Elder Blotter - Dec 19

Dear Family,

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT HAS HAPPENED!!!! Ready for this??????

I AM STILL HERE IN PUERTO MONTT!!!! Can you believe it?? I know I can´t!! And you know where I am at??? I am back in LIBERTAD!! and not just in Libertad I am back in my old sector LIBERTAD 2!!! I am still in shock that i didn´t go to Rio Bueno. What happened was that I was supposed to go to Rio Bueno but a new Elder didn´t show up to the mission I have no idea why but he didn´t.  President had to do some last minute changes on where Elders were going to go and he apparently thought last minute on me because they were going to put a trio here in Libertad with an Elder who had one transfer in a sector, an Elder that was coming to the sector and my NEW COMPANION who is Elder Yagual from Ecuador who has two transfers in the mission.  They were going to do that but that would had shut a sector so they called me Monday night and said Elder your not going to Rio Bueno you're going to Libertad 2 because President needs you to go there and help Elder Yagual and the sector to keep living. I ALMOST FAINTED!!! I don´t know if the Lord heard my prayers or if he heard the prayers of my investigator ha ha!! But I am still here and I will finish my mission here in Puerto in a sector that I already know.  Also I don´t know if you guys still have the number I called you guys from for Christmas last year?? If not I'll get it again because I am going back to the same home again to call you guys from skype so I'll get the number if you guys need it.  I think dad was right he had a feeling I was getting transferred out but I was transferred somewhere else!!! ha ha and i am with a Latin.  Elder Yagual is 23 and he´s a ball of energy. He's a great Elder with a strong testimony of the Church. We get along fantastic here in the sector. Still doesn´t know the sector but I am helping him because I still have the sector down by heart ha ha its crazy to walk the same streets again.  They have had a lot of success here in the sector since I have been gone but now we need to find new investigators and help the old investigators keep progressing. Its difficult to see though a couple people I have taught that haven´t really progressed since I have been in the sector so its kind of sad to see them still where I left off. But its all good everything is good here. My skype account I have is under this email address and my name is Elder.Blotter48 so that you guys can find me in skype give me the final details on Saturday because that is when we have P-DAY for the holidays so WRITE ME SATURDAY THE FINAL WORD ON WHAT HOUR AND  EVERYTHING!! But everything is excelente here still can´t believe I am in Puerto Montt still and no mom I haven´t gotten the package yet. What did you guys send in it?? I hope you didn´t send any type of beef jerky in it because if you guys did it won't get here.  It's illegal to send beef jerky into this country and I or you guys would have to pay a fine. I don´t know how much and I don´t know if you did send jerky but I'll ask President or the Assistants if my package has arrived on Thursday because we have Zone Conference on Thursday so we'll see what happens. I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU TONS!!! HOPE ALL IS WELL DON´T FORGET TO TELL ME WHAT TIME ON SATURDAY FOR SKYPE.  LOVE YAL!!!

