October 2008

Traveling has been the theme for this month - a welcome change from the office routine (although the office work piles up when we are away).

Santiago
Early in October I was invited to a training seminar at church headquarters in Santiago for the finance secretaries (financieros) from the missions in this area. Since there was no car available that day and since you can’t get from Rancagua to Santiago by train by 8 am, Barb and I opted to travel by train at mid-day on the previous day, stay overnight at the church's hospedaje (hostel), and attend the temple that evening. The accommodations were great, as was the temple experience. Barb even attended the temple the next morning while I was in my seminar. We had a great get-away and some R&R for two days. I even bought a snappy new hat to protect my balding head from the strong Chilean sun.

Later in the month, Barb again went to Santiago, this time with the office Elders and several Hermanas to complete some legal documents. Shown are Harmanas Mason and Arango beside the temple . Sister Arango is from Colombia and she and her companion, Sister Pena, live in our apartment building. We have become quite good friends, and many mornings they tutor us in spanish.

More Improvements to our Apartment
We continue to upgrade our apartment. No. 1 recent improvement is to our study which Barb uses every morning to study Spanish while I sleep . No. 2 improvement is our “Cabo Room” which now has two wicker chairs with cushions that we had made at a local tapiceria (upholstery shop), a small end table to match our very small balcony, and several potted plants. Our most recent purchase was a parrilla (barbeque).

Reserva Nacional Rio de Los Cipreses
Several weeks ago on our p-day, Barb & I and the office elders took a trip to a national park located to the east of Rancagua in the Andean foothills. The park sets in huge glacial valley and several glaciers are the source of the Cachapoal river which flows near Rancagua. We took our new parrilla along for a picnic lunch. Afterward we took a hike to a small waterfall, then did a little sightseeing on the way home.

Pichilemu
Last Friday, we went for another fun trip, this time to the Pacific ocean and the small beach community of Pichilemu. We have 2 elders in Pichilemu and they needed a new house (they have been without electricity for 2 months). So after taking care of the housing problem we explored the beach area and the small town. Nearby is Punto de Lobos, a popular destination for serious surfers (at times the waves here are 40 feet high). The church in Pichilemu looks more like a temple that a chapel for only 40 active members.

El Campo

And finally - I have made several trips in the campo (countryside) to do financial audits of several small branches. This involves traveling over some of the narrow backroads to very small towns like Puemo and Pichedegua, meeting the local church leaders, asking questions, examining their books, and completing the required paperwork. This region of Chile is very agricultural with numerous wine vineyards. Elder Sappenfield (the previous financiero and my mentor) accompanied me on one of the financial audits, and we stopped along the way for a closer look at one of the many fields of grapes.

Early September 2008

Spring in Chile
Late August & early September are very much like April & May in the U.S. with many trees and shrubs in full -blossom. Last week we went to Santiago (1 hour north) and to San Fernando (1 hour south). Along the way we passed huge orchards of apples, plums, peaches, etc. with their pink and white flowers – beautiful! Field workers are busy pruning the vast fields of grapes that fill this large agricultural valley. They will need an army of workers to harvest the produce. Also of interest here are the many food processing plants like Dole, Del Monte, and others. I am fascinated with the differing methods of pruning and training the countless grapes and fruit trees to maximize their yield and make for ease of harvest - but more on this in a future blog. Also, I’ve decided that dandelions must be world-wide because they are now in full bloom, just like in my yard in April.

Shopping
“Jumbo” (pronounced “joom-bow”) is the largest and most modern supermarket complex here in Rancagua, with attached “Paris” (an up-scale department store), “Easy” (a Home Depot clone), and a strip mall (complete with bank, dry cleaners, beauty shop, Dunkin Donut, etc.). Jumbo provides one-stop shopping to the city. Except for its very cramped parking, Jumbo rivals anything in the U.S. for one-stop convenience. In the photo notice the grocery baggers. They work for very low wages and receive a tip for their service from all shoppers. (We typically tip with a 100 peso coin or about 20 cents). The practice of tipping baggers is similar to that we have encountered in Mexico. Jumbo is a ten to 15 minute bus ride from our apartment. Santa Isabel is a surpermercado only two blocks away, and they sell yummy ice cream. On the other end of the shopping scale are the numerous street vendors selling everything from vegetables, fruit, bread and candy to dog food and building supplies. Shown here is an old man pushing his cart and selling his brooms door-to-door. Most carts are powered by a horse, a bicycle, or a human (I’ve yet to see a motorized cart). Some vendors use a loud speaker, sound bells, or simply yell to announce their presence. What a way to earn a living!

