Dieciocho y Terremoto

Hola hola,

So yes I am safe from the earthquake. It was way far north of us, but we did feel it here in San Clemente! We were in a member´s house teaching and then the light started swinging and it felt like the couches were vibrating. It was a super weird sensation, but almost unnoticeable. It only last about 10 seconds, but then we felt it again a few minutes later. No damage at all here, but apparently pretty bad up north, and the whole coast was on tsunami alert. I prefer hurricanes to earthquakes..

Anyway, this was a good week. Friday was the 18th of September, which is basically the Chilean Independence day (not sure of the exact history). So everything shuts down for the whole weekend, and everyone is celebrating. We had tons of asado (barbecue) and empanadas with different people. The asado here is super good, and usually includes chancho (pork), vacuno (beef), and chorripan (a type of sausage). We also ate fried and baked empanadas de pino (the filling is a mixture of beef and onion with half of a boiled egg and one whole olive). We also had lots of pan amasado (bread), which is very common. We were fed very well this weekend.

In addition to food, the most common thing for the 18th is dancing cueca (the national dance of Chile). People really go all out, and everyone dresses up in traditional huaso (cowboy) clothing and everyone dances. Everyone asked me what the dances are in the US, but we do not really have anything that relates, so it was a bit weird. I will send a picture of me and Elder Izquierdo in huaso clothing.

This week is transfer week! I am staying in San Clemente with Elder Bustamante, and Elder Izquierdo is going home tomorrow. We are getting two more missionaries in San Clemente (including a brand new one), so it will be nice to have other missionaries and to not be the newest missionary! They come tomorrow.

Besides all of that, it was a good week. Church attendance was pretty low (probably due to the holiday weekend), but we are hoping to refocus this week and make progress with everyone.

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Richards


​Peruano y Gringo Huasos


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