Arrival of the Rappleye's. . .

President and Sister Rappleye arrived in Osorno on Tuesday, June 28th after a long two days of travel. We spent some time orienting them on the mission operations and then left the mission in their very capable hands. They are a great couple and will be very effective in leading this mission for the next three years. We know the missionaries will work hard and the Lord will bless them in their efforts.

Our great group of office missionaries prepared a welcoming banner for their arrival. Pictured above (l-r) are: Elder Bastian-mission secretary, Elder Hansen-assistant, Elder Andia-assistant, Elder Rodriguez-mission financial secretary, Elder Williamson-training for mission financial secretary and Elder Mangelson-mission historian.

Changes in the Chile Osorno Mission . . .

On Tuesday, June 28th John and Nancy Rappleye will arrive in Osorno to begin presiding over this great mission for the next three years. The Rappleye´s current home is in St. George, Utah, but they have lived internationally for many years, including 4 years recently in Santiago, Chile. He served his mission as a young man in Brasil, but they are both fluent in Spanish and already have a love for Chile and its people. They will be a wonderful blessing to the mission, the members and these great missionaries. Susie and I look forward to meeting them and are grateful that they are willing to come and serve.

Susie and I will be leaving the mission on June 29th and will be meeting that evening in Santiago with our missionaries that have already completed their service. We are very excited to see them again and have one more opportunity to express our love and gratitude for them. We fly home on June 30th and arrive in SLC on July 1st. For any that would be interested, we are scheduled to report in our home ward in Heber City, the Lake Creek First Ward on July 10th at 1:00 pm. The ward building is located at: 6250 E 1200 S, Heber City, UT.

We love this mission. We love the Chilean people. And we love these greatest of all great missionaries. What a privilege it has been to serve at their side. We will forever be grateful to the Lord for the blessings of this mission. And we are looking forward to seeing our family, friends and former missionaries. We are especially looking forward to holding our 7 grandchildren.

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!

Puyehue Volcano Erupts . . .

Some of you will have heard that the Puyehue Volcano, which is near Osorno began erupting yesterday. There has not been an eruption at this volcano since 1960 in conjunction with the large earthquake centered near Valdivia. We felt several tremors yesterday, but I don´t know if they were caused by the volcano or the volcano caused the tremors. As you can see from the photos, the volcano continues to send ash and smoke some 6 miles up into the atmosphere. Fortunately, we don´t have missionaries too close as the volcano is about an hour East of Osorno near the border with Argentina. Winds generally blow west to east, so most of the ash is falling in Argentina. Sorry, Bariloche.


After a stake conference here in Osorno, Susie and I drove east towards the volcano to take some pictures. The best photos are from distance because as you get closer the air is full of ash and you can´t see clearly. Air quality will be something we will be watching very closely for our missionaries.

You get a sense from the close-up of the power of this plume. We are blessed that it is isolated and for now doesn´t look threatening to our missionaries and members. Our missionaries are all equiped with an emergency pack and we will stay alert.

Coyhaique Zone Conference . . .

This past Saturday we had our final zone conference in Coyhaique. For us this was a special occasion because it was our final trip to Coyhaique. We love this place and these people so much. Seated above (l-r) are: Hna Grimes from California and Hna McShane from Washington. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Tyus from Colorado, Elder Bevan from Wyoming, Elder Coria from Argentina, Elder Nelson from Utah, Elder Beletanga from Ecuador, Elder Seegrist from Utah, Elder Davis from Idaho, Elder Fonda from Utah, Elder Retamal from Chile, Elder Himes from Utah, Elder Richan from Utah and Elder Turner from Georgia. The two zone leaders are Elders Retamal and Bevan.


With this conference we completed our vaccinations for the mission. A local inactive sister, who is a paramedic, volunteered to come over and give the shots. Above are Elders Beletanga, Seegrist, Bevan and Himes showing proof of their courage.


Above are Elders Tyus, Nelson and Fonda proudly displaying their colorful bandages.
And never to be outdone are our mighty sisters, Hnas McShane and Grimes.

