Chilean Fiesta

Story 16  - DANCERS on SUN.Dec. 27 CELEBRATING "MARY"Mother of Jesus"

 These photos came about because we had met "Johann and his step father George" at the boat ramp when we were watching Edward launch his new business. We invited them over for dinner, and they came. We gave them the review of the church, as both of them had heard about the church, and Johan was particularly interested. We invited him to come to Church on the Sunday after Christmas, but we waited for him on the bench at Church but he never came. After church we decided to go and look for the place he lives with his grandmother. We parked the car on the street and SAW MANY people standing around, and heard LOUD music, drums, and saw dancers in the street. We walked toward it, and to our surprise, here was the BIGGEST crowd and street dancers from many different groups of people who had come from many different places. Sort of like a (Band Competition of Some Sort). Hunter would have LOVED it. The drums were huge. It went for at least  a half mile up one street, and a quarter of a mile across another street. We found a man to help us find Johan's grandmother house and it was on a street that came right out of where this was all taking place. George took lots of photos. We didn't find Johan home, but did find all of this on a Sunday afternoon after Christmas.  ENJOY the photos!  

 More dancers.  Note how long the different groups extend.

 Dancers with a Gorilla

 A pretty young lady who participated.

 Strange masks

 I purchased a hotels here in Antofagasta.

Dear Family  NEW YEARS DAY in Antofagasta Chile  Jan. 1, 2016

       Hard to believe we are now into the new year of 2016. We also are starting our 8th month of this mission.  During this time we have probably met and worked with over 60 different contacts and have had many many dinners at our home  (probably 8 a month) for new friends, contacts, and missionaries. Plus we have attended several 1st discussions (in Spanish), and given 1st discussions (in English), but so far we have had none of our contact desire to be baptized.  This mission  in Antofagasta only had 414 baptisms for all of 2015. Which is lower than the three previous years. That averages out to 34 a month(+50 more) a little over 1 person being baptized per day (counting 365 days in a year). We have not been told what the actual retention rate is for this mission. Grandsons - Hunter told us they were baptizing approximately 150 per month in Thailand, and  Spencer said it was  at about 150 per month in his mission in Brazil, too. However, the retention rate is probably under 20% in both of those missions. That means out of a 100 baptisms, less than 20 remain active in the church.  Hunter said the retentsion was 11%  retention when he arrived and 17% when he came home.  Missionary work is more than just BAPTIZING, it is RETENTION and also SHARING  testimonies, with those who do not accept it. Maybe someday or years later, our contacts will accept the gospel plan, we just keep trying, but don't drop our new friends.

                Starting in 2016 we will be numbering the stories we write.

Story 1 - HIME (Jamie) SPANISH HELPER, FROM the QUITO WARD

    We met Hime one Sunday when we were visiting this ward. This ward is closest to our apartment (and is the Stake Center), but we have been assigned to another ward 5 miles to the South. Hime had a suit on and was at church, yet he told us that he was not active in the church. He spoke English and talked to me for a while, after the sacrament meeting. I asked him how busy he was and he said not very, and so I asked if he could come weekly and help us with our Spanish. He did not want to be paid, therefore we send him home with a food item each week (a large juice bottle, box of granola bars, etc.) which he seems to like this idea. He is very punctual  and arrives nearly exactly on time weekly.
            This past week we asked him WHY he did not consider himself active in the church, as he does go to church. He said he was baptized when he was 10 years old along with his 13 year old sister. His father had always been a member, but his mother was a convert. The family went to the Santiago Temple and was sealed when he was 10 years old (which means his mother must have been baptized at least a year earlier). His father even had been a former bishop of the Quito Barrio. He said he was ordained a deacon, and passed the sacrament for 2 years, but never advanced to receive the teacher ordination in the priesthood. Somehow, he became dis-interested and did not believe in the Church, and he then told us "Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon." He said he had read it  years ago and had even attended seminary for two years, but does not believe the church is what people say it is.  He said he does take turns praying at home  (blessing the food) along with other family members to honor his mother, but he does not believe in a God. He goes to church (sacrament meeting only) to honor his mother's request, but does not take the sacrament, then walks home.  We obviously were both surprised, as we did not get into his personal beliefs when he first started coming to our apartment, and because he was always at church we didn't think he meant it when he said he was not an active member. He then told us that he is an atheist. However, George told him that he is not an atheist, because he cannot prove that there is not a God, but he is more correctly an agnostic. He then said, "then I am an agnostic."
         He is 24 years old and turns 25 on January 15th.  This will be a GOOD project for us to see if we can help him get a testimony that the Church is true, as he comes to our home weekly. His parents must love that he comes and helps us.
          Our lessons with him will now change as we will need to start trying to help him gain a testimony. For the past 3 weeks we have been reading the Christmas story from the Bible in Matthew and Luke and he has been explaining the Spanish words, etc.  It takes us a LONG time to even get through 8 verses, so it did not go very fast (one hour for only 8 verses) because he explains a lot of things to us. We bought him a new shirt for Christmas and he wore it last time. We also gave him a (little seed) this past week to put in the pocket and told him FAITH is like this little seed and it can grow. He didn't seem to think so, but smiled as he left.



