I Love Chile!

Family!
First call to repentence…MYSELF! We changad p day to today because its Hna. Guevaras birthday! We didnt know last week so I couldnt forewarn you, but p day is right now. From now on, p day is on Saturday and you can expect another email from me this Saturday. Dad, I got your email about the ebeneezer just seconds after you sent it. I think its a great (although slightly hilarious) and very YOU idea! It was special to be in the same cyberspace as you at the same time.

Friends, Family…thanks for your support! Big shout outs to gma and gpa bourne YET AGAIN! WOW. Thanks for you love and support. Shout outs to TEEF Today is five days after thanksgiving day…everything seems to be going my waaaaaaaaaay! Love you teef. Thanks to cam king! (I can only write one email a week to my family and thats it, but Ill be sending off a nice little letter to you no worries!get me your address!) Andy, you are the best! I want to hear about the five month adventure asap! (maybe you will learn how to speak spanish!! BROMA!) 

Great week! Im in this trio, and while I absolutely adore my companions, I really dont like the set up of a trio for missionary work...but Im learning! This week we saw a few miracles! Viki is this 18 year old golden woman who is in the process of defying her parents to be baptised. We are fasting and praying for her all the time and she CAME TO CHURCH this Sunday. It was a miracle because her parents have forbidden it...but she came and had a wonderful experience. Carolina (the baptism picture) is golden too. the missionaries hardly did anything and she is so stalwart...Im amazed at people like her. Ah...my testimony of: where there are female members of the chruch...there is offense grew this week. Thats a whole other story...but all is well.

I have more Chilean twins to report! I eat lunch with a baby Thayne Davis every single day...his name is Martin and its just creepy how much they look alike. Also...my Zone leader (who is Chilean), Elder Cuadras is JAMES BOURNE. Check out the picture of my zone painting a nearby Jardin and see if you can spot him!

Family, Friends... I love you all. Thanks for your support, prayers, emails, and influence on my life. I did nothing to deserve all of you. The gospel is true. Its SO easy to forget and fall into a routine of mediocrity. We need to be on our game. This week, my testimony that the "Sunday School answers ARE the answers" grew. I am bearing my testimony out to every person to just read, pray, and go to church. We see miracles when the people do these things. SO simple. SO powerful. SO easy not to do. SO commandments from God. READ, PRAY, GO TO CHURCH. If we do these things daily (and church weekly) well have an added measure of the spirit and greater capacity to do what we need to do AND what the Lord needs us to do. Read MOsiah 2:41. Well be blessed in all things spiritually AND temporaly. I lvoe you all, I love my Savior, I love my father in Heaven. I love Chile. 
Love, Hermana Bourne

Thanksgiving Week in Osorno!

Familia!
Once again, not much time. Oh yeah, my p day is now on saturdays and I wish I couldve heard from you guys but never fear! Big Shout Outs to Bundial (I love you bund, write me more!!!), Sierra (amazing woman!), ButterSlice, Grandma AND Grandpa BOurne WOW!. YOu are all amazing for writing to me early. Bien hecho. MOm, dont feel guilty that I didnt get a letter from you this week, Ill get it next saturday and the aps told me I have a package waiting in the office with some letters....YAYAYAYAYA! Thank you all.
Okay, people, I had my first cambio as we all know, and I got sent to Osorno! Im in the richer part of Osorno and my barrio is called Ovejeria. Im in a trio with two sisters from El Salvador and they ROCK. Hna. Rivas and Hna. Guevara. Rivas has 3 cambios left in the mission and is 26 years old. AMAZING Woman. Guevara was born in Camino Real and We know a ton of the same people. Rivas is HILARIOUS but sweet and GUevara has the strongest personality Ive ever seen. For sure a different vibe, but Im ready to learn. OUr house is cuico (rich) and absolutely ginormous! Im still getting to know the sector, but from what Ive seen, there is a lot of good to do and we are the ones to do it! I do, however, miss Hna. Alvarez a lot. We lived this celestial existence where we were 100% in the mission and thinking about investigators all of the time or teaching or bearing testimony. These two are a little loosey-goosey-er...hmmm..But absolutely wonderful! 
I have to explain the pic with the poster. The guy who looks like a gringo is Chileno and running for public office in Osorno, there are posters every five feet. I contacted him yesterday! It rocked! Hes not interested (dang great and spacious building!), but was very nice and sent us on our way.