My Batman Birthday Party
My 69th birthday was celebrated with a “Batman Bash”. It was attended by Elder and Hermana Batman, the six office Elders, and the two Hermanas that live in our apartment building. Barb prepared tacos complete with your choice of soft flour or hard shelled corn tortillas, seasoned hamburger, refried beans, guacamole, shredded cheese, and all the additional fixings for tacos or nachos. A good time was had by all including yours truly, the “Caped Crusader”. On the serious side, we do feel that our presence here in Chile as a senior couple provides the missionaries with a little bit of familiarity in a very foreign world.

The Last Two Weeks

Santiago
Barb lost her Spanish Book of Mormon in a collectivo (taxi) on our way to a teaching appointment across the street from our chapel - hence the saying “no good deed goes unpunished”. She was pretty sad. Several days later she made the 2-hour trip from Rancagua to Santiago by train-subway-walk to the Temple/Church Headquarters/Distribution Center to replace her scriptures. It was one of the few warm, sunny days we have had since arriving in Chile 6 weeks ago (most days here are cold, overcast, foggy, and/or rainy). Santiago is large metropolitan city. The temple is located in La Providencia, a clean, beautiful part of the city. Surprisingly, a week later, Barb´s lost scriptures turned up at our chapel.
Our Apartment
Our 5th floor apartment is approximately 1000 ft2 and consists of a living room, 3 bedrooms (one we use as a study and another as a guest bedroom), 2 bathrooms (one we turned into a laundry room), and an “efficiency kitchen” (1 person maximum). All of the rooms are small. We have made numerous improvements in the past 6 weeks, including extensive cleaning, a new table/chairs set, a new tiny washer and dryer, a study table, a small storage cart in the kitchen, a CD player, and numerous repairs to the electric and water systems. We also have two small balconies. I am thinking of planting a small container garden when spring arrives (hopefully in September). We have hosted several visiting parents who were picking-up their “go-homer” misioneros. Currently we are housing Elder Garcia (from Argentina) who is recuperating from a severe dog-bite to a very private part of his body – Ouch! He is helping us with our Spanish.
Observations of Life in Rancagua
Two blocks west of our apartment is the city plaza with a central walkway – about 3 blocks of shops, restaurants, banks, and other businesses. It is a busy place, especially during “almuerzo” or lunch time (2:00-4:00 pm). Almuerzo is the main meal of the day. The photo shows Hermana Mason in the Plaza de Los Heros. Notice the old men enjoying their daily chess game. To Barb’s left is a gypsy women. A number of gypsies populate the plaza. Also notice the sleeping dog. Dogs are everywhere. These “perros vagabondos” (for want of a better term) seem to be ownerless and oblivious to humans and, totally absorbed in their own social life.
New Office Elders
Life in the mission field revolves around missionary changes or “cambios” which occur every six weeks. Departing Elders leave on a Monday (they are called “go-homers” or “the dead”), new Elders arrive the next day (they are called “Greenys”) and immediately meet their trainers. The Greenys are the trainer’s “kids” or “hijos”, and they will be companions for the next three months. In our last change, two office elders Elders Oakes and Arrevalos were go-homers, and were replaced by Elder Rosales (born in Costa Rica but raised in Tennessee) and Elder Pallas (from Uruguary). Also new to the office is Elder Hall (from California and a baseball player at BYU) and Elder Del Guercio (also from Uruguary). So, the apartment across the hall is overflowing with 6 elders. In this photo, our amigos (from left to right are Elders Casper, Oakes, Hall, Latimer, Pallas, and Rosales with Arrevalos in front) had devoured a box of See’s candy and were serenading us with candy wrappers over their teeth.