Story 3 - HOW PEOPLE WASH DISHES in ANTOFAGASTA

    Most of the homes, even nicer homes in large apartment buildings, do not have "hot" water in the kitchens. For the bathroom showers, they tell me it is something that heats the water as they use it. We do not have hot water at the office (church) either. Nor does any of the churches in our mission have hot water. In Chile, they sell a container like a big pitcher that you plug in and it heats water in about 3 to 4 minutes, if you want hot water.
      We have been in at least 4 homes, and this is how they do the dishes. They get a medium size plastic bowl and mix the dish soap with cold water and make a nice creamy suds. Then they take a sponge and in one sink (with no water in it, rub the dishes on all sides with suds in a sponge, and the silverware) then have the tap with cold water running and rinse them. George rinsed the dishes, etc. and I stacked them. They do not dry them with towels, but stack them so they drip dry and then in the morning put them away.
        The kitchens are VERY VERY small, they are long with very little room, and are very compact. Our daughters and daughters-in-laws would "gasp" if they had to work in these kinds of kitchens.  However, the richer people in the South do have BIG homes, and I am certain they have bigger kitchens (the mission presidents home is in the south and that kitchen is big, but I am talking about the normal everyday people, and even in the homes in nice condos, and probably most people here, have it even smaller that what I am describing (maybe just a sink and running water and a small counter and a few cupboards.
     Our kitchen is similar, George and I can hardly pass each other and it has only 1 sink, but WE DO have a hot water heater, a large one like in the USA, therefore we do not have to heat our water. The utility bills are very high in Antofagasta, much higher than in  the USA.

Story 4 - BUSY PAST WEEK  "COMBIOS"  Missionaries LEAVE and COME

      (Combio it is a verb conjugation of Combiar - to change) We had long days Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then Thursday was New Years Eve.  We had 20 missionaries go HOME, and 11missionaries ARRIVED. We served a dinner on Tuesday for the arriving missionaries and office staff, and then on Wed. the trainers for the new missionaries arrive and we have a dinner again. The trainers train for 12 weeks. It is an honor to be asked to be a trainer. But all of this involves DRIVING people around, to hotels for some of the 20 missionaries who cannot fit into the mission home as they have to then leave the following morning on a bus to the airport to FLY to Santiago where they are met with another bus to take them to the temple where they do one session before they then fly to their homes.  George got to the office at 6:45 am on Tuesday and worked driving people around constantly (picking them up at bus stations, and what ever else - plus we did some shopping for the next days meal) and he didn't finish with driving around until 10:30 pm at night. I would say that is a long day for someone who will turn 76 in 31 days.

Story 5 - DYING MISSIONARIES and being BORN MISSIONARIES

     George and I do not like the above terms. This is what the elders and sisters call themselves when they arrive and when they leave. We talked to Hunter and Spencer and they said they used the same terms in their mission. The church has 406 Missions.  We feel when missionaries go over (85,000 out serving) it would be better to call them REBORN again when they go home over "Dying."  If we are all to be missionaries the rest of our lives, "Dying" just does not give the right meaning.  In the office the elders say so and so is dying (if) they are leaving. I guess George and I are seeing a new dictionary definition for "dying" ...one going home from a mission!  One time an elder said to me, an elder was just assigned to where he was "born" and the people will be glad to see him. I thought, it was the place he was really born (as a baby), but not, so, it was where he served in his first sector after arriving.

Story 6 - WHAT TOOK PLACE AT THE BUS STATION at 10 PM

    After a long day George returned to the office to take an elder to the bus station who was now being transferred to another place, one of the former APS. I cannot tell all of the events along with this, but when he went to pay for the parking ticket, two elders had just arrived on another bus, and needed to go to their apartment. It was late and George was tired, but he offered to drive to take them, was at least somewhere in the area kind of where we live.  After dropping them off with their luggage, one of the latin elders knocked on the glass window of the van on the drivers side.  George said he rolled down the window, and this elder in broken English said "Elder Talbot I love you." George said it was a tender moment for someone who had worked all day serving the elders and sister missionaries, the one "I love you" meant a lot to him. All I can say is he could have told the elders to call a taxi, but he went the extra mile, late at night, when he was very tired, and drove them home, before turning home.

