Article about Isla Juan Fernandez, Espanol

From the Chile Church Website
lds.cl
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Misioneros en Isla Juan Fernández

Fernando Ocampo B.
Comité Publicaciones Chile

El archipiélago Juan Fernández es un conjunto de islas ubicadas en el Pacífico Sur a más de 670 km del continente, siendo parte del territorio de Chile. Lo componen las islas Robinson Crusoe (antiguamente conocida como Más a Tierra), Alejandro Selkirk (Más Afuera), el islote Santa Clara e islotes menores.





La madrugada del 27 de febrero de 2010 las islas se vieron afectadas por un maremoto con olas de hasta 15 metros de altura provocadas por el terremoto de 8.8 grados Richter que sacudió a la zona centro sur del país.

Los misioneros de ese sector, los élderes Juan Pablo Marín de San José de Costa Rica y Jaden James Mitchell de Portland, Oregón, Estados Unidos, relatan lo vivido el sábado 27 de febrero del año en curso:

"Cuando despertamos supimos que algo andaba mal; salimos de la casa y nos dimos cuenta de que el mar estaba embravecido, los sonidos que se escuchaban no eran normales, sentíamos que era una emergencia o una catástrofe. Tomamos nuestras cosas apuradamente (los aceiteros, las escrituras, una linterna), oramos y salimos. Entendimos que lo mejor era tranquilizar a las personas, había un poco de incertidumbre. Nosotros estábamos tranquilos, había algo que nos ayudaba a seguir y preocuparnos de ayudar a la gente que había sobrevivido al desastre.

Fuimos a visitar a los miembros para dar bendiciones de consuelo a algunos y mensajes a otros. No supimos de miembros fallecidos pero sí de un nieto de ocho años de una familia que estaba investigando la Iglesia. Después de ayudar, en la noche nos comentaron que en la oficina de Aeronáutica uno podía enviar correos electrónicos; tuvimos que hacer fila y -por fin como a las 9:00 pm -enviamos un correo a nuestro presidente Michael May de la Misión Chile Santiago Norte. Posteriormente nos señaló que, cuando lo recibió, quedó muy aliviado y feliz porque estábamos bien y no éramos parte de la gente desaparecida o fallecida en la isla. Sabíamos que había mucha gente ayunando y orando por nosotros, debido a que después, en la noche, sentimos mucha paz."
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What a blessing to hear from Our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

What a great blessing it was to be taught by President Monson, Elder Bednar, Sister Lant and Elder Foster in yesterday´s Stake Conference via Satellite. Inspired themes such as teaching so that those we teach understand the doctrine, obedience with exactness, receiving strength by drawing on the power of the Atonement, and our mission to come to the rescue of those in need are intended for us at this important time here in Chile. We have a great opportunity to invite many people who have now had their hearts softened to receive the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, in order to do so we must increase our faith in Jesus Christ so that we will recognize these people when we see them.

There is no greater way to increase our faith in Jesus Christ than through the strengthening power of the Atonement as taught by Elder Bednar in yesterday´s conference. It can make good missionaries better. It can give us the spiritual strength that we need to accomplish all that the Lord expects us to do. This doctrine is taught in Preach My Gospel:

“As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” Pg 52

“Through the Atonement we can be freed from the burden of our sins and develop faith and strength to face our trial.” Pg 32 We learn how the Savior is able to do this in Alma 7:11-12

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

It is my testimony that through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we can gain the strength to carry out this work of the Lord with greater faith in Jesus Christ, greater obedience with exactness to have the spirit in great abundance, and greater diligence so that many more of Heavenly Father´s children can enjoy the blessings of the great plan of happines He has provided for us.
We love you and we are inspired by your courage in challenging times,

Presidente Michael E. May
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2 Baptisms on the Day of the Earthquake!

We haven't had time to tell all of the missionaries yet, that YES, we had two baptims on Saturday, the day of the Earthquake!!! Felicitaciones! What joy for all, as we share in the Lord's joy bringing souls to Him.
Here is what we heard happened...

