It has been almost 6 weeks since our last entry. That only shows how fast time is flying for us. We get to the end of each week and wonder where the time has gone. Christmas is only 30 days from now and where did the year go. We have had lots happen. Three significant dates in Chile have occurred:
First was the qualifying of Chile to go to the World Cup Soccer playoffs. The night of qualifying they played Ecuador. It was like Friday night in a small town in Texas and a rival football game in the city stadium. We could not visit anyone. No one was on the streets, the town was closed.

As the game progressed you could hear all over town if Chile scored. At the end of the game you would think the World Cup had been one. Here is a picture of the Plaza in the center of town. It was jammed with cheering crowds. All because they made the Playoffs.

 

The second event is the elections which occur today. The prelims were 3 months ago. Here are two pictures of two streets we travel on regularly. Every lamp post, signpost, telephone pole is covered with campaign signs. they are not small signs either. I cannot believe the money spent on signs. I would like to have the concession for one election. It is amazing.

 

The third event was more important to us than to Chile but it will have long term spiritual effects on this area. We were privileged to have Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, one of the Church Apostles come to visit and to have a conference with the missionaries in Santiago. There were more than a 1,000 missionaries in attendance. It was amazing to see that many young Elders and Sisters who have sacrificed so much to serve the Lord.

 

Bonnie and I had some fun times also. We had to go to Valparaiso which is on the coast of Chile west of us here in Santiago. I had to transfer the title on my car. We were fortunate to stay in the vacation apartment of a member here in San Jose. They are on the 10 floor overlooking the bay. We are in a little town south of Valparaiso called Algarobos. Here is the view from our apartment.

 

On our way to Valparaiso, we stopped by a little town called Pomaire. It is a town specializing in pottery items of all kinds. I bought a pot belly stove miniature. Here are two pictures of a man making the bowls in the second picture. All the items are hand made. It is really neat.

 

While we were at Valparaiso we went to Isla Negra. It is not an island, it is the home of one of the houses of Pablo Neruda. He is a famous Chilean author and poet. He won the Nobel prize for literature one year and has written several books. He loved the sea and built this house in the shape of a boat. He called the area Isla Negra because of his love of the sea.

 

We ate lunch at a restaurant at the restaurant by the museum.

 

We took a walk yesterday with a couple in the Branch up a little canyon road to a secluded little river crossing. It was a beautiful walk and the view at the end was wonderful.

 

Farther up the canyon they have cabins you can stay in. We are told there is a swimming pool and very nice accommodations. You just have to have the right transportation to get there.

 

We had a great time. It was tiring but worth the trip.

 

We are teaching a family that lives up higher in the mountains. They are on some property owned by his father. One day we were there was at a time of changing the goats from one pasture to another. They have the goats in a holding pen during this day until they have them all collected. The next day they start a 4-5 hour treck up the canyon to put the goats into a different pasture. You can see how they are stacked in. The two in the picture are on a narrow wall over the remainder of the herd.

 

 

 

 

Finally one of our best days was when we were able to take a member of the Branch to the Temple for the first time. She had been less active but has felt the need and completely changed her life and is very faithful. Her going to the temple for the first time was a significant event and very much an influence for good on the branch. She is actually our neighbor and has been so kind to come to our house 2 times each week to help Bonnie with her Spanish. It is very helpful.

 

 

 

We are doing very well and the Lord has been more than generous with us in our lives. We love the Lord and love being here in his service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been to new places and had new experiences in this great land. We have seen the mammoth lake called Embalse de Yeso which provide all the water for the East half of Santiago, we have shared the Independence Celebration which is a 3 day holiday for most, we have taken missionaries to snow who have never seen snow in their lives, we have personally met one of the General Authorities of the Church who was here for training, and had some spiritual experiences that continue to convince us that Jesus is the Christ and his Gospel is true. Here are a few pictures of our experiences:

First, this is on our road to our house. It is a road that crisscrosses up the hill. We had a little traffic jam this day. You can see the wide road. The uphill traffic has right of way. It gets interesting sometimes. We are in the car taking the picture waiting our turn.

 

Embalse de Yeso is one of two large lakes extremely deep that provides the water to Santiago. The road up to see it is 15 miles of rugged rocky dirt road and in our little car it was lots of bumps. This first picture is on the road. The Water fall flows onto the road that we had to cross.