Story 7- THE ELDER WHO HELPED LOAD the LUGGAGE

     When we arrived at the office in June the elder who was over the finances, was particularly discouraged with the big responsibility he had and did not feel his efforts were appreciated. George and he bonded together and worked so well together. It was now time for this elder to return home. George said he had never had such a BIG bear hug, when they saw each other, as he had served in the field for the past 12 weeks. This elder told George that when he arrived it was the turning point in his mission. He simply could not thank him  (George) enough for coming on this mission. Then he helped LOAD all of the luggage in the van while the other elders stood around and talked, which was a great help to George.  A missionary can be MORE than just preaching the gospel, he can be offering to HELP when a task is obvious that has to be done, he can CLEAN up after himself, he can ask is there something ELSE I can do for you, he can give RESPECT to his elders, he can THANK those who help him, he can OPEN doors for others.... he can in truth, be much much MORE than whatever one thinks he will be or need to be when deciding to go on a mission. This missionary was ONE of these kinds of elders.  Something to think about when our daughters and sons families are raising future "missionaries" elders or sisters.

Story 8 - THE RESULTS of the BIOPSY on GEORGE's HAND

     We picked up the biopsy taken from the top of George's hand on Dec. 31st. It had a lot of words we did not understand, as it was written in Spanish, but the summary read to us by one of the office elders,  said it was not malignant, or was not cancer of any kind. It said it was more of a "sun burn" on a place on the hand. It may have cost us money to see the doctor and to get the biopsy, but it was better to KNOW it is OK, over wondering and not finding out. We could not have had better care from Dr. Valencia when at his office (a dermatologist). We do have to go back and take the results. Here in Chile, we drove to take the biopsy to the medical clinic where they do it, and then we picked it up, and will take it (the results) to the doctor. This is not how they do it in the States.  We will tell more when we return from the Dr. office, perhaps next week.




END of Jan 1, 2016 Family News and Stories.   These stories are not a day by day account, but some of the grandchildren have said they enjoy the STORIES more than just long paragraphs of what we are doing. George keeps a day by day diary (in cursive) but it will need to be translated, as we understand that our grandchildren do not READ cursive any more. I write a weekly account on Sunday but not a daily entry.  We will be having lunch at the mission home today and then have one of our investigators families (she just had a new baby) and they also have a 4 year old son who has autism) over for supper tonight at 7, along with 3 missionaries.

    MUCH LOVE to you ALL and BLESSING for the New Year. We so enjoyed talking to all of our children's families on the  phone over the past two days. We will be praying for Stephanie and Amy particularly who will be having their babies in January. We also pray for the success of Merrill's new business, and that Landon will find the job that he wants in this new year. We also pray for Dallin on his mission and for ALL of you individually and for all of the grandchildren. We have to do prayers in Spanish, then our longer English prayers to pray for all of you. A new year is always an "open slate" for all of us.

Christmas in Antofagasta

Story 11 - ADRIANA'S VISIT to our apartment the SAT. after CHRISTMAS

      We told about this in an earlier email, but these are delightful two ladies (abt 5 years younger than we are). Aadriana came to bring us each a Christmas gift. They came me a lovely scarf and to George a stone small statue from the head from Easter Island. I am sure they gave away something that belonged to them. Adrianna stayed and stayed. We talked and talked. We had earlier had plans to go shopping, but decided visiting with her was more important. She has no husband, no children, and has never married. We offered her a drink, and then made lunch. She asked for (oil) Aceite and (lemon) Limon.  She then proceeded to make a dip in a dish of (oil and lemon juice) to dip the caulifour peices into. She was grinning ear to ear and told us how good it was. We tried it and agreed, but may not make it again. Chilean's have their own food styles. We loved her visit, and particularly the phone call to her sister  Anna Maria when she closed the call with "I'll Love You Forever". We had never heard this ending to a phone call. it is usually "Chow." It was really touching and the words she spoke to her sister keep ringing in our ears: "I'll Love You Forever." Since Christmas is all about love, we had a very special Saturday with her which was much better than going shopping.

Story 15  - VISITING ANDRIANA and sister ANNA MARIA'S HOME Decorations.

  They both wanted us to come and see their Christmas decorations. We came following the Sunday "band and dancers parade". They were SO excited that we had come to see their decorations. They had saved things for 50 years and also from their mother's things, and it was like a Christmas Museum. We loved every minute we spent in their (small) little house. It was decorated to the hilt!  They had to tell us about every little thing, and we had such a delightful hour and George took photos. They are such lovely and loving sisters. Adriana was baptized in Marc of this year, worked with and taught by Elder Harris who was an earlier office missionary.  These two ladies and their home will be a lasting memory.

