This past week was Halloween. Yes, they have Halloween in Chile. It's still not as big as it is in the U.S., but I'm told that it's been gaining popularity every year. But I'm not sure some of the members of the church here really understand the point of Halloween. Some members think that the main point of Halloween is to glorify or praise evil things and Satan. In my mind, Halloween is just a holiday to dress up and get candy. So a few of the members of my ward were a little astonished to hear that back in the U.S. my ward typically had a Halloween activity. It was a funny situation, because right after we were having this discussion of whether the church should celebrate Halloween or not (we were having ward council the night of Halloween), the bishop came in and his grandchildren were out in the hall in costume, obviously just getting done trick-or-treating (dulce o truco). 
They need to get better candy to hand out though. The candy they got from trick-or-treating was a little lame.   

Other than that, the work is going a little slow right now, but it is going well. Contacting is definitely becoming easier for me, and we get to have some pretty interesting conversations with different people. The other day we found a lady who didn't profess any religion, but she believes in God and Jesus Christ, and reads the Bible. She says she's never found a church where she's felt the need to join. But she is interested in talking to us a little bit and learning more. We explained to her a little bit about the Book of Mormon, and I felt impressed to give her the one I was carrying around. We usually don't give people a Book of Mormon until after we've finished teaching about the Restauration. She was a little surprised that we would give her the book for free, but she says she's going to read it. She's interested in comparing it to the Bible since we said that she could.

Hmm, what else. Speaking in Spanish is becoming easier. It feels awkward when I switch to English now. But I'm by no means speaking perfect Spanish yet. But I'm progressing. I'm learning a lot of new words with Hermana Herrera. And I'm helping her to learn some English. We have an hour to study language, half an hour to study Spanish, and half an hour to study English. The Latins are supposed to be studying English in the field. When we have any special meetings, if they are asked to say the prayer or give the missionary purpose, they are supposed to do it in English, while us gringos are supposed to do it in Spanish. We've been reading the Book of Mormon in English together. It feels weird since I've only been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish for almost three months. 

Yep, November 1st I hit three months in Chile! And I will hit 4 months as a missionary November 11th! Time really does fly on the mission. 

--Hermana Mercado