Rancagua After One Month

Elder Oakes´s birthday party at the mission home, with Elder Casper, Pablo Resek (President Resek´s 12-year old son), and Hermana Mason. Elders Casper and Oakes are the Assistants to the President.
Our apartment is directly across the hall from the elders, we have become like "family" and often host late night treats in our apartment. A favorite is nachos with guacamole.
Another birthday party - this time for Elder Casper (far left). He is the grandson of the famous golfer Billy Casper. We were at the only Mexican restaurant and cantina in Rancagua. The food was good but not quite like in Mexico.

We live 2 blocks from the main city plaza (Plaza de Los Heros). Here is the large statue commemorating an important revolutionary battle in the 1800s. The beautiful Catholic Cathedral is in the background. Hermana Mason is bundled up because July is mid-winter in this part of the world.

During our first month here in "La Mision Chile Rancagua" we have experienced four zone conferences ALL in SPANISH, several teaching appointments (some with the elders and two on our own with a recent 75-year old convert named Maria), a trip to the church headquarters in Santiago (Elder Mason got to go while Hermana Mason was hard at work in her little cubicle in the oficina), and we have met many amazing young Elders and Sisters. We are so impressed with their proficiency with the Spanish language - we have many miles to go before we can communicate in Spanish. We seem to have established a weekly routine - Monday to Friday we are up by 7:30 am, at the office by 10:00 am, go to lunch from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, work until about 8:00 pm and go to bed by 11:00 pm. Our P-day (day off) is Saturday. Sunday church is from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. Some evenings we go with the elders on teaching appointments. On the personal side we have survived a few days with no water (much less hot water), frequent power outages (which is still a problem), a bad cold (Elder Mason) and our first Chilean haircuts. After one month our apartment has become home. We now have reliable hot water, a washer and small dryer, adaquate furniture, a comfortable bed and several electric heaters that are working hard to keep us warm. We are happy and feel blessed to be here.

Rancagua, Chile - June 2008

We arrived in Santiago, Chile on June 20th. Rancagua is a city of about 200,000 people and is located about an hour south of Santiago. We were warmly welcomed by President & Sister Resek and the elders associated with the office. The Reseks are from Buenos Aires. The President is a lawyer who has been working for the church. Sister Resek had her 40th birthday last week. She is very outgoing, fun and adds lots of spark to the mission.

Our 5th floor apartment is in a 15-story building in downtown Rancagua. Our apartment consists of 2 bathrooms (one that is being changed into a laundry room), a small kitchen, a spare bedroom with a set of bunkbeds, a small utility room, a nice living room and our bedroom. We have electric space heaters but with no central heating we've had some very cold days and nights.

The church office is directly across the street in a similar building on the 7th floor. There are four cubicles with computers. The President's Office is in an adjoining room. He isn't here much. Last Saturday we did a major clean up of the office. We're working with some great Elders. One is from Argentina so lots of Spanish is spoken and we're struggling to understand.

We have a great view of the city from our balcony. Here is the view looking east, note the Andes Mountains in the distance. We live two blocks from the city square. We haven't had time to do much exploring yet. We're looking forward to getting more acquainted with the lay of the land here.

The Assistants and the three office Elders live in a similar apartment directly across the hall from us. They are frequent visitors. From left to right are Elders Sappenfield, Oakes, Casper, Latimer, and Arevalos. they are patiently trying to train us to take over some of their responsibilities.

We have been to President & Sister Resek's home several times. They live the mission home with their four sons ages 14, 12, 8 and 5. The Mission Home is located in a suburb about 15 minutes from downtown.

Jordan and Sarah's Wedding

This is Susan posting pictures from the wedding today down in American Falls. Jess and Dana's oldest son Jordan married his high school sweetheart. They have been dating for six years and are off to California this fall where Jordan will be attending chiropractic school.

Sarah and Jordan

Jess and Dana
Trevor, Paden and Morgon

Madison and Hannah

Darnea, Camille and Sarah

Camille, Annie and James

Our Mission Begins

We received our mission call on April 9th.

We have been called to serve in the Chile Rancagua Mission for 18 months.

We enter the MTC on June 9th.