Well,
since I know you´re ALL dying to hear about my new companion I won’t make you
wait any longer!
Hermana Tamayo, from Panama City, Panama, She has a year on the mission,
leaves in December and really is great. At first I was nervous to change
companions a little, not nervous, just curious to see who it´d be and honestly,
super sad to see Hna Riggs go, but after the first day with her it just felt so
normal, like how it was suppossed to be! She is a convert to the church for 4
years and about a year of that was menos activa, one day just decided to go to
church and felt super strongly about serving a mission. So she followed that
prompting and has been here in Chile for a year! So crazy. Only her and her mom
were members when she started her mission and now 18 miembros de su familia
(members of her family) are members! Talk about mission blessings.
She is a professional dancer and has one year left until she graduates as a
Chef! I want her to make me some food ;) Really though, we get along super good,
she helps me a TON with my Espanol and I help her with her English. It´s just
good. Yesterday we were walking and she told me that President was really
inspired with this companionship because she needed someone with the excitement
that I have and just someone who can bring out her personality because the
cambio antes (companionship before) she was just really serious she said, but I
told her it’s my goal on the mission to work hard, but have fun and share my
personality while doing it, so I´m glad I could help her!
It’s definitely weird without Hna. Riggs though, not so much as the
companionship, but with the work. I realized after she left that she just always
took the lead in things, which was good because I was and still am learning. But
she left and I was left with the area. I had to step it up and take the lead! It
was hard at first, and still is hard because we´re still lacking progressing
investigators, but really it´s super good for me becuase it makes me want to
really work to find new people. I also didn´t realize how much I learned from
Hna. Riggs until she left, I think that’s just how companionships are. You don´t
realize something until it´s gone! Sometimes I feel like I´m training myself.
Hna Tamayo has never trained and estoy acostumbrada a training and just kinda
explain things how we did it before and if she wants to change it, that’s fine
because I´ll learn more from her! I just have noticed with her I´m speaking more
in lessons, doing more of the compromisos (committing people) and I think it´s
good. Definitley is gonna help me be the type of missionary I want to be!
Mom, yes I got you package! SO NICE. I can´t believe how quickly packages
get here... seriously, took 13 or 14 days. That’s like nothing. Must be cause
I´m not in Paraguay! ha! But really, thanks a ton. Scarf has come in handy, as
well as the snackos, and I gave Hna. Tamayo the shirt because Hna. Riggs mom
sent one to me. Super great! Thanks a ton. Also, family, thanks for all the dear
elders... the elders have started to notice the pattern of lots of letters for
me! ha! But I just say, ¨tengo mucho personas que me quieren¨ (lots of people
that love me) es cierto (true), I can feel the love from all of you all the
time! ;) gracias.
The other day, well it´s happened a few times, there has been no power so
we got into our house to plan... no power! ya! Lit some candles, got a
flashlight and got at it, but it’s kinda fun when it happens, we all decided to
eat a bowl of cereal in the dark in candle light. Super fun! ha!
Our reality show episode had its season finale... with Hna Riggs that is!
It was HILARIOUS. Ok, so cambios (companionship) here, when someone in the
companionship is leaving, you go to Vina in the office. So Hna Riggs and I were
headed there with ALL her stuff. (btw, she went to Limache) She had TONS! 3 FULL
suitcases, I swear one of them weighed a good 70 lbs. and you know me, that
packing nazi, I was in awe... I really don´t know how she has stuff, but she did
tell me she can´t throw things away easily, which is not my problem! But anywho,
we had 3 bags, her pillow and coats and scarfs in hands. We walked to the metro
(subway) but to walk from our house it´s a dirt path, and it was kinda soft dirt
cause of the rain, but not quite mud, so super hard to pull through the path. We
got on the SUPER crowded metro to Vina and then, pushed and pulled her stuff
through the city of Vina del Mar (which I LOVE... totally NYC vibe) and finally
arrived to the mission office. Seriously though, I´m sure we looked ridiculous,
two gringas with bags and pillows and everything... one man asked me if I was
tired because I brought my pillow. ha! So funny. Really though, good last
episode, we just laughed the whole time basically!
I was supposed to give a talk yesterday in the ward 15 minutes of every
member a missionary. I was kinda excited to give it, but when we got there they
told me I didn´t have to give it because we had 3 confirmations and two people
from the stake spoke, so no time. But oh well... that´s so Chile, they don´t
think through things until 5 minutes before Sacrament meetings!
Dad.... guess who I met??? PEDRO!!! ha! We were walking in la calle (the
street) and this guy came up to us and stopped us and was like, ¨where can I get
more of your books?¨ so we were just talking about the church, we asked for his
address to come talk to him, but he told us he wasn´t interested in meeting with
us, only wants to read and compare to other religions, but his name was Pedro.
I´m still convinced that I´ll baptize a Pedro on my mission! Mi meta. (my goal)
Yesterday Hna Tamayo wanted me to teach her in English so she could listen
and practice, so I started to teach the Plan de Salvacion en ingles (plan of
salvation in English) and it was SO hard. Honestly, I like couldn´t do it. I
think it´s because I´ve been memorizing the lessons in Spanish and then to
switch to English was super dificil. (difficult) Verdad. No podria hacerlo. We
got some great laughs out of it. It´s fun to help someone with their English and
have her here to help me with my Spanish. I really hope it just improves a ton
these next weeks with her. Sometimes I think, my Spanish should be better, but I
just have to remind myself.. I´ve only been here for 7 weeks. Patience with
yourself!
As for investigators, we don´t have any really progressing. We have some
that we teach, but don´t understand fully yet, but I think it´ll be good to
really just focus on finding new people this week. We both just really want to
teach because when you aren´t teaching the days are harder, but this week all we
are gonna do is FIND!! I know people are there, and we have people, they just
kinda get brushed aside when you have people with fechas (dates) and baptisms,
but we really want to work with the members and menos activos. (less active)
There is this family, familia Brito, who are all members except the dad, but
menos activos, so we really want to try to work with them more and also we found
another lady who got baptized 4 years ago, but never felt accepted in the church
and she has 3 kids and a spouse that aren´t members. So there are definitely
people to work with, it´s just a matter of finding! I hate to even write that we
don´t have any progressing, because we really have some great people, it´s just
a matter of teaching so they understand better the importance of our message,
but that is the mission, I know it´ll just take off here soon!
Also, I have had the prompting to make sure my ¨emergency kit¨ is ready for
an earthquake this week, often. So I have it all ready, but the weird thing is,
randomly last night Hna Tamayo and the other Hnas that live with me were talking
about how they feel an earthquake is gonna come soon! SO Weird. who knows...
it´s been a while since there has been a temblor, only one since I´ve been here
and usually there are about 2 a week people say, so I think everyone is
thinking it´s all building up... kinda scary. But I´ve always imagined myself
cleaning up stuff and doing service on my mission! We´ll see.
Mom, did Maritza add you on FB? She told me she was going to... just
curious to see if she did or not! ha!
Well family, all is well here in Chile! I am happy, I am working, and I am
learning. Isn´t that what a mission is all about!
The Church is true, no where else I´d rather be that right here serving the
people of Chile!
Love you all,
Keep Smiling,
Hermana Sargent
service for a ward member, painting! yay!
yes i am lots taller than her! ha! but Hna Tamayo and I
















