Monday, December 29, 2014

Prospero año y felicidad!

Prospero año y felicidad!

Wow, where to start...

This week was full of Christmas activities, which was way fun.  I can't tell you how many times we (the missionaries in Punta Arenas) sang Christmas carols in the Plaza and other places, but it has to be at least 12398720938509128 times.  Haha, it was super fun to sing the songs in Spanish, and we coordinated some dances too :)  We got to sing in a retirement home and visit some of the residents in their rooms.  That was always something I did back home so it made me really happy we could do it here in Chile too.

Christmas Eve Hermana Revelo and I decided to have an adventure and go where our feet carried us in Punta Arenas.  We visited the coast, ate Ice cream, listened to a drum band in the Plaza, and then we went to the Mesias's house to celebrate Christmas Eve.  Hna Revelo and I got to play the guitar for a bit which was the bee's knees because I've missed it a ton. 

With the other Hermanas in our casa we had a sleepover in the middle of the house Christmas Eve, and when we woke up in the morning we ate cookies, opened presents, and had a little dance party.  Haha :)  One of the Hermanas was super awesome and decorated the house while we were sleeping so that when we woke up it was all Christmas-y.

Also, highlight of this week for sure was skyping with the family :D  We had to make some last minute changes with the time we were going to skype with them (there was interference with an activity we had with the mission president), and we had to call our families to tell them so they would know.  Calling your family on the phone is super uncommon, so we decided to pull a joke on them.  I called Hna. Revelo's mom and told her that I was with the international police and that we found some illegal documents from when Hna Revelo was in Santiago and that she was being detained until they could come to Santiago and sort things out.  Haha, a mean joke, but her mom was really nice about it when Hna. Revelo told her it was a joke.  We did the same thing to my family, but we told them I was being detained for visa problems.  Haha, I don't know if I explained it well, but we thought it was pretty funny, and our families were just glad it was a joke :)

But yeah, Skyping was awesome!   Seeing the family and talking to them was a little weird at first, especially because I was really struggling with my English at first, but it was super fun and funny to talk to them again.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year.  Next time you hear from me it'll be 2015! Woohoo!

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs







Friday, December 26, 2014

"Happy Christmas Harry"

MERRY CHRISTMAS :D

Woohoo Christmas is finally here!! :)  We won't be having a white Christmas here in Punta Arenas, but we'll still have an awesome time :)  We're all getting pretty excited, especially to Skype with the family :D

This week has been a tad loco for Hermana Revelo and I because she spent most of the week in Santiago renewing her papers so she can stay in Chile.  Usually you don't have to go to Santiago to do it, but things are more complicated when you're from Colombia, haha.  For most of the week I was being passed around between companionships of Hermanas here in Punta Arenas, and it was pretty exciting.  Different, but exciting. I even got to spend a day with Hermana Williams (my companion in the CCM)! :) That was pretty cool because we've both improved A TON with our Spanish and our abilities to teach.  

Other fun things that happened this week:
- Sang Christmas carols to people in the street
- The members put together a Christmas activity for the missionaries :)
- We decorated the casa un poco
- Other things that I can't remember right now

Big shout out to Mama Coombs for the Christmas package.  She's a nice lady.  

Also, Happy birthday to Katherine this Sunday.  17 años of being one of the coolest kids out there! Feliz Cumpleaños!

FELIZ NAVIDAD TODOS!! And in the wise words of a wise fellow...

"Happy Christmas Harry" - Hagrid

Stay sweet,
Hermana Coombs


Monday, December 15, 2014

Funny Happenings of the past week

This week flew by!  It's still hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner!

Haha, this week has been pretty interesting.  Hermana Revelo and I spend most of our time laughing, which is the bee's knees because laughing is the best.  Just a few of our experiences from this week:
- A drunk guy chased us down and talked to us for approx 20 min without any real conclusion or purpose to the conversation
- We contacted a guy in the street and were talking for a few min.  When we first started talking I shook his hand, and he continued shaking my hand until we left
- Hermana Revelo is teaching me to talk with a Colombian accent
- I'm the only gringa in our casa and the other Hermanas are on a mission to teach me how to dance, and it's super funny because I dance about as well as a plank of wood
- the same two dogs have been following us around for almost all day every day this week
- We were teaching una abuelita the other day, and after we both bore our testimonies she looked at us and said, "oh no, I didn't hear a single thing you said"

hahaha, other funny things have happened too, but I can't remember any other specifics right now.

