A White Christmas in Chile

December 2009

Three complete strangers, united in one cause. These three amazing people had never met each other before but shared their "special day". The tallest one is Mauricio. The next one, the girl, is Nataly. Lastly is my little Gary, one of the fruits of the new program called Permaneced, which is our reactivation efforts.

Mauricio, age 24:

Roughly two weeks in Chile and I was doing contacts in the street with my companion (the 11th of November to be precise). We randomly contacted this kinda punkish kid in the street. He didn't have piercings or anything, but he seemed a bit like a partier. He agreed to let us pass by his house to teach him. I was still trying to figure out what everyone was saying (the accent here is SUPER different!) So it took me awhile to be able to really help answer his questions and such. He accepted everything easily and whenever we would ask him if he thought what we said was important (regarding each principle) he would answer with "obvio" and gave awesome reasoning that made me feel kinda dumb that we thought we needed to teach him that. He really is super awesome. The other day we were at his house teaching him and we were talking about missionary work, then asked him if there was anyone he knew that would like to learn too. At that precise moment his brother walked through the front room. He turned to him and said "Hey Alvaro, you're going to church with me on Sunday, okay?" It was funny. He didn't go, but it was Mauricio's willingness to invite him that really touched me. A couple days ago we were giving him his last quick lesson before his baptism the next day and his brother's girlfriend stopped by. He introduced us as "Mis Hermanas." When he prays during the lessons he also thanks God for "his Hermanas." He's really amazing. We don't seem to find many people here, but when we find them they are absolutely amazing.

Nataly, age 13:

I arrived in Chile, in the zone of Colina, just in time to help prepare the baptism of two of her friends (Carolina and Nicole). Nataly was originally supposed to be baptized with her friends but things kept coming up. We had to work with her for a long time – she had to make some major changes before her mother would consent. After many lessons and any help we could give her mother consented because she was finally starting to show improvement in her everyday actions and attitude. While I didn't teach her the first basic lessons, she still considers me her “best friend.”

Gary:

Our little 9 year old. He actually turned 9 while we were teaching him. His mom and one of his brothers are inactive... or were. We were walking down the street one day when this random little kid ran over to us yelling "¿Son Mormonas?" We told him that yeah, we were Mormons and he flat out said "¡Quiero bautizarme!" We were a bit taken by surprise, so we were asking him questions. He then led us to his house where we met his mother. She broke down in tears as she told us about "Her hermanas" that taught her and baptized her and how she cried when they were transferred out of the area. She had some experience with some members that drove her away from the church (not an uncommon occurrence in this branch) but that she would love to see Gary get baptized. We passed by a few days later and she told us her story. I don't remember the story exactly, but the basis was this: when she was about 11 years old her father used to have elders over all the time or rent a place to them, I don't remember exactly. She loved talking to them and figured they were all rich because they dressed like her dad, who was. One day an elder put his feet up and she saw the bottom of his shoes - they were all worn out and she could see his socks through the holes. She said she cried because this young man was so willing to go teach people even when it meant his feet were bruised and blistered from the terrible condition of his shoes. Tears were streaming down her face as she told us of how the other members of our branch don´t appreciate the missionaries like they could. I started to cry myself as I told her we needed her experiences and her example to help the branch, as I testified of the great worth she has and how much she could help. She showed up at church the next Sunday and has come almost every week since then. She is so humble and poor right now - lately times have been so hard that occasionally she doesn't even have bread for breakfast, yet she always offers us whatever she has. She really is amazing. She has become my lifeline here.

"And the Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind...." (Moses 7:18)

Passing On

12/22/2009 San Andres, Chile - At the entrance of a quiet little town not far from Santiago, Chile, I found myself once again waiting for the bus - hands full and thoughts an hour and a half away on the night's Christmas festivities in the Santiago North mission home. As I stood watching for the bus, a large gathering caught my attention: a hearse, surrounded by horse and rider, coming down the road. All the riders were dressed in the traditional Chilean attire of a cowboy hat, poncho, boots and over-sized spurs. Directly behind the hearse walked a horse - head drooping, the saddle's sole occupant a hat. The people at the bus stop next to me made the sign of the cross as the man on the nearest horse wiped away tears mingled with sweat from the hot sun. The faces of many riders spoke silently of hard times and difficult lives - of jobs lost and the ever-present struggle to put food on the table - wrinkled through the years by experiences both pleasant and painful. The loss of their fallen rider showed plainly in the eyes of all.

The solemn parade of horses passed by slowly, cars and finally the bus bringing up the tail end. I paid my respects silently as we followed the procession in the bus until we parted ways, thanking my Heavenly Father for the knowledge I have of His merciful plan and the comfort it brings when one comes to understand that this is not the end but merely a new beginning.

My Daddy

While in the MTC I received an email from my mom explaining that they were going to spotlight Daddy at work and if I knew where some of the goofy pictures of him were. I was able to help with that as well as send my own little writeup about him. (9/2009)

My Daddy:

Master fix-it man, intellectual genius, joker extraordinaire. I can't tell you how many times I've heard his jokes! I'm so lucky that I've heard them not only in English, but in Spanish too, and yet I laugh every time. I don't know if it's because the jokes themselves are very funny or if it's the fact that Daddy always laughs at them when he tells them.

I love my Daddy. Who else do you know that wanders aimlessly with a guitar but can still "occasionally" claim to have his wits? Who, on Halloween night, would get on the intercom system and laugh maniacally as children came to the door trick-or-treating? Who else gets more enjoyment and satisfaction out of being able to tell you what color something is even though he's never in his life seen the color for himself?

One of my favorite stories about Daddy has to be from a family vacation we took one summer. We were traveling across the country in the RV. At one point, Daddy turned to us and said "Do you realize it is now an hour later than it was an hour ago?" We all started laughing. It took him a little while to realize he meant TWO hours later because we had passed into another time zone. To this day we still laugh about that although I'm not sure he appreciates that so much.

The depth of advice he can give based on life experience is priceless. Sometimes it's useful, sometimes it's up to you to decide. If it's broken, he can fix it. If it's not broken... well, he can fix that too. Spiders, mice, giant yellow hands, monsters in the closet; his specialty. Magical hallways, train robbers, dogs big enough to ride, pet dinosaurs - my favorite bedtime stories. A spiritual giant yet down-to-earth friend you can always depend on to bring sunshine - and corn and tomatoes - to an otherwise gray day. Sure he's not perfect, but in my book he's pretty darn close.

My Daddy - My hero.