Bobada de Bomberos [Silly Fire]

So this week has been interesting, but in an intercambio [exchange] that we did I was with Élder Vergara from Chile (Antofagasta) and there´s a funny story to tell, hence the title. So we´re going to a cita [an appointment] and pass by the house of the family Buitrago just to say hi and ask for water. While we´re there, Alejandro notices the smell of burning and that the street and everywhere was filled with smoke. We all went outside to see what was up and saw a large amount of smoke coming from the house behind theirs. Alejandro asked for our phone to call the firemen and we went on our way to the cita. As we were subiendo the loma [coming out the chimney], we saw that all the smoke was coming out of a chimney (a small one, but still was coming out tons of smoke) and learned later that someone was just making tomales. Either way, the firemen came. We heard them from blocks away. They came with two of the big green firetrucks, two ambulances, another police car, and the local news van. The tomale lady, when she heard the sirens, turned off the oven and when they got there there was no smoke. It turned into a penosa [painful] story and also funny. The next morning when the hermana Armi Buitrago went out to buy empanadas or arepas, the lady was saying that she was making tomales last night and the neighbors called the firemen and that "sus vecinos son unos envidiosos" [her neighbors are just jealous].  We were basically dying of laughter, so short story long, she doesn´t know that the call came from our phone, and we hope it stays that way. Alejandro didn´t even pass us the reference of the firemen. 

Elder Velazquez and I have been seeing a cantidad of milagros [ton of miracles] lately that we believe are basically compensation for the time that we take out of the area to attend to the zone. Every Domingo [Sunday] for like 4 weeks, a different less-active or two has just showed up at the capilla [chapel] like, "Teach me" and we´re like "where did you come from".  Half of them we didn´t even know existed until they showed up. It´s been super crazy for the last couple weeks for that reason. It´s been really comforting to see the area growing so much, and also great to see how the animo [energy] of the people is changing as they see the difference in what is happening. The lesson this week has been: worry about where I am first and if I´m certain that I´m where I should be, everything else will be following, I´ve just got to be the example. It´s like the peak of a mountain. The peak doesn´t get to be a 14er while the rest of the mountain stays at sea level, it all grows and ningún [not a single] part can grow at a different rate as other parts.

Always Great,

Élder Hicken