(sorry if this letter seems sloppier than usual. This computer has issues and viruses.) 

We have to be out of our pension in 2 more weeks and we have 3 choices so far. We have to stay within our sector so we have not done very much service and very few people are in the mood to share with the missionaries. Such is the life. 

In the end we delivered much need food and other supplies to several families who were affected by the flood. Some  people were not affected directly but because Centro was shut down many people have been unable to work or buy groceries. We still have not helped much to move the mud but  just walking in the street will get your clothes dirty. We have to use masks every time we go outside because the air is toxic but we really have not changed our working style as much as I thought we would.

The work goes on though slower than before.  The  spanglish gets worse and I seem to have more moments of "What is that called again?" or  "How do you say that in english? " and even  " I said what? What I meant to say was... "

We walk a lot in the sun.  Today we climbed one of the hills here in Copiapo. Centro is still shut down so that is all we could do. 

Thanks for sharing that scripture. (D&C 4) In truth I have had a rough time getting up and working like normal after two weeks stuck in the house. It is a good reminder that we must continue working because not everyone is  qualified to do the work of the Lord.

My birthday was weird. I will be honest here. It was probably the trunkiest I have been in my mission so far. I worked like normal and the Dr Peppers were good but one missionary told me that he found cherry Dr Peppers here . I ate a lot of food, we had District Meeting, and I blew up all the balloons. I did not have a cake but I did have Triton cookies and Dr Pepper. I took pics so don't worry. Some missionaries broadcast to all the world  that it is their birthday but my own companion did not know it was my birthday until I pulled out the balloons at the end of the day. I figured that with all that is going on here it would be inappropriate to say "Hey, look at me. I am special today." I am just happy to know that I am loved. 

The Mountain of the Lord is the movie we watched.  It is from 1993. Sorry. The name changes in Spanish. (but even then I got the translation wrong... oops)

 I am unable to send pictures  at this time  because  we are not using the usual Ciber in order to write. When I get a good  com puter I will send LOTS of pics. I took a pic of every birthday balloon too.

I love you guys. Thank you so much for your prayers and your love. Keep working on your side and I will work hard over here on mine.

 Con m ucho amor,  Elder Hunter

 

We did not watch Conference at the Stake Center. The Stake Center itself is okay but the roads outside are filled with mud. Plus there is a military curfew and there is a ban of cars in the roads during certain hours. We watched Conference in the Chapel here. The members who could not or chose not to watch it in their homes watched it in spanish in the sacrament room while Elder Plowman and I watched it in english in the Secretary`s Office. No investigators joined us this time and we were unable to watch the Priesthood session live because of the Military Curfew.

I enjoyed several talks (though some I am waiting to read in the Liahona because the internet connection was a bit spotty). I enjoyed the Talk of Elder Russell M. Nelson. Talk about ending the conference with power!

I was in a suit, sitting in a church chair, watching a computer monitor in a closet in the secretaries office, with a notebook in my hand. Just a bit different than yours :P

It rained for about 3 days straight if memory serves. The problem is not so much that it rained a lot but that we are in a valley and all the rain from above came down upon Copiapó and the surrounding cities. Clean up efforts are estimated to take 2 to 3 months.

The computers I have had access to recently do not like my camera. The USB ports are not functioning. I need to send some pics of the new apartments we are looking at to the office but I can't. Hope that does not come back to haunt us.

This was not the funnest Easter I have ever had but I did enjoy Conference. I am glad you guys had a fun Spring Break. I am jealous of your rootbeer and jerky. Today while shopping I did find Dr. Pepper for the first time though. I bought two cans and plan to enjoy them thoroughly. So I am happy.  Now I just have to find some rootbeer...We walked to the store today in order to buy food for the first time in 2 weeks. We had to cross a mud river in one of the streets in order to reach the store. We put plastic bags over our shoes in order to cross. We had to do all that effort and that is with things MUCH better than before. The city looks like a zombie wasteland with dust in the air, everyone wearing face masks to filter out the toxins, and the roads are still just covered in mud. Because we were confined to the apartment and becuase I forgot to take my camera with me to the store today I do not yet have pictures of it all but it really was a lot. I was not affected at all. Only one family in my ward was affected by the rain and that only happened because their roof tiles were badly placed. We passed the time by reading, sleeping, and talking. We talked a lot about home and what life will be like after the mission. It was a pretty trunky week for me. After 4 days we recieved permission to watch church sponsored videos. That helped a bit. I love the film The Mount of Zion.

Thank you for your prayers. They are appreciated. The cities that were affected have recieved a lot of help from a lot of people. The youth here have been especially valiant in helping those in need.

Hearing that Cody Dawson got his mission call is amazing. He will be a great missionary though I cannot imagine him with short hair. About Sam and Matt, you mean to say that they were not ALREADY engaged? Well, good for them. It is weird to think that people from my class are going to be married...

