More About My Island

Ya ok so I have a little bit more time today to finish my letter.

So on Thursday we packed up all of our stuff and sat in the office
until 1:30. At that time we loaded up and headed off to the airport,
and something that was funny is that Elder Wilson my companion from
the MTC was there, and helped take me to the office.  It was pretty
interesting to see him, and to get to have him drop me off at the
airport. When we got to the airport, it was just a bunch of hangers
with little planes in them, so we found our place and checked in.
They weighed our bags, and we were both within the weight so we didn't
have to pay any extra. It's a good thing they weighed our backpacks as
part of us because that was really heavy too. From there all we had
to do was wait for the captain and we were good to go. It ended up
just being my companion and I on the plane with the pilot, so my
companion got to be the co-pilot. But I sat in the back all by
myself. I got a video of the take off and landing on the plane. In
the air we had a little bit of turbulance, but nothing much. The
plane only had 4 seats in it, so that's how small it was. When we got
to the island to land, the runway has cliffs on both sides of it, so
you have to be careful. The pilot landed hard and fast and then
instantly started slowing down. It was a little bit scary, but
everything was ok. Once we got off the plane we realized how cold it
was going to be with the wind, so we put our coats on and stood there
for a little bit. From there they loaded us up and drove us down to
the little dock thing. There were a bunch of sea lions just sitting
on the rocks there. Some of them came over to see what we were doing.
We then got on a tiny fishing boat, and headed off on the hour ride to
get to the people. It was fun, and one of the only times I´ll ever
get to be on a boat in my mission so i enjoyed it. When we got to the
city, Elder Waldron was there waiting for us. He and his wife were the
couple missionaries that were on the island for the past 10 months.
So he took us up to the house, and we unpacked a little and then had
dinner. FISH!!! The fish here is amazing. We live with the familia
Lopez, and we call sister Lopez, Nana. She is an amazing cook, and
everything I have eaten from her has been amazing. All of our meals
are made for us;  breakfast, lunch, and one (snack dinner thing). So
we don't have to buy food, and the church pays rent, and pretty much
it's like we live in a cabin hotel, it;s so amazing!  We are definitely
spoiled here. We also have a dog named Maupo, that will follow us
everywhere if we call him. The only bad thing is that they have fleas
here, so all of the animals have them. Pretty much we just followed
Elder Waldron around all that night looking at stuff.

Friday we studied in the house, and ya there were always people coming
in and out of the room that we were studying in, so we decided next
time we were going to study in the chapel. We have our own keys to
the chapel, and so we can use it willingly. After studies, Elder
Waldron took us up to the library to set up a time for email, and to
get to know where it is.  That's where I am now and it's free. A lot
of stuff is free for the people here.  The doctor is free, the
dentist, and soon I think they are going to get free wifi for the
whole island. I'm not sure, but the people here are really blessed.
There really aren't any poor people here.  They are all fairly well
off. Nobody is super rich, but nobody is poor.  To buy stuff in
the stores here it is very expensive. Good thing we don't have to buy
much,  and we can only pay with cash, so I have a lot of cash and no
where to put it. The people here are pretty much all related, and so
nobody really locks their doors, because it would be pretty obvious to
know who steals your stuff, so they don't even worry about it. Pretty
much the rest of the day we just went around learning where people
lived, and where all the stores are, and all the basics of the island.

Saturday we went and studied in the church. I liked it because there
was a heater in there that we turned on. The weather here is a little
bit chilly in the mornings, and then perfect the rest of the time,
not too hot and not too cold. Elder Waldron continued to show us
around. He took us out to the five star hotel that is on the island,
and we got some really good pictures. Let's be honest I can't think of
a view that isn't beautiful, but you don't walk here on the island, you
hike everywhere you go. It's either straight up, or straight down. So
I´ll be in really good shape here. Also you can breath here! The air
is so clean and fresh. I love it.

Sunday, we had church! There were 12 people in the church, and that
includes the 4 missionaries. The branch president here has been
branch president for 27 years, and there was only one other guy in
church. When we met the branch president, he told us that we were his
counselers, secretaries, teachers, and pretty much everything else in
between. The church also has a computer, but right now it is in the
branch president's house. Don't worry, I'm getting it out today, but he
is a really good guy, and church was good. The sacrament took all of
3 mins., then the Waldrons talked a little because they were leaving,
and then we talked, and then there was one other talk that she had
forgot she was supposed to give, and then sacrament meeting ended...
half an hour early... so we started our next class, and pretty much
it's just read out of the book, but it was still a good lesson, and I
learned something. But they are going to finish the lessons 4 weeks
early because they don't have general conference, or stake conference,
but we brought general conference in audio, so that's what we are doing
next sunday.

P-DAY!!! finally p-day, and the first thing we did was go down to
welcome the boat that brings all of the food, and also there were some
islanders that built a boat and sailed all the way to the continent in
it from the island in rememberance of Nana´s grandpa who had done the
same thing when he was lost at sea in a storm. So we went to meet
them because the capitan was a member! He is a really awesome guy!
and I'm going to get to know him today haha.  Ya pretty much we are
going to go around and deliver Liahonas to all of the members today so
we can get to know them, and to know where they live, but after that
we had lunch, and then did one of the shorter hikes here on the
island. It was incredible. There were giant leaves and the craziest
plants I have ever seen. It was so beautiful! This place is
amazing!!! But ya it was fun. Our internet time was cut short, so we
got permision to come Tuesday and finish writing, and ya here I am!
On an island! With only my companion, and limited comunication from
the outside world! but I'M ON THE ISLA JUAN FERNANDEZ!!!!!!!!! Don't
worry I have taken a lot of pictures!

I l;ove you all and miss you, but I'm having a blast!