Speaking of CALLIE CLARK! Felicitaciones on your call to the best country in the world where no one is married, dogs run amuck, and they dont speak spanish...they speak Chilean! You will be insanely amazing. What a blessing to have you so close. Please get me your addresses asap. STUDY PREACH MY GOSPEL. Everyone told me to do it before coming out...didnt do it...still regret it. HAGALO! Cal, you will love it. Bring a sleeping bag and LOTS of tights. Other than that, you are golden. Ps DONT WORRY, I found digestive buiscuts here yesterday…YAY! You have a letter coming love! I cried when I got your email. YOu will be incredible and they need your in concepción to prepare all those people for the temple! HOly shrapnel and congrats to big K dawg too. What a blessing. I love you.

Grandma Cynthia, you are amazing. I have two comps now. You dont have to send pjs if you dont want to. Your love is enough. But if you do. ONe is tiny (think Cara status) the other is WAY short and about a size 8 or 10. You are amazing. The address for packages is in my last entry. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Thank you so much. I sent a letter for the Christmas party to my mom to read to you guys, and I{ll try to get a personal letter to you too. I love the calendar and look at it every day. Send me updates on Sammy!

Family, friends, I love you. I forget I have family and friends until I read your emails on Pday. I am happy, exhausted, and happy. Today we had a baptism of Carolina. A friend gave her the BOM and she read and prayed and went to an FHE at the presidents house and announced she wanted to be baptised…no one had taught her or nothing! It was beautiful…she will be faithful to the end. What an amazing woman. We have Viki, an 18 year old who is taking the discussions against her parents wishes. She CAME to the baptism today and had a great experience…man, we are blessed.

Today we went to the misión home to decorate, eat, and do stuff for Navidad. Its weird not to have snow or anything. It doesnt feel at all like Christmas so I dont think Ill miss home or anything...TOtally forgot Thanksgiving is this week sometime. I am thankful to have every single one of you in my life. I have been blessed WAY beyond that which I deserve and I hope you all know how much I love you. Thanks for everything...Im grateful for YOU!

Mom, I love you--thanks for your letters of encouragement and for everything you do for me. Keep praying for me. Dad, your counsel is always what I need to hear. Keep it coming. I love you. I dont need anything worldly, I need your advice and counsel. MIkey and Ash, you are amazing and little baby is in my prayers. James, congrats with everything you are accomplishing...pixar...a new woman! BRAU. Please write to me! Butterball, loved your email. Keep me updated. I love your talks, but I don{t have time to read them. WRite to me your words and stories about people! and keep being amazing!!! Sophie, you are ALWAYS in my prayers and thoughts. I want to hear from you. I LOVE YOU! (Mom, could you send me my converse shoes? I would DIE to have them here...I love you!) LOVE YOU ALL more than you know. BEST FAMILY EVER.
HNA EBOURNE

CONFORT!

Ah, familia. I can´t send pictures this week. SO much to tell everyone. First of all a call to repentence for BLOB LEBARON. Get me your address. I have a letter for you. Second order of Business. Mom, a brother in my Ward needs you to send him Pictures of a Ward building, Ward activity, historic places, Salt Lake and other Pictures like that so he can teach a class on how the church is the same in all places. He teaches on Sunday, so you need to do it STAT. Thank you so much! His email is fonluis_@hotmail.com. Somebody help her with that.
Shoutouts: Liz, Jess, Katie. Every time I eat a fiber pill, I think of you. Happy birthday AAAASSHLEY! I love you and thank you for your letter! Uncle Bob, Bette and Bubba, Katie THANK YOU for your emails. I LOVE THEM. Dad, thank you for your letter--I love your talk about the Liahona. I was reading in Nef. 17 and in v. 14 is says AFTER ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord am God and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destructionñ yea that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem. I love this scripture because the Lord didn´t say, and EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, you will know that I the Lord and leading you by the hand. We need to have faith. Mom, you are incredible and I´m so excited to get the newsletter! I know you are package happy, so while you are in this state, I´m going to ask for one more! I need TIGHTS (black and nude)...lots of ém...I wear one or two pair every day cause it´s freezing and they are expensive down here. Also a colorful scarf would be nice to spice things up and some big, paperback himanrios (hymn books) would rock because every time we want another one, we have to call Santiago. Careful with the candy...I weighed in today and it´s not looking pretty....maybe some diet pills next package. 

