Here is another shot of the little white flowers
that grow randomly in the grass here.

Aren't these sidewalks beautiful!

The cobblestone streets were a surprise to me. They must be very old. They look like blue stone to me. I "heard" that Spain requested Chile send back to them all the blue stone they shipped over here back in the day when they conquered and began developing the land. Don't know that it's true. Anyway they make for interesting bumpy bus rides and are noisey too. But it wouldn't be Santiago without them.

This darling little girl was dressed for the holiday and was admiring the little white flowers that grow in the grass everywhere in the spring. I started taking pictures of her as she was picking the flowers. She noticed me and stood up to be photographed. Afterward she walked right up to me, opened her little hand in front of me and offered me a single flower!. She couldn't have been more than four years old. I was stunned. She is like most Chilenos I've met - very giving, friendly and helpful.

Chilean Pageantry

Here are some pictures of the Padre Hurtado Park rodeo and fair we went to on Saturday. It was so fun to eat, shop and see the pageant which was a depiction in dance (including dancing horses!) of Chile from the time of the indiginous people to the present day.

Cueca dancing at the Barrio (ward)

September 11 is the biggest holiday in Chile. It is their Independence Day. It is a grand celebration, starting the week before with a celebration at the church meeting house followed with a beautiful catered lunch at work, with speeches, singing of the national song, cueca (kway-kuh) dancing (the national dance), and lots of music everywhere; singing with accordians, guitars, drums and primitive resonating music boxes we'd never seen before. Everywhere there were decorations in the street, beautiful food, fairs, pageants and rodeos. The week before the celebration is a re-enactment of the "coup". It's best just to stay inside that night, because it is not pleasant with a lot of looting, etc. But the following weekend is the most wonderful celebration. Friday morning begins with a great military parade and cueca dancing in the street.
You better sure you bought all your groceries the day before, at 4:30pm everything closes to make ready for a full day of celebration.

Elder D, in his travelings about found a very nice cab driver who was very helpful helping him find things he needed to be mister fixit in our apartment. He, over a couple of weeks began talking with him about the church. Long story short, he turned him into a "contact", and quickly found some wonderful Elders from our mission right in the neighborhood to begin teaching LR and his wife and daughter, who has a little girl and lives with them. This is a photo of their first day at church. It just happened to be ward conference, so the stand was filled with stake officers, and they had a large group attending the ward, the talks were wonderful and everyone was very warm in welcoming to the five of us. It is now a month later and they haven't missed a single Sunday. The Elders say they're learning a lot about the church and ask many questions. We hope they will come to know and love as we do, Heavenly Father's wonderful plan for all of his children here on earth.

Wa

Sunday, August 23, 2009
Today we left our apartment early to attend a ward some distance from our usual ward. We walked two blocks to the bus stop, rode the bus for 3 miles, went below ground to the metro (three flights of stairs) and rode the subway for about 30 miles, and flagged a taxi to get us to the chapel. (He was somewhat lost, but finally got us there.) We did a dry run yesterday, so we could be on time for the meeting. Yesterday we missed our metro stop - went one stop too far. Glad we made the mistake yesterday. Today was no problem, even with the taxi driver being lost for a bit, we were 30 minutes ahead of the meeting time. The bishop and his councilors were just beginning their planning meeting and so we got to introduce ourselves to them. I wandered into the chapel, a large room with folding chairs all set up for the meeting. I could see no piano at first, then looked around the end of the stand, and there was a small electric piano tucked behind. I wondered if anyone would play it today. I looked around to see if it were plugged in. Nope! In fact when I pulled the chord up from the back of the piano, it had no plug at all, just two bare wires sticking out! I decided they must not have a pianist. Elder D, without knowing all this, offered my services, but I showed them the bare wires...magically while my back was turned - someone wired on a plug and it was ready to go. I lifted the lid - and oh my - the kids had probably been playing on it during the last quilting bee. I ducked into the ladies room, dampened some paper towels and frisked the keys - just like new. I turned on the piano and played some hymns for a prelude. The councilor conducting the meeting thanked me for playing and said how nice it was to have a prelude after so long not having anyone to play the piano. The hymns went well and I was happy to meet the hymn conductor after the meeting. But.... this is all an aside to why we were there.

