Missionary Houses Inspections

Keith and I have received our inspection assignments and we have about 30 missionary homes to look at, repair, and restock. We have done 5 so far. Most were pretty clean. We found that missionaries have a problem with defrosting their freezers. Not one of the 5 had done that. Keith fixed leaks in hot water lines so the hermanas in district Rio Bueno II could wash their faces in hot water, mounted CO detectors on the wall of one house in district Rio Bueno III (the next day the hermanas told us that the duena is going to put in a wood stove for them and it will probably be on the wall that Keith used for the CO detector so that will have to move). Keith and two elders from district Rio Bueno I put together a pre-fab dresser with four drawers that came flat in a box (think IKEA) and had about 60 screws and 25 wooden plugs! It took the three of them 3 hours to put it together. The first drawer took almost 45 minutes to figure it out and put it together. Everything went much faster after that. I got to read the Liahona in English!  It was something to see!

Elders Thomas, Stott, and Dower work on the dresser

Pangipulli and Villarica

Some of the missionaries live in nice places, some live in okay places, and some live in places I would not let any of you live in. One set of elders had not had hot water for two weeks! Their natural gas tank had a problem and they did not know what to do. They figured that the regulator was faulty so we went to Pangipulli to the Ericksons (another senior couple) to get parts and learn how to fix it (and to see the northern part of the mission, of course -- the resort area of the mission!). After the trip we saw the elders at an all mission meeting and they told Keith that they had "fixed" it and had hot water again. We don't know what they did but as they live an hour and a half away, we are happy that they are happy.

After the training, the Ericksons took us to Villarica to join up with the Biggs (the other senior couple in the north) for lunch and a little touring. Lunch was in a very nice place, a hotel with beautiful grounds and great food. We had pastel de chocolos. Sounds like a chocolate pastry but it is not. It is like shepherds pie without mashed potatoes. Chocolos is corn and in place of the mashed potatoes there was a topping of corn masa, like corn bread before you cook it, that had been broiled so the top is crunchy but the center is still mushy. Keith and I shared it. In giving him his portion I found a whole chicken leg in my portion, in addition to the hamburger and vegetables! And they served powdered sugar to put on top. This is as Chilean a dish as we have found. It was tasty -- even the masa, but I can do without the powdered sugar. (And I did try it, just so you know.)  I wish we had taken a picture of it, but alas, no.  Dessert was ice cream, homemade and to die for! I had chocolate and black cherry almond. It was a great meal. We went driving through the town of Villarica, but because of the tourists -- half of Chile had to have been there! -- we just crept along the streets. We decided that we would come again in March, before the winter hits but after the tourists go home. Beautiful beaches. Volcanoes in 3 directions. Little shops to visit. But people, people, people!

Volcano Osorno

Hermanas Stott, Biggs, and Erickson

Elder and Hermana Stott

Villarica and people, people, people!

Relief Society in Lago Ranco

Two Sundays ago we went to Lago Ranco to visit the branch there. It meets in a converted home.  We took Bro. Rios, the district mission leader with us.  The branch is about 50 km away by the side of a large lake of the same name. It is very small; about 20 were in attendance. Both Hermano Rios and Keith were invited to speak!  I was feeling pretty good about not being asked to speak with Keith.  However, in Relief Society there were only three of us: Sister Paredes, the R. S. first counselor, a young girl (she looked about 18) and myself.  Sister Paredes asked me to bear my testimony to start.  I had to ask her if she wanted me to speak -- just to make sure I understood.  It was a short testimony but it was in Spanish.  She gave the lesson, and the young girl participated a little. It was an interesting lesson. It was the lesson on families out of the LDS Woman, Part A or B, I'm not sure which one. Sister Paredes talked about how Relief Society helps her with her family. I could understand most of it because I had spoken with Sister Paredes after sacrament meeting and she asked me how my Spanish was coming. I told her that Chileans spoke much too rapidly -- not realizing that she would give the RS lesson.  So during the lesson she made sure she spoke slowly so I could understand her.   It was very nice of her.  My Spanish is coming, slowly, very slowly!

Cornbread with the Hermanas

Last Monday I had two sets of sister missionaries, called hermanas (sisters), come to our house and had them make cornbread with me.   Hermanas Clark, Alvarez, Bennett, and Clark (in picture on the porch from left to right) came to help me bake.  St Christmas time, Hermana Bennett told us that when she was homesick she would bake cornbread because it reminded her of home.  I asked her if she make it from scratch or if she had found a mix here in Chile.  She told me that her mother sent her Jiffy mixes in her packages and Hermana Bennett saved them until she needed a lift!  So I told her I would show her how to mix cornbread from scratch if she would teach me how to use my oven.  Now my oven has a thermostat of one flame, two flames, and three flames, nada mas!  So I am having a bit of a problem getting my baked good to bake and not burn.  We had fun making a mess, but the cornbread turned out well and we had lunch with chili and cornbread.  The hermanas took home the extra which they liked.

Elder Stott liked the lunch but thought there was a lot of laughing for the amount of cooking that got done!

Sunday, January 26, 2014 -- Entre Lagos

Last Sunday we went to the Entre Lagos branch.  Entre Lagos means between 2 lakes and it is a very picturesque place.

We met President Martinez, the branch president, who told us that Elder Stott looked just like his father (Keith's dad was the second mission president in this mission, from 1979-1982 or so) and he recognized him right away.  He remembered my father-in-law from his time in Osorno.  He spoke highly of both Presidente and Hermana Stott.

What was more interesting to me was his daughter was visiting the branch with her husband and 4 children, and she spoke to me about the influence Hermana Stott had on her as a young teenager.  She said that she remembered Hermana Stott as always being willing to help in the Primary with her mother, how she cared for and fed the missionaries, especially cookies, and that one Christmas my mother-in-law gave brownies to all the children of the ward and she got one.   That made a big impression on her.  Then she said that watched Presidente and Hermana Stott and saw that they had a wonderful marriage and she wanted one just like theirs!

It is so inspiring to hear things about your in-laws and realize that others love them just like you do and that other appreciate them too.  My in-laws are wonderful.  And I love to hear about them in the mission field from others who remember them.

The Martinez family is on the left of Keith and myself except for their son who is between us, and Sister Martinez, the daughter who spoke to me, who is at Keith's right.  The two missionaries, Hermanas Greer and Martinez (not related to the branch president), and Hermano Rios, the District mission leader (who came with us) on to the right of Keith.