 

 

The road up the canyon is really beautiful. This is a picture across the canyon to a waterfall on the opposite side. It is quite spectacular.

 

When we got close to the lake the road narrowed because of the snow that was still there. At this point it was only about 4-5 feet wide and we had to leave our car behind to walk the balance of the trip. You can see it at the end of the snow. It is little because it is a little car.

 

When you get to the lake it is a huge area. What you see here is a small part of the lake it goes around the corner on the right for some distance. It is quite impressive. Bonnie and the Sister missionaries are in the Picture. They are about 100 yards from the lake. It is all fenced off and no motor or other types of traffic is allowed on the lake. The say the water is so pure that they do not need to filter the water. It is quite something.

 

 

If you want to see an impressive site. Here is 1/4 of the missionaries in our mission. They are from 10-14 different countries, mostly Latin and South America, and the US-Canada. They all pay their own way to come to Chile on assignment from the Prophet of the Church to serve and teach those who want to know about the Gospel of Christ. We have now about 265 missionaries here 90-100 of which are young women. They are all between the ages of 18-25. There are some from poverty families, some who left full scholarships to Military Academies to serve, others left their college studies. It is an amazing group and we have learned a lot from them. the young men serve for 24 months and the young women serve for 18 months.

 

 

This is Elder Cebellos and his wife. He is one of the General Authorities in the Church. He is located in Buenos Aires Argentina presently and along with two other Brethren direct the affairs of the Church in South America (not including Brazil) under the direction of the First Presidency I Salt Lake.. It is a huge responsibility that he and others do voluntarily.

 

The 18th of September is the independence day for Chile. It is a very large celebration. Most cars have flags on them, houses have flags, businesses are closed for 3 days. They are very proud of their country. There is some history the are not proud of but the country they are proud of. Here are some pictures of some of the members.

 

 

Our Branch President is on the right and one of the other leaders of the branch is on the right.

 

Chileans have lots of traditional folklore and the most often thought of is the Cueca Dance. The costuming is beautiful. This young girl made her own dress. It is very colorful and lively.

 

Here is another picture of them dancing the Cueca.

 

As mentioned the flags fly everywhere. We put one up outside our home. What do you Texans think of this flag? See any similarity.

 

We have completed 6 months now in Chile and it has been a wonderful experience. Bonnie is struggling with the language but she loves the people and they know it. Teaching the Gospel is fun and when you see people want to change their lives to make it better and follow the example of Christ it is that much better. If you are not familiar with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ, I invite you to learn.

 

 

It has been awhile since I last entered items. A lot has happened. We have a rented house for our  church building. It is in need of repair but the Church does not want to put a lot of money in someone else's house. So we have to do some of the work ourselves. Here are a few pictures of a clean up day we had at the Building. Yes that is me washing the dishes and cleaning in the Kitchen. With me is the Branch President Cristian Catalan. We worked hard to clean everything including scrubbing the walls. It was an all day project but the end result was really good.

 

 

 

 A few weeks ago was the 221st birthday of the city of San Jose de Maipo. So there was a big celebration in the plaza. There was a parade, games, artistry shops and lots of people. It happened to be the same day as a National Holiday for one of the Saints. Traffic was unbelievable up the canyon. It is a 15 mile drive from the mouth of the canyon to the city of San Jose. We had a meeting in town so we were going the opposite direction as the traffic. The cars were bumper to bumper for 10 miles and a little space between them for the other 5 miles. It was incredible. Below are two pictures: one is in the middle of the Plaza showing the city flag and some of the People.

 

Here is yours truly mopping the floor in the multipurpose area. In the background you can see the heater. This is what is used to heat the room.

 

Below is interesting. You see the people sitting on the bench. They are having an empanada to eat and something to drink. The on looking dogs are just there begging, looking for something to eat. It is like this in the Plaza every day.

 

When you are in the mountains the snow pictures are really spectacular. I hope you do not get bored of them. Our last snow storm came in one day and dumped about 4-5 inches of snow. This is what it looked like out our front door.

 

 

When you look up the walkway from our front door you could see this picture. Our little car is at the end.

 

Up and over the mountain by our house is the "Ski Resort" of Lagunillas. Don't think of park City or Vail when you think of this. It is a poor man's answer to a Ski Resort. But the drive up is spectacular. About half paved the remainder is Dirt road. Here is one picture from the road on the way up.