Okay, now that shout outs are over, I have some news. In my interview with President he said there would be a chance that Camino Real (my sector) would change to Elders when Hna. Alvarez left...We got the news yesterday that indeed it is changing...BOO! So sometime today prez is going to call and let me know where I¨m headed next! It´s sad because I don´t want to leave, but exciting because it´s like Camino Real was a little gift. Last night I imagined what it would be like if I were STILL in the MTC and laughed. I´ve learned more out here than I would have ever learned in a year at the MTC... Loved it, but I´m so happy to be here.

More news, for letters (in envelopes...you dont have to send them pouch style) and packages..send them to:

Hna Bourne
Casilla 7-0
Orsono Chile

Simple, no? They are sure to get to me. Wow, this week I had my first intercambio. Nobody knows why we had this intercambio, but we changed with another companionship in another zone (I have a feeling it´s because I´m headed there) in Osorno. I had an awesome experience with Hna. McClellan. I learned to just speak. My language is actually progressing quite nicely. I can understand most everything now and people can understand me. Hna McClellan gave me more responsibility than I´m used to, but I was able to do just fine. We commited a couple of eternal investigators to marriage AND baptism. It was amazing. I missed Hna. Alvarez, but I learned that I´ll be just fine with whatever comp I´m assigned to next. I´m enjoying being Junior comp for now because I don´t have to think about or be responsible for every single little detail...but I´m learning.

Funny happenings:
A lot this week. We were quite ill all week and continue to be so. We can´t sing hymns in the morning anymore because we die of laughter because we sound so bad, we have a lot of trouble sleeping because of aches and congestion, and we are exhausted, but happy. We think we have sinus infections slash allergies slash fleas. Well, I KNOW we have fleas...
In the house of the mamita, I heard gangster´s paradise, started rapping, remembered I was a missionary, and sang a hymn to myself. Tiff, I love you.
I am officially native. I can successfully fend off any perro (mangy mutant dog)that barks my way. What you do is turn around really fast and crouch and pretend like you´re going to pick up a rock to throw at the perro and it runs away. Seriously, there are more perros than people and they are all dirty and mean.
I ate curanto. At the ward activity, we sang (I played the piano for them) about curanto (a mixture of clams, mussels, sausage, and chicken), and then we ate it. Gross. 
Any young woman can be known as ¨la tia¨. It means äunt¨ All the young women call me ¨tia¨and it´s adorable. I love it.
Everyone in Chile is late. Well, at least all of our contacts in the street are late to something...LIes obviously. NOthing down here has EVER started on time. LIke right now, I´m in downtown Osorno, and the missionaries that planned this big asado at the church at 12:30 are sitting right behind me, chatting. It´s 12:48. Nice.
My favorite one is the story of confort. People, whenever I don´t know a word in Spanish, I use an english equivalent and pronounce it in spanish or add -o or -a at the end. Usually it works...however. Dun, dun, dun! We were in a lesson my first week and I was bearing my testimony about the Spirit. I said ¨Hermana, yo se que el Espiritu Santo puede darle confort por toda su vida. Es un bendicion hermosa¨. I thought I said Sister, I know that the Spirit can give you comfort for the rest of your life, it´s a beautiful blessing. WRONG. Consuelo means comfort. Unbeknownest to me, ¨confort¨ is the most widely used brand of toilet paper in Chile. Luckily it was my first week and only my comp could understand me. She told me after and died laughing. How sweet would it be though if the spirit really could give us confort the rest of our lives...without price. I wouldn´t say no!

Family, friends. I just love you. I love Osorno and can´t wait to see where I get sent on Wednesday. Hna. Alvarez is having a hard time saying goodbye to the mission. I´m having a hard time saying goodbye to my sector...and I was only there for 6 weeks. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real. No doubt in my mind about it. OH yeah, one more funny happening. Mom and Dad, my ipod was on shuffle the other day and what song should come on but ¨turn around¨, that lullabye you always sang to us. I had a feeling of just overwhelming love for you guys. Thank you for your prayers, letters, packages, support. It means so much and lifts me up at the beginning of every week. 

Ps- dad, your idea is awesome. The wording was hilarious and I died in the colectivo reading what you wanted to do...it reminds me of your water feature. DO IT! Did you ever get my letter to you? Hna Alvarez really is great and doesn´t need anything.

pss-JAMES I really want to know how the interview went and how its going with this chick! What the shrapnel.

psss-Katie, you leave so soon for israel. WOW. Read preach my gospel chapter 3 before you go. I´m serious. LOVE YOU!