This time of year is super fun in the mission because the Christmas activities are starting and it's super fun to participate with the members.  There was an activity for the niños in the church the other day, and all the missionaries in Punta Arenas got to sing "Angels We Have Heard on High," "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer," and a few more.  

Hope you're all doing well and listening to Christmas music 24/7 :D

Que estén bien! Les amo muchisimo!

Until next time,

Hermana Coombs

Monday, December 8, 2014

December 8, 2014

Hey everybody!! Hope things are going superbly for you all and that you're getting super excited for the holidays! (I know I sure am).  It's going to be pretty weird celebrating Christmas during the summer, not that summer really exists here in Punta Arenas, but I'm super excited nonetheless.

This week I spent my last few days with Hna. Bretón :'(  but the good news is that Hna. Revelo is just as awesome.  She's from Colombia and we've already had a ton of fun together spending most of our time in the street laughing about one thing or another.  

Haha the other day we were walking back to the casa and a we met a super crazy dog, but crazy in a good way.  His face was super funny and he was prancing rather than walking, which made him even funnier.  

The wind has really picked up the last few days, which has been interesting.  There have been times it's been so strong we can barely walk, and we've given up hope for our hair.  haha at the end of the day it's a mess to say the least :)

We've been working hard but haven't really been seeing the results this week, which is super frustrating, but I guess that's life.  Practically all our appointments fell through and it feels like no one wants to talk to us.  I guess I've been a little spoiled so far in the mission that normally almost everyone will at least talk to us for a bit.  We'll just have to keep working harder I guess.

Also, I haven't actually watched it yet, but there is a short video about Christ and Christmas that I hear is super awesome.  It's called "He is the gift".  You guys will have to watch it and let me know if it's as good as they say.  Fingers crossed I can watch it too!

Les quiero muchisimo!!

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs


Monday, December 1, 2014

December 1, 2014

Happy December everybody :)

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and the cold weather.  Haha I've decided that here in Punta Arenas summer doesn't really exist.  There are two temperatures here: cold and less cold.  Right now we're in the "less cold" time of year, but it for sure isn't summer.  OH.  And the wind is crazy.  Hahaha I've been blown off the sidewalk a few times, which is always entertaining.  It's always quite the adventure with the wind :)

Francisca and Sebastian (from the Mesías family) had their baptism this Saturday, and it was amazing.  The spirit was really strong, and they are incredible.  When we asked Francisca why she wanted to be baptized she said "No quiero que el Espíritu Santo solo toca mi corazón. Quiero que puedo tener esa buena sentimiento siempre." (sorry it's in Spanish).  Their family has been a miracle and they've really helped the ward to progress.

Earlier in the week Presidente Obeso and his wife visited us here in Punta Arenas.  They are SO funny.  Hermana Obeso was telling us about how we all need to exercise so we don't get fat, and then she turned and looked at Presidente and said with her eyes, "you too."  Later on they were joking around with all the missionaries and teasing us a bit too.  Haha, they were teasing me about my passport mishap and it was really funny.  They gave us a bunch of really awesome advice too.I love them so much and am so glad I'm blessed enough to have pretty much the best mission president ever.

This morning we found out cambios (transfers).  I'm going to stay here in Punta Arenas and Hermana Bretón is getting transfered to Puerto Montt.  My new companion will be Hermana Revelo from Colombia (not 100% positive if I remembered that right), and I've heard she's really awesome.  Woohoo!  It'll be a bummer saying bye to Hermana Bretón, but it helps to know my new companion is equally awesome.

Weekly tidbit about food:  I didn't get to celebrate Thanksgiving with Turkey, but I did get to celebrate with Pichanga.  The missionaries in our casa ordered a pichanga, but the people messed up our order and only gave us french fries, so they gave us a Pichanga for free.  Woohoo!  The only thing better than pichanga is pichanga for free haha :)

Until next time,

Hermana Coombs

November 24, 2014

I FOUND THE PENGUINS!!! :D

Today we took a trip to look for penguins, and we found a ton!  It was super cool to see them outside of a zoo, just chillin' on the coast or swimming in the ocean.  Pingüinos son mejor de todos.

Shout out to the fam for being the greatest.  I got your package and letters this week and it was super awesome.  :)  ¡Muchas gracias!

I don't have a ton to say this week, lo siento.  Punta Arenas is supposedly transitioning into summer, but I'm not buying it.  It's not as cold as it was, but it is definitely not summer.  Oh well.

