February Cambio (3) . . .

We received one more Elder this month outside of the regular cambios. This Elder has been serving in the Bolivia La Paz mission but will finish in our mission. We are happy to receive him and are confident that he will be able to finish the mission strong here in Southern Chile.

Pictured above from l-r: Elder Bigelow one of our assistants, Elder Ríquez from Chile and Elder Opazo our other assistant. Elder Ríquez could not have come at a better time, because today we lost one of our great Chilean missionaries who had to return home due to a family situation. We are grateful for the Lord´s assistance in our mission.

Zone Leaders Council . . .

Seated above are the leaders at this cambio´s Zone Leaders Council. Seated from l-r are: Elder Opazo one of our Assistants from Chile, Elder Villanueva from Peru, Elder Sturm from Idaho and Elder Bigelow our other Assistant from Arizona. Standing l-r are: Elder Haderlie from Utah, Elder Vargas from Honduras, Elder Moncada from Honduras, Elder Araneda from Chile, Elder Riches from Utah, Elder Poujol from Honduras, Elder Nash from Utah, Elder Dudley from Idaho, Elder Bateman from Oregon, Elder Correa from Chile, Elder Seager from Nevada, Elder Silva from Honduras, Elder States from Utah, Elder Matorell from Alaska, Elder Davis from Utah, Elder Gimenez from Argentina, Elder Aspitia from Argentina and Elder Meneses from Chile. Not pictured are our zone leaders from Coyhaique: Elder Larsen from Utah and Elder Diaz from Chile and from Punta Arenas: Elder Shumway from Arizona and Elder Darrington from Nevada. They come to the council only a couple of times a year in order to minimize travel costs.

To give you an idea of how much change we´ve experienced in the mission, only three of these leaders, Elder Matorell, Elder Haderlie and Elder Bigelow were part of our zone leaders and assistants just 4 months ago.

Several times during the year we meet for training with our Zone Leaders. Usually this is at the mission home and we meet in the conference room in the basement. It is great to be with these young leaders and they are certainly wonderful examples of strength and commitment. It is their responsibility to motivate and inspire our young missionaries in their service. We couldn´t ask for any better and we are grateful for their dedication.

February Cambios (2) . . . .

A group of 21 new missionaries arrived this week. 14 of them are from the U.S. and 7 are from various countries in Latin America. We are very excited to have them here. Below is a picture of their arrival at the Osorno Airport.

Because of the size of this group, we took the picture at the stake center in Osorno where we also held the training meeting with their trainers. Front row l-r are: Elder Bigelow one of our Assistants, Elder Opazo from Chile our new Assistant, Hna Thompson from Roanoke, Virginia, Hna Campos from Chile, Hna Smith from Mission Viejo, California and Elder Miner our outgoing Assistant. Second row l-r are: Elder Diaz from Chile, Elder Murphy from Farmington, Utah, Elder Rodriguez from Uruguay, Elder Jimenez from Costa Rica, Elder Metcalf from Pittsburg, Texas, Elder Nickel from Meridan, ID, Elder Amezcua from Woodbury, Minnesota, Elder Bevan from Smoot, Wyoming. Third row l-r are: Elder Jones from Bountiful, Utah, Elder Galovich from Thermopolis, Wyoming, Elder Mussi from Argentina, Elder Dunford from Sugar Land, Texas, Elder Ashby from Taylorsville, Utah, Elder Figgins from Payson, Utah, Elder Day from Logan, Utah and Elder Carsey from Apple Valley, California. Not pictured at the chapel are Elder Riquelme from Chile who was sent on to Coyhaique and Elder Vidal from Chile who was sent on to Punta Arenas. They do however appear in the airport picture.

Unfortunately, we lost 12 wonderful missionaries this week. Included in the group are 1 Assistant, 6 zone leaders and 2 district leaders. Seated from l-r are Elder Bigelow one of our Assistants, Hna Biggs from Oregon, Elder Opazo our new Assistant. Standing l-r are: Elder Anderson from Arizona, Elder Carter from Utah, Elder Erickson from Utah, Elder Cabezas from Argentina, Elder Reeder from Arizona, Elder Merrill from California, Elder Close from Utah, Elder Miner from Utah, Elder Scurr from Arizona, Elder Spitzer from Texas and Elder Pedraza from Colombia. We love all of them so much and will miss them.

