Los Conquistadores 1 - Week #2

I had myself a merry little Christmas...

Hey family! It feels like it hasn't been very long since I last talked to ya'll, I'm not sure why that would be... LOL. These last few days haven't been real exciting so this letter might be kind of short.

Yesterday, as you know, was my first Sunday in my new ward. WOW! President Varas, the stake president of the Santiago Chile Huelen Stake, was present and spoke a little bit comparing the ward now to how it was when it was formed 9 years ago. It reminded me a little bit about what the Lufkin Ward was going through a few years ago. He shared that when the ward was formed in 2001 the attendance was around 137 and yesterday it was 67 (big drop). Also he said that in the 9 years the ward has existed they have never sent out a missionary! Sounds kinda like what Lufkin had for a while, right? Anyways the point is that there is A LOT of work to do in this ward!!! ¡Ahora le toca a "your's truly" para ayudar en esto!

One of our investigators, Loreto, went to church yesterday as well, even though she wasn't feeling very well. She seemed to like it pretty well; we are hoping that her dad can go next week too...

In other good news about the ward... We have a young man, 18 years-old & recent convert, named Luis who recently (a few months back) moved into our ward. He is currently preparing for the mission and, as part of his preparation, goes out with either us or the other companionship everyday! Crazy!!! He has also impressed me with his knowledge about the gospel, he knows a lot for only having been a member for 10 months.

We are currently preparing for New Year's! There isn't really anything to prepare for since it will be pretty much a normal day (except for the mission activity in the morning...I hope there's not food), but we are preparing nonetheless. The Chileans are pretty big about New Year's Eve, so the 48 hour span consisting of Friday & Saturday ought to be puro carrete (pure partying)... for them... Those two days are real efficient for working since everybody and their brother is drunk (curado), but we have been instructed that we will be working as normal those 2 days... Yay!!!

I'm excited to hear that the missionaries knocked into Grandma D's door! I've knocked into a few grandmothers with grandchildren in the mission, the conversation usually goes about the same every time...

Work ought to be fun for everybody this weekend. Sounds like Gabe will be hanging out by himself, again.

I kinda wish I could have been home for the trip to Grandma's. I'm sure the drive wasn't nearly as bad as Mom thinks it was, but then again driving in Santiago (not just Chile) has made me where I'm not really scared of anything. About 90% of the streets here are one way and it really throws off the groove of getting somewhere in a fairly easy and quick manner! LOL. Mom would say that my driving skills have gotten worse, but I think I've developed a little more talent from my driving experience here... LOL. I drive about like Dad does now! I think it will probably pay off since my job will put me living in a fairly large city.

It was good to talk to everyone again! Hope that ya'll are still doing alright and that you don't miss me TOO much! Love ya'll and miss ya'll! Have a good week...

-- Élder Todd