Another Mission visited and progress with the apartment

The middle of March seems like yesterday and yet ages ago. As predicted, I was very busy with appointments through the end of the month and into April. General Conference was wonderful and seemed to have a calming, reassuring effect on most missionaries. However, some of those who were really overwhelmed seemed to come to the end of their endurance and in the past six weeks there have been four elders and two hermanas who have returned home early due to mental health concerns. Because the usual rate is one missionary every one to two months, the number is extraordinary. One mission president's wife jokingly told me she thought I had decided I needed a break, but the only way I could do that was to send everyone home. Today there is another elder in crisis. He will travel about six hours by bus to see me tomorrow. Hopefully, we can figure out a way to stabilize him so he can stay in the mission field, but given his symptoms, that doesn't seem likely. It is a sad situation in many ways when missionaries need to go home for mental health reasons. However, it would not be right to keep them the field and have them continue to decompensate.

Dr. and Sister Welch and I spend April 18, 19, 20, & 24 doing presentations and giving flu shots at zone conferences in the Rancagua Mission. Jim MacArthur is the mission president. So, it was fun to be with him and his wife. Our travel to that mission was different than usual. Two of the zone conferences were only a forty-five minute drive from the area offices. One was 1 1/2 hrs away and the other 2 hrs away. It was a bit expensive, but less than motel rooms, so we had a driver take us back and forth each day.

That area is known as the fruit basket of Chile. There are many beautiful orchards and vineyards. The fruit stands along the freeway are so picturesque they look like a painting. We saw many large packing houses from which the fruit is shipped all over the world.

It is fall here and the weather is quickly turning cold. The outside temperature is in the low 70s or 60s during the day which is nice. As I have mentioned, because many of the buildings are made of cement and have no insulation, the temperature inside is often 10degrees lower than outside. Last winter the only heat I had in this apartment was a little electric heater that only warmed my bedroom if I had the door close. Well, this winter I am hoping for a better quality of life :) A man in the temporal affairs office negotiated with the landlord to let the church arrange to fix the windows to shut tight and install a gas wall heater in the living room. They also replaced the old stained carpet. The cost of all that will be taken from the rent over the next several months. In addition, I am having the shredded sheer curtains replaced. The contractor finished his work yesterday and the curtains are coming Thursday. I feel like I have new lease on life knowing I can stay warm and have a much cleaner apartment.

Recently three senior couples have left the area. Two couples , the Dahlstoms and the Kimballs, because they completed their missions and one couple, the Masons, because he was transferred to Buenos Aires to be the auditor for the new consolidated area. It will only be another five weeks and the Welches will be completing their mission. there is a constant coming and going of senior couples. Within a little less than six months. I will be the one going home.

Well, this entry brings me up to date. I will be in the office for one more week and then will spend most of the next week visiting the Antofagasta mission. It is the farthest north mission and covers a very large area that includes the worlds driest desert. Shortly after the time I reach the one year anniversary of my arrival in Chile I will have been in all nine of the missions.

Visit to Concepcion and Concepcion South

The month of February flew by. I was as busy as in January. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened. Although, I do have to say, I never see a boring case. One missionary I saw every week for over eight months completed a successful mission and returned home. An accomplishment for all involved. In fact, the mission president and his wife took me out to dinner the following week.

On March 12 the Welch's and I flew to Concepcion to work with the missionaries in the Concepcion and Concepcion South missions for the week. The president in the Concepcion mission is Pres. Neal Humphrey and his wife Leslie. The Concepcion South president is Pres. Osvaldo Martinez and his wife Adrianna. They are the parents of children ages 11, 8, and 5. We spent two days in the Concepcion Mission and one in the South Mission. Since the Martinez speak little English and the Welchs and I speak little Spanish we were all challenged, especially when the five of us were traveling in one car from city to city, but we had some good conversation and got to know each other better. What a blessing it is to work with such dedicated people who love the Lord and love the missionaries. I did seven presentations and talked with many missionaries during the week.

