Caldera

Thanks for all of the photos! It looks like you are all having a great time this summer. Did Bailee find all of those cute activities? I love them. So creative!! I am glad you got to enjoy the holiday. I am freezing here in Caldera, but I did find a really cute 4th of July shirt in the market to celebrate. However, I forgot to use it, and someone had to remind me that it was Independence day. So I decided to wear the shirt today in remembrance of Independence haha. 

This was my first week in Caldera. It is much colder than Arica, although not horribly cold yet. It is a rather small town, but it is a lot of fun. The members are really great and love to give us food every night. In fact, just about every house that we go to wants to give us something to eat or drink. The people here are a little more rushed than in Arica, I have noticed. I wanted to do some street contacts my first day and when I went to talk to people, they just kept walking or said something super brief like thanks and keep on there way. In Arica it was difficult to get complete strangers to stop talking haha, so thats one of the differences I have noticed. The branch however, is super awesome. We had an attendance of 64 this past Sunday, and my companion had taken me to meet just about all of them before Sunday, so it was already like walking into a home ward. I knew all of them. 

The sector is going to receive a grand change this transfer! In the last two transfers my companion spent more time fighting with her companion than working. She said most days they just went to member´s homes and stayed there for several hours. Because of that, we only have 5 investigators when we should have at least ten always. Plus, these investigators are almost all ancient investigators that have been meeting with elders and sisters for YEARS! I have to admit that I was a little overwhelmed to see the standstill that this little town has had with the gospel, but at least I know that there is tons of room for improvement. I spent this week stressing the importance of finding new people to teach and fulfilling our responsibilities as missionaries. We have three appointments this week with possible investigators and we are getting the members involved with us. We are going to have two family home evenings tonight with members and investigators. I am super excited. 

We also went to the market that Caldera has on Saturday to publize our free English classes. The other missionaries were amazed by my saleman´s ability, and we were able to give about 200 invitations and pamphlets. This coming Saturday we have planned to have a movie night in the chapel, so we also gave out invitations for that in the market. I am super excited to see the changes that are going to occur in Caldera. Keep the people in your prayers; we have a lot of work to do here!

I love you guys and hope that you keep enjoying your summer together:)

Hermana Biggs