August 25, 2014
They can say Hunter usually but they dont understand the meaning. Chile is great. The Mission President and his wife are from Idaho. I have a mommita for food and we dont see her much. She makes food and leaves it on the table. We have a key to her house and we go for lunch and heat it up in the microwave. She is nice though. The mammita for laundry we know a bit better. She talks to us and we have recieved a reference from her. The food is off and on. Sometimes I love it and other times... it is all tomato. I have eaten chicken, pizza, completos (chilean hot dog. much better than american hot dogs), and even fried pig fat. (seriously, not the meat. just the fat)

Time has actually been really slow here. Every day drags and it feels like it was a month since the last P-Day, not a week. We have struggled a little with appointments falling through. We have three progressing investigators right now though the missionaries before us had been reporting eight baptismal dates. We never could find those eight people. We had one of our investigators with us at church yesterday. He said "That is what I always thought the church of Christ should look like." We have high hopes for him and we teach him again tonight. He should have lots of questions from church yesterday. The other two are currently "con-vive" meaning they live together but are not married. They already have a daughter who is four but appartently that is a big problem here in Chile. Marriage just is not important.

The food is mostly good here. Not a lot of fish but there is a lot of tomatoes... I try to eat it but it is a struggle. I am eating well though. If my body ever gets adjusted to all the walking we do then I will probably get fat. We eat a lot. It is usually a regular breakfast (made by us), a huge lunch from the Mammita or by a member family on Sundays, and then whatever we can find for dinner. Sometimes we eat with a member family but usually not. My companion has a "get sexy" plan for when he goes home. He has a diet and exercise schedule that he tries to follow which usually involves skipping dinner. Unfortuanately for him (and fortunately for me) Elder Cardozo, the argentine, is a good cook and he likes to cook at night. We even had a barbaque on Thursday night.

The language here is not what they taught in the CCM. I use a phrase that I worked so hard to learn and find out I dont make sense here. In Mexico I would be correct. But not in Chile. Chileans have their own vocabularly and I get a headache trying to keep it all straight sometimes. My vocabulary is mainly limited to gospel principles but I can not share in lessons because I am unable to understand their questions. I always share what I can and my companion is good about giving me an opportunity to share a scripture and bear my testimony though. I am slowly understanding more and speaking more but for now I remain silent for a good portion of the lesson. I can usually understand the main concept or theme of the conversation but I miss the details and those are important. I will keep working on it though. We have also had the chance to meet people from Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Argentina and they all speak spanish a little differently and it is easier for me to understand some of them.

I am always tired, I sometimes get headaches, and they do not believe in public restrooms here in Chile so we have had a few close calls getting back to the pension in time (for both me and my companion) but I am glad I chose to come out here. It has been good for me already. We even had rain! (it was barely a drizzle but it counts)

I am glad school is going well. Sounds like you and kate have your hands full and it sounds like Jake and Dad are having some good football games. I am impressed by the blog and the smartphone. You guys might be more techy than me when I get home.

I never had Coder but I knew him. Kate, use flashcards. It helps to study them in your spare time. Even the process of just making them and writing everything down can help.

How were Brycens and Dads talks? I actually met some people going to Brycens mission in the CCM but they are obviously spanish speaking so maybe they wont meet each other. I dont know how it works in areas with both spanish and english missionaries.

Quick message to the rest of the family: To Grandma and Grandpa Mellor, Dont worry. I cant see the blog either. Love you guys. To Grandma and Grandpa Hunter, Thanks for always going to my sports games and I know that Jake and Kate appreciate it too. Sorry the Duck Creek trip did not work out. Love you guys. To all my awesome Aunts and Uncles, sorry I dont have time to write everyone individually but thanks for the advice you guys gave me before I left. Thanks for being good examples and for helping my parents raise me right. Love you all. To all my cousins, you guys rock. I cant always reply to everyone everyweek but write me if you get a chance. Love you all.

I am getting kicked off but I love you all and I pray for every one of you.

Elder Hunter