It is such a small world. The Humphreys are from California, but have some real estate investments in Utah which happen to be with Knight-West, one of the companies my brother, Bill, is a partner in. Neil remembered meeting Bill.

Thursday afternoon we visited a fabric mill that makes some of the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen. It is custom made for high end companies around the world. Much of the fabric is wool and retails for hundreds of dollars a meter/yard. Your can buy mill ends that retail for $500 a meter for about $25 a meter.Some of the other fabric which would costs around $100/yard is sold at the mill for $6.

That part of Chile reminded me of Salmon, Idaho, mountains and a lot of trees. I am very impressed with the way the Chileans care for their forests. They have certain areas that are designated as native forests that are like national parks. Other large areas are designated for trees that are grown specifically for harvesting. They rotate the areas. They grow a pine and a eucalyptus tree that matures in seven years. As you drive through the forests you can see trees at varying stages of maturity as well as freshly cut and newly planted areas. To me that makes a lot more sense than all the fighting between the environmentalists and industry.

Tomorrow will begin a busy week of catching up with some of the missionaries I didn't see last week due to being out of the office. So, I had better get to bed.

January and getting rather hot!

During the month of January I stayed very busy. Monday and Friday are usually somewhat light, but the other three days of the week are so packed it is not unusual to be booked solid for 8-10 hours without a break. Luckily the restroom is not far down the hall from my office. Anyway, I am so blessed to have the chance to work with the missionaries and only wish I knew how to be more helpful to some of them. One of the missionaries i worked with this month had been in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, had his best buddy killed on one of their missions and had also experienced some hard times growing up. I knew I couldn't give him the intense treatment he needed here in the mission so advised the mission president to send him home then got in touch with the VA system and set up treatment for him the day after he arrived home.

It is hot here. All the windows in my apartment face west. Each morning I make certain the windows are open until I leave the apartment then I close all the windows and the rubberized blackout drapes. Some nights when I get home the apartment is filled with the smell of over heated rubber. However, I must say the heat hasn't been nearly as hard to deal with as the cold last winter. At night I open my windows and put a fan on a chair by my bed. The fan is not only cooling, but blocks the sound of the traffic on Pocuro, the busy street on the other side of a large parking lot next to this apartment building. That constant sound of traffic and sirens is something I won't miss when I return home:)

I had a very nice birthday. The day before my birthday, Saturday, one of the senior couples invited me to go to lunch and a movie. They also invited any of the senior missionaries that work in the area offices or the temple to join us if they were free. Altogether,five couples and I went out to lunch, which was really fun. The next day,my actual birthday, Renee Mason, the woman I walk with, invited me to Sunday dinner. She and her husband are also senior missionaries. He is the area auditor. That afternoon and evening I was able to skype with Megan and Maren and their families and got e-mails from Mandy, Bill and other family and friends. About a week later I got an e-mail from Bobby saying he had tried to call on my birthday. What more could I ask for!!

For some reason I am getting a lot of referrals of missionaries with insomnia. Some I can help, but some continue to struggle regardless of what we try. The missionary medical department does not approve the use of Ambien or Lunesta and I try to avoid going through the involved process of seeking approval to use an antidepressant as a sleep aid. Usually it is the missionaries who, for whatever reason, stayed up late and slept during the day before their mission who have the worst insomnia.

When I did the January report, I realized that there was a reason I was feeling overworked and tired. I usually get around fourteen new referrals each month and work with 50-60 missionaries, During the month of January, I had 21 new referrals and worked with 72 missionaries. In addition there were three missionaries who went home early which always involves many phone calls and extra paper work..

Time Is Flying

Myself with President John and Sister Nancy Rappleye of the Chile Osorno Mission

Sister Cardon a temple missionary telling a story as we wait for nightfall and the New Year's Eve fire works at the bay in Vina del Mar, Chile 2012
The senior missionaries enjoying our Christmas Eve roast beef dinner 2011
Senior missionaries at the 103 year old working flower clock in Vina del Mar, Chile Jan. 2, 2012

Rt to left the Bowlers of Nevada, the Cardons of Utah, the Cahoons of Canada, the Workmans of Idaho, myself, Sister Abaris of Calif./Mexico, the Lees of Washington.

