Editor's Note: The names have been changed.
The beginning of the last week of my first transfer. I don´t feel like it´s really gone by fast, but I feel good that I´ve already been here five weeks. Every day I get more and more involved in what´s going on here and less and less attached to home (though I still love you guys), and I know that´s necessary and good.
I´ve been getting along really well with the missionaries in my zone, which is a huge blessing. There are 6 sisters and 8 elders, and I really like them all. Pretty much every P-day we get together and do something. Today we watched Ironman and had a barbecue. Apparently once a transfer we´re allowed to watch a movie that is approved by President Urra. Apparently Ironman was approved. Weird. But it was really fun. As you all know, I didn´t get along SUPER well with the Elders in my MTC group, and I was thinking that I was just going to spend a year and a half without guy friends, no big deal. But all of the Elders in my zone are great, I´ve been having fun.
As for the work.... I´m a little down in spirits there. We have to drop Manuel. He just won´t quit smoking. Ugh but we had a heartbreaking lesson with him on Friday. It was super spiritual, about faith and repentance, and HQ (Hermana Quiroz) and I had both studied that morning for the lesson and had all these scriptures that were super powerful. We all felt the spirit, we know he did, and he was ABOUT to say that he was going to quit smoking. We tried to commit him, and he said he would try, that it would be hard, but he would try, and we said a few more things, being led by the Spirit, and all of a sudden his wife started talking, for a long time, and I wasn´t really following, and then the next thing I knew we were leaving and Manuel was looking really sad and I tried to confirm an appt for Tuesday (we always meet with him Tuesdays and Fridays at 4) and he just said "no, another day" and I was kinda confused and I tried to jokingly ask him what he was going to do then, intending his answer to be throw away his cigarettes, and he said "I want to be alone to think."
I was really confused, and when we left, HQ said "Ugh, I want to punch Consuela! Everything we´ve spent all this time building up she just ruined!" Here´s the story: she was meeting with the missionaries for a long time, but had a "pareja" (aka someone you live with but aren´t married to, there´s not really a translation in English) in Peru, where she´s from, who was an alcoholic, so she went to Peru to dump him and then came back to get baptized. When she came back she met Manuel and married him after like 3 weeks of knowing him, and we suspect she just married him to get her citizenship here in Chile. So they´ve been married for almost 2 months now, she got baptized in March, and is in all the lessons with him. But anyway, she started talking at the end of our lesson and started talking about her "pareja anterior" and how she really really loved him but he just wouldn´t stop drinking and didn´t want to go to church so she had to dump him but she´s been thinking about him a lot lately and she´s also been thinking about going back to Peru and leaving Manuel here. And she´s saying that in front of Manuel!! And he obviously loves her, unlike her, and was really depressed, and obviously when he´s depressed he´s going to want to smoke, instead of feeling like he has the strength to quit. HQ also said "ugh, the only good decision she ever made in her life was to get baptized!"
The next day we passed by their street looking for people and we saw Miguel smoking. So, not much hope. We´re not going to visit with him anymore unless something changes and he informs us of it and wants to meet with us. We just can´t pressure him anymore.
Eduardo, our golden investigator, suddenly had a change of heart in the wrong direction and just avoids us and we have no idea why.
So our only baptismal date right now is Sofia, this basically invalid woman who is the mom of a member and suffered a paralysis in December. She had been meeting with the missionaries before, and wants to get baptized now. She´s actually recuperating, I think she´ll be much better very soon. She can´t really talk, but she understands everything and is good at communicating with us. She´s getting baptized the 29th.
And we need to find two more people to get baptized by the end of June. And they need to come to church 3 times, and we only have 5 more Sundays. And honestly, none of the companionships in our zone are super good with the numbers right now. We know, it´s a trial of our faith and then we´ll see miracles. But I need to really figure out what I could be doing better as a missionary to fulfill the promises that our President made to us when he gave us the goal of getting 5 baptisms in these 3 months. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
Last night I was really giggly for some reason and I just want to mention one reason why. Hermana Quiroz was eating a banana and we walked by this house and she told me to knock because it was a building with various rooms and there were 2 future investigators who lived there. So I knocked and no one opened the door but this guy poked his head out of a window at the way top and HQ tried to tell me to ask for Olinda but she had this massive amount of banana in her mouth and I couldn´t really understand and she started laughing and so I started laughing and we looked like two crazy people, one Latina, one gringa, laughing our heads off and trying to communicate with this guy but being unable to.
Finally she got it out that we were looking for Olinda. Not home. Madalena? Hold on. So we´re waiting and waiting for her to come to the door and all of a sudden this guy with a huge TV in his arms comes up to us and we´re like hey, how are you and he says tired and we ask if he wants help and he said no but for us to knock on the door. So HQ knocks on the door and the guy is like HOLD ON SHE´S COMING and HQ is like "Umm no, there´s a guy here who wants to enter and he has a gigantic television (televisor gigante)" and I just start busting up laughing AGAIN and once again, we look crazy. At least I can laugh about my ridiculous life.
I can´t think of much else to say, except that I love you guys and I always pray for you. I´m waiting anhelosamente (you can look that up) to hear from my BROTHERS whom I love very dearly. And I can´t wait to hear about Chase´s mission call! Make sure you tell me asap. Don´t forget to email me about it.
I love you, I hope you´re doing well, etc. Until next week (at which point I will know about transfers!),
Hermana Coppins
WRITE KAMI A LETTER (She would love to hear from you!):
The easiest way is to use www.dearelder.com. Simply choose her mission (Chile Antofagasta) and then select pouch mail and it is free. You fill in your own information and then you put in "Sister Kamian Coppins" and it will get to her. Then you just compose a note online (like an email) and hit send. It is that easy.