Puerto Montt Zone Conference . . .

On Thursday of last week we had our zone conference in Puerto Montt. Three different zones attend this conference. Above is the Puerto Varas Zone. Seated (l-r) are the two zone leaders Elder Nikolaus from Arizona and Elder Sheahan from Montana. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Silva from Chile, Elder Contreras from Chile, Elder Hopkins from Utah, Elder Galarza from Argentina, Elder Urrutia from Chile, Elder Christensen from Arizona, Elder Hauver from Utah, Elder Lux from Utah, Elder Hezeltine from Utah, Elder Frost from Utah, Elder Davis from Colorado, Elder Mussi from Argentina, Elder Gonzalez from Uruguay and Elder Vidal from Chile.

Above is the Puerto Montt Zone. Seated (l-r) are: Hna Byam from Canada and Hna Larkin from Utah. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Williamson from South Africa, Elder Meza from Peru, Elder Bluth from Arizona, Elder Riquelme from Chile, Elder Drake from Utah, Elder Gatica from Chile, Elder Reeder from Utah, Elder Colque from Bolivia, Elder Purser from Alabama, Elder Walker from Idaho, Elder Aston from Utah, Elder Hamblin from Utah, Elder Gomez from Colombia, Elder Figgins from Utah, Elder Urias from Honduras, Elder Walker from Texas, Elder Fairbourne from Idaho and Elder Murphy from Utah. The two zone leaders are Elders Walker and Hamblin.

Above is the Chiloé Zone. Seated (l-r) are: Hna Skinner from Utah and Hna Smith from California. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Carrizo from Chile, Elder McGowan from Mississippi, Elder Trammell from Utah, Elder Osborn from Colorado, Elder Oakden from Utah, Elder Crane from Utah, Elder Hafen from Idaho and Elder Ramirez from El Salvador. The two zone leaders are Elders Carrizo and McGowan.

Osorno Zone Conference . . .

We have three different zones that attend in Osorno. Above is the La Union Zone. Seated (l-r) are: Hna Fuenteabla from Chile and Hna Thompson from Virginia. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Juarez from Chile, Elder Epperson from Virginia, Elder Burge from Utah, Elder Jones from Texas, Elder Lund from Utah, Elder Welling from Oregon, Elder Richardson from Utah, Elder Gomez from Argentina, Elder Muñoz from Chile, Elder Lugo from Texas and Elder Valentine from Utah. The zone leaders are Elders Welling and Lund.

Above is the Osorno Zone. Seated (l-r) are: Hna Fernandez from Peru, Hna Nakayama from Hawaii, Hna Turcios from Honduras, Hna Campos from Chile, Hna Hunt from Utah and Hna Biddulph from Colorado. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Bastian from California, Elder Amato from Argentina, Elder Patton from Idaho, Elder Ashby from Utah, Elder Evans from Utah, Elder Day from Utah, Elder Mangelson from Ohio, Elder Wirthlin from Utah, Elder Rodriguez from Uruguay, Elder Canepa from Chile, Elder Hansen from Connecticut, Elder Andia from Argentina and Elder Biddulph from Colorado. The zone leaders are Elders Evans and Ashby.

Above is the Osorno Rahue Zone. Seated (l-r) are: Hna Neubert from North Carolina and Hna Herbert from Idaho. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Archiprette from Argentina, Elder LeBaron from Arizona, Elder Grover from Washington, Elder Cook from Idaho, Elder Miner from Utah, Elder Williams from North Carolina, Elder Correa from Chile, Elder Carsey (the tall one) from California, Elder Villantoy from Peru, Elder Smith from Idaho, Elder Johnston from Utah, Elder Jones from Utah, Elder Sebrands from Utah, Elder Turner from North Carolina, Elder Ciquero from Peru and Elder Galovich from Wyoming. The zone leaders are Elders Cook and LeBaron.

We celebrated Mirta´s birthday today with the rest of the missionaries. Mirta is the housekeeper at the Mission Home and has been one of the most wonderful blessings of our mission. She is a great help and we will miss her very, very much.