Elder Pierce McMullan : Earthquake in Northern Chile and pics of Elder McMullan's new digs!

There was a 6.7 Earthquake Sunday in Northern Chile! Glad I didn't hear about it until today, when it was announced on the news that all was well. Pierce lived in one of the cities that was evacuated before he was transferred. He was bummed he missed the excitement. ??
He sent us pictures of his new "digs." He mentioned SEVERAL times before he got his mission call, that he wanted to go to a 3rd world country. Well, I think he's having that experience now.

Here are some excerpts form today's email:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I got all the stuff you mentioned. I still have my old sunglasses but they're slowly dying, that's why I asked for another pair. You know me, I’m going to wear them until they fall apart completely. haha. This week was good. No one really came to church that told us they would, but whatever. Man some days it's hard. We’re helping an investigator build his house though, so those are the best days! "

"Iquique, Arica, and Antofagasta got evacuated because of the earthquake. It was almost a 7.0. I know Iquique did, because it hit it directly or super close anyway. Dang, I missed the possible tsunami by weeks! "

"7 and 1/2 months today!"

"Yes, someone does our laundry and we get enough to eat. I'm fine, except, I’m starting to hate the food. The food is greasy, there is constant soda and other gross fattening food. I may be going vegan by the time I go home. I buy fruit and stuff and eat healthy at the house, it’s just all the rest of the stuff people give me. The water here is clean enough to drink from the faucet but we boil it anyways."

" Yea there are some Elders that run in the am. I want to, but it's soo freaking cold here in the mornings, that I don't want to leave and sometimes, there’s fog. REALLY thick fog or mist. You can’t see anything. It’s cool though."

"I wish I was fluent, I understand everything, more or less, but speaking it is sometimes hard. Only grammar though, everything else is easy. I want a grammar book but can`t find one. Usually everyone understands me; it’s the 10 percent that don't that bothers me, but apparently everyone else can. So after a year I should be good."

"Sometimes I think it might be nice to have a gringo comp here. Someone to really be able to talk to. Or at least see a gringo once in a while! The branch president speaks English, but I never really speak to him in English. It’s good and bad."

View of the City

Moldy Tomato

The Kitchen (yep, that oven's busted)

The bathroom, complete with a soaking tub...(yes the wooden thing is a window into the neighbors house.) Just another one of those South American things)