"My ward was evacuated because of a Tsunami! That was crazy about what was happening in Japan. I was thinking about the Hanni family back home when I heard about it. I had divisions with Elder Perusguia and we had a blast together. I felt really good with my Spanish after having him for a companion, so I'm not nervous about having a Latin companion this next change. We stayed up a little later and ordered pizza. Elder Perusguia is from Mexico and totally chill. He would have been a great companion and we had a good time together. Anyways, the next day we reunited with Elder Opazo and Thomas. That's when we heard about the earthquake in Japan and kind of blew it off as being so far away. The four of us went to do service for the Araya family who we celebrated Christmas with. I love them even though they are not in my ward. When we got to their house they were watching the news and freaking out about the Tsunami that was going to come. It didn't really scare us and we went outside to paint a fence. After that, we went to eat with another family in our ward who really had to sacrifice to feed us all. It was cool that they would do that for us. Finally, we went proselyting and everyone just wanted to watch the news. We were informed that there was a warning alarm to watch the progress of the Tsunami. We taught a lesson to an investigator while following the news updates. At about 7:00 pm, the alarm changed to alert and people began packing and heading towards the hills. Elder Opazo and I had to go to all the members and investigators homes, who lived next to the ocean, to see if they needed any help getting out of there. Our pension was also part of the evacuation area, so we had to get our emergency kits and backpacks and head to the zone leaders pension. They live in a skyscraper apartment building, so we had our whole district slammed into a small apartment awaiting the arrival of a Tsunami. Not gonna lie, it was exciting! ha ha The Tsunami was suppose to arrive at 1:00 am, so Elder Thomas and I stayed up to watch for it...however...the Tsunami never came. I spent a freezing night, on the cement floor of the zone leaders pension, with only one blanket, for nothing! ha ha Although, the Tsunami didn't do that much damage, it was fun to have the experience. How many people can say that they were Tsunami evacuated? ha ha We felt cool.
"It turns out I will be on the coast for another change! ha ha cool right?! I'm excited and a little anxious to see who my next companion will be. Tomorrow we will be going to Santiago to have the changes. Elder Opazo is a little sad that he doesn't get to stay on the coast, but I am sure he is going to be a leader somewhere else in the mission. I will be here for another month and a half! Whoooo-hoooo!!! Elder Opazo and I had a pizza night to celebrate the time that we had together. He is a great trainer and I am so grateful for all that he taught me. I know he is going to do great wherever he serves. This past week the members were trying to guess who was staying and who was going. Almost everyone said that I was going to stay. Elder Opazo wouldn't accept it and kept telling me to pack my bags. ha ha We had such a good time together. I am excited to have the new experiences that are coming. I just pray that my next companion will be one of my buds in the mission. Today we were with Elder Perea because his companion ended his mission. Elder Perea is the bomb! He is from Colombia and was a part of the whole civil conflict war over there. I love that about missions. You get to meet really cool people. Almost our whole zone had changes, so we're going to have a completely different zone. I'm excited to see what happens."
"It was a fun week. Yesterday a man in the stake, that is in charge of all the music, came up to me and said that I better not have changes. He is planning a musical program and needs me to be a part of it. He said that he has been waiting three months to be able to sing with me. That was really nice of him to say and I'm glad that I don't have changes. I hope that I'll be able to do something fun. I think it is a choir thing. Also I made two goals in soccer this morning! Everyone was so impressed. ha ha I'm going to get really good at this soccer thing, so bring it on!"
"I hope you know I love you. Talk to you soon!"
Elder Dallon Smith
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| All together again! |
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| A statue to honor the founder of Barrancas. |
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| Elders Opazo and Smith having a pizza party! |
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| Chileans dancing the Cheuca. |