Hermanalita

The older sisters in our Branch (I guess that would mean anyone older than I am) call me "Hermanalita," which is a really sweet version of "Sister."  I am so enjoying getting to know them better.  I guess the advantage of Sister Cluff being gone is that I have had to speak for myself and therefore develop my own relationships with the people in our Branch.  Cluffs did finally come back to Ovalle--yesterday--but she will be in a wheelchair or in bed for a few more months.  Her bones are healing, but right now caution and rest are her best allies, so she will be working from her apartment. It is wonderful to have them back.  They go home in three months.

Earthquake!
Elder Jones and I were sitting in our apartment last week when our chairs started to shake.  They shook harder and harder for about a minute then it slowly died away. It was a bit unnerving, but quakes are so frequent here that people don`t stop to panic unless the power or water goes out.   We have felt several of these earthquakes (they happen frequently) but that was the strongest.  Apparently the center was about 50 miles north, so it was stronger there == 5.5 or so.  It feels kind of creepy, and the rumbling noise is really creepy!  We`re just fine not having anything stronger.

It is still harvest season.  Grapes are all gone and actually starting to leaf out again.  Trucks are bringing in loads of oranges, avocados. artichokes, and tangerines.  They are all wonderful.  We never knew an avocado could have so much flavor.  We have driven around a bit to look at some of the farms, but when we see a guard dog behind the fence that silently glares at us and looks like he works out every morning, we keep going.

Trip to Barazza
Last week we were asked by the mission office to go find the owner of an apartment the mission wanted to close down in another town.   We needed to give him a letter indicating that, but find where he lived first because they had no contact information.  They knew he was in a town called Barazza which is about 30 miles from here and is in a beautiful valley of farms.

  It was quite an adventure to find his house.   He wasn`t home but we found his sister who said he was in Argentina.  On the way back to Ovalle I took this picture of the Andes with snow on them.

A wonderful program the missionaries benefit from is the language program.  When a missionary needs to learn a language, time is built into the daily schedule for that.  If a missionary is serving in a mission where they speak the language already, then they use that time to learn English.  So young people from all over the world are enhancing their after-mission opportunities by learning English while they serve.  Some of the ones here from the States who have learned Spanish well enough and want to study something else, are allowed to start learning another language!  At our recent Zone Conference a few native speakers bore their testimonies in English and a few from the States bore theirs in either Italian or Portuguese!   We love seeing these amazing young people so excited about learning!

Last month our Branch went to the temple in Santiago.  We left Ovalle about 1 a.m. in the morning by bus and arrived at the temple about 7 a.m..  We ate whatever breakfast we brought and then spent time in the temple until 3 pm, when we returned to Ovalle.  The week before I was able to help our good friend Maykol get two grandparents` names ready for temple work.  He, Elder Jones, and I did the baptisms, confirmations, initiatory, and endowment for both of them.  It was a great experience--and Maykol`s first time in the temple.  He has been a member about 5 months.  Elder Jones baptized.

This is Emely, a very sweet girl we are helping teach.  With her is Elder Anderson, our Star Valley Wyoming cowboy!  We just finished teaching her one of the lessons.

No Pathway Program=When we were asked last month to work in the Pathway Program, we were excited to be involved.   As it turns out, no one from Ovalle or any of the surrounding areas enrolled, so there will be no program at least for this semester.  We think the biggest deterrent was that anyone who enrolled needed to be able to speak English at least in short sentences.  Elder Jones observed that it shows how few people here speak English-- less than anywhere we have traveled in the world.  A few are surely trying hard, because they realize how much it increases their opportunities, but it is not easy.  (When I start to complain about having to learn Spanish, I realize how much harder it might be to learn English, and I stop complaining!)

Love to you all

Elder y Hermana Jones

Rescued!

Good news for Sister Cluff
Just after we wrote our last blog we drove Sister Cluff to Vina Del Mar to see a doctor.  She finally decided to find out what actually was causing so much pain.  Xrays showed that she had a broken pelvis!  A piece as large as the palm of her hand was actually broken off from the rest of the bone!  No wonder it hurt so much.

The Doctor in Vina said she needed an operation to explore and then fix what was damaged internally by such a bad brake and too much activity.  (She had some serious symptoms of damage.)  The Area Doctor came over from Santiago and stepped in and said, "no," The Mission President and Elder Cluff gave her a blessing and then took her to a hospital in Santiago.  By the time she was examined in Santiago, the internal damage had completely disappeared and the Doctor said all she needed was bedrest!  What a blessing!

She and Elder Cluff are now in an apartment behind the Santiago Temple and will be there a few more weeks, then eventually return to Ovalle--they think.  We are so grateful that she is recovering and in not so much pain.

While we were waiting for her to have xrays we walked to the beach one block away.  An alligator had wandered up onto the beach and was resting.  I took his picture just before a big wave came and he disappeared into the ocean!

Family History Center Grand Opening!!
For about two months we had been working with Cluffs to have this event.  Since she is the District Family History Director, I had not paid much attention to actually how to do Family History--especially in Spanish.  I figured if Elder Jones, Elder Cluff and I did everything else, she could do the teaching to the people who came in.  

But when we knew that was not possible because of her injury, the whole situation changed.  We continued to work on the fun stuff--putting up the Family Tree that Elder Cluff made, creating activities and games for children, a treasure hunt for youth, movies, food, family history stories for adults to read--which all came together well and people really enjoyed.

The scary part was not being prepared to teach people who came in.  The man we have been working with from Santiago--Bro. Duran, who is the Family History Center Services Manager for South America--knew about our event and Sister Cluff's situation.  He said he would come up and help!  And he brought his boss, the FHC Services Manager for all of Latin America!  They came in, finished setting up our new computer, reset the other two, connected our brand new scanner/printer/copier that they brought to us, and helped everyone who came in.  Elder Jones and I kept everything else moving along, but those two taught, inspired, and worked with the ones who came in seeking answers.  It was wonderful, and humbling.

As we were cleaning up after, and visiting with Bro. Duran and Bro. Rodriguez, Bro. Rogriguez asked me if I had prayed about needing their help.  When of course I said yes, he said he had felt that prayer and knew he needed to come.  Its not often two who work at such a high level come to help out the "little engine that could" in such a far away place.  Again, we felt truly blessed and grateful.

Here are a few pictures.

Brother Duran helping some Sisters from our Branch

                                                                      Bro. Rodriguez helping a Sister from a different Branch

People in the hall outside the Center eating Celebration Cake

This young boy spent about an hour drawing his family to put on the tree

Families on our District Family Tree

Now the challenging part is that in a week our Branch is going to the temple together on a bus, and people want help getting names.  I have learned a lot this week studying how to do family history, but helping people do it who only speak Spanish is another story.  Thankfully, the young missionaries have come to the rescue and will help me over the confusing spots.  

This picture shows Fredy, the man in the middle with the baby, and his sweet family.  He is our Assessor (High Councilman) over YSA and we love working with him.  His daughter just had a new baby.  They are a great family.

Hermana Eastman gave her companion, Hermana Moraga, a surprise birthday party.  They are here eating completos!

The birthday party.  The young man right in the front is leaving for a mission next week, and the one in the blue baseball cap is leaving in November. 

A few interesting places we discovered.

We are having quite a rainstorm.  Flooding and tree branches down.  I love walking in it.  My new boots and coat are perfect for this weather.  It is such a nice change and so badly needed.

 God bless you.  Love to you all.