Not a whole lot happened this week that is worth reporting. Thank you so much for the Birthday Wishes. The Chilean birthday song is a little different but your spanglish birthday song was perfect :) It is weird to think that you guys are having spring break. We got our April Showers too but we were NOT expecting them. 

Happy Birthday to Karen Bybee too. I love you all. Remember Christ in everything and enjoy this special season. Today is the real birthday of Christ (April 6th).  More important than wishing ME a Happy Birthday or giving ME gifts, what will YOU give HIM?

Love you all. I will be praying for you. God bless.

Elder Brock Hunter

To answer your question, some streets are open. The streets in Centro are still covered in mud up to the knees. There were plans to bring several families from Paipote, a pueblo about a half hour from here, but the families were determined to stay with their houses. We ended up gathering and sending supplies up there. We had one family that stayed in the chapel through the night and several that stayed there during the daytime hours. At night there was usually 12 people or so because it was a large family and the Bishop or Elders Quorum President was always there as well. Sometimes with their families.

I am up on the hill. We had a few drops of water in the house and that was the sum total of the damage we had. I am fine and I dont even have clothes with mud on them yet. We have done a bit of service but currently we are waiting for a truck with supplies to arrive from Santiago. When that truck gets here, all the missionaries of Copiapo will go out to do service together. In the meantime we are under the direction of our Bishops to do service in the ward. So far, very little has actually happened in our ward (which is a good thing) but that means we are under orders to stay in the pension. Even the family that was in the Church has moved back into their house so yeah. We are just waiting for the opportunity to help.

I will probably ruin my clothes when we finally get to work doing service as a stake but helping those families is much more important than some clothes. I may take out some cash to buy new jeans and new sports shoes when all this is finally over but for now I have money so thank you for your concern. 

The missionaries have a habit of buying food week by week becuase they never know when they will be transfered. I have a habit of buying in bulk when I buy eggs, bread, toilet paper, cheese, ect because it is cheaper to buy in bulk. In other words, although some food manages to sit on the shelves for several transfers gathering mold, the majority of the food is bought week by week. I buy in bulk because I always make sure I have a reserve fund so it does not matter if I get randomly transfered right after I buy stuff.

I hope you enjoy Sea World. I dont think our family has been to Sea World since we had the family reunion in California and Dennis got splashed by Shamu. I still remember the whale toy we bought when we went there. I believe that toy is in the wardrobe that I keep my books in, on the first or second shelf from the top. Be sure to take pictures of your trip. (not of the boring seminar part though).

It sounds like everyone has stayed very busy. I can hardly believe that you guys are getting ready for Spring Break. That blows my mind. The time has passed so quickly. March has literally blown by. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to GRANDPA HUNTER AND AUNT LAURI. I still can not believe that April is already upon us. Soon it will be Easter Sunday. I will be spending my "Semana Santa" doing service. What about you guys? 

I hope everyone is ready for General Conference. The Stake Center is currently covered in mud so we may not get to watch conference. On the other hand, General Conference is one of the best times of the year for a missionary so we will all be working hard to clean everything up so that we can hear what counsel our leaders have for us. This past Sunday there were zero meetings in any of the church buildings. All of the families were given permission by the Bishop to have the Family Patriarch prepare and bless the sacrament. The missionaries, along with several other priesthood holders, visited all the families that do not have worthy priesthood holders in their homes so that they too could benefit from the blessing of the "Santa Cena".

I am glad that Grandma Hunter is steadily recovering. I hope that her health can continue to improve and I hope Grandpa Hunter can manage to get ahead of the weeds.

I love you all. Take care. Keep those prayers coming and I will be praying for you as well.

Elder Brock Hunter

March 27, 2015

We recieved permission from President Dalton to write home today. I do not know if you guys have heard about the situation here in the North of Chile but we are currently in a state of emergency. It rained and the people here are not prepared in the least. The streets have become rivers in some parts.

We are up on the hill so we are fine. It is the parts at the bottom of the valley that were most affected. Our chapel is going to be a refuge for people in other wards who were affected by the flooding. They are even bringing people from other towns.

I have access to food, water, electricity, and good shelter so do not worry about me. The only problem I have had the past few days is boredom from being stuck in the pension. We have done service where we could but most of the time we were confined to the pension. I will give more details the next time I can write but I just wanted you guys to know that I am fine. As far as I know all the missionaries here are safe.

I love you all. Do not worry because God is protecting his missionaries.

Take care. Elder Brock Hunter

Pictures from internet of Copiapo

Flood rescue in Copiapo

The military has been deployed to Copiapo to help with the emergency

Joseph Smith said that Temple Work and Missionary Work are the most important things we can do. They are the same work for different people. We have to do our part to help this work progress.