Elder R, my trainer for my secretary job . He is sitting at my desk.

Assistants to the President that are in training, one from the states the other from Argentina.

This is just one of three rows of elders from one of ten zones. We had a zone meeting with them just 3 days after arriving. What a handsome and awesome group of young people! We love them already!

Looking south west.
The mountains are magnificently grand.
They are often covered this time of year with fog and then smog from the big city.

Looking straight south. There are 6 million people in this city - lots of high rise housing.

Looking to the east and the Andes mountain range.

Night shot from our 7th floor apt of el templo. The lights from it light our apartment at night. It is beautiful! We just ride the elevator down each day and then walk across the street to enter the grounds and walk to our office.

This first week we studied and were trained in the entire Preach My Gospel - a marvelous text. Tuesday and Wednesday we taught a real live "investigator" (volunteer) who came to our apartment, a discussion from PMG - after we had discussed it in the main group, and planned our lesson in the small group and in companion study. On Thursday, we taught a lesson to a "new convert" (volunteer). This was a great experience! We learned that even though we are office specialists, we can also find investigators, teach them the discussions and Elder Day can also baptize them. We are so delighted and anxious to do real missionary work!

Preach My Gospel is available at Deseret Book - you can study it yourself to be more knowledgeable and confident in speaking to those around you who would like to know more!

The photo is a replica of the stone that President David O. McKay saw during his mission to Scotland and quoted from often -"What ere thou art, act well thy part." We're Trying :)

We have just completed our first 7 days at the MTC. We have been busy! It goes like this: wake-up 6:30 am, breakfast 7, large group training 8-10, break into small groups 10-12, lunch 12-1:30, then large and small groups til 4:30, dinner 4:30 - 6, language training 6-8, homework 8-10, lights out 10:30pm. WHEW!

Mother's Day was delightful. Note the strawberries by JD - he's becoming a dessert guru - he hand dipped and drizzled them!

We were told at the sight of the crash that the car was totaled. However, with some checking around WC found a shop nearby that could do the project for a reasonable price. The shop people spoke spanish - so we had a celebration after the car was fixed and also practiced our spanish!

However, on the way home from the graduation me esposa y yo were very sleepy.... We survived a crash at 65 miles per hour in 3pm traffic into the guard rail on I15! No other cars were involved. I had to speak the next day in Stake Conference - and - I did! Blessings!!

We learned four things: If you are sleepy while driving, turn off cruise control! Call a family member on your cell to talk to. If you are a passenger, STAY AWAKE. If you have a passenger, ask them to take a turn driving.
Be Safe!

May - Life is still happening - in the meantime.... E & A both graduated -BS & MBA! We enjoyed the day in Logan with them.

The work begins....

Sister D received a BIG box of books, manuals and CDs from the MTC. I expect to study the language every day, and will spend an hour on the phone 3 times a week with my own personal tutor from the MTC. Elder D is off the hook - he is fluent and is now speaking Spanish to me.

Meanwhile we are flitting here and there to gather info and perform tasks: immunizations, birth, marriage, and driving records, passports, visas, photos, health exams and records, appropriate clothing, etc. We're whittling down the list.

BTW Farewell is June 21st 10:50 am.

The work has begun!

Good News!

We have been called to the Chile, Santiago East Mission. Our visas are currently in process and we expect to leave sometime in June 2009. We will serve for 18 months.

The Santiago East Mission headquarters is a part of what is known as “Temple Square”.
The Church complex is situated on 2.6 acres of ground in Providencia, the Santiago Temple being the centerpiece. The temple was dedicated in 1983 by President Hinckley, was the 24th temple of the church and the first spanish speaking temple. President Hinckley rededicated the temple in 2006 after a complete renovation. (Only a few outside walls, and the angel Moroni remain.) The complex also includes: mission headquarters, a missionary training center, distribution center, area offices, and a meeting house.

Elder D is delighted to use his spanish again (his first mission was to Uruguay). Sister D is beginning her “telephone spanish tutoring lessons from the Provo MTC immediately.

We are thrilled with our call!