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Our experiences are just getting better and better.  Most of the day at Constitución is in the last blog but I just wanted to share one extra experience with you all.

We went with the Hermanas to visit a less-active woman.  She was not there but her non-member daughter who is 18 answered the door looking tired and holding a broom.  The Hermanas talked with her for awhile and she didn't want to let us in.  After a few more minutes of being cute and sweet Hermanas, she let us in.  She asked us to sit down but she would not sit herself.  Again, after a few minutes of kindly talking to her she sat down.  The Hermanas asked her questions to find out more about her.  They found out she had faith in God and was troubled about the earthquake and all the devastation it caused.  (Constitución was even hit with a Tsunami tidal wave that killed many people including little children).  After some more talk they looked at Dad, giving him the cue that it is now your turn to say something.  He started talking about the Book of Mormon.  The Hermanas quickly opened their back pack and gave the girl a Book of Mormon.  They read some of the Introduction and told her briefly what was in the book.  The girls countenance was changing before my eyes!  She kept flipping through the book and looked so interested.  She said she would start reading and set up another time for the Hermanas to visit!!  It was an amazing visit.  Dad said that he wasn't even thinking about saying anything about the Book of Mormon, it just came out of his mouth!  

 

I know the Lord is preparing people to hear the gospel all over the world and the missionaries and members are the means to bring it to pass.  What a responsibility we all have.

A Day with the Missionaries

Our day in Constitución was one of the best days of our mission so far.  The city is on the coast and takes us about 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive there.  

At our last two Zone training meetings, Doug gave each companionship a letter explaining our capabilities with videos and a list of all the videos he has on his computer from the Church.  He brought a projector, screen, wireless Bose speaker, which puts out great sound, even good enough in the Chapel or Cultural Hall.  He also has his laptop, Slate, Xoom, a scanner and printer!  There is not one of these items we wish we would have left home.  We use everything, many times a week.  Thank you to the Lawson's for suggesting we bring all of this!

Now the missionaries call us all the time to go with them.  Since Constitucion is so far away, we asked them to use us all day, and they did.

We started out with house inspections.  The Hermanas only had a trickle of water coming out of their shower head so we took them to a hardware store and bought a new one.  

Super Elder,  and "handy man" had this fixed in about 2 minutes.

We took the Hermanas to the Plaza where we were to meet up with the Elders for lunch.  They didn't waste one minute before they were talking to people.  I told them to ask this lady for a restaurant recommendation.  They stopped her before she could cross the street and ended up talking to her for 5 minutes or more.  She gave them her phone number and address and said they could contact her again!

The lady even wanted to pose for a photo.  Hermana Chavez has only been here for a month, (left).  She is from San Diego and is a terrific missionary already.  Hermana Martinez is a great trainer.  She is from El Salvador.  Imagine trying to rinse all that hair with a trickle of water!

After all the asking for a great place to have almuerzo, we ended up here.  We got the room on the left.  There is no McDonald's, Subway, Wendy's, or anything like it in Constitucion.

The two Elders on the left are companions, Elder Falcon, from Argentina, and Elder Hernandez, from Mexico.  Elder Holt is from Utah, and Elder Paz is from Honduras.  He is trying to learn English.  They encourage all the Latin Missionaries to try to learn some English with their "Gringo" companions.

After lunch we went with the 2 Latin Elders to visit a darling couple.  They gave them the lesson on tithing.  The Elders had such a wonderful spirit about them as they taught this couple in their "studio" type apartment.  We showed them "Windows of Heaven" and bore our testimonies of tithing.  I had a little translation help.  They are getting married on the 14th and baptized on the 15th!  They also came to the Noche de Hogar (family night), that night.

Eduardo and Leslie
He is 21 and she is 28.  He has a wonderful countenance and loves the gospel.  Leslie is a little more reserved.  We were already good enough friends to be kissing each other by night time at the Noche de Hogar!!

