First travel outside of Santiago

Sister Ann Gillespie and me with sister missionaries of the Chile Vina del Mar Mission

Presenting at zone conference in the Chile Vina del Mar Mission

On Monday, June 13, 2011 Bro. and Sister Richeson picked me up around 5PM from my office and we drove to Vina del Mar. I was invited my Pres. Gillespie to give a presentation on dealing with stress to each of the three zone conferences being held in the Vina del Mar mission during the week. The Richesons are a senior couple who help run the mission office. I can tell the president relies heavily on them to keep things running smoothly and to help the elders in the office problem solve. None of us had had time for lunch that day. After we had been on the road for about forty-five minutes, they suggested we stop to grab a bite to eat on the way. They said the best place to get food was coming up at the next exit. It was a McDonald's. I had to smile. I seldom eat at McDonald's at home, but guess I will in Chile. That was the second senior couple who has suggested eating at McDonald's. Luckily, the first time another senior sister who was in the group said,"I didn't come to Chile to eat McDonald's." So the two of us fond sandwiches, Chilean style, nearby.

The visit to the mission was busy, but enjoyable and rewarding. I talked about responding to stress in ways that promote personal growth. I introduced Hardiness principles and explained how those principles align with gospel principle. When I put up the first slide on Hardiness, I explained that when I was first introduced to the concept it was very familiar to me because it was in essence my grandmother's approach to life. The missionaries seemed to really appreciate it. I did the presentation nine times in three zone conferences over three days with one day to travel to the far north of the mission, a four and a half hour drive.

So, I got to see a little of Chile, all of which looked a lot like the landscape in the rather barren parts of Idaho, Utah and Nevada. It was interesting because part of the time we were driving along the ocean. I also really enjoyed the mission president and his wife. They are wonderful people and great hosts. They were planning to take me to a very pretty beach town before we left to drive north, but I spent that whole morning working out the details of getting medication and finding someone to accompany a missionary home. The night before, I had interviewed a humble, almost childlike elder who is psychotic and not able to function in the mission. I had to recommend he go home. It worries and saddens me because he lives in the high Andes and may not get much help in spite of the fact we are working hard to get him the treatment he needs.

I flew back to Santiago Friday night from La Serena. My apartment is in someways rather dismal. Before I left on this trip I had decided I was going to have to do something to make it more cozy and inviting so it will be more of a refuge for me. The carpets are permanently stained and dingy from the pollution here in the city. The walls are made of cement that appear to have been finished with a trowel that had teeth rather than a smooth edge. To make the inside walls look better, they cover them with a thick paper that is then painted. In my apartment all the walls were painted with a flat white paint. Now they have smudges and spots on them that won''t clean off because of the flat paint. In addition to that there are dozens of nails in the walls that have just been painted over. I guess they didn't want to pull them out and have to do the patching. However, the hardest thing to deal with is the lack of heat. Because the whole building is cement, it is about 10 degrees colder in the building the outside. I only have a couple of little electric heaters to stay warm. When I get home in the evening, usually around 6PM, it is dark and the apartment is very cold, probably around 50-60 degrees. So, I fix something to eat, go into my bedroom, close all the doors, turn on the heater and stay there for the rest of the night. Having said all that, this is my amazing blessing. Friday night even though when I got off the plane the man the church hires for airport pick up was not there and I had to take a taxi ( a $40+ bill for a 30 minute ride), I felt happy and at peace, noticed the beautiful full moon, was glad to be going to my home away from home and thought how pretty the tree lined street is that goes by the area offices on the way to my apartment. I am sure it is in a big way due to the prayers of those who love me. Thank you.

Yesterday, Saturday it rained hard. I had notes to enter on the missionaries I had consulted with after each zone conference and had stayed up until after midnight Friday completing the report of my assessment and recommendations for the elder who is going home. So, again, I spent a Saturday at home in my pajamas finishing up work and lounging---a better way to rejuvenate than going out in the rain.