Visit from Bishops

15 November 2015                                                                Valparaíso, Chile

Dear Dad,                                         

Sorry to miss writing you last week, but we were “on vacation”.  We took a much-needed break to be with Angie and Darin and Gavin (9 yr).  Loved every minute of our time with them.  Here is a brief account of our adventures:

-Sun:  Just after our 10 am Sacrament Meeting we caught a bus to Santiago and met the Bishops at their hotel where they were resting after being “on the road” for 21 hours – including flying to San Francisco to drop off their two youngest, Ellie and Greyson with Brett and Kristi-Lynn.

-Mon:  Took the Metro to city center to see La Moneda, Plaza de Armas, etc.

Found all the museums to be closed on Mondays.  We enjoyed riding the Santiago Metro and used our bip card again.

Darin had previously booked a private, English-speaking tour of the city, including San Cristóbal Hill and parts below.

We found out that Santiago’s “tallest building in South America” has been unoccupied since it was completed 2 or 3 years ago (awaiting street upgrades to accommodate the 3,000 people who are expected to work there…), but it is a very impressive addition to the Sanhattan (Santiago—Manhattan) financial district.

-Tues:  AM bus trip to Valpo – where we were “greeted” with a drawn-out protest by the local fishermen who were marching/blocking the two main streets of town.  That PM spent in Viña del Mar and a bus ride up the coast 6 or 7 miles to Concón. Enjoyed the blue water, white waves and foam from water dashing upon the rocks.  Walked the Viña boardwalk. Home very tired, but happy with the day.

-Wed:  Sights and sounds (and hills) of Valpo.

Two highlights were a tour of Pablo Neruda’s Valpo house, “La Sebastiana” (he was a Chilean who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971).  He furnished it from antique shops and acquisitions from around the world in the 60’s, and it was strange to realize how “old” the 60’s seemed to Carol and me.  Highlight #2 was a “tour” of Valpo history – all set in a restored house built by the guy who later founded Viña.

-Thurs:  AM tours of Cementerio 1 and Playa Ancha to show our work environs.  The Bishops thought the lunchroom looked pretty interesting, but we couldn’t stay for lunch.  Barely had time to see Sea Lion Rock (we actually saw a big one “jump” 4-5 feet and drag itself onto the old concrete pier “rock”.

Then in early PM we put them onto a bus to the airport – headed for four days on Easter Island.  Those guys know how to vacation!

We took a last trip in to Santiago to meet Darin, Angie and Gavin after they returned from Easter Island and toured two museums, ate a typical corn pie and went to a beautiful bldg that now is a fish market and then to see the workshops of artisans at Los Dominicos....

Happy Birthday, Patricia

Dear Patty,

FORTY?  When did that happen??  Let’s see, if you are 40, then that would make us, …!!  Oh well, we won’t go there!  It is a beautiful night here in Chile, but we are missing family tonight as we think of your birthday tomorrow.  We love you, Patty!!!

  

You are a sweetheart and have the kindest heart and the bluest of eyes.  We are thinking of little Hunter who we haven’t hugged yet, and the missing of events –

most recently of Aaron’s baptism.  But it is all OK.  We’ll be home before we know it!  And in the meantime, please have a super birthday celebration.  Thanks for your good life.  Thanks for your example.  Thanks!  We love you.

We look forward to seeing the Bishops – at least three of them in less than a week.  Recently, it was especially fun to see the pictures taken of the reunion in St. George.  That hike at Zion National Park was quite a tough looking one – somewhat of a “type” of  this mortal life….

 

Here are some quotes from President Uchtdorf’s talk:

The Gospel is Simple!!!

Exaltation is our goal; discipleship is our journey.

As you exercise a little faith and begin your walk

as a peaceable follower of our Lord Jesus Christ,

your heart will change.

 

 Your whole being will be filled with light.

 Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

God will help you become something greater than you ever thought possible.

And you will discover that the gospel of Jesus Christ

is indeed working in your life.

  

It works.

… our Heavenly Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can become.

