19 DAYS UNTIL I REPORT!!!

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!!!!! 19 DAYS PEOPLE!!! let me write that out again. NineTEEN days. We're down to the teens!! :)

[Oh I probably should've mentioned that because I passed the advanced Spanish test, they bumped my report date up two weeks so that I'll be on a normal transfer rotation when I leave the MTC--just two weeks after I get there. Say whaaat? haha I'm so excited! I can't imagine having to wait another 2 weeks to go on top of the 4 1/2 months I'll have waited. Oh and I'm back to the Provo MTC.

Originally I was called to the Provo MTC, then I got switched to Mexico City (same date as before--July 17th), then to the Santiago MTC (reporting July 4th), and then I got switched back to Provo and I'll be reporting July 3rd!

Can I just tell you what a blessing it was to get switched back to the Provo MTC! When I first learned that I'd be going to the Chilean MTC I was really excited, but I also knew that it meant I'd have to get a flu shot as part of my vaccinations (because if you enter the MTC in the southern hemisphere during the months of Mar-Sept it is required.) Anyway, I hate shots, and am just kind of opposed to the flu shot especially. And after I received notice that I would be going to the Santiago MTC, I prayed that somehow, someway, I wouldn't have to get the flu shot. Well...my mom and I waited and waited and never heard anything from church headquarters confirming the change to my reporting date had been made. So during the three days I was home between trips, we called and the lady at church headquarters said that in the system they had me going to the Mexico City MTC reporting July 17th and they didn't have in the system that I'd passed the Spanish test. (Apparently whoever had told me that I'd be going to the Santiago MTC hadn't updated it in the computer or something.) So she switched it and said that I'd now be going July 3rd and going to Provo. What a HUGE blessing!!! It took me a little bit of time to realize God's hand in that situation, but I know without a doubt that that was His doing!]

So my last post was a little...down in the dumps, so I just wanted to catch you up on everything because life is just so great!

So since writing my last post, my, oh my, how my life has changed.

-I've gone through the temple! (March 29th! Wooh!)

My mom and me! The whole fam was there, but just aren't in this pic.

-I got to go to California for my cousin's wedding and be there with her (shout out to Alysa!)
-I traveled in Europe for a study abroad for 2 1/2 weeks
-Then off to Hawaii for a family vacation (the last Hurrah! according to my Dad :)) for a week and a half
..And then we've been back home for about a week. Oh by the way, my brother and I placed a Book of Mormon on the flight home from Hawaii! :)

I've almost finished my spring classes for college (3 quizzes to go!) and then I'm home free. 

I've been reading the Book of Mormon way more intensely, and let me tell you, that, in and of itself, is life altering. I've also been attending the temple more frequently. I've also seen a huge difference in my life from that. I'm just so happy!

When I first got my call, and the weeks following that, I was so excited to go on my mission. But then as time passed I started to wonder if this really was right. Let me explain...
         
So I've wanted to go on a mission for as long as I can remember. And I've always told everyone that I planned to serve. Because of my program at school, the age change didn't affect me because I had to go to school winter semester too, so my papers would just be going in the same they would've had there been no age change (21-year-old sisters represent! :) haha) Of course I did pray about the decision to go before I submitted my papers, and I knew that the timing was right and my decision was right. But throw in the stresses of school and life and a waiting period of 5 months before I would be reporting and it isn't uncommon to start to wonder about your decision. I mean, it is a HUGE, LIFE-CHANGING decision after all.

I never seriously thought about not going, but the thoughts of what I'd be missing out on for the next 18 months definitely crossed my mind more frequently as time passed. Most of my friends in school will continue on in the accounting program and basically be graduating when I get home (yay for the Master's Program!), so I'll start with an all knew group of people that I won't know at all; all my friends are coming home from their missions and i won't get to see most of them before i leave, etc. The list of things went on and on.

But one day, and it's sad to say that this day happened within the last month, but one day I had this thought about all the people I'd be serving, and the countless lives that I'd have the opportunity to touch, besides my own. And the thought basically said, "the mission is a great opportunity for you to grow, and you will grow immensely, but going on a mission isn't just about YOU."

As soon as I had that thought, I realized how petty most of the things I will be sacrificing here at home are. And my excitement and joy to serve a mission returned exponentially greater than before.

I know that as I've thought more and more about the reality of my upcoming mission service, the reality of all of it has been starting to hit me. The fact that I really won't know everything that I'm about to get into before I go used to overwhelm me a little bit. Haha I used to have this naive view that missionaries just knew what they were about to do prior to going on the mission, that all the little questions (about things like do i really need to bring this or that? Am I really going to be using a dog taser on my mission?? etc. haha) would just be answered and all the gaps (like not yet being a spiritual giant) would be filled. but it's just not so. You go into the mission not knowing everything that your mission will entail and being a spiritual giant isn't something that just magically comes. You have to work at it, and you have to work hard.

