Thursday, July 30, 2015

Oposición Emparejado

Queridos Elderes y Hermanas

Sé que muchos de ustedes constantemente están pidiendo que el Presidente Bruce escriba un nuevo volume de Camina Conmigo, pero déjenme decirles que él está tan ocupado tratando de comenzar su nueva compañía con su socio que está trabajando todo el tiempo! Pero no teman! Esa línea siempre me recuerda a la 3° estrofa del himno #40 Que firmes cimientos: ‘’Pues ya no temais, y escudo seré’’ …lo siento, me desvié un por un momento...

Esto no es un Camina Conmigo Hermana Bruce! Pero soy yo la que escribo porque sentí la impression de compartir  algunas ideas que el Presidente Bruce ha compartido conmigo en los últimos días sobre el tema que está muy popular en Estados Unidos ahora. La semana pasada  la corte suprema de los estados Unidos falló en favor de la legalización del matrimonio del mismo sexo en todos de los 50 estados. Al hacer esto ha removido completamente el proceso democratico  bajo el cual vivimos , desatentiendo la constitución de los Estados Unidos y pasando la legislación del gobierno por sobre todos los ciudadanos de los estados unidos a que acepten el matrimonio del mismo sexo, siendo que el segmento de esa población es de un 5% de los cuidadanos pero es más cercano al 2%. Pensé en las palabras de Alma en el libro de Mosíah que dicen ''Ahora Bien, no es cosa común que la voz del pueblo desee algo que sea contrario a lo que es justo; pero si es común que la parte menor del pueblo desee lo que no es justo...(Mos 29:26)'' lo siento de nuevo, me desvié pero me parece que una población menor que el 5% califica como la ''menor'' parte del pueblo...

Estaba tan consternada (de nuevo canto el himno que firmes cimientos) que quise obtener el punto de vista del Presidente en esto y luego pensé que podría escribir algunos de sus comentarios de una conversación que tuve con él sobre esta nueva ''ley'' que fue votada por la corte suprema y no po la ''voz del pueblo''... por lo que mejor recuerdo, aqui está lo que él dijo...

Mi primera pregunta fue: Por qué hay tantos Mormones jóvenes aceptando esta nueva ley? Que no entienden que el Señor a travez de sus profetas nos ha dado la proclamación de la familia?

El presidente respondió: a menudo en la vida (especialmente los mormones por nuestro estilo de vida único y obediente) buscamos ''acepctación'' de otros. Piense en como en la visión de Lehí en el árbol de la vida donde él vio a ''otros'' que se adelantaban, y llegaron y se asieron del extremo de la barra de hierro (miembros de la iglesia) y participaron del fruto del árbol. Pero después, a causa del orgullo y sabidruría del mundo, miraron en derredor de ellos, como si se hallasen avergonzados, vieron el gran y espacioso edificio al otro lado del río lleno de ''gente popular'' que se burlaban y mofaban y los pauntaban con el dedo porque habían participado del fruto. Muchos de ellos se perdieron en 1Nefi 8, pero luego Presidente compartió conmigo algunos versiculos en los capitulos 11 y 12 que realmente nunca había correlacionado con el capitulo 8, en 1 Nefi 11:35 dice: y estaban reunidas las multitudes de la tierra; y vi que se hallaban en un vasto y espacioso edificio, semejante al que mi padre vio... He aquí el mundo y su sabiduría...'' presidente comenzó a decir que las personas y a menudo lo miembros de la iglesia, buscan la aceptación de otros más que la aceptación de Dios y están dispuestos a unirse con los coros populares que el mundo nos hace creer. En el capítulo 12, versículo 17 dice ''  y los vapores de tinieblas son las tentaciones del diablo que ciegan los ojos y enduerecen el corazón de los hijjos de los hombres, y los conducen hacia caminos anchos, de modo que perecen y se pierden''... luego en el versiculo 18 dice: '' y el vasto y espacioso edificio que tu padre vio representa las vanas ilusiones y el orgullo de los hijos de los hombres...'' le dije al Presidente. '' sé todo esto, pero cómo tiene sentido? Él comenzó la lectura acerca de como yo necesito incrementar mi visión... han escuchado eso antes? Pero luego él dijo ''  tienes que buscar más profundo en la revelación... el Señor ''divide cosas''. Le dije ¿De qué estás hablando????? Él dijo,''mira la división entre el árbol de la vida y el gran y espacioso edificio. Entre medio hay un rio de inmundicia(el cual,por cierto debe ser cruzado para llegar al edificio) y un vapor de tinieblas''. Luego él me citó 1 Nefi 15:30 que dice: ''...la justiciade Dios separaba a los malos de los justos; y su resplandor era como el de una llama de fuego...'' Él también me dijo que mis intentos en coercer a la gente a aceptar mi punto de vista sobre el matrimonio del mismo sexo era fuerte por dos razones: 1- primero que todo, la coerción es una táctica del adversario... él no permite la libertad de elección ni la habilidad de actuar en doctrina como lo dijo el Elder Bednar. Sino que nos ''forza'' o nos ''restringe'' o como el Presidente dice nos ''coerce'' (obliga) a actuar de una cierta manera. Incluso a travez de muchos proponentes del matrimonio del mismo sexo que demandan e incluso intentan coercerme hacia su forma de pensar progresivamente ''ilustrando'' de acuerdo a ellos, este sólo acto de coerción sea en su propio beneficio o el mio, es del adversario.