After visiting Eduardo and Leslie we went with the other Elders to visit an investigator Mom.  This was a combo package.  The son has a live-in girl friend who is inactive, with a little girl.  Three friends were there of the son, and the mom.  All the guys were in their 20's, I think.  We showed the Bible video of Christ's baptism, shared testimonies, answered questions, and invited them to the ward activity that night.  They all showed up!!

Ready to go with the movie.  About  35 people came; some old, some young and in between.  I left Elder Pulsipher and went to check out the kitchen situation.

I got a lesson in sopaipilla making.  I wonder if they "Lysoled" that table?

Cool rolling pin and biscuit cutter.

You have to poke your thumb into the dough three times.

Fry them in hot oil until golden brown and you have the best hockey puck ever!  These were served with Fanta and Sprite in glass glasses.  They never use paper cups or plates.  They are expensive and only come with 12 in a pack.

Our newest Hermana.  She speaks Spanish and English, both without any accent!  How would I know that?

All in a P-day's work

We are having such a wonderful mission.  We have gotten to know such great Elders and Hermanas.  We become good friends as we visit their District Meetings and watch them teach each other and implement what they have learned in their training meetings from President and Hermana Humphrey.  I love baking something delicious to take, (recipes fail here), but the Elders are easy to please and everything that is remotely"like home" is delicious to them.  We check their living quarters, and our favorite activity is going on visits with them.  This last week we had such a great day in Constitucion, with 4 Elders and 2 Hermanas.  We love all the missionaries but we do develop a stronger bond with some.  They are always the ones that we have gone on visits with or the ones who translate for me.  Here is my favorite missionary in our mission.

What a handsome guy!  Doesn't he look happy?

On our P-day, we checked all the apartments of the Elders in Talca, San Javier, and San Clemente.  It was 3 p.m. before we knew it, and we were suddenly starving.  Thankfully the only Hermanas in the 2 Zones offered us a bowl of ice cream with a huge strawberry on top and shaved chocolate!  It was delicious!

Here is a sampling of what we saw on our inspection day.

This looks like a nice place.  What a lovely flower garden.

A lovely kitchen curtain!  These Elders even have oranges!  This is all the food they have.

Nice, big kitchen table with no chairs.  Be grateful for what you have!

My favorite kitchen.  Notice the missing oven?  How about that disintegrating wall?

This is a full refrigerator.  Some of them are pretty empty.

This makes me want to go camping!

Count your blessings, name them one by one!

The Elders like to make no-bake cookies and Rice Krispie  treats with Coco Krispies, (no Rice Krispies in Chile).
I really like the surface the cookies are on.  The Elder offered me one but I declined.

On the day you arrive in the mission, you are given a bag of wool blankets.  Hopefully you packed 2 sets of sheets.  Members do the wash for the Elders and sometimes it takes 2-3 days to get your laundry back.  Some missionaries bring a down sleeping bag.  You won't want to know how often they wash that thing!  The homes are really cold in the winter with no heat except for tiny portable heaters.  There is no insulation and many gaps in the doors and windows.

Elder Pulsipher is giving some instructions concerning the Elders, Carpeta de Area.  That is a notebook with the history of the Sector the Elders work in.  It has all the information about investigators, less-actives, contacts, and all the work the missionaries do in their area.  It is very important to be kept up-to-date, so the next Elders have a record and can get right to work.

Four Elders live here and they had a big place with this nice back yard.  You can see that they are creative and have fun.

This is how the closets are.  They use a whole room to put their clothes and maybe their study table.  There are no closets in these houses.

This is a map of the sector that the Elders work within.  Doug has to check to see if they are using this resource effectively.  It is a great help to them as they plan their day.  They are taught how to stay in one area and not track back and forth across the map, wasting time.  They are supposed to plan their day to the half hour!  These Elders are awesome!

Every set of companions has a white board where they keep track of more of their work.