We had one baptism in San Pablo, and one in Los Andes. The zone leaders told us the details that a Father (his wife and children are ALL members, menos him) had been taking the lessons, had his baptismal date set for Saturday, Feb 27th, and as soon as the earthquake hit, he must have contacted the missionaries right away, told them he was determined to still be baptised and didn't want to wait, so a member of the ward went right down to the chapel and started filling the baptismal font about 4am, to ensure there would be water for this blessed event. The Lord has many people, faithful, repentant, and eager to be baptized. Now is the time, more than ever!
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EX-Elderes y Hermanas hold special Fast for Chile

We rec'd a wonderful email on Saturday, Feb 27th, from one of our previous Assistants to the President, Elder Brandon Stewart. He told us that he had rec'd many messages from other returned missionaries on Facebook. They were building a chain, contacting each other, for Sunday, to have a special fast for their great family in Chile. They said many had Chilean flags on their profile! Spanish/English:

"Mi corazón se alegró mucho al ver los mensajes de todos los ex-misioneros en Facebook. También recibí un mensaje de text de una ex-misionera en Utah reexpidiendo una cadena a todos los ex-Elderes y Hermanas para que mañana hagamos un ayuno especial por nuestra gran familia Chilena. Una cosa es cierta: hay muchas banderas Chilenas en nuestras fotos de perfil!" Thinking of all of our wonderful missionaries who have returned home praying and fasting for the work and missionaries here brought us again to tears. How blessed we are that these powerful missionaries are part of lives forever. He shared a great scripture we all recognize and love,
Alma 37:6-7
Tal vez pienses que esto es locura de mi parte; mas he aquí, te digo que por medio de cosas pequeñas y sencillas se realizan grandes cosas; y en muchos casos, los pequeños medios confunden a los sabios. Y el Señor Dios se vale de medios para realizar sus grandes y eternos designios; y por medios muy pequeños el Señor… realiza la salvación de muchas almas.
"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

Thank you, Elder Stewart and all of you loving Elders and Hermanas who love Chile, for your love, faith and encouragement! Les amamos muchisimo!


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After the quake, see their faces!

We have posted in large size, the fotos of each zone, so parents, families and loved ones can see for themselves, that their missionaries are happy, smiling and moving forward. These are located as you scroll down. These group shots don't portray the joy exactly that we all felt to finally be together again. Pretty important stuff.
Also, we are dropping into the 'LIFE in CHILE' portion of fotos below, to show the island fotos that Elder Mitchell brought home and shared with us. He wanted them to be on the blog so that all could see and understand what a loss we have felt. We will try to post some of the videos, if possible.

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And here is the rest of it. Again, this entire section should be written inside of these two lines, the lines may be removed but the spaces between cannot be removed... If you have any problems let me know...
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Mission President institutes new Mission Rule

President May, after learning of the state of the missionaries within the Chile Santiago North Mission, and hearing of the extreme concern and worry from parents regarding their missionaries, implemented a new "Earthquake Clause." Parents had been calling, writing email, sending texts, calling SLC, and were extremely concerned for each of their sons/daughters in the mission. They wanted to send their love, "tell em we love em, please" and that they were praying and fasting for the missionaries all over Chile. Read on to hear of clause and see fotos below:

We went to visit each zone, in all of their sectors/zones and when we arrived to visit, President May told each zone that he has created a new Earthquake Clause/Rule that will be in his mission President manual for future reference. It is the following:
"Hugs are allowed, just today, not only the Chilean handshake and hug from President May, but also from Hermana May, passing on love and un abrazo fuerte, just this one time, to convey and pass along the love from ALL of their parents, mothers, fathers, aunts, Bishops, Stake Presidents, friends, ward members, etc, who are ALL wanting to send their love and concern." We were ALL overjoyed, as we need the therapuetic chance to express love, hug, share tears, smiles, and the missionaries told us that they felt like they really were receiving hugs and love from home. This type of "group therapy" might not have been taught to us as President and wife in the MTC, or even thought might ever be necessary, but in cases of 8.8 earthquakes, it is just what the doctor ordered. After tears, smiles, hugs and expressions of love, we all felt better, and know that the source of love originates with Jesus Christ. Next posting will describe what the missionaries expressed as they described what they were learning/feeling in this experience.


