Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Christmas 2012- Email & Pictures 12/31/12


Hey there family! So its been an awesome week. I was definitely a little bit trunky the day after christmas after having talked to you guys. Seriously i missed you guys like crazy! But it all went back to normal within a day or two and now the work is just cranking along like always. I am basically just going to talk about a few little things because nothing really big has happened. I attached a ton of pictures so maybe those will make up for the lack of fun things to talk about. 

We had our christmas activity last week and that was awesome! There was a santa there and everything. I knew he was a fake though...maybe the fact that he was CHILEAN gave it away? haha but the activity was awesome. Thats where a lot of these pictures are from. my favorite one is of hermano soto, the one with the two hands in the air. "Two hands up if youre a mapuche indian" what whaaaaat! Haha he is an awesome guy. 

We also have had some pretty good success this week. We havent been able to make any progress with Zaira which is frustrating, but Camila is looking like she will be able to get baptized on the 12th! We have been working SO hard with her and i will be thrilled if she can make it. I think she will. Yesterday in church we were talking about the gathering of israel (nothing like having a lesson about the gathering of israel with a roomful of investigators and converts of less than a year. i tried SO hard to keep that thing about as superficial as it can get, but the teacher would not keep it simple. So frustrating. haha they didnt get a THING) and she basically just responded, when asked what she learned, that she was grateful that the gospel is being spread so that people like her could learn of it. It was the sweetest answer ever and it made me so happy. She is such a good investigator and i will be thrilled if that goes through. We dont have any other fechas right now that are really set, but we have a ton of families we are workig with and a lot of potential for january and february. Hector and Cecilia are still set for the second of february, and since Carlos is quitting work on Jan 31, we have him for a Feb 9 baptismal date! We had an INCREDIBLE lesson with him and he realized if he didnt quit now and get baptized that he would never be able to make it through college without being tempted like crazy. So he is taking some really great steps and that should be awesome. We have some other whole families that we are working with as well, but they just take so much more time because its harder to meet with them and get them all to progress at the same rate. I want to be like HEY EVERYONE GET DUNKED ON THE 26TH OF JANUARY, but its a little bit more difficult than that. Anyway, Ana Del Rio and her kids are doing awesome and are starting to show more interest, Marcela and her kids and husband Luis are starting to participate more, and it looks like we are laying the foundation for some good strong success up ahead. Change just takes time, and it really doesnt matter how hard i try or how hard i want it. Its not easy to change your entire life and join a religion, but the blessings are always there and the change always comes. So its been cool to see their progress even if it isnt exactly what i want yet!

We had an earthquake this week! It was like a 5.4 or something, but the epicenter was about 30 minutes away from us. It was pretty strong but nothing actualy broke or hapened. It still was so cool though! THe whole house started swaying and stuff and we both just stood up but had no idea what to do. It lasted for about 20 seconds so it wasnt that bad. I cant imagine being in the one that happened here before. It lasted for a few MINUTES! That would have been so scary, seriously. I cant imagine. But anyway that was exciting and fun. Haha nothing really big has happened other than that. OH! Actually i tried cutting my own hair this week, and the hair clippers from walmart blew up after i took two huge chunks out of the back of my head. It started smoking and turned off all the lights to the entire house. Kind of cool. But i used my expert electricity knowledge (fliip switches til it works) and somehow managed to reset the fuses of the house. Just all in a days work #likeaboss

I think thats pretty much it. I dont really remember what all these pictures are because i cant see them right now as i am sending them. We went on a hike today and it turned out to be themost ridiculous hike EVER. It took us 2 hours to get down from the mountain because we tried pulling a bear grills and just follow the sound of the stream. Turns out the brush is THICKEST in the stream. We were literally faced with a wall of thorns and i have scratches all over my face and arms. Haha maybe he didnt hike in basketball shorrts and vans shoes? I could be wrong, but that seems like the best idea for me. Who knows. 
Anyway i love you all so much. It was really great talking to you and i am so grateful that i have a family so supportive of me. I got WAY too much in the mail before and after christmas and you guys are all way too generous! I am sending letters out today but thank you in advance to the Moodys, the Burts, Sister Bertha, the Porters, Grandma and Grandpa, Sister Christensen, Colleen Moody, and many many more. You are all WAY too generous and i will be responding as fast as i can! I am so grateful for all of your support and love. I have made so many batches of delicious Sister Burt cookies, had tons of stickers, chocolate bars, nerd ropes, christmas cards, and more. Thank you all! I am way too blessed.

Sorry if this letter is a little lame. Just look at the pictures. Im beyond exhausted from that terrible hike and i can barely stay awake as i am writing this haha.

Les amo y les quiero! Que vaya bien.

Elder Tengberg











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