Three Months In

Ahah!  I knew she was sneaking other emails behind my back.  Silly girl.

Wow! The time here is really flying fast. Hard to believe I have already been gone for 3 months, tomorrow! I only have 15 left! This week has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Hna. Powell and I didn't have cambios, but one of the other hermanas in our ward left to train for her last 6 weeks here. The new Hermana is Hermana Villena, and she is super sweet. She and Hermana Chacón (these two hermanas are the hermana leaders) slept in our house last night because we had exchanges, and we finished super late and it wasn't safe for them to walk back to their house.

  When we got inside, Hermana Villena told me she thinks our house is ugly and that we should change houses. I thought it was funny because my first day, I HATED the house we have. It's true, it's super ugly. The kitchen is super tiny, I am taller than the bathroom is wide, and sometimes I bump my head on the ceiling because I am too tall. But the house is perfect for the both of us and we have exactly what we need. So while the house is ugly, it's okay. The only thing that kept me going my first day with the house was thinking that I am not here to have a fancy house. I am not here to have a fancy kitchen and bathroom, and I am not here to worry about ceilings that aren't tall enough for me, as funny as it is when I bonk my head every now and then. :) I am here for the people, not for me.

While I have had NO baptisms yet, I know that the Lord is preparing people to hear his gospel. While I was in exchanges with Hermana Chacón, I had a little experience that goes along with this. So, there's this man named Chrístopher who has been attending our ward, and has a baptismal date and everything, and he is super excited. The problem is that he does not live in the ward boundaries, and needs to assist the ward closer to his him in order to progress in the gospel and have a calling in church  For several weeks, he did not want to attend the other ward because he didn't know anybody there. Thankfully, they got it all worked out and everyone is happy, and the other missionaries in the other ward will have his baptism there instead of here.

 One of the missionaries in the other ward is in his very first 6 weeks, so this is his first baptism. I couldn't help but be a little sad at first because my initial thought was that this baptism was basically handed to him because most of the work has already been done, and for a second-I was a little bitter. I have been here for a month and a half and rarely have opportunities to teach formal lessons, let alone get a baptism "handed" to me. But as I was talking with Hermana Chacón about this (she was the one who had been telling me all of this, since she had originally been teaching Christopher), I let it go because I knew that it wasn't my fault that I haven't had to opportunity to baptize someone. Everything I am doing is helping to spread the gospel in some way, shape, or form. All I can do is keep working, and keep working with ANIMO (excitement/happiness/a good attitude )!

Also, my companion and I were knocking on doors contacting people to teach, and Hna. Powell realized too late that she didn't have any cards to give that we like to pass out, so on the fly, she told the lady that answered the door that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, and that we are singing hymns, tonight. So the lady that answers the door goes inside, a different lady, older, comes out, and we sing Lead Thou Me On (one of my personal favorites) and she was so happy that she went inside and came back out with homemade jam for us as a gift for singing for her. She felt the spirit so strong that she almost cried, it was a really cool opportunity, PLUS we got super good jam. :)

Anyway, creo que eso es todo por este semana! 

Blessings

Finally got pictures from Caley!!  This is Caley's companion, Hermana Powell.  She's Caley's trainer and first companion.



This is their apartment:  You gotta love that front gate and the infamous pile of wood in the second picture.









I got an actual letter from Caley for my birthday!  In it she asks what blessings have I received from her and Josh being on a mission.  Do you feel that you are growing closer to people in the ward or in our family and with Christ?

I had to stop and think about those blessings.  Everyone has said you will get twice the blessings for having two out on a mission.  We have been blessed, just not in ways I thought.  Sometimes challenges are placed in our lives to help us see those blessings that come afterwards.  For example, my husband has needed to take FMLA for medical reasons.  We have been blessed to have 12 weeks of paid leave since he never calls in sick.  He's had the time to see doctors during the day because of it.  We've been blessed to have several doctors that made correct diagnoses and get him on the right medications and that we have insurance to pay for it all.

Somehow bills are getting paid even though the logical math doesn't make sense.  I know what we come home with every month, but somehow it's all working out.  My testimony has gotten stronger that the Lord does indeed know our challenges and provides a way for us to work through them.  I've become more humble in my prayers and a better listener to the answers given.  For those that are struggling, don't give up.  Prayers do go past the ceiling instead of bouncing off the wall.  Take the time to listen as the spirit speaks in a still small voice that is gentle and caring.

1 Kings Chapter 19 verses 11-13

The Lord talking to Elijah:

And he said, Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord, And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind was an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake;

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Elijah was able to then talk to God about his questions because he listened to the still small voice, not the "noise" of today's world.

It's Almost Spring!

¡Es casi primavera, aquí! Or, in other words, it's almost spring! In the first few weeks, we had to make a fire and keep it going all day, but it is beginning to warm up, and now we only need to make fires in the morning. :) We could make fires at night too, but most of the time, we're too lazy, so we just wait until we wake up.

