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.