Elder Parker Spanbauer: Week 7 Vallenar

April 27, 2015

Hello friends and family!!! I have finally arrived to the mission field! My first Area is called ''Vallenar''. It is the southern most city in my entire mission boundaries. I can honestly say that I love it here. There is more green here than any other place in the Antofagasta mission so im grateful for that. The weather is pretty good as well. It gets kinda hot during the day but at night it’s perfect!!! Vallenar kinda reminds me of Idaho actually. There are big mountains and not a whole lot of plantation on them. Vallenar sits in a valley and we live at the top of this little valley. This is both good and bad. We have to walk Soooo much everyday up hill and then down hill. I think im going to lose weight! On the contrary, railroad tracks run right by our house so it wakes us up every now and again. The houses here are nothing like what we have in Idaho. They are usually cement houses about the size of an average sized garage in Idaho. This is extremely sad. We know a family that has literally nothing. Their house consists of 4 cement walls and only part of the house has a roof over it. They have dirt floors and 2 rooms. The craziest part is they offer us candy and food and jackets from off their backs just to help us as missionaries. I cannot express in words how humble these people are. The apartment we live in is nothing special but im grateful. Our bathroom is kinda gross (thanks for buying me shower sandals hahaha). But you know what? I love Everything about this place. The people, the food (sometimes haha) and EVERYTHING! I had some sort of bean stew my first day and it was gross but I ate it because our mamita made it and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Another day I had a meal, which consisted of bread, pasta with chicken, one random hotdog in it and a salad. Entonces, a veces... la comida es muy rico, pero.... otras veces, la comida es ''diferente''. My Spanish is a lot better than it was a month ago so that’s good. Having a Latino companion is difficult. I can’t always say what I need to but I know enough to get by for right now. Yesterday was my first time going to church in the mission. It was very different than what im used to. In the entire sacrament meeting, there was like 20 people max.... if that. Since hardly anyone goes, they call it a ''Rama'' or branch. They made me get up and introduce myself and share my testimony. I made them all laugh so that was good. They all call me ''Elder Spiderman'' because they can’t pronounce my last name haha. One of the investigators of the other Elders in the Rama came to church! We had the opportunity to teach him about the plan of Salvation! His wife passed away 3 months ago so I think this really helped him. He too broke down in tears during the lesson. The spirit is real my friends. Feeling the spirit on your mission is a totally different thing. I am currently teaching my companion English phrases like ''Whacha talkin bout willis?'' haha. Elder Leon is the coolest! He is such a good trainer. Anyway, that’s about all for now.... until next week!!! Love you all!!

Elder Spanbauer