 

 

As you approach the top you can look back and see the road you have covered to get to the Resort. It is quite amazing.

 

When you arrive at the top this is the view of the entire ski area. Small but if you want to ski, it is the only place for 50 miles and it is not expensive. Behind me here is the area to rent skis and snow boards etc. It is really quite beautiful.

 

Shopping is also very interesting here. There are various places to buy meat and other products. In the case the meat market behind me was receiving a delivery of meat. The guy in the picture is wiping his brow because he just finished carrying a side of beef the store on his back. They will put a towel over their shoulder to protect their clothes and then lay the side of beef on their shoulder and carry it in.

 

We do most of our shopping at a Leder Store. It is the Walmart Brand of Chile. You can get almost anything you want including crunchy peanut butter, double stuffed oreos, and pizza. The difference is in the packaging. We buy pickles, olives, peanuts, etc. in a bottle in the US. Here it is packaged in plastic bags. It is part of the tour. Also, if you want to buy paper plates, you can but the largest quantity is 10. Napkins are smaller, index cards (if you can find them) come in packages of 25. Some things are different.  

 

We had some rain two weeks ago. It was quite a lot. Anyway when we got out after the rain this is what the road outside our front looked like. It was a real mess. Slip Slide Away. But we had no damage or problems.

 

 

this is a picture up a different canyon towards the city of Maitenes. We have a member who lives up there. It is quite beautiful. I had Bonnie pose for this picture. I think the brilliance is coming off her, but some say it is the sun. I like my story better.  

 

The work is going very well. We have 4 people working towards baptism. They each have something to work on to be prepared. We have 6 couples who we are preparing to be married. Marriage is an afterthought here and we are trying to teach the importance of families and commitment. We have 18 members who are not active now that we are working with and they are close to coming back active in the Church. We are also working with the Church Humanitarian Aid Service to provide some help to the public hospital and clinics here. It is an interesting healthcare system. We do not want Nationalized Healthcare.

 

Thank you all for your support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are here and enjoying the work. Here are some interesting and beautiful pictures we took. First, our address is 19081 Cemetario (Cemetary) we live almost next to a Cemetary up on the hillside of the Town of San Jose. Here are two pictures inside the Cemetary.

 

The cemetery is about the size of 2 football fields. You can see each site is real close to the next. There is about a 18 inch walk way down each row of sites. There is no space between the sites on the side. There are some that are quite elaborate and other that are very simple. 

Here is a picture from a different angle of the Cemetary. The people are very good about visiting their family sites. Some of these accommodate more than one person but most are sites per person. They sell real flowers and artificial flowers on site and down the road from us at the bottom of the hill is a strategically situated flower vendor. Lots of flowers and color.

 

The next pictures are some views I took from our house. The First is looking over the valley towards Santiago. You wind down the valley towards the left and our of the Canyon to the suburb of Puente Alto and they to the city of Santiago. This is a picture in the daytime.

 

 

At night we sometimes see the following picture out our kitchen window.

 





 

 

How would you like that out your window. 

 

This is the same night looking in a different direction.

 

Yes it is beautiful in the middle of the Canyon. The people here are wonderful. There is sometimes a small town feeling to an outsider like ourselves, but because we are missionaries and most have some knowledge of the Church they are kind and receptive to us. They don't know much about the US but they do think we are all rich.

 

The Lord has blessed us greatly while we are here. Bonnie was able to give her first talk in the church meeting yesterday. She spoke of the blessings she has gained from being a missionary. I also spoke on the needs of every member. President Hinckley told us years ago that every member needs three things: A friend, the good word of God, and a calling in the church. That is so true. If members do not have those three things they feel either unwanted, not useful, or embarrassed for lack of knowledge of the doctrine and gospel of Jesus Christ. We are trying to help in each of those areas and make sure everyone has those three things.

 

We met a lady the on Saturday who is a member. We knew a little about her. I invited her to come to church. She said, I don't have nice clothes. I said, that does not matter. We love you anyway and want you to come back and join us. She was at church yesterday and had a wonderful experience. There were those there she knew and who welcomed her. We need a friend, the good word of God and a calling or purpose to be there each week.

 

We are blessed to be here and appreciate all the support we get from friends and family. 

July 1, 2013

 

I wrote this entry and then tried to post it and the system fouled up and so I am writing it again. I hope I can do it twice.