In fact, I'll go knowing just a few things: what mission I'm going to, who my mission president is, that David Archuleta is in my mission :), a few of the girls who'll be in my mission (I'm meeting up with a few girls for lunch next week who are going to my mission a couple weeks after I report), and that's about it. But it wouldn't even matter if I didn't know any of that or anything else, because the most important thing that I know is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the Book of Mormon is true!

All the unknowns don't stress me out anymore. The fact that my Spanish is rough (even though I passed the test--seriously the guy who gave me the test must've either been feeling super generous that day, or he had just gotten off the phone with someone who tanked their test so I sounded like a pro compared to last person haha), or the thought of what I'm leaving behind, or anything else that might've worried me or stressed me out at one point or another before, isn't stressing me out anymore.

People have asked me what I'm most scared about for my mission, and I used to give answers, but I am not afraid of anything anymore. I feel so calm about my mission. I have faith and I am doing the very best I can and will continue to do so. I know that without God I am nothing, but He will make up the difference for everything that I lack.

I am now more excited to serve a mission than I have ever been in my entire life, and let me tell you, I've been pretty excited about it before. :) I've had witness after witness that this is what I need to do. (one little small witness was how buying my boots just fell into place; when my mom was shopping for boots for me, she literally got on the website--first site she went to (our neighbor told her about it) had one pair left of the most perfect boots for what I would be needing that were my size (10 1/2 isn't exactly a common size). She ordered them and they fit perfectly. Seriously, such a blessing from God!)

I was reading my scriptures the other day and I ended up in D&C 15:6, which reads,
"And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my father."

I know this was just another witness to me. I know that serving a mission will bring so many blessings into my life. I know that I'm going to the mission that will change my life in the way God needs me to be changed. I have been so humbled these last few months, and I am so thankful to God for humbling us when we can't/won't humble ourselves.

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I am so excited to go share that message with the people in Chile!

Mission Advice for Rancagua!

• Sister #1---

  
  

  -Best mission in the WORLD!
  
  **CLOTHING:

  --Winters are cold and rainy and summers are hot. Soooo, summers are light skirts and dressy, but 1-2 layer shirts and comfortable walking shoes...
  --Winters: take warm tights and/or leggings with good warm/waterproof boots and wool socks. Merrells were my favs.
  --Take layers for shirts in the winter....underarmour, long john tops etc...to wear under your dress shirts.
  --I would try to get a warm and waterproof jacket. I just took a wool coat, but I often had to wear a rain coat over it. If I were to do it again, I would buy just one good, warm, waterproof coat.
  --Anything you don't get here, you should be able to find there. Before I left, I felt that if I didn't get it all, I would die there in a third world country....but it is not like that at all...it is a well developed country that has what you need.
  --I took warm, waterproof boots and loved them....found a pair of rain boots though in one of the houses there and wore those sometimes too...I don't know of any sister that flew down with rain boots though...
  --Comfort is most important...I took a pair of heavy, cute leather shoes that gave me blisters and I wore them like twice while I was there...just make sure you can walk a while in whatever you take....
  
  

   **WEATHER/GETTING PACKAGES:

  --It's not abnormally windy...doesn't feel humid....rainy and cold in the winter...hot and dry summers...

  --My mom sent me some stuff I needed...never had trouble getting a package from home...came in about 2 weeks most times.
  
  
    ·Sister #2---
  
  -I will do my best to answer any and all of your questions! Some of it might depend on the mission president and certain logistical things of the mission but I will do all I can to help you out. They are changing the mission boundaries so two of my areas which amounts to 15 months of my mission, will now be in Rancangua so hopefully I can give you some good and realistic information!
  
  **CLOTHING:
  --So as for clothing, I remember that was hard to plan for because you really have to bring enough for winter and summer. It gets really hot in the summer, like 90s consistently and you’re out in it all day. And then the winter would get really cold, like in the 30-40s consistently too. But if you’re by the ocean it doesn’t get as hot or as cold. One nice thing is that Chile is quite developed and the cities have department stores and there are grocery stores everywhere. You can definitely get pretty much anything you need unless it’s a specific brand or something. So for the most part if you don’t have room or don’t think of something you need to bring, you can probably get it there or find a good equivalent.
  --One thing about buying stuff there, so, in most of south America, they don’t really use tampons. So, different sisters would do different things, some would just use what they had in chile, others would bring enough to last for the whole time and others would have their family send them some. But just a heads up on that one.
  
  **MAIL:
  --Mail is great and there were not really any problems with mail so getting packages should be totally fine.
  
  **BUGS:
  --Okay, the bugs…I do not like bugs at all! Ha but, it really wasn’t bad. I was like seriously arachnophobic before my mission and I definitely survived. Did I see lots of spiders, yes, but it was totally fine. They don’t have too many other bugs, no mosquitos. My main advice, okay it might sound silly, but just remember that you’re serving the Lord and He doesn’t want you to be miserable so if you don’t like bugs or the food, just do all that you can and it will all work out because you’re serving Him.
  --As for fleas, it depends on the area. But they’re not that bad. You can get sprays that make it go away if you do get them. Just don’t touch the dogs and you should be fine. The fleas really aren’t too bad though.
  
