Elder Andrew Cherpeski Linares, Chile with Elder Stevensen

18 September 2018

Dear Brother and Sister Cherpeski,

Sister Catala and I had the great pleasure of welcoming  Elder Andrew Patrick Cherpeski to the Chile Concepción Mission.  After we met him at the airport when he arrived, we enjoyed lunch together with the other missionaries.  We held an orientation and testimony meeting and Elder Cherpeski met his new companion, Elder Nathan Jon Stevenson, who will train him to be a missionary. They will be laboring in the District of Linares 3 and located in the Zone of Linares.

A mission is a wonderful experience filled with challenge and success that strengthens the testimony and spirituality of each missionary. The greatest support you as a family can give your missionary during his service as a missionary is that of uplifting letters.  Missionaries look forward with great anticipation to each letter from home.  In addition to using email, you can send packages and letters to our address.  The U.S. Postal Service and the Correos de Chile do a good job of delivering packages. Do not send packages or medicine by Fedex, DHL and UPS as it often results in delays, lost merchandise and extra costs because of duty at the customs office in Chile. We do not have an agent who coordinates shipments arriving at the customs office in Santiago or Concepción to facilitate transactions nor the resources for duty payments.

Elder Andrew Patrick Cherpeski
Misión Chile Concepción
Castellon 1063  Oficina Norte
Casilla 2210
Concepción, Chile

We encourage each of our missionaries to write to their parents each week.  Please let me know if a reminder to him is needed. You may contact us using e-mail at 2015528@ldschurch.org.

We invite you to look at our blog: chileconcepcionmission.blogspot.cl

It will be our privilege to work closely with Elder Cherpeski as he serves here in Chile.  We are blessed to have him join us in this mission and know that he will have many life changing experiences as he proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thank you for your support and for sharing him with us.

Photos of your son and maps of the mission will be sent in the mail.

Sincerely,

 

 President and Hermana Catala

 9/24/2018

I don´t usually like to make comparisons to movies because I feel they are typically simplistic and overdramatic.

However:

I am in The Best Two Years.

And I am Elder Calhoun.

First, of course, let´s talk about my travel.

I got up at 2:30 a week ago to head out to Chile. Someone at the airport had a prepaid phone that I got to use as we--literally--boarded the plane. It was not very long and it was only with my mom and sister Nicole, but it was a great moment!

One thing

The flight was not too bad. I slept for some of it, wrote in my journal, read, and played games with other missionaries. When we arrived in Chile we had to wait in line for an hour in immigration. When we got outside we were met by the most comfortable bus I have ever been on in my life. It took us to an incredibly luxurious hotel near the airport for the night. It was an incredible change from the CCM where my bathroom always reeked of urine. I relished the luxury because I knew it would not last. I was so right.

It was really sad to say goodbye to the Osorno contingent of our district. I hope that they are doing well.

Our arrival in Concepción was like a dream. When we saw the coast appear, we were all incredibly pumped up for all that was ahead. From the airport, we were driven to the Mission office and given some instruction. I also kind of met my mission president. I mean, I know him as well as I can given the fact that he doesn't speak English and I my Spanish is, well, mejorando.

After our instruction, all of us new missionaries had lunch (Dominos!) with the soon-to-be trainers. It was an interesting moment. The mixing of old and new blood. The fluent and illiterate. It reminds me of the many accounts I have heard of battlefield replacements coming into the front at war time. After that, we got our assignments and trainers. I was assigned to work with Elder Stevenson in Linares.

I don´t know much about Linares except that it has a population of 120,000 people and a lot of dogs. However, the work is really strong here. In fact, I hear that it is one of the best in the mission. For example, the branch I am in has 8 missionaries working in its boundaries. It is a very strong branch, but I don´t think that it has as of yet, sufficient Melchizedek priesthood strength to be a ward.

My trainer, Elder Nathan Stevenson es un machina. He is from Ogden, Utah, but he is more Chileno than anything else. He has been on his mission for about a year, and it is crazy to think that I could be him in a year. Besides training me, Elder Stevenson is district leader--oh, and we are whitewashing too! He is a obedient missionary who is really forcing me to learn how to act for myself.
My Casa has 3 sets of Elders in it, so it is really full. It comes with its pluses and minuses to have that many missionaries. On the one hand, it is great to have so much missionary company, but on the other they all speak Spanish, so I often do not understand what they are saying. Showers have to be really short. But at least they are hot in my casa.

