September Cambios (Part C)

We got a surprise call last week that a new sister would be arriving in a few days outside of the normal cambio cycle. This happens occassionally and we are always happy to welcome new missionaries. In this case, Hna Donoso from Santiago, Chile arrived today to serve in our mission. We´ve enjoyed meeting her and are excited to have her in the mission. We have six sisters scheduled to leave in a couple of weeks and had only five scheduled to replace them, so this sister is an answer to our prayers. The next cambio will be 5 Sisters and 11 Elders.

Hna Donoso will be assigned to serve in a trio for only a couple of weeks. Above she is pictured with her new companions: Hna Stout from Plainfield, Indiana who finishes her mission in a couple of weeks and Hna Byam from Lethbridge, Canada. They will serve in the Ovejeria Ward in the Osorno Stake.

New Grandbaby and Zone Leader Council . . .

His name is William Kenneth Brooks. He was born Thursday, September 9th in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Darin (our daughter) and Mike Brooks. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 8 oz. When we left on our mission we had 3 grandchildren. When we return next year, they will be 7 (6 beautiful granddaughters and now a handsome grandson). Darin, Will and the family are doing great and should be home today. Needless to say, we feel very, very blessed. Does it get any better than this!

On Friday, we had Zone Leaders Council here at the mission home. This meeting is held every month and give us an opportunity to meet with these great young missionaries for training and reporting. Pictured l-r are: Elder Poujol from Honduras and Elder Riches from Grantsville, Utah who are our two assistants; Elder Rivas from Panama, Elder Evans from Layton, Utah, Elder Malca from Peru, Elder Coles from SLC, Utah, Elder Pereira from Chile, Elder Christensen from Thatcher, Arizona, Elder Navarro from Peru, Elder Welling from Beaverton, Washington, Elder Uceda from Tampa, Florida, Elder States from Midvale, Utah, Elder Aguilera from Honduras, Elder Diaz from Chile, Elder Cuesta from Ecuador, Elder Moncada from Honduras, Elder Vargas from Honduras, Elder Gimenez from Argentina, Elder Castillo from Honduras, Elder Service from SLC, Utah, Elder Barra from Chile and Elder Silva from Honduras. It is such a great opportunity to serve with such fine missionaries.

After more than 33 years of marriage, Susie is still light as a feather.

September Cambios (Part B) . . .

We received our new group of missionaries on Tuesday, which happened to be my birthday. We couldn´t ask for a better birthday gift than 19 enthusiastic young missionaries. First row (l-r) Elder Garlaza and Elder Coria from Argentina, Elder Beletanga from Ecuador and Elder Key from Burleson, Texas. Second row (l-r) Elder Poujol from Honduras, one of our assistants, Elder Vilorio and Elder Martinez from Honduras, Elder Gomez from Argentina, Elder Broadhead from Burley, Idaho, Elder Barben from Junction, Utah, Elder McCormick from Fredonia, Arizona. Third row (l-r) Elder Seager from Utah our outgoing assistant, Elder Rainey from Avondale, Arizona, Elder Tyus from Arvada, Colorado, Elder Frost from Orem, Utah, Elder Bastian from El Dorado Hills, California, Susie, Elder Thorup from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and Elder Oakden from Logan, Utah. Top row (l-r) Elder Ruz from Shedden, Canada, Elder Riches from Grantsville, Utah our incoming new assistant, Elder Seegrist from South Jordan, Utah and Elder Aston from Orem, Utah.


Here is the classic formal picture of the new missionaries in the mission home. It is an exhausting day for those coming from the United States. They arrive in Osorno after about 24 hours of travel and then we put them through training and interviews before feeding them and sending them off to work.


The second group of those leaving this cambio also left the mission yesterday. In total, 20 missionaries completed their service, with 11 leaving 2 weeks ago and the remaining 9 leaving yesterday. I can´t say enough about the influence that this group has had over the past two years in the mission. They were an exceptional group of missionaries and Susie and I love them all very much. We are grateful for their faithful service and will miss them. Among them were two former assistants, Elder Seager and Elder Opazo and Hna Bustos from Bolivia. She is quite simply one of the most faithful and diligent sister missionaries we have ever seen.

With the departure of Elder Opazo and Elder Seager, we have a new assistant to serve with Elder Poujol. That will be Elder Riches from Grantsville, Utah. We are grateful to associate with such great young missionaries. Pictured above from l-r are: Elder Seager, Elder Poujol, Elder Riches and Elder Opazo.