 

Time is going by and we are having some interesting experiences: Below is a picture of one of them:

 

This is a picture of Bonnie and Sister McKinley, who is one of the sister missionaries serving with us in San Jose. They are holding their newly issued Carnet cards. These are like SS cards in the US. They are used for everything for identification. If you use a credit card, you must give them your carnet number, if you want to enter into a contract with someone or a business you must use your carnet. Since I did not have a carnet I could not purchase our car. We had a friend purchase the car and we are using it until I get my carnet, then we will transfer ownership. I remember all the people who did not want to give their SS# in the states for privacy. Here you have to give it for everything. Bonnie now has her card, I am waiting for my temporary visa to come through and then I can get my carnet. We don't know what is the hold up but we must wait.

 

The next experience was our first Snow storm. It came Thursday this last week after it had rained for a few hours it began to snow mid day. This first picture is the beginning of the snow in our front yard.

 

The next picture is in our back yard. You can see the snow covered the ground except under the trees. We had a sister in the Branch call us this morning and asked if we could take her to see her 98 year old mother in the hospital. She lives about 1 1/2 miles away and she walks it twice a day. She is 70+ years old. Anyway, since we are the only ones with a car we gladly helped her. That night she walked home in the cold. We had offered but she went on her own.

Next is a picture of the next day. This is looking out our front door. It is looking west towards Santiago. When we go shopping or to Santiago we pass through this canyon beyond these mountains to get to the suburbs of Santiago. It is really beautiful

Below is a picture overlooking San Jose de Maipo. On the far side of the valley is the River Maipo which comes out of the mountains. This look is to the east. On the other side of the mountains is Argentina. It is a small community. Here all the roofs are covered with snow. They are all tin roofs and no insulation in the houses. It gets cold. One day our temperature was more than 75 degrees colder than in Dallas. It was about 25 degrees that day, but it was beautiful as you can see.

 

 

This wonderful little street is about as wide as a full size pickup. It is the road from down in the city to our house. It zig zags up the hill like switch backs, and they passes a cemetery and then we get to our house. What makes the drive interesting is when someone is coming the opposite direction than you are traveling. The rule is the driver coming up the hill has the right of way. So, if you are coming down you have to pull off the road enough to let them by. No there is not much room. In this picture you cannot see a driveway on the right that goes up the hill to a house. The driver coming down will pull up the driveway, let the person pass, back down the driveway and they move on. Some of the areas are not as convenient or as quick as this one. We are glad for a small car.

 

 

This picture is of the sisters who serve in our zone. The mission is geographically divided first into congregations (called wards or branches depending upon the size). Then we combine some of these units into Districts. These districts are supervised by one of the missionaries who is called to be responsible for the missionaries in their district. Then some districts are combined into a zone with missionaries as leaders. There is some wonderful leadership training opportunities for these young people. Anyway, there are fewer sisters in the mission and they will have their own zone. Last week we had the sisters for the zone our sisters are in to our house and fed them lunch and they had some tine to play and relax. Here is a picture of the sisters that came. The sisters that work with us are in the back row third and forth from the left side. They are really good young girls. 

 

 

Once a Month Bonnie and I go to Santiago to the Temple there. It is great to be able to go there to serve in the sacred work of the temple and have the peace and solitude of the Lord's house. We are blessed to be able to go.

 

That is our pictures for this time but we wanted to share with you a fun experience we have had. We have been meeting with Luis and Maria who are 60+ years old and members of the church. They have both been divorced and now have been living together for 27 years. They have son. They did not want to get married because they did not want to get divorced. (Don't ask the logic) Anyway we have been working with them to understand the blessings of marriage vs. not being married. In our church marriage is very sacred. In Chile the sanctity of marriage is secondary. It really effects the children as you can imagine. We believe in the fidelity of marriage and no relations outside of marriage. Anyway we have been working with them and become very good friends. Anyway this last week we were discussing principles of the gospel and she asked, "How much more do I have to learn in order to marry this man." That was wonderful news for us. They are now preparing and it will be a wonderful day for us and them.

 

Anyway we are doing well and enjoying serving the Lord 100% or our time. We are together all the time and it is really good. Our relationship is growing and I can tell you Bonnie is better now than 3 months ago when we left. The gospel is true and we love serving.