Things are finally getting back to normal here in Talca. But this week has been very interesting, a week different than any other week in the mission, including lots of service opportunites, and having to run for my life (more on that in a bit) So I'll go ahead and try my best to explain everything that's happened this past week...
So Monday afternon we headed to the stake center. There we went and we were gonna go help a member who's house got destroyed, but we weren't allowed to go in, it would be too dangerous. Then the leaders there told us to get there early in the morning to help unload trucks with food and stuff. So Tuesday morning we went over there and helped unload the trucks, then helped put all the food and stuff into bags to distribute. So that took a while, then we went back to the sector to help out around there. Then later that day we got the call from the zone leaders to meet at our chapel at 7 in the morning, that we were going to Constitucion. So I got pretty exctited, I really wanted to go help over there. For those of you who don't know, that is the city on the beach that got most affected by the earthquake and tsunami that occured after.
So Wednesday morning we got up bright and early and got to our chapel. All of the missionaries from Talca got in a bus and headed over to Constitucion. So first things first, over there it was a lot worse. We didn't even go to the worse parts, we went to the places not effected by the tsunami, but still it was a lot worse than Talca. So we arrived at the chapel there, and helped to clean up the wreckage there. The chapel itself was fine, but the walls around it all fell over So we did that for a couple hours, then we went over to the municipality ( is that a word?) Anyways, we went over to like the city. We went to the high school where they were collecting all of the clothes, food, water, all that stuff. There was literally a ton of stuff there. So that's where we worked, collecting together the stuff, moving it, getting it from incoming trucks, etc, until about 4ish. Then quite the experience happened.
So there we were, moving a ton of milk. And all of a sudden everyone starts screaming "Get out!" "Run" So all of a sudden we were all running to the hills. There was a tsunami warning. So there I was, running from the city to the hills. But seriously, it was nuts. Everyone just took off, the whole city was fleeing to the hills. So we got there, waited a bit, then found out that it was a false alarm (turns out a policman gave the false info...) Then we went to the designated meet up point, waited for all the missionaries and leaders to get there, then we headed back home to talca. So yeah, quite the experience in Constitucion. First time I've had to run for my life from a tsunami, and something I doubt I'll forget.
Then the next day was the first day we got back into our church clothes (for the first time in almost a week) to get back to real missionary work. Which was a good thing, I had been itching to get back to doing the normal missionary work. So we visitied our investigators, and all that jazz. And since then its been back to the regular missionary stuff.
So I would tell about all of our investigators and stuff, but I'm running out of time. However, they are doing really well. Weve got a couple investigators that are for sure getting baptized this month. I'll keep you posted.
So yeah, thats my report for this week. Hope you enjoyed hearing about my crazy adventures here in Chile. Things aren't exactly normal still, but they are normalizing. Thanks for all your worries, concerns, etc. But don't worry, everything is fine here with me. The church is true, this is the Lords work. Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!
Elder Ryan Mayberry
OH and some pictures. I didn't take my camera to Constitucion, but I'm sure you've seen more of it than I have. But heres some pictures of Talca.
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