 Christmas morning in our apartment.  Thanks for all of the gifts.  Also a picture of Margaret's creative Christmas Tree made from empty milk cartons that she had

Story 13 -  2015 CHRISTMAS at OUR APARTMENT and OUR MILK BOX TREE

     When we arrived here  May 29, 2015 and bought milk, it came in blue boxes with yellow ends, etc. called SOPPROLE,  Somehow, looking at those boxes they looked like big bricks, so I thought IF save them (the boxes), by December I can build us a Christmas tree.  I rinsed them out and saved them one by one in a large box, and Christmas morning I built the TREE. We had opened our gifts from all of you at mid night (Chilean tradition) and then put the bows, cards, things you sent, wrapping paper, etc. to decorate the tree. It was really a FUN Christmas morning, and then to top it off we got to talk on the phone to all of our children and most of the grandchildren. Thank you one and all for all of the things you sent us!

Story 14 - CLAUDIO and his TWO DAUGHTERS VISIT to our APARTMENT

     The day after Christmas  our dear friend Claudio came to see us with his two daughters. We had never met Francisca, but had heard about her. She was born of a different mother, and when at Claudio's home he  had showed us a little photo album that Francisca had made for her father. Francisca lives in Santiago and is studying ballet. We were so pleased to meet her, and gave her the little BOOKLET from the church that you can write in your family hames, short stories. Gabriella and Francisca were so loving to each other (12 years apart in age). Claudio was married to neither of their two mothers. He brought us a Chilean fruit cake that we so enjoyed. You have seen earlier photos of Claudio and Monica (Gabriella's mother). They had one lesson with the missionaries, but then said they were too busy for more - but that means don't come again now. We have maintained the friendship and they will have more lessons, but not just yet.

THE FAMILY WE MET at the VEGA MARKET 

       Several months ago we met at the Vega (Vegetable Market) a man, his wife who was expecting a baby and their son age 4 who were selling vegetables. He called us Mormons, and in the course of the conversation thought he must be a baptized member that was just inactive We invited them over for dinner with two elders from the office, as they lived in their area. Come to find out he was from Peru and after his father died when he was age 4, he was raised in an orphanage that was operated by our church, that also had a school. The elders worked with them but finally gave up and quit going to them as they were not progressing. George called them up this past week, she had how had her baby, and invited them again to come to dinner on New Years day. The elders had now changed so we had the new elders come to meet them, in hopes they would still stay in contact with this family as we do think they will at some point come to know the church is really true. He told us at this dinner that when at the Mormon school in Peru he learned French, Italian, Portugese and how to play the piano., and he also speaks some English, enough that we understand him. Plus he said he also plays the guitar. He said he twas really grateful for this Mormon heritage that was given to him when he grew  up.  The photo is here of of the family and the elders, and one of their NEW baby girl born on Dec. 23.   We  as an adult missionary couple do not DROP contacts, we continue to stay in touch with them, to stay interested in them, and call them, and stop by to see them, even when they are not progressing. The young elders cannot do this as their goal is to baptize, so they drop families or individuals who are not progressing. We will have to tell you what happens to Carlos, Marsetta, little Peter and the new baby Miae, in future stories.

Marseta and Carlos Calderon with their son Peter.  Elders Morales, Spanbauer and Maki from left to right.  Elder Morales and Spanbauer are new to the office

The brand new baby born on December 23 of Carlos and Marseta.  The named her Miae.

 Carlos and Marseta's boy Peter, who I entertained with my magic tricks while the elders taught his parents.

 Margaret and I with Mercy's dog

Story 12 - MERCY and her DOG, VISIT at our HOME CHRISTMAS EVE

    We met Mercy at the hair cutting shop. She gave George a hair cut (Sanchez Hair cut) and then he went to another lady, but I used Mercy to cut my hair. We also had her (Mercy) over to  dinner several months ago. She came and the missionaries came, and she acted very interested, but then did not want any more lessons. We still kept our friendship and invited her to church things, even though she has never come to anything. Then to our surprise she showed up at our door on Christmas eve at 10 pm with her dog. I had told her earlier that I wanted to meet her dog. He was adorable, a client who Mercy had cut their hair gave the puppy to her. He is her pride and joy. After the short visit (see the photo) she left saying she was going to return and BRING us some food to eat. We waiting and waited and she never came. Then came a knock on the door at 11:30 pm, and here was Mercy and a friend, and two dishes of food, and Mercy was holding her dog and crying. In broken Spanish she said they had come to the elevator door and it opened and the dog ran in and the door of the elevator SHUT and she went into hysterics. The office desk had a computer that showed the insides of the elevator so they found the dog. But she thought the dog was gone forever.

 Mercy Estrella came to see us for Christmas but lost her dog in the elevator.  She is the one who cut my hair as well as Margarets.  She is from the Dominican Republic and is working in Antofagasta.  We are trying to get her to go to Church with us.  She has had the missionaries give her one lesson.