La segunda razón que el Presidente me dio fue el hecho humano que la lógica y la razón nunca podrá sobre ponerse a las emociones. Incluso a travez de la lógica y el razonamiento tiene sentido que un hombre y una mujer estén casados, pero una persona que emocionalmente se sienta atraída por su mismo sexo nunca será persuadido hacia mi lógica porque sus emociones se sobreponen a la lógica en cada y toda instancia. Yo creo que el Presidente tiene razón!

Mi segunda pregunta fue: ''entonces tú hablas sobre cómo el señor divide a su pueblo, estás diciendo que Dios nos está dividiendo? Él me miró como si yo nunca leyera las escrituras! Él dijo ''Ve a buscar mi biblia y leamos el primer libro de Genesis '' yo dije '' Hey, tengo mis derechos!'' Él dijo ''ves estás empezando a entender...'' entonces traje la biblia...

Presidente respondió: ''empezaremos a leer el primer capítulo de Génesis'' y me preguntó ''cuál es el primer hecho que el Señor completa?'' y le dije ''Él creó la luz'' lo que por cierto es correcto. Pero luego Presidente dijo, ''si, él creó la luz pero después que la ''vio'' y dijo que era ''buena'' qué hizo con ella?'' El versículo dice '' y separó Dios la luz de las tinieblas''. Dios divide cosas.... Él luego dijo:Y dijo Dios: Haya un firmamento en medio de las aguas, y separe aquél las aguas de las aguas.'' Dios divide cosas... en los siguientes versículos. Dios ''Junta'' ''separa'' y ''lleva a cabo'' la creación del mundo.En el versículo 14 dice:''Haya lumbreras en el firmamento de los cielos para separar el día de la noche...'' Le dije al Presidente,''estás diciendo que el señor está tratando de separarnos? ÉL dijo '' no saltes a una conclusion todavía'' estoy diciendo que Dios separa cosas, bien y mal, Dia y Noche, tierra y agua, estrellas y planetas'' y luego dijo '' bien, pero semejantes a Diose división, qué separa Dios? Hombre y Mujer. Opuestos, si,tal como el bien del mal, el día y la noche,tierra del agua, la luna y el sol, el planeta Tierra de las estrellas, Hombre y mujer van uno con otro, están relacionados uno con otro,interectúan juntos. Y si, después de ver sus craciones no sólo dijo que era ''bueno'' si no que también en el versículo 31 dice ''bueno en gran manera''. Hmmmm tal vez él sepa algo? Presidente después sigió diciendo que  hubo otra división en el jardín de Edén... Pueden adivinar qué fue? En uno de los lados del jardín de Edén se situó el árbol de la vida, y en otro lado estaba el árbol de la ciencia del bien y el mal. ÉL me dijo''el fruto deseable del árbol de la ciencia del bien y del mal provenía del MISMO árbol!''nunca me había dado cuenta de eso! El mismo árbol contenía el maravilloso fruto ambos del conocimiento del bien y el mal. Presidente dijo ''ves que incluso en la iglesia hay una separación!Todos nosotros simbólicamente en el mismo árbol pero representamos ambos bien y mal. Él siguió diciendo (y sé que ustedes han oído esto un millón de veces) que tengo que expandir mi visión! Él dijo que el señor en su infinita sabiduría separa las cosas para ofrecer elección, oposición, o en las palabras del Presidente ''oposición emparejada'' Él dijo, ''piensa sobre esto... el Salvador y el adversario, hombre y mujer, luz y oscuridad, negro y blanco, y podemos seguir para siempre!'' entonces le dije, ''Oh, eso es interesante porque todos en facebook están