Week 2: I am definitely a Gringa

28 June 2017

 

Hola familia y amigos!

I hope all of you are having amazing weeks! I know I had quite the week! I feel like Santiago, Chile is just a bigger Seattle. It feels like that anyway, though it is so much more friendly. The people of Chile are so very loving and such a kind people! 

Funnies from this week (because I am probably having more fun than I should be): 

1) Honestly, you all know (Or I would hope you did), my last name is Eibert. Like I-bert. A lot of people pronounce it wrong, and say E-bert. However, in Spanish, it is pronounced, A-Bert. So I guess if you just pick a vowel, I will learn to respond. 

Me and a palm tree, because I am on the bottom of the world!

2) The Spanish word for sin is pecado. Not pescado. For those that do not have time to look that up, pescado means fish. And we all do not, in fact, have fish in our lives. 

3) My district is fantastic! I love them all so much and I am so happy to have met so many wonderful people! We have 2 Filipino elders in our district, that are seriously some of the best people I have met! Their culture is totally different though. One of them did not hesitate to tell another Elder at lunch the other day that it looked like his tummy was getting a bigger. The Elder luckily took it in stride, but talking with them is crazy and so funny. I also think they speak better English than I do. 

4) (Kaylie will appreciate this one.) My companion was choking on a pear and I looked at her and just said it looked like she was impaired. I swear, I am not mean, I am just so dead tired. We both laughed until our stomachs hurt afterwards. 

5) One of my roommates is from Guatemala and she is so funny. My companion has a really good accent already with her Spanish. At lunch this Hermana told my companion because she could roll her R's that she was born to speak Spanish. She then looked me dead in the eye and said I was born to be a gringa. So stinking funny. I am a gringa through and through. Please pray for me that I might be able to eventually roll my R's---hahahaha!

 

The CCM (MTC). Well actually, it is just the 3rd floor of this building. That is where we all sleep. 

Random: Chilean food is SO good And the BREAD is to die for. How did I get so lucky??

I have learned so much this last week. And like a said last week, THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS REAL. I would not be teaching 20 minutes lessons in only Spanish everyday if it weren't. It is crazy to see how fast all of us are progressing and learning and growing. I am so excited to get out to Rancagua and share this sweet message with the people there. 

The Lord definitely knows us individually though. Spanish was meant for me (hahaha) and I am so thankful it is not any other language. 

 The Santiago Temple (with clouds because it rains almost everyday)

The temple here is beautfiul and I can not begin to express how amazing it is to live on temple grounds. It is an experience I am trying to hard not to take for granted. 

Back side of the temple, our view of it.  

We had one particular devotional this week where a video of a bit from a talk of President Eyring's was shared. He was testifying that it is no human, no man that calls you to serve the Lord. We are called by inspiration. We are called by our Heavenly Father, who knows and loves us all, so very much. It was so powerful to here, that when you are doubting, or wondering if you are meant to be called to a certain place, "be oh so careful" because you are meant to be there. I am meant to be here. I am meant to be here teaching and loving the people of Chile, and more specifically, the people of Rancagua. And though I havent quite made it to Rancagua itself yet, I have so much love for the people there. My heart is full. 

Until next week!! Love you all!!



 A random pic from another window, because why not?

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

PS: pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom, 

Can you please send me, for next week, the talk I think by Brad Wilcox titled His Grace is Sufficient? and also the lyrics for I you Could Hie to Kolob and Where can I turn for Peace?

 Also, my district has 10 members.  4 Elders-- Elder Taggart Inouye, Elder Zachary Taylor (BYU and Heritage Building 25--hahaha, from Idaho), Elder Aquino and Elder Ramos, the last two are the Filipinos (who are learning their 3rd and 5th languages).  5 other Hermanas-- Sydney Peters (Chicago) and Sadie Harding, Abigal Christensen (Idaho) and Rachel Leyvas (Cali) and of course Hermana Knight. I love them all. Make sure to stay connected with the moms, all of us, except Hermana Christensen, are going to Rancagua.

Love you! 

BTW did we pack my tweezers?? I cant find them at all

Love, Ashley

 

Hey mom, I am still alive.

Chile is amazing. Santiago is beautiful. Polluted, but beautiful. It is kind of like Seattle, city-wise, though a lot bigger and a lot friendlier.

The temple was great. It was in English, for all the English-speaking missionaries. It was amazing. I am excited to go again later today.

I do wear the pardon my trench almost all the time. It is cold and rainy most of the time here right now. Though the palm trees give it a different feel still.

BTW if you have a Gmail account, we can instant message. If you have time today or next week, Jessica should be able to show you how to do it. It is called google hangouts. It is like Facebook messenger or instant messaging.

I will write more. Hopefully, you're going to get on in a little bit.

I hope Emily is doing okay, I will keep her in my prayers. How is she doing? How is Tom and Jenna?

Love you, talk to you in a bit

21 June 2017--Week 1 in the MTC

Hola from Chile!!!