IN ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE CELEBRATED the NEW YEAR 2016
              DINNER at Rodolpho's and Martha's lovely Condo with other Guests

      We were invited to the home of Rodolfo and Martha for a New Years Eve dinner. He picked us up at 9:30 PM.  The dinner was probably served at 10:30 PM. Before he came we found Auld Lang Syne on the Internet and wanted to teach the chorus to them (at the party) as what the American tradition is. So we got the Spanish translation to the song and learned the Spanish words to the tune by singing it over and over along with the ukelele.   Then after arriving we were waiting for the other guests to arrive and told them we had a SONG to teach them. Come to find out the TUNE of that song is what they sing at all of the graduations (high school and universities) but using new Spanish words. They played the tune to us with the bag pipes. This song was written in Scotland by Robert Burns. Therefore we did not sing the song (we had for them), but at least George and I did sing the song in our apartment. "A cup of kindness will go a long way in 2016."
    The News Years Eve DINNER was fantastic. The meat was probably more like filet mignon, but it was cut round, and the brother-in-law who cooked it lined the sides with bacon and then he barbecued it. The meat cuts were thick, then they also served white rice, and a salad made of broccoli with bacon pieces, and other little pieces of things, but the broccoli was raw and cut in larger pieces. They had two very large bowls of it, but no bread or rolls were served. They also had several bottles of different drink choices, and asked us again why we did not drink wine.
       They always call us  "the missionaries",  when they introduced us, but call us  George and Margaret in private". We asked them where they got the broccoli we as had FOUND none at the Vega Market this past week and none in the grocery stores. They said that broccoli is so popular at New Years that is is all sold out fast. They went early in the morning to the Vega Market to get what they had. We took a red fruit drink and a fruit plate. They served a creamy pudding with fruit and cream topping, plus our fruit plate for dessert.
     People like fancy colored hats with streamers that light up, and face eye masks in bright colors. At  11:30 we went to the TOP of the building and  counted down the minutes to mid night. Then we watched the fire works (similar to our 4th of July fireworks) that started right at 12 midnight. They said they had about 3 of these stationed in the North, middle where we were, and in the South since Antofagasta is SO long on the coast. The fireworks were shot off from the top of the  mountain right behind Antofagasta (to the east), no chance of fires because there is NOTHING growing on the mountains, remember there is no rain to water whatever even could grow. The other thing that was so interesting were (LITTLE FIRE BAGS) similar to a hot air balloon, that people purchase and shoot up into the air. They were all over the sky and you could see the (fire burning) inside of the bags. Then I guess the fires finally go out. Also we could see FIRES burning here and there as it is a tradition to get an old tire, and throw in things you don't want any more and build a fire on New Years (sort of getting rid of whatever clothes, etc.).  We asked if they have new years resolutions traditions, but not like in USA.
            Then at midnight they poured drinks like (7 up) probably because we were there, and put white sherbet in them in TALL goblets and people all made a TOAST to each other. The guests (about 14 of us)  were individually going around and hugging everyone and wishing them Happy New Year.
           We did not get back home until 1:30 AM as we stayed to help with the dishes, etc. People were walking all over the streets at this hour and we asked if they ever go to bed. Yes, they do but it is around 5 or 6 am in the morning. That is the account of a NEW YEAR event in Antofagasta, Chile. We thoroughly enjoyed it, even if we did not get to bed until 2 am. We thought of taking our PUZZEL over, but that would not work in Chile. We will have to do the one Laura sent us today at our apartment.

Our New Years dinner with our investigators.  Martha on the left, Rodolfo on the right - and their family:

 My tomato plant is doing well.  I now have four pots having tomatoes.  Where are the bees to Pollinate?

 Wilson, Ideide, and their children Ricardo and Paquena.  We had a Christmas family home evening with them.  They are a lovely couple and indicated a desire to go to church with us.  Unfortunately it is the summer season here, families go on vacation, and children are out of school.

Preparing for Christmas in Chile

Dear Family,  Diciembre 13, 2015 Sunday (Domingo)

Another week and today is Isaac Talbot's 8th birthday, Spencer comes home this week, and Christmas is just a few weeks away.  We miss all of you very much and particularly as Christmas draws closer, and do appreciate the packages that have arrived, and your phone calls. It is harder to talk to any of you now that we are 4 hours ahead of your.