  **FOOD:
  --As for food and the likelihood of gaining weight…so a lot of sisters gain weight and lot of sisters lose weight. Do what you can, the thing is they eat a lot of fried food and a lot of bread and they serve huge portions. But, I would do my best to show the people how much I cared about them because they show love through food and giving you food…all the time! So for the most part I would just eat it. Most of my mission I lost weight cuz we were walking so much, there was a little part when I started to gain weight but I would just be more careful. It’s hard cuz you can’t really control what you eat for lunch, so in the evenings I just wouldn’t eat too much or just fruit or something. I’m guessing you know that lunch is the big meal of the day so we would eat lunch with the members instead of dinner. But, if you limit the bread intake that will make a huge difference in not gaining weight and it’s easy to turn down the bread without offending them.
  
  **GLOVES/COATS:
  --You asked about gloves, you’ll want some for the winter definitely, it gets cold. If possible, get a kind where you can write with them. I had knit gloves and then I couldn’t hold my pen so it made it difficult to write down contacts and information but just a suggestion.
  --You will want a jacket, a coat, and something for the rain. If your coat is waterproof that works but you will want something warm and something for the rain.
  --Then in spring/fall you’ll want a jacket of some kind, probably waterproof just to be safe. It gets cold and rains a lot. So I would sometimes where my coat or jacket with my rain coat over it, that way I was warm but also not wet.
  --My rain coat was kind of like a trench coat and it worked amazing!!!! But in our mission office they also had rain skirts that the sisters would use so that might be an option as well. It’s like a rain coat and you just put it on over your skirt and keeps out the rain. So either that or a long rain coat. I thought I would never want to wear my rain coat cuz it looked kind of ridiculous but it literally saved me and I don’t know what I would have done without it!
  --As for skirts, I had a few longer ones, but I would just wear mostly the same ones and just wear tights/leggings underneath. I would also sometimes put socks on under my tights, then you couldn’t really tell I was wearing them and it helped keep my feet warmer.
  --But if you have boots, or even buy some there, then you don’t really need long skirts cuz you just layer under your skirt.
  -- My coat went to like mid shin and i'm also 5'10 so i thought it was great!! it really was nice because when it rained i didn't get wet. but, you will want to wear your coat by itself at times too. The farther north you go, the less it rains. But it's still pretty cold. Most of the time I would just wear my winter coat and then for a few days when it rained i would wear that, and then back to the winter coat. So it's nice to have both.
  --Under my rain coat i would wear a sweater and undershirt and sometimes a jacket and then my rain coat. Sometimes i would also wear extra layers or leggings under my skirt or two pairs of tights.
  
  **BOOTS:
  --So, for boots, our mission office had rain boots for us to use but now with so many missionaries I’m not sure that’s still happening. But boots can be really heavy so if I were you, I would just plan of buying some there. I had companions who had their rain boots as well as just winter boots. But I would just use my rain boots. As for galoshes or just rain boots, the thing is that when it rains, it rains. There were times when we would just have to walk through puddles up to our shins. So if your boots are good and waterproof, that’s what you’ll be up against! As for umbrellas, umbrellas from the states usually didn’t last too long. But you can buy really durable ones there that handle rain and wind and don’t flip around so I would just plan on buying that there.
  
  **BAGS/BACKPACK:
  --My mission, they did not give us a bag so I would bring one just in case. Oh and bring Ziploc bags…it comes in handy in the winter to put your stuff in it so your scriptures don’t get rain damaged.
  
  **SHOES:
  --Okay, shoes…I had some danskos that I got from the sister missionary mall, they are durable and good for walking in. Shoes are hard because you want to look nice, but you walk a lot. I had a bunch of flats that got holes in them but it wasn’t hard finding shoes there. But I would recommend danskos definitely, or whatever is comfortable to you. But if they work for summer and winter, I know when it was really hot some of my shoes would give me blisters. And you’ll definitely want two good pairs of walking shoes and then maybe some other cute, nicer flats to wear to church or conferences and then when you go out to work you can just change your shoes to your walking ones after. We would lots of times do that and it worked great.
  
