Hey Everyone,

I hope you all had a good week!

I want to start by saying THANK YOU for all the love with your emails.  I don't have time to reply to everyone in the short time I have to use a computer but I promise I read and appreciate every single one.  I take pictures of them on my camera so I can read them throughout the week.  

My goal this week was to be positive with everything, like dad says "don't just count your blessings, but make your blessings count."  

We taught a few good lessons this week, but had some cancel because of the weather.  It has been dumping rain from the minute we wake up in the morning until we go to bed at night.  Windy and freezing too.  Since the weather is so bad people have cancelled appointments or don't open their doors.  When they do open their door they don't want us to come in because we are soaking wet.  

One crazy thing about Chile is no one here uses umbrellas because the wind is too strong and will snap them.  So, basically you just put on your rain gear and take the rain in the face.  Funny to watch but not to experience it in person.  

Sunday the wind was so strong that all the metal roofs blew off the homes in Yungay.  A lot of the city is destroyed.  The power/internet/telephone lines were all down.  We actually had church in the dark!  After church we all ate lunch together.  There's this super super old lady that's nuts!!  Hermana Rosa.  She's super tiny with spiky white hair.  She offered me a cookie and I took one.  She slapped me on the back of my head really hard and called me a woman for taking just one and handed me 4 more cookies!   

Every day is getter better.  Last week I bought bread, eggs, milk, cereal, and pasta.  I felt like a king.  That's the most food I've seen in two weeks.  

I thought I was pretty tough before my mission but these past few weeks have really humbled me.  The cold, wind, rain, knocking on doors all day have put me in my place.  It's hard but I'm super grateful to be here.  I keep thinking of something my dad emailed me.  He told me to remember how lucky I am and that after 2 years I get to hit the eject button and go back to my nice life.  None of these people have eject buttons, including most of the missionaries I'm serving with.  This is their life.  So, in all, I really have nothing to complain about.      

Thank you for all your love and support.  It means the world to me.  I'm praying for each and every one of you every single day.

Have a good week!

All my love,

Derek