diciendo en cuan maravilloso es que ahora la corte suprema nos ha dado una ''elección'' al permitirnos casarnos con quien sea que queramos y que ahora podemos ejercer nuestro albedrío''. Presidente me miró disgustado y dijo, ''Esta decisión o ''elección'' como le llaman no tiene nada que ver con el ''albedrío''. Le dije ''todos lo dicen como si todo tuviera que ver con ejercer su albedrío!'' Presidente dijo, ''están equivocados y no entienden los principio del Albedrío''... pienso y supongo que yo tampoco porque caí en la misma trampa! Ahora no tengo el tiempo para compartir con  ustedes toda la doctrina que él me enseñó, y no quiero escribir todo eso abajo! Pero él me enseñó que el último acto de ejerción del albvedrío fue hecho en el reino premortal antes de que llegaramos a esta existencia mortal. El simple hecho de que ustedes y yo tengamos cuerpos de carne y hueso es un símbolo del albedrió que ejercimos al seguir a Cristo y su plan antes de que vinieramos a esta tierra! Él dijo ''no ejercemos el Albedrío aqui en la existencia Mortal,ya tomamos la decisión de seguir al Salvador. La única decisión que hacemos diariamente es en base a seguirlo''! Dejaré que él les enseñe sobre el Albedrío en otro volumen de Camina Conmigo!

Mi tercera y última pregunta al Presidente fue esta ''entonces quién está en lo correcto?'' Ahora se nos está pidiendo que sigamos ''la ley'' de la tierra y permitir que la gente del mismo género se le permita ''casarse'' (a pesar de que no es constitucional, según uno de los juez proponentes de la Suprema Corte que votaron a favor de matrimonio del mismo sexo) pero creo que el matrimonio es una relación divina instituída por Dios entre un hombre y una Mujer''.

El Presidente respondió: Claro que piensas de esa forma! También yo! Pero sólo porque nosotros pensemos que estamos bien, no podemos asumir que los proponentes que marginan nuestra opinión están equivocados. Él siguió diciendo: ''todo lo que tengo,todo lo que amo,todo por lo que me esfuerzo,todo lo que disfruto,todo lo que busco en la vida se basa sobre un ''contraste''. O en otras palabras, me esfuerzo,amo,disfruto te busco (hermana Bruce) por el ''contraste'' o en otras palabras la ''alternativa'' no me es atractiva''. El Presidente luego compartió conmigo que unos pocos jóvenes hombres y mujeres que él entrevistó hace años le dijieron a él sobre su atracción hacia personas de su mismo sexo y que estuvo muy preocupado de corazón y compasivo por aquellos que luchan contra ese Demonio. Le dije ''Si, pero ese es parte del problema.... Recién llamaste a la atracción del mismo sexo un ''demonio'' pero el mundo me haría creer que eso es ''normal''!. Entonces siguió diciendo que TODOS nosotros luchamos con demonios! Has pensado en eso? TODOS tienen demonios con los que peliamos basicamente dia a día sean estos la pornografía, palabra de sabiduría, flojera, obediencia del día de reposo u otras formas de desobediencia. Él me enseñó que ''luchamos'' con demonios porque cada uno de nosotros ya ejercimos nuestro albedrío en seguir a Cristo y anhelamos estar con Dios ya sea que nos demos cuenta o no. asi nos esforzamos,peliamos o nos inquietamos por el pecado, Es el poder de la expiación lo que nos impulsa hacia la deidad de atraves de la luz de Cristo.    Cuantos de ustedes quieren este tema en la conferencia de zona!!!!!