  **HOUSING:
  --We never lived with the members, but they would give us lunches. And the members are really great about helping and if you ever need anything, they love their missionaries!!! We would usually live in small houses that the church rented and lots of times we lived with four or six hermanas in one house. But in Santiago and really big cities they live in apartments mainly.[She wasn't in the big city]
  
  **WEATHER/KEEPING WARM:
  --Winter nights are really cold. We had tiny little space heaters, one space heater per companionship but we couldn’t use it all night long cuz it would use up too much electricity. So we would turn it on and heat up our bedroom while we planned each night and then we’d bundle up. The best way to keep warm at night…one, a sleeping pad, or two, I would just take my blanket and when I would get in bed I would just tuck it all in around me and body heat would just get trapped in like a little bubble and I would stay warm pretty much all night. It would only be in the morning getting up or if my blanket came off that I would get cold. But wool socks are amazing!!!! That I definitely recommend and anything fleece. It is definitely the warmest. Even a thin fleece jacket can keep you surprisingly warm or fleece pajamas or even a small fleece blanket.
  --As for the weather, it gets really windy in the springtime, so in august, September it is pretty windy but the rest of the year it’s not too bad. As for humidity, so it seemed a little more humid than Utah but I’m from Chicago and it definitely wasn’t nearly as humid as it is there.

Mission Advice for Santiago East

• Yay!!!!!!- I'm so excited for you and totally jealous that you get to go to Chile!
  

  
  **WEATHER:
  --Alright- first things first... Chile (at least in Santiago) seems to have the two extremes of the weather spectrum! It gets REALLY hot in the summer and REALLY cold in the winter and it rains like crazy sometimes.... as in you'll will get drenched to the core if you don't have a good water resistant coat that goes to the knee and some waterproof boots that are comfortable enough to tract in all day, through inches and inches of water. Chile doesn't have a water collection or street sewer system. In the states, when it rains, the water runs along the side of the road and then into the underground sewers, right? Well, in Chile, that doesn't exist. The water just sits and the streets become massive lakes until the rain stops and eventually evaporates off the streets haha.
  
   **SUMMER CLOTHING:
  --As for summer clothing, just bring lots of comfy, missionary appropriate tshirts. I was surprised that sister missionary attire could be so casual. In the pamphlets they give us to get ready for the mission, everyone looks SO super cute and nice. In Chile, you still want to be cute but, you also need to be VERY practical. We are outside ALL day EVERY day. I went into the mission with nylons, heavy skirts, and button down blouses... By my first or second preparation day, my trainer just knew that we needed to go buy me a new wardrobe that worked for the summer weather. It was just nuts trying to maintain such a style. We opted for light tshirts with cute designs and patterns on them. that was a life saver!
  
  **SHOES:
  --As for shoes, I brought two pairs of the same Clark shoes and switched wearing each pair every other day. That way one didn't just get ground down til there were holes in the soles. They each lasted perfectly the entire mission unlike everyone else's shoes.
  
  **MISC. INFO:
  --Bring a good sturdy umbrella for windy rain.
  --Bring plenty of cardigans and undershirts like camis or shady shirts by down east. [for winter]
  --Bring sunscreen. it's kind of expensive in chile and antibacterial gel for on the go
  
  **HER THOUGHTS:
  --I love Chile. The people are so kind. They are quick to love others and share their culture. Take advantage of the work out time in the morning by running or jump roping. Monitor what you eat outside of meals with members. You might gain a lot of weight. or maybe you won't. it kind of varies among sister missionaries haha:) But, just enjoy your short 18 months serving the Lord. And let Him change and guide you to an even higher level. You. Are. Amazing. and I just have this feeling right now writing this. Hermana Butler, don't be scared to openly love your companions and the people you meet there. Laugh and play. Work hard. Be obedient. and you'll get to the end of the mission, the happiest you've ever been:)
  
  --Check out this blog post too... I totally think she's got some great ideas:
  http://bellainberlin.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-wish-i-wouldve-known.html

Mission Advice for Santiago West

• Sister #1----
  
  

  
  

  **BAGS/LUGGAGE:
  --In my mission they gave us bags to use every day. I just brought three suitcases, a large, medium, and small one. Our bags we carried every day at first were just over one shoulder, and then they gave us other ones that were like backpacks with waist straps. I didn't waterproof it, we would just put grocery bags over our books and then put them in the bag haha.
  
   **BUGS:
  --Haha......bugs......there honestly were a lot of problems with fleas, and I had bed bugs in one area. They bite your legs like crazy sometimes! Haha but you just have to air out your apartment and spray lots of raid, and if you have bed bugs the mission will pay someone to fumigate your apartment.
  
  **WINTER CLOTHES:
  --Just bring lots of layers. I just had a bunch of sweaters and long sleeves shirts underneath. Sometimes I would wear two button up sweaters and then my big winter coat. I just got a long peacoat. It's good if it's at the knee or a little longer. I also brought a raincoat because in the winter it rains a lot there! And rubber rain boots. I would have died without those! I also brought some black leather, lined boots. I wore those every day in the winter when it want raining. They were perfect.
  --I also brought lots of scarves. They're funny, the little Hermanas will tell at you if you don't have a scarf to cover your nose an mouth in the winter haha!
  --I brought lots of thick tights and leggings, but they have these amazing thermal rights down there that are really thick and warm.
  --Bring some thick socks as well. Haha this sounds like so much stuff! I think that's about it for winter clothes.
  
