CHRISTMAS IN CHILE 2011

We invited Higenia to the Christmas Concert at the Obispado.  We also enjoyed the nativity and Christmas lights of the Santiago Temple.

We love shopping at Lider.  We select fresh fruits and vegetables, then we take them to the scale center.  There an employee will weigh the bag and puts a tag with the price of the fruit or vegetable. 

I like to sweep and keep the Mission Office an example of cleanliness in Recoleta. 

The Wilsons with Elder Eulitt - buying a new tire.  The office Elders had a blow out after dark on the autopista.

This is what was left of the blown out tire.  It was a miracle the Elders survived.

The smiles tell it all - we love birthday celebrations!

A Sister Missionary walked through this glass door and survived with minor cuts. Here we are replacing the glass door.

Repairing a shower that was not being used in Quilicura.

Happiness for the Elders - a new working shower!

The Laborers eating on the run.

Walking home for lunch; in front of our 18 story apartment building.

A popular small park in front of our apartment; very poplular with people and dogs.

Temple tour group - one of our favorite activities to do with investigators and on this occasion with Los Wilsons.

Chinese lunch on El Salto and Lircay with Los Wilsons. This became their favorite place to eat.

These Hermanas locked themselves out of their apartment in Los Andes for two days. It was a miracle to find this locksmith at 6:45pm on a Saturday in a town we were unfamiliar with.

Fermin Vivaceta close to the chapel. Moving day for these Elders who looked for months for an apartment in this sector.

KIA van - the workhorse vehicle in our mission. We moved many, many missionaries using this KIA.

Moving more missionaries, this time in Circunvalacion.

Hermana Eulitt - mission seamstress, curtain-maker, taylor, and master of many skills. She is making her first set of curtains in the upstairs of the Mission Office, which was the former La Paz chapel. 

Elder Eulitt learns about curtain-making from his eternal companion. This is the beginning of many, many curtains for missionary apartments.

THANKSGIVING IN CHILE

It is a  "Small World" when you are a member of  the Church.  Here we are with a special couple who is serving here in Santiago, Chile.  We met them here when we arrived in July.  Their son's family and our son's family had Thanksgiving together.  Way down here in the historical Mission Home,  we enjoyed our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with this great couple as we shared some of our mission experiences.

Dad and and another senior missionary serving in the Santiago North Mission.

After our Thanksgiving dinner, we were blessed to be intertained by several talented friends and missionaries from our mission.

The beautiful Mission Home is the perfect place for large gatherings and celebrations.

We love visiting with the other senior couples in our mission.  Elder Waldron served here 50 yrs ago, and Elder Wilson served here 45 years ago.  Now they enjoy serving in Chile again with their eternal companions.

At the end of a delicious dinner and fabulous program, most of us walked to the Metro Station to return home.

As missionaries, we make sure we find opportunities to serve.  The Vergara family's had a huge fire in August.  They lost most of their belongings.  We invited the Wilsons to help us tape and paint.

This room was designed to store food and other things. The family had left over paint from the other rooms, and decided to make good use of the paint.   

The room turned out beautiful and colorful.

This cabinet is for the bathroom on the 2nd floor.  It was pushed up by family members, and Dad and Elder Wilson help by pulling it up, and into the large beroom then took it to the bathroom.

The Vergara family appreciated our help and insisted that we stay for lunch.

Higenia has become our good friend as we continue to visit her, and remind her of the great blessings she can enjoy by returning to activity in the Church.  She made several Christmas trees, and selected the nicest one for our apartment. 

We purchased some Christmas decorations for the Gutierrez family.  We have been teaching this family for a few weeks.

We like to celebrate birthdays with a cake from Lider.

It is time for our Mission Secretary to return to work in a sector.  On this day we will take him to San Felipe over one hour north of our Mission Office.

On the same day that we took the Mission Secretary to San Felipe, we took a crew of 3 to paint a house that the Mission was returning to a landlord.  We are able to transport so much in our "Mission Wonder Van."

Dad and I are presenting a box of "Super 8" candy bars to these Elders who worked hard  pulling weeds and cleaning the yard of the house we were preparing to return to the landlord. 

The Wilsons and Eulitts stopped at this bakery to buy  a treat in Colina near the Chapel.

The Office Elders introducing themselves to a dog near our apartment.

Enjoying "La Primavera" in Chile

<><><><><><><>

We love the Castillo family.  Flabia has been inactive for a long time.   At one time she was a very strong member.  We are so happy she is now able to attend church sometimes.  With Heavenly Father's help, we are able to touch the hearts of some inactive members, and it is always a joy to see them attend Church on Sunday.

On one of our preparation days, two of the office Elders took us on a tour of some of the important sites in  Santiago.
We visited a museum, a historical cathedral, and the "MONEDA' that is the similar to our "White House."

Postal workers in the Patronato Office know Dad very well.  They are happy to get rid of all those packages that come to their small post office.

Missionaries look forward to "Mail Delivery Day."

This is Patronato, a popular shopping area in the Santiago area.  This particular shop is right infront of the post office where the Mission receives most of the mail.

 m

It is a sad and happy day for these missionaries.  They have changed many lives that will benefit future generations, they have made lasting friendships, and now their missionary chapter has come to the end.  in a few hours they will fly home to different countries.

Here is the Hawaiian Elder a few hours before returning to Oahu.  We hope to visit him when we go to Hawaii.

We love the Sister Missionaries.  When we arrived with the bed for the new Sister Missionary, they offered to help.  Dad and I carried the bed and tools to set the bed.  

I became the companion to this Sister Missionary starting at 7:00 PM  when we accepted the opportunity to have her spend the night in our appartment, because she and some Elders had early morning flights.  It was a choice experience visiting with this sister as we enjoyed the tradicional "Chilean Once."  She is a champion swimmer who learned about the Church while representing her country in Spain.  She is the only member of the Church in her family.  She is ready to share the gospel with her family when she gets home.

At 3:30 AM, I prepared breakfast for this Sister Missionary who completed her mission and is returning to Colombia.

Dad and I waiting for the new arriving Missionaries infront of the Hestorical Mission Home.

w

This is one of the main intersections in Colina near the Chapel.

On this beautiful day, Dad and I drove north to San Felipe and Los Andes to deliver mail.  We must drive through this long tunnel on the way north or south.

On this day, we delivered mail to the zone and gave these Elders a ride to their apartment that is about one hour away because we had to go to their apartment to deliver beds.  We offered to take these Sister Missionaries to their apartment, because they had several bags to take to their new apartment.  One Sister just arrived from Argentina.  It was always interesting to see how much we could transport in the Mission van.