I hope you all have a super awesome Thanksgiving!  Eat some extra food for me :)  I'm super grateful for all the blessings I have in my life.  I don't have time to list them all out because there are way too many. :)

Stay safe and stay warm!

Stay sweet,
Hermana Coombs


Monday, November 17, 2014

November 17, 2014

¡Hola!

Whoa, this week has been loco.

First things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD :)  Thanks for being the greatest!

This week we had the super incredible opportunity to have an apostle visit our mission!  There was a huge conference, and all the missionaries traveled to Osorno to listen to Elder Russell M. Nelson.  Those of us in Punta Arenas y Coihyque (probably didn't spell that right) didn't get to go to Osorno because we're too far away, but we did get to watch the conference via Skype.  Woohoo for modern technology :)  Elder Nelson talked about a ton of really awesome things, but I'll just share a few short things that he talked about.
1) DON'T WASTE TIME!  Time passes quickly and we should always live in such a way that we can look back on life and think, "Yeah, I did everything I could with the time I had."  Here in the mission specifically he counseled us that when we finish we should be able to look back without thinking "I could have helped one more person."  Even if you aren't out serving a mission the idea of not wasting time is applicable in every facet of life.  As one of my coaches always said, "The pain of discipline is better than the pain of regret."
2) Smile :)  Life rocks.  It's a time to be happy.  We should all try to smile more.  We're all going to pass through hard times, it's a fact of life, but we should do all we can to smile in the good times and the bad times.  Appreciate what you have around you.  
3) Don't waste time thinking about the stupid things you've done in the past.  I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past and done a lot of stupid things, but when we dwell on these mistakes we aren't helping ourselves or anyone else.  Resolve to do better and be better, but don't dwell on mistakes of the past.  

He talked about a lot of other really great things too, but these points were the ones I wanted to share specifically.

We had intercambios this week as well.  Hna. Zeballos and I were together in my sector for the day, and it was pretty fun to direct the sector.  Scary too, but fun.  I learned a ton that day.  One thing she said really hit me.  She asked me how I would define a successful missionary, and how one gets to the point of being successful.  I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of that a successful missionary trusts in the Holy Ghost, knows what they're doing, and gets to this point with time in the mission.  She told me to throw away the idea that to be successful we need time and experience in the mission.  Someone with one day in the mission can be as successful as someone with only one day left if he/she is following the guidance of the Spirit.  When we trust in our own experience we are turning away from the help of the Lord.  It's really true.  In the lessons where we've had the most success, it's because we're being guided by the Spirit.  It's hard to explain, but it's a really cool experience.  I still have a LOT of room to improve in this area, but I also know that our Heavenly Father doesn't give us responsibilities without divine aid.

As for other things that have happened this week, JORGE GOT BAPTIZED :D  He said he's never been happier :)  It was a super awesome baptismal service, and it's been really cool to watch his progress over the past few months.  

One miracle this week was that Evelyn came to church!!  This was seriously a HUGE miracle!  She is incredible.  She really wants to keep learning more, and we've seen a huge change in her life.  Everytime we visit she seems so much happier.  

They call Chicago "The Windy City," but boy oh boy, I have never experienced wind like here in Punta Arenas.  It's super fun :)  The other day the wind was so strong!  We were struggling so hard to walk. hahaha it was super funny :)

Sorry this email is kind of long, but I hope you all have an incredible week :D

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs


Monday, November 10, 2014

November 10, 2014

Top o' the morning everybody!

This week was a fun one.  Lots of funny things happened, haha.  Oh man, for example, I totally messed up some Spanish during a lesson with a less active member.  I meant to say "pain" but I said something totally different that is a word that a missionary shouldn't say.  Oops.  She was a tad distracted during the whole lesson, so I don't think she noticed (thank goodness). 

Jorge had his baptismal interview this week and he's all set to be baptized next Saturday!  He said that at first he started learning about the church for his wife (she's a member), but he said now he's doing it for himself.  He has a really strong testimony and he's going to be a huge support in the ward.  

We had a couple Noches de Hogar this week with various families, and they were all really fun.  Basically a Noche de Hogar is time to spend with families one night during the week, with a short message about something in the gospel, and later games, refreshments, etc.  On Friday we had a Noche de Hogar with the Mesías family and another family in the ward and it was awesome to see how well the two families bonded.  We had another Noche de Hogar with the Morales family.  They are a family of investigators and they all really liked the concept of the Noche de Hogar, and they even said they want to do it again sometime!