The beginning of the last week of my first transfer. I don´t feel like it´s really gone by fast, but I feel good that I´ve already been here five weeks. Every day I get more and more involved in what´s going on here and less and less attached to home (though I still love you guys), and I know that´s necessary and good.
I´ve been getting along really well with the missionaries in my zone, which is a huge blessing. There are 6 sisters and 8 elders, and I really like them all. Pretty much every P-day we get together and do something. Today we watched Ironman and had a barbecue. Apparently once a transfer we´re allowed to watch a movie that is approved by President Urra. Apparently Ironman was approved. Weird. But it was really fun. As you all know, I didn´t get along SUPER well with the Elders in my MTC group, and I was thinking that I was just going to spend a year and a half without guy friends, no big deal. But all of the Elders in my zone are great, I´ve been having fun.
As for the work.... I´m a little down in spirits there. We have to drop Manuel. He just won´t quit smoking. Ugh but we had a heartbreaking lesson with him on Friday. It was super spiritual, about faith and repentance, and HQ (Hermana Quiroz) and I had both studied that morning for the lesson and had all these scriptures that were super powerful. We all felt the spirit, we know he did, and he was ABOUT to say that he was going to quit smoking. We tried to commit him, and he said he would try, that it would be hard, but he would try, and we said a few more things, being led by the Spirit, and all of a sudden his wife started talking, for a long time, and I wasn´t really following, and then the next thing I knew we were leaving and Manuel was looking really sad and I tried to confirm an appt for Tuesday (we always meet with him Tuesdays and Fridays at 4) and he just said "no, another day" and I was kinda confused and I tried to jokingly ask him what he was going to do then, intending his answer to be throw away his cigarettes, and he said "I want to be alone to think."
I was really confused, and when we left, HQ said "Ugh, I want to punch Consuela! Everything we´ve spent all this time building up she just ruined!" Here´s the story: she was meeting with the missionaries for a long time, but had a "pareja" (aka someone you live with but aren´t married to, there´s not really a translation in English) in Peru, where she´s from, who was an alcoholic, so she went to Peru to dump him and then came back to get baptized. When she came back she met Manuel and married him after like 3 weeks of knowing him, and we suspect she just married him to get her citizenship here in Chile. So they´ve been married for almost 2 months now, she got baptized in March, and is in all the lessons with him. But anyway, she started talking at the end of our lesson and started talking about her "pareja anterior" and how she really really loved him but he just wouldn´t stop drinking and didn´t want to go to church so she had to dump him but she´s been thinking about him a lot lately and she´s also been thinking about going back to Peru and leaving Manuel here. And she´s saying that in front of Manuel!! And he obviously loves her, unlike her, and was really depressed, and obviously when he´s depressed he´s going to want to smoke, instead of feeling like he has the strength to quit. HQ also said "ugh, the only good decision she ever made in her life was to get baptized!"
The next day we passed by their street looking for people and we saw Miguel smoking. So, not much hope. We´re not going to visit with him anymore unless something changes and he informs us of it and wants to meet with us. We just can´t pressure him anymore.
Eduardo, our golden investigator, suddenly had a change of heart in the wrong direction and just avoids us and we have no idea why.
So our only baptismal date right now is Sofia, this basically invalid woman who is the mom of a member and suffered a paralysis in December. She had been meeting with the missionaries before, and wants to get baptized now. She´s actually recuperating, I think she´ll be much better very soon. She can´t really talk, but she understands everything and is good at communicating with us. She´s getting baptized the 29th.
And we need to find two more people to get baptized by the end of June. And they need to come to church 3 times, and we only have 5 more Sundays. And honestly, none of the companionships in our zone are super good with the numbers right now. We know, it´s a trial of our faith and then we´ll see miracles. But I need to really figure out what I could be doing better as a missionary to fulfill the promises that our President made to us when he gave us the goal of getting 5 baptisms in these 3 months. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
Last night I was really giggly for some reason and I just want to mention one reason why. Hermana Quiroz was eating a banana and we walked by this house and she told me to knock because it was a building with various rooms and there were 2 future investigators who lived there. So I knocked and no one opened the door but this guy poked his head out of a window at the way top and HQ tried to tell me to ask for Olinda but she had this massive amount of banana in her mouth and I couldn´t really understand and she started laughing and so I started laughing and we looked like two crazy people, one Latina, one gringa, laughing our heads off and trying to communicate with this guy but being unable to.
Finally she got it out that we were looking for Olinda. Not home. Madalena? Hold on. So we´re waiting and waiting for her to come to the door and all of a sudden this guy with a huge TV in his arms comes up to us and we´re like hey, how are you and he says tired and we ask if he wants help and he said no but for us to knock on the door. So HQ knocks on the door and the guy is like HOLD ON SHE´S COMING and HQ is like "Umm no, there´s a guy here who wants to enter and he has a gigantic television (televisor gigante)" and I just start busting up laughing AGAIN and once again, we look crazy. At least I can laugh about my ridiculous life.
I can´t think of much else to say, except that I love you guys and I always pray for you. I´m waiting anhelosamente (you can look that up) to hear from my BROTHERS whom I love very dearly. And I can´t wait to hear about Chase´s mission call! Make sure you tell me asap. Don´t forget to email me about it.
I love you, I hope you´re doing well, etc. Until next week (at which point I will know about transfers!),
Hermana Coppins
WRITE KAMI A LETTER (She would love to hear from you!):
The easiest way is to use www.dearelder.com. Simply choose her mission (Chile Antofagasta) and then select pouch mail and it is free. You fill in your own information and then you put in "Sister Kamian Coppins" and it will get to her. Then you just compose a note online (like an email) and hit send. It is that easy.
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