  **SUMMER CLOTHES:
  --I honestly just lived in breezy summer skirts and like short sleeved button up shirts. It was way too hot to even wear an undershirt under things. It does get really hot there. I'm not sure how far south your mission goes, but where I was in Santiago it was very hot! But so fun! You get nice and tan! Chile is amazing, you will LOVE IT!!
  
  
  **MISC. INFO: (Shoes/Hygiene/Gaining weight)
  --I brought a little umbrella.
  --I just bought shoes in the comfort shoes section at Dillard's, and my mom had to send me about two or three new pairs throughout my mission.
  --Hygiene products aren't that expensive. I wouldn't waste space in my bag with things like that. They have them everywhere.
  --It's kind of humid, but mostly it's just hot because the hole in the ozone is right over chile, so the sun is super strong. You get sunburned really easily. I brought tons of sunscreen.
  --I just bought a hair dryer and straightener down there, I think all the Hermanas that brought a converter ended up with their things getting burned out.
  --I always had heating in all my apartments. Sometimes it gets cold in the winter, but they always had a bunch of blankets in all the apartments. My apt. was mostly in the city so we had pretty nice apartments. My last area was more in the country, so it was a little colder.
  --We never lived with members, I don't think they do that anymore in chile.
  --I gained a tiny bit of weight in my first area, I think just because your body has to get used to how much food they give you sometimes haha. I would just eat a little bit for breakfast, they'd give us a huge lunch, and then I wouldn't even be hungry till we got home at night. A lot of Hermanas did gain weight, but just try not to eat when you don't need to, you'll probably be walking a LOT during the day, an then always do your exercise in the morning.
  
  
  
  
  

  ·Sister #2----

  
  **CLOTHING:

  --First piece of advice is stick with your style. if you like pencil skirts, take straight skirts. if you like flowy skirts, take those. the fabric doesn't really matter, but make sure it's heavy enough that it won't blow in the wind. haha. cause it gets pretty windy down there.
  --Second is don't buy anything you're iffy about wearing. if you don't like it now, you'll hate it on your mission because you have such a limited wardrobe. trust me. haha.
  --Third, it gets really cold in the winter and really hot in the summer. so make sure you take stuff to layer, but also stuff that you can wear without a sweater over it. Cardigans were my best friend in the winter.
  --Also take lots of tights. there were days when i wore 3 pairs cause i wanted to be warm enough. haha. i liked the cotton tights best cause they were warmest.
  --Scarves and hats and gloves for sure. and i had a black wool pea coat, but i wish i would have had a different color. you're gonna be living in your coat, so get something you can wear with everything but that won't bore you. haha. the length doesn't really matter. mine was a normal length, and i was fine. i also had a rain coat, which was very needed. it rains a lot during the winter.
  --Last but not least, toms and sperrys are the best mission shoes. don't go buy the expensive ones that they tell you to. i hated them. the bottoms wore smooth and i would slip on stairs and wet concrete... plus they were uglier than crap and they made me taller than EVERYONE. haha. don't get all black shoes either. have some variety. like tan and navy blue and black or something. remember, you're going to be wearing these for 18 months and you don't get new ones. make sure you love them. haha.
  --I just had leather boots that i waterproofed and they worked great, plus they were way warmer than galoshes. i actually didn't have toms while i was down there, but one of my companions did and she loved having them. you can just get the inserts. pretty much everyone does that. haha. Rancagua is just south of where i was, so the weather should be almost exactly the same

Mission Advice for Concepcion

·Sister #1----

**HEALTH/ HYGIENE/ MEDICINE:

--Some things like contact-lens solution and tampons/pads are really expensive (well, at least 2x the US price).. so I would stock up on what you think you'll use of those in the 16 months you'll be in Chile and bring that with you.

--They don't have anything like pepto-bismol or tums. If you have any tummy/acid problems, I'd     bring some with you. Other than that it is pretty easy to get other medicine you might need. I am not sure about allergy medicine. I found out in my last transfer that I had allergies. I'd bring that, just to be safe.

 I mentioned that we just went back, and my husband was fine the first week, but the 2nd week there every other day he was sick with some sort of tummy problem (vomiting, no appetite, burps.. very uncomfortable). I got sick my first week there too, but it was just once & didn't come back. They sell chewables of peptobismol (takes up less space and is lighter than the liquid!), and I'd recommend taking that.

--I also bought a blow dryer there in Chile (with $ from home) -- because power converters for high-power items are expensive and don't work really well. Buying a chilean blow dryer was a good move. You can find power converters for most items for really cheap in Chile (~$2).

