Elder Riveros Mario Guerra Elder Hunter
@ Mario's baptism

Mario & Beatrice

Elder Riveros (the companion) Beatrice (the girlfried) Mario (the convert) Elder Hunter (the nervous)

Mario's Baptismal program

Selfie on the 3rd trip
(Cristo Vive)

Entire District & Sebastian

on top

Elder Riveros photo bomb

Check out this view
Check out these socks

Autographs 

Zone in Bolivar

Bolivar District
Elder Hunter
Elder Riveros
Elder Pineda  Elder DeLaMare Elder Wooten
Elder Mendez Elder Caceres Elder Antonio

Elder Hunter & Elder Wooten

More rooftop bbq

Board game similar to Risk

TGIFridays

Now Playing in a theater  near you

Navidad

Mamita Estrella's Tree

Nativity

The Christmas package arrived

Christmas decor

So first things first. I was not transfered. I will be in Bolivar for 6 months. 6 months is a long time to be in one sector but I am glad that I will spend Christmas with people I know. This transfer ends the 25th of January. I will set up the other stuff now that I am sure that I will stay here. Thanks again for such a great gift.

Congratulations to Jason and Courtney. Do you know what date he leaves for the MTC? 

I still do not know details about the call. I think we will do it in the house of Mamita Estrella but I am not sure. I will ask the other Elders about how this all works.

Today for sure I will send pics. 

I love you all. Stay well. Enjoy this festive season. 

Elder Hunter

Jake

On the first day of Christmas my Great Aunt gave to me... a dollar made out of dimes. (you have to sing this)

Love ya bud. My Christmas will not be white but I might get to eat a barbaque so it works out.

The language is coming. Slowly but surely.

Stay awesome. Elder Hunter

Kaitlin

Stay well. Work hard. Enjoy the season.

I wrote a paper letter to send home... about three months ago. And then I never sent it... so yeah. It is hard to remember to send a letter. Plus I still dont know how things work here with the mail system. I love all of you at home dearly but I honestly dont know when I will send things home (presents or letters or whatever). 

Sorry... I will send pics. Elder Hunter

I did not get to watch the Devotional but there is a rebroadcast down here next Sunday. Maybe I will get the chance then.

This week was actually a little rough. There was progress with the investigators but not a lot of teaching. Fortunately the ward members here are working hard with the investigators as well. I wrote Kaitlin about the baptism but I forgot to say that I had to get in the cold water twice because I forgot to pull the plug the first time. It was cold but good. I did get some pictures. 

Do you know what your next class will be? Were you able to pass this class without my helping you with the computer?

No Christmas miracles yet but there is still time. With some people it is easier to work with them in December because the whole world is a little more spiritual. With other people it is harder because they work more during this month so they can have a good Christmas with lots of presents. That' just how it goes sometimes.

Okay. This week I have my list of things to write. I received the package with all the Christmas decorations but I have some questions (and some bad news). The little presents or toys that are wrapped, who are those for? I have not opened any of them yet. Also, on the 13th of December we have cambios. I already have 4.5 months here so it is possible that I leave. Whether I stay or go is up to the Lord but I can't decorate or anything until I know if I am going to leave or not. I put up some things for now but not all. 

I climbed the hill for the third time today. We went up as a District and we had one member with us. The member is Sebastian, the oldest son of the Cisternas Family. He was having a hard time so I had the chance to help him today like others had helped me in the past. He was sore and tired by the time we finished but he did not puke so I guess he has got me beat. 

Did I leave my temple shoes at home? I could not remember and I was looking through my white clothes this week preparing for the baptism and they were not there. If they are home then don't worry about it. I used my white socks and was just fine. The problem is if I have lost them here. 

Like I said before we have cambios soon. I do not know if I will be here or in a different ward so I cannot make plans yet. The rules for the Skype call (yes it is Skype) are that I can only call my parents (it is fine if others are there), the call cannot last longer than 40 minutes, and my companion has to be in the same room . The thing I wanted to ask you guys to do is send me your contact info for Skype. I think I can use my personal email (brockhunter96) to make a Skype account and contact you on Christmas.

I also wanted to ask if you guys can make a new Facebook account for me. I want to have two accounts. One will be in English (the one I already have) and the other in Spanish. If you can make sure to change the security so that anyone can send me a friend request that would be great.

Love you all. I hope to send pictures a little later. Stay well.

Elder Hunter

Kaitlin

I actually looked at my birthday list last Tuesday and saw it was June's birthday... oops. That is what happens when I don't check it on time...

You were right. Some of those dance styles are gibberish to me. I want to do a dance class like that in college when I get home but for now... 

The baptism on Saturday was really good. Mario was 30 minutes late to his own baptism but his girlfriend came from Peru so I will give him a break. The baptism itself was cold. The water heater is broken or something. I was really nervous on Saturday. When I really felt the spirit was during Mario's confirmation the next day. I had the opportunity to be part of the circle and I actually felt a calming spirit enter the room.

