Hermana McClary Chillin' in Chile: Volcano Calbuco erupted

Hola,

Well this week was probably THE weirdest weeks I have had on my mission. For starters on Tuesday we had a lesson with Daniela and she said that her and her boyfriend want to get married!! Like WHAT! So happy for all these marriages!! (only because I am living through her...planning her wedding) That was such a great way to start off the week but then the week just got weirder and weirder.

Wednesday we were inside with Hermana Karina helping her with her wood boards that she makes (by the way I am going to buy one of her boards one day!) and then all of a sudden I looked out the window and there was a HUGE smoke cloud. Nothing I had ever seen before!! It was CRAZY!! We ran outside and took LOTS of pictures. The funny thing is that we just hiked up that Volcano in Feb. That was kinda scary. Wednesday night we slept with a member of the High Priest quorum and his family. It was so weird to sleep with members. We slept on the floor. I was so GRATEFUL for my sleeping bag. Seriously it is the best thing I brought! Everyone was freaking out and saying WE need to save water!! Because they were going to cut the water lines for some reason...I have no idea why so when we got to the family's house they were filling up all the buckets they had in their house with water!! Everyone was running and buying food too. Like hello...this is why we have 72 hour kits. haha. #prepared

Thursday was good we woke up and went back to our house. During the night there was another HUGE explotion with lava. The pictures that people took are pretty cool. We slept in our house Thursday night because we thought that everything was fine.

Friday we went to lunch and the volcano was still erupting but we had to eat so we left to go to a members house. As we were eating lunch we got a call from our district leader asking us where we were and telling us to go to the Bishop's house as fast as we could. That is when I started to freak out..just alittle. But I still had faith everything would be okay.

We stayed there for just an hour and then we got another call that we could leave the house. I felt like I was in 5th grade again with those fake fire alarms! But I was obedient and followed what I was supposed to do.

That day we were allowed to go out and work only if we had appointments. Lucky for us we had 2 lessons planned so we actually were able to work. It helped me keep my mind off of everything. We visited Pamela and another sister Susan. It was such a great lesson with Susan. She is amazing but is having problems with the Law of Chasity. I shared 2 Nephi 18:32 with her and my companion was freaking out because she was like "Hermana NO" the scripture is about how everyone is welcome in the church and how Jesus Christ won't cast us out of his synagage. It was a good scripture and it was exactly what she needed to hear. I have never felt the spirit really work through me to help her. I have NO idea what I even said but my Spanish was so clear. Usually as missonaries it is hard to be clear and straight forward with these touchy subjects (at least for me) but I felt like I just needed to ask her if she wanted us to teach her anymore or not. Because she isn't really progressing. But she was so clear and we felt so much better after having that lesson on what her needs are now! I am so grateful for that experience. After the lesson Hermana Marinho said she was praying so hard for me to say everything right. haha. Thanks to her prayers we were able to help Hermana Susan.

Friday night we slept over at our Sister Training Leaders house on the other side of the city to keep us away from the Volcano. It was so crazy. I am grateful for our area because it is so nice!! Saturday we had to stay inside all day but I am grateful for the time I had to really write in my journal.

Anyways so sorry the letter is sooo long but I had lots to update!!

I am grateful for this crazy experience. My lungs feel like they are going to burst from all the ashes but I am good. This week should be better! Most of the ash from the Volcano went to Argentina. I hope they are alright!

Love you all

Hermana McClary