Viajeros

Hola hola,

So this week we hit the road a lot. On Wednesday we had to make an emergency trip to Santiago to bring a sister missionary to the airport to go home. She broke her arm last week in a bike accident, and was going to have an operation in Santiago, but somehow at the last minute all the plans got changed and she ended up going home to have the operation there. So we had to scramble to get a flight. At about 1 pm we were in contact via email with the flight agency, and they responded asking if we could get to the airport at 2:30 so she could make a 5:00 flight. Well, Santiago is 1 and a half hours away, but sure why not? We went for it and then the plans changed like three times again, but we finally got her up there (later than 2:30) without problem. The commissaries dropped us off at the airport with her and then they went to run some errands. From there we got her through customs and took a bus to the city and then the metro to meet up and eat a late lunch. In the office, you wake up never knowing what will actually happen each day. 

We also made a big 250 mile trip with the commissaries yesterday to Pichilemu, Chepica, and Chimbarongo. I drove about half of the trip, which was fun. Usually the commissaries do all the traveling, but we tagged along because we discovered there is an extranjeria in Pichilemu, and with a new missionary there we were able to solicit his visa. We only had to wait about 5 minutes, and they processed all the information very quickly. It was great, so we will definitely keep using the extranjeria for all the new missionaries that arrive to Pichilemu.

Pichilemu is also coincidentally one of the few coastal sectors. It is a cool little beach town, and it was really cool to see the ocean again. We took a slight detour to a famous spot called "Punta de Lobos" and it was very beautiful. It is a famous surf destination and we saw a few guys out there catching the waves.

On the way to Pichilemu we stopped by Las Cabras, which was my previous sector. I honestly never thought I would be back there, so it was really great to be able to see a few old friends. We didnt have much time, but we stopped by to visit Nano, who is a 92-year old man that is really close with the missionaries always. When I was there we visited him every day to check up on him and read from the Book of Mormon. We also visited Juana, who is kind of eternal investigator, but always very caring to the missionaries. It was really great to be back in Las Cabras.

Well this week will be my last in the office. I am not sure where I am going yet, but I am excited to be able to go to a normal sector and just do missionary work for the last three months. In this week I will try to frantically prepare everything to go well for when I am not here anymore. It will be weird to leave Recreo after 10 months and the office after almost 6 months.

Well, have a great week!

- Elder Richards

​With Nano in Las Cabras

​Punta de Lobos