I have been thinking all week of the things that I would like to share.  We have been so busy with what we do in the Center of Autosuficiencia.  When we first arrived we did not have a center where we could serve the people of Chile.  For the last four weeks we have been conducting workshops for the young people who need to borrow money from the Perpetual Education fund to get an education.  Even though the cost of and education here in Chile is so much cheaper then it is in the U.S., it is still out of reach for so many of them.  I write this to let those of you who donate to the Perpetual Education Fund, know a little about the kind of individuals who are participating in the PEF.   We have had over the last four weeks conducted four groups of workshops with about 36 young people preparing them to apply for a loan for school from PEF. 

The young people are hoping to study everything from engineering to medicine and are some of the brightest and most amazing individuals I have met.  Every time we meet there are spiritual experiences that are related by the participants and testimonies are strengthened. It is not hard to love them and I have a great desire to see them have success.  They come from some very humble circumstances and situations that are not so humble.  But they all have a need and desire to be able to support a family and serve in the church.  One young woman who is a convert to the church who has two daughters one 17 and the other 7, was abandon by her spouse and left to go it alone.  She met the missionaries and joined the church.  She had a decent job but would never be able to provide for her daughters as she would like to.  She decided that she would go to school and study to become a safety engineer.  She has a very tight schedule and depends on strength from the Lord to help her keep her schedule.  She has one year left of the 3 year degree.  She was not able to save enough money to pay for the last year of study so turned to the PEF for a loan to finish her degree.  She works from 9 to 6 in the evening starts class at 7 and attends class and studies until midnight and returns home by 2 AM only to go back to work at 9.  She asked her priesthood leader for a blessing that she would have the energy and strength to keep up the schedule.  She said as long as she keeps the commandments she has the strength that was promised her to continue each day.  She is only one of many who struggle with different issues that the fund is able to give them hope to leave poverty behind and be self-reliant.  I ask the question to a group of 20 why the were at the workshop and the answer was not to get a better job to have more money but their answer was to be self-reliant.  Riches is not their goal but to have enough so that they can pay for the comforts of home and family and provide their children with missions that they are able to finance and be able to send their own children to college without having to turn to the fund for help.  They also dream of having time to serve in the church and not have to work 10 hrs. per day for 7 days a week just to provide the necessities of life.  I've asked them about nice new houses and fancy cars which have no place in their goals at this time.  One young women said if I have everything else then I might think of a nice new house but I would rather have a good job that allows me time to spend with my family and do my church calling.

Most of the members here work long hours and have little spare time.  Most that I have talked to work from 9 am to 7 or 8 at night, so many of the church meetings during the week don't even start until 8 or 9 pm and go until 11 or midnight.  The missionaries in our mission leave their apartment at 10:00 and are to return by 11:00 pm.  much different then in other areas. So for the youth, time with their parents is a premium for them.  They truly are amazing people.  However, there are many less active members because of the difficulty in providing and the many long hours and day of  work.  Many must work on Sunday at a second job to make it work.  I have met several who would like to be involved in the church but are unable to because of work.  There are many who work in the mines up north and are home only a couple of days a month and are unable to move their families because of the cost.  When you think that the cost of living here is very similar to the U.S. it is very difficult when the average salary is around 300,000 pesos which is about 600.00 dollars. 

We only hope we can make a difference in their lives.  Chris told me the other day she sometimes feels like the man on the beach pitching starfish back in the ocean.  There is so much need and we can only help a few, but we can help a few.  The hope is in the hearts of the Chilean members that the time will come that the church will be self-reliant in Chile and they can contribute to the operations of the church in other lands instead of needing help to operate in Chile.  In a few years I truly believe that will happen. 

We were invited today to speak on Self-reliance to the Chile Santiago East coordinating council.  Elder Norumbuena our area authority Seventy asked me yesterday and I was grateful to be able to communicate to all of the Stake Presidents of our mission and explain what our purpose was and invite them to come and participate in the services we offer.  We are not only a self-reliance center but also a family history center.  We will have specialists who will help people with their family history research and because the temple is in the same block they can come to print their family cards for the temple.  It is exciting to see how it all works together.

We really have not been able to go visit any spectacular places lately so no neat pictures but we do have some great group shots of those we are working with I hope to upload before I post. 

These groups of young people are preparing to make application for PEF Loans.  This workshop helps them make decisions on career path, school and how to succeed in class as well as how to find work when they finish.

These are some of the cream of the crop.  With the opportunities of the PEF they will be able to bring the church into self reliance with time. I am proud of them and have really connected with them and have grown to love them.  But that has always been my weakness.  It is hard for me to see them not have all they work for.