The past week and a half of work with the missionaries has been kind of a steady flow, enough to stay busy and not overwhelmed. A week ago today between 11 AM and 3 PM was a going away celebration for Pres. Amado, the area president. It consisted of a devotional, then a very nice catered meal with entertainment and special recognition and gifts for the Amados. Everyone who works in the area offices was invited.

Monday was a holiday here in Chile. I never heard what kind of holiday, but most everything was closed. Some of the senior couples went sight seeing, but I had three appointments so I couldn't go. That was all good because four senior couples and I went out from noon until around 8 PM Saturday.The Heatons, who have been here the longest, were the ones who organized the outing. This is their second or third mission in Chile. I think at one time he was the president of the MTC here. Now he is the executive secretary to the area president.Anyway, we went to a very nice area of Santiago where every thing looks like your in a very nice part of a big city in the US. In fact if it weren't for the signs in Spanish you couldn't tell the difference. We had lunch in a place called the Tortilla Factory, owned by three guys, one from the US, one from Chile and one from Germany. Then we wandered around a very big and exclusive mall. I looked for some fabric to make some kind of bed cover. I found some I really liked, but it would have cost $240 for enough to cover a queen sized bed. So, you get an idea of the prices in the stores. We were mainly killing time waiting to go to a movie.The big cinema complex there in the mall has about a dozen theaters and plays some of the movies in English so we had to wait over two hours to catch one in English. I really appreciate how the couples include me. However, it is awkward to be the only single person.

I think winter is here. The last couple of days the temperature has been in the low 40's.Today it has rained hard all afternoon and evening. Late this afternoon there was a group of three sister missionaries at my office, all wearing their rubber boots. They had several layers of clothes on and were saying they couldn't keep warm in their apartment because the sliding glass doors won't close tight. I had to laugh because that is true of all the sliding glass windows in this apartment. They close tight at the bottom but there is an inch or wider gap at the top; I have stuffed the gap with newspaper which helps to keep it warmer and also helps block out the noise of the traffic. I have a new appreciation for insulation and double pained windows.