ZONE CONFERENCES

 The first two weeks of October were Zone Conferences.  We have 10 different Zones spread throughout the mission.  Sometimes we gather the Zones into a few large groups to train them, but this time we chose to hold 8 separate conferences.  Four of the zones are a little smaller and we combined two and two.  It is a lot of travel and time away from "home" but we love having a little more one on one time with smaller groups!  

So what do we do besides 4 hours of training at each location??

We celebrate the birthdays for the last two months! (Zone Conferences are every 12 weeks)
We sing Cumpleaños Feliz and they each get a big chocolate bar!

AND THEN WE EAT!

Full missionaries are happy missionaries!

Churrascos are always a hit!

Ready for chow!

They clean their plates every time!

Churrascoas again:)

EMPANADAS - yum!

ALWAYS FRUIT - got to have something healthy!

Sloppy joes are coming!

For whatever reason, the local Lider was selling little bags of mini Halloween oreos - a highlight!

A table full of cute Hermanas!

Love the smiles!

AND AFTER ALMUERZO AND TRAINING??

We visit the missionaries in their casas!

Here are baby Araucaria trees (monkey puzzlers) on the patio.

And two of our Hermanas - outside

and inside!



And every once in awhile we make a stop at the mall.  This is in Temuco -
Hedgehog anyone??
It wouldn't hold still - just a blur in a cage!

Last but not least - some beautiful photos from our hotel window in 

Los Angeles, Chile!

Anything look familiar??

Pretty mountains in the distance.

And if you look carefully you can see a volcano!!

BIRTHDAY TIME!

Grandkids are so amazingly fun and full of love - oh how we miss them!!

September and October are birthday months for:

Noah turned 4 September 11th!

And Jack turned 4 September 25th!

Claire and Tess both celebrate in September - sister fun!
Claire is 14 and little Tess is 4.

Treavor turned 11 October 9th.  Here we are together in
a pre-mission photo at the cabin!

h

Brother Birthdays in October!!
Buddy turned 3 on the 30th and
Gus turned 6 on Halloween!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST AWESOME GRANDKIDS EVER!!!

NEXT DAY . . .

Next morning, September 23, it was time to welcome our new "kids" - 27 of them!  Take a look:

Bienvenidos (welcome) to all 27!!

Remember, they had been flying all night!  Here they are at the Mission
Office waiting for training and and interview.  Then to the Mission Home
for a nice almuerzo, then to the hotel for a shower and some much
needed rest!!

Here is our beloved Hermana Pendley, the next morning at the final training.
She and Elder Pendley make sure all of their finances are in order before
they go out into the field!

I love this photo!  Can you tell it's a windy day?  Check out those flying ties!  

They have received some basic training and have met their first companions, who will continue the training.  Now they are off to the bus station to head for their first "sectors" with everything they brought with them to last for the next 1 1/2 to 2 years!  

Some will have a half hour bus ride and some will have a six hour bus ride!  We sent them with a sack lunch!!

Here is our sweet Hermana Catala with her parents, who came to pick her up.  They stopped by the Mission Home to meet us and blessed us with by singing such a beautiful acapella rendition of "Each Life That Touches Ours For Good".
Then they were off to their home in Argentina!

And here is President with our Assistants and Office Elders.  These amazing young men know how to work!  They have taught us so much and serve whole heartedly and with such great faith.  We love them and are so grateful for them!

BLOGGING SLACKER!!!

Yikes - I have been such a slacker with my blogging!  Be prepared for major catch up here!

September (that's right!) 22 was our previous cambio (transfer) - and here are a few pictures for the record:

Our eleven departing missionaries came to our home Monday morning for their final interview with President Bluth.  While they were waiting for their turn -

There was time for socializing

Time for a little siesta

A little more socializing:)

And eating - of course!

We made time for a final group photo - these wonderful young people are headed for Columbia, Argentina, Santiago, Mexico, and Utah and Arizona.  It is getting harder and harder for us to say goodbye to them, not knowing when we will see them again!  They truly become a part of our hearts.

A final hug - then off to Argentina and Utah!

We just can't get enough photos of each other!
Que les vaya bien, misioneros.  Les queremos mucho!!

Morning Walks

Every once in awhile - maybe twice a week - we are at home and don't have an early meeting to attend.  We love to go for walks together - here are some of the things we see:

We found the building where our Uncle Evans and Aunt Sylvia Heywood lived some 20 years ago
when they were serving as Mission Presidents here!

Spring is on it's way - everything is beginning to bloom and is so beautiful!

Don't touch the dogs - they bite and have fleas!!!

No matter how sweet they look!

Gorgeous, right?  They are everywhere!

As are the dogs:)

We climbed a VERY steep (for us) hill overlooking the area where we live.  My legs hurt for days!
You can see our condo building in the back center of the photo.
FYI - I never let Lothaire take pictures of me on our walks - no makeup and scary hair!

18 de Septiembre - Independence Day for Chile!

Here in Chile, the 18th of September is like our 4th of July in the USA.  On September 18, 1810, Chile broke away from Spanish rule and declared their independence.  They celebrate in a big way, all week long!  You see Chileans in their native costumes downtown, and there are flags of Chile flying everywhere!  Lots of eating, asados (cookouts), and dancing.  It's a happy time!

We attended our Ward Activity and this is our Bishop and his wife.  You will soon catch on that Chile's colors are red, white & blue - just like ours in the USA!

This is an interesting traditional drink called mote con huesillo.
What you see floating is wheat (mote) and somewhere in there is
a dried peach (huesillo).  The rest is sugar, water and cinnamon.
I think it is an acquired taste:).

Here is President with one of our ward members, Juanita.

There was some great entertainment and history telling.  The flag looks a little like Texas, right?

Ward members enjoying the evening.

Fuzzy photo, but CUTE little girls!

And two of our fantastic missionaries -

And two more.  The feast was great!  Always lots of mayo on hand:)

And then the dancing began - the Cueca (pronounced qwayka)!  It is a courting dance, so the missionaries just get to watch.  

It was SO much fun to watch, and every age participated.  You can see white
handkerchiefs - an important part of the dance.  There was a definite structure
and the dancers knew their stuff - and the ladies were so graceful!

A cute young couple - they were great!

Always a couple of foreigners hanging around:) - the members provided the props!

Cute little girls in traditional dress.

The last dance was a fun and funny little German type dance.  There is a strong German influence here.  In the center is our Stake President and his wife - so fun to watch them!  See that roast chicken on the plate?  THAT was delicious!