Zone Conferences

Monday the 16th was spent in the office except for one run out to put on a new smoke detector in one of the pensiones.  I worked with the choir for the Charla Fogonara and some of the groups who want to sing for either the Charla or for Zone Conference.  We are having a Zone Conference for the north part of the mission and then another for the south part.  It will be their Christmas Devotional also.  I have 2 choirs to lead and 13 musical numbers to have ready to perform.  Most of the missionaries are very prepared already but I have one group that is really rough.  They are running out of time so we will definitely have to depend on heavenly help!  I just couldn't tell them that they couldn't perform because they have 2 members of their ward singing with them.  Both Elder Thompson and I have been missing Christmas this year.  We miss the lights (hardly any outside lights due to the unrest), the music, the cooking, and family and friends.  These conferences and the Charla will help to fill a void for us.
     Tuesday was a wonderful day in the temple.  It was very busy and that is always so fun.  We left a little early as we had to make an airport run.  We have 2 young Elders leaving the mission and returning home.  We left the office at 3pm and got the first Elder on his flight at 6:15.  Then we fed the second Elder and got him through all the gates so we could leave and head for home.  We got home about 8:30.  It really felt like two different days all in one.  We had another young missionary leave on Thursday morning but Elder Potter got to do the airport run with him.  It always makes us so sad when we loose a missionary.  We usually never know the reason they leave, but we know that it is a tough decision for them.  We pray that they will be able to move forward and stay close to their Heavenly Father.  A mission is not easy physically, mentally, or spiritually.  These young missionaries all over the world need all the prayers and encouragement we can give them.
     We walked into the office on Wednesday morning to find out that we were a half hour late for an office meeting.  Evidentially we didn't get the memo?  We had to cancel our first appointment for an inspection to sit in on the rest of the meeting.  It made us really late for every appointment.  We did 5 inspections, repairing things while we were there.  Three of the pensiones were so clean.  We were so thrilled then we visited the last 2.  YUK!  How can anyone even think about cooking on something this filthy?

Or putting food into a frig like this?

It is a never ending struggle to help these young missionaries to realize that they will be able to feel the spirit easier in a clean and orderly home.
     We have been making brownies, cutting them into squares and wrapping them to put into the 165 missionary goodie bags for Christmas.  We got them all finished on Thursday afternoon.  We spent a couple of hours at the church to get it all set up for tomorrow's Zone Conference for the north zones.

Friday's conference will have 5 of the zones, about 90 people

Turned out very festive

Friday morning we delivered the office secretaries and the snack food to the church and headed to Vicuna Mackenna to do one service call and then to the Puente Alto Stake center to practice with the choir for Monday's conference.  They want to sing "I heard the bells on Christmas day".  We spent an hour with them and hopefully we will be able to practice on Monday morning.  They are struggling with parts and have a couple who can't stay on pitch and a monotone.  Definitely a challenge!

We headed back to the North Zone Conference and just as we were almost to the church, the President called and asked us to go by the office for some papers that he needed.  We changed course and arrived at the office in time to let the delivery truck unload 46 cases of Book of Mormons.  They had been waiting for 20 minutes for someone to arrive at the office.  The President ended up not needing the papers after all, but we know we were sent to the office for another reason.  

We had a very nice lunch with the North Zones.

One table full of fruit, cakes, and candies

We were served BBQ pork and beef, very tasty with corn (cold) all of the veggies are served cooked and cold here, salad, two kinds of rice, and a potato salad.  

The kitchen staff did a great job again this year.

Los Potters, Brotherson, Thompson

Then the missionaries had a white elephant gift exchange.

We have truly come to love these young missionaries.  They inspire us and frustrate us all at the same time.  Then we had a Christmas devotional with them.  Hermana Potter and I sang "O Hush Thee, My Baby".  It felt just like Christmas for the first time this season.  We had 3 other musical numbers and President y Hermana Brotherson spoke.  It was a wonderful Zone Conference/Christmas Devotional.  We had 3 hours to wait for the Charla Fogonara to begin so we had choir practice and most of the musical numbers for the Charla came early to practice.  The evening was wonderful.  I was privileged to direct the opening hymn and the two choir numbers.  Each of the musical numbers was fantastic, even the one that I was really worried about.  We could feel the spirit so strong.  The people who shared their testimonies did so good.  Selva, who has finally set a date to be baptized by Elder Thompson in January, was very touched by the evening.  Gloria, who had a kidney transplant earlier this year and her husband Alberto, who just had a cochlear implant two days ago, also attended.  It was fun to share this evening with these three special friends.

We didn't get home till 10:30.  What a wonderful day.  

This is Hna. Webb, she is a triplet, she reminds us of Hna.Yost and her children from home.

Hna. Corzo got to be the trainer for Hna. Arosamena.  Hna. Arosamena arrived here without going to the MTC.  She is from Chile and spent 7 weeks here in our mission and left this week to go to the MTC in Prove and then on to her mission in California.  We had never heard of a missionary serving in the mission field before the MTC.  She is already a great missionary so her time in the MTC will be mostly language training.  

Well, that is enough for this week.  We had our first fresh corn on the cob, asparagus, raspberries and blackberries.  It has been in the high 80's all week.  Maybe these are the reasons we can't quite realize that it is Christmas time.  We pray that you have had a wonderful week.  You are in our thoughts and prayers always.  We send our love.  Till next week, chao!