WHIRLWIND WEEK

SATURDAY
Our daughter-in-law Eileen and three of our grandchildren, Ellie, Addy, and Win arrived in Chile last Saturday evening. Before we left on our mission, we gave each of our grands a stuffed lamb to hug when they missed us. Addy brought hers with her to Chile. He found a home under our Christmas tree. We have spent a whirlwind week sharing with them a typical semana in the life of humanitarian missionaries which included multiple five-hour road trips.

SUNDAY

We enjoyed sharing Sunday lunch with the sister missionaries: Hermanas Ruiz and Leiva (Argentina), Hermana Jones (New York), and Hermana Poll (Utah). After lunch, we drove five hours south to Concepcion.

MONDAY
On Monday we were honored to celebrate Hanukkah with the Jewish community of Concepcion. We met with the ambassador from Israel and the governor of the Bio Bio region. We are collaborating with the leaders of the Jewish community on a 2023 healthcare project in this part of the country.

The five-hour drive back to Santiago was the perfect opportunity to catch up on the last 15 months of our grandchildren’s lives. We stopped in Talca for a typical Chilean lunch that included sopapillas con pebre.

TUESDAY

We were up early and, on the road again on Tuesday morning, to head five hours north to La Serena. We enjoyed a delicious lunch on the beach.

We attended a ceremony for our Hospital Schools Project. Aula Hospitalarias is a non-profit educational institution that provides free education to youth from 4-18 years of age who because of health reasons, cannot attend their local neighborhood schools. Teachers carry out school activities with children who are hospitalized and with children who are convalescing at home.  Many of these providers have no car and depend on public transportation to their patients.  They need backpacks that they can put their supplies in for transport.

The donation of lap trays will provide a flat surface, allowing children who are bedridden to participate in schoolwork as they sit up in bed. The carts and rolling backpacks will provide for the transfer of educational materials to and from homes and hospitals.

Our local church members in the area donate materials for comfort stars (a small stuffed star that the children create) and stimulation boxes (in which children guess what they are touching)

Then on to a meeting with the leaders of Corporación Sembrando Esperanza, a non-profit which is oriented to the treatment of children with special needs. They provide diagnosis and therapy for these special people. We await their solicitude.

We squeezed in a walk on the beach and a visit to La Serena Lighthouse.

Then off to the Valle de Elqui for some stargazing. The Atacama Desert may be the driest non-polar place on earth but on its southern fringe is a stretch of vineyard-lined hills. The weather conditions make it an ideal place for grape growing and astronomical research. We made a brief stop in the town of Vicuna as we traveled the Ruta de las Estrellas.

Our tour took us to the Mamalluca open-air Observatory. As the sun set in the Atacama desert, the sky became a magnificent explosion of stars and planets. Our astronomical guide led our evening of observation with the naked eye and then through telescopes. We saw amazing nebulae, constellations, galaxies, and star clusters. Truly God’s creations are marvelous.

WEDNESDAY

We enjoyed our five-hour coastal drive back to Santiago. We stopped at Costanera Center Mall for lunch and some last-minute Christmas shopping on the way home.

That evening we had another wonderful experience. The Salvation Army hosts an annual Christmas dinner in Santiago for recent immigrants. Our family had the privilege to join them and coordinate missionaries for the Santiago North Mission to help serve.

THURSDAY

We spent our day on Thursday with 170 Santiago East Missionaries at the annual Christmas celebration hosted by President and Hermana Bohn. We enjoyed introducing our grandchildren to these missionaries we know and love. The day was full of music, learning, good food and fellowship, sports, and skits.

In the afternoon Ed and Eileen took Addy and Ellie to the Santiago temple to perform baptisms for some of our ancestors. This is always a sweet, sacred experience. Jesus Christ taught that baptism is essential to the salvation of all who have lived on the earth. Many people have died without being baptized. Because God is merciful, He has provided a way for all to receive the blessings of baptism. By performing proxy baptisms on behalf of those who have died we offer these blessings to our deceased ancestors. Individuals can then choose to accept or reject what has been done on their behalf.

Thursday evening our oldest son Ryan will arrive in Chile to join his family. We have missed him all week while he has been at home working. For the next two days, we look forward to welcoming the rest of our children and grandchildren to Chile.

We wish you a blessed holiday with those you love. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to you, our dear friends and family.

Abrazos, Élder y Hermana Lamb, (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)