June Cambios . . .

Susie and I welcomed our final group of new missionaries this week. They were originally scheduled to arrive next week, but we moved everything up a week so as to not conflict with the arrival of the new mission president and his wife. Pictured above (l-r) are: Elder Johnson from California, Elder Anderson from Utah, Elder Baker from Utah and Elder Mortensen from California. And while this is a small group, they are obviously exceptional young men and will be excellent missionaries. We are excited to see their potential and will regret not being able to witness their continued growth and service in the mission. They replace a group of 10 and I think they are up to the task.


And we have said good-bye to our final group of missionaries finishing their service. Seated with us above (l-r) are Hna Smith from California and Hna Thompson from Virginia. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Andia from Argentina who is one of our assistants, Elder Hunsaker from Wyoming, Elder Nikolaus from Arizona, Elder Evans from Utah, Elder Valentine from Utah, Elder Cook from Idaho, Elder Sanford from Idaho, Elder Gonzalez from Uruguay, Elder Aros from Chile and Elder Hansen from Connecticut our other assistant. These have been very effective missionaries and have had a powerful impact on the mission and on us. We are grateful for the privilege of serving with them and seeing their growth as missionaries.

We always take a silly shot of the missionaries and this group is as goofy as any of them. We love their playfulness and especially their dedication to the work. You may not be able to notice, but they have completed repainting the mission home so the walls have a different color. New carpeting is being installed downstairs this week. Nice changes and updates for the new president and his wife. We have loved this home and have been very comfortable here.

Above is a final look at our transfer board after the new missionaries arrived and all the missionaries are located in their new sectors for this cambio. We will finish the mission with 166 missionaries, including 23 Sisters and 143 Elders. With respect to their nationality, we have: From the US: 110, Chile: 24, Argentina: 6, Peru: 5, Honduras: 4, Colombia: 3, Bolivia: 2, Canada: 2, Ecuador: 2, El Salvador: 2, Mexico: 2, Curacao (Netherlands): 1, Panama: 1, Uruguay: 1 and South Africa: 1. During our 3 years of service, we have served with 435 missionaries. What a wonderful privilege. And we love them all!