Monday, February 22, 2010

"I love this work. I love life."


I am laughing right now as i Start this email because my companion just asked me if she spelled roller coaster right. She spelled it like rolor costor. SHE WAS SERIOUS! She is losing her english. Its funny. She will say to me…Do you shower want to first. I´ll be like what?? And she will say Do you shower want to first? Im like omg you really are losing your english! I love love love my new companion we have such a good time together! I have already learned so much from her. She is very good at telling stories and relating to people. But she also is straight to the point. For example…the one big grocery store they have here is called Lider. Its kind of like a walmart. The lines are like 25 people long. We were finally like 3rd in line and this man comes up to us and he´s like hey I got the staff you wanted (he was pretending to know us so that he could cut in line) And she looked at him and said, What. And he´s like I got the ketchup you wanted and she said, Um im sorry but I know what your trying to do and I have No idea who you are. And he said, Yes, I know you missionaries …one of you visited my house. And she goes oh what was her name and he said Igred. Hahaha we just busted up laughing!! She said,¨ Ingrid! Of all names you pick Ingrid. ¨¨ then we started to be really nice to him and he continued to lie. I have tos ay …that is Hermana Egbert SWEET but straight to the point. She is not gonna let nobody push her around.
I love her..but there is one thing she does I cant stand. I tell her this everyday. Haha She has to go to the bathroom like every 20 minutes, so we will go in someones house and she loves to stay in the bathroom for as long as she can just so she can listen to me try and carry a conversation on with a chilean when i have no clue what they are saying. She seriously just waits in there…
Ahhhh we have sooo many funny stories and work so well together!! This week we were teaching this really old old couple and they were sooo funny!! But they were hard of hearing so we had to yell when we were teaching. Not just Talk loud but literrallly YELLLL. I have to say, everyday is interesting in its own way. But We are doing so well! We have been doing sooooo much service!! And plan on teaching a lot of people this week!
I can´t Express in words how much my testimony has grown on this misión. I have Developed a new love for my Father and Heaven and have SEEN the miracles that happen if you put your trust in him. This is not just something to teach. THIS IS REAL. This gospel Works miracles in peoples lives. I know this with my whole Heart. I know this church is true. We have the fullness and Whole truth. It is amazing to see peoples hearts change when they allow the spirit to touch them. I love this work. I love life. I LOVE chile! And I love and pray for you all! Thank you for everything!
Hermana Conley
P.S. MY NEW EMAIL IS paige.conley@myldsmail.net

Monday, February 15, 2010

New companion!










Wow! This was the fastest week yet! I got my new companion on Tuesday! I was sad to say goodbye to Kory Williams. She teared up… I am going to miss her but I´ll see her at conference once befote she leaves to go HOME! My new companion is C. Egbert! She is hilarious!!! For example…There is 2 mcdonalds in chile. ONE of them is about 2 hours away in Talca. When we took the bus to Talca to take hermana Williams to get her other bus, we were craving mcdonalds. And so we were in the very back of the bus heading back home from Talca! And she walks up to the front of the bus and asks the bus driver, üm…small favor. Can you please make a quick trip to mcdonalds. We will run in really fast! Funny thing is we were like 15 minutes from mcdonalds! He is like i cant go that out of the way! She begged him. He couldnt… but we almost had him convenced. ANyways…thats her! She is hilarious!

This week was awesome! We talked to sooo many people. She is really helping me with my spanish because she has always known spanish ((her mom is from south. America))! She is very easy to relate to and I know we will always be good friends! Im excited to work with her because we are always happy together!

Funnies of the week…
I stepped on a dog. Um it was not funny at the time. In Fact it scared me to death. DOGS are everywhere on the streets. They sleep in the middle of the roads everywhere so normally you see them. Well i happened to not see this one and all of a sudden I hear feel this flip under my foot..and this dogs body like flies in the air. and it like literally flipped! I screamed and then kept saying sorry to the dog like he could understand me or something haha. I didnt hurt him.. i think i just scared him to death! haha..

