Dear Family,

Nice to hear from you. The weather is usually cold at night and sometimes in the evening. If we go down close to the beach then the breeze makes things chilly as well (I have beach in my sector now). Thank you very much for your prayers and thoughts. I miss Utah weather but I don’t know that I will miss it so much when I am there again but oh well.  My comp fired the Mamita because there was a hair in their soup or something. I still don’t even know who the old Mamita was but several families have offered to help us with lunch. Those days I eat a bit better than normal...

Sunday had a lot of potential but my comp left me alone with an investigator as he started talking to people. I felt about as lost as our investigator but a few returned missionaries came and introduced themselves to him. They may have saved our investigators impression of the church because a lot of other people were cold... I know very few members still but I am starting to recognize certain streets and addresses. This ward is larger than my last ward. We had 111 people in attendance though, as always, many of those are primary children.

I am still fighting with fleas. I washed my blanket and when I hung it up to dry I found a flea crawling around so I squished it between my fingernails. Unfortunately that seems to not have been the only flea attacking me. Tell Kalin congratulations on being called to serve in the best mission in the world (even if it is not the prettiest). If he has questions now he can write me an email or he can wait and ask me when I get home.

Good luck getting everything done that you guys need to. The end of the school year is always interesting. I am still in shock that you guys will be ending so soon. I had to start telling people that I am 20 and I feel old now. Time is going way too fast. 

All the members here warn me against marrying a return missionary but we will see what options are available when I get home. Besides, I don’t want to get married too soon after the mission. I still have to see what adult life is like before I attempt to share it with someone else.

It sounds like Jake is a good shot now so I hope that you guys get the chance to find some turkey before the season ends.

The work moves on here in Antofagasta. Roger came to church as well as Patricio, but sadly Lucas did not make it. We have the support of some of the local leaders but it will require a lot of diligence to get everyone else excited to help the Obra Misional. We have done nothing exciting for Pday since I got here. The most thrilling things that have happened are when I found a lot of spiders while cleaning and the fact that there was a short power outage while we were trying to buy groceries. But oh well.

God bless you all and I will try to get details on when we are going to talk on Mother’s Day.

Con amor, Elder Brock Hunter

Hey sis.

Stressful weeks must run in the family. This week was not my favorite in the mission either though I did finally get the bday package. Tell Jake that I loved his homemade brownies and that the jerky has helped me retain my sanity. Those treats, as well as the double stuff Oreos that I bought here have helped me mucho. 

Which car are you driving now? The new one or my old one? It isn’t by chance the same tire that I crashed into the curb is it? Anyway...

We are seeing progress but slow. Several investigators are showing less interest than before, which is hard to see as a missionary but others are showing more interest and are reading the Book of Mormon. I know the area a bit better but still not super well. I also don’t know where many members live. We are renting a house behind a house. It has two floors with a kitchen (good), 2 bathrooms (both suck), a living room, and three bedrooms upstairs. Outside we have a Chinese washing machine and a cable to dry our clothes on. I sleep on a bunkbed now and have hit my head on the ceiling several times.

Sometimes I feel like I have changed a lot and sometimes I feel like I need more sleep... or that I am mostly the same. I have discovered some things about myself (like that I love working with kids. Thanks Tryston and Acey) and I have also discovered several faults (stubborn, prideful, impatient) but with those things I can make improvements. I think that something that has changed is my devotion to the gospel. I have shared with a LOT of different people and I can testify that the Gospel can help all of them. And some of these people have REALLY hard lives. I also have a greater appreciation for cultures other than my own.

I don’t know if I am taller but the members I have met from my old ward say that I am skinnier. Sometimes I have a hard time with English. I am sure that you guys will hear a few Spanish phrases when I get home because I can’t remember what I would have normally said in English. I heard about an earthquake but felt nothing. Where did the earthquake take place? There is a virus in the computer so even though I found a card reader, I still can’t send pics... now I just hope that the virus doesn’t delete any of my photos.

Take care sis. Hope this week is better than your last. 

Con amor, Elder Hunter