**FOOD:

--The food there is quite different. If you are a 'foodie' at all (or like to cook, or eat what's familiar to you), I'd bring some recipes (everything has to be made from scratch!). What we know as brown sugar doesn't exist down there [no homemade chocolate chip cookies], and some other ingredients are really expensive (cream cheese, sour cream)... but my brownie recipe (from scratch) saved me, and lots of other people! haha.

**CLOTHING/SHOES/COATS:

--As far as clothing goes, invest in some really comfortable dress shoes (2 pair). I wore some that were kind of sporty, but looked like dress shoes still. You will be on your feet ALL THE TIME. I am so sick of standing, to this day (I finished my mission in 2009), because I did it so much in Chile! Many people are willing to be taught outside, standing on their porch, so you might have a 30 min lesson standing outside or talking on the street.

--I brought a waterproof coat too (kind of like a trench coat with a hood and liner), and I loved it. Someone mentioned that they give you waterproof clothes, and they do when you arrive (and take the $ from your missionary allowance for the month) -- they're a navy blue (they were, at least), and they help a lot but aren't quite waterproof (mostly, but if they never dry water still gets through, so it's good to have something to switch off with).

--Rainboots are nice for the winter, but you can buy them there (I actually found old ones a sister missionary had left that fit!).

--I bought a few nice zip-up sweaters (like cardigan/dressy style) while there in Chile. You can always layer if you get cold. A big winter coat isn't necessary. There you can also buy really thick tights that keep you super warm, for about $4. Oh, and bring COLORFUL everyday clothes. Black/tan/gray/white/brown get old fast.

--Also, I gained 30lbs while there (most sisters gain weight there).. and only brought 1 pair of p-day jeans and athletic shorts (which was fine), but if you bring jeans, bring some that are a little on the big size. I'd recommend running shoes (or crosstrainers) and flip-flops. All my shirts worked as pj tops or pday shirts.

--You can also buy costume jewelry for REALLY cheap there.  And clothing is pretty affordable, so if you need to pack light in that regard -- that's the way to go! You can easily find shirts and skirts and sweaters. I'd stick with US-quality shoes, though.. they'll last you longer

**MONEY/ID/OTHER INFO:

--I'd recommend bringing just 1 credit card and 1 debit card and your driver's license. The charge for taking $ out of the ATM is about $6, and your bank usually charges for currency conversion (as does the credit card), so if you have to use money, use the credit card... it gives a better rate than any money-changer would give you (and your bills would have to be CRISP).

--You'll get a Chilean ID after being there for about 3 months (mission office takes care of the paperwork, etc). Oh, and don't bring anything that is really valuable (family keepsakes or real jewelry). Chile is mostly safe, but robberies do happen, and if it's something you'd regret losing, just don't bring it. It'll be safer left at home!

·Sister #2---

--So a mission is not all about how you look , obviously, but I think that we feel better and can teach better when we feel like ourselves. So, bring clothes you would ordinarily wear, and pretty shoes, and bright colors, and jewelry. The wife of my mission president was all about beauty, and she made us get manicures and wear makeup. Not the most important….but there are dreary winter days, and you will feel better.

--So I would tell you to bring boots, a cute rain jacket, cute hats, and bright cardigans. I would also tell you to bring a good backpack, beef jerky (all church leadership who served missions with Americans will love you for it!), gum (you can't chew it in the MTC, but you will want good gum during study time, so you don't snack and snack and get chubby . They don't have good gum in Chile), and church distribution stuff to give away as gifts, stickers, markers or colored pencils, hand warmers, some nail polish.

--If you are worried about being healthy….don't drink their "juice" - it is just sugar, buy fruit and not cookies as you walk around, chew gum during study time, don't eat when you come home, carry around a water bottle and drink a LOT, take a jump rope for cold winter days, and ask for watermelon for deserts instead of ice cream. You don't have to eat everything they serve you.

--After all that…..don't worry about yourself. Lose yourself. They will love you!!!! You will do great - enjoy! It is a very special time.

Life since the call: 1 month

Wow. I had heard plenty of things happened after putting your papers in; such as: boys come out of the woodwork to ask you out, Satan tries harder to tempt you, etc. Well, I was really looking forward to the former thing. haha Although I had been going on quite a few dates since Christmas break, I wasn't sure how the mission call would be able to top the multiple dates a week I was going on, but until I got my call, I had completely forgotten about the latter one.

And that's the only one that ended up happening...

My dating life was on fire until I put my mission papers. Literally, as soon as my papers were turned in, my steady stream of dates turned into a trickle--during a drought. AKA not much was happening there. Well whatever, it's not like I was going on dates every weekend before this semester...and the slower life/more time for myself has been nice I'll admit.

The hardest part was definitely the loneliness I've felt (not because I wasn't going on dates haha). Even in a group of people, I still felt that way. Satan knows me. He knows what has worked on me before, so what does he do? Attack with what has worked for him before. Satan is no respecter of peoples, races, cultures, or religions.