View of the volcano and the lake from the Hamilton's home in Llanquehue, Chile

Erupting volcano near Puyehuey in southern Chile

The months of November and December seem to have flown by. One of the traditions here in Santiago is for all the north Americans to meet at the Chile Santiago North mission home for Thanksgiving Dinner. The mission home was at one time the Swiss Embassy, so it is a big beautiful home with some features that look like a Swiss chalet. We didn't want for any of the traditional Thanksgiving foods. Although some dishes didn't taste the same because you can't find some ingredients such as brown sugar. I am not certain how many people were there, I suspect around a hundred. I met a number of people for the first time such as a doctor who works for the US Air Force and the comptroller for the huge new olive orchards and olive oil company the church is developing south of Santiago. It was an afternoon of good food and good company.

Dr and Sister Welch and I had planned to go to the farthest north mission the first part of November, but had to cancel those plans because of an unexpected visit by general authorities. However, we were invited to go give short presentations and spend two days at the mission president's conference on November 30 and December 1. I was grateful to be invited to go. I know it was an expense, but every minute of my time was well used, to the point I only had about 5 minutes to dash to the gift shop to buy a couple of postcards just before the shuttle came to take us to the airport. I was able to meet three mission presidents and their wives that I had talked with a lot on the phone, but never seen face to face. I also appreciated setting in on some of the presentations by the area presidency.

The conference was held in the southern most mission at a beautiful, rustic resort called Puyehue which is in the mountains near a lake. Every thing is either some beautiful hue of green or a brilliantly colored flower. Most of the views are breath taking. The color of the lake is an amazing turquoise color they say is created by the volcanic ash that falls in the water. There are three high snow covered volcanoes nearby. We could also see another volcano, I am guessing it was about 50 miles away, that was having a major eruption. Because of the ash the airline was not certain we would get in or out. The day we left, the airline consolidated three flights into one, which was our scheduled flight, so we got out as planned, but the flight was absolutely packed.

When we got back from the conference I was scrambling to get all the appointments in I had rescheduled from the two days we were gone. I was also packing in appointments for the next two weeks in anticipation of an eight day visit to the Osorno mission, again in the farthest south parts of Chile.The volcano was still erupting on December 16, the morning of our departure. Luckily our flight was only delayed, not canceled. When we got to Puerto Montt my luggage was not with us. Lan airlines put the luggage on another flight that was leaving at the same time, but that flight had too much weight so it was transferred to an afternoon flight which meant an extra trip for the President Rappleye, the mission president, to get my luggage.

The first two nights we were in the south we stayed at the Hamilton's home in Llanquihue. As I understand the story, the home was built by a couple from the US who served a temple mission in Santiago then, without even going home, asked to serve another mission, specifically to run the office in the Osorno mission. During that mission they decided to buy property so they could live in Chile a part of every year. They built the home immediately after completing their second mission, but are now in the US for a year while he is doing some special job related to his profession. They only lived in the home a couple of months before going back to the US, but are such giving people that they allow any senior missionaries in Chile to use the home free of charge.

That area of Chile has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I had no idea how beautiful it was. It is a very rural area with miles and miles of rolling green hills and forests, huge lakes and snow capped volcanoes. There are beautiful flowers everywhere. In fact, they grow the plant the produces canola oil which flowers with a bright yellow blossom. So as you look out over the rolling green hills you will see huge fields of bright yellow blossoms. The thing that I still can't believe is the cleanliness. The government infrastructure for the highways and freeways seems better than some places in the US. All the Freeways and highways are in excellent repair and they have crews of men out on the road sides with weed wackers trimming the grass and weeds and then hauling it all away in trucks.

