Hi everyone!

I got emails from my family this week about their trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.  It was funny how they were saying that on their trip they were living more like me, and that some parts were tough, but then the photos they attached showed them doing yoga on a giant yacht.  Dang I feel bad for them.  Now they know what it is like being a missionary in Chile.  Some tough days this week.  Tons of wind and rain.  I'm told it is supposed to rain without stopping for the next several days.  Kill me!

After one long day of going door to door in the rain, we were invited into a house full of Haitians.  We taught a lesson to five of them.  It was dope!  The two most interested are Kenji and Berno.  Both are short, ripped Haitian guys.  Berno has met with the missionaries before and really likes the church.  The missionaries are the ones who taught him Spanish.  He told us that if he finds a stable job, so he can get a visa and stay in Chile, he will get baptized.  I hope he finds one.  The next day we found/taught more Haitians.  So now we have about 14 Haitian investigators.  Ha, ha.  The two we focused most on were Willy and his uncle Waldet.  Super humble and super cool guys.  Before the lesson we printed pamphlets in Creole so they could understand perfectly.  It went really well.

Interesting food this week.  One day a hermana made us gnoche (or however you spell it) for lunch.  It was a super let down because first, it's Italian food in Chile, and second, it reminded me of Casa Nostra back home.  Dang, what I would do for chicken parm at Casa Nostra right now.  Another day we ate this weird tasting meat at this old lady's house so my companion asked her what it was.  She said it was one of her pigs that she killed in her backyard.  We had no choice but to eat it.  So far I feel fine but my companion didn't feel well after so stay tuned to see if my digestive system gets destroyed.  Ha, ha.  Vamos Chile!

I had my first Zone Conference this week.  It was awesome.  We opened with a hymn and prayer and then the missionaries going home this next transfer shared their testimonies.  After President Catala spoke for 3 hours.  It was insanely good.  Now I know why some people call him the best Mission President in the world.  He knows everything and sees everything in a different way.  His topic was urgency.  Dang it was good.  During his lectures he always picks on the nuevos and asks them super hard questions.  Elder Cuevas warned me about that a while ago so I've been studying the mission scriptures a ton.  Luckily my studying paid off because he asked each nuevo a question (some got them right and others got them wrong) but asked me 4 questions in a row and I got all 4 right.  Ha, ha.  Also in my separate interview with him we talked about how him and Dad served in the same mission in Argentina.  When he said he was there 2 or 3 years after my Dad, I said "Oh, so you had to go clean up his mess."  He thought that was super funny.  The APs then handed out mail from the Mission Office and I got a package from Katie Raddon!  Thank you!  Long day in all but so good.

Saturday we had a ton of success.  We went out with a member and had taught a ton of people (including Willy and Wadlet).  Also there was no rain!  Sunday also went well.  We had 5 Haitians at church!  It was so dope.  They've been twice now and need to come just one more time to be able to be baptized.  So we are going to push to get them to church again next Sunday.

It's crazy that I'm about to have my first transfer in Chile.  Time goes by so fast.  I'm loving my mission more and more every day.  Honestly, I'm learning to like Chillan and hope this coming transfer I'll get to stay here.

Thanks for all your support.  It means a lot to me.

Love, Elder Vincent