MISSIONARY STORY of the WEEK

   George and I go to the (Correo) Post Office in Antofagasta at least once a week. One of the ladies has been particularly helpful. George asked her if she would like to come to have supper with us (supper or dinner is called Cena in Spanish). She wanted to, so we got the dinner ready and she came. We were enjoying the meal when George asked her if she knew anything about the Mormons as she has prepared so many packages for the Elders (processing them) as this lady had worked for the Correo for over 30 years. Andrea said, yes I do, my mother was a Mormon. Our jaws dropped!   Then she said her mother died in 2006, at age 86 and was baptized a member of  the church when she was 80.  However, this daug. (at the meal) told us she was not interested in learning more about the church (she had 5 other siblings but 3 are deceased), but it was an interesting evening. She spoke ONLY (so so) English, so we had to really give our (limited Spanish) a work out. We plan to have her over again in January

VISITING our CONTACTS with CHRISTMAS SURPRISES

    We purchased 26 big red round bells (metal) and some strawberry jam, and a few kitchen (cocina) towels to wrap up to give to our contacts families. We FIND the Chileans have SEVERAL different customs associated with Christmas ----NO  no, and I mean no, you will not find any CARDs (Christmas cards) being sold in the stores. I brought a box  of cards with me that we are using to give to contact families. The Chilean children also have hardly ANY toys in any of the homes we have visited who have children. Bedrooms are almost devoid of anything except a bed and a chest of drawers and a few little things, but NOTHING like what we have seen  American children have. We have enjoyed visiting our contacts a few each week in December.  We have learned that in Chile the NIGHT before Christmas day is the big event. A big dinner, put the baby Jesus in the christmas (nativities), and open the packages around midnight. Then they sleep in and have Christmas day to visit family members. Christmas Eve is the big event.

STAKE CONFERENCE in CHILE & PAST MEMORIES

     When I was a little girl and growing up in St. George I loved to go to Stake Conference and we always sat in the balcony at the St. George Tabernacle. In Provo, we loved taking the children when they were being raised to the Provo Tabernacle for Stake Conferences. We hear that the Provo City Center Temple will have their open house starting in a few weeks. It is hard to believe. However, even though we work on our Spanish (every day) we still do not understand the speakers at Conference (in Spanish) as they talk VERY FAST, and run the words together, but we keep listening for words we know. However, we love singing the songs and feeling the joy of worshiping together with the Chilean people. They are so loving and give hugs to all of the women, and air kisses on their cheeks, and handshakes to all of the men. A loving culture.

A CHRISTMAS STREET PARTY for the CHILDREN

      We were invited to attend a party held in one of the neighborhoods where our contact family the Layton's live. Their older children 29, 26 and 22, along with some of their friends, were participating in a small music group (guitar, drum, electric piano, and a singer). We arrived at 5:30 and it started at about 7 and we thoroughly enjoyed the event, and were invited to share a meal afterwards. George took several photos. The girl (age 20) who did the vocal singing was truly talented and felt the music with her heart too. She was born when her mother was nearly 45 and at the time of her birth she had two older brothers 20 years older than herself. Her name is Ann (Anna or Annie). She sang Feliz Navidad, and we  just could not get enough of that Christmas song. George also played (Star Bright) for them on the piano. WE NEED OUR daughters to scan and mail us the copy of the music so they can learn the words, and George will accompany them, next week IF we get the music by email (scanned).  The Layton's love to have us participate with their family events but are not currently having the lessons, even though one son (Javier) is a member. Javier is 29 and is borderline (inactive) and has never wanted to receive the priesthood. 

OUR PAST CONTACTS WITH the  ANTOFAGASTA MISSIONARIES

      We made a list and we have over 10 our our past contacts with missionaries  who are working with them, but the contacts are moving (slowly) towards baptism. It is possible that none of them will even be baptized.  However we PICK up new contacts almost weekly, but it takes "opening our mouths" and asking people if they have friends who are Mormons. This has been the best way for us to start a conversation about the church. Most generally they say YES, that they have a friend or someone they know who is a Mormon.  Then the conversation just goes from that to whatever we feel we can say to find out if they would like to know more.

FOUR NEW CONTACTS came about THIS WEEK

      We will have to keep you posted, but we did pick up one lovely mother and her daug at the Birthday party we attended a week ago, and we stopped by their home to talk to them this past week - a full family with a husband and another son. We have planning an evening at their home to share talents next week. We found another boy (David) who was outside our building and lives in our complex, along with his sister, plus  two women at the Christmas party on the street  who want to have the missionaries come to their homes. Also, we finally got VANESSA on the phone who we met several weeks ago at Edwards' home when we were there for dinner. We find that it takes having a Missionary Attitude of wanting to find people, then lots of follow through with phone calls and visits.......they are out there, but we do have to talk to literally everyone we can, to even find the few who are interested, and even then it is a long process to reach final conversion.

A YOUNG ADULT "PURiMISEA" and her NEW BOYFRIEND

      Several months ago we had dinner at her (Purimisea's) parents home (members) and the parents were so sad because this daug. was seriously dating a non member. The parents so wanted her to be married in the temple, but this could not happen as he was not interested in the church. We encouraged her to break up and pray for the Lord to bless her. She got brave and broke up, then returned to him again. However, at Stake Conference she came and said she finally broke up with the past boyfriend  the 2nd time, and was now dating a young adult from the ward they are in. She introduced us to him. They are both above age 26, and it looks like there will be a wedding in February. It truly was an answer to her parents prayers that she could break off the earlier relationship that had been going on for several years, and NOW  this daughter has been blessed and can be married in the Temple in Santiago. A wonderful story with the daughter and the parents all so very happy.

