The end of July?!?!?! No way.

Hey fam and friends!

Whats up?! 

This has been a great week! And its the end of July!!! This is crazy. Cambios (transfers) are soon! August 14th... Anyone got any predictions? Everyone here in Recreo says that Hna Hanks is leaving Recreo and Ill be here. Some say that we are both leaving, and there are rumors that we will both stay again. So! We shall see...

Last Monday we had a zone activity in Con Con! And it was super fun. We all had pizza and played some frisbee and a little bit of basketball. Me and Hna Hanks tore it up! We also did an activity too where we wrote a letter to our future selves, that we can only open on the plane ride home. Crazy.

THis week we got a free colectivo ride! A colectivo passed by when we were at the top of a crazy hill and the driver said, "Going down? Hop in!" So we did. No charge. He said when we got out at the bottom of the hill, "Just a little something for the Lord." With a smile. 

This week I heard Michael Jackson's PYT in the OK Market...  :) It was awesome!

I ate some fried fish eggs at a member's house... to tell the truth, they actually weren't that bad... but Im never eating them again here in Chile unless they force me to, cuz it just seems super sketch. The guys who sell fish walk around with a shopping cart with fish in it. Yeah. So... sketchy.

But we did have super delicious sopaipillas from two members this week! Everyone here makes them when it rains! Ima make some when I get back to the States cuz sopaipillas are delicious. 

There was a suicide this week in an apartment complex close to the Plaza Recreo... an older guy with depression threw himself off the 9th floor. So sad. :(  Poor guy. 

Hmmm we had a really good lunch this week of Italian food. So delicious! And afterward we walked around the members house while she showed us her paintings. ANd now I really wanna paint and draw! 

My boots are worse than ever, theyre literally torn apart. And I love them. Leo's mom, Hna Sonia, said shed take them to a shoe fixer dude, but she came back and said it was impossible to fix them. :( I was so sad! It was at this moment that Leo suggested I read Matthew 6:24. What a punk. :)

We had intercambios this week! I stayed here in Recreo, and Hermana Pereira came from Reñaca! It was really cool for her cuz this was her first sector in the mission! She knows all our investigators and recent converts, and the whole ward! 

Hermana Hanks went to Reñaca with Hermana Calderón. 

When intercambios were over, we found new investigators! It was super cool! We are teaching a lot of younger people right now. One guys name is Felix, whos 21ish and a pro soccer player. And hes awesome! And we are also teaching a 26 year old Engineer named Ricardo. AND a young mom with 4 kids and a husband! WOOHOO! That last lady we found, Carolina, is super awesome. We just randomly knocked on her door and asked if we could share a message about Christ, and she said, "Yup, come on in!" She told us that she usually doesnt let any missionary people in cuz shes always busy, but her mom is now in the hospital with cancer and she really needs the faith in her life right now. So we taught her. :) And more to come!!!!

Everyone, look in the May 2013 Liahona, the General Conference issue, and go to page 69. The young dude and his dad in that picture are from Viña!!! They said they tried so many different ways to get their photos in the Liahona, and they finally took just one of him and his dad, and they put it in the Liahona right away. :) Yay CHileans!

We had a bit of a run in with some drunk guys. Mom! Dont worry! :) There were people around and we were all good. But they were kinda blocking an entryway to the street, and we had to pass through. So we just went straight through them, looked em all in the eyes and said hi. One of them asked if he could confess to me, and I was just like, "Confess to God, brotha, not me." And when we walked away, they gave us a standing ovation. It was super weird! Haha but really funny.

Hermana Hanks had a funny experience with a hot water bottle. She was trying to take the lid off of a scalding hot bottle and it exploded into a million pieces, with hot water spraying everywhere. I was fortunate enough to witness it! It was cool because the water and glass went ALL over the kictchen, but not a single drop or piece hit us. Super coolness.

I saw on tv at a members house that the pope came to visit all the youth of South America. As I was watching, I thought, Thats pretty cool! Its cool to see all those youth lined up to meet the pope, all of them cheering and waving. The pope seems like a good guy. But then I thought of how it is when the Prophet comes to see the youth. The picture in my head was completely the opposite, but a million times more powerful. I thought of when President Monson came to a BYU devotional last year or so. The Marriott Center was PACKED with students excitedly chattering about the Prophet, and when President Monson walked in the room, all 70,000 or whatever amount of people went silent, and got to their feet, and watched him walk in. You could hear a pin drop, but more than that, you could feel the power of the Prophet. He brings such a sweet spirit and power, and the youth knew it, and could feel it, and respected it. So as you can see, the reactions were completely opposite, but you can definitely tell when it is a prophet of God. 

I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God! And I am so grateful for his guidance and love.

And I love you guys! All of you! Listen to the prophet, because he is a man of God.

Enjoy your week!  Miss you!

Hermana Amy Schrader

P.S. One of those photos is a pic of our Relief Society this sunday. Sometimes it has a lot more people but sometimes its just like this. :) Welcome to Chile!