Feliz Navidad en Chile

It has been a wonderful sunny green Christmas weekend, beginning with an all-day trip by bus to Isla Negra to visit the wild beautiful coast south of Santiago and the last major home (the others in Santiago and Valparaiso) of Nobel Prize winner poet Pablo Neruda, bought in 1938, renovated and added onto until 1965. He is buried on the cliff overlooking the Pacific with his third wife Matilde, whom he married in 1966. It is filled with his collections of bottles, ship mastheads, shells, and much more. He was a great host, very social, and also a political figure in Chile, until he died of cancer in 1973. In his poems he especially expresses his love of the sea and all nature and our human emotions.

Fish symbols everywhere and delicious fish for lunch overlooking the sea

Christmas Day spent with the young missionaries

We spent Christmas eve with senior missionaries and Christmas day together with the young mission training center missionary elders and sister, most of whom are spending their first Christmas away from their homes in Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, the USA. President and Sister Brady (or el Viejito pascuale or Santa Claus) gave all the young missionaries Chile caps and chocolate bars. They looked forward to calling home today. We enjoyed a morning devotional in the chapel and an evening broadcast from Provo Mission Training Center to all the MTC's in the world. Elder Neil and Sister Kathy Andersen spoke and shared their family's Christmas with us. He reminded them to trust, to take a leap of faith, that their missions might be difficult but most fulfilling as they testify that Christ lives, that He is our Savior and Redeemer. He quoted some advice: "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed." I am grateful to be here, too, about His business, though in the temple.

Senior Sisters Schultz, Atkins, Umber, Edwards helping with pancake breakfast

Part of the nativity in front of Santiago church office building by the temple. Everything is conveniently located here in this beautiful part of Santiago, a city of 3.7 million (?)

Elder Almeida in his new cap. He played the piano for the devotional, which we all enjoyed.

Wonderful Latin American sisters will stay three weeks in training before going out to serve for 18 months throughout Chile. Most are 19 or 20. Elders are 18+ years.

Almost Christmas

Santiago Temple

In this Valparaiso cemetery (Protestant) is buried the infant son, Omner, of Parley P Pratt when he came as an LDS apostle to open missionary work in Latin America in 1851, There is a large plaque on the wall.

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Valparaiso
Valparaiso is one of hometowns of poet Pablo Neruda (and his friends). 
Sister Edwards and I spent a day in Valparaiso wandering the hilly streets, taking tram up the rocky cliffs, admiring or at least enjoying the crazy street art, narrow, steep steps, street dogs, searching for things we could or couldn't find among the maze of small winding streets.

 This colorful street with street dogs in the shade is topped by "We are not hippies but happies!" Like most streets there are steep steps, street art of every color and design. The ballast of ships in this old and huge port to the west of Santiago, was ground into adobe and plastered onto the buildings and painted over and over. There are trams/ funiculars to ascend the tallest hills. Very rocky, narrow steps and roads wind up and down.
 Typical colorful street in Valparaiso, founded about 1530 by Spaniard, but really settled and expanded by families of sailors in the 1800-1900's. It is a world heritage site, and is just south and connected to Vina del Mar, a lovely seaside city. Sister Edwards and I spent about 6 hours enjoying just roaming around.

Part of a large mural depicting every part of Chile, the longest and perhaps most diverse country in the world.

The beautiful building at the top is the Baburizza home, now the fine arts museum

In this cemetery (Protestant) is buried the infant son, Omner, of Parley P Pratt when he came as an LDS apostle to open missionary work in Latin America in 1851, There is a large plaque on the wall.

Looking towards Vina del Mar and the new part of Valparaiso.

The bus ride from Santiago to Valparaiso takes about 80 minutes

Almost Christmas in Chile albeit summer!

a cultural center near the temple

Walking to the tallest building in South America, the Costanera with large shopping center. The streets around our neighborhood are wide, clean and shaded with a canopy of tall trees. Everyone uses these carts when shopping, especially as we walk or ride the bus.

The Poulsens (far right and far left) invited our afternoon shift (3:15-10) for dinner on Sunday. Sisters Umber and Edwards, the Muntzings, the Hurleys (new also)

I was privileged and pleased to help recent Haitian immigrants Jean Marc and Rose Almeida with her temple endowment and their sealing on my first day. I think I was put here as I was the only one there who was able to help them in French!

What a different climate for Christmas! Everyone is bustling around buying, wrapping, wishing Feliz Navidad! I am just trying to adapt to a new time zone and summer heat, figure out how to use a toaster oven to bake cookies, a tiny hot plate to cook spaghetti sauce, the right adapters to charge my electronics, learn the bus and metro (excellent) routes, but I already love it here! I am surrounded by new friends and places and love. I feel very blessed to serve in the Lord's beautiful temple here, to have a deep testimony that God loves and cares for each of his children, and has given us this special time of year to be grateful for life itself and for all those people and things we hold dear.

