Construction in Coinco

  All has been going well...just extra busy with the KH build in the neighboring town of Coinco. We've been trying to go help as much as we can and it has made time fly by! This Saturday the majority of the construction group will be heading to their next build, a town in the far south called Hornopiren.

We are entering spring here, so the weather has been nice and we've able to do a couple of hikes....really pretty.
We also had the CO visit and went to the special day assembly which was very encouraging. 
They're having local elections here so the streets have been full of propoganda, some of the canidates are pretty intimidating-looking (please see pic :) ).
That's a little mini update for now!

Homeward bound...

 So a lot has happened since I wrote last. After visiting Janel and Joel I got to go to a Kingdom Hall build semi-close by to them. Then I had to leave the country to extend my visa and decided to go with Vanessa to San Martin Argentina. It was a very cute town, the architecture makes it have a European feel...even the accents sound different than in Chile. After that we headed back to Donihue and got to visit with the friends there.
Then I made an impulsive decision to see how flight prices to the US were and they weren't to bad. So I decided why not and came home :) It was a packed month! I got to catch the District Convention in English...even getting to hear Bro Splane there which was a special treat. An exciting construction project in the area was the Hmong translation center (it's like a mini Bethel) so I got to help a little on that. And then we got to relax up in Tahoe which was amazing! It was so nice to get to see and visit with a lot of the friends and of course with family...it just seemed to go by in hyper-speed though!
I arrived safe and sound back to Chile a couple of days ago. I'll try to keep you updated on how my new adventures go :)

Northbound

My last weeks in La Junta really did fly by! There were a lot of cold days, one day we couldn't even get to Lago Verde because the road was frozen over and the car kept losing traction and sliding around...pretty traumatic! A brother from the group who had lived there the longest, nicknamed Pato, had to move back to Coyhaique so it was hard for everyone to see him go. One of my last days we got to got to some hot springs in an area called El Amarillo about 2 hours away...celebrities like Leonardo DeCaprio and Julia Roberts have been known to visit the area...really beautiful!
Going back to visit Stephanie and Juan in Coyhaique was such a treat! Made me feel like I got a taste of home to get to be around family again. It snowed a couple of the days I was there...really pretty but cold. And it was nice to get to see the friends there again too.
Now I'm in Futrono where Janel and Joel live. It has been so encouraging to get to go in service with them and see all the interest they've found. It is a beautiful area and the congregation is really encouraging and there are all kinds of studies that come to the meetings. This last weekend for the second time ever they held the Sunday meeting at a town in their territory where there are a lot of studies. There were 41 in attendance, with only about 18 of those being baptized friends from the congregation who had come to support it.
Well that's a little update for now :)

La Junta

 My time in La Junta has been going by so fast! It is such an encouraging group! The preaching in this area is still so new...only in the last 3-4 years has there been a group here. The territory is really spread out and includes 4 separate towns, including the town of La Junta. 
To give you an idea of the typical schedule of the special pioneer couple here, they drive over 2 hours away every Saturday to an island called Marin and even have to take a little ferry to get there. Mondays they drive 2 hours away to a town called Lago Verde where there are many great studies. Wednesdays are the big meeting in La Junta. Thursday they drive 1 hour away to Puyuhuapi where one sister lives and they hold a condensed version of the same big meeting. Since not everyone can fit in their car, different ones from the group are assigned to go to specific towns with them. Yaici and I get to go with them each week to Lago Verde and Puyuhuapi. Puyuhaupi is filled with German influence since a group of Germans immigrated there to set up factories many years ago.
The group includes a precious newlywed couple. They were only married a couple of months ago and decided to forego a honeymoon to be able to return right back here to his MTS assignment as soon as possible. They are so illicitly happy :)
Also I should mention it has been pretty freezing here...the forcast for tonight in La Junta is 5* Fahrenheit! But nothing that several layers of clothes can't fix. 
I can't tell you how up building my time here has been. I feel like I'm learning so much from the friends and their great examples. Only a couple of more weeks left here and then I head up north....will be sad to leave!