LUNES
On Monday we drove 4 ½ hours south to Chillán Viejo and back to Santiago that evening.
We attended a ceremony where 300 school kits were donated to three different rural schools.
MARTES
On Tuesday we drove 4 ½ hours north to Ovalle and back to Santiago that evening.
Students living in rural sectors belong to the most vulnerable 40% of the population. There are 32 rural schools in the Ovalle School District. 1,940 school kits were donated here. We visited Escuela Básica Valentín Letelier to see children receive their kits.
We were able to sit in on a second-grade class who were practicing English.
We had a wonderful reunion with Élder Sam Golding who is serving in the Chile Viña del Mar Mission in the nearby town of Monte Patria. He and his companion were in Ovalle for a district meeting, so we met for lunch. Samuel is the youngest son of our dear friends, Karl and Renae Golding. Right after we were married, we moved into a trailer court right next door to them. We had our first two children within months of each other and have been friends ever since. Élder Golding received his mission call one day before we did, and we are thrilled to be serving in Chile together. Such a tender mercy!
We spent the afternoon at an entrega ceremony at Maria Ayuda. Children are placed at Maria Ayuda by a family court judge when they must be removed from their homes. There are two houses with room to shelter 12 children in each. One home houses girls, the other boys who range in age from 4-15 years. Their mission is to provide an atmosphere of love and respect for these children. This project supplied bedding, kitchen appliances, and utensils for food preparation and basketball hoops for recreation. The ceremony was held on the boy’s side of the complex. One of the boys who recently lost both parents conducted. This was a very tender evening. We were impressed by the warmth of the counselors with the boys. Quite a feast had been prepared and the boys were treated as honored guests. They really enjoyed the food!
MIÉRCOLES
On Wednesday we spent the day in the office. The pictures in our posts do not reflect the hours we spend right here at our computers writing project descriptions, updating spreadsheets, answering a massive number of emails and WhatsApp messages, and entering all this information into various computer storage systems.
JUEVES
On Thursday we drove 1 ½ hour to La Calera to visit a possible project with a school for intellectually disabled students from ages 6-26. We were impressed by their creative gardening containers. This school is very proud of its ecology certificate. We are not quite sure what that means but they were obviously recycling.
This area is covered with palta (avocado) orchards that go from the base of the valleys to the tops of the mountains. It is quite impressive.
There is a fruit called tuna. In the U.S. we call this prickly pear.
VIERNES
On Friday we attended a ceremony in Santiago at Fundación Educación Alegría y Alma. This preschool for children with special education needs, provides early diagnosis and support for boys and girls up to age 8, focusing on children with language disorders, intellectual disabilities, and those on the autism spectrum.
These students often do not have the verbal tools they need to communicate. The donation of computers, tablets, and interactive screens provide for the use of educational software that includes communication modalities, allowing children to express their thoughts, needs, wants, and ideas through symbols, illustrations, or writing. Tablets will be sent home with children to facilitate communication between parent and child during daily life.
Tatami mats will facilitate spaces for free and safe movement. Play in early childhood is essential for exploration, exercise, and learning. Research shows that play enhances language development and reasoning skills.
SABADO
On Saturday we attended a concert in Cerrillos, a suburb of Santiago. The youth orchestra was the warmup act for the well-known Chilean pianist, Roberto Bravo. This is the youth orchestra that has requested the donation of additional musical instruments. Not only do many of those who participate in the orchestra come from vulnerable neighborhoods, but the orchestra goes out and gives concerts in these neighborhoods. It was a wonderful evening.
DOMINGO
On Sunday after church, Élder and Hermana Lindquist (our upstairs neighbors) came to dinner. They come to our apartment on the fourth Sunday of each month, and we have dinner at their apartment every second Sunday.
On Sundays, after attending sacrament meeting with their families, the children of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints attend Primary. We have fond memories of going to Primary as children. We don’t remember many specific lessons that were taught but we remember hundreds of songs we sang. Serving this mission has helped us appreciate the lyrics of a simple yet profound Primary song:
“Give,” said the little stream,
As it hurried down the hill;
“I’m small, I know, but wherever I go
The fields grow greener still.”
And now quoting Bishop Budge from November 2021 General conference: “Yes, each of us is small, but together, as we hasten to give to God and our fellow men, wherever we go, lives are enriched and blessed. The third verse of this song is less well known but concludes with this loving invitation:
Give, then, as Jesus gives;
There is something all can give.
Do as the streams and blossoms do:
For God and others live.
As we live for God and others by giving of our means, our time, and yes, even of ourselves, we are leaving the world a little greener, leaving God’s children a little happier, and in the process, becoming a little holier. May the Lord bless you richly for the sacrifices that you give to Him so freely.”
With love, Elder y Hermana Lamb, (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 