Fun Days In June

 These are two of my very favorite hermanas, Sister Peterson and Sister Heslop. They are so fun to visit with, they remind me of our 2 daughters. They are holding a rug that I made mostly out of old socks.

 Elder L took a picture of this shell ship that was made by one of the members in Concepcion for one of the missionaries.

 The group of elders that went home in June were amazing missionaries. I think they each left a footprint on our heart. Good Luck and many God bless you in all you do!

 These are the fun new missionaries that came in June. Welcome to Chile elders!

 Someone special turned 60 in June. Happy Birthday President Arrington. Sister Balden made a darling birthday cake and Sister Kennington made yummy apple turnovers.

 We prepared a nice chicken dinner with baked potatoes, breads, and salads.

 We love the Kenningtons because they always volunteer to cut up the chicken. Thanks guys!

 President Arrington, on the right, enjoying his birthday celebration.

 We invited the office staff from the south mission and the Scholes also came. We had a great time celebrating with the President.

 Yes, another haircut. This is just to make you appreciate how much effort it takes to make me look decent.

 Elder Evans and his mom. Elder Evans was a great missionary and provided us with a lot of inspiration and a lot of laughs.

 Here I am teaching some of the sisters in my ward how to make rag rugs. Sister Kennington served as translator and also showed them a different way to make a rug.

 These sisters are highly skilled in needled work and crafting. I was truly impressed with their abilities and creativity.

 Elder L and I had a hamburger at a restaurant called Rich's. It is as close to an American hamburger as you are going to get down here and twice as expensive. And yes, we ate the whole thing!

 Elder Evans with his mom, brother and sister standing by the Balden's at the airport...and another one bites the dust.

 Elder Calizaya, an office elder, had his birthday in the month of June, so of course we celebrated.

 Elder L and I took a trip to one of the malls in Concepcion on a very rainy Saturday. This Mexican statue is made completely of Legos.

 A photo taken from one end of the mall, looking towards the other end.

 The Kennintons invited us to go to the Colemu branch with them one Sunday morning.

 We had a nice Sunday morning drive out to their chapel. It took us about an hour to get there.

 Their chapel is very small and the building was freezing cold. Luckily they had a couple of gas heaters to take the edge off.

 This is the town square of Colemu.

 After church, we had a picnic in the park or town square as it is called.

 Elder Kennington is given one of the local dogs the evil eye in hopes that it will go away. We had a very enjoyable day with the Kenningtons.

 Elder Harrison is sporting a tie that he knitted himself. One of the members showed him how. Very impressive elder, very impressive.

 Hermana Kennington made an all purpose purse out of grocery bags. She is very thrifty and resourceful.

 The dentist and I are getting to be good friends. I have lost track at how many visits we have made to his office.

 At the end of June we took a field trip to Quillon. This is one of the bus stops along the way. Look at the beautiful scenery in the background.

 This is just a snapshot from the window. The drive was just gorgeous.

 Another fun bus stop. They had these all along the roadside.

 This is a family shrine found in the front of the family's property. It was very well kept and probably the largest one that we have seen.

 This is a memorial that we found along side the road. About 40 or 50 years ago a bus accident occurred and many children were killed.

This memorial was erected on the site of the tragedy.

It is kind of hard to see, but this is a pair of oxen working in the field.

Welcome to Quillon. Quillon is a resort town, so it is quiet in the winter but very busy in the summer.

This is the nice large church building in Quillon. We thought it was a Stake Center but found out that it only has a small branch.

We stopped at a fun flea market and talked to some of the members of the branch.

Quillon has a fun lagoon for boating and swimming. We were the only ones there because every else was watching the soccer cup games.

The lagoon had some beautiful black headed swans.

The lagoon also has a nice beach.

We saw quite a few large cactus around town.

More pictures of the landscape. . .

and of course the happy little daffodils. In Chile they bloom in the winter. So different from home, ya gotta love it!