Él luego me dijo que lo que la corte suprema dictó fue constitucionalmente irracional y doctrinalmente incorrecto. Pero  me advirtió que el imponer mi posición del matrimonio tradicional por sobre los que proponen el matrimonio del mismo sexo caería en oídos sordos y sería una forma de coerción que seguiría el plan del adversario. Él dijo, ''Debemos enseñar la doctrina correcta sobre los valores familiares, estadisticas familiares y vidas futuras... que serán para el convencimiento del hombre,no súplicas apasionadas de la división y mandatos de escrituras'' Él también dijo esto, que tiene mucho sentido para mi.... ''De qué manera el señor conduce a los hombres hacia él? Él luego me dio una opción: ''¿es a travez de su  victoriosa resurrección o su sufrimiento y agonía en el jardín y sobre la cruz?'' le dije ''Es su agonía y sufrimiento lo que nos acerca a él''. Él dijo,'' Exacto. Dios conduce a los hombres al cielo por longanimidad, bondad, mansedumbre, amor sincero,amabilidad, y conocimiento puross, and pure knowledge. Su vulnerabilidad y su dolor fueron el precio su amor, pero un gozo inefable es nuestra recompenza''. ÉL dijo'' he sido testigo del sufrimiento y e dolor de los jóvenes que sufren con la atracción de personas de su mismo sexo y esto me llevó a su dificil situación y vulnerabilidad. Desafortunadamente con la victoria también viene la responsabilidad y también traerá con esto la necesidad de crear nuevo sufrimiento, nuevas situaciones dificiles, nueva vulnerabilidad con el fin de mantener la relevancia y conducir a las masas a a la causa''

Le contesté al Presidente, '' no tengo ni idea de qué hacer.. estoy tan confundida!''

Él dijo ''lee el libro de Mormon''...

Monday, June 29, 2015

Paired Opposition

Dear Elders and Sisters

I know that many of you are constantly asking President Bruce to write a new volume of Camina Conmigo, but I have to tell you that he is so busy trying to start up his new company with his partners that he is working all of the time!  But do not be dismayed!  That line actually reminds me of the 3rd verse of How Firm a Foundation:  “Fear not I am with thee, be not dismayed”…..  Sorry, I got side tracked there for second…

This is not a Sister Bruce Camina Conmigo!  But I am the one writing it because I felt impressed to share with you some of the ideas that President has shared with me over the past few days on a topic that is very popular in the United States right now.  This past week the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of legalizing Same-Sex marriage in all 50 of the States.  By doing so, they have completely removed the democratic process under which we live, disregarded the Constitution of the United States, and passed government legislation upon all of the citizens of the United States to accept Same Sex Marriage which is a segment of our population that at the best is 5% or our citizens but more likely around 2%.  I thought of Alma’s words in the book of Mosiah that say:  “Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything that is contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right…..”.  Sorry, again I got sidetracked but it seems to me that a population of less than 5% would qualify for the “lesser” part of the people…

I have been so dismayed (again sing the song How Firm a Foundation) that I wanted to get the President’s view point on this and then I thought I would write down some of his comments in a conversation that I had with him about this new “law” that was voted by the Supreme Court and not by the “voice of the people”..  Here is what he said as best I remember….

My first question was:  Why are so many young Mormon’s so accepting of this new law?  Don’t they understand that the Lord through his Prophets have provided us the Proclamation on the Family?

