Week 7 - Fiestas

¡Hola Everybody! I hope everyone is doing well and that all is well
with things up north in the beautiful US of A. So here i am writingyet again about my week in Santiago Norte. More specifically in mysector Los Manantiales.
This week was full of festivals, traditions, and a whole lot of food.So on the 18th of September was Felices Fiestas Patrias which isbasicall the Chilean version of 4t of July. That day celebrates theday that Chile declared independence from Spain. Because the 18th fellon a Sunday this week the members in my ward held a party on the 17that the church building and it was sooo much fun! We had all thhetraditional Chilean stuff, empanadas, completos, weird Chileandesserts, the works! And not only food but we had a bunch of games andactivities and of course a few intense games of soccer. People dancedthe Cueca which is the national dance of Chile and if you ask me itlooks a bit silly, but hey when in Chile...don´t make fun of theCueca!!!
As far as the work goes, it was a bit hard to be very productive thisweek with all the festivals going on, and people being gone or out oftown or busy. But hey some big news I have my first baptism thi comingsunday! The invetigators name is Ronald he is 14 years old, hes anawesome kid and he has such a great testimony of the gospel and he´sready to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. He knowsthat in order to become like Christ, and to be perfected unto Him andrecieve all the eternal blesings that we have the opportunity ofrecieving, we need to follow the example of Jesus Christ and bebaptized by immersion through proper priesthood authority. I know heis ready to take on the name of Jesus Christ and stand as a witnessthat Jesus Christ lives, that this Church is the Church of JesusChrist and through proper priesthood authority we are able to performthe ordinances that we need to in order to live with our HeavenlyFather again. I couldn't be more excited for Ronald and Sunday.
thats my update this week and i love you all! 
until next week, 
Elder Carlos Cabrera

fun facts for the week:1. On the 18th of September every houehold must display a Chilean flagoutside their house or they will be fined2. Kids and even some adults are absolutely obsessed with flyingkites, theres kids that fly kites like all day long here and its justthe in thing to do here apparently3. The Chileans use the term "Permiso" which literally just translatesto permission and when they say this it means they are about to dosomething like open a door, take some food, anything they want to dobasically but instead of waiting for actual permission they just aheadand do it haha

Week 6...Check!

Hola Everybody! so ive just completed my first 6 weeks in Chile and that means ive got one missionary change under my belt (as a missionary there are changes every 6 weeks, you can change your comapnion, the area that you are working, you can become a district leader a zone leader an assistent to the president or you can stay exactly the same for the next 6 weeks, ya never know whats gunna happen and it keeps things exciting). sorry for that rant but theres probably someone that didnt know that stuff, i know i didnt. 

So onto the week, this week has been ridiculously busy. We had a special barbeque with our mission president as a reward for all our good work in our zone and so we had another Pday on thursdayminus the writing session with all you awesome people. It was awesome President cooked burgers and completos (chilean hotdogs) we had a ton of food, we played volleyball, basketball, darts and we just relaxed and enjoyed the day. i felt like a normal person for a little bit haha it was kinda weird. We had all of this at this house on the other side of Santiago and the house is gigantic and super antique, something you would see in a movie or something. So that was awesome and also a little sad cause i said goodbye to my Assistente to the President Elder Anderson because he finished his 2 years and should have already arrived home by now, good for him he was awesome. But dont cry just yet because my very best friend in the mission, Elder Johnson from Utah, my zone leader was called to be the new Assistente. Talk about having friends in high places am i right? Good for him hes gunna be awesome.

Yesterday night i had my first experience with Sushi in Chile. Not half bad, not the same as the States but hey nothing is haha. i ate sushi with some awesome members and we had a blast for family home evening last night. 

Today for Pday we went to the Santiago Zoo. it was so awesome we all had a great time we went with a bunch of other missionaries and we just had a ball.

As far as the work is going, we´re beginning to have a lot more success in my sector we have 5 new investigators, 1 Chileno, 2 Peruvians and 2 Haitains. Its a bit hard to teach the Haitains because they dont know spanish or english so im basically useless but i just talk really slow and try to use all the french that i know so far haha. Ill pick up more french when i get more comfortable with Spanish. The others have dates to be baptized in October and i hope that everything goes according to plan. They are super awesome, really receptive and they are beginning to gain testimonies and feel the Spirit and its changing their lives. i couldnt be more excited for them. We are able to see the joy on their faces so much more than the first time we talked with them. By teaching them, its allowed me to strenghten my testimony by seeing the effect that the Gospel can have on the lives of others as long as they allow themselves to open their heart and see what Heavenly Father has in store for them. They have so much potential, i just hope i can help them reach that potential.

