Con fe en cada paso

Describing this week in one word...INSANE. We had one crazy thing after another happen and we probably slept 12 hours total this week. #MissionLife

Elder Holt´s birthday was on the 7th and boy did he get it. There is a tradition in South America when someone has a birthday, the first half of the day you just pull brutal prank after brutal prank. However, at the end of the day you all get together and just love them and spoil them. Tons of fun. Long story short, by the end of the day Holt had gone through 5 shirts and 3 pairs of pants including one of mine he had to borrow because he ran out. Between rotten pudding on the head, eggs and flour to the face multiple times, a bucket of ice water and shampoo from a window, and surprise attacks in the shower, he changed about every hour or so.

We were walking home the next day when we got a call from one of our Elder who is from Argentina, Elder Petrovelli.  He was in a lot of pain and had been for about two days. We ran to the little ghetto clinic of Rio Negro and they told us just to go home and wait it out. By this time it is 1:00 in the morning so I didn’t sleep at all because I was worried about the kid. We went to Osorno in the morning with a member, Hermano Quintanilla, and at the hospital found out he had appendicitis and some type of stone, but not in his kidneys. He had two emergency operations and we were awake all night in the hospital that night. I learned so much from this experience and the kid had so much faith.

After he came out of operation he just said ¨Con fe en cada paso. Le quiero.¨  Basically, “Faith in every step. I love you.” He has had a brother and an uncle die while out here, and his mom was just diagnosed with cancer, so please pray for Elder Lucas Petrovelli. The guy needs it and more importantly deserves it.

I just got back from the Volcano of Osorno and it was freaking AWESOME! So pretty. I will try to send pictures next week.

I love you all so much. Stay safe this week and remember, ¨Con fe en cada paso.¨

Love,
Elder Rich

Elder Petrovelli post-surgery.

Never play Spanish tongue twister games with people who speak Spanish when this is the punishment for losing.

Beautiful Rio Negro

Rio Negro, Chile

House of Hermano Jacob we have been helping to build. Just moved into it and I now know how to install plumbing, wire electricity and build a house.

Ricardo and Carla are an awesome couple who don´t have much besides their daughter and their little hotdog stand. I taught them how to make crepes and now they are selling like crazy. 

(Thanks Dannielle Larkin for providing a world famous crepe recipe!)