He sees us as His sons and daughters, as beings of eternal light with everlasting potential and with a divine destiny.”

“It Works Wonderfully!”, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, General Conference October 2015

A few quotes from Elder Clark’s talk:

Whatever level of spirituality or faith or obedience we now have, it will not be sufficient for the work that lies ahead.

We need greater spiritual light and power. We need eyes to see more clearly the Savior working in our lives and ears to hear His voice more deeply in our hearts....

We do not have to be perfect,

but we need to be good and getting better....

“Eyes to See and Ears to Hear”, Elder Kim B. Clark, Of the Seventy, General Conference October 2015

And what you already know AND do,  from Elder Scott:
If you want your children to recognize, understand, and act on the promptings of the Spirit, you must study the scriptures with them.

"Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority", Elder Richard G. Scott, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles General Conference October 2015.

Happy Birthday, Clark

Dear Clark,

You are going to Kindergarten already, and now you are 6!

 We hope you have a great Birthday.  You will probably be eating some cake, too.  Right?  Hey Clark, you know what? – You are going to really like being 6 for this whole next year.  We remember when we were 6, and it is lots of fun.  …So when it is not your birthday – like tomorrow, or next week or next month – what do you do on a regular day?  We remember going to the park with you.  Do you still like to climb as much as you used to?

Have you been on any good hikes lately?  Seen any good movies?  Are Legos fun to build?...

So, here is what we do every day.  We ride the bus to the cemetery.  Last Friday, as we just arrived at the bus stop, our bus pulled away.  We would have to wait for about 15 minutes.  Then one of our “regular” drivers comes barreling down the street, as if he was going to pass up the whole stop.  They do this sometimes when they are jam-packed full.  Then he slammed on his brakes and stopped about 100 feet past us.  Four of us went down to where he stopped.  He signaled a “NO” to the other two and signaled us “ON”.

So, we hopped on.  Then he raced ahead full steam and we were the only ones on the bus!  He took our bus fare but did not give us a ticket and explained:  his car wouldn’t start that morning and he arrived late so he had to race across town with an empty bus to start from the other end on time.  You can’t imagine the ride we had that morning – driving in the middle lane/passing up passengers/running yellow lights (they hardly ever do that, amazingly)…!  And to top it all off, he took us via the coast for the last several miles, circling around his regular in-town route.  Wow! …fastest and least crowded ride ever!!

The mint man looks for us at one certain stop.

He is retarded, and everyone goes out of the way to help him.  He is out there doing all he can to support himself.  He is a good worker, and he always practices his few English words on us!  He says, “Goodbye.  I will see you tomorrow.”

When we get to the cemetery, I climb the ladder to get down the book we will need.

I dust it off and we begin to take pictures of EACH page.  On the computer it shows our pages.  Here is where we just started and are on page 6.

This one ended up to be 2713 pages.  That means we took 2713 pictures for that book.  It took about four days to do it.  Other books are cleaner and only 500 to 800 pages.  We do those in only one day.

So, Clark; do you still want to be a teacher?  If you do, that’s great.

Jesus was a teacher.  He taught by telling stories.

 

We have a story for you to tell your family.  We remember how you like books and like to tell stories.

This story is about a boy who had a brother named Kent.  Imagine that you are the boy, and Logan is Kent.   Here is how the story goes:

In the story, you are afraid – and Logan would not wake up to help you feel better.  And then “… I had an idea! On the dresser by my bed was a picture of Jesus that I had gotten in Primary. Slowly I reached out and propped up the picture. The light from our nightlight seemed to make the words at the bottom of the picture glow:  ‘I am the way. Come and follow me’.  [Then]… I rolled onto my side so that I could see the picture and read those words again and again.

I looked at Jesus’s hands and thought about how He blessed little children.

My stomach stopped flip-flopping.  I looked at Jesus’s feet and thought about how He went to find people who needed help.  My heart stopped thump-thumping.  I looked at Jesus’s face and thought about how He knew my name.”