Back to the Best Two Years.I am typically not the most socially adept, and this is particularly true here in a land where I don´t speak the language and don´t understand the customs. I have made plenty of gaffes, undoubtedly straining my trainer´s patience.

As a side note, I have only knocked on one door as of yet because everyone has a large fence around their house. Instead of knocking on doors, we stand next to the fence and shout Alo! It is really interesting.

President Cátala is a serious man who means business. He sets high goals for us, and I am told that it is no coincidence that his mission is the highest-baptizing in Chile. Of course, I really do not know him that well. I am disappointed that he doesn´t speak English, but I know that I will get to know him eventually.

I don´t have lots of time to write, so know that if I could I would send volumes about all that happens here.

This first week was rough. Undeniably. I talked with other people who got with me, and we all agree that it has been difficult. My area isn´t too bad since we split the rama with other missionaries, though it is still a lot of walking to adjust to. Fortunately, I have been able to meet up with some other nuevos during intercambios which has really helped. I didn´t have time to buy food until today. It was rough only having one meal a day. I think it will be better now. I went on short intercambio with Elder Jensen who has been out for a year. He is a really kind person, so talking with him yesterday really gave me comfort. I am growing a lot through this adversity. I can understand most of the other Elders although I really cannot understand the natives. Yesterday, I was able to start contributing to a lesson that Jensen and I were teaching because he would set up the discussion and give me a cue, so I was able to introduce Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, and bear the best testimony that I could about them. I remember from psychology class that people best deal with stress when they have others to connect with, and I think that that must be the key to enjoying the mission. Relationships with the other missionaries and the people. I know that will get better as my Spanish improves.

It was a joy to talk with Mom. I just wish that I could have talked with Dad, but things did not work out right at the airport in Santiago. (Little did he know that his dad was there too, he just didn't hear him)

I cherish the words of my teacher Hermano Valdez when we were saying goodbye. "I am going to miss you, but you need to be out there."

Things are really heating up here in the land of Chile where the weather is cold.

Sincerely all,

Elder Cherpeski

10/1/2018

Well folks, this Hundred days Offensive gig is really moving along. Already it is moving into its 3rd month. I have been looking forward to month because of General Conference and the Concepción Temple dedication. This Friday, my whole branch is going to the temple open house. I am pumped for it!

In other news, I still don´t speak Español; however, I am beginning to improve. Before my mission, I heard all about this thing called "Language immersion". I am pretty sure it is a myth. It would be more properly called "getting bashed over the head with the language that you don´t know until you figure it out." At this point, I can understand people who speak well and slowly. It´s the drunks, the people that slur their words, and the Argentinians that challenge me. It`s getting better.

I had my first official intercambio this week with Elder Olson from Orange County, California. I would post a picture of it, but some stupid missionary with a Polish last name forgot his camera in his casa. (Speaking of which, I learned the word Polaco very quickly because my name gets more double takes here than it did in the states, which says something!) Elder Olson is pretty awesome, and during our time together, he confirmed something that I have been thinking for a while now. Every gringo missionary makes grammatical mistakes in this language. They can get by with what they know, but there is a vast difference between saying something that can be understood and saying it the correct way. His advice to me was to study Spanish my whole time and never be content like many missionaries are with what they already know or think they know.

Chilenos are an interesting lot. In general, their skin color is quite fair, roughly my skin tone, (in fact, several people have thought that I was Chileno). There is also a large Hatian immigrant population here that I read about on Wikipedia before I left. They are different culturally, and they often don´t speak much Spanish. Am I going to learn Creole too?

One neat opportunity that I had this week: My companion has been teaching English pronunciation to a kid named Maxamiliano. My responsibility has been to work on my Spanish with his parents. They are all Catholics. This last Friday, I read half of a chapter out loud from the Book of Mormon with them to correct my pronunciation. I killed several birds with that stone! hehe

 

It is a bit frustrating being on the exact opposite side of the mission to the temple (we´re a four hour bus ride). I feel it must be awesome in Concepción right now. What, with the draw the temple has right now. We are too far away to feel a huge effect. Oh well.