In 1968 we had our own version of a "white board", a poster board with names, addresses, progress on 6 discussions, baptismal dates, etc.  We also tracked Group Meetings - when members or investigators invite their non-member friends to be taught by the missionaries in their home.  We actually used the ear muffs in the winter.  The aftershave lotion is interesting.

My favorite missionary, checking and teaching these Elders.  He always gives them a "pep talk",  (I think; it's all in Spanish here).  Then they will all laugh about something.  I know the Elders like Elder Pulsipher.

Onto the bathrooms!  As you can see, some showers don't have enough tile!  It is hard to keep the mold off of those walls!

Not a lot of room between the toilet and shower!

This bathroom is upstairs and is quite nice!  They knew I was coming to inspect!

After all the inspections we went home, ate some yummy palta, tomatoes, and beets that I had cooked, peeled and sliced and then you drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over it.  It is delicious.  Before bed, I took a long shower!!!

Sally's Journal

Another week has flown by and it's hard to remember everywhere we've been and who we have visited. It's a good thing we put all our appointments on the calendar.

We had a great Thanksgiving at the Mission Home. I got to cook in a big kitchen with two ovens and 5 huge cookie sheets. I made 92 orange rolls and they were delicious. Now I am really famous. The Humphreys want me to come for Christmas so I can make cinnamon rolls! There were 3 couples and 8 Elders at our dinner. There are no pecans or Karo syrup here so I couldn't make a pecan pie. We all missed that. The worst was not having any yams! The food was still good and the company was fun. We missed all of you and tried not to think about home.

We left the Mission Home early Friday morning to go to a missionary training meeting that went from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. After that we went with one of our favorite sets of Zone Leaders to a Noche de Hogar, (Family night). The whole family was there; Mom, Dad, 3 daughters and a son. We showed the Bible Video of the baptism of Jesus, and all bore our testimonies. The missionaries asked the father if he would be baptized on December 15th and he said he would do it for his family. Their one daughter got baptized on Sat. Their son also committed to be baptized. Our Peruvian Elder told the people it was the best day of his 18 months on his mission. We found out today that the family went to church Sunday and the Dad cried in Priesthood meeting and said he knew he needed the gospel in his life. Pretty cool.

Over the weekend we had a District conference, which is just the same as Stake conference only fewer people, and the mission president presides. We got there early enough to meet and greet every one. It is really fun. Most of them call me "Hermanita" when they give me their kiss. I kissed every woman and child in the building. I will be a really good greeter when I get home to Coeur d'Alene 3rd ward!

Tonight was terrific. Two Elders in Talca asked us to go on 2 visits with them. One visit was with a family with 3 children. A boy who is 16, a girl around 10 and a cute little 3 year old girl that spoke the cutest, clear Spanish!! The Dad was there also but had to take her out so the others weren't distracted. He is not as interested but is coming around. The Elders taught about the Word of Wisdom and the woman looked shocked when she found out she couldn't have coffee. She said that the spirit told her the night before that she shouldn't smoke. She said she smokes one cigarette a day and her husband smokes 20. They must go outside because their houses don't smell like smoke, more like mold! There was a great spirit there. The 16 year old boy had his friend there and they all said they would come to church. The friend said the missionaries could come to his house on Wed.! Invite your friends to hear the gospel! It is a great feeling to have the missionaries teach someone you care about.

Our second visit tonight started at 9:00 p.m. A 13 year old girl is interested and her Mom has been inactive for 30 years or so. This Noche de Hogar was held in a members home and they invited other members of the ward. It was so good to have some of them bear testimony and tell how they knew the church was true. The converts have a much better chance of staying active if the members of the ward are involved. There were about 14 there. They had good refreshments. The member Host makes banana bread and sells it to stores. They had yummy platters full of it spread with manjar. Manjar is like condensed milk cooked down and kind of carmelized. They love it here and even squirt it into churros! They also had the Cheetos, potato chips, and they also made crepes, spread with Manjar and rolled up and sliced. Don't forget the Fanta or Sprite at every house!

