October 21, 2013

 So I had the TB test, they insert a bit of liquid into your arm and it makes a little bubble. I don't know what it is, but it makes a reaction if you've been exposed to TB. You wait 72 hours and then go back and check. When I went back, I had a sore on my arm that measured 12mm. Normal standards say that if it's bigger than 10mm, you've been exposed. The standards of the church are a conservative 5mm, just to be safe. This friday we are going to Talca for a chest x-ray to see if I have latent TB (since I don't have any symptoms). The 12 is just the measurement of the sore on my arm that will go away. It's actually still on my arm but it's fading away. If it turns out I have TB, it's latent because I don't have symptoms and i will need to take a medication for the next...6 months, I think, to control the TB. I think, but am not sure, that the medication will make the TB go away and I won't have to worry about it again. But we're not at that point yet so I'm not even going to worry about it.

At this point, we don't know if I have TB or not, just that I've been exposed. On the 26th, we're goint to have a mission fast for Hermana R. She has a test on the 28th to see if she still has TB and we're hoping the results will come back clean. 

So this was the craziest week of my life. So last Monday we were in Santiago right? Well we got back super late that night. The next day we got a call from our mission nurse confirming that we had to got back to Santiago for the test results. So we travelled to Talca for our district meeting as usual on Wednesday. After our district meeting, instead of going back to Conti, we took a bus to Rancagua. Travelling to and from Santiago is a bit pricey. We barely had enough money to get to Rancagua. We stopped by a grocery store called Jumbo. It's officially my favorite store in Chile becuase it has Dr. Pepper. I was the happiest little missionary when I saw it. I also bought an Arizona fruit cocktail that's watermelon flavored. (it's the same brand as Arizona Iced tea, but its not tea) It was DELICIOUS. I found some Watermelon flavored punch at the store today. You bet I bought it. the only sad thing is I have to wait until December to enjoy the real thing.

 

But i digress.

So we were in Jumbo looking at Cup Noodles for my companion when suddenly we found President W! Long story short, he bought our drinks and took us to the mission home. Chuta! The mission home is beautiful! And there was a piano. Needless to say, I played for the 2 hours that we were there. It's was wonderfully stress relieving.

 

Anyway--President W took us to the sisters' apartment that we were going to be staying with. We spent the night there and got up early to catch the train to Santiago. We did the same thing all over again...with the metro and the MTC and the temple. Except this time the temple store was open so I got to buy churchy things! 

 

When we got back to Rancagua, we stopped by the mission office to drop off our reembersements so we could have money for the rest of the month (DON'T WORRY, I HAVE PLENTY OF MONEY NOW). Hermana J, the nurse was in the office and she wanted to have a meeting with us to talk about TB and what the next steps were. Then Pres. W came. It was kinda funny, they were talking to us like we were all terrified, but to be honest I'm actually pretty chill about all of this. I know that the church will take care of me if I end up having TB. Did you know that Elder Russell M. Nelson is aware that there is TB in Chile? Around conference there were several emails that got passed around in the mission health office and Elder Nelson was included in those emails. Apparently he is the head of the mission health committe. So for the reason and many others, I'm not worried in the slightest.

Then we made the long journey back to Conti, getting back at 10 to midnight.

We didn't have very much time to work this week, but we managed to still have time to teach several lessons and even do some service! It ended up being a pretty successful week!

I hope you're all doing well! Don't worry too much about me, everything will be fine. Hopefully I'll have the results of the x-ray by next Monday, but I'm not sure. the following Monday for sure!

Love you all!

Hermana Hutchinson

October 14, 2013



Greetings from Santiago, Chile!

So the other day, my companion and I were doing some contacting before lunch when we got a call from the mission nurse. She told us we were due to come to Santiago on Monday (today--p day) to get our TB tests. We left Conti Sunday night, slept in Rancagua and took a train to Santiago this morning. Our adventures included taking the metro (which was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life. It was stuff the bathroom in high school all over again.) going to the temple, stopping by the MTC and seeing one of the missionaries from the ward in Conti, eating Pizza Hut, singing hymns in the park....and coming to the ciber to write our families! The only sucky thing is we have to COME BACK on thursday so they can look at the results of the test. I love Santiago, but it's freaking 7 hours from Conti and really expensive. But the bookstore at the temple was closed so I won't mind coming back because I want churchy things. Like the new Liahona with the conference talks. 

This week we have 2 people on date for baptism! The notable one is C. He is 10 years old. His mom was a less active, but has started going to church again. The cool thing is C decided that he wanted to get baptized on his own. Nobody told him he needed to get baptized. There is something really special about this kid. I think there's a possiblity that we are teaching the first prophet from Chile ;)

Les quiro mucho. 

Hermana Hutchinson

October 7, 2013



AH I don't have much time today. Today will be a short email, sorry!

Are you ready to hear about transfers? ...............I'm staying in Conti with Hermana M! I'm really excited but I'm also pretty sure this will be my last transfer here. I'm going to hit my 6th month mark in my first sector! haha Or maybe I'll pull a Sister B and stay here for a year.

Yea for conference! I really enjoyed it this year. I also LOVED President Uchtdorf's talk. I can't wait to get the printed talks to I can study them! I also really loved the talk by David McConkie. golden

Not much happened this week, except for the news of Hna R. She has to take a 6 month break from the mission. The poor girl has TB and pnuemonia. Pray for her please!

Hermana Hutchinson

September 30, 2013

Another crazy week.

So when this tranfer started, we had Hna. S, Hna. R, Hna. M and me. Hna S got emergency transfered 2 weeks in and we got Hna. S. Then last week happened. Poor Hna R has been sick for a million years. She had pnuemonia but she never really got over it. So last week we had ANOTHER emergency transfer. Hna R got sent to Talca so she can be closer to the doctor and we have Hna B. She is from Boston and she is super cool. I really like her. But wait there's more! Hna S has asthma and her sector is pure hills so it's difficult for her. So for sure she is getting transfered next week so Hna B has to learn her new sector in 2 weeks and this is her first transfer. Luckily for her, she learned spanish before coming on her mission. She speaks about as well as me, but she has a hard time understanding. But wait there's more! Okay, Mom, don't freak out. Don't freak out. Everything is okay. Don't freak out. It turns out Hna R has tuberculosis. So everyone who lived with her while she was sick has to get tested for TB. But don't freak out mom because remember when I got my TB shot? So I don't have TB, it's all for precaution's sake.

So that was my week in a nutshell.

But the best thing in the world happened. P got baptized!!!  He is super awesome! The spirit was super strong at his baptism. His birthday was also yesterday so he got the gift of the holy ghost on his birthday! I would say that's the best present you could get for your birthday.

To answer your question, yes I'm going to watch GC. We're going to watch it in the chapel with the ward. It starts at 1pm here and the second session at 5pm. How weird is that? I'm just happy it's not in the middle of the night or anything. We couldn't watch the RS session because it's started at 9pmand we have to be in our house at 9:30. I was bummed, but someone in the ward is going to download it onto a CD and give it to us. So I'm not bummed anymore.

And dont worry about me not having food, I have plenty of food. And the members feed us everyday so don't you worry. In fact, you should worry about me getting fat because they eat so many carbs. Bread, rice, potatoes and more bread. And cookies. So worry about that. And I'm plenty warm. Don't you worry about a thing. Cuz every little thing...is gonna be alright.

I will have news of transfers next week. I don't want to leave Conti, but we'll find out soon!

¡Que le vaya bien!

Hermana Hutchinson