This week has been good, we got a new mission president! Sadly, Presidente Obeso, the last one, had to leave a year early because he has cancer and needed to go back home and start his treatment. Now we have Presidente Isom, from Wyoming, and he is amazing. Every other 6 weeks, we have interviews with the president, and with cambios coming up next week, we had the interviews early so he could get to know everyone before making any changes to the mission. I have no idea if I will stay in my sector, Rahue Alto I or not. Or if I will have a new companion. I think I would like to stay because I really like my trainer and I think that with as quickly as I am learning spanish, I can start to be more useful to the people in the ward and help the people we meet more. My mission is a hard mission, but I know that everything we do helps build up the Lord's kingdom somehow, some way. That always helps me feel better when I am getting discouraged. 

So, last night, we were with the Chacón family, and Sister Chacón made this really weird cake. It's cake with chicken and aji, aji is a spicy sauce, as the "frosting". I like chicken, and I like cake, but I don't think I like chicken and cake together. :)

Anywho, that's all I have for you this week. Until next!

I love you guys!

Hermana Frerichs

Hey Mom!

Sorry I haven't been sending pictures, I know you guys are dying. I am too! I really meant to send pictures today, but the other hnas. in my ward wanted to use my camera for a baptism and the camera died and they haven't given it back, yet. I promise promise promise to send SOMETHING next week. Also, the picture you took of the snake is SO FUNNY. It looks like a meme you'd find flooded all over facebook! I miss facebook. I'm incredibly curious about how many notifications I will have built up over a year and a half! It'll take me hours to go through everything! xD

Josh sent pictures and I have some of Caley at the Mexico City MTC!

By the way, this is the picture I sent her.  I was walking around the park playing Pokemon Go! and found a small snake sunning himself on the sidewalk.  I sent this to my husband who is paranoid of snakes (yes it was mean) and then on FB and to her and Josh.  by the way, don't pick up snakes and they really aren't "rare pokemon".
 

Fire Building and Cheesecake

Sweetie, you always add your mother to your mass emails.  Silly girl.  A friend forwarded me the email she got yesterday and it was wonderful to get more information than a short message.

For those that know Caley, her hot water story is what we call "A Caley Moment".  

The only time I remember making a fire was at Girl's Camp and I set dinner on fire that night.  I wasn't allowed to cook the rest of the week.  I was relegated to dishes.  Maybe that's why I detest cooking so much.  I can't even get a cigarette lighter to work for me (my smoking friends thought that was hilarious) so I'd be really cold right now.

I'm proud that Caley is meeting these challenges and seeing her grow in such a short time.   As a mom you always worry about things like this when you can't be physically there.  You hope you've taught her enough to make her way through the world on her own and are proud when she accomplishes hard things.  I feel that our Heavenly Father must think the same thing as He watches over us.

Her letter:

I have literally a LIST of things I wanna talk about with all of you.

A. LIST. 

First, these past 3 days have been sort of an Idependence Day in Chile, and we aren't allowed to leave our houses to proselyte! The only times we could leave were if we had fixed appointments with someone or to go see members for a specific reason. We had a HUGE lunch with the family of the bishop yesterday, and it was SOOOO GOOOD. I don't think I have ever eaten so much food in my life! I ate 2 empanadas, 2 pork kabob thingies, ensalada de arroz (rice salad, super good), fries, this super weird dessert that is basically puffy wheat rice stuff in peach juice and a whole peach that has been soaked in the juice, you eat it out of a cup with a spoon. Not sure how I feel about that one, but it was still good, and then LASTLY... CHEESECAKE. THEY HAVE CHEESECAKE HERE AND I WAS SO HAPPY. The family of the bishop here is so sweet, they have helped us out with so many things and I am very grateful for them. On the downside though... I have only been here for 5 weeks and I'm already gaining weight! Some clothes that I had that were just a bit too big now are almost too small! I need to be more careful with what I eat!

I'm also getting better at making fire. I made a fire all by myself today earlier this morning, and it is still going. :) And, I LOVE it when we get to ride in a car, here. We walk everywhere (which isn't too bad at all, our sector for proselyting is only about 2 or 3 miles), so when we get to ride in a car, I always think to myself WOO YEAH CAR RIDE!

OH. ALSO. I HAVE BEEN SHOWERING IN WATER THAT IS SOMEWHAT WARMER THAN COLD FOR 5 WEEKS FOR NO REASON. I THOUGHT THAT IT DIDN'T GET ANY HOTTER THAN IT HAD BEEN GETTING. My trainer told me that I should only turn the hot water knob a little bit because the water gets super hot, and to be careful. So, I turned the hot water knob a little bit, waited. waited. waited some more. Still cold. So I turned it more, and it got warmer. But not super warm. I hadn't even turned the cold water knob because why would I turn it if I want hot water, right? Wrong. So I had spent the night with the other sisters in my ward, and their water was hot, and I was literally so happy to have hotter water, and I was talking to my companion about how happy I was to have had hot water and she looked at me all confused and said "What? Literally our water gets so hot that it can burn you, why didn't you tell me you didn't have any hot water?" And then I figured it out this morning. I had THE most satisfying shower of my life this morning. I'm just sad that I only have 2 weeks left before the next cambio! (we may or may not change companions/places during cambios, we don't know until a few days before hand, so I might leave the house we have now and go to a different one). So, this has been my week, so far. Glad that everyone is doing well! Until next week!