The Spirit was strong tonight at both the visits. It is great to share in this important missionary work. We feel so blessed to be here and love doing this everyday. Each day is a new experience and we pray we will always go where we are needed most.

President & Sister Humphrey, Pulsiphers

President & Sister Humphrey have been awesome to work with.  They are doing a terrific job. Their schedule is unbelievable.  When we've talked about it he just says it has been non-stop for the last 2.4 years.  Here is just a sample and we don't know all the details.  All we see is the calendar.

• Monday November 12.  Preparation Day - well sometimes it is.  Final interviews with 1 Elder and 1 Sister going home.  Take them to the Airport and whatever else they do for missionaries going home.  200 emails from the missionaries hit your inbox today.  You need to answer each one individually.
• Tuesday November 13.  Cambios (Transfers) - That means you have already spent a good amount of time in thoughtful prayer figuring out who should be paired up with who, knowing these decisions must be inspired and have eternal consequences.  You only have to figure out where to send each particular missionary so they can find the person they were supposed to find. (no pressure).  5 new Elders and 3 new Sisters arrive, pick them up at the airport, make sure each of them know you love them, interview them, hold a training meeting with them, assign them to their first areas and companions.  They all are like deer caught in headlights only they are dogged tired from an all night flight from the US.  Yes, they go to work that afternoon.
• Wednesday November 14.  District Meetings.
• Thursday November 15 - Sunday November 18.  Time to get ready for the upcoming conferences and meetings.  Work on personally answering the 200 emails that you get every week - Yes EVERY WEEK!!!
• Monday November 19.  Mission wide District Leaders Council in Chillán - 3.5 hours.  You are the main speaker and trainer for 3.5 hours.  Be ready to inspire and teach the district leaders.  They hang on every word you say.
• Tuesday November 20.  District Meetings.  Better get working on the 200 emails from the missionaries that filled your inbox yesterday.
• Wednesday November 21.  Special Training Meeting for the Penco and Andalien Zones - 3 hours.  Yep, you're the main speaker and trainer.  Subject - teach the missionaries to teach like the Savior taught.  Still have not finished all of the emails.  Pulsiphers arrive at the mission home.  Treat them like they are special guests.  Get ready for tomorrow.  Follow up with Pulsiphers on misisonary who had symptoms of appendicitis - Pulsiphers took him to the clinic in Talca and arrived late at the mission home.  BTW, Sister Humphrey is the mother/nurse to all 200 missionaries and is dealing with health issues nearly everyday.  She also has to speak in all the meetings.  Pretty interesting since she never spoke any Spanish before her mission.  We are now helping her out some with the misisonaries in the northern part of the mission.
• Thursday November 22, Thanksgiving.  Only having 14 this year.  Meeting with assistants during the day, do not forget those emails.  Work on meetings for next week.  Need to have the new theme including power point presentation  ready for a monthly mission council meeting with all the Zone Leaders next Monday - another 3 hour training meeting.
• Friday November 23.  Special Training Meeting for Parral and Linares Zones - 3 hours.  You again.  Teach them how to teach like the Savior.  Emails?  Go to Almuerzo (main meal) with the Pulsiphers at 3 pm in Talca.
• Saturday November 24.  District Conference in Parral this weekend.  Meet with district presidency at 3 pm.  4 pm - Priesthood Leadership Meeting.  You're the Mission President/Presiding Office/General Authority.  You have to take most of the time.  When did you prepare for this meeting?  6:30 pm Adult Session of Parral District Conference.  You are given the last hour.  Better be inspiring.  Several members need to meet with you after the meeting.  1 hour drive after the meeting to the hotel in Talca.  Go to grocery store at 10:30 pm to buy enough cookie packages for everyone (about 40) that comes to conference tomorrow from Cauquenes by a chartered bus (1 hour).
• Sunday November 25.  Parral District Conference.  Nearly 300 attend from the 4 branches of the district.  You take the last hour.  Very inspiring.  Spend an hour after the meeting greeting everyone.  Hope you remember their names from the last time you saw them.  Pass out the cookies to the Cauquenes members going home on the bus.  After about 2 hours I remembered that 2 of the speakers at the conference were members that I had given temple recommend interviews to about 2 weeks ago.  I knew they looked familiar.
• Oh, did I mention that you have to do all of this in SPANISH, which you haven't really spoken much in over 40 years?
• Tomorrow you get another 200 emails.