Movin' on thru May

 The Kennington's, who work with the Perpetual Education Fund, brought dinner to our office on May 2nd. Their office was closed due to a Chilean national holiday. They brought chicken, salad, pan, lemon bars and juice. It was so yummy and so thoughtful of them.

 May 8th we had some kind of conference in Concepcion. I will have to look at my notes at the office tomorrow and then make an update.

 On May 9th we went to Chillan to move the sister missionaries out of  the Pulsipher's apartment and into a small, but nice, home in a different part of Chillan. This apartment was way to expensive for the sister missionaries to stay in.

You could see for miles and miles the city of Chillan,

 Looking down into the backyard across the street. We joked about how the poor princesses had to move from their castle tower back down the mountain and live once again with the common folk, like us. They were good sports about it especially when the assistants pointed out that all of the sisters got much nicer homes than the elders. Life is just not fair - learn to deal with it.

 The next day, on the 10th, we had to move the furniture out of our old apartment and take to Andalien. The mission has a place there to store it until we get another couple.

 Luciano, who works for the maintenance end of the church, lives next door to the house where we store the extra furniture. In fact, the house is rented from his father-in-law and some of the missionaries live upstairs in it. This is a picture of Luciano's cute little daughter. She is standing under the grape arbor in their yard.

 On the night of the 10th we had a traditional Chilean dinner at Andrea's house. Andrea and her husband are members here in Concepcion. Andrea also supplements their income by cutting the missionaries hair. This is a picture of her dining room.

 Cute handmade Chilean chairs.

 Looking out the back door is a lagoon. During the last big earthquake, the back part of her house fell into the lagoon.

On the wall is a traditional Mapuche wall hanging. Elder Pendly and Kennington are listening to Andrea's husband talk.

Brother and Sister Balden are looking at something that Andrea is showing them.

Sister Kennington is having a good time.

Elder L is enjoying his dinner.

The main course was a meat dish that included clams, chicken and pork in a chicken broth.

A salad made out of lettuce with olives and tossed with oil and lemon.

Lots of pan and peeled and boiled potatoes.

Tomatoes with onions and cilantro. It was very tasty.

Andrea and her sister cooking in the kitchen.

A group of happy missionaries with full tummies.

The sisters plus Andrea and her sister.

The elders plus Andrea's husband and son.

Happy yellow flowers for a happy Mother's day.

On the 17th we headed to Linares to find a house for the couple missionaries that would be coming in June. On the way home we stopped to take some pictures of the beautiful sunset, just outside of Chillan.

Almost as pretty as home.

Another rug completed for another set of missionaries. This one is made out of old t-shirts.

On May 22nd we were back in Chillan again. This time to clean out Pulsipher's apartment and move all of the furniture to Linares. This wonderful group of missionaries packed everything downstairs for us. We could not have done it without their help.

The apartment was on the 13th floor and the missionaries did all of that work for a doughnut. Great job guys!

It was a nice clear day and we could see one of the volcanoes on our way to Linares.

This is the unloading crew that helped us in Linares. They unloaded and packed all of the furniture into the house. Such great elders. We could not have done it without them either! Such hard work, all for a doughnut. Great job guys!!

Hermana Chavez left to go home on the 23rd and is now engaged to be married.

Another rug for another set of missionaries. This one is made out of old shirts and an old sheet.

May 28th it was back to Chillan for the Hermanas Conference. Sister Balden is blowing up a balloon for a fun activity. The couple standing in the background are medical missionaries for the area of Chile. He is a psychologist and spoke at the conference.

The sister missionaries participating in a fun activity.

A nice catered luncheon awaited us, after the conference.

Sister Pendley made a beautiful shawl out of a pretty coral colored yarn. Notice the flowers down at the bottom of the shawl.

She really looks nice in it.

On the 29th we celebrated Lilly's birthday at the Don Quixote restaurant with the President and his wife, the office elders and the Balden's. What a busy, busy, busy month