Another fun thing that happened this week was an activity that all the missionaries had Saturday afternoon in the plaza of Punta Arenas.  Next Saturday we're opening one of the chapels here for the public to come, explore, and find out a bit more about the Mormons.  To have this activity we first have to find people to invite, so we went to the plaza with a huge cardboard costume of the Book of Mormon and the Bible (because people have a lot of questions when you're walking around as a Book of Mormon).  Coincidentally a huge group of tourists were visiting the plaza that day and one of the missionaries met a guy who lives less than two miles from her house in Arizona.  Crazy!  Luckily I remembered a bit more English this time, but it was still super weird to be talking in English. 

I feel like I always talk about food in my emails, so sorry if anyone is getting tired of hearing about it, but this week we bought some artesanal alfajores from a member in the ward, and boy oh boy were they good :)  

Take care and have an awesome week!

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs



Monday, November 3, 2014

November 3, 2014

¡Buenos días!

Que bendición es la vida, en serio.  La vida es lo mejor.  Ojala que todos ustedes estén disfrutando cada día de su vida, y eso no es el caso, tiene que cambiar su perspectiva.

This week was pretty top-notch.  One day when we were walking down the street in a neighborhood we saw a really funky looking dog in someone's front yard, but after a double take we realized it was a sheep!  Loco!  It was just chillin' in the front yard eating the grass like it was no big deal.  Haha :)  and the area we're in isn't country or farmland, so it was especially weird haha. 

A few days late, but HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  I didn't know they celebrated Halloween here in Chile, but they do.  ¡Que genial!  They don't decorate the casas like in the US, but people dress up and go trick-or-treating.  It was super cool to see everyone in their costumes :)  The Church had an activity for Halloween, with costumes made out of recycled materials, and WOW the people here are super creative.  Someone made a wedding dress, someone was a rubik's cube, someone was Caesar, and there were a ton more super creative costumes.  A lady in the ward made the costumes for Hna. Bretón and me, and we were Pascuenses (I probably spelled that completely wrong).  Basically we were dancers from Chilean culture.  Haha, but it was an awesome time.

The first of November was Día de los Muertos, which everyone celebrates by going to the cemetery.  The cemetery here in Punta Arenas is too legit to quit.  It's gigantic and incredible.  I think someone said it's the fourth most famous cemetery in the world, and if it isn't, it's still super impressive.  All the missionaries in Punta Arenas got permission from the boss of the cemetery to sing hymns in the cemetery on the first, and it was super cool.  Because of this a lot of people said they wanted to listen to the missionaries!  Woohoo!

This week was pretty rough in terms of the work because we have a lot of investigators who aren't progressing.  They commit to go to church, or commit to read and pray, and then they don't do it.  It's a bummer because it's through these commitments that they can learn more and have more spiritual experiences.  Action is super important in gaining a testimony.  It's not going to all come at once.  A testimony is like a muscle; you need to do a little bit everyday to strengthen it, and when it's strong you keep doing the little things to maintain it, otherwise you'll lose it.  Just a little bit every day goes a long way.

I love you all!

Stay sweet,

Hna. Coombs

October 27, 2014

Primero, I want to apologize for the ridiculously short email last week.  Haha, we didn't have a ton of time to write, so it was definitely a sub-par letter.  The good news is I have much more time this week to write :) woohoo!

The other day we were walking down the street and we started talking to un hombre, and he started talking to us in English.  We kept talking in español because we thought he was just messing with us, but he kept talking in English and said he was from Wales.  Crazy!  Anyway, my brain tried switching to English to talk to him, but I was caught so off guard that I was speaking like someone who was just beginning to learn English.  I was seriously struggling so hard.  Hahaha who would've thought it could be so difficult to speak your native language :D

Some sad news from the past week is that the other Hermanas in our casa got transferred :'(  What makes it even sadder is that they would have stayed more time, but one of the Hermanas received an eight page love letter from a guy.  It was bad-news-bears.  Super triste, but as I like to say, "Shh shh shh, no more tears."