Sunday night we stayed with President and Sister Rappleye in the Osorno mission home. On Monday I attempted to meet with the psychiatrist that has been found in Valdivia to work with the missionaries I refer for medication. I wasn't able to talk with her due to her busy schedule. We then drove to a beautiful mountain retreat, Villarica, where we stayed for the night. I actually had elk steak for dinner.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we attended three different zone conferences where Dr. Welch and I did presentations. Dr. Welch presented on managing common illnesses. I presented on how to grow from stressful situations. The Rappleyes, Welchs and I then has a chance to experience a stressful situation. Early Wednesday morning as we were beginning the second zone conference the president got a call from a zone leader in an area about four hours drive from where we were. The zone leader was out running with another missionary who collapsed and shortly after went into full arrest. Luckily the ambulance arrived in three minutes, was able to quickly get him on a respirator and transport him to a local hospital.To make a long story short, after rearranging the schedule for the next day's conf. We did our presentations the morning and then by car and ferry made our way to the island where the missionary was hospitalized. He was still on a respirator. the decision was made to transport him by ambulance to the nearest airport four hours away and then he was flown by air ambulance to Santiago to a very nice state if the art hospital. Now, about a month later, the missionary is going to be taken to the US. He is up and walking,but a reason for his collapse is still in question and he has a great deal of memory loss and confusion.

The Welch's and I flew back to Santiago late Friday December 23. A friend from home, Hehwon Fordham, had sent me some money for Christmas with instructions to take some missionaries to dinner. To make the money reach as many missionaries as possible, I decided to buy enough roast for a roast dinner for all the senior missionaries. On Christmas Eve the senior missionaries had a very nice roast beef dinner, gift exchange, sing along and reading of the scriptures. Between those of us who work in the area offices and the temple missionaries there is a total of thirty. Christmas Day I had two young sister missionaries come to my apartment to Skype their families, then another two young sisters joined us for a Christmas dinner. It was really fun to spend time with them. I had a wonderful Christmas

Over the New Year's weekend I went to Vina del Mar with five couples and one single sister who are all temple workers. They invited me to go so the single sister who is from Mexico would be able to afford to go. So, that worked out nicely for me. We left on Saturday morning and returned Monday afternoon. We had a good time together and I appreciated the chance to get to know everyone better. One of the couples is from Canada, but the rest are from the western US. Of course we had to go down to the beach to claim a spot many hours before the fire works began. One of the most memorable experiences for some of us women was standing in line for over an hour to use the one hole toilet off the oil changing bay of a gas station across the street from our spot on the beach. We had to all be a little punchy to find such an experience so hilariously entertaining.

I considered it a small miracle that my phone didn't ring New Year's weekend from Saturday morning when I got in the van until after I was out of church on Sunday. Many of the mission presidents and missionaries knew I was going to Vina. I think they were trying to be considerate and let me enjoy the weekend because it was like someone opened the flood gates on Monday and Tuesday. So, I am off to a running start of the 2012.

Happenings of the last month and random thoughts

Wow, another month has passed! For a couple of weeks in Oct. things seemed to slow down a little, but just about the time I was starting to relax I got very busy. Last week I was in the office until 8-9 PM twice and until 7PM twice. Monday was the only night I got home at a reasonable hour, but I went back to the office after grabbing a bite to eat so I could quickly do a couple of things and say "Hi" to Abby and Aydree before going to family home evening at 7PM. By Saturday I was in need of some diversion, but discovered I was too tired to go anywhere or do much of any thing. So, I stayed in the apartment cooking and cleaning and went out for about an hour to do grocery shopping which was all very therapeutic! However, the day was not a complete diversion. Early in the morning, I spent time on the phone and e-mail with a mission president finishing up arrangements to find an escort for a missionary who has become psychotic and needs to go home to the US. Then about 7PM a mission president's wife called about a missionary who is falling apart. I ended up on the phone ect. for about two hours with that situation. I see a fair number of missionaries who are good people with strong testimonies who try to be absolutely perfect in every way and then become overwhelmed with discouragement and exhaustion from the strain of it all. At times I suspect Satan's best tool against them is to make them feel they are failures and have no chance of being a successful missionary because they can't figure out how to be perfect and feel the presence of the Spirit with them every minute of every day. Many of that type of missionary, especially if they tend to have a lot of anxiety, can not be convinced that giving the best we know how to give is all the Lord expects. They also have a hard time accepting the fact investigators have chosen not to be baptized not because the missionary did something wrong, but because the investigator used his/her agency.