Wow, I love you all. Bette and Bubba, thanks for reading the blog. I love to hear from you. Gma and Gpa Bourne, thanks for everything as well. I don´t deserve the family I have. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEL OVEL VOELVOELVEOVLEV CHAO!
Hermana Bourne

RAIN,RAIN, GO AWAY!

> Familia! 

> Man, you know it rains a lot when you wake up to a rusty umbrella! Rain, rain, go away, come again another day! This week was really interesting. Rain every day and nobody opened their doors all week! No biggie though, because the work progresses! 
Okay, happy birthdays to Rebecca and Bill Fox and happy Birth to Rachel Stewart! Congrats!!! I received all of the dear elders anyone has every written this week and THANK you all so much. Big shout outs to Liz, Jess, Grandma Cynthia, Grandpa Hal, Teef, Andy, Halsy, Sierra Bear, and my repentent brother Mikey! Well done everyone. It was so great to hear from all of you. Grandpa, had no idea you had foot surgery...happy healing and grandma, YES I absolutely adore the calendar! It is so fun to look at everyone´s advice and pictures...I love it! Thank you! 

> Interesting experience, my comp and I woke up to mooing the other morning, only to find a stampede outside our casa. It was hilarious. Other than that, not much news. Dad, don´t´worry so much about stuff. My answers are yes, fun, and no. LOVE YOU! I love the work. Me and Hna. Alvarez have an awesome time together and laugh constantly at my awesome language skills. Speaking of awesome language skills…guess who gave her first talk in a foreign language yesterday? Emmy! People, it was hilarious. I walked up to the pulpit, talked for ten minutes (no idea really what I said) and sat down. I had some members of the Ward tell me they were impressed they ould actually understand me…not the powerful spiritual experience I would´ve hoped for but, meh!, you have to start somewhere! 
> This week was a really interesting one for us. Definately a bit of a downer slash great learning experience. This week I just felt so dissappointed in human beings. Why don´t the members welcome the converts more? Why don´t people want to hear the restored gospel? Why do people turn on their mouths and shut their ears when we say anything about ¨religion¨? Why do people say they are going to do something (like come to church or be home when they say they are going to) but then don´t? Why can´t people do what they know they should do all the time? How can someone receive their answer and then still refuse it? I had so many experiences with flakiness and lies that just made me feel disappointment in people. In my favorite book (besides the scriptures, of course), one of the characters says that ¨there´s only one kind of folks…folks.¨I love that. Because along with moments of disappointment, we had some moments of pure joy...like the baptism of Mariela and her confirmation or that one contact who treated us so kindly or a member showing up to help us out or the family we met who is MARRIED! We really are just all folks and we make mistakes. But that´s why the gospel is so great, because we CAN repent and be better. And although I´d love to make everyone make good decisions, the only person I can control is myself, so I´ve commited to being better.
> Sorry this is a little shorter this week. I love you all and hope everything is really well!
> 

YOU CAN E-MAIL EMILY!

Emily's E mail address is: sister.bourne@myldsmail.net

First Baptisms!!

