Kenzie in Chile

My wonderful, beautiful family! Im finally online!

Its been a pretty long week thats for sure. I cant believe that Im finally out in the mission field! It blows my mind. How is everyone? GREAT I hope!! I want you all to know that I miss you all like crazy. 

Well, my first area is Cordillera and Im totally in love with it here. I'll admit, when I first got here, I think I went through a bit of a culture shock, even though I had been in the CCM for 6 weeks! Its much different here than it is in Providencia, thats for sure. But a GOOD different! Theres definitely a wealthier part here, but most of this area is pretty run down. 

The mission is hard. Harder than I ever thought it would be. I know Ive probably said this a bazillion times, but its something youve heard would be hard your whole life, but its nothing you can really PREPARE for. Its something you just have to experience! Funny thing is, when I was in the CCM, I was secretly wishing that they would let me out of there! But the second I left, I felt HOMESICK! Weird how that works, right? There were so many people there who made my experience so great because of the amount of love that they showed me. Love honestly changes everything. I cant thank my teachers and friends at the CCM enough, because they gave me such a source of strength when I needed it more than ever, and for that I will be FOREVER grateful. My family away from family, forever!

MORE OF MY LETTER BELOW THESE PICTURES!!!!!!

My favorite Chilena, Hermana Saavedra. She became one of my best friends in the CCM.

All of the sister missionaries leaving the CCM for the Mission Field!

Sister Doll, the CCM's wife and MISSION MOM to all of us!

Me and Hermana Mayfield with Hermano Pino, our favorite guy teacher. He seriously had one of the biggest impacts on me as a missionary. So thankful for him!

Me and Hermana Mayfield with one of our favorite almost teachers, Hermano Antileo! He served his mission in Knoxville, TN and speaks AWESOME English!

Elder McOmber from Dallas TX(that left at the airport with me) and Elder Jensen from Canada. Both in our district and awesome guys!

Me and Hermana Maxfield with Elder Steeves and Elder Campbell from our district

My companions name is Hermana Garcia, and BOY is she amazing. I dont know how I would be handling this transition without her! Shes so positive, so upbeat, so uplifting. She was born in the United States, but moved to Guatemala at a young age, so shes fluent in both English and Spanish! How amazing is that? Shes the funniest girl ever, ALWAYS has me laughing and shes such a hard worker. This past week has been one of the hottest weeks this summer....36 to 38 celcius...no idea what that is in Farenheit, I don't remember how to convert it and NO ONE seems to know what Fareinheit is here in Chile! Hahahaha it drives me nuts. BUT, we ate at McDonalds today for P-Day and it made me feel so much better!

Me and Hermana Garcia at  MCD's

Our roommates are Hermana Mayor and Hermana Jimenez, both from Argentina! Hermana Jimenez was with me during the CCM, and was one of my really great friends so its been so amazing to go through this with her.

Me, Hermana Garcia, and our roommates from Argentina Hermana Jimenez and Hermana Mayor 

Me and Hermana Jimenez in front of our ward building. Love our ward!

So Spanish... Pretty sure that Chilean Spanish should be classified as an entirely different language. First day I got out here, I literally thought about 40 times..theres no way that this is the same language all of my teachers spent WEEKS trying to teach me in the CCM. Not going to lie, it is the most frustrating thing EVER barely understanding everything. Honestly, I feel like the only thing I can do right now is spit out a good testimony and a decent prayer! AHHH! I know its only the first week, but dang. This will be an exciting adventure though! Hahaha. 

RANDOM FACT: WE HAVE NOOOO HOT WATER. SO, WHEN WE TAKE SHOWERS, IT'S ICE COLD!!! MAKING ME TOUGHER, THOUGH!:)

So it was my FIRST full day in the mission field, super hot, were walking along this street and I feel like Im dying. Next thing I know this truck drives by us really fast and I hear this loud POP noise. I immediately thought, dang, that sounded like an airsoft gun!!! Next thing I know, my arm is killing me and I look down and its bleeding! SOME DUDES thought it would be hilarious to shoot me with a BB gun or something and now I have this huge bruise! hahaha. Normally I would have laughed so hard, but since it was my first day and I felt like I was in a dream, I was DONE! Hahaha. That was a great, welcome to Chile. Right? My companion took this picture a few days later, can you believe it?

BB gun wound from "the drive by"

Got a package from y'all! Made my week! Sorry I look so bad...it's really hot with no A/C!

Okay. Momma. There are some mission CDs that we have that are passed down that have some old EFY soundtracks. It was playing one day when I was SUPER homesick, and guess what it was?

"Like stones in the river we are tossed and turned, when the current moves so strong. Stones in the living waters over time, shaped until the edges are gone. Polished and smooth, thats what we will be if we put ourselves in Gods hands. Each day of our lives, is a gift from the Giver. Smooth all the edges like stones in the river." I may be wrong, but I remember hearing you sing this all the time growing up! It was such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. Just a reason that I know that he knows me better than I know myself. I listened to that ENTIRE EFY 1999 CD all the time now, because it means a lot to me, and reminds me of my sweet mother and my wonderful family.

I miss you guys SO much. I hope you know that! Im sorry to the people that have written me and I havent responded...Im still trying to learn how to manage my time. I promise Ill get around to it soon! Thank you EVERYONE for all of your support. It means the world to me!! Youll never ever know....

Im so thankful for this chance to serve a mission for my Savior, Jesus Christ. Im so honored to wear His name over my heart everyday! What a priveldge it is. 

xoxo, 

Hermana Randall