Change of assignment(not us) and going home!

Sometimes you never know what and when your next assignment will be.  That happened to Lance and Margie Willis. They arrived here at the Santiago Chile Temple in January for 18 months.  Or so they thought. They received a phone call from Salt Lake changing their call.  They were to return to Mesa, Arizona their home on July 1st, 2013 and then report to the Missionary Training Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 1st, 2014 for 2 years.  They have already served as mission president in Guayaquil, Ecuador South mission for 3 years in the early part of the 2000-2003 timeframe.  They were surprised and excited at the same time.  So we had a despedida for them.  A going away of sorts.

Lance and Margie Willis at their Despedida

Van, Millie, Margie and Lance Willis

Lance and Margie leaving the 4th floor at the Hospedaje on the way to the airport!

 

 

 

On the same day, our very close friend Gary Davis, returned home after some 3 years living on and off again in Chile.  It was very difficult to see him go.  But it was time and his good wife awaits him so they can move on in their lives.  It was a combined despedida with the Willis's.  Not sure why I didn't have more pictures but sometimes you get overcome by events.

Gary and Van leaving the 4th floor

Gary at the airport getting his last minute computer update done

At the despedida giving the group last minute instructions

 

 

 

 

Last Saturday at the temple was probably the hardest day this year.  There were 10 buses here from around the country and all the ordinances were full to overflowing.  Not having quite enough temple workers made the work a little harder than needed.  Millie and I came home exhausted.  But that isn't anything new.  We seem to be tired all the time!!  Monday we went to a Mexican restaurant called Lime.  It is a chain from the East Coast and just opened up here in Santiago.  It was pretty good. It was serve your own drinks with real crushed ice all you wanted.  Wow!  In Chile restaurants don't serve ice unless requested and then give you cubes and very few. So food was pretty good and we had a good time with the Turleys and Willis's.

A great week in the temple with the Calama stake

Last year in June the Calama Stake came to the temple and I was able to get to know them.  This year they came again and was great to see them.  Last September Joe and Dixie Bowler and Millie and I went to church in the Calama Norte ward where Aniceto Perez who I and Doug Pulsipher baptized attend church.  Well this year Aniceto came with the group.  It was very spiritual to participate with him in temple ordinances.  President Acuna the stake president brought 140 men, women and children to the temple.  They stayed in the Hospedaje on the second floor just below us.  We are on the 4th floor.  What makes their trip so unique is that they have to make a 3 hour plane trip to Santiago from their city.  In reality it is like a temple trip from Seattle to Phoenix, Arizona.  What further makes it unique is that young people 12-18 participating in the baptisms for the dead are pulled out of school.  President Acuna reasons that if they are going to come he wants the youth to have as much opportunity for baptisms as possible.  He had 46 youth 12-18 participate.  They did 4 hour baptisms in the morning and in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  Then on Friday morning did 1 session and flew home.  This way all the kids did 10 names in each session.  What an inspiration to us all. 

Van, Millie and Aniceto Perez

Hermano Veliz(temple worker and friend of Aniceto), Van and Aniceto

Hermano Veliz, Millie and Aniceto

People from Calama

More people from Calama

 

Counting down for Gary Davis, Perry Roberts 80th birthday and hard work at the temple

Our very close friend Gary Davis who lives about 2 blocks from the temple, is going home on July 1st probably not to return to Chile.  He has 2 church service mission calls at this time.  One in the Church Historian's office and the other with Agra Reserves a for profit arm of the church that has an olive tree farm here in Chile.  He and his wife were going to be returning to Chile this last January and serve until March of 2014.  But some health issues have kept Debbie in Lehi and Gary is now winding up their affairs here in Chile and finishing his mission work early. 

Gary, Millie and I went to the house of Susanna Orellana her daughter Eros, sister Nellye and brother in law Ariel this last Sunday for dinner.  Susanna always has food for an army and this time was no different. 
Millie adds:
We always have fun with the Orellana family.  Eros talks so fast that I finally gave up trying to understand the whole story she was telling.  We love that family a lot.  We spoke at Susanna's mothers funeral.  So it is bittersweet for Gary to say goodbye for the last time.  It will be diffucult at best for us as well in August.

