HOME OFFICE

Dear Family and Friends,

News update: No grandbaby yet and Chile’s borders remain closed.

We have been working remotely with the good people of Chile for the last four and a half weeks from our home in Utah. Google Translate and Zoom have become part of our everyday life. We will be moving our home office from our dining room table to our daughters dining room table in North Carolina this weekend to await the arrival of our grandson.

Let’s back up four weeks. The first week was utterly overwhelming. The combination of the language barrier, learning several new computer programs, and trying to wrap our heads around the humanitarian project process continues to be a steep learning curve.During our training when we were warned of challenges we might face, we thought we had it all under control. Thankfully concepts came back to us during our first weeks of struggle, like this insight from our mental health advisor: “In the middle of a growth transition, you may not ‘feel’ like you are doing great. You may wonder why, when you are doing the Lord’s work you do not ‘feel’ the spirit more. It might not ‘feel’ like you thought a mission was going to ‘feel.’” Amen.

We were also counseled to process our feelings with each other in real time and not feel guilty when we have negative feelings. Our advisor said that some of these experiences might be the very reasons we were called to the kind of mission and place that we were called to. As we process together as a couple, we can learn the lessons Heavenly Father wants us to learn.

During this first stressful month it has been nice to be in the comfort of our own home as we try to absorb our new responsibilities, without having to adjust to a new city and culture at the same time. By the time we arrive in Chile we hope to be more comfortable with the technology and the process. We have noticed just this last week that we are falling into a comfortable groove of how to divide the workload. Things get easier every day. We think we make a pretty good team.
At church one Sunday the speakers were a couple that had just returned from serving a mission in Japan. As he shared his feelings of inadequacy, it gave us hope to keep pressing on. He talked about how inadequate he felt when covid hit and the mission had to transform from talking to people on the streets to doing all finding and teaching through technology. That was not in his skill set and he wondered why Heavenly Father would have chosen him to be the mission president at that time- why not a Silicon Valley expert? His daughter reminded him that when the Lord needed a ship built, he did not ask a master shipbuilder, He asked Nephi. Nephi “did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, but (he) did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown (him).” (see 1 Nephi 18:2-3 in the Book of Mormon) The Lord needs someone who will ‘go into the mount oft, and pray oft’, someone He can show great things to, someone the Lord can teach to do things His way.

Right now, we are managing 24 projects in all stages of development. When a humanitarian project is requested, we have a zoom meeting with the local church leader and the organization requesting assistance. After they submit the necessary documents, we pass on the information to our buyer in Chile who prices out the items. We then put together a proposal and submit the project for committee approval. If approved, our buyer places the order and arranges delivery. After delivery the local church leaders organize a ceremony where the legal documents are signed. A community service activity is planned to surround this event. There are several steps of bookkeeping and computer entry that go along with each step. What keeps us going is the marvelous spirit we feel during each Zoom call with such good citizens in Chile who are engaged in serving the people in need in their communities.

LDS Charities (the official humanitarian arm of our Church) organizes projects around these ten areas:
• Emergency Response
• Vision Care
• Clean water
• Immigrant services
• Refugee Response
• Food Security
• Maternal & Newborn Care
• Immunization
• Wheelchairs
• Community Projects- these could include hospitals & clinics, schools, municipalities, orphanages, services for the elderly, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, etc.

All projects focus on self-reliance and sustainability. Just to give you a sampling of some of our current projects and donations:
• Seeds, fertilizer & garden tools for a native Machupe village so they can plant gardens
• Kitchen appliances & utensils for a soup kitchen
• Playground equipment for an organization that cares for abused children
• Materials for a welding & carpentry shop at a homeless shelter to teach job skills
• Medical equipment for a clinic to do vision screening
• Braille materials for a center for the blind
• Music, art, sports equipment & desks for a school

Not being in country, we need feet on the ground to accomplish some of our tasks. We have been so impressed with willing hands and hearts in Chile: church leaders, physical facility workers, and field managers who have dropped everything and driven many miles to have paperwork signed or complete other tasks we would do ourselves if we were in Chile.

Thankfully, the anxiety of the first week has changed to waking each morning excited to check our email and WhatsApp messages from Chile. Our days go by so quickly and each holds new adventures. We are finding great joy and purpose in our service.

We will keep you posted on the arrival of our grandson and when we are able to enter Chile.
With love, Elder and Sister Lamb (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)