As you can see Im quite busy here in beautiful Santiago but never too busy to think about some of my favorite people back home. I pray for all of you everyday and i hope everyone is well. Life is good here.

Random Facts:

1. Chileans dont know much english but they do know all the bad words you can think of

2. Apparently im a walking english translator so kids as well as adults love to ask me how to say words in english all day long, glad i can be of service

3. Chileans absolutely love Selena Gomez here, and they absolutely hate Justin Beiber, this country is defintily team Selena all the way thats all for now! I love you all! until next week, chao!​

Carlos and his Mission President

5th week in Chile?

Hola everybody! so i added the question mark to the subject of this email because i honestly dont remember how many weeks i have in Chile haha. No matter. So this week has presented a lot of learning experiences, a lot of ups and downs and trials this week but i honestly dont remember all of them. this week was a bit of blurr. But ill try t}my very best to update ya´ll on whats been going on here on the other side of the equator.

So this week the biggest thing that happened was that we had an intercambio which for those of you that dont know its when a companionship (2 missionaries) switch companions with our district leader (another missionary thats kind of like our manager) so i recieved the companion of my district leader this week and i was Compañero Mayor (the boss of us two) my companion was another Americano and only has a month in Chile like i do and that arose some trials since none of us would consider ourselves overly proficient in the spanish language haha it was definitely an interesting day but i resulted in a few headaches here and there since im accustomed to having my latino companion save me when i dont understand. This time, i was the saving Latino since my spanish is just a bit more proficient than the other missionary. Yikes right? But all in all it was a successful intercambio, we gained two new investigators, taught a lesson and answered A LOT of questions that a less active member had about the Gospel (more or less). We actually had more success than our trainers had and they both know español perfectamente haha. It just goes to show that it doesnt take being fluent in the language to make a difference, having the spirit and having faith does.

A sad part of the week was when Chile played Paraguay and lost 1-2. Chileans are devastated when their fútbol team loses haha. Even i felt a bit blue haha. But theres another game today and everyone here is hyped haha. Ive been wearing my Chile jersey all day and the Chileans absolutely love that "one gringo that wants to be Chileno" as they say. I am hoping and praying for more success with the people and our investigators in this area for this coming week. Patience. Patience. 

Anyways all is well, the people are awesome, im eating way too much, and just living, learning, and loving my time here. I send you my love and good wishes.

Until next week! ¡Chao!

Random facts

1. when a soccer game is on and Chile is playing, absolutely nobody wants to hear about Jesus Christ or His Gospel.

2. Chileans actually consume more alcohol as a country than anyother country in the world, im convinced

3. There are a hundred barrachos (drunks) here in Chile and ive been a great hit with all the homosexual ones, they love to holler at me...take that as you may

4. Theres this thing called fería that occurs every wednesday and saturday and its like a swap meet where you can get nearly anything you need for super cheap and i absolutely love it

One Month in Chile!

¡Hola Everybody! So in a few days will be month anniversary in the great country of Chile. Wow thats weird to think about. Half me is like wait i feel like i got off of the airplane yesterday and then the other half of me feels like i know every street and bus stop in the city of Santiago and i´ve been here for like 6 months haha. I know those are literally like polar opposites but go on a mission and you´ll know what i mean.

Anyways, this week was very interesting for me and i think the lesson that i learned this week falls under the patience category. It seemed like everyone and their mother was cancelling on us for lessons this week or they just weren´t where they said they would be..meaning their house. haha it´s extremely difficult at times because first off Chileans feel bad if they dont commit to an appointment with us so they set up an appointment for us to meet with them and then they just wont be there or cancel at the last minute. Second, it is so hard to get someone to go to church on Sundays and half the time the reason is just that they dont get want to get out of bed ahhhh. okay im good im good haha as you can see the mission supplies countless learning experiences on a daily basis so im just soaking it all up haha. 

