Chillán, and Missionary Moments

Chillán Cathedral 1969

1969 - new model car and truck

Chillán Cathedral 2013 - 44 years later.

We have moved to Chillán which is about 175 km south of Talca. We now live in the Bio Bio Region of Chile (VIII).  Talca is in the Maule Region (VII). After 2 days of packing, 8 elders loaded the truck in a little over an hour. In Chillán 8 additional elders unloaded the truck and brought everything up the elevator to the 13th floor, with the exception of the bedframe which they had to bring up the 13 flights of stairs. Great workers! When they were done our apartment looked like this -

After Sally put her magical touch to everything it looks like this - We call it "Our Penthouse".

Sally loves the kitchen! We actually have drawers! And look at all that counter space. An oven at eye level (although we haven't figured out how to get to a temperature other that 400° F. We spent 4 hours cleaning the kitchen top to bottom and finished the day cleaning the rest of the apartment.  There are very few people who can clean things well enough for Sally's standard.  It looks great now.

 

We even have a laundry room (it is a good thing because the building doesn't have any laundry facilities).  We bought a combo washer/dryer (Daewoo) that only uses about 2 Tbs of liquid detergent which we found out the hard way. We had suds coming out of every seam on the machine. We had to wash the clothes 2 more times to get rid of the suds.

We have purchased a couple of recliners which is a great blessing for all of the computer work we do.  The couple who replaces us is going to have it made! We really feel blessed to be able to have this apartment.  We pay $400,000 pesos versus the $350,000 pesos for the apartment in Talca. In Talca we were on the 2nd floor and there was a lot of street noise and roudy people until 3 or 4 in the morning. It was less than a block from the main plaza. In Chillán we are on the 13th floor and we have a 3 bedroom apartment.  The HOA is about 50% more, $95,000 vs $63,000 pesos. and the utilities will be higher.  But the apartment is way better. The owner is a 75 year old dentist who is still practicing dentistry. He has the tiniest office I've ever seen. It was no more than 200 square feet. You open the door to 5 ft hallway with chair and the operatory is on the side with a combination business area and sterilization. The whole place was about 10 X 20 ft. A little different than our 3300 square foot office in Coeur d' Alene.

Chillán is also famous for its great outdoor produce market.  $475 pesos = $1 US.  1 Kilo = 2.2 lbs.  These pictures are from this last December at the start of Summer.

 Their produce is huge, gorgeous, and delicious. The Chileans love avocado and so do we. Our favorite meal is smashed avocado with sliced tomatoes on warms Chilean bread. The bread tastes great when it is fresh and warm.  It is made with lard instead of shortening (you can't buy shortening here in Chile).

All the new hermanas (sister missionaries) have been arriving to the mission and they are working hard. It is a huge adjustment but I think it is especially hard on them as the living conditions are pretty poor. Hermana Rane (Rexburg, Idaho) has been working in Talca and doing a great job.  Her mother learned about our project of looking for the lost sheep from this blog and volunteered to help. We sent her the documents for the Rauquen Ward in the Curicó Stake and she has been doing a fabulous job in spite of being a busy mother and wife. Hermana Rane knew that her mother had volunteered but didn't know anything more than that.  During a break at the Newbie Missionary Conference, I invited Hermana Rane to come and look at my computer screen.  She saw her mom's initials, where she has been working on finding the lost members, and it was a very tender moment. Her eyes welled up with tears and I just enjoyed the moment.

Hermana Taylor, hugging a crocheted dish cloth as though it was the best gift ever!   Missionaries love things that remind them of home.

The Joys of a Mission

We just had "cambios" this week.  Hermana Davis is on the left, and this is her second day in Chile.  She told me her parents follow our blog.  I can report that she is full of enthusiasm and her Spanish is really good!  She was asked to read in our training session and she did great!  I was super impressed with her.  Her trainer is from Argentina and she is really fun and full of pep.   Right now they are living with a single sister in Lontué because the house we were planning for them, had a few problems; (no electricity and the toilet didn't work;  You are in Chile now, Hermana Davis!)  They are living in a nice, typical, Chilean home in a quiet neighborhood.  We'll take good care of her.