Gary, Susanna, Eros, Ariel, Nellye, Millie and Van

Millie and Susanna looking at pictures on Millie's IPAD

Nellye, Gary, Eros, Ariel.  Gary organizing Eros laptop with all the picutures he has taken of their family

Millie and Susanna--she loved the IPAD

 

 

 

Gary, Susanna, and Millie at the Villa Sur Ward of the Ochagavia stake

 

 

We went to the restaurant "The Happening" in Las Condes for the 80th birthday lunch for Perry Roberts.  It was a great restaurant and food was great.  I hope I am as active as he is at 80!

Lance Willis, Frances and Perry Roberts, Van and Millie Layman and Margie Willis

 

We had a beautiful Seattle summer day for our adventure today!

 

Trip to San Jose de Maipo

We went to a little town outside of Santiago about an hour or a little more.  It was beautiful.  We had a great time with our friends Greg and Bonnie McMurdie and Doug and Sally Pulsiper.  Both are serving as missionaries in Chile East mission and Chile Concepcion mission.

An Old Wheat Silo

Doug and Sally Pulsipher

Van and Millie

The Cat store

Millie, Bonnie and Sally at church

Sally and Doug, Van and Millie, Bonnie and Greg

Doug, Van and Greg!  Both my former companions

Recycling Parade

More Parade

Our Room at the Le Petit France Hotel

Sophia practicing her English.  Never met her before

All having dinner

More Parade

Our bar maids at dinner

At Greg and Boniie's house

Tree in the Plaza

Millie in our little bus

Van in the back of the bus

Video of the parade!

Fall colors at the Santiago Chile temple May 2013

Our window view is the temple.  And right now the leaves are changing and it is so beautiful.  Here are a few pictures Millie took to show the beauty that we see each day.

Out our window

La Cisterna District 2013

The La Cisterna District was my district in the old LTM(Language Training Center) the precursor to the MTC(Missionary Training Center).  We were a group of missionaries thrown together by inspiration to learn the Spanish language and go to Chile with a couple going to Argentina.  We lived in Knight Magnum Hall on the BYU campus and had our classes there for the first 6-8 weeks.  Then we had a change and were sent to live in a motel downtown called the Imperial 400.  4 of us lived in each room with 2 to a bed.  Not exactly up to today's standards.  Then we started having our classes at a house just below campus on 7th East. 


Front 3 L-R Greg McMurdie, Sister Davis, Craig Doerr, Back Row L-R Doug Pulsipher, Jack Slade, Van Layman, Ronn Smith and Larry Austin 

This is how we looked in fall of 1968.  Now Greg McMurdie and his wife Bonnie are assigned to serve in Chile Santiago Mission in the city of San Jose de Maipo and Doug Pulsipher and his wife Sally are assigned to the Chile Concepcion mission.  So 3 of us are now serving simultaneously here in Chile.  Little did we know 45 years later we would all be serving here once again.  So this is how we look now.

Sally and Doug Pulsipher, Van and Millie Layman, Bonnie and Greg McMurdie

 





This was all of us together in San Jose de Maipo at church on last Sunday.  We had lot's of fun getting reacquainted.

 



 

Trip to La Ligua for shopping

When we got here a year ago in April we went to La Ligua shopping.  It was a good group.  This year was no exception.  What do you shop for?  Wool blankets, sweaters, scarves, shawls, etc.  They can be made out of Alpaca, baby Alpaca, etc.  You actually go to Valle Hermosa which has one street about 1 mile long lined on both sides with shops of artensans that make their own stuff in the back many of them.  So we take a taxi to the Pedro De Validvia Metro(subway) station.  Go 12 stops to the University of Santiago station which has the bus station.  We took a Tur Bus line bus.  2 hours to La Ligua.  Get off and go by colectivo taxi(4 people share) to Valle Hermosa about 4 kilometers.  We shopped for 2 hours had lunch and came back home just in time for Family Home Evening.  A long day to say the least but worth it to me. 

L-R Ardith and Art Hayden, Margie and Lance Willis, Sally and Jay Karen, Sandra Thompson and Karl Turley

Sandra Thompson and Millie on the subway

Sister Espinoza and Rina Onate eating lunch

The whole group eating lunch

Sister Onate had the national soup Cazuela.  Not my favorite!

Millie shopping in La Ligua

Would you pay to go to the bathroom here?

Millie and I at the bus

The group 2013

The group 2012

L-R front row, Rina Onate, Rudy Figueroa, Jay Karen, Sally Karen, Sister Workman, Betty Figueroa

Back Row L-R Rick and Stephanie Lee, Van and Millie Layman, Brother Workman

 

I think last year Rachel's comment was typical Senior Missionary outing.  And she is right.  We liked it so much did again this year!