President Response:  Oftentimes in life we (especially Mormon’s because of our unique and obedient lifestyle) seek “acceptance” of others.  Think about Lehi’s Tree of Life vision where he saw “others” pressing forward that actually caught hold of the rod of iron (members of the church) and partook of the fruit of the tree.  But afterwards, because of the pride and wisdom of the world, they did cast their eyes as if they were ashamed.  They saw the great and spacious building on the other side of the river filled with all manner of “popular people” that were mocking them and pointing their finger at them because they had partaken of the fruit.  Many of them were lost in Chapter 8 of First Nephi but then President shared with me a few versus in Chapters 11 and 12 that I never really connected to chapter 8.  In chapter 11 verse  35 it says “and the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw…. Behold the world and the wisdom thereof”…..  President went on to say that people and oftentimes members of the church, seek acceptance by others more than acceptance by God and thus are willing to join in with the populous chorus that the world would have us to believe.  In chapter 12 it says in verse 17:  “the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost”.  Then in verse 18 it says:  “and the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is the vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men”…  I said to President, “I know all this, so how does it make sense”?  He started to lecture me about how I need to increase my vision…  have you heard that before?  But then he said “you have to look deeper into the revelation…  the Lord “divides” things”.  I said, “What are you talking about”????  He said, “look at the division between the Tree of Life and the Great and Spacious building.  In between is a river of filthiness (which must be crossed by the way to get to the building) and mists of darkness”.  He then quoted to me 1 Nephi 15:30 that says:  “the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire”.  He also said that my attempts to coerce people to accept my point of view on Same Sex Marriage was wrong for two reasons:  1. First of all coercion is a tactic of the adversary….  He does not allow freedom of choice or the ability to act in doctrine as Elder Bednar teaches us.  But rather he “forces” us or “constrains” us or as President says, “coerces” us to act in a certain way.  Even though many proponents of Same Sex Marriage demand and in fact attempt to coerce me into their way of thinking and progressive “enlightenment” according to them, this very act of coercion whether on their behalf or mine, is of the adversary.  The second reason that President gave me was the human fact that logic and reason can never overpower emotion.  Even though logically and reasonably it makes sense that a Man and a Woman are married, a person with an emotional appeal to Same Sex Marriage will never be persuaded toward my logical thinking because emotion overtakes logic in each and every instance.  I think he is right!

My second question was:  “So you talk about how the Lord divides his people, are you saying that God is dividing us”?  He looked at me as if I had never read the scriptures!  He said, “Go get my bible and let’s read the first book of Genesis”.  I said, “Hey I have my rights!”.  He said, “See you are beginning to understand….”.  So I retrieved the Bible….

President Response:  We began to read the very first chapter of Genesis and he asked me, “What is the first act that the Lord completes?”  I said, “he created Light” which is correct by the way.  But then President said, “yes, he created Light but after he “saw” it and pronounced that it was “good” what did he do with it”?  The verse says:  “and God divided the light from the darkness”.  God divides things…..  He then said, let’s read verse 6:  “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters”.  God divides things…..  In the following verses, God “gathers” “divides” and “brings forth” the creation of the world.  In verse 14 it says “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night…”  I said to President, “are you saying that God is trying to divide us”?  He said, “don’t jump to conclusions just yet!  I am saying that God divides things, Good and Evil, Day and Night, Land and Water, Stars and Planets, and then he pronounces them “good”.  And then in the ultimate act of division what does God divide?  Man and Woman.  Opposites yes, but just like Good and Evil, Day and Night, Land and Water, Sun and Moon, Earth and Stars, Man and Woman go with one another, are related to one another and interact one with another.  And yes, after looking over his creation, not only did he pronounce it “good” but also in verse 31 he pronounced it “very good”.  Hmmmm..  Maybe he knows something?  President then went on to say that there was another division in the Garden of Eden..  Can you guess what it was?  On one side of the Garden is placed the Tree of Life, but on the other side was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He said to me, “the appealing fruit on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was coming from the SAME tree!”  I never even thought about that!  A single tree contained the wonderful fruit of both the knowledge of Good and Evil.  President said, “see even in the Church there is division!  All of us symbolically on the same Tree, but we represent both Good and Evil.  He went on to say (and I know all of you have heard this a million times) that I needed to expand my vision!  He said that the Lord in his infinite wisdom divides things to offer choice, opposition, or in President’s words, “Paired Opposition”.  He said, “Think about it….  The Savior and the Adversary, Man and Woman, Light and Darkness, Black and White, we could go on forever!”  So I then said, “Oh that’s interesting because everyone on Facebook is saying how wonderful it is that now the Supreme Court has given us “choice” by allowing us to marry whomever we want and that now we can exercise our agency”.  President looked at me in disgust and said, “This decision or “choice” as you call it has nothing to do with Agency”.  I said, “Everyone says it has everything to do with the exercise of their Agency!”.  President says, “they are wrong and do not understand the principle of Agency”……  I thought I guess I don’t either because I fell into the same trap!  Now I don’t have the time to share with you all of the doctrine that he taught me, and I don’t want to write all of this down!  But he taught me that the ultimate act of exercising Agency was made in premortal realms before we ever arrived in this mortal existence.  The very fact that you and I have bodies of flesh and bones is symbolic of the agency that we exercised to follow Christ and his plan before we came to this earth!  He said, “we don’t exercise Agency here in this mortal existence, we already made the decision to follow the Savior.  The only decision that we make on a daily basis is to follow him”!  I will let him teach you on Agency in another volume of Camina Conmigo!

