Life as we Know it - January and February

Keeping up with the blog has been sporadic, to say the least, because it seems like the only time we take out the camera is when we receive new missionaries and send our viejos home. And those pictures, while important to us, are not very exciting to view or read about. But I realized a few days ago that I take plenty of pictures pictures with my phone to share through Instagram and they tell the story of our life in the mission. Few people have access to these pictures and so I decided they should be on my blog. There is no order to the photos, just life as we know it...

One Sunday as we drove home from Arica we stopped in Tocopilla to see our two missionaries there.  We met up with Elder Richards and Elder McCusker for a quick visit and also were able to spend a few moments with Fernanda Gonzalez, who is preparing to serve a mission in Salt Lake City Central mission.

We drove up to Arica in January to be with some new converts who had been previously taught by Leland.  They were baptized the day before and we were in Sacrament meeting when they were confirmed.  What a special occasion to witness these two families united in the gospel.

The center of organization in the mission is the transfer board.  It hangs in the mission home and Leland can be found staring at it almost every day as he contemplates where the missionaries should be serving.

Oh the weather in Antofagasta...it is wonderful all year long.  Except for a few weeks in February when the temperature is almost unbearable (almost) and a cold couple of months in the winter, we have the best weather.  This picture of the forecast in January is typical of our weather.

We celebrated New Years Eve in the mission home, quietly, but found a few football games on ESPN for New Years Day.  So I googled buffalo wings and improvised some football fare.  It was yummy!!!  And watching the games dubbed in Spanish wasn't too bad either.

Our missionaries hit and exceeded their goals for 2012 and the best way for me to show my appreciation to them was making chocolate chip cookies for the entire mission.  Each missionary received a baggie of cookies.  Nery and I baked for days and we prepared almost 800 cookies for the mission.  They were all delivered to the Zone Leaders at the monthly Zone Leader Council.   It felt a little like Christmas bringing all these boxes to the meeting.

A typical sunset in Antofagasta.

And an untypical bit of rain as we drove from Vallenar to Copiapo one afternoon.

Leslie Humphrey and her husband Neall serve in the Concepcion mission.  She is my BFF in the mission (except for my companion).  We laugh and talk and laugh some more when we are together.

It's always exciting to see U.S. stores arrive in Chile.  The first Banana Republic opened in South America in January.  I haven't made any purchases but it sure feels good just to walk through the store and touch all the wonderful clothing.  

E. is for Elders.  That was the word of the day earlier this month.  And these wonderful Elders are the Zone Leaders in our mission.  

It's been a long time but I'm working out again.  We found this gym in town and they have pilates equipment.  Picture in your mind the gym where Rocky worked out.  Got that grim picture in your head?  Well that's what this gym looks like.  It's sketchy, but I get to take pilates and that feels great.  

It's been red tide all summer.  The smells are strong.  The color of the water is best described as murky and there are thousands and thousands of birds along the shore.  Glad I'm never tempted to swim in our cold water.  We are hoping that the red tide goes away real soon.

Coke Lite is good.  But Diet Coke is better.  Friends came through Antofagasta on a cruise at the end of January and they brought me these cans of Diet Coke from the ship.  I've been savoring them and rationing them.  I think I have 4 cans left and then that great taste will have to be only dreamed about until July.

February means Zone Conferences and Zone Conferences means pans and pans of brownies for dessert.  Fifteen trays of brownies with frosting means lots and lots of butter.  The people at the supermarket must think I am crazy when they see my shopping preferences.

This is Elder Sharp.  He is our Financer and he is from Idaho.  He is Great.  He always asks me for stories from home.  I think my stories make him feel more normal because I am sure my life back home sounds crazy to this country boy.  He will leave the office soon and return to the field and I will miss our moments when we swap stories.

Hermana Bruce...that's my name here in Chile.  I cherish being able to wear this name tag and I love that it is getting worn and dirty.  That means I've been here a long time.

The hillside of Antofagasta.  The people paint their houses with bright colors, probably to bring some sort of color to their lives because everything around here is some shade of brown.  Brown, brown and more brown...that describes Antofagasta.

We have one Dominos pizza in this mission and it is in Antofagasta.  When it opened a year ago we all celebrated having gringo pizza available to us.  So we serve it lots...Zone Leader Counsel, nuevito days and Zone Conferences.  Last week we fed 60 missionaries pizza and breadsticks.  The people at Dominos love us but I think we love them even more.

A guilty pleasure is going to the one steak house in Antofagasta named Mu.(like moo)  The filet with the gorgonzola and bacon sauce is my favorite.  I tell myself it's healthy but I'm sure I'm eating way too many calories.  The waistline never lies.

These are our two assistants, Elder Araya and Elder Pope.  They are always happy, always serving and always willing to do what I ask.  I needed a picture of walking (word of the day) and they obliged me with this photo of walking in the desert as we drove to Copiapo.  This landscape is what we see on all of our driving through the mission.  Remember when I said brown, brown and more brown?

Leland loves to teach.  Here he is teaching at a Zone Conference in Iquique.  1 Samuel was the subject and all the missionaries furiously took notes as he taught them.  It was the best companionship study session they had ever experienced.

Chilean food isn't the best.  There aren't many dishes that I want the recipes for.  But I do enjoy a good empanada and we served the best at Zone Conference in Iquique.  Our secretary Elder Chacon offered to make rice to go with the meal.  His Columbian rice was delicious.  I need his recipe.

Valentine's Day at a Zone Conference.  It was 90 degrees in the building and we had no air conditioning.  But everyone was all smiles for photos and we survived the heat.  I couldn't wish for a better Valentine's Day.

What's in the fridge?  Whenever the local supermarket gets rootbeer or Dr. Pepper in stock I buy it all.  These drinks are sold by the can and I stock up so the missionaries can have a cold drink when they come to the mission home.  I'm known as the crazy blonde lady at the Jumbo because I buy all the drinks when they are put on the shelf.  I guess they see me coming.  Here's a hint:  order more rootbeer and Dr. Pepper!!!

Life is crazy, fun and a roller coaster.  It's random, planned and constant all at the same time.  I'm thankful for Instagram and their word of the day because it makes me photograph my life here in Chile. Now I have to go find a picture for today:  word of the day is perfect.