 

 

I absolutely love it here!! It rains and is chilly most days, as it is winter time here, but that basically like home haha. There are palm trees and the CCM (MTC, which is the training center I am at for those who do not know) is on the temple grounds. Which I do not know of any other MTC that is like that, but it is absolutely amazing and powerful. We get to explore Santiago today! I am so excited. We have a lot to do and I am excited to interact with the people!

 

My companion is Hermana Knight from Oregon! Which is awesome because we are both already use to the weather here! She also has 5 to 6 years of Spanish classes to, which makes it easier practicing.

 

Holy moly is the gift of tongues real!! We already have 2 investigators and have taught them both twice already, completely in Spanish. It can be rough, but the 20 minutes we have with them each time go by so quickly! There names are Ivanna and Hector. We love them!

 

I love the culture and the life and the food and especially the people!  We are learning to quickly and so much!

 

My teachers are Chilean natives that are so patient and kind, their names are Hermana Volpi and Hermano Rosas. Seriously, the people here make me want to cry because I have so much love for them. I adore them all and love learning here. 

 

My roommates all speak Spanish, which makes for more of an intense immersion experience. Two of them are from the states and two are from Guatemala and Colombia. It is so cool to see so many people from different places united together here!

Santiago itself is huge and there are palm trees everywhere! I love it haha. 

I am so excited to keep learning and to keep you all posted on my experiences and adventures down here. I will try and write more next week! 

 

I love you all and will try and respond to you when you do write, when I can. It is crazy trying to get all the emails I want to write into the hour block we have!

Love you all!!!

Love, 

Hermana Eibert

 

 

Mom,

I cant figure out this keyboard, hence the bad writing. The first week is good. P-days will be every Wednesday while I am here and we have our one hour of email time at 9 am to 10 am. Which is 6 to 7 am your time. Things are fantastic! I know everyone said this would be so hard, but I haven't experienced really any of that yet. 

 

My companion is Hermana (Jessa) Knight! She was the one I found a couple days before leaving, the last sister I found going to Rancagua. She is from Salem, Oregon and is awesome! We get along so great and the Lord really knew we would be the perfect match. She has about the same Spanish experience as me which is nice because a lot of the other missionaries in my district have limited Spanish and we have been having to help them a lot (which has been great). 

 

THEY HAVE MANGO PINEAPPLE COOKIES HERE. I feel like you would love them. However, most of the time we are guessing what were eating and what the package includes as literally everything is in Spanish. But the food is fantastic!!! It is so good and fresh, and the Native Chileans say its not even close to how good the real food is. 

 

I look at the photo album every night right before climbing in my bed. I have got the schedule down and am learning so much and it is great. I don't feel overwhelmed like some other missionaries. 

 

We get to go to the temple today, later this afternoon for the first time and I am excited. It is beautiful and there are so many palm trees. Also, the CCM (MTC) is on temple grounds. I don't know if that is the case for any other MTC, but it is so COOL. We literally look out our windows and the temple is right there. We walk the temple grounds 24/7. There is a little chapel next door that we attend devotionals, classes and church for. We all have to right a five minute talk in Spanish every week, and every week during church they pick 5 to 7 of the missionaries to speak. I made it this week without speaking haha, but one of my roommates spoke.

 

 

There are 6 of us in the room, 2 natives, from Guatemala y Colombia (Hermana Bustos y Hermana Rodas) and they are so sweet. Their companions are Hermana Olsen and Hermana Waldrip). They are all on the 3 week program so they will leave in a couple weeks and Hermana Knight and I will get the newbies. Which I am really excited about because my friend Amanda from my ward in Utah will be in that group. It would be awesome to have her in my room potentially. Which is totally possible because the CCM is at max capacity right now with 40 missionaries, and a good chunk of them are 6 week programmers, and we all flew together from Atlanta. 

 

I didn't sleep on the plane cause it was a plane. Really uncomfortable, but it was okay. They fed us two meals on the plane, dinner and breakfast, which were surprisingly good. 

 

 

I love my district. They are crazy and fun and out of the 10 of us, 8 are going to Rancagua. There are so many missionaries this time going to Rancagua. Maybe 10 sisters total, and at least 4 or 6 guys. It is so fun. 

 

 

Presidente y Hermana Brady are so sweet. They have an older daughter with down syndrome named Annie that they call their third companion. She is so sweet and is at every meeting talking to us and trying to help. They are wonderful people.

I absolutely love it here. It is cold. Freezing and rains most of the time, but frankly nothing I am not use to. No heat really in the buildings, so I wear my coat almost 24/7 hahahaha. 

Love you!!! I am going to try and send out an email from that group list too, so look for that. And I will try and send the like two pictures I have if there is time. We are only allowed to take pictures on pday within a limited time frame, which i think is weird, but whatever. 

Love you! 

Love, 

Hermana Eibert

 

14 June 2017--Arrived in Chile Safe

Hermana Eibert left Seattle International Airport at 1:30pm on 13 June 2017. She flew to Atlanta, Georgia, where she joined many other missionaries that were also on the non-stop flight to Santiago, Chile.

