Everyone said we should have had a rainstorm last week but it just never came. This was a good week. Not great but good. We have shared with some new people this week and we are seeing many less active members come back. We hope that this continues. Some of the investigators are progressing more than others. It would be a lot better if they would just come to church. We had 6 investigators at church this past sunday but we only knew 1 of them. A lot of members are bringing friends to church. Now we just need to teach them too.  The book I use most often is 3 Nephi, followed by Alma, and then Moroni.

We have transfers this next Saturday. We will find out then who stays, who goes, and who we will be with for the next 6 weeks. We recently had a change in the rule as to which Cibers we are allowed to use. Which means I am in a Ciber that will not let me send pictures right now. I will send pics when I can.

I never did get the mp3 to work but I have music on a different pendrive so no worries about that. I did lose the music of Karen singing but when I get home I will be able to listen to that and a lot more music so I am good with what I have right now.

I am glad it was Grandma and Grandpa Mellor that slept in my bed and not the three visiting college students. But if that happens again when I am home where do I sleep?

In some other churches they only remember the resurrection of Christ during Easter but we celebrate his life each Sunday when we partake of the sacrament. Through the sacrament we can be made clean anew each week. There should be reverence and respect throughout sacrament meeting but especially during the actual ordinance of the sacrament. Kids can eat fruit snacks, draw pictures, or play with their cars after the sacrament but there should be silent respect during this sacred ordinance. As for tips on how to actually make that happen I have none but that is the idea.

Yes, some women make kissing sounds at us. I have also recieved marriage proposals, been sworn at (in English and Spanish), and had people yell random English words at us.

Have a nice summer. Tell Corey happy birthday for me too.

Tell Dad I hope he feels better. Love you guys. Take care and enjoy your summer.

Love, Elder Brock Hunter

This week we stayed busy. We are seeing some great progress. We are starting to work a lot better with the ward members. We have found several new investigators and receptive less active members this week. Many of them for different wards but the work goes on there too. The biggest change comes when they realize what their relationship with Christ and their Heavenly Father can be. I have seen that change happen with some less active members as well. They get distracted with the world or the organization of the church and forget what is really important. 

I am glad that you are getting used to your calling. It will take a little time to really get to know everyone and everything that you need to do but the great part about church callings is that we do not have to try and accomplish everything on our own. We have to do everything we can but then we get to let the Spirit do the rest.

Thanks for the advice and the encouragement.

This last Tuesday I recieved a birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa Hunter. It arrived in Chile on time for my birthday but it did not make its way to me until now. Gotta love international mail. I want to tell them thanks and I hope they feel better.

It is supposed to rain here again but no one is exactly sure when. Hopefully it will just clean things up and not flood us like it did last time.

Thanks for the notes. The interview went well. Thanks for the help with the family history, now I get to stay in the mission a little longer. And after 9 months here in Chile I finally have the card that says I am legal. I will try to send a package home soon. 

The investigators are doing okay. We are working hard with all of them but I am afraid that the custom of living together without being married has made some of their progress slower than we and they would like. I put on sunscreen so dont worry about that.

The week has been busy and the apartment is nice. The shower is still not as good as the showers at home but it is better than the shower we had in the last house. We have unpacked most of the things. An important thing to do in a new house is do not live out of your bags. You need to make things personal, make your own space, otherwise you will always feel like a stranger in your own house.

Do you want to know the truth? The Chileans use smart TVs, touch phones, and giant stereos. They are very modern and it can be difficult to find "Native" things. If you do find them, many times they are actually things native to Peru, not Chile. I am not saying that cultural things do not exist. The problem is you almost never see them unless it is close to a National Holiday. I will look for what I can find but I make no promises.

I do not know about the craziest thing but one weird thing that happened today is that an old man came up to us while we were eating lunch in town and demanded that I give him my french fries. Then he called me a Yankee when I refused to just give him my fries and then he yelled some other things which I frankly could not understand. The best story is pretty hard to come up with right on the spot but we were walking in the street one day and a drunk man came up to us, called me Jesus, gave me a hug, and walked (or stumbled as it were) away. I do not know what kind of stories you are looking for.

Do you think Elder Bybee will even remember when he made a sandwich in our house when we were out of town? If not he will be very confused by the sign. Tell him hi for me.

also tell grandma mellor happy birthday.

love ya mom. thanks.

Good luck with the last week of school. I love you all. Take care.

Elder Hunter

Dear Family,

I will be honest here. When we talked for Christmas I started crying when we did the family prayer and I could not focus for about a week. This time I was just happy to see you guys are doing well. I did not cry this time and I feel like I can work normally this week. Of course I might just be calm because President Dalton will send me home on wednesday :P I dont think he will but you never know.

I am sure Dad will be very busy for a while but I know he can handle it. And for the parts he can not do or handle he will have the help of the spirit and a loving family.

I am more involved with church things than at any other time of my life but you guys still manage to see more devotionals and talks than me. I hope you can enjoy the devotional with Elder Bednar and the National Day of Prayer sounds interesting. I already knew about the Interfaith Council because we were able to ask them questions during GHA but that is still a cool experience.

I miss snow... a lot actually... I should probably still be putting on sunscreen but I get lazy in the morning sometimes. And I will work on getting those pictures for you.

I am not sure if I want to know or not but I will ask anyway. Is there any cool movies, shows, books, or music that has come out since I left? We hear a few things when we visit people but without internet and tv it is pretty hard to stay up to date.

