Visit to Porvenir Branch . . .

Last Sunday was a very special day when I had the opportunity to visit the Porvenir Branch on Tierra del Fuego. This is the island at the very tip of South America and is half Chile and half Argentina. Porvenir is a 2-3 hour ferry ride across the Magellan Strait from Punta Arenas. We had about 35 members at church on Sunday and I will forever be grateful to them for changing their meeting times so I could visit. They hadn´t had a visit from a mission president in over 10 years. And now having been there, I only wish I could go back. This is obviously a very isolated region and the members, though few, are very faithful.

Above is a photo of President Carcamo, the branch president and his beautiful family. He and his wife are both paramedics and Pte Carcamo is also the assistant fiscal, which is a local government elected official. They are truly a blessing to the church in this region.

This is the Elder´s little home that was built for them by Pte Carcamo in his back yard. It is probably the nicest house in the mission where missionaries live. Safe, clean and natural gas heating. It is further evidence of the Carcamo family´s love for the work.

A view of Porvenir from the ferry arriving from Punta Arenas. Unfortunately, Susie wasn´t able to make the trip because of the risk for sea sickness. The trip can be a little bumpy at times, but I was pretty lucky and enjoyed smooth sailing.

Zone Leader Council . . .

We had zone leader council this week at the mission home. This is always a hightlight of our month as we get to spend some time with these wonderful leaders in the mission. Kneeling in the front (l-r) are: Elder McGowan from Mississippi, Elder Retamal from Chile, Elder Miner from Utah and Elder Jefferson from Utah. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Nikolaus from Arizona, Elder Pereira from Chile, Elder Cornejo from Chile, Elder Christensen from Arizona, Elder Cook from Idaho, Elder Andia from Argentina, Elder Evans from Utah, Elder Cortéz from Nicaragua, Elder Helgesen from Utah, Elder Gonzalez from Chile, Elder Walker from Idaho, Elder Razón from Chile, Elder Coles (AP) from Utah, Elder Navarro from Peru, Elder LeBaron from Arizona, Elder Hansen (AP) from Connecticut, Elder Hunsaker from Wyoming and Elder Amezcua from Minnesota. Not pictured are our zone leaders in Coyhaique and Punta Arenas, Elder Muñoz from Chile, Elder Hamblin from Utah, Elder Welling from Oregon and Elder Olmedo from Paraguay.

We´ve been blessed with the best missionaries and it is such a pleasure to serve with them. But these leaders are just truly exceptional. As a group they are faithful, obedient and committed to this work. And we love them very much.

They not only work hard, they are truly fun to be with. Thanks to all their parents and family for sharing them with the Lord and us during this time.

February Cambios . . .

Cambios came in two shifts because the group coming from the USA did not make their connections. So we first welcomed three young Chileans to the mission field. They are (l-r) Elder Urrutia from Santiago, Chile, Elder Contreras from Valparaiso, Chile and Elder Olavarria from Valparaiso, Chile. They will be wonderful young missionaries.


Later that evening our group from the USA arrived. First row (l-r) are: Elder Winsor from Payette, Idaho, Elder Smith from Preston, Idaho, Elder Carmen from SLC, Utah and Elder Williams from Midland, Texas. Next to Susie on the second row is Hermana Hunt from South Jordan, Utah. They are excited to learn Spanish and adapt to mission life. We are confident they will all succeed wonderfully in the mission.


While only eight new missionaries arrived this cambio, we had to say goodbye to ten excellent and experienced missionaries. And this group also included some exceptional leaders and powerful missionaries. Sitting (l-r) are: Hna Aponte from Argentina and Hna Bourne from SLC, Utah. Standing (l-r) are: Elder Hansen our new assistant from Connecticut, Elder Castaneda from El Salvador, Elder Barra from Chile, Elder Araneda from Chile, Elder Schubert from Canada, Elder Diaz from Chile, Elder Malca from Peru, Elder Silva from Honduras, Elder Gimenez from Argentina and Elder Coles our other assistant from Utah. When I think of when these missionaries arrived in the mission and the growth and impact they have had it is just incredible. We really suffer when they leave, but we are so proud of their faithful service.


We always take a silly photo with the missionaries that does a better job of reflecting the playfulness of these wonderful young men and women. We will miss them so much.

With this cambio we will make a change among our assistants. Elder Riches has served with us for 6 months and will complete his last cambio in Rio Bueno. We welcomed Elder Hansen from Connecticut, our newest assistant. From left to right are: Elder Coles from Utah, Elder Hansen from Connecticut and Elder Riches from Utah. We love these great young men and are so grateful for their service and help.

Osorno, Chile . . .

Nice video showing sights of Osorno that I found on YouTube. Enjoy.

Member and Missionary Combined Christmas Choir . . .

Found this video on YouTube of our December Christmas Choir. This was a combined choir of missionaries with members from the Osorno and Osorno Rahue Stakes. The concert was held in the Osorno Stake Center on Sunday evening and then outside in the Osorno Plaza on Wednesday evening. We were so proud of our missionaries and all the members that participated. It was incredible.

Mission Tour with Elder Amado . . .

Each year a member of the Area Presidency does a mission tour and speaks in conference with all our missionaries. This year, Elder Amado a member of the First Quorum of Seventy and Area President came to tour the mission with his wife. Over a period of nine days we took them around the mission and were blessed with their counsel and guidance. These visits are always a great blessing as it isn´t often that you have the opportunity to receive counsel directly from a General Authority of the church.


Meeting in Valdivia with the Villarrica, Los Lagos, Valdivia and Calle Calle Zones.

Meeting in Osorno with the La Union, Osorno and Rahue Zones.

Meeting in Puerto Montt with the Puerto Varas, Puerto Montt and Chiloé Zones.

Meeting in Coyhaique with the Coyhaique Zone.

Meeting in Punta Arenas with the Punta Arenas Zone.

Zone Leader Council . . .

As you know, each month we hold zone leader council at the mission home. Pictured above (l-r) are: Elder Malca from Peru, Elder Hunsaker from Wyoming, Elder Andia from Argentina, Elder Coles from Utah, Elder Christensen from Arizona, Elder Walker from Idaho, Elder Cortéz from Nicaragua, Elder Navarro from Peru, Elder Diaz from Chile, Elder Hansen from Connecticut, Elder Helgesen from Utah, Elder Jefferson from Utah, Elder Araneda from Chile, Elder Gimenez from Argentina, Elder Barra from Chile, Elder Evans from Utah, Elder Razón from Chile, Elder LeBaron from Arizona, Elder Retamal from Chile, Elder Muñoz from Chile, Elder Gonzalez from Chile, Elder Riches from Utah, Elder Miner from Utah and Elder Pereira from Chile.

During January we planned to bring in the zone leaders from Coyhaique and Punta Arenas. Unfortunately, there were strikes in Punta Arenas and so they were the only ones that weren´t able to attend. Not pictured then are Elder Welling from Oregon and Elder Olmedo from Paraguay. In fact, cambios from Punta Arenas took several days to accomplish because there were blockades preventing people from getting to and from the airport. Eventually, the missionaries had to walk between the barricades and haul their bags to the airport on foot. Gratefully, there were many members that watched over them in the process. The strikes are over now, but not in time for those two zone leaders to make the conference.

"Completos" (Chile´s version of a hot dog) is the meal of choice at our zone leaders council. The chilean version is a lot more mayonaise and avocado with a little bit of hot dog in there somewhere. And nobody eats like missionaries eat. Need I say more.