Missionaries Past and Present

            By the end of our mission we will have had about 600 missionaries come here to Rancagua, Chile.  That is am amazing number when I think back about individuals.  The missionaries ask us if we can remember everyone, and unfortunately that answer is no, unless we see a picture.  Some of the early ones who left right after we got here are not as familiar as those we had for their whole time.  We are anxious to stay in touch with as many as possible and President already spends a lot of time corresponding with former missionaries; answering questions and giving encouragement.

            This weekend we enjoyed visiting with two of our returned missionaries; both are married and one couple is expecting, while the other has a 4 month old baby.  A few weeks ago we visited another couple with a new baby.  It is a wonderful privilege to see them, see their progress and know they are on the right path of temple marriage and starting families.  Plus those babies are very cute!

            When we have our final testimony meeting each change we often ask the missionaries to remember us and keep in touch.  Even though it won’t happen with everyone, we are looking forward to many years of wedding invitations and baby announcements and visits from “our” missionaries.  This is a blessing we didn’t know about in the beginning, but now we look forward to watching their progress as part of a unique family—our returned missionaries and us.

             The pictures this week are from consejo, interviews and other meetings--always plenty of those!

Conference in Curicó

            Today we attended a stake conference in Curicó.  After today’s conference we only have two more before we leave; one in Tupahue stake and the other in Talca.  Even though we are close to the end I am still nervous about whether or not I will speak and if I do whether anyone will understand my Spanish.

            On the other hand, it is so great to see all the missionaries assigned to a stake or district when we go to conference.  We are able to greet each one of them, check up on a few who have been sick or had other challenges, and President usually has at least a couple of interviews; this time he did four. 

            President has become very good at understanding what needs to be said in each of the three meetings and giving a talk based on those needs.  I always have a talk prepared for the Sunday morning meeting but usually bear my testimony instead because the time is short.  It means I can keep the talk ready for a long timeJ

            It is also a real privilege to be with the members.  We have gotten to know many wonderful people here in Chile and recognize many others by their smile and warm greeting every time we see them.  During our mission we have learned to admire the Saints here because of their faithfulness, often under difficult circumstances.  We appreciate their friendliness to us and their generous support of the missionaries by feeding them and going out teaching with them.  However, there is still a lot of work to be done and we know good things will continue to happen even when we are gone.

The first pictures are from the cambio and the last one is from last week's concert in Pichilemu.  The fourth person is from Pichilemu--all of them are very talented!

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Missionaries going home

             Last week, we had transfers or as we call them, cambios.  Transfers happen every six weeks and it is a time of change and sometimes even upheaval since missionaries go home, companionships change and missionaries must move to new apartments or houses.  Transfers are another way a missionary must adapt along with a new language and the mission culture among others.

            Today I’m going to focus on missionaries who are finishing their mission.  If asked how much time they have left, they make a face because they don’t like to think about it.  In the beginning, eighteen months or two years seemed like forever, but the time passes so rapidly that it doesn’t seem long before they receive what we call “trunky papers”.  The information from these papers tells the missionaries what they need to know before leaving the mission and also ask what airport is best.  We encourage them to work hard and stay focused until the very last day, but it can be hard to do.

            I have mentioned before that missionaries leaving have a workshop on self sufficiency, go with us to the temple and have an afternoon to buy mementos.   They also bear their testimony for the “last” time many times, say goodbye in their current ward or branch, write notes to be given to their converts or former companions and wonder how they will fit everything into their suitcases.

            For the most part they are nervous, because mission life is well-regulated and now they face major decisions about school, work, and getting married.  It is like leaving a shelter and going back out into the storm.  They have not focused on their family during their mission but now the time is very short until they will see them again, also an adjustment. 

            For our part, we are sad because we have enjoyed getting to know them and serving together.  We know it is time and are grateful for the growth we see in them during their mission.  We always tell them, please stay in touch and let us know how things are going, which many do.  It is our great privilege to have these amazing young people, watch them serve the Lord as full-time missionaries then send them home to do great things.

Pictures this week are from saying good-bye to missionaries, greeting new ones and the first training.

One week at a time

     Last week I posted about the training we do for the missionaries which I hope you enjoyed but it seemed dry.  This week I would like to share our schedule for last week which was a little crazy, but you can judge.

