When you see the Southern Cross for the first time...........

As often as we have been close to the southern hemisphere, we have not actually been able to see the Southern Cross.  Elder Jones located it and we watch it from our apartment building stairway at night. It is quite small and is surrounded by brighter stars and therefore doesn't jump out at you like the Big Dipper does in the north.  It is beautiful, with a blue star as the bottom point.  It is not positioned exactly south, but off to the side a little, so we can watch it rotate in a circle over the course of a year.

Crash Test Dummies!
Hermana Cluff and I are being tutored 2-3 times a week over scype by Brother Rodrigo Duran, who is the South America Family History Center Services Manager.  He is teaching us how to set up and run the Family History Center, plan FH events, teach, etc.  He is very excited to have us here getting something happening in Chile.  Right now he is in Salt Lake for meetings with FH people regarding South America.  He took with him a copy of the Ovalle District Family History and Indexing Plan we just wrote and presented to our District Presidency and Branch Presidents last Sunday.   Bro. Duran tries new things out on us, so we call ourselves his crash test dummies!

Here is a photo of our District Center.  It is where we spend most our afternoons working in the Family History Center.  On Thursday I had a Sister from a different branch come to learn how to index.  She has never used a computer before, so working through all this in Spanish was quite challenging.  I spent two hours with her getting an email account set up and then an LDS account--only to find out when she tried to log in that she already had one!  Its a good thing Cluffs were here to help with the Spanish or I would not have survived it.

Notice the two iron gates that have to be unlocked before you even get to the doors of the building.  Then two doors need to be unlocked to open the FHC, the last one sets off an alarm if you don't punch in the code just right.  Security is a big issue around here.  Each of the chapels in Ovalle have a huge gate surrounding them like the one in this photo.  (This building has the only comfortable lawn for miles, and some young boys have figured out how to climb the fence and come in to play soccer! So much for security!)


Last time I wrote I mentioned an investigator who was coming to church, but didn't.  He is the man we met in the hardware store just after we got here.  We were there to buy something and he was helping us and when he saw our badges he asked if we were here for religion.  We said "yes" and he gave us his name (Jamie Garcia) and phone.  He said he was also a magician and a radio JD.

After going back twice and not finding him, I decided to write my testimony in el Libro de Mormon and put it and a restoration pamphlet in a bag with his name on it and leave it for him the next time if he wasn't there.

So when we went in, Elder Jones was buying something and I was looking around for Jamie.  He saw me and walked right over and gave me a hug!  I showed him the book and he held it close to his chest and said it made him very happy.  He said he wanted to come to church and would like missionaries, so we arranged it with the ones in his area--Elder Araya from Costa Rica and Elder Puefua from Samoa--who is always singing, smiling, or laughing.  I love that guy!

Jamie came to church last week and Elder Jones and I were there with him.  He will have his first lesson tonight, and we are excited.  He will have to make some changes in his life--I just hope and pray he can do it.  He said to the Elders, "If you want me to give up smoking, I am ready!"

In Chile, as in other South American countries, some people love their houses to be bright colors This one has cosmos to match behind the fence if you can see them.  It is very pretty right now.  The other photo will remind those of you who have spent time in  tropical countries how beautiful these hibiscus can be.

Personal interview with Mission President:
I never knew something that I anticipated with such a high level of stress could end up being so wonderfully inspiring and uplifting.  Elder Jones and I were last (we were interviewed separately) after about five hours of other missionaries from this zone, and President Kahnlein was still smiling, radiating the spirit, and full of love and appreciation for anything and everything we are doing.  When he, or anyone, feels Elder Jones' goodness and desire to help the Young Singles, everything somehow seems possible.

Everyday brings miracles and new experiences.  We are learning a lot and are happy.  We love you all very much.  And...........we know now why we came this way!

Elder and Hermana Jones

P.S.  We participated in a regional devotional for youth this morning where Elder Oaks and his wife spoke.  They mentioned the Southern Cross as something they can use as a guide to direct them and remind them who they are!