I don't think Lane works down here in Chile. It is a little far for him to travel each night. Maybe I have a different Elf watching out for me.

Love ya sis and good luck with everything. Elder Hunter

Jake

I am glad Lane has come back. You need to be sure that you are REALLY good this month okay?

The camels were headed to the circus. I did receive the package. I will talk to Mom about that a little later. Being the man of the house is a big job but I know you can do it. I have met a lot of 9 and 10 year olds and I always think you could be good friends with them.

I hope you have a white Christmas (mine will probably be brown and sandy). Love you buddy. Elder Hunter

A little windy

The harbor

Boats

More Boats

Look mom, a pic of me with the boats

Beach

Camels???
On their way to the Circus

Sight Seeing

More Sight Seeing

Chilean Wal-Mart

Go Karts
No I did not ride one

Hike No. 2

Antofagasta from above

Lighthouse

The gang's all here
Elder Hunter
Elder Pineda Elder Strattford
Elder DeLaMare

At the mall

Navidad

Elder DeLaMare and Elder Hunter

I am glad that Grandma and Grandpa Hunter enjoyed Thanksgiving. They might be missing my tall but that is why Dad is still there to do it for me. 

I am sorry to hear about Uncle Dale. The nice thing is we know that God has a plan for each one of us and we do not have to wonder what happened to him now that he has left this world.

It has just stayed hot so far and is not getting hotter and hotter (thank goodness). I have to ask, why did I not get a week vacation in Hawaii before my mission? Oh well. Best wishes to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Becky. I love you guys. Stay well.

I will look into buying you a Christmas ornament and a Nativity set but most of it is made in the US and sent here anyway so... I will look but don't expect anything out of this world spectacular. Glad you had a good Thanksgiving. On the day of Thanksgiving I completely forgot it was Thanksgiving. I did use 6 hours to teach 3 lessons though (it was a rough day working with members). 

I used super glue so the shoes should last me a bit longer. Especially with the new mission rule. NO MORE SOCCER OR BASKETBALL.  Too many Elders got injured so now it is completely banned. Today we went shopping in Centro because Elder Riveros still had not been before but I have no idea what we are going to do on the other pdays... but that is life I guess. 

Sometimes when you hear another person's testimony, your own testimony can grow. We were helping Mario prepare for his baptism this Saturday and he ended up sharing some personal stories. He has definitely felt the spirit before in his life but he could not recognize it at the time. Speaking of Mario, he asked me to be the one to baptize him! (okay, so I was technically his second choice but his first choice will be working up in Peru so I get the chance). Maria, Lidia, and Militza all have goals to be baptized on the 20th of December. The cambio is on the 14th of December so I might not be here but that is the life of a missionary.

To be honest, until we had this opportunity to work with him I did not know President Dalton very much.  He was just this guy that talked to us twice every three months and that was it. Now I feel like I actually know him which is a lot better. Rather than being just a man who gives us new rules to follow every month I can picture him as someone that genuinely cares about the missionaries and our investigators. He is a very spiritual man and I learned a lot when I was with him (even if it was only for a few hours). He reminded me of Uncle Dennis a bit though more introverted. 

Elder Riveros has 8 siblings and he is number 5. He is the first to serve a full time mission in his family. The church is still new in Paraguay. He likes soccer and volleyball though he injured his shoulder so he cannot play volleyball now. He has 11 months in the mission and he was the papito to Elder Herd who was in my district in the CCM. I will try to send pictures today.

Cold is all gone. My voice was only bad for about two days. The flea bites have finally stopped itching too. 

I have learned a lot from reading the book for the Gospel Principles Class. If an investigator pays attention in that class they could know more than a seminary student (at least with certain topics). 

I forgot my list of things to write again so that is it for this week. Thanks for everything and expect your Christmas presents to be really late. I still have to buy them and then figure out the mail system here...

Can you find a way to compare the size of Cedar City with Antofagasta? I tell people I come from a small town but I really don't know how it compares.

The investigators are progressing. We need to find some new people to teach because soon all the ones we have will be baptized :P

The lessons now are different, not easier. The spirit is the same though my understanding of their circumstances has changed a bit.

I don't know about funny but I had to try 6 ATM's in order to pull out some money today. I had tried to make one purchase using the mission card and there were issues there too. Wasted a quarter of my Pday just trying to buy eggs for the week.

The next holiday is Christmas. The stores are all ready with decorations. Some of the families are ready too. Most of it is exactly the same as the US. 

 

You were really bad this year Jake and Aunt Greta knew that Santa was not going to bring you presents so she gave you 12. You have one month to be better. You need to practice piano, do your homework, and listen to Mom and Dad. Remember, our Elf on the Shelf is watching...

Glad you had fun with the cousins. You can use that shotgun but I don't remember giving it to you. Can you take a picture of the Bybee's roof with the Grinch? (I want you to be the one to take the picture).Love you bud. Be Good! 

I love all of you, stay well

Love Elder Hunter