Yesterday was a good day! We did a lot of service and they asked me to sing again in church. I was really nervous for some reason this time... because I had no music with me. FUnny story about church...so we sit in the back because alot of people come in late that we invite to church and so we get to observe everything. So this old old mans phone goes off in the middle of church and it was sooo loud. And then you think he would turn it off really fast ...well instead he answers and LITERALLY YELLS, ´WHAT DO YOU WANT! IM IN CHURCH´ and then he starts carrying on this conversation hahaha

i about lost it. I laughed sooo hard (inside)! it was funny! As im writing this email this little spanish girl next to me is just staring at me. haha shes adorable. ... I keep looking over and smiling and she just is like investigating me hhaha.

I am so happy to be here in chile! I dont have a lot of new things tosay because everyday is amazzing and hard and wonderful all at once! I Miss everyone so much yet I know this is where Im supposed to be! Thank you for your letters! talk to you soon!

I love this church, I love this work!

Crazy crazy time is flying! Today I found out that my companion is changing to a different area to finish off her misión so I get a new compañón tomorrow! I already know her because she lives in the same house as us and shes awesome! I am going to miss Hermana Williams so much but I know that I am being put with Hermana Egbert for a reason! Shes soooo girly and she studied in Italy for fashion for the past 2 years before her misión! So i think we will do just fine! We already laugh alllllll day long and make fun of everything! Basically we make fun of ourselves…because I tend to say some dumb stuff at the time. Like for example this week we ate lunch at this ladies house 2 days in a row. The 2nd day, it was the most amazing meal. I meant to say to her, ¨this meal was the best meal ever¨ but instead I said, ¨this meal was much much better¨! everyone died laughing because we had just ate lunch with her the day before... it was funny. I was kinda embarrased because she just looked at me like, Um okay. hahaha Good thing, latinos have a sense of humor. most of them atleast.

Im starting to understand a little better... As long as the people have teeth, i can understand most of what they are talking about. Yesterday this old old old man with no teeth was asking me about the texas, and he said, ¨that is right next to mexico, huh¨and I was like yes it is! And I THOUGHT is said, what is that river that seperates the U.S. from Mexico, its really big... and so i said, Ummm I dont really remember the name, but yes it is really big. Well as we walked out And i was talking to Hermana WIlliams I told her what we were talking about and she said, that he had really said, YEAH the RIO grande seperates texas from mexico. I FELT so dumb...I thought he was asking me the name of the big river that seperates the two. Gosh. haha

One of these days I´ll write ya´ll and say, YAYYYYY i know spanish. That wont be for about 4 months im sure!

Okay, so something funny is people here dont have much but most of the time they try and take care of what they have. 99 PERCENT of people dont have grass in their yard. PURE dirt. BUt for some reason they water it. LIke there literally is not a speck of grass in the yard but they water it....we cant figure it out. Oh and chileans.... everysingle one of them think that they are a doctor! If we have a head ache or a stomach ache they will tell us...Oh did you eat watermelon and then drink sprite... or did you eat tomatos with meat. ITs so weird they just make up stuff for everything... its so funny.

But im starting to really love the taste of natural foods. They dont season their foods here really but I am starting to enjoy everything...!

We had some really cool experiences this week! There is a woman we have been trying to Help. I love her! she has 5 kids and her husband left her and just got another woman pregnant.. It breaks my heart because this week she hit rock bottom! literally she like broke down right in front of us. We were able to calm her down...and we are working with her. I love her so much. Good thing hugs are universal because i just hug her her and want to give her so much love. She calls me ¨chicitito¨ which is little bitty. AHh i wish I had more stories, I just can´t think of what else happens throughout the week! Everyday is amazing! We had 2 baptisms this week. THe day was unforgettable! amazing!!!! I love seeing people change and watching how having faith in our Heavenly father can work miracles. It really can. I have witnessed it many many times! its amazing. I love this church, I love this work! I LOVE LIFE!