Calbuco Branch Remodel . . .

Calbuco Chapel after Remodel

Below is looking out through the new entry way.

Below is the inside of the chapel looking towards the back.

Below is looking towards the front of the chapel. Note the heaters located against the walls. There are five in the chapel. This will be very nice for the members as it was always cold before.

Below are the pictures of the chapel before being remodeled.

We have completed the remodel of the Calbuco Branch building. Calbuco is an independent branch that is part of the mission and had the distinction of having the most unattractive church building in the mission. But the remodel changed all that and the result is fantastic. We are very excited for the members. What a blessing.

February Cambio (1) . . .

Cambio Week is next week and we lose 12 wonderful missionaries and get 21 new missionaries, including 3 sisters. But we had a surprise transfer this week when Elder Fuentes arrived from another mission. He had been serving in Argentina, but was reassigned to finish his mission here in Chile. He is from Santiago, Chile and we are happy to have him here and are hopeful he will be able to finish his mission well. We will only have him until August.

Punta Arenas Trip . . .

On a recent trip to Punta Arenas, Susie and I had time to take the sister missionaries to Fuerte Bulnes. This is a restored Spanish Settlement from 1843.

I´m taking a rest under the watchful eyes of Hna McClellan and Hna Earl.

Her is Susie and the Hermanas near the fort. From l-r are: Hna Earl from Mt. Pleasant, UT, Hna Bustos from La Paz, Bolivia, Hna Demers from Mesa, AZ and Hna McClellan from Fallbrook, CA.

December Cambios . . .

Our new group of 19 missionaries arrived in Osorno on Tuesday, December 29th. As you can see, they are all North Americans.

Seated from l-r: Elder Bigelow from Gilbert, AZ one of our assistants, Hermana Kelley from Montgomery, Alabama, Elder Miner from Bountiful, UT our other assistant; standing from l-r: Elder Ballard from Riverton, Utah, Elder Patton from Gooding, Idaho, Elder Lux from Highland, Utah, Elder Pierson from Highland, Utah, Elder Osborn from Longmont, Colorado, Elder Bluth from Gilbert, Arizona, Elder Lund from American Fork, Utah, Elder Grotenhuis from Fremont, New Hampshire, Elder Helgesen from Kaysville, Utah, Elder LeBaron from Mesa, Arizona, Elder Ashton from Salt Lake City, Utah, Elder Elmer from Joseph City, Arizona, Elder Sebrands from Salt Lake City, Utah, Elder Booth from Centerville, Utah, Elder Wideman from San Antonio, Texas, Elder Palmer from Shortsville, New York, Elder Richardson from Logan, Utah and Elder Haug from Vancouver, Washington.

With this cambio we lost 14 of our finest missionaries, including 10 that had been zone leaders and 3 that served as district leaders. They leave a gap that will be very, very difficult to fill, but we are confident that the young missionaries that follow them will be up to the task. Seated from l-r are: Elder Wallace from Utah, Elder Calderón from, Hermana Aguilar from El Salvador, Elder Cuadra from Chile; standing from l-r are: Elder Bigelow one of our assistants, Elder Sumrall from Florida, Elder Ellis from Utah, Elder Noel from Utah, Elder Catmull from Utah, Elder Hernandez from Chile, Elder Hansen from Arizona, Elder Billin from New Hampshire, Elder Cordero from Chile, Elder Portillo from New Mexico, Elder Strawn from California and Elder Miner our other assistant.

I cannot tell you how important these young missionaries have been and will be in our lives. We have had such wonderful experiences with each one of them. Susie and I arrived in Osorno on Saturday, June 28, 2008. Hermana Aguilar arrived the following Tuesday and so she will forever be the First ("La Primera"). We will miss her as well as all these fine Elders that have been so faithful. It just gets harder and harder every cambio.

We have a member who helps us bus the missionaries to and from the airport for their flights or bus station. We often send the missionaries by bus to Santiago for their flights home, but we didn´t want them on the road for New Years, so they flew from Osorno to Santiago and beyond. The picture above is in front of the mission home before boarding the bus. As usual, it was raining, but after this much time in the mission, these missionaries don´t even notice it.