Hno Jorge is super prepared for baptism, and he's super excited too.  Only a few more weeks!  We have another investigator named Evelyn who started listening to the missionaries because she has a sister who is a member in Utah.  At the beginning she didn't believe in God, and she didn't really want to do anything to find out whether or not this was all true, but over the past few weeks she's been reading the Book of Mormon (this book changes lives people) and this past week she started to realized that she's received her answer!  It's crazy cool because the gospel changes lives for the better.  Every time we go to visit her she seems so much happier than when we first started teaching her.  Her problems are still the same, but the gospel has given her a better perspective on life.

After a few days alone in the casa, the new Hermanas are finally here!  Hna. Westover and Hna. Zeballos are awesome!  Haha super funny and super nice :)

We had a ton of fun this week.  I got the urge to cook this week, so I made no-bake cookies, french toast for breakfast yesterday, and Hna. Bretón and I made some brownies for the new Hermanas.  

Yesterday was the Stake Conference in Punta Arenas, and one thing that really stuck out to me was ACTION!  We can know something, be able to explain it, and have a testimony of it, but it we don't act on what we know it isn't going to do us any good.  Action is the key to progression!

Mucho love from this side of the world!  Espero que todos estén bien! Advice for the week: Laugh everyday because it makes life better :D

Stay sweet,
Hermana Coombs


PS. madre could you please correct my English because I am 1000% seguro that there are mistakes

October 21, 2014


I don't have a ton of time to write today, but this past week it warmed up a bit; hoorah!

Torres del Paine was absolutely incredible!! I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings or something.  This world is so incredibly beautiful.

Keep being awesome!

Con cariño,

Hermana Coombs

Monday, October 13, 2014

¡Buenas tardes a todos!

This week was super awesome (and SUPER cold!)  The wind has been super strong lately, and it snowed yesterday!! I could't help but sing Christmas songs while we were walking down the streets :)  Pero en serio, it's chilly here in Chile.  This morning it was 38 degrees in our room!  Needless to say our casa is pretty cold, so I do all my studying in my magical sleeping bag.  It's a life saver.  It's been too cold to go running in the morning, so that's a bummer, but se la vi.

This Saturday was Hno. Mesías's baptism!  It was muy lindo and the Spirit was super strong.  I know I say this every week, but he is so awesome.  I played a small part in his progess, and it's been such a blessing.  He has such a strong testimony of the gospel.  It's so awesome to see

the change that the gospel can bring in someone's life.  It can bring so much joy and peace.

We had another Skype lesson with Hno. Jorge, but we couldn't connect.  Bummer.  We decided to share a message with his wife, and while we were singing a hymn to start the lesson, Hno. Jorge walked out of a back room.  I only caught a glimpse though, so I was super confused as to what was happening, especially because Hna. Bretón and Hna. Rosario weren't reacting AT ALL.  I thought for sure I was going crazy.  When we finished singing Hno. Jorge walked out again, and they all started dying of laughter.  I guess it was a prank they'd planned the day before when I was in another sector.  boy oh boy did they get me good.  Haha it was pretty funny :) and I'm super glad I'm not crazy :)

Speaking of being in another sector, we had intercambios this week!  I spent a day with Hna. Pettitte, one of the Hermanas from the other companionship in our casa.  It was super fun and awesome to get another perspective on the mission and see how other people teach.  I learned a lot and had a ton of fun.  All our appointments fell through, and no one let us into their house, but it's all good.  Hahaha, there was one lady who opened the door, said, "oh no" and closed it right away.  Hahaha I thought it was super funny because that's the first time it's happened :)

Other cool things: We ate completos this week, which is the Chilean version of a hot dog.  Mmm mmm good.  I haven't seen it, but a bunch of people are saying the new movie "Meet the Mormons" is pretty top notch.  Next week we're going to Torres del Paine (I think that's how you spell it), and supposedly it's one of the wonders of the world! Super cool! It's pretty far away though, so I won't be able to write next Monday.  I think they're giving us time on Tuesday, but I'm not sure.

Shout out to Stephanie who turns 12 on Wednesday! ¡Feliz Cumplaños hermanita!

Keep being awesome! ¡Que les vayan bien!

Stay sweet,
Hermana Coombs
Punta Arenas!!

Completo -- Chilean version of a hot dog

Monday, October 6, 2014

Hola! (October 6, 2014)

Hola!

General Conference was awesome!  So many awesome messages.  I definitely heard some things that were answers to prayers, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.  I didn´t always have such an enthusiasm for conference, but now I realize what a blessing it is to be able to hear the counsel of the prophet and apostles for our day.  Revelation continues today.

