santa's summer job

I saw santa driving a taxi in downtown Santiago, Chile. He still has his curly white hair and a beautiful full, white beard. I waved at him, but he must have been busy checking up on the good boys and girls. So, now you know where he goes and what he does on his time off. Do you have a message you would like to give him if I can get his attention?

santa's summer job

I saw santa driving a taxi in downtown Santiago, Chile. He still has his curly white hair and a beautiful full, white beard. I waved at him, but he must have been busy checking up on

the temple

We went to the temple last evening. It was supposed to be an English session, but because there were two young men going through for the first time, it was in Spanish. We were handed headsets and they worked out just fine. It was odd to watch the same thing as we watch in Logan and to hear faint Spanish dubbed in. They dont try to match the lips, though. After the session, Jay was asked to be a witness for some sealings of proxy children to proxy parents. We even got to kneel at the altar for some! We didnt understand what was being said (but we know' because we have done the same thing in Logan). I gained two new things last night. One, that Satan is very real and he is using all the energy he has to break our desire to do right. We cannot afford to be casual in our obedience to God's commandments. How can you win a war if you go into it half-heartedly and the other side is giving it all they have!!! he has everything to gain by adding one more of God's children to his pile of spiritual carnage. Second, I sat in the Celestial room with all its light and beauty and decided that with all my desire, I dont want to go anywhere but to the Celestial Kingdom where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are. I LIKE being surrounded by the choice people of the church!! I have the desire now to go to the temple more frequently. It will be on my list of "must do's".

Stake Conference is over. We took a long bus ride, got confused, got off and started walking back the way we had come. A few blocks later we hailed a taxi and gave him the address. He said, Oh, la iglesia?" (Oh, the church?) He must have know that the meeting started in five minutes because he drove highway speed for three blocks, screeched around the corner and stopped in front ot the church. We got there with a few minutes to spare. We were directed by our work boss to the Young Women's room where the talks would be in English. There were about 30 people there, some of them were in Chile for other reasons than missions. One family has been here for three years and their children (4) are going to an international school. The speakers were from Salt Lake and were in Spanish, so apparently it was in English, dubbed in Spanish, and translated to English for us. I dont know why we couldnt just have skipped a couple steps..... Our friend, former home teacher in Smithfield and now living in Chile, took pity on us and drove us home in his car. Thanks Marty Sorge!!! He is such a good man.

A few days ago there was a delivery truck in the temple square parking lot. It was parked near the entrance to the MTC cafeteria. What struck me as very amusing, is that the logo on the back of the truck was maybe a warning, or an answer as to what happens to some missionaries. The word was LUNIBEN. I dont know what it means in Spanish, but if you sound it out, you will hear Looney Bin. Does this mean that the missionaries who dont make it are loaded into the back of this truck and delivered somewhere scarey? Is this a warning that we'd better be careful? Friday while we were waiting for our bus, the Luniben drove by. I dont know if they were making a delivery of lunis or going to get some. Anyway, they're not very private about it, nor are they very humanitarian, loading them into a box without windows or ventilation. We took a picture.
On another note, here is an observation: No matter how narrow or wide a space is, one or two or more people will occupy it equally. This makes it impossible to walk faster than the slowest walkers.
Are you in need of a little cash? Are you trying to finance college? Need a little more spending money? I know what you can do, and it isnt very hard. You have to be gutsy, though. Very often, when we are riding the bus, someone will bring on a box and a musical instrument. He then turns on some background music, and either plays his instrument or sings to us. When he is finished, or is approaching his stop, he will tell us we can give him a little change. I have tipped a clarinetist, a pan flutist, and a singer.
Stake Conference is tomorrow. We have to take a different bus to a different part of the city. I hope we find it, otherwise, we will have spent money for nothing but a long bus ride to nowhere, and a nice long walk in circles. We get to spend two hours listening for familiar words in the talks. Next conference should be a lot easier.