As far as the spanish goes i´ve still got a million things to learn (apparently learning a new language isnt easy) but the members and the people that i talk to in my area say that my spanish is sooo much better than it was my first week here so thats reassuring haha. They could just be saying that haha. Probably. But yeah im getting my daily dose of patience with that as well so by the end of this experience im convinced i´ll be the most patient individual on the planet. 

Don´t get me wrong this week was awesome its always a fun time with Elder Garcia and today for Pday we explored more of Santiago i got my first soccer jerseys (of many to come), got a pair of cleats (we ball up a lot), and i did something american for once since ive been in Chile...i ate at Mcdonalds. Oh i never thought id miss that establishment as much as i have. So today was a great day and it topped off another week here in beautiful, thriving Santiago.

 Random facts of the week:

1. here everyone has a 9 digit phone number instead of the 10 digit numbers that we have in the States (I was so thrown off at first i thought we were getting stood up or something)

2. every week we play futbol in the ward for an activity for the youth (its a great way for investigators and less active members to bond) and i have been elected permanent goalkeeper because first off im the tallest guy there and i dont have half the foot skill that those Chileans have i swear its like watching FIFA

3. people consume Coca Cola and fanta here like 3 times as much as water which explains the extreme amount of diabetes here 

Thats all for this week i love you all and stay safe, be smart, and pray often.

Week 3 in Chile - Check!

Hola Familia y Amigos! It`s your favorite missionary in Chile here and i hope you're all doing well and are happy! So this week felt wayyyy faster than the week before so that's great news haha. It's like every missionary says, "The days are long but the weeks are short." and that has never been so applicable and for some of you that concept might not make complete sense, don't fret it wouldn't have made sense to me either before all this craziness haha. Anyways on to the week!

So this week was chalk full of events and activities! It was my companion, Elder Garcia's 20th birthday and his last birthday here in Chile. He'll be going home in December so we made sure he had a bomb last birthday. The members in our ward are awesome and they absolutely adore Elder Garcia so they put together a party with cake and snacks and he even got gifts haha it was a great time. My favorite ward member Hermano Mario (the man i wrote about last week) had a birthday yesterday as well! He turned 78 and he doesn't have any children and is a widower so we made sure he was able to spend the day with his other family. We visited with him for awhile and then that night the members put together a huge fiesta and everyone from the ward was there and i've never seen Hermano Mario so happy he couldn't stop smiling. It was so heartfelt because he bore his testimony and told us that even though he doesn't have his own family he considers his us his family all the same and he even called Elder Garcia and I his hijos. Whatta sweetheart. 

We had the opportunity to visit the Santiago temple this morning and it was amazing. Always love temple trips. So now i can officially say i've been to a temple in 3 countries now so after the mission i'm gunna try and add to that number. 

The work is really getting going here in Los Manantiales (my sector, it translates to "The Springs" just a fun fact). We have potentially 6 new investigators, 2 niñas who just showed up to church this past sunday and we were just like "Well Hi! Welcome!" haha and then at the end of church there were two Haitian men outside the church building just looking at the building and so we talked to them in our broken French and they told us they want to learn more about the church and the Gospel and we were just like "Well that's what we're here for!" haha. And we found two others just contacting on the streets one is older woman who is a recent widow and she wants to learn more about the Plan of Salvation so boom there's a another and then last but not least a Haitian who just moved to Chile 15 days ago (he's newer than me isn't that crazy) and so we tried out some more french and my slow and clear spanish helped a lot too so we have an appointment with him but we gave him a french Book of Mormon and a pamphlet. It's amazing how many people there are ready or at least willing to hear our message, don't get me wrong there are plenty that walk the other direction when we come by or don't want anything to do with our message but all we're here to do is invite others to come unto Christ and learn his teachings. The invitation will always be on the table so take it or leave but my professional opinion...take it.

anyways i think that's all for this week but more adventures are sure to come so standby. The Church is true and i love you all.

random facts of the week:

1. there are a million dogs here but no bites yet (knock on wood)

2. Everyone says "Chao" instead of "Adios" here because adios is more of a permanent goodbye and chao is like see ya later...i dig it

3. People here eat tomatoes and avocados like it's nobodies busy

2nd week in Chile...check!

