March 1, 2016

Daniel arrived in Vina del Mar!  Here is a note we got from his mission office a few days before the email from Daniel.  It is funny, especially given what Daniel told us about his arrival in the mission (see his email below : )

Dear family Cheney,

Your son has successfully arrived to the great mission Chile Viña del Mar. We are so excited to have him here with us and for the great opportunities he will have in bringing souls unto Christ.

Please accept these pictures of your son in front of the famous Flower Clock of Viña del Mar and your son with President Díaz and his beloved wife. Also included is a picture of him in front of the Valparaíso/ Viña del Mar lookout.

We hope you have a fantastic day!

Here is the letter Daniel wrote:
  
 
Hey Guys!!!

So we left for Viña tuesday. They dropped us off at this one spot and gave us a Book of Mormon and the address for the mission home and said "Good luck!" It was a little scary and we had to ask a lot of people for help with the directions and to give the Book of Mormon to someone but it turned out all right. 

 

Yikes!  So as a mom, I'm thinking, wow, that is some introduction to the city.  Good luck?!!

 

I arrived in my sector Wednesday night. I am in the Olmuè sector and the Olmuè ward. My companion is Elder Gonzalez and he is from Columbia. He's a great guy but he speaks little to no English so looks like my Spanish is going to have to improve pretty quickly. Haha it's fine though I can understand 90% of what he says so we're good. It's the rest of the Chilenos here that I'm worried about. They talk so fast haha. 

So as missionaries apparently we walk a lot. It's ok though because I stopped sweating so much, but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm dehydrated. It actually isn't that hot probably in the high 70s and maybe in the 80s around midday. We do walk just about everywhere and our sector kind of looks like a desert.

 

Also, my English is getting worse and I'm not sure if my Spanish is getting any better haha. If this keeps up I'm not sure how I'll write. 

We are both new to the sector so we arrived Wednesday night literally not knowing anybody. So we walked around met some members and other people. In 2 weeks we'll have a better set up but until then we're working to meet people and have lessons. 

The biggest thing I have noticed here is that whenever we talk to people about religion, attending church, reading the scriptures, or praying, their excuse every single time is "I'm super busy." They always say there is something going on or in a little they will have time for religion. This doesn't make any sense to me because God should be all we have time for. Our relationship with God and our Savior should be the focus point of our lives and everything else should be an appendage to that. If you really think about what it means, eternity, paying the price of right now isn't a sacrifice. So this week I want to challenge you guys to make Christ the center point of your life. 

Everything is great and I'm looking forward to working here in Olmuè! Looks like my pdays will be on Monday from here on out. Also if you guys can send me your favorite scripture or quote that you have! Much appreciated!

Love,

Elder Cheney