We really have not been too successful so far. We haven´t gotten a single person to church yet which is frustrating.Church is hard because it reminds me so much of home. Oh well, I am starting to adjust. The one problem I face with my companion is that he does not give compliments. It is hard grinding through every day when the only things I get from my companion are correction and reproof. I could use some more encouragement. Oh well, this week was a lot better than last one, and I can tell that I am already starting to adjust. I have seen four people from my CCM district since I have been to my area and they are all facing hardships. Elder Richards put it most bluntly: "those first three days were the worst days of my life!" I am relieved to know that I am not the only one being challenged right now.

I think the primary obstacle that I face right now is the language.

 

As a final note, Thursday was the first day that I have heard the word Adios spoken by a Chileno. How do you say goodbye in Chile?

Chao!

Elder Cherpeski

 

10/8/2018

Well folks, today sure is special. It is the 8th of October, which is the 2nd month anniversary of my mission. These two months have been the fastest and longest of my life.

I am writing from Concepción right now. Although I doubt that carries any internalized significance to you all it implies a 4 hour bus ride for me. See, if we were to draw my mission boundaries as a square. Concé would be the bottom left hand corner, and my city of Linares would be in the top right hand corner. I am in the second-farthest area from the mission home and the temple. Some people may say that I am banished, that I have been left behind in the extremity of the mission field, and now am being assailed by wild dogs. Of course, that is categorically untrue: the stray dogs are quite friendly in Linares.

But back to the point! I am here in Concepción because we are visiting the temple open house for a second time. We are also staying for lunch and emails because of the better variety presented here in Concé. Both last Friday and today, we visited the temple open house. Today we ran into President and Hermana Cátala as well!

A lot of stuff happened this week, but I want to mention something that almost happened. Elder Wood from my district is another nuevo like me. My companion/district leader, Elder Stevenson, wanted to put us together for an intercambio. Here are the facts:

The cons:

A grand combined total of 36 days in Chile

Barely any knowledge of Spanish

Horribly inexperienced

The pros:

Incredibly awesome story to write home about

It would be awesome

Sadly, the zone leaders (who happen to live in my house) shot down the idea the day the intercambio was supposed to happen.

Fortunately, we did a minicambio later on to watch General Conference in ENGLISH!!! (Photo included) I cherish the opportunity that I had to listen to a living prophet today. Receiving instructions directly for our day!

Having Elder Wood in my district and Elder Richards in my zone is a real support to me. It is nice having other nuevos with me.

The Food

I thought, when I left, that I would miss my father´s bread. That is true, but it is also true that bread is more prevalent than water here. They also have this kind of cookie called Frac. It is basically an oreo, but it´s cheaper and actually tastes good. What do I miss? American food. And Mexican food for that matter. The food here is all very similar, which as a person of routine I do not mind, but the only American food joint in Linares is Papa John´s--and one large pizza costs 10% of my income, so that will not happen very often!

El Idioma

The language is coming along. It is sometimes hard to see the progress I make, but this week I had the unique opportunity to see just that. One of the first people that I met here in Linares is an inactive member named Fernando. When I met him, I could scarcely communicate anything with him, however, this week, I was able to have a slow, halting, yet functional conversation with him. Prayer, study and practice are slowly paying dividends. I understand much of the grammar which is a plus. For me now it really is increasing the fluidity of the words I speak. It will come.

¡Tengan un buen día!

Elder Cherpeski

 

10/15/2018

 

Want to improve with one simple trick your night´s sleep?

Strangle all of the dogs that live on your street.

 

 

I say this because last night some stupid stray dog started barking at the top of his lungs right in front of his house. This kept going on until Elder Matthews went outside and shooed it away.

If you remember from previously, I share my house with five other missionaries. An interesting aspect of this is that I share my casa with with the aristocracy: Elders Boveda and Matthews are zone leaders while Elder Jensen and Elder Stevenson (my companion) are both district leaders. Only Elder Alencastro and I are not leaders of something! The fun thing about this is that every time someone does an intercambio, I get to meet another missionary. This week a zone leader from Chillan and an Assistant stayed the night with us. Eight missionaries in one casa? Where was I? The CCM?

Anyways, one of the zone leaders, Elder Matthews got a pull-up bar for the casa this week, and I am in heaven. Although my exercise bands and ingenuity have been pretty good, it is great to be able to do pull-ups again!

I am pleased to announce that I am officially a millionaire. In fact, I make $106,000 a month! That is a great until you realize that $ signifies a Chilean peso. $1000c.p. ~$1.60u.s.d. It really is interesting to have currency so different than the states. We don´t say dinero; we say plata. $1000 is a luca. $100 is a gumba. All interesting stuff.