I have a few pics that I will try to send today. I love you all. It was great talking to you and I hope everyone lives to finish the school year :P Take care.

Love, Elder Hunter

This is some of the fruit that an investigator gave to us.
Pepino, pomegranate, and grapes with seeds.

We found this in the old house 2 days before we left.
we left just in time if you ask me.

We moved using bags, not boxes.

The family still had not taken all of their things so our stuff was outside for a day.

I am eating "healthy foods" here.
(this was dinner the night we moved)

This dog hated us when we first arrived at the house.
In the end it liked me but still hated Elder Plowman.
They took the dog on Sunday of last week.

Mother's Day Flower

I decided to buy things that did not have to stay in the fridge
when we were doing the move to the new house.

This one is my favorite...
(Mother's Day Skype 2015 in Chile)

Mother's Day Skype 2015 in Enoch

Wow.... just wow. Dad is a Bishop and I am a missionary. Our family is getting awfully spiritual lately. Who are his counselors? How many people are in the ward? Are there any cute girls Dad can scout out for me for when I get back? (well it doesnt hurt to ask)

We will try to call between 8 and 9 here in Chile. Which means 5 to 6 in Utah. We will be calling late because Elder Plowman´s family has church at 1, and won't get home until 4 and they want some other people to be there I believe. (or maybe his Mom just doesn´t want to be crying in Church. I am not totallly sure) Anyway, try to be ready around 5 or 6. I will be looking for the Skype information tonight to make sure that I am ready. (We already asked a family if we can use their computers but now we have to verify that the time is okay for them as well) By the way, what time does Bishop Hunter´s Ward start? What about Homestead 1st? Which will you guys be attending regularly?

I invite you guys to start making plans now. I want to do a Temple Tour of Utah when I get home. We can plan to do it after Jake is ordained a Deacon. Then Jake and Kaitlin can do Baptisms for the Dead in each of the Temples and I can visit some temples after 2 years away from Deseret. We really are blessed in Utah to have so many temples. I may need a refresher course of how everything works. I was unable to go inside the Temple in Mexico City but I will visit the Santiago Temple right before I travel home. I wonder if a Temple Session in Spanish is very different from one in English... I guess I will find out in another year.

I am glad that the car is working again. We had our own car troubles this past weekend. We finally moved into the new house. It took all of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with some last minute clean-up this Morning. We did not use boxes, we used plastic bags from Líder (Chilean Wal-Mart). The car problems mostly involved finding trucks and members that could help us. There are vehicle restrictions here in Copiapo in order to keep the dust down. Sometimes a person was willing to help us but unable to move their truck. Anyway, Thursday was our personal items and the mission materials, Friday was some of the bigger items and food, Saturday Morning we took the fridge and stove to the new house and Saturday evening we just hauled trash out of the back yard. We did not work Sunday (well, we did organize a few things) and this morning we cleaned outside some more and cleaned the bathroom. There was a lot of clean up to do but when we gave the keys back to the owner this morning they said it looked "impecable". So I guess we did a good job. We still have to organize everything in the new house but that can wait. We need to get back to preaching and teaching. 

I will look through all the family history stuff right after I write this. Please tell Grandma Mellor, Grandma Hunter, and Debby thank you in my place. I appreciate their help.

We are able to teach Juan Carlos but then he does not come to church. Nelly comes to church but we have been unable to teach her. We have been unable to teach Diego AND he did not come to church. Some of this was our own fault because we were unable to visit them this past weekend but this week they will have no excuse.

It is a little cold now but I am fine. It is cold at night, sometimes in the morning if it is cloudy. Otherwise it is still hot. It is almost as bi-polar as Utah. We have plenty of blankets. I just have to find where we put them after the move...

Thanks for everything. I love you guys. I love all of you. Not just Mom, Not just Dad, but all of you. Stay well and I will talk to you soon. Hopefully with a better wifi connection this time.

Con mucho amor, Elder Hunter

Jake

I wonder, were they just waiting for me to leave to make Dad a Bishop? Was I too much of a handful that he could not be Bishop and handle me at the same time? I hope you help Dad with his new calling. He will be very busy and a lot of the time he will be tired and stressed so you need to help him out.

Let´s make a deal Jake. You work hard back in Enoch, I will work hard here in Chile, and when I get home we will go visit the Payson Temple together. You can show me this awesome baptismal font. And I hope Hayden has a good memory so he can show me what Uncle Neldon built when I get there.

Take care Jake. Stay awesome and work hard. School is not over yet. Love ya.

Elder Hunter

Kate

OH MY GOODNESS. I nearly forgot about May the Fourth be with you. The Mission has made me a terrible nerd. At least now I can celebrate Revenge of the Fifth. Can you look up what is going on with the new Star Wars movie? I obviously wont be watching it for a while but I would like to know what it is about.

And Kaitlin, you must think of the benefits. It is the Young Single Adult Ward. Dad will know everything about all the datable singles in Cedar City. And it will be much easier to take your tithing slip to the bishop. And you can use the Church whenever you want. (on the other hand can you look at the admission requirements of UofU for me?) Just kidding but it will be interesting.

Keep working. Things are getting a bit crazy here in Chile but it is not the end of the world just yet. We are not affected by the volcano. We are much farther north. We are waiting for a giant earthquake though.

Love ya sis. Take care.

Elder Hunter