Sunday, October 9
This was a very busy day. I had called Hermano Body the day before just to confirm his coming to get us; it was so good to hear his voice and better yet, he could understand my Spanish! We got up early since he was going to stop by at 9:00am. As we were getting ready, around 8:15, the phone in our kitchenette started to ring, I picked it up and was surprised to find it was the guy at the front desk telling me that there was a Juan Body waiting downstairs in the lobby (which consisted of a open space with different person behind a counter every day with a telephone, security monitors, papers and notebooks all over) Fortunately, we were almost ready so after about 20 minutes we were walking out of the elevator. Emerging from the short corridor into the open lobby, I caught glimpse of Hno. Body and I recognized him immediately after over three decades of not seeing him. With the exception of a few wrinkles, a larger waistline and thinning gray hair, he looked the same as I remembered him. Hno. Body was accompanied by his grandson, Carlos, age 15. In spite of the language barrier and their age difference, he and Mallory enjoyed one another's company (I guess she finally had someone close to her age to relate to). Juan Body is 73 years old but acts 10-20 years younger, he is steady-even agile on is feet, drives a car with great skill (a absolute must in Santiago where cars weave in and out of traffic, stop on a dime without warning, honk their horns incessantly, and never slow down for the hapless pedestrian who doesn't obey the green lights). The one thing about Hno. Body that I found difficult is to understand him when he speaks; besides the typical dropping of the "s" at the end of words, which is typical to all Chileans, he has a tendency to speak very fast and run his words together. I estimate that I pick up about 50% of what he says, But he has a wonderful sense of humor, quick to laugh and to make others laugh as well. Once in the car, we were on our way to Conchali, a older community north of downtown Santiago. We drove through a tunnel that passed through the Cerro San Cristobal, an elevated hill directly northeast of the downtown district, it was made to cut down on the traffic that flows around the crowded metropolis of Santiago and shortens the travel time to the northern communities. As Hno. Body overestimated the time it would take to travel to and from our apartment, we were way ahead of schedule so we went on a tour of the many chapels in Conchali (how great was that to see, since when I was there, we met in a house and had to travel to Nunoa to baptize our converts) Come to find out that the work in Independencia grew so fast (because of our foundational work, no doubt) that they built a large number of chapels; then in the years that followed, due to people migrating to other parts of the city, they didn't need that many chapels and a few around town aren't even used. Well, I say, the missionaries need to get going and fill those chapels! We stopped by his stake center and the door to the stake office was open so he pushed open the door and we met the stake presidency, I can't recall any names but they were all gracious men and seemed very pleased to meet the missionary that baptized their good friend, Juan Body (that would turn out to be the phrase of the day as we were introduced to one and all). Hno. Body told us that he was made bishop of the ward six months after his baptism and later he served as a counselor to another one of my converts, Juan Castro, and then as the stake president (for a missionary, that is the sweetest news one could hope to receive and more than compensates for all the hard work and sacrifice we do, as that means great numbers of lives will be influenced by our convert). After a tour of this clean, up to date, two story structure, we were off to another chapel for our Sunday meetings. We arrived on time to find very few members in the cooler-than-comfortable chapel. As the little, older ladies of the ward arrived in knit caps and heavy jackets, we were envious in our regular church clothes (someone didn't turn on heater that morning). The music for the Fast and Testimony Meeting was furnished by a young man playing a very simplified version of the hymns on an electronic piano, I suggested to Margaret that she get up and offer her excellent skills as a pianist, but she refused (as she does every time I mention it). During the time dedicated to bearing of testimonies, I got up and introduced myself and family and told them that I was a "Missionero Historico", had served in this area during my mission to Chile and had baptized Juan Body and his family. Among other things, I said that we had come from San Diego California to join in on the celebration of the 50 years of the Chilean Mission, and that there were very few days in the past 36 years that I didn't think back on my mission because it had had such an impact on my life. Hno. Body also took some time and bore a very powerful testimony and thanked the Lord for the fact that he had been sealed to his beautiful wife by the priesthood in the temple and would have her for all eternity. He said that it was a good thing for me that he wasn't a jealous man because up until the day she passed away, she always carried a picture of me in her purse. That warmed my heart to know that we as missionaries have such an lasting effect on our converts. For me, the three hour block went by very fast, for Margaret and Mallory it went by slower because they didn't understand the language (Margaret says that after awhile her head starts to hurt trying to translate what she hears). I was impressed at the level of sophistication in the teaching of Gospel Doctrine. Not only did the teacher use a power point presentation, but the participation and comments of the members showed a maturity in the Gospel that wasn't there when I was a missionary. Above all else, the love and sense of family I felt in their ward reminded me of my home ward. After church, we drove by Juan's address to see the old homestead. It's a duplex and he keeps it looking nice with recent paint and lots of roses as part of the landscape in the front yard. He doesn't mind living alone, he has good neighbors some of which are older, like himself, and he kind of looks out for them. Besides, even though he's retired and receives a pension, he still works 6 days a week in association with his two son's business and needs his own space as a base of operations. Next, he drove us over to his oldest daughter, Poala's home to spend the afternoon, eating, getting to know one another after all these years, and reminiscing about old times. The table was set with all kinds of fresh vegetables, a kind of potato salad and four kinds of meat: a pork roast and lamb , spare ribs and beef from the outside grill. The food was so good that we ate until it was uncomfortable to continue and then they served dessert! Juan has four biological children, Juan Carlos, Patricio, Paola, and Ana. He also has unofficially adopted another daughter, Karen. They are all married and have provided Juan with 13 grandchildren. I was most impressed by the way the oldest son, Juan Carlos, greeted me, he said I looked the same and he hugged me for longer than is traditional and kept saying "Gracias, Gracias". Everyone hugs in Chile and the women give each other a kiss on the cheek as a greeting (at least at church) and when you want to really show great admiration, the women kiss the men on the cheek, and that's what I got from most of Juan's family. Patricio, Juan's second son, who currently serves as a stake president, sat us down and directed a few thoughts to Margaret and Mallory and wanted me to translate what he said word for word. What he said was that they, as a family, were so happy that the Lord had sent me to them, that they don't just consider me as a missionary, to them I was as if the Lord, himself came to their home and brought the gospel into their lives. He said it with such sincerity and emotion that I was moved to tears, it was a very touching moment. Hno. Body would tell us that although he missed his wife terribly, he had two daughters, one that looked just like his wife (Paola) and one who had the personality of his wife (Ana); and from my observation, it was true. We ended the evening taking pictures, exchanging email addresses, connecting on facebook and giving hugs. They were so generous, I happened to mention that we wanted to take a tour to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar and rent a car to drive to Rancagua and Hno. Body said why don't you let me drive you to Vina and Paola offered to let us borrow her second car! They really treated us like family and I was amazed at how quickly we seemed to bond. The day ended Hno. Body driving the circuitous route back to our apartment, parting hugs were exchanged and it was agreed that he would drive us to the coast the next day.
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