Elder Blotter

Elder Blotter - Dec 12

Dear Family,

HEY Y'ALL!! Everything is good here in Puerto Montt!! I have an interesting announcement......I am leaving Puerto Montt and finishing my mission in.........Rio Bueno. HOLY FREAK!! ha ha I going back to a zone I was already in!! ha ha I am going to the Zone of La Union where I already was there when I was in San Pablo. I have been in 4 zones now in total and this will be my 7th Sector in the mission. I will be finishing my mission with an Elder from California named Elder Johnson. I don´t know from what part of California but I am sure I will be able to know that Wednesday when I travel to osorno. My companion Elder Urrutia....HES GOING TO TRAIN!!! I am so stoked for him he is going to be a great trainer. We are sad though that we are parting. Also Elder Oakden is also training and Elder Trejo from Mexico is going to Coyqhue to Puerto Cisnes so he´s stoked to go there but we're both very sad to leave the Ward. As you guys know I wanted to finish my mission here in Puerto Montt because I have grown close with the members here in Puerto and also we have two families that are going to be baptized the 7th or 14th of January and one of the families is very sad that I am leaving because they wanted me to baptize them with Elder Urrutia.  I am asking special permission to come back and baptize them because I love this family, they are like my second family here in Puerto we have grown so close with them here together and have seen miracles with them too. It´s the family Araseli and Nelson, I think I´ve talked to you guys about them a little bit, also I hope I get permission to come back so I will be skyping with you guys from Río Bueno then. And I was in the skype website last Monday investigating because we're allowed to because we have to make an account in skype and everything with our email of the mission. I found that you can do conference skypes with video so I can be talking and seeing you guys and the girls also where ever they are.   I think skype will work, you just gotta give me a date like you said next week and then when I make a skype account I think I will have to get your account name to call you guys so yeah that's the low down on that.  I am well here in Puerto. Araseli and Nelson came to church yesterday!!!! IT was so freaking awesome and then we passed by yesterday to their home to tell them the news that I was leaving and we asked them about the church and they said they didn´t just like it they LOVED IT!! WHATTTTT??????  That is so awesome, I love this family. ha ha.  But sí o sí they're going to get baptized because they talk about it all the time so its a deff that they are.  We had a good week this past week in the work. Not the greatest but a good week and I know the following week for Elder Urrutia will be the bomb also with his newbie. Elder Johnson as far as I know I think will be completing 6 months with me or will have six months when I get to be his companion so it´ll be pretty sweet and its funny that I am ending with an American.  Me and Elder Urrutia were sure that he was gonna kill me but we guessed wrong ha ha!!! But nothing really new here just shocked and freaking out that I only have 6 weeks left in the mission!!! I hate thinking about it because it doesn´t make me trunky, it makes me sad that my time as a missionary is almost over. If I could I´d ask President for an extension to be here 3 months more because I love the mission and you learn so much and you grow so much as a person and as a child of God. I will "sprint to the end" As President Rappleye likes to say and finish my mission strong and with honor and help our father in heavens children come unto him and feel his love that he has for each and everyone of us. I love you all and miss you all very much and I love that our Savior loves us all too 

Love, Elder Blotter

Elder Blotter - Dec 5

Dear Family,

Great to hear all is well back home and everyone is happy.  That really stinks that everyone won´t be home for Christmas to talk so maybe I was thinking even though I know mom is super excited to see me on skype I don´t know if there is a system where I can see more than one person at a time but if you guys want I can just call like I have done in the past so that I can talk to everyone but I'll leave that up to you guys because the dates are I believe the 24th, 25th, and 26th like it was last year so next week.  Just tell me what you guys think would be best if I should do skype or I should send you a phone number so I can talk to everyone.  Glad to hear that everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit. We're just barely getting into the

Christmas spirit here and like last year it really doesn´t feel like Christmas.  I guess that's just because here there is sun and heat but back home its cold and snow will soon be falling! Great thing to think about going home to ha ha! Nothing too new here just going into the last week of the transfer before transfers so we'll see if I get transferred or if I stay here and finish the mission in Puerto Montt. I'll be sad if I leave but if I leave its for the best that the Lord wants. We had two investigators of ours come to church which was super cool but neither of them have a date but one of them were going to put with a date this week and the other might be moving to Pucón.  We'll see what happens this coming week when we go visit them. We didn´t have too many people come to church this past week but we also did have a handful. Like mom and dad saw in the Ward back home, here in my ward there was a ton of Testimonies given by youth it was pretty cool. The youth in this ward are very powerful. Many of them will grow up to be great leaders in this church and be great missionaries. We're looking at a great week this coming week and hoping to put a lot of our investigators with date. One of our progressing investigators couldn´t come to church because her husband was in Villarica visiting his sick grandmother and the wife was in bed with back aches from being pregnant so it was kind of a bummer but she´s better now. The work was tough this week on finding new people to teach but we're going to work on that this coming week and keep working with the good investigators we have. We're scared though as the Christmas season comes closer that investigators are going to go on vacations because here summer vacations for kids and the adults is like right after Christmas. But we have faith and we're gonna show our faith by teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to them that they´ll feel the spirit and they won't want to leave on vacation and stay here with us and receive their salvation YES!! ha ha! The package hasn´t gotten here yet just so mom knows but I am sure it´ll come this week and if not this week the following week. But this week is gonna be killer and we are just going to rock here in the south of Chile!!  I love you all tons and miss you all more!!

