July 15-Aug 2011 - Santiago North Mission

Dad  and one of the Office Elders calling the family to open the gate so we can go into the complex to teach a Family Home  Evening lesson to Camilo and his mother.  This family lives far from the church and her son is inactive.  We visited this family a few days ago, and she said that in the last 15 years she has only had one visit from a home teacher.  She was glad for our visit.  We offered to return with a Family Home Evening lesson. 

E

 Here we are at the Santiago International Airport at the end of a long day.  Many missionaries had completed their 2 year or 18 month mission.  The day was filled with so much emotion.  We could see the excitement as the missionaries visited with each other, expressed their love for fellow missionaries, and families  they had served and loved during their mission.  Several families went to the airport to see missionaries for the last time, and to thank them for sharing the restored gospel with their family.  It is imposssible to measure all the blessings and all the love that the missionaries are able to share with individuals and families during their mission. It is a unique opportunity and blessing to be a full time missionary in the service of our Heavenly Father and bring the light of the gospel to those who are ready to listen.  We have seen how the gospel has blessed the lives of long time members and how it is blessing their children and will certainly bless future generations. This lovely sister gave us a ride home from the Temple earlier in the week.  We were so glad that we did not have to ride the metro with hundreds of people going home after work.  It was nice to see her at the airport.  This sister is an ANGEL, she takes people to the Temple every month.  That is her service to the LORD.

It is a happy and sad day for most of the missionaries.  They have developed strong bonds with the missionaries in our mission.

22 Missionaries have completed their mission and they report to the Mission Office early in the morning.

Some missionaries arrive by taxi cab, others walk several blocks from the Cementerios Metro Station.

Some of our Office Elders visiting friends.

Missionaries went to the Mission Home for their last testimony meeting and lunch before departing to the airport.

This bus took the missionaries to the airport.

Here's Dad offering his help.

We had a nice dinner for the Taylors before they left to their next assignment.  She made the best cake balls.  We will miss the Taylors and Hermana Taylor's baked goodies.

Sometimes we go with the Office  Elders to deliver mail.

On the way to San Felipe, over an hour away, we stopped at this great battle field.

This is where Chileans won their independence from Spain.

View from the battle field.

The Office Elders love the empanadas from the Empanada Factory in San Felipe that is near the church building.

View of San Felipe, Office Elders and Dad carrying their empanadas in those black bags.

Dad buying oranges.  San Felipe is an agricultural area where many things grow well.

We all enjoyed our empanadas in the car.

On our way home we stopped here.

Here I am enjoying my Chilean fruit drink.

This group of seminary students hiked up and down  Cerro San Cristobal then walked to the Temple for a Temple Tour.  It  took them over 3 hours to get to the Temple.  This was their way of celebrating Pioneer Day in Santiago.                                         

We went up, and up and then down, and up and up to get to the home where we gave a family home evening lesson.

Dad and I took the bus to get our groceries for the week.  LIDER is a big store that has everything we need.  It has many Great-Value and American  brand items.  Next week we should be able to drive the mission van to the store.

Here we are down the street from our apartment.

This nice family invited us for lunch after church.  The mother and oldest daughter will be singing for Chile's 50th Anniversary celebration. In October we will have a big Area Conference celebrating 50 years of missionary service in Chile.

This picture was taken from the Mission Office.  Some of our church members live up on the hill.

There is a fabulous bakery near our apartment.  We buy bread several times each week.This is where we pay for our bread. These two ladies only handle money

One night we were out in the rain.  We did not find the inactive members, but found 2 new contacts that want to learn more about the restored gospel and want visits from the missionaries.

On our preparation day, we walked about 2 miles to a shopping area where we did not find boots for this sister.  We  were determined to find  boots, so we took a cab to the shopping area where I bought my boots.  She was able to find a beautiful pair of boots that are going to keep her feet warm, and her husband found a pair of gloves.  We had a good time getting acquainted with our new friends as we helped them find what they needed to be comfortable.

We attended our first baptism on my birthday.  We have helped the Elders teach this young man.  We have seen a mighty change in this young man.  He is so eager to learn, and he and his family are thankful for the wonderful changes in his life.

After the baptism, we were invited to a fabulous Peruvian dinner.

At 10:00 PM we had my birthday cake with the Office Elders.  It is a joy to serve with such spiritual and  dedicated missionaries,  They are among the best !!

There are dogs all over the city.  Here is a group of dogs greeting Dad Sunday morning when we arrived at our church building.

This is the money we use.  We are getting used to paying for everything in the thousands.

This road was built by a Spanish Company.

It is Monday evening and we are on our way to a house up on the hill for Family Home Evening.  The Elders and an investigator joined us for Family Home Evening.

We had a great lesson. This family joined the church 21 years ago. All the missionaries love this family.  They had us over for dinner the first Sunday we attended church, and at that time asked if we would prepare a Family Home Evening Lesson for their family. There were 12 present, members,  less active members, a non member,  an inverstigator, and the missionaries.

The Elders could not stay for refreshments, but Dad and I had a good visit with the family.

Before we left, we were trying to warm our hands and feet before walking home on this cold winter night.

Dad with a treat for the Office Elders.  Just a block away from the Mission Office there is another bakery where they have supreme sweets and cookies.  We like to buy treats for our hard working Office Missionaries.

This is the way we secure our door every night.  We have 24 hour security, but just in case someone decides to visit our apartment  when we are sleeping.

Dad drying his pants after walking in the rain for 3 hours.