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What blessings and miracles we have observed

As we went around to each zone, to hug and love these great missionaries, we saw and heard their hearts full of faith. As you can imagine, the circumstances are so varied. Some zones still don't have lights, some just received water to their apartments (they all have water to drink), some are trying to wash clothes, others hadn't had showers in 2-3 days, since their water was on, then off, then off. Some wanted to shave, others to wash their hair....quite a bit like being at YW camp, or Boy scout camp for the week. But they are smiling. We noticed dirty rings around their collars and cuffs on their wrinkled white shirts, but they still looked so honorable and worthy to be servants of Jesus Christ that it brought me to tears. We KNOW He would be so honored and please to call them, "his friends." I saw dirty, dusty shoes, and it again pleased me to think that they are all earning their reward in the Lord's eyes, as they are literally 'walking in the Lord's footsteps here,' like Mos 15:14-18, 3Ne 20:40 or DyC 128:19 states, "how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring the good news/GOSPEL....." These wonderful feet are carrying the Savior's best missionaries to the chosen and those prepared to follow Him. Here are some of the comments the missionaries shared with us, they are learning:

"How important to have our house built upon the Rock, not sand."
"I felt the Love of God for us"
"I noticed that the material things are NOT the most important, valuable things."
"We need to depend of God"
"I felt the love of my family"
"God loves ALL of His children"
"Urgency of God to bring us all to Salvation"
"Members showed us so much love, we felt it strongly"
"How much more I needed to be prepared."
"Follow the Holy Ghost"
"Listen to the prophet when he tells us to be prepared in all things."
"How Powerful God is and we are nothing without him"
"When it is so dark and hopeless, it always is better when we look to the LIGHT, who is Jesus Christ."
"Prayer is valuable and powerful"
"My prayers helped me feel the Holy Ghost's influence and guidance."
"When we were in line for water with many people, I thought they need Jesus Christ in
their lives, who is the living waters."
"How often he reminds us to repent, but we have to do it now, and not procrastinate."
"He humbles us to help us be saved. We need to be clean to do that."
"Scriptures say he will 'punish us' but spanish, Castigar, comes from Chastity
and that means purify, so he will purify, test us so we can be saved and sanctified."
"dark times made me want to look for the morning."
"All people here suffered this earthquake. The LOrd is no respector of persons, rich, poor, member, no member"
"He wants us to be more urgent and valiant to share our testimonies."
"Follow our leaders, in the mission too, when they told us have emergency funds and food, 3 months ago, we needed to listen AND OBEY!"
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News from Easter Island/Tsunami and their Report

We just rec'd an email from our mighty couple, THE RUNDQUISTS, who are
serving so faithfully and valiantly on Easter Island. Elder Rundquist
is the Branch President there, and both were assigned to guide this little
flock and help inspire more to come back to activity. The Rundquists arrived
to our mission from Canada, with very little Spanish-speaking ability, but huge amounts of desire and willingness to be of help, share their testimonies, work hard,
serve others completely....and they are doing just that. We love them dearly,
and appreciate their incredible offering here in the Chile Santiago North Mission.
Here is their report:

Subject: News from Isla de Pascua
Hermana May, Just a little update and something for your blog. The
tsunami hit the east side of the island with only enough force to
throw big rocks up on the coast road. No flooding or other damage with
waves only 5 feet high. We are certainly a blessed little bit of
heaven here. I was talking to one of the local men, my landlord Camilo
Rapu, who told me of a legend of Easter Island that when it was formed
it was blessed that it would be a protected place where nothing would
happen and people who lived here would be blessed and protected.That
legend has certainly held true as there has been nothing happen here
at all. The only concern was for food supplies as planes from Santiago
bring those to us but the local merchants have plenty of food etc. in
stock and only get new supplies once a week. The airport says that
there will be no planes for 3 or 4 days so we are not expecting any
food or water problems at all. I have advised the members of our rama
to be aware of the need for keeping a food and water supply on hand
and they have told me that they always do, not so much for disasters
as for the fact that many times they shut the water off on the island
and you have to provide for yourself although not very long, perhaps a
day. We definitely feel the hand of the Lord in our lives here with
tender mercies everyday as well as a sense of total protection from
the difficulties that are being experienced throughout Chile at this
time. Our prayers are with all those in Chile who now need to trust in
the Lord more than ever that He will see them through this terrible
tragedy in their lives. We love you and so appreciate all the great
and marvelous things that are being done to further the work of the
Lord is this part of His vineyard.
Elder and Hermana Runquist
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Santiago, Chile Temple Experience, Post Terremoto