Love, Elder Blotter

P.S.

Mom don´t get too trunky....ha ha!!!  Oh yeah and I read your talk mom and I liked I marked it up and yes I actually have had an experience of the Elder where I have come back to the same zone not the same sector but I have seen some of my converts and they have progressed so much it is an amazing experience and site to see!! 

Elder Blotter - Nov 28

Dear Family, Just to start off with asking questions and saying what the freak?? YOU BOUGHT GRANDMAS NISSAN??? What is she rolling in now?? What did you guys do with the Tahoe?? What the freak is going on back home?? ha ha I am not going to recognize anything when I get home am I ha ha Totally awesome that you guys went to to Ohio man I miss those trips all the time they were so fun ha ha with dad every spring going to shoot squirrels and clean up the yard and use the driving lawn mower ha ha it was fun times. But wow sounds like it was a pretty fun weekend of Thanksgiving and no they don´t celebrate it here but I heard on the radios in the taxis here about Black Friday so I am sure you guys went

out and bought stuff maybe not sure only heard about it like wow they time is just flying here. But that's awesome now that Britt and Boe have 4 years together. When am I going to be an uncle over there come on!! ha ha naw naw just messing.   Broma like they say here for Joke

ha ha. But I still can´t believe you guys bought Grandmas SUV ha ha pero bueno....Now I have something to tell you guys about MY LAST PHONE CALL!!! and all I have to say is I HOPE EVERYONE WILL BE IN CHICAGO WHEN I CALL BECAUSE........(Drum roll please prururururuum!!!) WE HAVE PERMISSION FOR JUST THIS ONE TIME TO USE SKYPE TO CALL OUR FAMILIES AND TALK TO YOU GUYS AND SEE AT THE SAME TIME!!!(Mom don´t get trunky) ha ha!! So this is just a heads up before Christmas come because I will be making a skype account through the mission email and we have guidelines and everything but WE GET TO USE SKYPE AND ITS MY LAST PHONE CALL SWEET!!! So make sure everyone is there or it´ll be penka like they say here in Chile for "it´ll stink" But the week

has been a pretty good week full of miralces. Especially yesterday as church. Well to start the story about a family that we have that are listening to us. There names are Araseli and Nelson. They are an amazing family! Her husband is a Policeman and she was a teacher but

she can´t teach because she´s pregnant with there 4th child. Anyways they love it when we come because they feel the spirit but there families are super catholic so its hard to change for them BUT they just had a huge problem happen in the middle of the week. WE get there

with a member I believe it was Wednesday and hermana Araseli is alone and then she just explodes. She tells us that everything has gone bad. there in debt and everything on there car and Nelson works far away and its just the Devil attacking this family. And they want to leave

and go back to Villarica to where there parents are and take the easy way out as I would call it to solve all there problems but we told them to meditate it out study your options and pray to God on what they should do and we read a part from D&C I can´t remember what section but they said they would do it and we told them we would be fasting for them from Saturday to Sunday as a special fast for them and we did it me and Elder Urrutia.....WE SAW MIRACLES!!! Araseli came to the stake conference with her little daughter and Nelson was

working in Calbuco and her twins were in Osorno but for the FIRST time she entered a LDS church and felt good and liked it!!! she felt the spirit!! then she told us after that something happen with nelson that she told her neighbor about that they were thinking about leaving

