Dear Family,

I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving. It sounds like you did. I ate some Christmas cookies... and that is about it. I did not have much of a celebration this year.

So, updates. The trip to Antofagasta normally takes about 12 hours if all goes well. We got there in about 16. Just 4 hours more but it was enough to make us late for everything. The investigators are doing pretty good. Nicolas has been doing well but he did not go to church yesterday. Got home late Saturday and did not wake up in time. Mario passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized this Saturday. His wife Daniela is still not ready and does not want to feel obligated. We received permission to baptize Emanuel if that is what he wants. We still have to talk with him and his mother but I am sure it will all work out. Francisco showed up at church again but now he does not want to get baptized :-/ we shall see what happens there.

So that you know, Teleton is a fundraiser that is broadcasted in all of Chile. Celebrities, organizations, and regular people donate money to help people with disabilities. There are a bunch of performances and stuff too in order to animate everyone and get them to donate. From what we have heard they raised a few million dollars this year. Not a bad days work. As missionaries we are not involved in anyway but I do believe the Church donates a bit too. Not sure though.

I still can't believe that you guys went out and got a real tree this year. We have not had a real tree since Jake was a baby. I hope you guys enjoy it though I do believe there will still be a few tree needles hanging around when I get home...

Keep working hard. Just a little longer and it will be Christmas Break. Time is weird in the mission so I am pretty sure this month will pass by flying. We still need to see what arrangements we can make to call home. This month we are also changing Mamitas because the Mamita we have now will be traveling to Colombia.

Now for some other random stuff. Tell JuneBug Happy Birthday for me. How old will she be now? Also, this week we had pension inspections and I had a weird sense of deja vu. Then I realized, it was the same sensation I felt when I had to clean my room or stuff-n-fluff the house because visitors were coming. Sometimes the mission life really is not that different after all.

Sometimes the mission is hard, sometimes I don't get along very well with my comp, and sometimes I cry because I dont get to see the new Star Wars Movie for another 7 months but serving a mission is always worth it. I love you guys. God bless.

Con amor, Elder Brock Hunter

Dear Kate, 

my comp is bugging me because we need to go buy food still so this will be short. This week was a rollercoaster. Some good moments and some really crappy moments but I am still alive so that is a good thing.

I finally talked to my mission leader for the first time in 3 weeks. He wants 2 copies of the spanish triple. One of them should have the name "E. Javier Delgado" and the other should have "M. Elizabeth Arias". 

I always use sunscreen and yet I still get burned... well, I bought aloe vera at least. 

take care sis, one more month in the semester. YOU CAN DO IT!

Love ya, Elder Hunter