I remember when it was only 75 degrees outside... those were good times.

Elder Plowman does not know if his mom is on Missionary Moms or not. The pants fit great (when I use a belt but I have to use a belt anyway so...)

I did not sleep very well last night so my mind is a bit cloudy at the moment. I cannot think of what to write... yesterday an investigator showed up at the Chapel after all the meetings were over in order to give us a lemon pie. THAT was probably the weirdest thing that happened this past week. We have been working hard trying to visit people but they are not home or are too busy to share. Then, miraculously we find new investigators by talking to random people in the street. "Do you know what time your neighbour gets home?" "No, I dont. But my sister is a mormon and she is visiting right now. Why dont you come in and teach my grandkids." "Okay, we can help you with that."

Weird stuff happens in the mission sometimes but that is okay with me. I get to help people and I have cool stories to tell afterwards. Dont know if I will remember them all but I try to write down what I can in my journal.

I am sorry to say that the MP3 you guys sent has died. That is to say that it has a virus and deleted all the songs and now it wont connect to the computer. Fun stuff. I think I will start looking for a new cheap MP3 after I finish writing everyone. Or maybe a different type of speaker so I can use a pendrive. Thanks for the CD of the Redeemer. Good stuff. I can listen to it right now on the computer.

The night before Elder Plowman arrived I had to stay with the District Leader and his companion in their apartment. There was no extra bed so I got the couch. I think I can understand just how comfortable your hotel was. But did you get bit by fleas? Because I did. I had been flea free here in Copiapo until I slept on that couch. It sucked and I still itch.

Thanks for telling me the advice of those missionaries. I love talking to recently returned missionaries here. I love hearing how the missions are different or similar. One returned missionary was serving in Provo, Utah. He got home one month ago. He talked about gravy and fry sauce and how the cultures are different. He speaks english very well now. We ran into him today and he bought us lunch (another reason to love returned missionaries).

This week was hot and we walked a lot more than I would have liked. The combining of the two sectors has made it a bit harder to plan but we are getting used to it. Pray that the investigators can go to General Conference. Seeing the living prophet can have a big effect on investigators and less active members. They start to realize what really matters.

In the mission Chile Antofagasta we normally watch General Conference at the closest Stake Center and there is normally a "Gringo Room" where the english speaking missionaries can watch it in their native language. We just recieved 8 Brazilian Missionaries in the mission and I do not know if they will watch Conference in Spanish or Portuguese. We will likely go watch the talks in spanish with the members if there is another native spanish speaker. The members here normally cannot watch conference in their homes so they all go to the Stake Center. Some watch Conference on the internet afterwards but it can be hard to get a good connection when the sessions are "live". 

Love ya Take care.

Love Elder Hunter

Random Face on a Cactus

Valentines

Emanuel Nunez, a teacher in our ward.
He did kickboxing and now regular boxing.

Lots of rabbits and gerbils

Familia Sapiain

Baptism of Hermano Hector Cortez (Tello)

Owner of the house of Francisca and Tello

Fireside  about missionary work

Last day of Elder Ortega

Chapel of Jotabeche

Peace Statue

Chilean Flag

Water Fountains

Grafiti

Giant Cactus

Lemon Pie

Ice Cream
(I am not starving here - don't worry)

Old Train Station

Papapleto

Hermano Esteban Rojas,
recenlty returned from his mission in Provo, Utah

Esteban Rojas' s friends daughter

I missed out on the greatest pi day ever! In latin culture they put the day first. So it was 14-3-15. Dang it, what kind of nerd am I if I forgot about pi day?

The dessert here depends on the person. It can be icecream, cookies, pie, cake, fruit with cream, jello, flan, leche asado, ect.

Every family has their own traditions. Of course there are holidays that only apply here in chile but I could not tell you what they all are. They have a tradition of taking a bite out of the birthday cake. 

A lot of walking this past week because the Sisters left us with their appointments as well as our own. This week we can choose who we want to visit a little better. We have a lot of people we need to get to know.

Of the investigators from the sisters: several were not home, one refused to let us enter, one told us she is atheist, one tried to hide when we knocked on the door, and one was actually receptive. We shall see what happens. We have a lot of work to do and a lot more people we need to visit.

I am supposed to lead the companionship. We are a team, we work together, but it is my job to use my experience to help my companion. Elder Plowman is from Logan. He is the first missionary because his two older sisters are already married. He played lacross and hockey in High School. He has one cambio less than me, that is to say he has 6 weeks less. He entered the CCM when I entered Chile. We get along great. We talk about all kinds of things. Stuff from home, missionary stories, what we want to do after the mission, ect. I am the better cook so far. We shall see.