Salt Lake to Santiago, Chile

After wonderful training in the Salt Lake Temple for three days and the chance to visit with family, we spent about 14 hours flying to the bottom of the world. We almost missed our flight when our Skylift train in Dallas broke down with us high above the airport. We had to be rescued! I am tired but excited to be in Santiago and  settling in to my small apartment on the first floor of the hostal next to the temple. Everyone has been warmly welcoming and eager to orient Sister Alma Umber from Payson, Utah. There are 6 fun senior missionary couples and soon to be only us two sisters. 

Sister Umber is a nurse and served as a young missionary in Ecuador so we have lots to talk about

What a contrast to the Salt Lake Temple but every bit as sacred in purpose, though modern temples are built quickly, with machinery, not requiring the 40 years in construction (39 on granite exterior and an amazing 1 year on the lovely interior) and great human sacrifice of the beautiful SL Temple.

The temple is in north Santiago in a suburb called Providencia

We are in front of the building where temple missionaries, temple presidency, Mission Training Center missionaries and their leaders live, as well as patrons who come from a distance to attend the temple.

View from the fourth floor of the hostal where we had a delicious dinner at the apartment of the Isaacsons and met some of the great senior missionaries. This afternoon Sister Venice Edwards Who unfortunately is finishing her mission, gave us a tour of the temple, lots of information and help getting settled, introduced us to many very warm and friendly people, so we are off to a great start. Counselor to the President Hermano Castro "set us apart" to serve in this small temple, the first and only temple in Chile, until the Concepcion Temple is finished in 2018.

Training at Salt Lake Temple

Salt Lake Temple training and visit

I started my temple training today in the temple with fantastic and inspiring teachers. I joined with other senior temple missionaries from North America going to Hong Kong, Sweden, Uruguay, Ukraine, Chile, Brazil, Nauvoo. I met the other single sister going to Chile. Sister Umber is a nurse, served as a young missionary in Ecuador and is very nice. It is going to be a wonderful mission and what better way to celebrate Christmas than in the service of the Savior. I am so blessed to have the opportunity. Two more days of training, then a long flight to Santiago, leaving Friday afternoon, arriving Saturday morning. I am grateful to be able to spend time with daughter Julie and son Peter and their families here before I leave.
With much love and Merry Christmas, Hermana Miriam, as my new name tag states!

for more photos, click on link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8vNSjKIAUFCPDNht1

Here I am in Salt Lake City

Clyde and Donna Pendleton

Gail Schubert, JoAnn Steiger, Karen Bradshaw

Grace and Dave Downer

Randy Feriante, Peter and Leanne Giles, Nanci and Darryl Thomander

Jean Gong and Deanne Welch

Marguerite Hancock, and Charliss Feriante

Rusty Hancock accompanied our singing of carols

Giles girls: Sara, Leanne and Afton (with Kimber's Norah)

Andrea Miner, Miriam, Julia Jacobsen, Monajo Ells

After a few frenzied days of cleaning, selling my car, visiting with friends, everything is now in order at home, and I have arrived at the Radisson Hotel near the Salt Lake Temple where I will spend 3 days in training for my mission in the Santiago, Chile Temple. I am blessed to have so many great friends to say good-bye to at a dinner at the Thomanders' festive home Sunday evening. We sang "Till we meet again." Eighteen months will fly by, I'm sure.

Sunday I was set apart with a beautiful blessing and counsel by my Stake President Dow Wilson (right) assisted by my Bishop Todd Miner (who has tried hard to teach me how to create this blog). I am now officially a missionary!



Marguerite Hancock, Miriam and Krys Corbett

Thanksgiving 2017

Ming Lu de Schweinitz

Cordelia de Schweinitz

Thanksgiving 2017 


It was wonderful to have three of my children and seven grandchildren with me this past week to celebrate Thanksgiving. We hiked in the foothills, spent a beautiful warm day at the beach and visited lovely Carmel Mission, played and talked. There were 34 of us (my siblings, cousins, children, grandchildren, and friends) squeezed into my home for a bountiful and delicious Thanksgiving dinner and lots of singing afterwards. Friday we gathered at my brother Roy's home in the Oakland hills for more eating, playing and talking. Sunday I gave a farewell talk at church and opened my home in the evening to friends and family for a party. I will take these sweet memories with me to Chile. How blessed I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. Now I am down to the hard work of cleaning, packing up the house and suitcases, saying more good-byes and making last minute arrangements.

Coco, Julie, and Taffy Carlston

Salt Lake Temple at Christmas