My favorites in Chile

AHHHH!!!   We made it here to CHILE!!!  It is soooo good to be back.  I am LOVING  it being with the people I love again.  

This is Ximena.  When I had only been here two days as a missionary, we went to her house and taught her family.  It was raining so hard and we had been walking all day.  Her family let us in and fed us and then we taught them.  She is like my sister.  She started coming to church and later in my mission she decided to go on a mission.I I was so excited for her! When my parents came she went to the temple and they totally loved her.  They helped her with the money so she could go.  She went to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I am so happy for her, she is so rad!!!  

Anyways, she came to get us at the airport.  So good to be with her again.  She was the only one that knew that we were coming. It was a surprise for everyone else.

Here is the hostel we are staying at.  We love the hostel!  We got a private room and bathroom and free internet. What's not to like?   Of course we took the micro(bus) and got sick.  Only once though!  There is a metro now in Santiago so we have been riding that...it's SO nice! Typical Chile.  Dogs in the streets looking like they are dead.  Random things, store signs etc. The smells and the feeling and the streets are just the same. Ah!  Just eating it all up! Of course we went straight to Ramon's house.  I LOVE HIM!!  He was so excited and surprised.  to see us.  This is  a mug that is for 'HERMANA HUGHES ONLY!'  I always drank herbal tea with him out of this cup.  He had it all clean and ready to go waiting for my return.  In his fridge he still has my water bottle..from 5 years ago!   CON FUERZA RAMON!!

AHHHH!  I have many memories here in front of his house.  This is were we taught him the gospel.  It was about this time of year (summer in Chile) 6 years ago!  When my parents came to pick me up after the mission, he painted his whole cute little house blue for them.  He borrowed dishes so that he could have MATCHING dishes for when they came to eat with him.   He was so excited about this and my parents loved it.  He is just so sweet and my 'Chilean dad'.  

Of course he still had EVERYTHING (the photos and notes) that we had given him up on all of his walls!

We then went to see FLOR and GENARO GENARO, Chitymoya, mura, crema! They were so cute and excited and surprised!

Then she fed us a HALF of a watermelon each.  Oh boy, back to the mission eating again.

They have all their stuff we gave them up on the walls too.  This is their sealing document that they got when they were sealed about 2 years after I left. Genaro was freaking out, so excited.  "It is such a blessing to receive you here in my home.  I give thanks to God. "  He ran to the store and bought this big chicken and fries to feed us.  They are so hospitable here.  It reminds you of that we should be more like them.  

Then to Jesana's house.  This is her patio where we met for the first time.  An amazing story.  She was praying all night long for God to bring her the true church. She was in the shower the next morning when we knocked on her door. She threw on some clothes and ran out all wet with shampoo still in her hair crying and said "I've been waiting for you."  It was amazing. 

Her kids are so  big now!!  She was pregnant with this little one when I left Chile.  

I love these people and this country!  I'm having the best time ever.  So grateful to be back here again...and the weather is PERFECT as well.