     Monday morning we had our regular office meeting which includes the finance and history couple, the couple in charge of apartments, the assistants, secretaries and us.  Its purpose is to coordinate and discuss the temporal side of running the mission.  Before that meeting we always meet with the mission nurse, to go over our concerns about various missionaries. Monday night we hosted self sufficiency training for the missionaries who leave this week, and six sisters stayed for the night.

      On Tuesday morning we left at 7 a.m. for the temple.  After the session and lunch we ran a few errands before returning home.  President is using any available time to work on transfers. Wednesday was district meeting: we are trying, between the assistants and us, to meet with every district to make sure the training we did last week for the leaders is being passed on; so we drove to Talca for those two zones.  We also took the nurse and her husband in order to finish giving the flu vaccinations.  Thursday we attended the district meetings in Curico and then took the current assistants and the assistant who is leaving, to lunch.  Assistants usually go back into the field for their last transfer, but this is a small way to show appreciation for their hard work before they go home so we meet them and go out.

      Friday we held the five week training at our house for the missionaries who came in March and their trainers.  Since the housekeeper is out sick, a senior couple and some of the sister missionaries really saved me by helping cook, serve and clean up the lunch.  Saturday we went to the grocery store in preparation for next week's meals (transfers), packed and headed to Santa Cruz for the district conference and a baptism.  We went by Chepica on the way to deliver plastic bins since it has been raining hard; their roof has a serious leak and it is a complicated repair.

       And that was our week--this week will be busy also, but that is why we are here and we are so grateful for the opportunity to serve and be with the missionaries.

        This week's pictures include photos from the new missionary training on Friday and of course the one from the temple.

Time to train again

            Every third month our focus is on specialized training.  This means that President decides in what area the missionaries need to improve.  The training format can be also be done however he feels is best.  We have tried a variety of methods; two times we held workshops, which the missionaries enjoyed, although teaching one class 35 times can be a little monotonous.  Other times we have had zone conference type meetings.  This month, because of the transfer date right in the middle, which makes it difficult to get to each zone, we came up with a new plan:

            Last week we held three meetings which included the zone leaders, district leaders and coordinadoras.  President and the assistants each presented a concept, then everyone practiced.  The idea is that the leaders will return to the weekly district meetings each Wednesday in April to teach and practice these concepts, which includes learning to improve teaching methods by presenting concepts more simply and in shorter lessons.  Investigators do not need an hourlong lesson each time nor do they need a complex and hard to understand lesson.  Investigators need to understand the reasons why the lessons are important, and why commitment to change is crucial.  They need to have spiritual experiences and be able to understand when they are feeling the influence of the spirit.

            Now for the rest of the month we and the assistants will split up to attend all the district meetings to observe how the teaching is going and help with the practices.  Hopefully by relying on the leaders to train the missionaries, everyone will be able to learn and improve. 

Pictures from zone conference and consejo

            We have just now finished watching conference and Elder Holland’s wonderful final message.  It would be impossible to add to the amazing spirit and talks of this week end so I am just going to let you enjoy the pictures.  We finished up the last two zone conferences for Buin and Santa Cruz so some of the pictures are from those; the senior sisters were very willing to mend clothing at each of the seven conferences, and we received our flu vaccine so each missionary has the opportunity to be vaccinated (we strongly encourage it).  We also held mission leadership conference on Thursday.  Have a great week.

¡Feliz Pascua!

            Holidays are very different from those spent with our families at home.  We try to make Christmas a special experience for missionaries, but Easter is more about being grateful for the resurrection and all its promises; the Easter bunny is easy to give up.  Still it can be hard to be away from family and family traditions, so I decided to make a list of things for which I’m grateful.  I shared part of the list with our missionaries in my weekly message and challenged them to write a list of their own. 

            I am not going to repeat that list here, but I can testify that I am extremely blessed and right now a big part of my blessings are to be here in the mission field with our wonderful missionaries.  Hopefully as you write them this week you can include some of the blessings for which you are grateful, which I know includes your missionary and his service.  I know that will uplift them, reassure them they are an important part of your life and show support for the great work they are doing here in the mission.

            I am very grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission here in Chile, with the blessing of knowing and serving with amazing young people who have strong testimonies, the desire to share them with others, and the ability to be worthy representatives of Jesus Christ.  Together we are working to hasten the work of the Lord by inviting people to come unto Him.  ¡Feliz Pascua!  Happy Easter!

            This week’s pictures are from the zone conference we held this week for the Tupahue zones.  We have the final two conferences this week so you can be sure of the subject of next week’s pictures also;)