Zone Leader Council . . .

Current Zone Leaders: Back L-R Elders Spitzer, Pinto, Cubillos, Ortiz, Callaú, Pizaro, Aravena, Gobetti, Wallace, Bazan, Lucas, Millan, Leal, Miner, Matorell, Wohlfart, Pedraza, Rodriguez, Gomez, Merrill, Escobar and Benitez. Front L-R Elders Vergara and Shallenberger our Assistants, Susie and I, and Elder and Sister Allen, our senior couple. Unfortunately, the Allens finish their 2-year mission in June. They have been such a blessing. It will be hard to see them leave.

Our three Zone Leaders from Santiago, Elders Aravena, Leal and Pinto. Elders Lean and Pinto finish their mission next week.

The past 4 secretaries of the Mission. L-R Elder Benitez from Paraguay, Elder Shallenberger from Orem, UT, Elder Cuadra from Concepción, Chile and incoming Secretary, Elder Dudley from Boise, ID. He doesn´t know it yet, but Elder Cuadra leaves the office next week to become the companion of Elder Benitez as Zone Leaders in the Calle Calle Zone.

Here is Elder Cuadra with his favorite companion, Elder Elmo. I kidnapped this Elmo of his and Susie made the missionary outfit for him. Elder Cuadra loves Elmo. I think he has at least six.

Here is Susie and her Spanish tutor and friend, Claudia, making cookies. Susie shows here American cooking in exchange for Spanish lessons.

March Zone Conference . . .

Thought you might be interested in some pictures from this last month´s round of zone conferences and interviews. Below is a picture of Susie and I from the overlook above the city of Coyhaique. This is a beautiful and picturesque city about an hour and a half flight south and east of Osorno. We have two branches in the city as well as two other branches in neighboring Puerto Aisen and Puerto Cisnes.

This is a picture down by the river in Coyhaique with our two assistants, Elder Vergara from Santiago, Chile and Elder Shallenberger from Provo, Utah. These are the finest young men and are such a great help for us in the mission. Unfortunately, Elder Vergara leaves to go home this next cambio. We will miss him a great deal.

While I am conducting personal interviews, Susie is always instructing the group and having them answer certain questions or write some thoughts. Here she has the Villarrica Zone writing down a recent spiritual experience. The picture includes Elders Carreño, Rodriguez, Montano, Close, Leal and Nash and Hermanas Crook and Torrico.
She also always has a treat for the missionaries and this month it include s´mores. The latinos weren´t too sure about this, but the North Americans were excited. Here in the Valdivia Zone are Elders Merrill, Cudahy and Billin from the U.S., Elder Callaú from Bolivia and Elder Gimenez from Argentina.

Elder Saade from Argentina had been our mission financial secretary for 7 months before finally being transferred to Coyhaique. Here he is being welcomed to the zone by Elder DeGroot.

The flight from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas leaves at 10:15 p.m. after a full day of zone conference and interviews in Puerto Montt. Here are Elders Vergara and Shallenberger preparing for our next day´s conference in Punta Arenas.

Susie´s presentation at Zone Conference often includes scripture chase segments or other trivia questions. Here is the Puerto Montt, Chiloé and Puerto Varas Zones getting ready to answer the questions. In the front row are Hermanas Demers, Porter, Vallejos and Biggs.

Out of Cycle Cambio . . .

I wanted to share this picture of our four sisters in Punta Arenas, Hna Wade, Hna Aguilar, Hna Fuentes and Hna Alvarez which was created by Elder Meneses.

We received a new missionary this past week out of our normal cambio cycle. Elder Barra from Arica, Chile arrived in our mission from the Santiago MTC on March 31st. There were 54 in this group at the MTC and only one of them came to our mission and even he arrived outside of the normal cambios. It really turned into a great blessing because one of our expected missionaries from the U.S. in the last cambio cycle was not able to come and so Elder Barra is an answer to our prayers. He will be an excellent missionary.

March Cambios . . .