When I was a stake president a member of my stake naively asked me, "What do you have to do to become a mission president?"  If I could only remember his name.........

Sally's Take

This past week is almost a blur. On Tuesday we drove 11/2 hours to a district meeting with just 4 Elders in Cauquenes. They loved the homemade cookies and ate them in a nanosecond. We then checked out their apartments and took them to lunch. In this small town there is not a fast food, "Top Dog" or anything, so the Chilean Elder said he knew of a place to go. It was owned by a member of the Branch. So, you walk in and it looks like a banquet room, with the tables all set with cloth napkins and everything! There were even deflated Halloween balloons in the corner.  There was not another customer to be seen.  We sit down and they don't bring a menu, they just ask what you want. We let the Elders order for us. There wasn't a smell of anything cooking, but when the owner went back to the kitchen you could hear the knives chopping like crazy. I think they started the whole lunch from scratch. The final result was a huge pile of fresh french fries piled with sliced chorizo and some other kind of unrecognizable meat, sauteed onions and a sunny side up, fried egg on top!  Oh, man, the missionaries loved it. I will never eat it again. The Chilean Elder squirted mayo all over the top of his platter of fries and meat. The next course was right up my alley. It was freshly chopped lettuce with some parsley chopped in it and tossed with oil and lemon. It was delicious. I eat the lettuce here and I've never been sick. We hardly ever go out to eat. I'd rather have a tomato and avocado than anything in the town. The Chilean salads are the best thing I've found.  They usually consist of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  They also slice up beets with your salad platter.  They are also delicious.

After our lunch, we went with 2 of the Elders to visit an investigator. We are showing Bible videos on our Xoom wherever we go. They are short and so good. This woman, (Norma), was really impressed. She wants to get baptized but has to leave home and work in the fields to make some money. She is a Grandma and about my age. She also needs to quit smoking. She was very nice and I had a chance to bear my testimony--again.  They all seem to like my awful Spanish and 4 sentence testimony.  Less is more, right?  

We went with 2 Elders on Saturday to visit another investigator.  She is getting baptized on Friday.  We showed her the Restoration video.  She loved it.  I bore my testimony again and tried to change it up and called her a grandpa.  Yes, I'm having a blast learning Spanish!  We then took her to the Stake Relief Society "show off your crafts" activity.  The pictures below will tell it all.  

On Sunday we went back to the Branch in Cauquenes and Doug and I both spoke.  I carry my 1 page talk around just in case.  They asked me to say the closing prayer in Relief Society and it took me half the lesson to figure that out.  Not what I would say but that they had asked me to pray!  I don't pray very good in Spanish.  I guess I had better learn!  They told me they got my intentions.  Oh, well, my head aches by the end of Sunday.  Other than that, Spanish is great!!  For a good perspective on learning Spanish read this blog.

We are here on the Lord's errand.  He has many things for us to do and the little miracles happen every day. It seems we are always ready and able to accomplish  whatever comes each day.  This morning we had 3 calls from missionaries needing something.  Off we go....

PERFORMING INSTEAD OF BEGGING

Magician at Intersection from PulsiphersinChile on Vimeo.

During a red light at an intersection you will find performers for your entertainment.  They work for donations only.

Juggler at Intersection from PulsiphersinChile on Vimeo.
Mime in Talca from Douglas W Pulsipher on Vimeo.

Street entertainment from Douglas W Pulsipher on Vimeo.

Juggler in Plaza 002 from Douglas W Pulsipher on Vimeo.

Chileans are generally a happy people that like to have fun.  There are very few beggars but quite a number of performers who work for donations.