Out for lunch with some awesome Elders.  You have to see the size of these sandwiches!

This is the famous, "completo".  It is just a hot dog with smashed avocado, diced tomatoes, a smothering of mayonnaise and this Elder added mustard and hot sauce.  He ate two of these!  The sandwich in the background is called a Churrasco.  They are piled with meat, avocado, diced tomatoes and tons of mayo.

This is like four sandwiches.  I've seen the Hermanas eat this much food!

Some of my "favorites".  The shorter hermanas are both new.  One is from Mexico and the other is from Peru.  The trainers are from home.  This was a beautiful day in Constitución.

Hermana Fajardo is eating one of my cookies.  She is such a good missionary.  She has just been called to be a "leader of the hermanas."  We are running out of experienced trainers with all the Sisters entering the mission.  Some Hermanas who have only been here for four weeks are already training the new missionaries.  They are usually in training for twelve weeks.  There was an article in the Deseret News about the new leadership roles the sisters will have.

Russ and Silvia came to visit us last month for a few days.  It was wonderful to see them.  They are so fun to travel around with.  We got to visit Pucón with them and our mission president and his wife, (on the left).  Russ and Silvia are good friends with the Humphreys.  You can see the cool belt my brother bought.  He loves to make friends with the people and then makes them happy by buying something.

The Park Lake Hotel

President Humphrey could only spend one night and a day away from his responsibilities.  He was still on the phone most of the time.  What a great tour guide he was, knowing all the places to stop and shop.

Lake Villarrica, from our room.  The weather was warm and spectacular! 

 

The volcano, Villarrica, just outside Pucón.

The sun was just going down. 

The next morning, we hiked a short while at the bottom of the volcano.  Can you see the steam coming out the top?

We saw a few lizards along the way and Doug said to me, "you'll never catch it".  Ha!

Why did I get in the "talent line" entitled, "lizard catching"?

We got to travel to Santiago with Russ and Silvia and stay with them in their friends house.  This is the back yard.  It was a lovely home, full of antiques and a maid!  You just have to walk into the dining room and the dinner is there!  After you eat, and visit for a long time, you just get up and walk off.  No dishes or clean up, nada.  Gerry is the boy that lived with Russ and Silvia when he was a teenager for a year.  He still lives here with his parents.  He knows what hospitality is.  He was so helpful and polite and gave us a terrific tour of the city.  Here are a few pictures of the tour.

Gerry, his girfriend, and sister.

I love this picture-"solving world hunger."

On top of Santa Lucia, a hill where there was a lookout, watching for the Mapuchi Indians to attack

There is some interesting architecture in Santiago

The Institute of Religion.

This building is actually where Gerry's mother was raised.  There were 10 children and 8 nannies! 

Ensalada Chilena

We ended the tour with lunch, outside, and my favorite salad.
Doug and I drove home that evening.  It was so fun to be with Russ and Silvia.  I cried for the first hour after being separated from them.  That must be why missionaries aren't allowed to see family for 2 years.  It is just too hard to part.

Our mission couldn't be much better.  We are loving every minute of it.  We don't care about U.S. news, sports, TV, none of it.

Try to picture my little afternoon experience, today.  Three Hermanas had to come to Talca for a follow-up Dr. appointment.  Only one companion can go into the exam room with the sick Hermana so I told them that I would meet them at the clinic and stay with the extra missionary.  They are never supposed to be alone.  They called me when they got to the bus terminal so I would know when they would arrive.  I left our apartment and walked to my favorite, angled, tree-lined, street in Talca.  The weather was warm and the city was bustling with people.  I got to the clinic and waited on the sidewalk.  In a few minutes, 3 of the sweetest, cleanest looking, young women came around the corner. It was natural to greet them in Spanish and give them each a hug and kiss.  We went into the clinic and I visited with the "extra" missionary.  She is getting transferred tomorrow.  It was just a few minutes and the others came back out.  We all walked together to the street where all the colectivos drive by.  It was fun to wave one down by holding up 3 fingers.  We all hugged and I waited until they climbed in and were off to the bus terminal.  I walked back home through the middle of our plaza and still thought to myself, "I'm wandering around Chile, and I feel safe and comfortable!"  Life is Good!