December 19, 2021 Almost Christmas

 It is election day in Chile.  It is similar to our last presidential election in the US with the two candidates representing extreme positions.  We saw lots of people out on their  way to the polls and  traffic jams. It seems like a good  problem to have, lots of people voting.  Praying for there to be a fair election and everyone accepting the results.  

On Tuesday we went to a town in the foothills of the Andes called Los Andes.  It is about 50 miles from the Argentinian border.  We were looking at repairs done to an old apartment that we have been using and looking at new apartments.  We had a good lunch there. 

Our coworker had a good looking steak and it went  down fast.  It was all good.  The desert was "pancake celestina".  It was like crepes with dulce de leche in them with several kinds of ice cream on top.  We could see lots of avocado orchards in the area. 

This is the old apartment. Large but pretty woodwork and clean. 

This is the new apartment that we looked and are trying to get a contract signed for it.  It is small clean and has a good view,  

It looks pretty dry except for the crops that must be irrigated.  

These two missionaries helped us for most of the day and we hadn't eaten yet. Elder James had been hinting about McDonalds for a few days.  I am not a fan of McDonalds but we stopped and Jackie and I split a double burger.  It tasted real good.  I hadn't eaten all day so maybe my judgement was a little off but I would go back anytime. 

This is a local hardware store.  It is more open than most. Usually all the goods are behind bars and you have to describe what you want. 

We took a couple of recently arrived young sister missionaries to their apartments, They are paired up with a missionary that has been here a while. We had new pillows for them.  This town is call Llay Llay.  It doesn't sound very Hispanic so we think it must be a native Chilean name.  These smaller towns outside of Santiago are much quieter, cleaner and slower.  

Actually many of the towns are named using indigenous peoples language, much like in Washington, for example; Puyallup, Willamette, Skamania.

This is the second sister and her new companion.  This apartment had been empty during Covid.  We had it cleaned twice and it was still in need of  a little more love. We made a mock  Chip and Joanna Gains video showing them their home for the first time. We actually thought the house still needed a lot of TLC, but the sisters were such good sports about it. Sister Scott (newbie) and Sabaitis.

37 lb watermelon anyone?

City lights from a 23 floor apartment for missionaries.

Darla can bring her dog Dotty for a haircut.

Stop lights in the city are never boring. You are either entertained, serviced with a windsheild cleaning or scared by this guy. 

Jackie made the best Tom Ka Gai soup for dinner and invited Luz Mendez and Cecilia Garcia Rodriguez over for dinner. 

Jackie looks for excuses to go see Nora in San Francisco.  She is the landlord of 2 apartments and really nice. All roads lead to Nora's. 

We are invited to Christmas parties on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday so it will be a short fun week.  We miss being at home with friends and family but have made some good friends here.  The 90 degree weather doesn't really increase the Christmas spirit either.  We appreciate the opportunity to study the Christmas story in the Bible. The teachings of Jesus Christ are the best solution to most of the worlds problems.  We are comforted to know that we will see our deceased relatives again and that this life isn't the whole story.  Have a Merry Christmas.

December 12

 

This is the office staff that we work with. President Simpson is on the left and his wife is in front of Jackie.  The Esmiols are to the right of President Simpson, Hermana Mendez is to the right of Esmiols and the Cooks are to the right of Ha Mendez.  This is in the mission presidents apartment. 

I ate my first completo, There is a hot dog under the avacado, mayo and ketchup. I think that there are other varieties. They are sold on almost every block.  We have had some good empanadas as well. 

We went to the local mall to buy things for missionary apartments and Elder Huenchulaf  bought his food for the week.  He has been the pensionista(in charge of apartments) and Jackie is taking his place. So we are spending lots of time with him.  He is from the south of Chile, speaks good English and  is lots of fun to work with. 

This  is Elder Huenchulaf with his companion Elder James.  Elder James came to Chile on the same day as we did.  He speaks good Spanish and do lots of good things already.  

We have been  preparing several apartments downtown for missionaries.  Parking is scarce but driving a small car helps. 

This is the living room of an average apartment for our missionaries.  There are 2 bedrooms upstairs, a bathroom and kitchen. They have a washing machine and dry their clothes on racks.  The humidity is relatively low and the clothes dry fast.  

Jackie has a new best friend. She is the landlord of an apartment we rent.  She is a sweet widow with the cleanest house.  

This is the hallway through her house leading to the courtyard.  It is a quiet neighborhood.  

She has a nice courtyard. 

Jackie made a great dinner last night. Check out the custom table cloth. 

Jackie is finding good fruit at the open market. 

Some missionaries locked their keys in their apartment.  Fortunately there was a scaffold there and I could get on the roof and force the window open.  

November 28, 2021

On Thanksgiving day we met with most of the missionaries at a church building to eat smoked turkey and play games.  The turkey was great.  Some of the South American missionaries were quite good at soccer.   

This is the office we work in.  Young missionaries were  doing our job before we came so they are training us.  It is a 2 story building that used to be the meeting place for a congregation. 

First time on the streets checking on a new apartment.

Colorful homes near us.  Not far from Motel El Buda.

December 5, 2021

 

This is the view to the west from our apartment building at sunset.  Can you hear the dogs barking? They usually take a break during the night.  

You will hear us talk about how old and dirty the missionary apartments are. This is a  new apartment that we are setting up for missionaries coming in December. It is small but nicely done. 

Elder Hancock took me downtown to search for bike stores.  It was nice downtown once we found a parking spot.  

Our morning walk in the park across the street.  It is in the shade and has a steep trail for good exercise. 

We noticed that John who is living in South Korea is 12 hours ahead of us. I looked up our latitude and longitude and found that he is almost exactly on the other side of the world from us.  We are at the same latitude north that he is south latitude. We are 200 degrees off in longitude. 
 

Saturday I went bird watching to Laguna de Batuco while Jackie drove to Vina del Mar. It was in the low 90s but quite dry.  

Sweet Chilean Nativities in  a shop in Valparaiso

Looking out at Pacific in city of Con Con

Photo outside Girls home that Cecelia Garcia Rodriguez ( second from right) from Chile supports with donations.

A small deviation from mission to beach. Girls day out!!

Oh my goodness, fabulous fresh seafood. Oysters with parmesan( no thanks, not for me, but acclaimed delicious), Stuffed avocado shrimp salad and a lovely white fish off the grill!

Val Paraiso architecture and streets. Shots include Hermana Luz Mendez, Hermana Leslie Cook and Cecelia.

The photo below is not in Star Wars but rather the coast of Chile,

Valparaiso is so much like many coastal towns in that it is on a hillside, Many of these photo's remind me of San Francisco, USA and the streets are just as steep.

It may look like we have not done much work here, but we just have not posted too much of the preparing apartments for incoming missionaries. We have been upgrading apartments and stocking them for missionaries returning to Chile as the country opens. We are still wearing masks everywhere while in public and have to carry a mobility pass as proof of vaccination. Our temperatures are taken before entering many stores. We are working hard but thankfully can get away a bit and enjoy some other landscapes here. The sweet Cecelia in our pictures knows President Francis and Darlene Alder from when they served here.