puerto montt and there neighbor is a policewoman and she was like no you guys are staying and she went and talked to her boss here in Puerto Montt and Nelson has an interview to work here in Puerto Montt as a policeman Tuesday and the policewoman said she was gonna do everything possible to help Araseli sell some boxes that she does and she´s already sold like 10 and they cost like 6 dollars a box well in American BUT MIRACLES!!! we taught them on Sunday right after church because Nelson got there and we were just like "you guys can´t tell me God just didn´t give you a miracle and an answer" well we didn´t say it like that but it was close and we went with a family of members and now they have awesome friends in church!!! Araseli and Nelson already told us they are preparing to come to church next Sunday as a family totally sweet!! The best miracle I have seen in a long time I love the

Gospel its so amazing what God can do with us when we are Obedient.  I love you all and miss you all so much!!! 

Love ,Elder Blotter

P.S: where is Ian going to school?? And has he sent the letters to

here by hand or by email?? Because I haven´t gotten anything ha ha

I'll make sure al tell you guys when I get the box and I'll be able to

open it with you guys through skype!! 

elder Blotter - Nov 21

Dear family,

Hey everyone!! Hope all is good back home. Hopefully I won´t get anyone trunky but I just got my flight plans today and I will be flying from Santiago to Miami and from Miami to Chicago OHare and I will be sending all the information to mom and dad so that they can confirm with me that it all works out fine for them on the plans and what not. I am well this past week and very wet today and it has rained so much this past week and also it started raining last night

and hasn´t stopped raining since it has rained allllll day ha ha but its all good.  This is the south of Chile and is normal and also I am in Puerto Montt so its also normal in that sense too. But all is good here we have had a successful week this past week with teaching and everything.  The only stinky part was that we didn´t have any investigators in Church but I believe we will be having some investigators in church next week because we have found some really awesome people this past week. A lot of our investigators are kind of falling so we're kind of not teaching them anymore because they are not progressing so we are finding other investigators now and they have ganas to progress. They are super awesome. We do this as missionaries sometimes I am sure Zach and Matt and Boe can relate on there own mission oh yea and of course dad too.  When investigators get to a point in progressing and they don´t want to go any farther or they don´t keep their commitments so you have to stop going by or not go by so much and start to find other people that want to come unto Christ and be baptized to receive the salvation. But we have other investigators that we are still with that are now finally progressing more and now want to keep progressing!!! It is super awesome. But nothing really new just working hard here with my companion Elder Urrutia, just destroying this sector but in a good way and we're gonna see a ton of baptisms at the end of this transfer. We found a sweet less active family that one of their kids is not member and he wants to get baptized and everything. We went by last night to teach and at the end we ate a huge pizza!!! It was super good!!! The less actives well you can´t really call them less actives now because they went to church yesterday and they own a bakery of bread and empañadas and he made a huge pizza they are so awesome!!! The hermano´s dad was one of the first Bishops of Chile when the Church came to Chile and his dad and mom live in Miami now so that's super sweet. But I just hope to see more success this coming week with my companion and see people in church because it kind of stinks to teach so many people during the week and then not see any investigators in church but I think we will see people in church this coming week I have the Faith that we will see people in church.  But I love you all and miss you all tons!!!  Hope all is well with y'all back home!!! 

Love, Elder Blotter

Elder Blotter - Nov 14

Dear Family,

HEY YALL!!!

