Hello, again! Posting pix is still posing problems for me...so your patience is very much appreciated. I was all set to give it a good ol' college-try the Saturday following our last post, when the elders knocked on our door and presented us with the keys to one of the mission vehicles. This was a 'first' --as usually both vehicles are needed simultaneously-- so, with that unexpected gift on a P-day morning, we couldn't help but think of the mission nurse whose time in the mission was quickly winding-down and who had expressed a desire to visit parts of the mission with which she was not too familiar. She and the Battraw's (new couple who work w/young adults) seized the moment and we all headed south towards Pichilemu. We took a different route this time which allowed us to see some antique wooden water wheels, several of which were still operating! The roadside area adjacent to the first ones we encountered was a quaint, picturesque and charming place.
That journey enabled us to wend our way through rolling orhards, farms and vineyards surrounding St. Vincent de Tagua Tagua and Pichidegua, which were previously just names--to us--of branches of the church listed on registros (new convert records). When we arrived in Pichilemu it was raining... and there were hundreds of tourists!!! Fortunately the little sandwich shop across the street from a city park overlooking their famous surf had a table where we enjoyed Pichilemu's famous-crust-empanadas. The rain let up by the time we finished lunch, so seeing the sites and going to Punto Lobo was delightful (imagine the Oregon coast~w/cactus =). The city also has horse-drawn carriages driven by huasos (cowboys) wearing flat-brimmed hats...with which I am also enamored. =)
For the next few weeks my focus was primarily on completing the mission history for 2012. As a new-kid-on-the-block...and one who's a bit technologically-challenged...this, for me, was a monumental effort. My book of duties said it was due mid-Jan (which is when we were in the midst of our office move) and Pres. said it wouldn't hurt to be a little late; but it wasn't until I was looking for an address to send it on to our area administrative office in Argentina, that I discovered it wasn't really due until the end of March. So, in hindsight...it's sad but true...it took my-being-six-weeks-late to get last year's mission history submitted three-weeks-early!!! Asi es la vida...parece.
Speaking of histories and pictures and such: our APs added a place for Elder B's financial announcements and a photo/foto section (most of which are mine =) to our "Mensajero/Messenger" website. I may already have published that link...but please know that families and friends are welcome to tune-in and see what's-up with those serving in the Chile Rancagua Mission. I am grateful the weekly messages by Pres. and Sis. MacArthur are available in both English and Spanish! Pres. MacArthur was a poplular Education Week speaker when he worked at BYU for many years... and Sis. MacArthur served a mission in Chile as a YW, when the whole country was part of the same mission. Studying the scriptures has been a lifetime passion for her...they have raised a family of ten children...and I LOVE the insights I gain by reading their thoughts!!! Anyway, if you'd care to check it out, you can go to: http://chilerancaguamission.org/
We had another Zone Leader Concilio Feb 22 where Elder B. gave financial training...and I distributed more new convert letters. Another "News" Training was held yesterday...at which Elder B. distributed emergency back-packs to the greenies =) who arrived in Feb. and taught them about using their debit cards (which are in the process of being changed, church-wide, from JP Morgan to Bank of America) and I helped them understand more about filling-out registros. Monday and Tuesday are CAMBIOS again. Only 3 missionaries are leaving (not-counting the mission nurse who left at the end of Feb. and 3 missionaries who had early medical releases since last cambios/changes); but we'll have a total of 29 NEW missionaries (counting a senior couple who just arrived this morning and two elders who were transferred from the MTC in Guatemala because they couldn't get visas to Mexico).
The new couple are the Jetts. She will be the mission nurse. He was a sealer in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple at the same time Dad was . . . so they know each other! Fun. We helped them with their first 'compras' (shopping) this afternoon--before they hit-the-hay early in an effort to recover from their long, tiring flight to Chile last night.
We joined some of the other senior missionaries in walking to and from a community concert held at an outdoor amphitheater theater near the mission office this evening. It was presented by 19 folks of varying ages (some as young as ten) from Bolivia, who dressed in typical costumes and shared classical music introduced to them by Jesuit priests in 1777. Some of their instruments were historical ie. wooden flutes and flutes w/8-9 pipes of varying length, some of which extended clear to the floor. Very interesting. They sang Gregorian chant type music and played some Bach-like classical instrumental music and ended with an indigenous dance involving colorful headdresses. It was a beautiful evening to be outdoors...the costumes were simple, traditional and beautiful...the music was memorable-in-a-very-good-way =)...and...it was free! What a treat...thanks to the kindness of Hna. Hunter and los Sanchez who just 'happened' to be passing through the plaza yesterday as tickets were being distributed. =)
The office elders have been EXTREMELY BUSY finding and furnishing new apartments to accomodate all the new missionaries (over half of whom are sisters, this time!) ...not to mention all the reorganization of districts and zones that is going-on because of that and anticipation of the new mission being created in July, which is when our new mission pres. (Tom Warne, engineer of freeway renovations prior to Utah's Olympics) will arrive. So, as you may imagine, things are kinda' crazy...and at the same time very exciting...at the office right now.
Do you ever awaken with a profound message running through your head? That happened to me the other day...and, even tho' it was an idea with which I was already familiar, it was like an "Ah-ha!" moment to my clarity of thought. As an old saying goes: "The more I learn. . . THE MORE, I learn, THERE IS TO LEARN." A simple enough idea, right? Yet I am discovering that it is a very humbling...and sometimes a very difficult... process. One for which I will be eternally grateful!
Two other "thoughts" upon which I've been feasting lately are:
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." ~Eleanor Roosevelt
"There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.
"Needed is the charity which refuses to find satisfaction in hearing or repeating the reports of misfortunes that come to others, unless by so doing the unfortunate one may be benefited.
"The American educator and politician Horace Mann once said... 'To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.'
"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down; it is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others." ~President Thomas S. Monson
We are humbled beyond measure by our Savior's love for each and every one of us. We are grateful for all we are learning as we strive to make His will our own. We love you with all our hearts. . . We are better people because we know you. Thank you for being you...and for being such an important part of our lives!!!