Elder Quinton L. Cook, Elder Snow of the Seventy and one of the counselors in the Presiding Bishopric is here touring the Chile area. As of August 2012 this area will be consolidated with the area that is now Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. I think the new area will be the South America South Area. I suspect the visit is in part to gather information needed for the change. Saturday, November 5th Elder Cook spoke to the missionaries of the North and East Santiago missions in a morning devotional. We senior missionaries who work out of the area offices were invited to go to that devotional. Elder Cook gave a wonderful talk and emphasized two thoughts that have come to my mind many times. One statement he made to the missionaries was, "Know that you are good enough". I just hope some of the missionaries who are such perfectionists will believe him.

I had an interesting experience this week. For a couple of months I have seen an Elder off and on because of a strange sleep disturbance that he has. He is a leader in his mission and a great person. Whenever he comes in he brightens my day by his humor and happy disposition. However, he is exhausting himself and everyone else in the house with his vivid dreams, talking, shouting and acting out his dreams, all in his sleep. The mission president had decided he needed to send the elder to a sleep clinic for a work-up, but wanted him to come in one last time to see what I could do. I had a very busy day Wednesday with just a 30 minute slot of open time in which I decided to get on line and do some research. Within 20 minutes I had found the name of a disorder that described his symptoms, a review of all the research that has been done up to last year and the newly published guidelines for treatment of the disorder. Later that day I talked to Dr. Doty, head of missionary medical, who is going to get me the name of one of the heads of the sleep disorder center in Salt Lake who will consult with me on how to treat the missionary. This is the kind of thing that happens over and over again as I work with the missionaries. Not once have I ever gotten on line to find research on something, not alone something I didn't even have a name for, and come up with that kind of information in that amount of time. I have a firm testimony the Lord knows each of these missionaries personally and watches over them.

We are coming into summer here. The blossoms on the bougainvilla are amazing as well as the many flowering trees that line the streets. One of the trees that has a fern-like leaf has the most beautiful shade of lavender blossom I think I have ever seen. I go walking each morning with one of the senior sisters whose husband likes to walk by himself because he can walk faster and get a better workout. We go to the park which is only about a block west of my apartment and has a dirt walking path. There is also some exercise equipment which is for stretching and weight lifting. We spend about fifteen minutes on the equipment after we walk. Both of us feel stronger and more flexible from the walking and exercising, but don't look any different. I guess that is to be expected when you get past sixty.

A couple of thoughts before I close. As of October 25th I have been on my mission for six months, which means from now on I will be having some one time experiences. For example, I will only spend one Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year in Chile. It makes me sad when I think about that, which tells me that I am adjusting to being here. Even though I still miss my family very much, I can tell when the time comes to leave Chile it is going to be hard. Well, I think this is enough for one entry.

Another Celebration

Today is October 16th and I am going to talk about a celebration I went to last night, but before doing that I need to note that reading this blog would make one think all I do is go to special activities. I am staying busy in the office and still love working with the missionaries. Many are making good progress, which makes everyone involved happy, especially the missionaries. However, for some of them a time comes when it is best to go home. They have fought the good fight and go home with honor even though their mission may not have been for the full two years. I just pray that when they go home friends and members of their wards will meet them with open arms and love and support them as they work to overcome the challenges they face.

Last night the Chile area celebrated the 50th anniversary of missionary work in Chile. The event, held in a stadium in northern Santiago, was broadcast to all stake houses in Chile and streamed over internet to the US. Literally thousands of youth performed dances from many Latin American countries. At the beginning of the event each of the area presidency spoke and an outstanding youth choir from the Santiago area provided the music. A section of the stadium was reserved for former missionaries. I 'm not certain of the numbers, but some came all the way from the US for the celebration. It was truly outstanding and overwhelming to think of the cost in both time and money to prepare for such an event!!