STUDYING the BIBLE CHRISTMAS STORY in SPANISH

     A young man from the Quito Ward who we met 3 weeks ago has been coming every Sunday PM to help us study Spanish. We chose to read the Christmas Story about the birth of the Savior in Spanish. We have to discuss every word that we do not know and only cover about  6 to 8 verses a week, but it has been truly a blessing to both of us to read and understand the story (from the scriptures) in Spanish. I wish we could explain all we have learned but just know it a wonderful experience to read the story in another language. Bryan, Jonathan, David, Laura, Julie, Debbie, David Stuart and Matt Grant, have all had this experience as they all know and have studied Spanish. If they haven't read the Chapter 2 in Luke, it is a very spiritual experience. We are so glad we are doing this.

    MUCH LOVE  to each of you and we pray that your prayers for us will be answered with a blessing upon the heads of our many investigators who are such lovely people, but most of them are not particularly interested in reading the Book of Mormon to find out if it is really true. This mission is  going to take ALL of us, your prayers, our prayers and lots of effort on our part, plus continued blessings from our Heavenly Father.  Thanks so very much for praying for us and for our contacts.

Love MOM and DAD

Adrianna on the left was baptized in March.  Her grandson Eric is home from his mission from Japan temporarily for health issues, and Anna Marie, a sister who joined the church years ago.

This was our lunch table.  It was fun being with them.  Adrianna is a Chacalaca.

An elaborate birthday party for Gabriela.  She just turned eight.

Gabriela finish her ride

We were the only members of the church at this party birthday party, and we were wearing our missionary name tags.  We got a few funny looks, but also made a good contact.

Monica, Gabriela's mother serving her sisters

Mom teaching a young girl English.

Claudio, Gabriela's father, serving birthday cake.

Antofagasta Zone Conference - Elder Jolley from La Verkin and his companion Elder Cordova.

Sister Missionaries with President Dalton at the Antofagasta Zone Conference

Elder Wocicki and Elder Vietella with their Christmas Mail

Sister Talbot with Andrea from the Post Office.  We asked her if she knew anything about the Mormon Church and she said her Mother was a Mormon and Baptized at 80 years old

My tomato plant garden.  I am going to have to make a decision with this pretty soon.

A photo inside of the big Mall at Antofagasta.

Sister Talbot with the grandmother of an Investigator.

A Christmas party for the neighborhood school children.  We were the only members present wearing our missionary name tags.  We were well accepted.

Anna Gonzalez, who sang with the group, and has agreed to sing Star Bright.

Marcela Nelson and her son Matias with Hermana Talbot.  We picked up her as an investigator at the Christmas Party.

 Angelica to the Right, and her Niece to the Left.  We picked them up as investigators at the Christmas Party.

 The performing group at the Christmas Party.  Diana Leyton is at the Keyboard singing as well.  Her grandmother is with Sister Talbot.  We see the back of their heads.

 As you can see, Elders will be Elders and Sisters will be Sisters.  I know them all, but will not try to name all of them in the picture.

 Another picture of the Zone, slightly more civil.  Sisters are of course very proper.

 Nativity in our building where we live.

 Christmas tree in the  building where we live.

(Last week's letter that never got published)

DEAR FAMILY,  (Sun (Domingo) Nov 29 to Sat (Sabado) Dec 5, 2015)

OUR EFFORTS TO LEARN & SPEAK SPANISH
We keep pursuing the learning of Spanish, and are making headway, thanks to the books Bryan and Lisa sent us, and the other book we had Julie purchase for us. Plus we have a few Chileans who speak Spanish who are working with us.  I (Dad) find, however, that even though I have my vocabulary the words that they are saying, I do not recognize them when I hear them because they talk so FAST.  Margaret and I are very determined to be able to speak better and understand Spanish better over the next few months. Mom is still working with (MTC) Skype plus a Kitto ward member  (Jamie) is starting to come and help her.  It is a hard and tedious process, but we just keep working at it daily, and appreciate your prayers in our behalf.