​Hey everybody! I hope everyone is well and i want you to start off by saying i love you all! Entonces, this has been my second week in Chile and even though the week has gone by fast, i feel like i've done enough things in a week to suffice for like 3 months hahaha. The mission is a rollercoaster with plenty of ups, downs, spins and turns and it even slows down and speeds up. And this ride is gunna keep going for the next 22 months....talk about getting your money's worth.

Alright so highlights of the week, every week we go over to this members house who is 87 years old and he doesn´t know how to read so we spend time reading to him the scripture and then we discuss the scriptures with him. This is a weekly reoccurance and it´s one of my favorite parts of the week because first off, Mario is hilarious and second, i couldn´t imagine not having the ability to read the scriptures let alone read so it brings me joy to perform such a simple service to someone who craves the Gospel so much.

Another constanty reoccurrance is when we pass this botilleria (liquor store) and the owner´s name is Claudio and he alwasy talks to us for a bit. He´s awesome, he´s not interested in the church we´ve tried but he knows all about missionaries and what we do. Anyways he´s awesome everyone in the community loves him and he said that after the mission when i go home and come back to Chile to visit he wants me to stay at his house haha what a guy he calls me Chicano and he's convinced i look like Justin Beiber but thats just not true. All is well here in Santiago, my spanish is getting better everyday and im learning to have patience and to trust in the Lord. With these two things and hard work, all good things will come in time.

Random facts about chile:

1. Chileans eat 4 meals a day and the meal between lunch and dinner is called once and it usually consists of bread and this terrible version of hot chocolate called eccos which is composed of cereal grain and its terrible but whatever.

2. Chileans consume more bread in a week than any human being should

3. Chileans are terrible at speaking english they can´t pronounce anything for their life

4. There are tons of Haitians here in Chile and they speak creole and french so im learning a bit of french right now too in order to teach them,

im sure ill have more things to come but standby, anyways thats it for this week i love you all! 

First week in Santiago!

Hola Everybody! i feel like it's been forever since ive been able to talk to evberyone! Last time i wrote i was in Mexico CIty and now ive been in Santiago for exactly a week now!

 I have a new companion who is training me his name is Elder Garcia and he is from Veracruz, Mexico. He knows little to no english except a coupple phrases like "I dont care" "I win forever" "dont get angry" and "i need to go to the bathroom" hahaha its so funny when he speaks english. I'm in an area of Santiago called Los Manantiales and it's more or less part of the slums of the outer rim of the city. It's definitely been a change of scenery for me but it's me to develop a greater gratitude for the things that we all take for granted sometimes. 

Now onto the spanish, the spanish here in Chile is absolutely CRAZY! I'm convinced that it shouldn't be considered spansih a lot of the time. they talk so fast and they chop of words and they have their own chilean vocabulary that makes zero sense a lot of the time and they add -po to the end of everything for no reason at all. So much of the time when someone asks me something and i dont knwo what they said i'll just smile and say "si" if i dont know whats going on hahaha. Now don't get me wrong, I´m not a lost cause. I´m understanding more and more everyday but i´d say i´ve got some work to do before i´d considermyself fluent or even confident in this language but i know that if i work as hard as i can, the Lord will take care of the rest. 

Now I´ve only been an in-field missionary for week but my favorite part thus far has definitely been the service opportunities that I´ve had to help others. There´s this old lady in the ward here that makes bread for a living and she got sick so she couldn´t do what she needed to dfo in order to make her weekly income so we went over and did everything she needed us to do in order for her to have bread ready to sell this week. We also had the opportunity to help another family do some work around their yard which is actually part of a dumpyard so we helped them move materials that were invading their house area. It´s amazing how much people here dont have yet theyre able to still be happy and find joy in the things they do have.

Let us all be grateful for all the things we do have like technology, the houses we have, the heaters and airconditioners (which dont exist here) our cars, and most importantly our friends and family. For all things belong to our Heavenly Father and we should thank him everyday for what He is allowing us to borrow. 

Don´t get me wrong this is challenging at times, the language is hard, the adjustment is hard, going to sleep in winter without a heater is hard, but i know that this is where the Lord needs me right now. I love you all and i think of you all often. 

Until next week,

Elder Carlos Cabrera