FAMILY! Oh my goodness i am such a happy camper this week. Sorry this letter wont be overly spiritual but i just have so many funny things to talk about and i cant help but tell them all.
First things first, Elder Arnold of the 70 was at our mission conference this week! For those of you who remember, he gave the cow and the fence talk a few years ago at conference, about how the cows go outside the fence and eat the other grass and then bloat up and die, and how fences and rules allow us to thrive. He also gave one like 8 years ago about a church leader who followed him into the ocean to take him to church one time, suit and all. anyway, he is a stud. He gave such good talks to us and just inspired us so much to be obedient. he threw obedience out like CRAZY. my personal favorite..."If you arent studying the book of mormon EVERY day, many of you will be INACTIVE at the end of your missions". hahaha UHHHH okay! Ill get right on that. mi malo. Presidente Martinez also spoke and i am just obsessed with him. I loved elder arnold but something about my own mission president is just incredible. He speaks so directly to us and he is so incredibly smart. I know for a fact he will be a GA one day (if he can ever learn english, his english is terrible and only speaks spanish). He just talked about how obedience builds up the foundations for a great work - but it isnt the Lords work. its our own lives. He read from d & c 66 (i think v. 38 or something) and talked about how the foundations of the great work that we build us all ourselves. No one comes home with us on the plane, and we wont be able to take the testimonies of our investigators when we go to the final judgment. Our obedience here and our work here on a mission sets the stage for EVERYTHING for our lives - the kind of men, fathers, husbands, future church leaders, and just about every other aspect of our lives. I dont know what it is about him, but i just love him so much. Even when we say goodbye to him, i just feel like he looks right into my soul and knows everything. its scary almost. He was a lawyer too so he can just talk directly to your heart and says words that dig so deep, kind of like dad when he gets mad. Never angry or frustrated..just words that sting right in the heart. Hahaha i love it though, he is a great president.
Other things. We played paintball today!!! Haha i have NO idea how that is allowed under mission rules, but it was so cool. It cost 10 dollars to play for 2 hours, so super cheap. And this was about the coolest place you could imagine. its in Lota (otro sector) and it was right on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There are 3 abandoned fisheries/canneries and there are just hideouts everywhere and giant tanks and shattered windows and abandoned houses. About the coolest place i could imagine to play. So we all played as a zone and just had a blast. I got BLASTED in the back one time like 7 times from an Elder and kind of freaked out. Funny how naturally we revert back to english? i was like SWEET MERCY WOW THAT FREAKING HURTS! and almost turned aroud and shot him. luckily he is from paraguay and didnt understand me....little blessings. But either way i have 7 welts on my back and they hurt. But it was a blast! Definitely an experience i will remember. And dad, they didnt have any insurance waivers to sign. I asked is the sad and embarrassing thing....its almost like i was playing on a random, unapproved and unsanctioned chilean field?
I have been kind of sick this week, and i learned that every single chilean has their own recipe for health things. I think i have had about 50 different little concoctions that may or may not have made me worse. My personal favorites: a spoonful of honey (how in the WORLD would that help?), whole milk, lemons and hot water, herbal tea, and...more honey.
My favorite part of the week though was lunch on Saturday. It was my first funny eating experience so forgive me if this is a little long. Haha so we went to our Mamita´s house and she always cooks well, so we were really excited, especially since it was fasting that day after lunch too. We started off with a tomato soup that was pretty scrumptious, then had a MOUNTAIN of rigatoni casserole (dont worry mom, nothing compared to yours). Where i also found out that the word "casserole" doesnt exist in spanish and felt like an idiot. Anyway, i was really struggling to finish this plate because there was just so much. Finally i finish it and i seriously dont know how. But then the mamita takes my plate and i thought she said "did you like it?" so i anxiously responded yes yes!! Turns out she said do you want more. So as i realize my mistake, i start saying no no no! But Elder Ramirez gets this sheepish grin on his face and starts telling the mamita "Oh elder tengberg dont be humble! mamita he always has hunger in the evening, he wants another plate but is just being modest. Give him some more." I about killed elder ramirez. Seriously, when she left the room i got SO mad at him. Haha i could not finish this food for the life of me. I am quite the eater usually and can eat almost anything, but it was just so much. So when she was gone i put my pasta on her plate....is that bad? none of the windows were open! It was the only option!! So as she started eating it we both start cracking up to which Elder Ramirez responds that we were "laughing about one of our investigators..." Anyway, naturally i had to get him back so then i made this huge big scene about how we were so grateful for our mamita and how she washes our clothes and then proceeded to pay her right there for our laundry and made this huge big scene (i knew Elder Ramirez hadnt brought any money). Hahaha so she was so happy and then when elder ramirez was like "uhhh" she got kind of sad. Take that, Ramirez. USA - 1, Honduras - 1. Until next week.
Other things - i thought this week that someone gave me the nicest compliment ever. After a lesson which i shared a personal experience and thought it was pretty powerful, this man told me "Su corazòn està abierto". or at least thats what i thought he said. That would mean "your heart is open" or like a really open heart. So i looked him in the eyes and was just like "wow thank you so much. thank you. Thats so nice of you to say!" and was super excited. Turns out he said "Su bolsòn està abierto". which is "your backpack is open". Thanks chile...thanks for crushing my last bit of hope.
Valentin and Juliana couldnt get baptized because Juli was in the hospital all week with Bronchitis, but she got out yesterday so we will be working with them this week for this saturday. We also put two more fechas this week with other people, so our goal of 5 for the month might be attainable! The work is going well. Hector and Cecilia are getting married January 16th and baptized on the 17th. Excited for them too! They chose to keep the house. Sad, but we are going to be working with them either way for that date. I assume ill be here in Arauco for two transfers more, which would be like march haha. Anyway, we will see. Elder Ramirez is stoked because the year later when they get sealed (they already have plans to get sealed in the temple) he will be just finishing his mission on the 20th and will get to go to the temple with them! So thats awesome.
Anyway, i love you all so much! Thanks for the support and everything.
Happy birthday shout out to brett and blake! What are you, 40? you guys are old.
Ciao familia!
Elder Tengberg
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