A New Place to Eat

 The other couples that we work with found a new place to eat about one and a half blocks away from the office. It is called Tata Pollo. You order and pay for the food downstairs and then you go upstairs to wait for it.

 Here we are waiting patiently for our food.

 Our first course was a chicken broth soup. It was very flavorful.

 The next course was the tossed salad. I have never had tossed lettuce with mixed vegetables, but it is a common occurrence down here. Oil and lemon was used for the dressing.

 Pan, or bread, is always served with each meal. This was a cross between a cracker and a bread.

 The main course was a vegetable plate with a chicken breast. It was very tasty and we have been back a couple of times since.

 At the end of March the Pulisphers finished their mission and left for home.

 Everyone was sad to see them go. They are a great couple and did a lot of good while serving down here.

 I'm just cooking away in my tiny kitchen. I can barely squeeze into it and I am almost to large to turn around in it.

Sister Balden  bought flowers for April 1st and made an arrangement for my desk and for Sister Pendly's desk. She is a great neighbor.

A March Field Trip

 In March we took a wonderful field trip with the other 2 couples in the office building. Our first stop was to see the waterfalls located in Salto del Itata. I am pointing to the sign that signals the turn off to the falls. We had to look really hard and we almost missed it.

In the spring and summer the falls usually fill up the whole rim, but March is considered late summer and the water is drying up, so the falls are not quite so abundant. They were still beautiful to look at.

They made a nice backdrop for our picture.

This is the top of the falls. We could walk right out on it and not get wet. In the spring and summer you would not be able to do this because it would be covered with water.

They do not have guard rails like they would in the U.S. Down here they expect everybody to use a brain cell and be cautious. You can see Sister Balden walking across the top of the falls in the background.

When we were walking across the top of the falls, we saw this hole down through the layers of rock and you could look straight down into the valley. During heavy water it would be part of the water fall.

This sign certainly made us feel at home. The area kind of reminded us of our Island Park.

From the falls we headed southeast to Antuco and then on to the Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja to see the volcanoes. The scenery was very green with mountains and trees and the weather was nice and sunny. Elder Balden and Hna Pendly are discussing the volcano in the distance. 

This was a charming little babbling brook surrounded by green grass and wildflowers. I would have expected a leprechaun to jump out at any moment if I would have been in Ireland instead of Chile.

I think Elder L must be looking for the pot 'o gold.

In the background you can see one of the volcanoes. The scenery went from green, green, green to barren black sand and desolation.

The volcanoes names are Volcano Antuco and Sierra Velluda. 

In the middle of the black sand you would, on occasion, see little spots of color as little patches of flowers would pop up through the ground. They were few and far between.

Another random waterfall on our drive up the mountain.

You can see the bareness of the mountain leading up to the volcano.

The landscape was looking pretty bare and desolate and then we rounded the corner and came upon a ski resort. We were all quite surprised, but I here there is good skiing in Chile.

We rounded another corner and came upon Laguna del Laja. The water was so blue, it reminded me of the blue water in Lake Louise in Canada. 

There was a brisk cool wind blowing the further up the mountain we went.

This road actually takes you into Argentina. We came within 13 miles of the border but did not continue on because we did not have our passports with us.

As we were driving up the mountain, we saw grave markers in little groups, usually 2 or 3 at a time. We kind of thought that it was weird to see little crosses in the middle of nowhere. In the U.S. it usually means that some kind of car accident occurred there. We were feeling a little nervous about the road until we came upon this huge monument. This monument was built to honor the soldiers of Antuco that got caught in a sudden blizzard and buried alive before they could get off of the mountain. The little crosses symbolized where each soldier was found. These boys were only about 19 years old when they died and most of them were born in 1986. 

Elder and Hna Pendly are reading the names of each soldier that was lost in the storm. The monument had a feeling of reverence hanging over it. 

After reading about the tragedy, we left a "Families are Forever" pass along card at several of the marker sites hoping to help ease the pain of the family left behind. How lucky we are to know of God's eternal plan of happiness. Elder Pendly was so good about hopping out of the van and placing the cards on the markers. Notice the desolate surroundings, it was kind of surreal with the bare landscape and all of the markers along the way.

This is another monument to the fallen soldiers.

Coming back down the mountain we stopped at the restrooms and talked to the forest ranger.

This is just a sign of were we had been. I looked at that and thought wow, I can read this,and then realized it was in English.

After a long day of sight seeing and looking around we stopped at the mall food court in Los Angeles and had a bite to eat. These are the lovely ladies who waited on us. We had a great day!

Conce in March

March 11, 2014, meeting the new missionaries at the Conce airport. Welcome to Chile!

This beautiful flower is called the Copihue. It is Chile's national flower. The flower is about 3 inches long and hangs from a very thin but very strong vine. The vine feels like that green plastic coated wire that you can buy in the hardware store. The leaves and the petals are very thick and rubbery, in fact, they feel like they are made out of rubber. We had been searching all over the place trying to find a copihue because we wanted to see one in person. Sister Pendly, from the south mission, found this one right around the corner from our office. We had walked by it before and didn't even notice it. 

This building is at the end of the block and across the street from our office. The bottom floor is a repair shop. After the fire we wondered if we dare take anything there to be fixed.

House fires are an everyday occurrence in Conce. Luckily this building is made of cement so only the upper level was damaged.

The first time Elder L and I saw these statues, it was early in the morning and there was a mist rising off of the lake. It was really freaky, these pictures do not do it justice. The statues are about 9 feet tall and appear to be walking on water. 

Thanks, but no thanks!

Happy little yellow flowers, they just make me want to smile!

This little grape arbor is in the yard of one of the missionary homes in Penco. It looked so cool and refreshing on a warm summer day.

Down and to the right, if you look close, you can see the Penco steeple. The Penco Chapel sits right on the ocean. This is such a great view looking out to the ocean. They have some really steep streets in Penco.

Don Quixote is one of the fancy snancy restaurants that everyone likes to go to. It right on the main plaza in downtown Conce.

Sister Balden and I are thrilled to be eating at Don Quixote's. 

A Trip to Lota

On Saturday, March 8th, we headed south, down the coast to a town called Lota. Lota is located right on the ocean. It is one of those towns that you instantly fall in love with.

These cute little cottages were located right by the beach. It looked like a mighty fine vacation home to me.

I love the tall tree in this picture. It reminds me of something you would see in a Dr.Suess book.

 Just hanging out on the beach. It was a little chilly because of the cool breeze. You can see part of the town in the background. It just curves around the beach.

 What a view these people have! I wonder if they ever get tired of looking at the ocean waves?

 This is another view of the harbor. If you look close you can see a bunch of little fishing boats.

 They have all kinds of different flowers all year round. These are some of the autumn flowers.

It looks like someone is building a new house. The homes here are very small.

        This is another look at the beach from a different angle.

 This old train was on display at the plaza in the center of town. It reminded me of something you would see on display in the United States.

A big church by the plaza in the center of town. I loved the beautiful architecture of the building.

This is a look at the inside of the building. The round window was very beautiful. By the way, it was ok to take a pictures in this building.

This was a man that Elder L talked to on the beach. He was catching clams by running an airhose out to the ocean and pumping air into the ocean. This would cause the clams to release and wash ashore. His grandchildren would then pick up the clams. He had quite a load full.