Week 7, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas

It was so great to actually see and speak with Elder Walbom this week! He said that this first week out of the training center has been super tough because of the extreme poverty and the language barriers, but we tried to encourage him and let him know that things will get better.  Also, he was finally able to send us some of his pictures! Here is his weekly email:

Hey everyone!

So this first week has had its ups and downs. Its definitely been one of the hardest weeks of my life. The mission is intense. The people here are very humble and very poor and it was very shocking and surprising to witness.

Anyways Ive had lots of good experiences and weird ones. We didnt have running water or electricity for a couple days and that was interesting. We teach English class twice a week and the people here love it. We basically live off of tortillas and beans here. 

The roosters here and there are a ton of them are very irritating in the morning and they wake me up at like 4 am. It rains literally every day. And the umbrella does not save you from getting soaked. There are these things called tuk tuks and there these small open taxis that are red. They drive everywhere and cost 3 Q so its not that bad. For reference 7.5 Q is about a dollar. 

My FAVORITE juice here is jamaica juice made from the jamaica flower. It has a completely unique taste that is hard to describe.

We have this one family who are recent converts who became less active due to an unstable testimony. We went and taught them, familia Morales, and the spirit was so strong. We talked about the importance of reading the scriptures daily and read the liahona story. The father, who before had less of a desire than his wife and had only been baptized for his wife, became excited to read the scriptures and he actually gave the closing prayer and prayed that he would be able to return to church. We are so excited for him.

I know this is long but thats bc I have so much to tell. Anyways I know that Im here for a reason and even though its hard to talk to people and teach I believe that the Lord will help me.

Elder Walbom told us that Pueblo Nuevo Viña has only 4 streets with no traffic signs and no one has an actual address.  He can walk across the entire town in 20 minutes (it would be faster but it sits on the side of a mountain, so it takes some effort to walk around). 

There are 5 missionaries in the town, and they are building up a new area and trying to find people to teach.  

He said the people they approach are usually willing to listen to a message about Jesus Christ.  I told him it was great that he wasn't getting doors slammed in his face all day, but he just laughed and said they didn't have doors to slam! He said that no one has doors inside their homes (the missionaries had to hang a curtain up over the bathroom entrance in their apartment) and some don't even have a door on the outside.  People often just invite them to sit outside, on plastic stools or rocks or whatever they can find, to share a message. 

Here are some more of the pics Elder Walbom sent:

  

Coco their landlord's dog, who loves them and greets them when they come in! 

(Sure glad he's not a mean dog!)

A wild kitten (surprised he let Elder Walbom pick him up)

 Chapel where they have church on Sundays