Cheryl Lyon, matron of the Santiago Temple in Chile. Her husband Ted Lyon is the temple president. Here is what she wrote:
"Thanks to all of you who have emailed your concern for us. We can state unequivocally that we're fine. We can also state with the same emphasis that riding through that quake in our rocking fourth-floor apartment was for me the scariest experience I've ever been through!

I was sure we were about to die - that either the ceiling would fall on us or that we'd collapse through the floor. It truly was an emotion I'd never experienced before. My whole body shook for the next two hours, and after that I couldn't stop crying.

We didn't even have the presence of mind to get out of bed during the quake. I felt paralyzed, staring at the ceiling and wondering when the earth would stop rolling. It was the longest two minutes of our lives! We could hear things falling out of cupboards, and pictures falling off the walls. But the sound and the movement was the worst.

Our sturdy building held up fine. Just lots of dust and a few broken dishes. But elsewhere, as I'm sure you've seen on the news, people didn't fare as well. Lots of damage. Virtually no stores open. Most parts of Santiago still have no electricity. Collapsed overpasses have closed major highways. The airport is closed because of damage, and planes have been rerouted to northern Chile or to Argentina. Our new missionary doctor was to arrive this morning, so I don't know where he and his wife have ended up.

What a joy to walk into the temple and find it in perfect condition. We just had to close a few drawers and straighten a few crooked pictures. It felt so good to be there in that peaceful refuge and find normality. Moroni did lose his trumpet, however! That was the only noticeable damage.

How grateful we are for how well the Church takes care of us. We've often thought the 24-hour emergency lights in our building were excessive, but we were surely thankful for them at 3:30 this morning as everyone was evacuating the building - including the missionaries downstairs in the MTC. It was so disconcerting to get out of bed in the dark and stumble over fallen items in the bathroom. We got just a taste of what the Haitians have suffered, though their damage and deaths have been so much more devastating, even though their quake a weaker one. So far here they're reporting 123 deaths, but we assume the toll will climb.

We had to decide what to do about the temple. We had every session booked for the day, and wondered if people would arrive. We met with one of Ted's counselors - who had arrived at 5:00 for the early shift, as faithful as ever - and our registrar. We knew it would be difficult for the employees and workers to get to the temple and there was not electricity at the time. One faithful laundry sister came a great distance to help, but there was no gas for the dryers, so she had baptismal clothes from last night lying out all over the laundry.

The temple has an emergency generator which roars into action the second the power goes out. But we learned that it runs on petroleum which lasts only four hours. By 8 a.m. we knew we were about to go dark again, so we made the decision to simply close the temple for the day.

Then, just in the second that the lights began to dim, the power came back on! (We've learned since that we're the only section of Santiago that has power yet.) So then we decided to hold just one session, since we had three out-of-town couples staying in the hospedaje who were expecting to receive their endowments and be sealed today. We mustered all the missionary couples, along with a group of faithful sisters who work the late shift on Fridays and then stay over for the Sat morning shift. We had a most moving morning. The quake had brought such a sense of unity to workers and patrons, and the Spirit was amazing. I've seldom had such a moving experience at the veil - with three consecutive young sisters who were receiving their endowments.

Right now we're sleep-deprived, and Ted has already gone back to bed. The stress has left us exhausted - but we're alive and well! We're still feeling aftershocks - called "replicas" in Spanish. They're reported about 25 of them. One just rolled by as I was writing this.

So, that's the report. After some rest we may venture out and about to see what we can see. Thanks for your love and concern."

