Travis' First Area in Chile

Just got Travis' first letter from Chile.  He is in the city of Tome and he is right on the coast.  He says that it is absolutely beautiful.  Just some of his highlights are: "I'm in a city called Tome which is right on the beach and i love it, i look at the ocean everyday. our sector though is called Tome alto so we are at the top of the bluffs and we have the best view in all of chile, it really is beautiful and i couldnt have picked a better area to be in. Its weird. the place where we live is called "los bloques" or "the blocks" in english, and let me just tell you that this place is straight up african style haha but its fun. the buildings look exactly like the projects in america but with no cement, just dirt and i have to basically crawl up the stairs cuz im so tall here. but its fun. chile is a different world. here is some things about it: theres 10 billion dogs running everywhere, theres dirt everywhere and it sticks to everything, theres an earthquake basically everyday, ive been here 6 days and had 5 earthquakes (most of them small), the bus drivers are crazy and we ride buses everywhere, everyone listens to american music which is funny".
 

                                                    City of Tome

He continues: "There is a ton of destruction here from last years earthquake and tsunami so we do alot of service helping people move or builing houses or what not some days. yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the quake and everyone was afraid of another one and we were at a members house last night and an earthquake happened and everyone was so scared, it was only a 5.0 though so nothing big. but little earthquakes happen all the time here.

"Chile is alot different than the united states to say the least. people here are so poor its crazy, ive never seen carpet yet here and they say i never will but this place looks better and better everyday, by the time i come im going to think the u.s. is like another planet. i love it here though. there is dirst soccer fields every where and we play with the kids in the mornings sometimes. oh ya theres also just about 6 trillion kids here too, its insane, they all just play in the dirty streets and ride little bikes around, they are so cute though. some days we will walk out of our apartment and there will be 10 little kids waiting for us and asking us for pass along cards, chileans love pictures of jesus and pamphlets of the church and all that. its super cool in my city and i love it."

He loves it!!!  I am so grateful that he is having a great experience in Chile and loving the country and the people.  But...all those earthquakes scare me!  It is great to have a missionary.