 Mosiah 12:21 should read ¨How horribly caloused, dry, white, and desperately in need of a major pedicure upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.¨Seriously people, I caught my first glimpse of my leg yesterday. Can we say hideous? It´s okay though because I´m not called to be a leg model, I´m called to preach. Great great week. People, anyone can send me an email. We print them off before we go into Osorno and read them in the taxi. Entonces, Redding emails takes no time away from my emailing time. I haven´t gotten any dear elders here…so maybe that isn´t the way to go. So email away! I can only, however, write one email a week (to the fam) so you´ll have to wait for my responses. Done Sean and Blob, I need your addresses to send you your letters!
> Okay, mom, nix what I said about the Package. I got my first one last Tuesday during district meeting. Halleluja! Happiest day of my life! Can we say Reese´s Puffs. Wow, you are the best. Thank you thank you thank you! Birthdays!!! A big happy birthday to Butter Slice who turns 20 today, a big shout out to Blob hte big 24 holy shrapnel, and to my uncle Jonny B! Feliz Cumpleanos!
> Dad, all Business is taken care of. Seriously. Thank you.
> Zabet: January 2nd! Do you not remember that if you marry before year end you can file with Flamm and reap the lucrative tax benefits of filing a Joint tax return???!!!
> Best news first...first baptisms this weekend! Victoria and her daughter Deisy. All completely due to the loving patience of my comp, but it was so wonderful to see people enter the gate. We had such a sweet experience. I´m excited for the opportunity to be here helping these people. After all is said and done, my favorite part of every single day is sitting in the tiny houses of these people and sharing my testimony with them. Easily the best. 
> Now for more secular things.
> I have noticed recently the physical Chilean equivalent of just about everyone I know. Grandma Cynthia, Bonnie Winterton, Hilary Holland, and Tanna Fox you all have identical Chilean twins here. I´ll keep you all posted on who I see next.
> Cultural note. I know I write about how fast they talk here every time I write, but I don´t think you understand! They talk as fast as they can until they run out of breath, and then they actually continue saying words while they are breathing in! I don´t know honestly how they do it. I tried and just started choking. These Chileans LOVE to talk.
> Cute anecdote: I forgot to write about this my first email. My first day with Hna. Alvarez was awesome! My favorite part was seeing my very first contact...I basically ran at these people with my arm outstretched to greet (and subsequently baptize) them. Hna. grabben me by the arm and whispered ¨tranquila¨. It was awesome. She said it happens with all the greenies their first time. It´s become a running joke between us and whenever I get too excited or frustrated she just says tranquila and everything is better!
> Embarrasing anecdote: Last email I said we run everywhere. I really mean we are scooting all over the place! Last week, we were running to our casa to make it in time for curfew and I tripped, scuttled about trying to catch myself, and totally fell while sliding to the ground. Doing this in a skirt makes is way more embarasing too. Luckily, the only spectators were my comp and a pack of dogs that ran at me as soon as I hit the ground. I´ve only fallen over one other time... it was in the house and I was wearing my sleeping bag at the time and my arms were inside the mummy bag so I had no way to catch myself as I slid across the wood floor and hit the bed.
> Oh yeah! This weekend was Halloween. Contacts were awesome because we bought a big bag of candy and yelled ¨tenemos dulces¨. All the kids (and their parents ha ha ha!) came running. For my Halloween present, the first counselor of the bishopric gave me my first speaking assignment on November 8th. Someone pray for me!
> Mom, I don´t know how you want me to do the newsletter. I´ll write something specific next week, but it´s going to be way short. If you could just cut and past stuff from my letters, that would rock. Love you!
> Shout outs. Jamesy! Good luck tomorrow in your interview. I´ll be praying for you and know you´ll be just fine. You are an amazing artist and characture and I know you are exactly what Pixar needs--don´t be nervous! Andy, thank you for the email. I died when I read the sleeping bag part...you were right all along. Mikey, thanks for the letter. I loved it and am so happy to hear all is well with little baby and wifey. Halsy, good letter! It´s about time. I absolutely LOVE and Adore you. Thanks for YOUR example of missionary work. I need you to send me your address so I can write to you! Love you all!
> Explanation of the pictures:
> we painted the home of members who just moved into our area. It´s me and Hna. Aguilar (she has 1 more cambio in the mission) who´s from El Salvador. NO one here can say my name correctly...they pronouce it ¨BERN¨. but that´s okay. The second is Victoria and Deisy. Hno. Chaipul baptised them. He is such an incredible example of service. Last night, after bishopric meeting, instead of going home to his family, he was out till 10 pm visiting menos activos and giving a blessing to one of our investigators and walking all over the place. His mission meant everything to him and he works so hard (I think he is a janitor at the beach) for his family and for the church. Such an incredible example of joy in the gospel. I think he´s punching Hna. Alvarez in the picture...he´s hilarious. The baptism was such a sweet experience. I love how the Chileans smile all the time except in pictures. Deisy and Victoria were glowing all day, but the picture doesn´t show it! Well, my time is coming to a close family. I love you all. Thank you for your letters, prayers, support, and emails. I think only the RMs understand how much it means! I understand now. Thank you thank you thank you.
> I just realized that my letters probably sound really secular. I just don´t have anyone to tell my hilarious experiences to except you guys. I love the mission. I love thinking about nothing but bringing others to Christ. I love sharing my testimony, I love serving, I love in infinite simplicity and mercy of the Gospel. I love studying and understanding the scriptures with a capacity beyond my own. I love feeling constant peace and warmth in my heart from the Spirit. I love my Savior, I love God, and I love His plan. It´s perfect, and in it, we can be perfect too. Joseph Smith was a prophet. Thomas S. Monson IS a prophet. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. How lucky are we to have pure truth, pure reality, and pure assurance that our lives, accomplishments, families, and deeds, are in the right direction and MEAN something. Thank you for your examples to me--you are all incredible. Love you!
> Hna Bourne
>