My first week in Chile!

Sam with President and Hermana Arrington

Elder Warburton, Avila, Roberts, Maxfield, &

This week has been an adventure. It´s so much fun to finally be in the field and teach real people! My companion is Elder Jorge from Argentina, Buenos Aires! He´s almost 22 so he´s almost 4 years older than me! It is crazy but I've learned so much from him. We live in a small apartment with one other companionship. Elder Rhodes and Elder Lake from my CCM district. I'm learning Spanish so much faster now but I still can't really understand anyone here. They talk ridiculously fast and they don't finish a lot of their words or pronounce a lot of their S´s. We pretty much talk to everyone we see on the street. Elder Jorge makes me talk to everyone and is really pushing me to learn Spanish. We were teaching an investigator the other day and one of her kids was sick so Elder Jorge offered to give her a blessing. She said yes and then he told them I was going to give the blessing. I almost peed my pants but he helped me through the first part and then I gave her a blessing in Spanish. I don't really know if it made sense but the spirit was there and it was an awesome experience. Most of the people here are really nice but I'm surprised how many crazy people there are. Part of our sector is a little crazy. everyone there is on drugs and there was a shooting there a couple nights ago. But for the most part its a safe place. I can't believe how many dogs there are! I learned yesterday not to mess with them. I jumped at one and then all the sudden there are five dogs chasing me. I was horrified! One of the new kids got bit yesterday and had to go get rabies shots. I haven't seen any flees yet and I'm hoping it stays that way. We have lunch with the members everyday. The big meal here is lunch, we don't really eat dinner. They feed us so much food! Usually it is mashed potatoes and chicken. I was a little disappointed there isn't any tacos or hot sauce here but the food is still great. I love the weather here! After being in Mexico the cold feels amazing. Some days its super cold and some days its gets really warm. Its almost spring though so it is getting warmer. Church yesterday was great! The members are the nicest people ever and I'm getting to know them really good. Sacrament meeting was awesome even though I had no idea what was going on. And then I got to introduce myself and and share my testimony. We are only a few miles away from the ocean. I can see it from the top of the hill where our church is at. It is an awesome area and I'm loving it here!