring out the streets. The members are so nice and so patient with me! They talk slow, and say good job all the time. it helps! They're so cute!

Chile is the best. I seriously love it. Its really really really hard, and Im definitely struggling with the language, but every night as i crawl into bed Hermana Peralta says I love you Hermana Poyfair and it makes it all worth it. My feet hurt and i am super sunburnt, but I am so happy and I am having the time of my life preaching this wonderful gospel. 

I know this letter is super scattered, oops, sorry.

i love you all so much! thanks for you prayers!

love hermana poyfair

Week FIVE -- Last email from Mexico. Chile - here I come...

Holaaa! Can you believe its already February?? Its probably the craziest thing in the world, but I think whats even crazier is that IM OUT OF THIS CRAZY CCM IN FOUR DAYS!!!!!

okay so much happened this week so imma just dive right in.

Last week after we finished emailing, we went and played volleyball with all of the people in our zone. When we finished, we walked back to the casa, and realized that both H. Norton and I had left our keys inside the casa! Like what? It was a mess... we walked around looking for our roommates for like fortyfive minutes but we couldn't find them anywhere, and it was totally time for us to change back into our nice clothes! So anyways. We were like, "oh hey, we're missionaries, why haven't we said a prayer yet?" so we knelt down, said a prayer, and literally like thirty seconds later Howard and Larson came walking up to the casa so THAT WAS COOL #prayerpower

Also last wednesday at Dinner I was sitting at the table and I was like POSITIVE that I saw Jake Clements from school, but when I got up to go look for him I couldn't find him anywhere! So that was kinda weird, but then on Sunday as I was coming out of sacrament meeting, I heard someone yell "hey I know you!" and there he was! He walked down the stairs and like walked right up to me like he was going to give me a hug and then he was like "oh yeah dang it, I forgot that we're missionaries..." But seriously its so cool seeing him around the CCM, its nice to see a familiar face every once in awhile!

Yesterday was probably the coolest and hardest day in the CCM so far. As a district, we decided to do an English & Food fast. Solo espanol and no food for the whole day. It was seriously SO STINKING HARD!!! But, I discovered that I really do know a ton of Spanish, and I really can communicate better than I thought I could! We had a contest in our district, and every time we spoke an English word, we got a tally mark on the board, and the boys had to do 2 pushups, while we had to write the Spanish word five times. I pretty much rock because I only spoke 10 English words THE WHOLE ENTIRE DAY!!! *hair flip* second lowest in the district, no big deal. 

this is my homie hermana howard and
she literally is my little sister kristen.
like. I have never met someone who
reminds me more of kristen. 

Oh my favorite chef made us this thing this week called a buñuelo, which is basically like a tortilla with cinnamon and sugar on it, but also it was like deep fried and it was just super spectacular. He also made us snickerdoodles and shortbread cookies, I think that will definitely be the thing I miss the most about this place tbh. 

About a week ago I started reading the book of mormon again, and I am determined to finish it before I leave on Monday. I'm at the end of alma at the moment, so I think I'm in pretty good shape. Its super cool though, because I have never gotten so much out of the bom before. Like I am actually super interested in the stories and seriously like every chapter has something so interesting that has to do with missionary work. I seriously love it.

OH! one more story. Yesterday we were teaching Hermano Cruz about temples, and it went so well. As we were walking back into the classroom, he was like "hermana poyfair, can I tell you something, and will you promise to believe me?" and I was like "umm yeah?" and he said "you are ready to go. You are ready to go to Chile. not because you have the spanish language down, but because you have the language of the spirit down. don't even worry about the spanish. you're gonna be great." I was seriously like on the verge of tears, its like he knew exactly what to say. 

Its so crazy that I finally leave on Monday, and the next letter I will send will be from Chile! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my freaking mind, but I just have such a love for the people of Chile already, and I can't wait to share with them this amazing message! Ah! The church is so true!!

Okay I love you guys have a very very fantastic week.

Love kateimeanhermana poyfair