From last week . . . catchin up, I promise!

Benito's Baptism:







The Zone:



Hello,
Well our little abuelito Benito was baptized. Everyone is so excited for him because he is just so happy to have encountered the gospel. I am so blessed to see the changes that it makes in the lives of others. He is so incredibly happy these days and when we first found him he was very sad. I honestly think he is the most popular person in the Ward. At the end of his baptism, the bishop was at the pulpit saying his ‘welcome to the ward’ speech. He was talking about how God’s love and the love of the church members for Benito and Benito started Bowling. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house: ). I will never forget his smile. It was honestly bigger than his face.
Thanks to everyone for Keeping me in their prayers! I am so blessed down in Chile because of it!
Lots of Love,
A perfectly healthy Hermana Gamboa
PS Congrats to Cindy Thomas for her misión call!

From Jan 19, 2009

Sorry I'm a little late posting this!

Pics from Gaston and Paty's baptism:



Service Project for Benito:



Hello all,

I hope you are all doing well and I hope you all realize what a blessing it is to live in the USA :) .

Dos Bautismos
So this week, two investigators that we were teaching were baptized! Paty and Gaston. They are both such strong people with big desires to serve the Lord. It is so great to see how the gospel has changed their lives. Both of them are so happy and have such strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We actually met Gaston my first day here. He was outside of his house smoking when I felt the desire to start talking to him. He has changed his life completely in only a month. He calls me his Hermana Gamboita. Oh, and sorry to say, Gaston looks nothing like the Beauty and the Beast Gaston. Haha.
So every time there is a baptism, something HAS to go wrong. Either they can't find the baptism clothes, or the keys to the baptismal font, or someone has to go out of town last minute, or someone's family or friend tells them bad things about the church . . . it is always something. WELL, with Gaston and Paty everything seemed to be going right. Everything was well planned out and everyone was excited and organized and ready. THEN, Saturday I started to feel a little sick . . . we walked a TON that day in the sun and were fasting for the day. When we returned to the house I felt worse. I ended up spending the night in the bathroom throwing up Saturday night . . . it wasn't fun. I spend most of Sunday sleeping and in a daze. I could hardly even walk when I woke up. I kept praying all morning that I would be able to go to the baptism. I woke up at round 12 with just enough strength to get myself ready for the baptism. With the Lord's help, I was able to take pictures (though my face was swollen) watch the baptism, to congratulate Gaston and Paty, and then return to sleep the rest of the day. In the last 24 hours, I have slept for 16 hours! I woke up this morning almost 100% better! I am so blessed that the sickness was brief and that nothing went wrong with the baptism!

Dulce de Leche/Manjar
Down here the dulce de leche is called manjar. It tastes pretty much the same (But I can't lie, it's a little better in Argentina). The other day I decided that I was going to make some. So I did. It was yummy.

Espanol
My spanish must be getting better because every time I talk lately, someone says, "Wow, she speaks way better than the other hermana." I always feel bad because the truth is that my companera speaks better, I have just been improving and my accent is pretty good now. Sometimes they don't believe I am from the States. But then I start speaking a lot and they realize that I still commit mistakes. My companera is still way better at understanding the Crazy Chileans. I think I am starting to speak like them a little though. Oops.
Oh, and it is always way funny to me that the Chileans never believe that my companera and I are from the same country. Hoe can that be when we look so different?? Then I explain to them that I am part Mexican by ancestry. And then they get all confused... how can I be BOTH gringa AND latina?? It is really funny to see their reactions.

Well I love you all and am so grateful for your love and support!

Hermana Gamboita :)

Gaston and Paty

Camille's first contact, Gaston, and his wife Paty are set to be baptized this weekend! (Camille told us this in a separate letter.) Keep them in your prayers! And here is a VERY old picture of our missionary:

A Good Birthday

So this was another fabulous week. I had a really great birthday to start off. I got 3 Christmas packages the day after! Thank you to Donald, to Webb Knudsen and family, and to my wonderful family! I definitely have enough candy to last the whole year through! The members here also did a lot to make my birthday special. And my roommates. It was a very productive day, and since I LOVE productivity, it was really great!