This week, we met Brandon. We met him on Tuesday, he came to church yesterday, and we have him on baptismal date already. Truth be told, his receptiveness to the gospel has nothing to do with us. The Lord has been preparing him to hear the gospel.

Chileans are hard to understand because they talk fast and slur their words. Argentines are hard to understand because they have a crazy accent. However, I can understand Columbianos and Venezualanos fairly well now, so that is a plus.

¡Adelante!

Elder Cherpeski

p.s. We are planning on going to Papa Johns today, so I am going to be broke... but happy.

 

10/22/2018

 

Queridos readers,

I would like to start this email by wishing my mom a happy birthday! I miss you, but I know that you would rather have me out here than be with you right now.

I think that I mentioned before that pan (i.e. bread) is pretty common down here in Chile. 

I was wrong.

It is ubiquitous.

Pan is so prevalant where I am at that it is a surprise when there is not pan included with the meal. When I first arrived, I was shocked by just how many stores sold pan. Literally, there are two panderias on every block. It is crazy. However, it surprises me less now than it did.

Yeah, I might get fat down here. At least Papa John´s is good.

This week had a lot of intercambios. And by that, I mean a lot. On Thursday I went with Elder Jensen. On Friday, I went with Elder Mathews. Yesterday, I went with Elder Santander of Chile. They were not offical intercambios in the sense that I share a house with two of them and only spent part of the day with the third, but it was really interesting to work with four different Elders in the course of four days.

Elder Mathews is a zone leader with only 7 weeks left in his mission. I learned quite a bit from him during our day together. A word in Spanish that he taught me was Montaña Rusia. Russian mountain means rollercoaster in Spanish. That is pretty neat.

Speaking of Russia, about this time 76 years ago, the Soviets and Germans battled it out in the heart of the city of Stalingrad. During the maelstrom that has been underwhelming named the "Battle" of Stalingrad. The Soviet forces were pressed up to the very edge of the city, alongside the Volga river. During a period of ferocious German assaults, Soviet high command issued a directive with the words something of this sort: "There is no land beyond the Volga". The message was clear. You stay where you are and hold where you stand.

I have been working on a similar focus here in the field. I know less about the outside right now that I have for years. However, life is far more experiential for me than it has ever been for me. The reality of two years in the field has hit home the enormity of two years. There is no land beyond Chile.

How has the work gone this week? Más o menos. Brandon and his mom have had some issues that have yet to be fully resolved. It will be difficult to sort it all out. However, we are teaching an English teacher in English, so that has been fun!

I crossed the month in the field mark last month. I do not know if it felt like forever or a week to be honest. Comparing my journal entries from then to my experience of now, I know that I have made tremendous progress. I am moving forward step by step.

Chau!

Elder Cherpeski

 

P.S. In general, my allergies haven´t been too bad. A bit rough in the mornings at times, but I feel like the Lord is really blessing my health right now. My asthma is doing a bit worse since the air quality is not too great (a million times better than fire season though), but I am fine with medicine.

 

I am a cautious person, so I tend to curb my enthusiasm a bit. However, this week was a bit disappointing. We are making progress with Brandon, but I think that it will be a much longer road than I thought it would be. I wish I had your expertise at times! We are fasting right now so that the prophet will have time to visit us when he comes to Chile. 

 

Our p days tend to involve a lot of napping an lounging, since we do not have the money to do much else. I am looking forward to that nap! My trainer has his flaws (for example, my spanish tends to have better grammar) however, I have watched him grow a lot here in Linares. We both are learning a lot. 

When it comes to Spanish, it is really weird. I can understand some people fairly well but have no clue with others. It is like not everyone here is speaking the same language! This week, I read some of my journal from when I arrived, and I was amazed by how much has changed. That is a good thing for sure.  On Saturday in the middle of the day, I was feeling a bit down. We were having a large amount of tracting in the late spring heat, and it was kind of rough. However, in the middle of a conversation with a flojo chilena that didn´t want to commit nada, I testified to her something that was an answer to me. It is a sacrifice to spend an hour of your sundays at church, but without sacrifices, we cannot follow the savior. That was a learning moment for me.

We had some solid commitments for 6 people to come to church. All fell through. Oh well, maybe next week. The dedication is coming up, and I am so excited for it! I love hearing how everyone is doing. It seems like Danielle likes being an only child for the most part. I bet it is really different, though!