Welcome To Our Mission Blog

As many of you know, both Howard and Tirsa, our youngest daughter, served missions in Chile. Howard from 1961-64, and Tirsa, in the Viña del Mar Mission, from 1997-1999. In 2008 we built a home in Llanquihue, Chile, in the beautiful Lake District, which is the entrance to gorgeous Patagonia. Our home sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Llanquihue and the famous Osorno Volcano, both shown in the above photo. The idea is to travel to Chile for the Chilean summer when it turns cold and blustery in Colorado. (Remember, we spent 36 years in sunny Calif).


Therefore, you can imagine how thrilled we were to be called to serve our Senior Mission in the Osorno area. We will be living in the city of Osorno, about 50 miles north on the Pan American Highway from the city of Llanquihue. We are called as Office Specialists, serving under President and Sister Lovell.


The mission covers 1,200 very skinny miles all the way to the beginning of Antarctica (find Punta Arenas on the map). And the best part, Howard has a much prettier companion than he had as a 19 year old missionary.


This blog will be updated regularly. We invite you to check it out often. Please post any responses that you feel appropriate. We would love to hear from you!


Cariño (love)


Elder y Hermana Hamilton

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Five Months in the Mission




We are entering our fifth month on our mission. So many events have occurred it will be difficult to remember them. This picture was taken when we were able to locate and gift a wheel chair to this lady who has been crippled from birth. We spotted her trying to walk in town the other day with her husband patiently assisting. It was very sad and totally unnecessary given the medical treatment that is available, apparently only to people of substance. They were both surprised and thrilled.

While we both help in the office to meet the needs of some 150 missionaries throughout southern Chile, we also have a special responsibility to teach music to Chilean members of our church who with to direct music as well as play piano. All of this is done through the kindness of the Harman Foundation, a couple with substance who established a foundation to assist people in emerging countries to gain or retain a culture of music. Karleen is the musician and teacher; Howard assists where he can. We are about to graduate over 20 students this next week (December 18 and 19) in two Christmas Programs we are helping to produce. We will post some pictures of the event after next week end.

The individual in the picture to the right is Bishop Moreira of the Francke Ward, one of the two units we are working with. He is assisting in the making of a prop for our Christmas Program.
The event will feature children dressed as shepherds, angels, wise men and, of course, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. We also have some guest performers who will play piano, violin, flute, and sing. It will be very special and all are quite excited and, we might add, a little surprised that this is actually going to happen. They have never seen Karleen in action.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Arrival in Southern Chile

After 13 hours in an airplane, and another 7 waiting in the Santiago Airport, we finally arrived at the tiny airport in Osorno, Chile, where we will be headquartered.

President Lovell was not there to meet us as he was still home (Heber, Utah) recuperating from surgery to correct some nerve issues in his arm. President Boyden and his wife were serving as interim President and spouse. He had been a Mission President in Mexico and so knew the ropes.

After a meal we went to our apartment to get settled in. It is about 12 minutes by foot from our office and really quite nice. We have three bathrooms and showers (count them, that's three). The only problem is that two run off of a different heating system and we can't get warm water. But, that's life in Chile.