On Saturday we had the chance to clean up the house of an old man named Benito. I think I've talked about him before. He basically hadn't cleaned his house in over 5 years and he has 5 pets . . . just imagine the dirtiest house you have ever seen and then multiply that by 10 . . . ya. But it was such a huge blessing to be able to serve him. He felt so much love it was awesome. He has decided to get baptized as well. His baptism is set for the 25th.

I'm sorry I didn't have time to write emails this week! I didn't even have time to read most of them sadly! But I am so blessed to have love and support from everyone. I love you all very much and pray for you daily.

Hermana G

New Years in Chile

Hello everyone,

So just when I was thinking that I hadn't seen any pulgas yet (fleas), I woke up one morning to see all kinds of blood spots all over my shirt and sheets! eeeeeeeeeewwwwwww. I showered myself in bug spray and haven't had the problem since. I have a different but related problem though . . . little girls. I think little girls have always liked me, but here in Chile they are like pulgas when I walk down the street. They are cute and I am not complaining, but sometimes it is a little overwhelming. They stare a lot. And hug me randomly. And call me tia. It is funny.

It to amazes me to see the Chileans and their faith. They are so different than Americans. ALL of them (ok, I know I haven't met all the people in Chile, but too bad I am going to generalize in this email) have an incredible faith in Jesus Christ. Every single one that I have met testifies with all of their heart that He lived. And they are so sincere. They believe it 100%, you can feel it and see it in their eyes. I have so much respect for them when it comes to that. I wish I could be more like that.

New Years here was good, but just a normal day for the most part. We were all dead asleep at midnight! I have never slept so soundly in my life as I do on the mission. All the other Chileans were out partying : )

Well, that is it for now,

Hermana Gamboa

Fotos!

Some pictures we got of camille:

MTC

Chile:

Caroling

With her companion

Christmas

Estoy Aqui en Chile!

¡Hola, po!
So Constitución is a coastal city and to be honest it is a LOT like Malibu. There are hills and beautiful beaches and the weather is perfect. I am told that it will become more and more warm, but as of now, it is nice. So I think that if you were to take Malibu and take out all of the rich people and put in a bunch of...let´s say humbler people...much more humble...you would have constitución! It hs actually been hard to get used to the poverty here. The houses are literally made out of 4 wooden boards nailed together. I was put right to work when we got here and visited a lady who practically lives in a shack. We are teaching her about the gospel and trying to help her learn how to read. Sometimes I see houses and I think, wow that house is huge...these people must be real rich! And then I realize that if that house were in the States it would be considered a poor house. It is crazy. I have decided that my family lives in a palace. Yet still I don't know if I could call it poverty here because they are all happy and don't seem to mind at all. And actually, most of the poorest houses hat don't have many of the nice things we have still have satellite TV! Haha.
The people here are very friendly. Their culture includes lots of kisses and I am trying to get used to how long their hugs are...it is awkward sometimes even for me (Jordan, you would hate it). The church members are very sweet and very supportive. They feed us lunch every day. We basically eat once a day (lunch). We eat some cereal in the morning and dinner doesn't exist. Instead the lunch is super huge and super fatty. But these sweet families who don´t have very much sacrifice to feed us so we are greatful for what we get. My companion's name is Hermana Wheatley, from Utah. She is super sweet and super animated and very patient with me.
So it is kind of weird to have a warm Christmas. But honestly, I think we've had Christmases with this weather before in Southern California so it isn´t that weird. They do have Christmas trees and Christmas decorations and Viejito Pascuero (Santa), but it just isn't the same. Christmas isn't a big deal for the Chileans at all. Not like in the States. On Christmas Eve our Ward Choir along with some other missionaries from the surrounding areas are going to sing Christmas Carols in the town Plaza. I am way excited! We are going to spend those two days visiting different families. It will be lots of fun.
Well I hope you are all doing well in the States! I hope that you are remembering the true meaning of Christmas and remembering that it is the season to give. I also hope that you all realize how greatful you should be to have what you do. Honestly even with the financial troubles going on you all are still very blessed. I love you all!
Camille