I am preparing for a visit to the Antofagasta mission the second week in November. It is the farthest north mission and covers a lot of very remote barren country from what I am told. I will go to three zone conferences which are so far apart we will have to fly from one to the other. Many of the big mines are located in that area.

Due to some recent scrutiny by the Chilean Ministry of Health, I have a big challenge ahead of me. In the past I managed missionary needs for medication through consultation with a psychiatrist in Salt Lake. I must now find psychiatrists in every mission who are willing to work with me to prescribe medication since only Chilean doctors can legally administer medications even if the patient is a US citizen. Psychiatrists are a rare breed in some areas of the country. However, we will find a way to abide by the law. The area medical advisor has a similar and in some ways bigger challenge than I do.

Catch-up time

It has now been over a month since I posted to this blog, so I will do a little catch-up. First I must comment on the beautiful sunsets I have been seeing out the windows of my apartment, which all face west. The sun is setting right about 7:45 PM these days. So, I am usually home to see the gorgeous pinks, oranges and reds against the blue sky.

I believe it was August 22 the Kemps, mission president of the Chile MTC and his wife, invited three senior couples and me to take a P-day with them. They have an eight passenger van. We drove to the town of La Ligua, about two hours away. Just outside the town is a little village with one long street of maybe sixty or more shops which all sell sweaters. Sweaters are a major part of everyone's wardrobe, men and women. Most are made of wool, some cotton, and some either alpaca or llama. Most of the sweaters are priced around $14 US. I was so tired of wearing the same outfits for almost four months, I ended up buying four sweaters, two of them crocheted. I kept thinking how much I would like to buy a bunch for my family. They really had fun things for girls around Abby and Aydrees age and of course tons of things my daughters would have liked.

On the way back to Santiago, we took the coastal route and saw some beautiful seaside towns. Everyone was lamenting that Chile is so far away from the US as those towns would be wonderful places to vacation.

Between September 10th and 19th the Chilean Independence Days celebration took place. Yes, it went on for over a week. They do know how to celebrate!! Here in Santiago there were literally hundreds of celebrations going on. The main celebration was in a huge park,(like a state fair ground, stadium and rodeo grounds all in one area) about a 20 minute bus ride and then 15 min. walk from here. I went to some of the activities at the park the first Saturday and the final day of the celebration. Many absolutely beautiful horses were involved in various parts of the celebration. I went twice to the rodeo. It is entirely different than in the US. The entire rodeo includes only one event which involves very skilled horsemanship and highly trained horses. The huasos (cowboys) work in a team to run a steer around the corral (Media Luna = half moon) and bump it up against the fence so all four feet are off the ground. Pretty amazing because one horse and rider are constantly up near the steers neck side-stepping at a gallop to keep the steer up against the fence. The other horse and rider are behind the steer driving it around the ring to the spot where the lead horse uses its chest to bump the steer up against the padded fence. Points are scored depending partly on whether or not all four of the steer's feet come off the ground when it is bumped against the fence. The last day of the celebration a group of us, about twelve senior missionaries, arrived at the park around 1PM for the program at 2PM. At the gate a notice was posted saying the time of the program had been changed to 6:30 PM. (Somethings in Latin American never change!) So, it was a much longer day than I expected, but worth the wait and in good company. Much dancing with beautiful costumes, of course many beautiful, well trained horses and a lot of outstanding programming. I was glad to be there and see so much of the culture. We all waved Chilean flags and chanted, "Chi, chi, le, le--Viva Chile".

Because of the celebration, the area offices were closed Friday,the 16th and Monday the 19th. I used Friday and Saturday to work on my apartment. In Chile the renter is expected to do all maintenance and improvements. So, I took advantage of that and bought a bedspread and a can of sage green paint for my bedroom. I spend the two days scrubbing baseboards and painting. I discovered that the blackish grey baseboards are actually a camel color. Now that things are clean and brightened up a little, I am liking the place a lot better. This past week I have worked on rearrange the main living area. I also like it a lot better. It somehow feels more inviting. It could be because it is now warm and full of sunshine so you can sit in the room without freezing'