Ted and Cheryl
President of the Santiago Temple
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SLC reports on Church Response to Earthquake

SALT LAKE CITY 1 March 2010 Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile are actively assisting in relief efforts and determining how the Church can be of most assistance in the wake of one of the most powerful earthquakes of the last century. With over half a million Latter-day Saints living in the country, the Church has a substantial presence in Chile.

Local leaders and members began relief efforts shortly after the quake distributing food and water already located in Concepción. Early reports indicate three Church members have died.

Church leaders have identified that food, water, tents, blankets, hygiene kits and sleeping mats are needed to assist people in the affected region. Representatives of the Church in Chile have been in contact with the country’s Interior Ministry to determine how the Church can most appropriately assist in relief efforts. Emergency response personnel at Church headquarters are poised to provide assistance as appropriate.

“While any loss of life and destruction of great magnitude is a tragedy, we don’t anticipate that the situation in Chile will be nearly as devastating as what we’ve seen in Haiti,” said Lynn Samsel, director of emergency response for the Church.

Most Latter-day Saint meetinghouses in Chile fared well in the quake, though many are filled with dust. At least three meetinghouses suffered extensive structural damage, and another was severely flooded. A house that also served as a meetinghouse was swept away in the tsunami triggered by the earthquake.

Contact has been made with all missionaries. All are reported safe and many are assisting in relief efforts. Missionaries who are unable to return to their apartments are staying with members or in meetinghouses. While communication has been somewhat unreliable for local Church leaders, they have had their best success communicating through text messages.

The epicenter of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake was located off the central coast of Chile, causing significant damage in the nearby cities of Santiago and Concepción.

The shaking lasted about three minutes, buckling highways and snapping utility lines. Transportation, communication and electrical power were severed across much of the country. Chilean officials have confirmed more than 720 people died in the earthquake, with more confirmed casualties expected in the coming days.

An estimated two million Chileans have been affected by the earthquake, with at least 500,000 homes sustaining considerable damage. Dozens of aftershocks, some registering as high as 6.9 on the Richter scale, continued to rattle the region over the weekend.


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LDS Church Response

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- All of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' missionaries serving around Chile have reported in safe after a massive earthquake, Church officials said Sunday.

Two young men who helped others move to higher ground on remote Juan Fernandez islands 400 miles off the coast were the last missionaries to report in after Saturday's magnitude-8.8 quake, according to the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



A missionary training center in Santiago, Chile's capital, was undamaged, church spokesman Scott Trotter said. Santiago, 200 miles northeast of the quake's epicenter, sustained other damage.

Members of other proselytizing missions in neighboring Argentina were safe, Mormon church officials said. They expected to update their plans later Sunday for reacting to the quake.

In Utah, parents of the missionaries -- young men on a two-year tour of duty -- said they had not been able to contact their sons but were confident they were OK.

Connie Reynolds' son, Chase, is serving on a Concepcion Mission, based in the largest city near the epicenter with more than 200,000 people.

"I was on pins and needles," Connie Reynolds told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden, Utah. "It was another missionary mother on the phone and she asked me if I had heard about the earthquake."

Hours later, Tony and Connie Reynolds got word from the church that the Santiago delegation was safe. Their son was in town called Molina, about 70 miles south of the epicenter.

"It was pretty awful to see the images of the quake on TV," Connie Reynolds said. "We certainly hope the members and the Chileans are doing OK. We know Chase loves the people of Chile and we have grown to love them through him. We feel for them and our hearts go out to them. We're sure Chase is rolling up his sleeves and helping the people of Chile right now."

Jeffrey Stagg, the son of Dr. Neil and Ruth Ann Stagg, of South Ogden, is serving in the Santiago East Mission, which is approximately 200 miles from Talca, the quake epicenter.

"We haven't heard from Jeffrey yet but as far as we know he is safe," said his mother, Ruth Ann Stagg. "I would love to hear from him. Just hear his voice."

Mark and Julie Tensmeyer, of Ogden, whose son Kyle is serving in the Vina Del Mar mission, are "just expecting the best unless we hear otherwise," said Mark Tensmeyer. "Kyle is in a rural area where there aren't a lot of large buildings, which is good when there's an earthquake, but I'm sure we won't hear from him until communications have improved."

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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