Oh and i love ice cream. Im obsessed! And people always like to buy us an ice cream cone just because! And i dont mind it at all. Ice cream cones are like fifty cents here...but they are amazinggggggggg!!

haha I just have to say, I am sitting here at this internet place and these 2 guys are sitting across from me..and they are trying to speak random words in english so that we will look over. Most of the words they know are like may the force be with you. haha. funny.

Oh and I forgot to mention..There are gypsies here. They wear long skirts and everything and they try and steal from people. Its crazy. THEY are so slick and try and do it all the time. WE stear clear from them! but its crazyyy!!!

ANyways, LIfe is good! thank you all for your emails and please forgive me if I cant write back for a little while! we have lots of packing to do. She leaves first thing in the morning!!! lOVE YOU ALLL!!! write me write me!! letterssssss please.
its so much better. i know i know. emails are easier. but I would love it!!
thanks
paige

Miracles Happen Every Day!

So its week 15 of the misión (week 5 in chile)! I am just loving this place. Sometimes I will just stop and look around and think to myself: I AM IN CHILE, SOUTH AMERICA! I love it! This week was full of miracles. First off I got a call from 2 guy missionaries (Elders) that I don´t even know who FOUND MY I.D.! They didnt even know I lost it or anything and they found it at the bus station like a couple hours north of here. They found my credit card too (which does me no good because I already cancelled it...but its just nice knowing knowone else has it) They didnt find my wallet or flashdrive or all the cash but....still My I.d. was my main concern! Now its in my HANDS! I will never let ANYTHING get stollen from me again. I am soooo protective now! So thats good news right!

I am just soaking up the Love of the Latinas! They are amazing. I love them. As I sit here and think Of things to write I cant even remember the struggles throughout the week because everything just always works out for the good!

Funny Moment of the Week: I was walking down the street...and i look over and there is Horse walking beside me. And I just looked at it and looked away...and then I looked back at it again and Thought...¨there is a horse walking beside me on the road¨ and then as the horse passed me...He was Pulling a guy on his bike. Just a man chilling on his bike as a horse pulled him....Sometimes I wonder what are these people thinking... hahaha...
but its all just normal now. haha We see some pretty strange stuff here.

Other funny moment of the week. The word for dishes I learned is the same word Chileans use for Butt in chile. SO THIS WEEK....I asked a lady if I could help her clean her BUTTTTT.

instead of help her clean her dishes.

hahahhahaha

So To all of you that get my email.
Please be thankful to live in the U.S. The people here would give anything to live in the U.S.
For most of them its just a dream....


My favorite Moment of the Week,
So there is a lady that lives near us with a family that just kinda takes care of her. She is deaf...So she cant talk. But she doesnt know sign language either...so she make up her own noises and signs for things. It just breaks my heart because she doesnt have any family. I sat down with her for a long time the other day and tried to teach her through hand motions and pictures. The only way she could really communicate was through her face because I had no clue what her hand signals meant. It makes me tear up as I sit here and type because her whole deminer changed from when we first got there and when we left. She was smiling and just sooo happy! I just love these people! Everyone told me that when you serve a mission, you will develop a love for people like you never thought you could... and I am starting to feel the truth of that.

haha.. its funny also because as Iv been typing this email half of my words I have been typing have been in spanish!!! thats a good thing!! Im starting to catch on!!!! yayyyyyy

for a while there I felt like I was in an Asian Nail salon everyday. I knew they were talking about me...but I had NO clue what they were sayingggg. he he.


ANyways, thats all I have for the week!! Its been amazing!!! I love life! I had pizza today which makes life even better. No ranch tho... :( and the pizza is nothing like americas but it was good!!


lOVE you alll!!!
Cant wait to hear from you!!!!