My third and last question to President was this:  “So who is right?  We are now being asked to follow the “law” of the land and permit that people of the same gender be allowed to “marry” (even though it is not constitutional according to one of the Supreme Court judge proponents that voted for Same Sex Marriage) but I believe that Marriage is a divine relationship instituted by God between Man and a Woman”. 

President Response:  Of course you think that way!  So do I!  But just because we think we are right, we cannot assume that proponents that marginalize our opinion are wrong.  He went on to say that “all that I have, all that I love, all that I strive for, all that I relish, all that seek after in life is based upon contrast”.  In other words, I strive , love relish, seek after you (Sister Bruce) because the “contrast” or in other words the “alternative” is not appealing to me.  President then shared with me that a few young men and women that he has interviewed over the years have shared with him their same sex attraction and he has a very concerned heart and compassion for those that struggle with this demon.  I said, “yes, but that’s part of the problem….  You just called same sex attraction a “demon” but the world would have me believe that it’s “normal”!  He went on to say that EVERYONE of us struggles with demons!  Have you ever thought of that?  EVERYONE has demons that we fight on a daily basis whether it be pornography, word of wisdom, laziness, Sabbath day obedience, or other forms of disobedience.  He taught me that we “struggle” with demons because each one of us has already exercised our agency to follow Christ and each of us yearns to be with God whether we realize it or not.  Thus, when we struggle, fight or get anxious about sin, it is the power of the atonement pushing us toward deity through the Light of Christ.  How many of you want this topic in Zone Conference!!!!!

He then told me that what the Supreme Court dictated was constitutional irrational and doctrinally incorrect.  But, he warned that for me to impose my position of traditional marriage upon the proponents of Same Sex Marriage would fall upon deaf ears and would be a form of coercion that would follow the plan of the adversary.    He said, “we must teach correct doctrine about family values, family statistics and future lives…  that will be to the convincing of men, not passionate pleas of divisiveness and scriptural mandates.”  He also said this, which makes so much sense to me….  “How does the Savior draw men closer to Him?  He then gave me an option:  “Is it through his victorious resurrection or his suffering agony in the garden and upon the cross?”  I said, “it is his agony and suffering that bring me closer to Him”.  He said, “Exactly.  God draws men to heaven by long suffering, by gentleness, and meekness, love unfeigned, kindness, and pure knowledge.  His vulnerability and his pain are the price of love, but pure unspeakable joy is our reward”.  He said, “I have witnessed the pain and suffering of young men and women that suffer with Same Sex Attraction and it drew me to their plight and vulnerability.  Unfortunately with victory also comes responsibility, and also will bring with it the need to create new suffering, new plights, new vulnerability in order to stay relevant and “draw” masses to a cause.”

I replied to President, “I have no idea what to do..  I am so confused!” 


He said, “Read the Book of Mormon”….

Saturday, February 16, 2013

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.