"Yup, I am in Talagante. My companion is Elder Pena from the Dominican Republic. We get along great and are going to have a lot of success together. We already have 6 fechas and only after three days, we have invited someone to be baptized. The people here are very loving and I already feel at home. Everything is more chill and the air is clean. It's not as hot because there is a wind. I also live in a super nice pension that's actually a condo. I live with one of my good friends, Elder McBride and it has been a blast. Elder McBride and Elder Hallstrom are the district leaders. I am excited to be working with them. If I am lucky, I think I will be ending my mission here. It is a country town like Idaho Falls. There is a small outdoor mall and everyone seems to know eachother to some level. The only thing to top it off would be some country tunes! haha"
"This week was pretty cool. I actually wasn't even in my own sector. I was busy traveling back and forth from Talagante to Santiago. The first day was kind of embarrassing because I have a ton of stuff. I think I have more stuff than the sister missionaries. My bags and suit cases are hhheeeeavy! haha I just had a lot of people gift me things and I can't just throw them away. Maybe I'll send a package home, but I'm nervous that it will get lost in the mail. Aside from that, I had to pack all my winter stuff, which is really bulky, but somehow I managed it. A man picked us up in an old ghetto van and we just strapped our bags on the top. haha It was awesome. Elder McBride and I were freakin' out the whole way there because we were going to live together and we both are country boys. He is from Thatcher, Arizona. We also have some friends in common because I met a whole bunch of them at EFY. I am also living with Elder West, who get this, was JP's companion in the MTC. haha Small world, right? My companion, Elder Pena, is cool. We teach really well together and he reminds me of Russell, who of course, is serving in the Dominican Republic. Everything's just connecting. I love it."
"The next day, I had to go back to Santiago because my companion had an appointment. While I was there at the temple, a missionary from the East mission named Elder Phoenix saw me and was way excited. I think he was from my zone in the MTC. It was good to see him again. The following day the office elders called us and said that Elder Pena had to do his carnet, so we went back to Santiago. I got to spend the day with Elder Smart and we ordered pizza! He also got special permission for me to help in the office the next day. It ended up just being half the day because one of the places for the carnet was closed, so they were done early. That just means that I'll probably be with Elder Smart again next week. It's gonna be legit! haha"
"We already have 6 fechas with some really cool people. I also was able to set up a baptismal date with a little girl named Catalina. She wants to be baptized with her brother. It's pretty awesome. The people here are so kind and love my name, Elder Smith. I guess they have never known an Elder Smith, so they all freak out about it. They take really good care of me and I can already tell that I will love it here."
"One embarrassing thing that you guys will secretly enjoy too much is.., yesterday I was walking to a little country hospital because one of our investigators is having a baby. It was freakin' hot and I was looking at this big empty lot right in the middle of a bunch of houses. I was thinking about what they were going to put there.., like a chapel or a city building? Then I lost interest and right when I turned my head forward, I ran into a huge metal sign! Who puts metal signs in the middle of the sidewalk?! Chilenos! It was a big sign so it made a huge sound like wang wang waaaannnnggg! There were some people behind us that saw the whole thing! haha My companion just looks at me like did you really just do that? haha Now I have a huge mark on my forehead and a big bruise and cuts on my knee. haha It was so stupid!"
"A cool fact about Talagante is that it is a district. It is the only district in the mission and we are in the paper work for turning it into a stake. I will most likely be here when it makes the transition. It will be the first new stake in Chile since President Holland came to reorganize everything. I think that is pretty cool! I know the district president and as a zone leader, I am working a lot with the high councilmen in the stake. We have already had a couple meetings and it is really cool to see the difference that we can make. The people here are really humble and they have already seen or heard the missionaries, so they are not as receptive. However, I think that I will do well here."
"Once again we have pulgas! They are not as bad as the coast, but I found one that jumped onto my fingernail at lunch. It was nasty and I popped that little pimple pulga fast! haha I consider myself a pro at pulga popping! Gross right? In the morning our pension smells like a pasture. It's great. You can see tractors everywhere and everyone is more easy going. Our sector is pretty big, but we don't have bicycles. I haven't walked so much in my life! It is my biggest sector so far."
"Elder Pena was sick yesterday, so we only worked for half the day. Today, we played soccer in the morning and I sucked it up. haha Then we went and ate completos. It was good. Now I can go buy some food! Elder McBride shared his food with me because we never had time to go shopping. It was a really busy week. I mostly ate my supply of chocolate and jerky that I had been saving."
"Oh, I am teaching an investigator that Elder Cloward taught a long time ago. Her name is Margarita. I just thought that you might like to know. I also hear that I should be getting my trunkie papers next month. I miss you all a lot. I am happy here in the country. Send my love to everyone and tell them that I am doing fine...aside from running into stationary objects in the middle of the sidewalk! Have a great week!"
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Rinconada District |
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| Elder Pena and Elder Smith |
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| "Cars" car in Talagante |
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| Sunset in Talagante |
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| Maipu Zone |