(picture of Futuro, Chile)Last night we had the most amazing opportunity. Elder Thompson's family invited us over for Family Night. We learned so much about Chile & where Brian is serving. Elder Thompson knows Brian's current companion & the area he is at- Futrono, city of rivers.
We tasted Chilean candy & watched a DVD from the mission. Elder Thompson's mom told us some interesting things like, her son couldn't eat American food for a few days. His tastes had changed & the thought of it made him sick. Also, he won't walk around without some shoes or hard sole slippers on- people don't vacuum their homes there. They are too concerned about the cost of electricity so they sweet them & the floor is very unsanitary. People don't sit or put things on the floor, like a pillow.
Elder Thompson told us & you can see it is beautiful there. Even though the government is very friendly with ours, many people don't like Americans. Stray dogs are everywhere. The missionaries carry rocks in their pockets for protection. One time Elder Thompson told a native companion he could walk around his home neighborhood for at least 20 minutes without hearing a dog bark- he didn't believe him & accused him of lying.
It was amazing talking with someone who had been with Brian down in Chile. Fun & interesting to hear about the culture. I learned so many things I didn't know. I didn't know the food was so different. My Brian says he eats a lot of french fries, & the mission president's wife said there is American candy around so I thought... the food's not that different- I'm such a gringo.
In the southern area of the mission there are penguins, just like we thought. Elder Thompson never served down there but showed us a special hot drink the Chileans drink out of a little pot with a metal straw that strains the grassy stuff the cook in it.??? (hard to explain) He says it's good.
Even though I couldn't help tearing up- I could just imagine him there, teaching & happy. It was fantastic. What a great opportunity!
4 comments:
What a fantastic night and great opportunity for your family to learn all of this and to feel closer to Brian!
Sounds like you had a great night learning more about Chile and the mission Brian is in. That was so nice of the Thompsons to have you over.
Oh Patsy--I'm so behind on reading your blog! I'm still not caught up but I have to get off the computer soon so I have to comment on two things:
1. That's wonderful that you could learn more about your son's mission
and 2. I am still laughing about your "pee" post!!! I know that it wasn't funny at the time but it so sounds like something from my life and it's nice to know that I am not the only mom in the world with crazy experiences. Poor Patsy!
P.S. I met with Jill this weekend--next time I'm in Utah, let's get together...or feel free to come down to AZ for a visit :)
Becky ~ I would love it!
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