My other suitcases finally arrived!  They got here on Friday.  Hoorah!  Once they came I finally had my running shoes, so every morning Hna. Bretón and I have gone running.  We're planning on running to the coast sometime this week, which should be awesome! I'm pretty stoked. Another awesome thing that came in my suitcase was my nametag :)  I lost my other one the first day in Punta Arenas (honestly I don't know how much more irresponsible I can get).  For the past few weeks I've been "Hna. Bretón" because she let me borrow her second one.  Now people won´t be nearly as confused when I introduce myself.  Hahaha, the first day with my nametag we were talking to someone in the street and I introduced myself as Hna. Bretón and then had to correct myself and say I was actually Hna. Coombs.  Haha I really have no idea why I did that, but he was probably super confused.  Oops.

This week we got to enjoy some super awesome weather... well super awesome for Punta Arenas anyway.  It was really nice to have the sun out and clear skies for a few days.  It even warmed up a bit!  

Everything is set for Hno. Mesías's baptism this Saturday! Yay :D  He is seriously so incredible, and his testimony helps build mine.  Both he and his family are going to be super strong members in the Church.

The skype lesson with Hno. Jorge got cancelled because the power went out in Chiloe.  Huge bummer... buuuuuuut, it was rescheduled and we got to teach over Skype!!  It was super cool and it was an awesome lesson. Double bonus!

This gospel has brought me so much joy and peace, and that´s why I'm out sharing it.  I want others to find that same joy and peace.  We never want to force anyone to do anything, we only want to invite others to learn about this unique message and find out for themselves if it's true.  I know it's true. 

I hope you're all doing well and I love you all!

¡Que les vayan bien!

Stay sweet,

Hermana Coombs
The Hermanas in Punta Arenas

Con Hermana Bretón

Monday, September 29, 2014

Feliz Lunes! (September 29, 2014)

Feliz Lunes!

This week has flown by.  I can't believe it's over already.  Time is weird.

Last week after I emailed we went ice skating which was super fun.  I'm pretty proud of myself because I didn't fall at all, and I kinda learned how to skate backwards.  Woohoo, champ! haha

The Spanish is coming along better.  I still get lost a lot, but I'm starting to understand more and more.  It would definitely help if the people would slow down and enunciate more, but se la vi. Haha, Even though they talk too fast the people here are so amazing.  

Right now Hermana Bretón and I are working with some really awesome poeple who really want to learn if this message is true.  The Mesías family in particular is so awesome.  The dad, Reynaldo, is going to be baptized the 11th of October!  He wants to learn all he can and he is an awesome example for his family.  His wife was a less active member but now she's active, and they have two kids, 10 and 8, who want to be baptized as well.  They are always so kind to us and they're going to be a strong family in the ward.  Their son Sebastian drew pictures of Hna Bretón and me that I'll have to send next week because they're super funny.  We're also working with a man named Jorge whose wife is a member, and he's super excited to be taking the lessons.  He's gone on business to Chiloé for the next month, but he didn't want to stop taking the lessons, so we're going to teach him via skype! Our first skype lesson is tomorrow :D I'm super excited!

One of the families in the ward, the Luengo family, has a daughter who's eight years old and is learning English in school, so she's always super excited to practice her Spanish with me. Haha it's nice to have a friend that understands my Spanish :)  Her family is superb.  They are super supportive of the missionaries and they always try to help us in whatever way they can.

I had Chilean hamburgers for the first time this week.  They are super different than American hamburgers, but they were super good.  They put aji pebre (a salsa like thing) on their hamburgers and it's super good.

One of the Hermanas in the ward teaches a Zumba class each Tuesday and Friday night from 8:00-9:00, and Hermana Bretón and I got permission to go this Friday.  It was a blast!  I'm pretty horrible at dancing because I have two left feet, but it was still a ton of fun.  Fingers crossed we get to go again this week.

Other than that not too much else happened here this week, but some awesome things are happening this weekend... General Conference!  We have the incredible opportunity to listen to the prophet and apostles give counsel and guidance specifically for us specifically for this time.  Everyone is invited to listen, and I promise it'll be awesome!

Love you all a ton and hope things are going well for everyone!

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs
Hermana Clark, me, Hermana Pierce (friend from college!)

Hermana Bretón rescuing me at the airport

Picture from the day we arrived in Osorno

Missionaries with Elder Viñas of the Seventy

Monday, September 22, 2014

Punta Arenas -- September 22, 2014

Hola everybody!