 

We received our first email from Ashley the next day to let us know of her safe arrival. The subject line said: AND I THOUGHT UTAH DRIVERS WERE CRAZY

 

I am at the CCM (MTC) safe and sound! The flights were incredibly long and crazy and I did not sleep at all so I feel dead but will sleep well tonight. I love it here and I LOVE the people and teachers and the MTC presidente y la esposa de la presidente. The MTC is tiny and close knit and awesome. We are all moved in and ready to go.

I am alive. Wednesday is PDAY here so I will write next week. We only have a short time today.

Love you and will write more next week and send pictures. It is pretty here, lots of palm trees. Tell everyone hi for me and give all the kids a hug. 

Love you and miss you. 

13 June 2017--Departure Day

12 June 2017--Fun with Friends

11 June 2017--Open House and Farewell for Ashley

Mission Farewell and Setting Apart

My mission farewell was Sunday, June 11th. I had the opportunity to speak in church and my topic was around the idea that there is safety and happiness found in keeping the commandments. It was a great experience. The stake president was in attendance and I got to meet with him afterwards, as I had not met him before.

So many people had so many kind things to say. I felt so loved and I appreciated every bit of the heartfelt encouragement and love offered. It was such a blessing to have my family and friends there supporting me.

My best friend, Rachael, was able to fly in from Spokane on Sunday morning. She attended church with us to hear me speak. She a constant support and didn't leave my side. Everything was so overwhelming, it was such a blessing to have her there.

We held an open house that evening, dubbing it a "Sweet Send-off" and my mom made endless amounts of treats. It was wonderful to spend the evening chatting with people and being able to say goodbye. My longtime Spokane friends were able to be there as well as church friends and school friends alike. My mom had a journal set out for our guests to write in, messages or advice for me while I'm away. I'm excited to go through and read them.

I'm deeply touched by all the love and prayers I've felt. I've found myself continuously asking myself, how did I get so lucky?

***********


Tuesday evening, June 12th, 2017

I was set apart by President Esquibel in our home at 8pm. My family was present and my dad joined in on the setting apart/blessing. Rachael was also with us. It was a very sweet and inspired blessing. I have been called as an ambassador and emissary of Christ. I've been blessed to find joy in the work. The blessing really focused in on the fact that there are people there waiting for me specifically, that have been prepared by the Lord to hear the good news. There are people I promised in the premortal existence that I would find them and bring them the gospel. Another part, one that is really important to me, is that he blessed me with the capacity to love my companions. I want to be able to love and be friends with all of my companions, and not have any sour memories to look back on. I want to be able to have the spirit with us as a companionship, and that wont happen unless there is love and understanding and patience.

This week has been a roller coaster of emotions and has gone by so fast. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve. Chile here I come!

Mission Call

"Dear Sister Eibert: You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. You are assigned to labor in the CHILE RANCAGUA MISSION. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months. You should report to the Chile Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, June 14th, 2017. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language." 

Last September I decided to start filling out my mission papers. I was so excited and eager. I wasn't going to tell my family what I was doing. In fact, nobody back home knew what I was doing. I planned to surprise my parents with the news when the call was in my hands ready to be opened. I was attending BYU for my first semester and my roommates all knew I was working on my papers (3 of them were also working on papers!) When a potential job opportunity popped up in late November, and after counseling with my Bishop, I put my papers on hold and decided to go for the job. In between November and early February a lot happened, some goods things and some pretty bad, and the job opportunity fell through. I didn't want to turn in mission papers just because the job didn't work out. So I waited about a month and decided to go for it. From the time I decided to finish the papers and turn them in, it only took one week to complete both medical and dental evaluations. My bishop (bless his heart!!) managed to schedule my final interview with him back to back with the stake president on the same night. From the night they were submitted to the day my call was assigned was only 2-3 days. From submitting to having my call in hand was only 9 days. Miracles upon miracles happened and tender mercies are real!!

In September, my family didn't know I was planning on turning in my papers. In March, when I actually submitted, only my parents and bishop knew. On March 23rd, 2017 I was sitting at my desk, in my pajamas because it was a Thursday and I didn't have any classes. I received an email saying I had a package. I promptly started freaking out as I was not expecting the call so soon (and they usually come on Fridays). I read my call privately with my parents over video chat, which was a sweet experience, and then surprised my siblings later that day with a Skype call. I then worked my way out, starting with roommates and friends, before I announced my call to serve on social media and what not. 

Opening the call was so overwhelming and I was sobbing the whole time. Seriously, I was an absolute mess. My gut had been telling me big city stateside like Atlanta or New York and my mom was convinced I was going to Ireland, where she had served. But the Lord had different plans for me, and I'm completely okay with that. I'm so beyond excited and thrilled to serve the people of Chile! I know it's where I'm suppose to be and there are people there waiting for me to share the gospel with them. It is so cool how a place that hadn't even crossed my mind before suddenly is so important and how instantly I have so much love for the people of Chile. My heart is full. I love the Lord and I'm so looking forward to serving as a missionary!