All is well here in Puerto Montt, just a nice sunny day it has turned out to be. In the morning it was cloudy and raining a little bit and we thought oh crap its going to be a penka día ha-ha but no its turning out to be better. This past week of work has been good here in Puerto. Our number of lessons have gone up this week but no one came to church (BUT its ok!! ) ha-ha because the majority of the lessons we´ve had this week were new people we have taught but a lot of them are super awesome!! We are hoping to see a lot of people come to church in the following weeks and of course the most awesome part is BAPTISMS!!! ha-ha.   Me and my companion have had a lot of interesting experiences this past week with going to Calbuco where we ate lunch there with their papito and mamita who are super funny people. I hadn´t been in Calbuco in 9 months. I remember being there for a couple of intercambios when our district leader was there last year and then Elder Service got here to Puerto Montt and he became the district leader so we stopped going there.  Surprisingly I remembered my way around Calbuco and how to get to the chapel and everything.  I had only been there like twice and now I have been there three times. We went to Calbuco because my companion had to do an interview for a baptism there for the Elders in Calbuco so it was cool to go there again. Wow its so crazy how the mission is right now. The Zone of Puerto Montt is like the youngest Zone in the mission right now. The mission is getting young right now. There are three Elders here in Puerto Montt that have more than a year and a half and one of them is me and the other two are an Elder that finishes with me and the other is an Elder that finishes this transfer that’s a Zone leader so its so weird ha-ha.  What else that was weird that happened this past week.... OH YEAH!! WE had rocks and vegetables thrown at us this past week too ha-ha, like twice this past week. Its always when we go through a certain street in our sector that’s super Gangster and we have to go through that street to get back to our house at night so its interesting some nights cause we always see little gangster kids in the street yelling HELLO HOW ARE YOU?? YOU DA MONEY and then swear words and what not ha-ha so its great. I love the mission BUT I have not been robbed ever in my mission, "crossing fingers that I never will" ha-ha.  My companion Elder Urrutia got robbed in his first sector in Alerces, he got a jacket stolen from him that was a really nice one. Here you have to walk and act poor and if you do that they don´t really bother you here, the gangsters.  If you walk through with a nice jacket on or something that looks fancy you´ll get robbed I am sure that’s why I have never gotten robbed cause I walk poor and look normal ha-ha. Also we went down into a sector where I had never been with my companion but its a super rich area and there’s like no one down there and everyone has big gates, its pretty cool ha-ha.  We actually had a little bit of success down there but there’s not a lot of people were home when we went down so we will have to try at a different hour. Everything is super good here now that hopefully there will be more sun coming out. The funny thing is like mom said in her letter that Rugar had his primary presentation on Sunday, so did the kids here in my ward in the mission ha-ha.  It is truly correct what we say as missionaries and members wherever you go in the church you will always hear and learn the same thing all at the same time that the church we all learn at the same pace. Then also, we have an awesome cake me and Elder Urrutia and Elder Oakden and Elder Trejo made the other night of cookies and cream.  We're just going to pig out on it tonight, its going to be sweet!!  We're hoping to see a lot more success this coming week with people with baptismal date and people in church.  We did have a good attendance in church as members, we had 107 so we're still up there in the high numbers so that’s really good. I haven´t heard anything from Elder Patton but I am sure he is ok.  To answer mom's question on what else do I want in my box hmmm...There is a hat that they sell at Zumiez if you remember that store I used to go to all the time. There are beanies or hats that they sell there for like snowboarding and what not there but yeah Heidi I am sure will understand.  Just ask her ha-ha.  The beanie or hat has a bill like a ball cap does and I would like to see if you could send me one of a like a green or gray one whatever mark that you can find and the cheapest.   I am sure, but its those hats that I sleep with.   I have in a lot of my pictures with the pajamas and my comp likes it and always asks me for one so I was thinking to get him one for a little companionship gift for Christmas.  I guess that in my box and just some candies and what not inside.  Thanks for all the support you guys give me!! I love you all and miss you tons!!!

Love, Elder Blotter

P.S. Mom don´t get too trunked out of your mind I still have a lot of time left in the mission ha-ha!!

Elder Blotter - Nov 7 pic

We got this picture of Elder Blotter from a mother of one of his missionary comps that he lives with in Puerto Montt. As usual he is a ham for the camera  

Elder Blotter - Nov 7

Dear Family,

Hey everyone how’s everything going back home?? I am well here in Puerto Montt with my new companion Elder Urrutia from Santiago. I knew him in Lanco and he was in Panguipulli. He has like 9 or 11 months in the mission and is District leader and he is super awesome!!!