"Jesus at My Bedside", Craig Harmon and Marissa Widdison    (Based on a true Story)     Friend, December 2010

“Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).

Poem: Near to Jesus

How can I feel near

To Jesus each day?

By reading the scriptures

And kneeling to pray.

How can I serve Him?

That’s easy to see--

By doing kind things for

My dear family.

How does it feel when

His Spirit is near?

I feel peaceful and calm,

With faith and not fear.

How can I show Him

That I love Him too?

I try to be like Him

In all that I do.

By Barbara Wren Tuttle

It is wonderful that Jesus and our Heavenly Father know our name.  It is wonderful that somehow Heavenly Father can hear every prayer in the whole world.  They love you  and we love you too!

Happy Birthday, Ellie

Dear Ellie,

We can’t believe that you are now 6!   

You are a sweet and most wondrous 6!!!

Have a fun day today.  We love you.

Grandpa and I want you to know that you have taught us of the “good, bright, hopeful things of life” and of “the wonder of being alive.”

 

It is Spring here and the peach blossoms are out and we have many avocado trees

We have just found out that avocados are really a berry that grows on trees.  We learned that (and about fig trees) from Ana (91 years old) as we walked her home from church.  We walk up a steep street and down a steep street and around a steep curve and she would point her cane to the peach blossoms, the fig growing and the arbol de palto with the palta (avocado) now growing.  She has a Christmas cactus blooming that she started from a small sprout.  With her cane she tried to knock down a geranium start growing on a high wall so she could take it home.  She taught us of the wonders of the world too! 

The figs and the avocados are growing

The ice cream men hop onto the buses at the stops and try to sell their chirimoya ice cream bars - which we haven’t tried yet, but many people choose it over the other choices.

They say the chirimoya doesn't taste very good if you eat it plain,

 

 And a member in our ward is selling lúcumas (from a tree in her yard), which are also used to make desserts.

 In this October General Conference, President Uchtdorf told a story about an 11year-old girl named Eva who spent the summer with her Great-Aunt Rose.   Eva did not want to go, but then she was glad she did. 

This is what Eva learned from her Great-Aunt:

It is fun to read your scriptures out loud, and her Great-Aunt Rose when she read them “…sometimes made comments like ‘Oh, he shouldn’t have done that!’ or ‘What wouldn’t I give to have been there!’ or ‘Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard!’ ”

Great-Aunt Rose knew Heavenly Father “as a friend.”

And every evening as the two of them knelt by Eva’s bed to pray, Great-Aunt Rose would say the most beautiful prayers, thanking her Heavenly Father for the blue jays and the spruce trees, the sunsets and the stars, and the “wonder of being alive.”

The daisies are saying their prayers when we go to work in the morning

And when we come home, they say "welcome home"

   

Grandma likes to "snap" the snapdragons and is amazed that everywhere lilies grow

The nasturtiums flourish on the sides of hills and we don't know the name of this little bell flower

This "helicopter" tree was at the Temple in Santiago as also these beautiful shrubs

To be happy!!!  Her Great-Aunt had a picture on her wall that she gave Eva when Eva was older which showed a happy girl (wearing a pioneer hat skipping along a path).  It reminded her of the trials the pioneers endured and who said,  “but with joy wend your way….”

  

President Uchtdorf said, “God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy!  So if we trust Him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life. And sure enough, the world will become brighter.  When we love God, we want to serve Him. We want to be like Him. When we love our neighbors, we stop thinking so much about our own problems and help others to solve theirs.”

Happy Ellie and her new haircut

Great-Aunt Rose taught Eva about Faith, Hope and Love.  

President Uchtdorf  said in his talk, “As you walk along your own bright path of discipleship, I pray that faith will fortify every footstep along your way; that hope will open your eyes to the glories Heavenly Father has in store for you; and that love for God and all His children will fill your hearts.”   "A Summer with Great-Aunt Rose", President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency General Conf October 2015

We are so blessed to have such wonderful children and grandchildren.  We are so blessed to have the Gospel in our lives.

...thou shalt be like a watered garden,

 and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11