Every six weeks is cambio week and they seem to come every three or four days now. New missionaries arrived on Tuesday and our older missionaries leave on Thursday. It is a hectic and crazy week filled with lots of work and tears. We love the new ones that come and we love the older ones that are leaving. It is really both a joyful and difficult time.
Above are the 9 new missionaries that arrived this cambio. Seated with us is Hna Bustos from Bolivia. In back from left to right: Elders Vergara and Shallenberger our AP´s, Elder Olsen from Logan, UT, Elder Gomez from Honduras, Elder Diaz from Chile, Elder Castaneda from El Salvador, Elder Gimenez from Argentina, Elder Malca from Peru, Elder Service from Salt Lake City, UT, Elder Araneda from Chile and Hna and Elder Allen, our senior couple. These new missionaries are all very humble and excited to serve. We are grateful to have them in this wonderful mission.Above are the 13 missionaries that completed their service and are returning home. Seated on the couch with us is Hna Begay from Arizona and Elder Vergara one of our AP´s. The others, from left to right are: Elder Shallenberger (AP), Elder Rubio from Chile, Elder Centeno (seated) from Peru, Elder Quezada from Chile, Elder Mamani from Peru, Elder Inga and Elder Fuentes from Argentina, Elder Alarcon from Chile, Elder Burnett and Elder Dunn from Salt Lake City, UT, Elder Lopez (seated) and Elder Aracena from Chile, and Elder Carlson from California. Among this group are some of our best missionaries, including 7 Zone Leaders. We will miss them all, but are grateful that there are others in the mission ready to step into their shoes.

I suppose you can´t blame them for being a little silly after two years in the mission field and knowing that they are headed home after such a long and faithful service. We will truly miss them and the spirit they brought to our mission. Can anyone look at these faces and not recognize that they are some of the best missionaries anywhere?

Visit to Castro in Chiloé . . .

Susie and the view of Castro, Chiloé Los palafitos - homes built on stilts out over the water
Susie and I at the palfitos San Francisco Church on the main plaza

This past weekend Susie and I traveled to Castro on the island of Chiloé. Castro is the capital of the island and is home two great branches, Juan Soler and Gamboa. We also have branches in Ancud and Quellón. We haven´t been to Quellón yet, but will hopefully get there soon.

Castro is a beautiful town on the water and life here is centered around the fish industry, especially salmon. The branches have great members and exceptional leadership. We had visited here before in November for a District Conference, but this was our chance to get to know the members in the two branches.

Trip to Santiago . . .

The Santiago Temple

This past weekend, all the Chilean Mission Presidents were brought into Santiago for a one day training seminar. I flew in Friday evening so that I could go through the temple. Several of our missionaries from Santiago that had already finished their missions surprised me by showing up for the temple session. It was such a wonderful surprise. Being with them in the Celestial Room is something I will never forget. After the session we took some pictures and set in the garden area to visit and get caught up to date. I can´t tell you how much we love these missionaries. I also got to meet the group of Santiago MTC missionaries that will be coming to our mission next week. They all seem great and we are excited to get them here.

Elder Salvatierra, Hna Iribarra, Hna Retamal, Hna Garate (Conce Mission) , and Elder Riviera (Elder Serradell is taking the picture)

Elder Rivera, Elder Salvatierra, Hna Retamal, Hna Iribarra, Elder Torres, & Elder Serradell

Busy days . . .

We had an unexpected new missionary arrive this past month. Elder Silva from Honduras arrived from the Santiago MTC all by himself. When we were advised of his arrival, it came as a surprise, but when we lost one of our newest missionaries to health issues, we understood why he was sent. The Lord clearly is in charge of this work. He is an excellent young man and will be a great missionary. It is interesting that he came from the same stake as the missionary that had to go home. We now have 4 different missionaries from that stake in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

This past week was also special as we celebrated Susie´s first birthday in Chile. We were in the process of holding Zone conferences so Susie was serenaded by each zone to mark this important day. A sister in Coyhaique prepared a birthday cake and used proper discretion in selecting the number of candles.

This month´s zone conferences were especially nice due to the particpation of Elder Lawrence Corbridge and his wife. Elder Corbridge is a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and is also the First Counselor in the Chile Area Presidency. He and his wife gave important and inspiring instruction to our mission. It will be a great help in our work.