Hermana Frerichs :)

Christmas Wishes

Sep 19 2016

Hi Mom!

I am SO sorry that I didn't have time to email you, I wasted 10 minutes trying to figure out a different computer. After sending out my mass email, you are the first. :) I wanted to thank you for putting in the 20 dollars, and will you please let me know next week how much is on my card? I am apprehensive to buy anything extra that I can't use money from the mission for because I don't know how much is on there. Thank you!

 I am hoping that I will be able to find a converter for my things here, it seems like there are a lot of american products that don't have the same plug thingies, and people have to buy converters so they work here, but I haven't had a chance to find any yet, so if I do, I can use the money you gave me. Thank you. :) Also, here is the list of ideas for a christmas package. I am not asking for everything on here, just ideas of stuff to send. Most of it is food. :)

Cinnamon life cereal (I miss it so much)

Cheez-its

Butterfingers (they don't have them here!)

Coa-coa puffs

Lucky Charms

oatmeal creme pies

brownie/cake mix/frosting (the cakes and brownies here are different. they aren't as sweet and it makes me sad. xD)

flowery skirt, preferably in neutral colors

soaps/lotions/perfumes that smell good/fruity :)

physical pictures of you guys to carry around with me

poptarts (blueberry, cherry, strawberry, brown sugar)

lemon cookies

those off brand girl scout Samoan cookies with the coconut and chocolate drizzle

swedish fish

popcorn (not kettle corn please!)

And anything else you think I might like. 

I bet Casey is pleased with her new phone! And how was the pepsi?

Love you!

Hermana Frerichs

That's QUITE the list Sweetie.  

This is the address that was given to me for sending things to her a couple of weeks ago.  I don't know if it still is.  I will email her and ask.  Everything is mailed to the mission office since the elders and sisters make transfers to different parts of the mission.  I was told it takes about a month for packages to arrive.    

Sister Caley Frerichs

Casilla 7-0

Osorno, Chile

I did a Google Map search for her street and couldn't find anything.  After about a half hour it finally registered to do a Google search on "Cassilla".  First came up a pigeon box and then some other funny words but finally figured out it was a PO box.  Duh.

Via Google Maps we could explore Osorno using the satellite function and their Street View.

Next question.  Why am I not on her mass email list that she's talking about?  

Hi Dad!

I don't have much time left, I spent a half hour reading emails and didn't leave myself enough time to reply to everyone!

I am almost certain Punta Arenas is the southernmost area in the world, but I will double check and get back to you next week. My only concern with going to punta arenas is that I'm pretty sure I can only take one 50 pound bag instead of 2, and I would have to leave the rest of my stuff in the mission home. I don't want to have to sacrifice anything to go there. x3

Anywho, I gotta go email my mission president and let the other hermanas email! I love you SO SO MUCH and I will talk to you next week!

Pictures

Caley and I are having problems with Google Drive and permissions.  I'm hoping to get it all worked out next week.

Well..That Was A Short Email...

Hi mom!

No time left, but read Dad's email and the mass email I sent out, and tell casey I love her!

Caley

To her dad:

Hi Dad!

No, Hermana Arrington doesn't know you messed up my name. She is in a completely different area than I am, so no worries. :) I just bought a thermal bottle thingy you can use to sleep with at night, you fill it up with hot water and it stays warm all night. It wasn't very expensive, and Hna. Powell uses hers all the time, so I figured it would be a good idea, and to have for next year, too. Also, in case I get sent to Punta Arenas, the southernmost area in the mission, and in the world. Wish me luck! xD 

I'm sorry the mac wasn't working and that you had to use your 3DS. Did you at least finish whatever it was you needed to do? And, I love the picture of you on the tank. You look very handsome. :) In my mass email, I talked about this crazy guy we met about a week ago while we were on our way home from the store.. he liked to practice satanic-y/voo-doo stuff and he has crazy hair like Crusty from the Simpsons. We recieved a referral from the Hna. Leaders, and when we went to knock on the door... it was him! He made us go see his room (We had a member with us, no worries on that part) and there was a creepy doll head sitting on top of a glass vase on a shelf and weird symbols and pictures in his room. Needless to say, we gave him a book of mormon, shared a scripture, said a prayer, and BOOKED IT. Hna. Powell had to write in the area book not to visit this man because it was that bad! I don't have a lot of details because I couldn't understand most of the conversation, but from what I was told... I'm glad I couldn't! I'm not worried though, he's harmless. Just creepy, is all. 

I like my Ecco with a lot of sugar.. I don't like the bitterness, either. I would say I have about half the substitute, half sugar, and it works great. I love it even more with milk, but I like to save my milk for my cereal. And, my home isn't that bad. I like it a lot more now than when I first got here. and yes, the poorer people in america have super nice homes compared to some I have seen here! If they were in the US, someone would be like "does anyone even live in that house? It's so old! Someone should tear it down." or something like that. Anyway, I gotta write the mission president, so until next week! I love you!

Caley