All is good here in Puerto Montt and LUIS GOT BAPTIZED!!! it was super awe3some I would love to send you guys pictures but I have fear that I am going to get another virus. But all is good here just working hard here with my companion and hope to see a ton of baptisms here in this coming cambio. Luis is so prepared and wants to go on a mission in a year and its going to be super awesome. The week was hard with work but we know we will have a better week and the following weeks to come will be better. To put in my box for December is  something for Luis to prepare him for the mission or something from Chicago that would be

cool and a tie for him. I am well personally and in all things my health is good and just have a ton of excitement to work hard here in this cambio and just have a lot of success. We haven´t had many new investigators but hope to find some more. My companion already has a ton of confidence of the bishop because he is Chilean and he already knows  a ton of the members here in the ward so all is good here. But loved the pictures of Halloween so funny But today we aren´t really going to do much, just buying stuff. Pay for tramites for light and water and gas and just chill because it’s been a hard week,but it’s been good. I love you all and miss you tons!!! Sorry I haven´t written a lot but I am sure I will have more to write next week 

 Love you tons!!

Elder Blotter

Elder Blotter - Oct 31

Dear Famiy,

HEY WHAT UP EVERYONE!!!! WERE GONNA HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY WOOO WHOOO!!!! Luis is getting baptized, the 20 year old. He is so tight he is the most prepared investigator I have ever had in my whole mission and it's thanks to the members that found him and prepared him before he talked with us. He is amazing. Everything is just fantastic here except that my companion is dying. I feel so bad he cried a little bit this morning and he cried when he read his last letter from his parents. But their tears of joy so its all good he´s happy and content. I´m gonna be the same way in 3 months time and I will be reading my last letter from you guys. I am sure I will be in the same shoes he is just feeling that feeling of that there is not another week in the mission. But I am not sure who will be my companion yet.

The zone leaders are playing jokes on us and won´t tell us our real cambios so we're just gonna have to wait until tomorrow to know whose coming here with me and what not. But whoever it is were just gonna destroy this sector and blow it out of the water and just baptize like crazy wooo whooo!!! But all is well this past week here in Puerto Montt not a lot of rain just a lot of sun but very windy but its all good I don´t mind it. I am not sick anymore thank you but those like 3 days of being sick SUCKED! ha ha let me tell ya right now I had no ganas to eat anything. I feel like my stomach has gotten smaller too OH YEAH!!! also like right after I wrote you guys last week we went and ate pizza and that was a BAD IDEA let me tell ya right now cause then after I started to feel bloated and then after a lesson with Luis this past Monday we walked out and we were walking to another appointment and all of a sudden I threw up everything that was in my stomach right there in the street is was soooo awesome!!!!! "sarcasm" All the pizza, the pills I took everything. So my companion was like yep your sick were going home haha so I went home and the other Elders got there and Elder Drake stayed with me and Elder Trejo and Elder Patton left and finished out the night. But it was great haha but all is good now.I think it was the food I ate last Sunday at the members house that did it to me that had something in it I don´t know not sure.  But yea that's cool that

you guys had a bring a friend to church Sunday that's way awesome did you guys bring anybody to church?? That's a bummer that nobody really brought anybody but maybe next time. That's Super sick that the theater got finished and now there doing plays and what not down there. Who are the kids from the church who do plays now there at Batavia?? that's super awesome. Sorry to hear that the water heater went out that's no fun. That sounds like me here sometimes when we run out of Gas and have to take showers in the cold water. That's way cool that there was a stake activity at our building but that like none of the kiddies from our ward went that's kind of lame but whatever haha just a miss out for them. But way sweet BATAVIA IS STILL UNDEFEATED!!! YEAH YEAH and give me the status on the Cross team when you know if they advanced or not. But yeah not much else new here besides another cambio has come and gone and I have 2 left...I am just gonna work hard

and as President Rappley has told me just sprint to the end...Love you all tons and miss you all more!!

Love,

Elder Blotter