I'm Staying

Hello Friends and Family:

 

Well we had transfers today and.... I¨M STAYING! and so is my comp. I was a little stunned that my comp ended up staying also. I am a little bummed I was looking forward to getting a new comp. I guess the asistontos said that we were working so great together they decided to keep us where we were... It kind of bothered me because my comp... doesn´t do anything. He doesn´t help plan, he doesn´t help with our area book and we are pretty sure he´s saving the mission money. I´m a little bummed but I know there is still something I haven´t learned with him. We all thought for sure he was leaving this cambio.

 

Well this Saturday we are having our third baptism here in Coihueco. His name is Ignacio Lagos. He is completely stoked about getting baptized. He got to church yesterday 30 minutes Early. He was the kid that asked the young men's leader what he had to do to be part of the church. We told him he had to come to church yesterday or he couldn´t be baptized. It was really funny. He told us he had one and only one thing planned this week. GO TO CHURCH. He has gone to every young men's activity and has completely loved it. We planned everything for this Saturday for his baptism.

 

This week we had a mini cambio with my DL. We found 8 news and taught 7 lessons in one day. It was awesome. We went to go visit a family that is less active and they have about 5 boys from about 18-8. About three of them were playing soccer in a dirt soccer field. They had played there so much that the dirt had been turned into straight dust. They had all been trying to use the Chilean multi tool, the broom, to sweep off all the dust. My DL looks at me and says, ¨We have to play.¨ It was our last hour and a half in the day and had basically taught all the lessons we needed. We stopped and played with them for a little while. I have never laughed so hard in my life. The 8 year old of the family loves to play goalie and has a pair of gloves that are huge. He rolls and dives to block the ball from going in. It was hilarious it looked like he was eating dirt. They had been playing with a volleyball that the cover was starting to come off... The dust pretty much stuck to the ball. The elder I was with is from Antofogasta, Chile and plays basketball for Chile professionally. He´s a pretty big kid. One of the little kids kicked the ball and my comp starts to run for it while it´s in the air. He thought it was going to go farther and didn´t notice but the ball fell directly on the back of his white shirt. There was a circle of dust on his shirt all of the little kids were busting up laughing.

 

Now I realize It probably wasn't the best use of our time but It really bugs me when we walk past a group of kids playing and we only look at them say Hi and keep walking. We justified our actions by saying that we were planting seeds. My DL said there are tons of missionaries that pass little kids playing like that all the time. They start to believe that we are robots and can´t have any fun. I have always thought that was true. He said that maybe it won't be right away but those kids will remember the two guys in white shirts that stopped to play soccer with them. He said that maybe later on we will contact there houses and they will remember that experience and will let us in to teach them. He told me that he never thought he would people in some of the ways they have. He said they worst way to find people is by contacting door to door. He was a rapper in Antofogasta... The other day he and his comp were walking down the street and saw a group of kids listening to music and rapping. He walked over with his comp and starting acting like a gringo saying he wanted to rap with them. He busted out with a rap and he said by the end all the kids took out there phones and were recording it. They later passed by one of the kids houses and he let them in. The next lesson the whole family of 6 was there listening. 3 weeks later they were baptized. He Said he never would have guessed he would have found a family by rapping.

 

The other day while we were teaching a less active family it started pouring rain. We were really confused because when we walked into the house the sun was shining and was perfect. We walk out 35 minutes later and its pouring. We didn´t have anything to protect against the rain and we had to run to our house to get umbrellas. We were soaking wet when we got to the house. We got home, changed clothes, and left with the umbrellas. We were visiting another family when all of a sudden the lights go out.  I guess a tree got hit by lightning and fell on some power lines and killed the power in all of Coihueco. We ended up having to go home because it was pitch black and people had starting stealing stuff. I guess whenever a natural disaster happens its a free pass to steal stuff... We ended up going home an hour early and had to plan by candle light. Tell Chris thanks for the Flashlight. The little thing is amazing.

 

We did all hear that Mitt Romney had lost the election. I think the missionaries should be able to vote. Then he would have won. A lot of people down here were saying the Mitt Romney had made a lot of racist comments and that´s why he lost...?

 

I´m excited for Alex. That will be great for him. We have a missionary here serving in Brazil and he sends his family pictures all the time. It looks awesome. He sent his family a picture of a city where I guess Michael Jackson filmed a music video. The houses were all different colors and it looked really cool. Tell Alex to take lots of pictures.

 

We have a meeting in the church with Ricardo tomorrow. We are going to be straight up with him and ask him what would keep him from being baptized. He seriously goes to church every Sunday and goes to every Activity.

 

Tell Grandma and Grandpa Kratchen they need to save me some ribs and some pork in the freezer till I get home so I can have my last rack of ribs and pork sandwich from the Cafe pig. What did they end up doing with their boat? They are getting rid of everything before I even get home. Tell them to slow down a little.

 

I did get the picture of the snow. I would kill to roll around in it. I has been about 80 to 90 degrees this week, with a little rain.

 

Today while stuck in the house because my comp never wants to do anything, I decided to clean out our fridge. The ice around the freezer was about 3 inches thick. I unplugged it and threw hot water on it to clean it out. I sent pictures so you could see how bad it was.  I also sent a picture of Elder Carvajal from Antofogasta. Sounds like his family is pretty rich... I guess they live on the beach in Antofogasta. He said I had a room at his house when I came to visit Chile. I also sent a picture of Elder Coronado.

 

Well We are hoping to have about 5 baptisms this next cambio. We are teaching a family of 4 that the oldest son is a member but the mom and 2 sons aren´t members. Their names are Evelin, Rodrigo and Cristobal. They have come to church three weeks in a row.

 

Well not much else happening. Love you all and miss you tons.

 

Elder Torgersen