Sunday, November 30, 2014

Week 61

Hey guys. Another week down... This time with a lot of new surprises, visits from the past, and so many opportunities for good things.

This week in Concé has been incredible and completely shocking. First off, Concé is big and overwhelming. It is unlike any other sector that I have ever been in. It’s like working in a downtown ghetto kind of place. I find it very interesting.

So Elder Bird and I left Chillán in a sudden transfer. It was both hard for us to leave everyone there. We set off early the next morning and we were both off to our new sectors. We arrived in Concé to a slight drizzle of rain and Elder Stockford met up with me. We called a taxi right away and we headed to our apartment building. We got up there and I started to unpack. We live in an apartment! Woohoo!! It is SO nice seeing carpet again!!! It is a big and spacious complex. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, a washing machine with a dryer, and an open room with our beds! It is the best house that I’ve been in during my whole mission. I feel so blessed. We live in the house with two other latinos, Elder Castellon from Bolivia and Elder Letelier from Viña del Mar, Chile. During the first 4 days of the week we also lived with 2 other elders but they had to move to the assistant's house (assistants to the president). During the week we had a good time in the house and there is already a good relationship between all of us.

Elder Stockford is from Oregon. He is 19 and has 6 weeks less than I do in the mission. He is a very straightforward person. It is very unexpected coming from him at first glance. He is a bit taller than me, wears glasses, has short brown hair and loves to laugh. He is going to be a good companion, I am excited to have the chance to get to know someone else. He loves music just like me!! His specialty is percussion and he is stinking good from what I have seen. It is cool to have a lot in common with a companion. He is the first companion that I’ve actually had something in common with!

The week was crazy. I am real close to my first sector, Villa Nonguen. I spent some time thinking back on those days. Those were good times.

On Tuesday we were preparing for district class, and Elder Stockford pulled me aside and told me someone wanted to meet me. We walked outside and what do you know, Cristian Moya was waiting. Cristian is a guy that was in Villa Nonguen. He is the brother of Jenny Moya. The Reyes Moya family was one of the coolest families in the entire sector. Cristian stayed with Jenny and her family for some time when I was there and apparently not too long ago he moved here to downtown. We saw each other and I gave him a big 'abrazo.' We couldn't believe it. It was cool seeing that he still remembered me and that our friendship still lives on. It was cool being able to speak with him with no problems. The last time I was with him, I had been in the mission for a little over 4 months. I still didn't know Spanish at all. But now, knowing Spanish, It was great to catch up on things.

On Sunday we went out and worked with him, visiting a few people here and there. While we were out there Jenny Moya called and I got to talk to her and her son Tommy. It was SO awesome getting to talk with them. I am so grateful to have such amazing relationships with so many cool people.

So the main part of the sector that we work in is this little ghetto part of the city that has a ton of flaites. It is the most distinct sector that I have ever had. It has been interesting. Due to Elder Stockford being direct and sometimes a little more.... persistent (aggressive) we saw a lot of crazy things. We had people scream at us rejecting us at their doors, the craziest contacts with drunk people, and here and there we found some good people. There is a lot of big apartments that we go and contact. And around the area there are big soccer fields and dirt roads. There is also a big hill with a famous tower on it that is famous in the mission. I will be going up there one of these days. We spent most of the time entering these apartments and knocking doors. That is how we are finding the majority of the people. There is a lot of crazy drunks that roam around here so just get ready to hear some funny stories over the next couple weeks.

My new district leader is good ol' crazy Elder Garcia. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him too. He is still the same crazy Colombian that I used to know. It will be fun working with him as well.
We have a cool ward mission leader. He owns a cool sandwich shop called 'Planet Sandwich'. (that's another weird thing that still surprises me. For a lot of the brands, restaurants, and other various things they use a lot of English terms and phrases. I don't know why they just don’t stick to Spanish). He is young and a returned missionary. It is great seeing that we have someone that is willing to work and that is excited about it. It will be great having someone that is a bit more connected.

We have our ward soccer activity every Thursday night. We had some good games going. In the last game, I scored the goal to win it all. It was awesome! It feels good when everyone comes in screaming ''GOLAZO'' and celebrating.

Today we went to a soccer field with artificial turf. It’s the same one we went to when I lost my wallet (if any of you remember that story). Thankfully I didn't lose anything this time. PHEW... But it was a great game. I also got to talk with my good ol' companion Elder Martinez. He is now in Collao. He just left Retiro last week. He left it going good. He baptized various people, and now there are 52 people attending church on average. It was good to catch up with him as well. During the week it has been awesome catching up with so many people that I have known. I feel like at last I have a good group of friends and I know most of the mission now!

Alright, that’s all I’ve got. They cut down our time to be in the Cyber on Mondays. So I’ll talk to you all next week! I love you all so much! Thank you all for keeping me updated. I miss you and love you all!


Elder Ethan Haws

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