March 1, 2010

Hello my family,
Ya, I heard about the earthquake in Chili, theres about a dozen or so elders from Chile that I know here, and they were all authorized to call home. Most of them haven't heard anything from their families, especially the ones that live in and around concepcion, because electricity, water, phone, etc... is all out in most of the country. That's pretty crazy, it's pretty unheard of to have 2 earthquakes of such high magnitude so near eachother in time. At least Chile is way more prepared and used to that sort of thing than Haiti. Theres quite a few people from the wards here that are on their way to Chile to help out so that's good.
Hma. Horton's family all good down there?
I don't think there are any natural disasters common here, although theres several miles of hot springs here in the city Im in, so there has to be SOME kind of volcanic/earthquake possibilities where I'm at. No idea. All we have is a TON of flooding in this city. I don't like floods so much, with the river so high, whenever it rains, everything is under water here haha, fortunately we live on the 2nd floor.
This week was great, we had a bunch of baptisms, but Elder Enciso was sick pretty much all week, so most of it was spent inside, except for Saturday cause I found a priest, Nico, to spend the day with me in divisions. He was fantastic, him (17) and his younger brother(15) are the only members in his family, but he's really smart, studying electrical engineering, and was a HUGE help. He's excited to serve a mission, and is hoping for the US so he can learn English.
The ward is doing really well, the mission leader here is phenomenal, and so are the 2 ward missionaries that are always helpful (2 laurels). The members are, in general, so willing to help out here its a breath of fresh air coming from the city haha. I miss Sayago a lot still, but I love this area, too. I'm quickly discovering how hard it's gonna be to leave the mission and its coming so soon, I can't believe I'm already 1/4...whew.
We have a ton of investigators working towards baptism, many just have to get married!!! The court system is so frustrating here!!!
Language is coming along quick enough, I hope I have another Latino comp next.
Elder Enciso might leave at any time during this change, depending on when his school starts back home, so I might even have a new comp later this week, after just a few weeks with him. I hope not, cause that would probably mean a missionary trio. 2 is good, but 3 looks like a mafia. Hopefully if that happens, we can find a member to move in and work with me for a few weeks so we dont lose the work in this area.
Grats on your successful bunco night, I'm not jealous though because 12 crazy women is not my forte. I would die.
Tell Levi to take his priesthood seriously. The sacrament is the most important ordinance in the church after baptism. Without it, we die in our sins unredeemed. Tell him if he's screwing around, people are losing the spirit of repentence and their sins are upon him. Good luck ;-)
As for Colton, you should pull him out of school. Let him go somewhere else or maybe invest in a tutor to homeschool him (when dad gets back and if you have the money).
I'm so excited that grandma's gettin healthy again!!! Tell her she should take up running, I always felt great when I went running! haha
The work is progressing like crazy here, and I'm having a blast! I love the people so much, and I'm never gonna forget their stories. It's incredible the sacrifice that everyone has made. If people had half the charity in the US that these people have, there wouldn't be anyone in the remotest level of poverty there.
As for the food, dad, I haven't had nutria yet, but all the elders say its the best, for real. I still haven't had armadillo yet either, thankfully. They roast them alive and they look so disgusting haha. I hear the meat really isn't that bad, just the fact that you have to eat it from the hairy husky outer part its pretty gross. Cinchulin is probably my leat favorite of the things Ive eaten. The flavor is actually pretty good, but the texture is AWFUL, like gum coated in flour.
I hope your early release thing goes through, dad!
Have fun everyone in all your many activities and stuff, and endure your trials, theyre just a small moment. Any time you feel like you have it hard, go buy a pioneer journal and humble yourself with a little reading haha
Love you all a TON!!!!!
Elder Magnusson