Last week was pretty crazy, and I'm happy to report that I eventually made it to Punta Arenas safe and sound.  I'm also happy to report that I didn't lose my passport again :) Haha hopefully that never happens again.

I flew into Punta Arenas on Tuesday and my flight got in around 2:00 in the afternoon.  I picked up my bags, headed out to be picked up by my companion or someone who helps the missionaries, and no one was there!  I was super confused.  I didn't have a cellphone to call anyone.  I tried about a million times to use a phone in the airport (which is super tiny), only to find out that it only makes calls to Punta Arenas, and the only number I knew of was a number in the US.  After all that I just decided to wait hoping that someone would eventually come get me.  About an hour later my companion and another companionship showed up, and they were super funny.  They had just called the mission office to find out when I was flying to Punta Arenas, and the people in the office realized they forgot to tell anyone I was coming.  They hurried over as soon as they found out though and everything ended up being fine :)  Talk about a crazy life.

I absolutely love it here in Punta Arenas!  The coast is super bonita, the people are SO nice, and Hermana Bretón (my companion) rocks my socks.  It's super windy here and I'm pretty sure the thing they call my room is actually a refrigerator, so I'm super super super glad I have that sleeping bag to keep me warm at night.  Also, I'm sad to report that I'm for sure going to get fat, so please don't make fun of me.  I've never eaten so much food before in my life. 

We didn't have a normal missionary day until Saturday because Chile had it's independence day, which is a two day celebration.  America really needs to get with the program and celebrate for more than one day :)  Anyway, the Independence Day celebrations were awesome!  We went to an activity at the church and it was so much fun.  Lots of awesome people, awesome games, and Cueca dancing.  Cueca is a traditional dance in Chile.  Chile is awesome :)

Right now Hermana Bretón and I are teaching two awesome families that want to be baptized!!  They are seriously so awesome.

The spanish is coming along slowly, but it'll take time for my ear to get used to the Chilean spanish.  Everyone talks super fast, and people use words that don't mean anything (example: they say "po" after everything and it means absolutely nothing. "¿Este es su perro? Sí po").  I'm relying on facial expressions a ton haha.  Oh well, with time and practice it'll get better.

Keep being awesome! 

Con amor,
Hermana Coombs

Monday, September 15, 2014

Craziest Week of my life!!!

¡Hola!

So I have some good news and some bad news.
Bad News:  I'm going to get fat while I'm here in Chile :(  It's a fact and it makes me muy triste, but se la vi.  Apparently they fatten us up to protect us against the cold.
Good News: Chile is awesome!  I'm absolutely loving it here.

My first few days were probably the most stressful days of my life because I was sicker than dog buns and sleeping more than 12 hours a day (I'm finally starting to get a little bit better), I lost my passport, and a ton of other crazy things happened.  My temporary companion (Hermana Clark) has a lot of leadership duties, so we had a very abnormal week of missionary work.  We spent almost all day Wednesday in the bus terminal helping missionaries get to where they needed to go (cambios are crazy).  Friday we went to two other zones in the mission, Puerto Monte and Puerto Varas for some conferences.  Puerto Varas is SO BEAUTIFUL!  When you look up Osorno and you see Volcan Osorno, it's actually in Puerto Varas, and it's incredible in person.  I'm tempted to say that Southern Chile is the best kept secret in the world.  The water here is super clean, the people are super nice, and it is incredibly beautiful.

BUT TODAY GOT EVEN CRAZIER.   They got my passport today and bought me a ticket to Punta Arenas for tomorrow morning.  Apparently I can only take one suitcase with me and they ship the others on a bus, so for the forseeable future I'll only have one suitcase.  Hermana Clark has been waiting for her new companion to get in from Cohaiyque, and she just got in about 30 min ago, and you'll never guess who it is.... HERMANA PIERCE :D  Crazy! 

Even though losing my passport was very irresponsible and probably the most stressful thing ever, the Lord knows best.  Being here in Osorno for the past week has been such a blessing for me.  I was able to partially recover from my sickness, I was able to meet Hermana Clark, and I got to see Hermana Pierce.  When things are going horribly wrong we need to put our trust in the Lord and know that everything will work out alright.  Miracles are real, we just have to make sure we notice them and appreciate them.  I'm so grateful for all the miracles I've seen this past week.

Keep being awesome!  Viva la Chile!

Stay sweet,

Hermana Coombs