A couple days after receiving my call, life just started falling apart. People that were a part of my life, suddenly decided they didn't really want to be a part of it anymore. And then it just kept getting worse from there. Life had never seemed so dismal. I was hitting a low in school and just about everything else it seemed. I still was happy, but more often than I had been before I was sad; I was filled with feelings of inadequacy and loneliness that I'd never experienced like this before.

When I was hitting this low, I just cried and cried and finally just called out to God to help me have Faith.

And then life started getting better.

It was still hard and Satan was working hard, but for some reason I knew that as soon I went through the temple for myself that everything would be better. And I just held on to that.



..........4 MONTHS have now passed since I got my call.

I realized that I never finished this post. So I just wanted to finish my thoughts really briefly...

So, as my temple date approached (it was March 29th)  and I was doing things to prepare, life just got better and better. After finally going, there was just so much peace in my life. My perspective became broader; I was happier, and life indeed has been so much better.

I know there is power in the temple!

The Call

February 2013:
*February 10th: My papers were submitted
*February 15th: My call was assigned
*February 20th: MY CALL CAME!!!

Not lookin' my best haha. If I would've known my call
was coming that day, I would've actually gotten ready :)

Today is March 2, so I know I'm a little slow in posting this... but here's the story behind my mission call =)

It seems like most people don't have any kind of story behind receiving their call. Mostly it is, "the mail lady brought my call...I opened it", or "the mailman brought my call, my parents called me, and I drove home that weekend to open it", etc. I have witnessed some interesting things though, like receiving a new call just days after opening the original call, and although my story pales in comparison to that, I think the story surrounding my call is pretty good.  :) so here goes...

      Wednesday: I had to work the Alpine District science fair up at Pleasant Grove high school that night. I had planned with my family to open my call Thursday because I didn't think it would come until then because of Presidents' Day. Well, around 2:30 my mom texted me and told me that my call hadn't come. The mail had come and my call wasn't in it. A little bit of disappointment went through me, but not a lot because I wasn't anticipating it coming until the next day. 
      Well, then off I went to work. A couple hours later, my good friend Hannah texted me that her call had come! We had put our papers in the same day, but her call had gotten assigned the day before mine. But I got really excited because it meant that my call was coming the next day since it hadn't come today. I called her and told her how excited I was for her and that she needed to call me and tell me where she is going as soon as she got done with her family.  
      Well, probably about an hour later my mom called me. She said, "The Johnsons (a family in our ward who have almost the exact same address as us--only one number different) just came by and they brought something. Your call came." At this point in time, I started screaming, and any of you who have heard me screaming for joy (or fear haha) know that it is generally pretty high pitched. Oh funny sidenote--I was holding my boss' 6-month old when my mom called me, and as soon as I started screaming, the baby started crying. :( Oops.... haha. Anyway, then I heard my mom say "just kidding". At this point my heart just sunk. My eyes teared up and I thought "which is it? Is my call here or not?" Well, I tried asking, but the line was dead. So the scenario in my brain was that my mom had taken this opportunity to prank me about my call--totally wouldn't put it past her--and then she hung up. 
      With eyes full of tears, (with all of the adrenaline going through me, of course I was tearing up) I called my mom back and asked her if my call really had come. She said YES! It had been delivered to the Johnson's home on accident, and they had just brought it over. I asked her why she had said she was kidding. I guess when I was screaming, the high frequency of my squeals had made the phone cut out haha and so I missed what she had said. Here's what she really said: "Your call came. The Johnson's opened it... Just kidding". :)
     What a relief! My call had come!! It wasn't a joke. I asked my mom if I could open it tonight. She told me yes and asked why I wouldn't have been able to. (I was dying to open it, but I needed to make sure it worked timing-wise for my family at least--although, I probably would've opened it that night regardless) Well, I didn't get done with work until about 9:30 and my dad had a work meeting until 10:30. So after some discussion, we decided 10:30 would be the time I'd open it (We couldn't do it earlier because my grandparents who are in Cyprus, with the time difference, wouldn't be awake until after 8:30pm our time). I quickly called my brother and my grandma and my friend Tara and told them the situation (I wanted to keep it small. I didn't want a huge gathering of people there when I opened my call. Plus with scheduling, that would've been a nightmare). They all said they could be there. 
      I got done with work and as I was walking down the hall of the high school to go to my mom's car, I sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go". Cheesy? Perhaps haha but I was so excited and nervous at the same time and this helped calm me a little bit! Within the hour, the moment I had been waiting for my entire life would happen. My mom picked me up from the high school and took me home. We got on skype to talk to my grandparents, who are in Cyprus (near Greece) on a mission, to make sure the connection was going to work and to make sure they were awake. And then the waiting game..... 
      During this time I was just pacing the kitchen, trying to keep my mind occupied and telling myself that wherever I got called I would be ok with it. I had been kind of nervous since putting my papers in that I would get called somewhere where I'd initially be disappointed in going. That's why I didn't want a big group of people there because I didn't want people to see the split-second of disappointment in my eyes if that were to happen. I knew I would be ok with wherever I got called, but I had to mentally prepare for what I would consider to be the worst situation. Of all places that I could be called, for some reason getting called to Billings, Montana was my worst possible scenario. Now hear me out, I have nothing against Montana. I've heard it's actually quite lovely there. But from my childhood, I had some not so positive things connected with Montana, such as that it is empty. Is it really? I'm not sure, but learning geography as a kid, I was taught that it was MT and empty. haha. Also, I thought that it is full of farmers who live miles and miles apart from each other (that's not a bad thing, so I don't know why that would've been an issue for me haha) Also, some guy in my ward growing up got called there and he was....an interesting fellow..., so I guess I also connected him with my fear of Billings. I concluded during the week and a half while I waited for my call that I would be ok going even there. Once I could honestly say that I really would go anywhere, I knew I'd be ok. I knew I would be going where the Lord needed me (but that didn't stop me from praying to Him and asking if I could go foreign and Spanish speaking :) haha)
      FINALLY everyone arrived. (including Tara's roommate and our friend Clay, who she had invited. That was definitely a surprise, but it was a fun surprise to have them there!) We went into the living room and set the laptop down in front of me. Everyone gathered around.  I didn't let anyone stand behind me or to my side because I didn't want anyone reading over my shoulder and seeing where I had been called to before I did.
      So I'm REALLY horrible at opening envelopes. I literally destroy every envelope I open, and this was one I didn't want to destroy. So my dad passed me some scissors because a letter opener wasn't readily available. Ya...that wasn't working super well and I could see disaster was eminent if I continued using them. So my mom ran and grabbed her letter opener, and apparently I didn't know how to use a letter opener 'cause I was trying to use it incorrectly?... haha So my mom opened part of my envelope to show me how to use the letter opener. I tried on my own only to have unsuccessful results. So my mom put her hand over mine, and together we opened the rest of the envelope. haha (You'd think by the age of 20 I'd have had the opportunity to use one of them and to do it successfully.)
      I pulled the papers out of the envelope (face down of course), grabbed some other papers in the envelope and covered the call with them. (As I put the papers on top of the call I had the thought that I was going foreign--which I dismissed as just a thought because I also was pretty convinced I was going to get called to Tegucigalpa, Honduras--which *Spoiler* I didn't get called to) Slowly I slid the papers down and began reading. You know the address line where it has your name and then your address in the upper left corner? Well I saw my name (the address was covered) and I began reading. "Sister Kylie Rachelle Butler". I slid the paper down only to discover the address was the next line. Oops. hahaha So I slid it down until the letter really started. 