For now it is still hot but we are getting a little more wind. So that helps.

That is so cool that you got to see so many old friends. I nearly went into shock when I saw the chistmas cards. I still see Bert in my mind when he was a little kid. And to hear that now he has recieved his mission call! You are still young mom but I feel old.

Yesterday we had Zone Conference so I was not able to write. We have our Pday today instead. I feel this next transfer could be a turning point for my mission. I was excited to be Senior Companion but then I heard that 9 people from my group are going to be trainers this transfer and 3 of them will also be District Leaders. I felt a little down because I thought the Lord has more trust in them. He does not think I am ready. Then I realized something. It doesn´t matter. I have a different role to play. Not a less important role, just different. The fact that we are now in charge of an entire Ward shows that the Lord does have faith in me. The problem was that I needed more faith in him. Elder Plowman and I are already finding new people to teach and if we have faith and work hard the Lord will bless us with even more success and opportunities.

The Church is doing a new program for Easter. It is called Because He Lives. It involves a video and advertisements just like He is the Gift. The video is not quite out yet but I invite you guys to watch the video, share it on Facebook, show it to all your friends, and remember why we have Easter. I look forward to General Conference too. General Conference is like vacation for missionaries.

This past Sunday we had Stake Conference and we had to walk 40 minutes to get to the Stake Center. In a suit. It was hot. But more important than that is that we found a less active member while we were walking home. He said that he had just lost his job and wanted a priesthood blessing. He wanted to come back to church and he wanted his wife and kids to be baptized. WELL, we can help with that. He lived in the area of the Zone Leaders so we gave them a call and sent them to his house. I dont know what happened with that but it shows that the Lord is always working. Sometimes we dont recognize it or we are working towards one goal and the Lord has another thing in mind. In the end the Work goes on and we recieve the blessing of being instruments in the hands of God.

I dont know what else to say this week so I will talk to you guys later. I love you. Thanks for the packages. I got the pants and the birthday balloons. Thank you so much. The ink and sharpie got everywhere but I could still read all the messages. They are the messiest and most amazing birthday balloons I have ever recieved. I also love the CD, the birthday card, and the ties. We will not decorate the apartment just yet but maybe later. 

Elder Brock Hunter

Hermano Tello is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. He said that after his baptism he slept without any pain. The baptism of the sisters did not happen this weekend. Sadly, very few people came to attend the baptism but what is really important is that the spirit was there. Hector Javier Cortes Tello was smiling when he came up out of the water. It was great to see. Three less active members and two investigators were there and I know that the spirit impacted them as well.

Good luck to you guys with the Trek. Sometimes a group of five youth only needs one adult to supervise. Then a different group of five youth needs seven adults to supervise. I am sure you will figure it all out. And congratulations to Jana Fowler on the new addition to the family.

They DID have Daylight Saving Time but this year the President of Chile said no. I am not sure how this will work out. We are not supposed to take naps but sometimes when you are really tired... and it is really hot... and it is study time and you are in one of those genealogy parts of the scriptures where it just has a lot of names...

You guys are staying busy in everything. School, church, work, and sports. Life is better when you are more involved in things like that. You make better memories. You learn more. You bless more lives. Of course there has to be a little personal time or some time to relax but God did not give us life so that we could do nothing. We have to be active.

Last night we had a Ward Fireside about Missionary Work. Alex Cubillos and his friend Juan were both set apart last night. As future and current missionaries we bore our testimonies about the importance of the Work of the Lord. They also had several parents of Missionaries bear their testimonies. They read one of the Call Letters so that the investigators and family members that are not members of the church could understand a little better WHY we serve. Fernando Jr, our new Mission Leader and recently returned missionary, was not able to attend. He is on vacation with his family. But still, it was a very successful activity. This morningat 9 30 Alex and Juan left for the CCM in Peru. 

We had a "special" cambio this weekend. The Sister Missionaries are leaving the Ward and Elder Ortega is also leaving. Sister Sotec and Sister Simmerman will remain together with the addition of a third companion. They will still be in Copiapo but in another Ward in the other Zone. Elder Ortega is headed up to Arica as a Zone Leader. In the Ward of Los Minerales there is now only 2 Elders. Elder Plowman is my new companion but he does not arrive until tomorrow morning. We took over the sector and the investigators of the Sisters. I will be Compañero Mayor (Senior Companion) this transfer. We have a lot of work ahead of us but I know that the Lord has placed us in this situation for a reason. There are people prepared to learn about the gospel and be baptized. There are also inactive and less active members who just need a little help to be able to return to the church. We need to do our part and I know the Lord will bless us.

For today I will stay with the District Leader and tomorrow we will pick up my new companion. I love you guys and I am praying for you. Stay well and God Bless.

Elder Brock Hunter