After church, we took the two Elders, Elder Cloward and Elder Behrmann, to their little house. We had to tell their landlord that they were moving to a new apartment. The little lady lives in the front house and the Elders in the little apartment behind. We have rented this apartment since 2016 but the little lady is getting very demanding of the Elders to help her with anything and everything. The apartment has some real problems with tree roots in the sewer system and it is just time to upgrade. The Elders found a brand new apartment in their teaching area and were so excited to be able to move into it on Monday.
Their apartment is on the first floor.
It is not a big apartment, but compared to where they were living, it is a palace for them. I am just amazed at the kitchens here. I would give up cooking if I only had the hall kitchens that we see here. I expected more in a brand new apartment, but these are just the norm here.
The other side of the kitchen is just a wall.
view from the other direction. There is just no room for more than a week of groceries.
We didn't get home till about 2:30 and crawled into bed for a much needed nap after a late nite on Saturday and an early morning on Sunday. We actually slept for two hours, getting up just in time to crawl into the car again for another hour drive to the Cordillera Stake Center. We went with the Hughes. It was wonderful to turn the driving over to Elder Hughes. The missionaries put on a Charla Fogonera. It was wonderful. The Gabriela and Cordillera Zones combined and sang 3 numbers. These young men (no Hermanas serve in these areas) sang with parts and really blended well. The Charla has a new member bare their testimony, then a musical number, then another testimony ect. It is so fun to see these young people share their talents. This is the first one we have been able to attend since January cause we have had Capilla Abiertas on the same evenings as the Charlas till this month. We didn't get home till 10.
We spent Monday moving some tables and chairs to the new apartment. Tuesday morning was another early morning. We had to be at the temple by 5:30 AM! The best thing about this morning was that there was NO traffic to deal with at that time of the morning. It is winter break here so no school and most businesses were closed on Tuesday. What an amazing day. The temple was full to overflowing! Elder Thompson actually did a 2 hour sealing session without a break. I was on my feet for the whole morning so we both came home physically exhausted but spiritually high. We got home about 2:30. This morning reminded us of some of our days in the temple in El Salvador when you are too busy to even sit down but on such an adrenaline high that it didn't matter. We are so thankful for this temple here and our new assignment to serve here each Tuesday morning. We went to the office and did some paperwork but left early.
We walked home and our little market was finally opened after being closed for a week so we bought a few groceries and got home around 6 totaled, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It has been a day to remember.
We have been trying to find a "Grandpa" Duende to go with the little "grandma" that we bought a few months ago but have not found anything that size. We are thrilled to introduce you to our new duendes. Our little "grandma" will not have a grandpa her size.
It took about two weeks to get the two together---
A Duende is an elf in Latin American folklure and is a mischievous spirit that lives in the walls of a house. They are either evil or good.
But they are happily holding hands and enjoying being together
Just like all Grandpa's and Grandma's do. Our duendes are definitely good.
Our young missionaries are always surprising us with something new. When you are at the church, and your lunch gets cold - - -
Elder Ruiz just put the chicken on the heater to warm it up, and where do you suppose the grease and loose rice ended up?
As we headed to our early morning meeting, we witnessed where many spent the cold night.
They were just waking up. May we never forget to count our many blessings!
We had 3 service calls to do on Friday. We took a table and 4 chairs out to San Jose de Maipo then came back to Cordillera to check on the Elders who had no electricity in their home. Luckily we found that they had a dryer cord that was burnt and fused to the plug-in. But the power had been turned off by mistake. The neighbors had asked the power company to turn off their power so they could do some repairs and the company turned off the wrong house. Definitely a tender mercy from their Heavenly Father that they didn't burn the house down.
It is tree trimming season here
And they really trim them back!
Friday evening we were invited to Selva's house for a missionary lesson and dinner.
Selva is in the middle of Elder Thompson and I (she told everyone where to sit in the photo)
Ignacio Rius, Gloria Rius, Elder Thompson, Selva Verde, Hermana Thompson, Alberto Rius with the young missionaries in front, Hermana Ybarra y Hermana Beeler.
The traffic is always bumper to bumper when we come to their houses and we always say to ourselves that we won't do this again but we have such a wonderful time with these special friends that we will face that traffic again on the 7th of August.
Saturday afternoon we had a Capilla Abierta in the Los Toros Ward in the Vicuna MacKenna Stake.
Las Hermanas Castro y Mendieta are the missionaries assigned to this ward.
It was different than any of the other buildings we have been in. The chapel was on the ground floor, along with the bishop offices and kitchen.
All of the class rooms are upstairs and they have an
elevator from the kitchen to the upstairs classes
Elder Reinoso didn't have a companion this night as he was in a three some so he asked Elder Thompson to be his companion for the evening.
Elder Thompson y Reinoso on the street inviting people to come to the Capilla Abierta.
Elder Reinoso was so cute. When they came into the building to serve at the reference table, he asked Elder Thompson if they should use the elevator? cause Elder Thompson is sooo old! The look on Elder Thompson's face was priceless. He wouldn't have used the elevator even if he needed to at that moment - so up the stairs they went. At the end of the evening, I thanked Elder Reinoso for taking care of the Grandpa!
We got home, had a bite to eat and had just settled down to work on the blog and read the Sunday School lesson when the phone rang. A call at 9:30 can only mean trouble - and it did. The Elders had locked their keys in their apartment! Just don't understand how two intelligent young men with two sets of keys can leave both sets in the apartment? Luckily it was only a half hour away!
That is why the blog is late this week. We got home in time to crawl into bed. It has been another busy week. Each day is completely different than the one before. We never know what service we will be able to do for our young missionaries and their pensiones.
We love serving here. We just wish we didn't have to drive in this awful traffic but are thankful for a truck to be able to serve the missionaries and to get to and from the temple and our capilla abiertas. You have to take the bad with the good. We hope you have a great week. You are in our thoughts and prayers always. We send our love. Chao
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