"Dear Sister Butler:
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

At this point I stopped. I knew the next line contained where I would be called and I took a deep breath and braced myself. This is it. I slid the paper down one more line and read to myself "Chile Rancagua Mission". At this point I just broke down and sobbed in gratitude and relief and excitement for what this call meant to me and what it held in store for me. I had been called foreign and Spanish speaking!!
       The family watched on as I cried until I was able to control myself enough to tell them where I was going. "You are assigned to labor in the Chile Rancagua Mission...You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. You will prepare to teach the gospel in the Spanish language".
       Oh what joy filled my heart. Everyone cheered. :) My dad and brothers and friends all got the map out to look and see where my mission was located in Chile, while I talked with my grandparents. Opening my call was a beautiful moment. Better than anything I had ever pictured in my head. The joy and happiness and gratitude that overcame me I cannot describe. Needless to say, I am thrilled about my call! I am SO excited to share the gospel with the people in Chile!! I know it's still months away, but the timing of my call feels right too, and having to wait a little longer will actually be a blessing because it'll allow me to work a little bit AND my good friend gets home from his mission about a week before I leave so I'll get to see him before I go, and that just makes me really happy. What a tender mercy from God!    

      As time passes (ok, it's only been a week and a half, but still), I get more and more excited every day! And as I learn about the country, I cannot think of a better place for me that I could've been called to. It is everything that I thought I wanted in a mission and more (check with me post-mission to see if this still holds true haha)--mild summers and winters, four seasons, no snow,  mountains, coasts, not too crazy of food (supposedly), a different culture, a different language, and David Archuleta (just kidding) haha. What's funny is that a while back I had thrown out as a joke that it would be cool to serve in the same mission as him. When I got my call, I didn't think anything of it, but the next day my roommate told me that my mission is David Archuleta's mission. haha What are the chances?? It would be really cool to meet him, but I'm not holding my breath. :)
Anyway, I'm SO excited and So grateful! The Lord is really mindful of each of us and He knows the thoughts and desires of our hearts.  

CHILE, Here I come!! :)