TRYING OUT OUR NEW GOSPEL CHARTS (Sun Nov 29 & also Tue)
We had Alfred over for dinner (after he attended church in another ward - not ours) and we showed him our new chart pages. He liked it a lot and wrote down a list of the scriptures  we showed him from the Bible.  He has been going to church and wanted to know what the Doctrine book was they talked about in Sunday School (D & C). We had earler bought a large roll of brown wrapping paper and cut it up to large sheets and  then made xerox photos plus cut some from old Liahona magazines to tell the gospel story one page at a time. We have about 20 pages. Alfred said it really helped him better comprehend what we have been trying to share.  Our main GOAL was to get people to read the Book of Mormon.  We also shared the chart (s) with Hugo. He gave a different comment and said "he didn't remember hearing that Christ came to America." He promised to read but we will have to see. Both of these men are working with missionaries, we are just support.

VISITING JUAN LOPEZ (Tue Dec 1)
We had an investigator that I met at TurBus (Hugo) who has been wanting to take us to the little village of Juan Lopez.  We asked the Mission President if it would be OK to spend a day with him at Juan Lopez, and he  gave us the approval.
Therefore, on Tuesday Dec. 3, he drove us and his dog to Juan Lopez (which is about 25 miles away from Antofagasta). However, first of all he came for breakfast and we gave him a lesson on the Book of Mormon.  We had a fun day with him at this little village, which is empty of people during the week, but on the weekend people go there to sunbathe, swim, fish, etc.  There was hardly anyone there on Tuesday.  We watched people fish and enjoyed the quite little community.  They have no water, so potable water has to be hauled in by truck and the people who have houses have big containers for water on top of their houses,.  Some men were spear fishing and had quite a few fish in bags.  They also had an octopus that they had gotten.  We also went to another very small village (named Constitution) and spotted a lot of fish in the ocean.  I did not have a pole.  It was a very interesting place.  On the  drive to return home when we came in view of the ocean, we saw literally  hundreds of "Pelicans" diving in the water after fish.  Apparently a school of fish was traveling by, and they were all getting dinner.  It was quite a site to see hundreds of Pelicans dive bombing into the water with a big splash to catch the fish. Hugo will come to dinner at our home  again next Sunday.

MISSION LEADERSHIP COUNSEL (Thur Dec 3)
Wednesday was a catch up day since we were gone on Tuesday, and Thursday was leadership counsel where all of the Zone leaders come in for a meeting.  We had earlier prepared the mail  plus worked with more mail that day for zone leaders to take back to the missionaries in their sector. Also I had to work with and provide reimbursement for the missionaries who have had to travel or pay bills that are paid by the mission.  It took me all day to do those and also help Margaret get the mail ready to go for 50 people.  Also, their is an unusual amount of mail this time of year being as Christmas is so close.

NATIVITY SETS FROM CHILE (Sat. Dec 5)
Several of you have asked us to purchase a nativity set from Chile.  We went down to  the Centro Mall today and purchased all the store had in stock.  Unfortunately there was not enough for everyone (purchased 6), but we will keep looking to get two more so each family will get one  We will wrap and mail these six on Monday when we go downtown to get the mail and hope they will arrive by Christmas. The box lables did say "made in Chile."

TWO NEW CONTACTS (Sat Dec 5)
We met one young man (Richardo who speaks fluent English) at the Mall book store  - where we stopped in to see if they had any Christmas books made in Chile -  however found none). He is coming over for dinner tomorrow, but said he is an agnostic. We told him we would change that. Then we met (Caroline) while shopping for a headset that Bryan recommended we purchase to listen to the scriptures in Spanish.  She is coming over for dinner next Monday PM. We try to  find people who might want to listen no matter where we go.

TWO BIG PARTIES (Fri PM and Sat AM)
We were invited to a graduation family party (buffet) and also to a birthday party for Gabriella who turned 8.  We will highlight these two events next week, and we also found two more contacts at the birthday party, but we will have to see what happens. It is all about asking people if they know any Mormons. This seems to be the easiest approach and when they say yes, we start talking more.

MERRILL'S HAUS FINE FURNITURE FIRST SHIPMENT (Dec 2 Wed)
We were very pleased and impressed with the picture of the couch Merrill's new company had constructed and shipped (20).  Although he has had quite a few set backs, it looks like he is going to make a success of his new venture.  We were so pleased for Merrill. Hope all of you take time to look at his photos.

WE MISS ALL OF YOU VERY MUCH
ALthough they do not have Thanksgiving in Chile, they do celebrate Christmas.  We see Christmas trees and Christmas lights everywhere, but NOT like in the states.  When we went to the mall today to find nativity sets, the Mall was full of people and the stores were very busy.  It seemed almost like home at Christmas time, except most everyone speaks Spanish so that we do not understand too much of what they say.  Nevertheless, it is Christmas time, and a wonderful season of the year, and at this time family is very important to us.  We miss all of you and wish we could sneak back and be with you for this season, but know that that is impossible.  Nevertheless, please know that we love and miss all of you and hope you will all have homes filled with love and kindness, as you celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The only gift we want is the gift of tongues,

Love

Mom and Dad