First mission conference in La Serena, Chile

We are having our first mission conference in La Serena on Wednesday 10/27. (About 45 miles north of Ovalle right on the coast) I am nervous because they asked me to play the piano for two groups who are singing.
Things are getting more normal. The food here is really good! The members love to feed the missionaries and feed them good! Lunch here is bigger than 2 dinners normally in the states. The weather here is so nice. 80's in the daytime and 50's at night. The sun is strong here and just drains the life right out of me. I am sleeping really good. I have blisters on my heels from walking so much and hope they will soon turn into calouses. My spanish is coming a long pretty good. People say I speak good. We have a mamita that does our laundry. She folds really good!! My companion is pretty sweet. He has a lot of great stories from other companions and other areas and goes home in May. Take care, Love Elder Nelson

Jaren's with his Mission president and wife

Me with President Gerardo Wilhelm and his wife on the day I arrive in Vina del Mar.

First area - Limari

This is Jaren's first area. Limari is just under the OV of Ovalle. He is 5 hours north of the Mission home in Vina del Mar. He and his new companion

Elder Schneider are the only missionaries in Limari although there are 12 missionaries in Ovalle.

He made it!

This is where I am....Limari, CHILE
My plane headed south.

So about 9:05 am while I was at work...in came an email. "Are you there mom?" Jaren's first email from Chile. I was so excited. He had 90 minutes of email time and we were able to talk back and forth. You gotta love technology compared to old fashioned airmail letters.
So...here's the news.
"Tue(10-14) we spent at the Mission home in Vina. I love it here. It is so beautiful. The mission president is strict but very cool. His wife speaks no english at all. He says it's Spanish from here on out. My first Chileno meal was rice and a beef type dish. We played a game that told us where we would be going. At 11:oo pm we boarded a bus and had a 5 hour bus ride north to the city of Ovalle (o-vi-yeah) and we are in the sector of Limari. I didn't get sleep for about 36 hours and have never been so tired in my life. There are 12 elders in Ovalle but only my companion and I in Limari. My new companion is Elder Schneider from Michigan. People here are crazy about Flan and Mayonase. They put mayo on everything. They talk REALLY fast and they slur their words together and add "po" to the end of everything which doesn't mean anything except "um". The bread here is so good especially hot from the oven. Lots of potatoes, chicken and potatoes with mayonase. They don't have dressing here so they put oil, salt and lemon juice on salads. That will take some getting used to. We take a cheap taxi down to the center of the city to do our shopping. Monday is our "P" (preparation) day. We have until 6 pm then back to work in the evening. The town loves new missionaries. They want to talk to me but I don't understand them. I think that dogs are an abomination in South America. They're gross and they bark constantly (this coming from a big dog lover!!) We are walking everywhere and there are a couple of hills that get us tired. Well, tell everyone that because the mission home is 5 hours away that mail could take a month to get to me so to use my email address. I won't be able to email them back directly and will have to send answers through mom. Just don't make the emails too long so that I have time to write too. Tell everybody HELLO....til next week. CHAO! gotta go...love ya!!

While we're waiting for our first letter from Chile...

Yeah!! we got to have a really long 30 minute phone conversation with Jaren during his layover in the Atlanta airport. They are traveling on Delta from Atlanta to Santiago, Chile. During thier layover, 5 of the Elders went to get a bite to eat and decided to get some Chinese Food at Panda Express. When it came time to pay for their food at the check out, they found out that a very kind lady had paid for all of the Elder's meals. He was really touched by such an anonymous gesture of kindness. He sounds really great and was nervous but very anxious! It was great to get to hear his voice and catch up on what he's been doing in the MTC.
We are anxiously awaiting our first letter or email from CHILE!

Finally...On my way to Chile!

We were so lucky! At lunch today we got to talk to Jaren while he waited for his plane at the Salt Lake Airport. It was wonderful. Funny thing...he hasn't changed, he sounds just like Jaren. He loved being out in the world again. He said his last night in the MTC was just like Christmas Eve. They even got up early (4:30am) to drop his companion Elder Sorenson off at the travel office. At the airport he bought a slice of Pizza at Sbarro...he said "it was like Heaven to eat real food again".
We get one more chance to talk to him tonite while he's in the Atlanta airport on a layover. He'll travel through the night tonight and arrive in Santiago at 8:30am in the morning. Then the real fun (hard work) begins.
Thank you for all of your support and letters to him in the MTC. Check on the side of the blog under his picture for how to send him letters FREE to CHILE on dearelder.com

Flight Plans

Hey Everyone!
Here is our flight plans. We are actually leaving on Monday the 13th... a day earlier than expected! We check in at the front desk at 10:00am and the following are our flights.
There are 21 elders going to the Vina del Mar mission!!!!

Delta Air Lines Flight #696
LV: SLC 1:45pm
AR: Atlanta, GA 7:25pm

Delta Airlines Flight #147
LV: Atlanta, GA 10:10pm
AR: Santiago, Chile 8:35am (OCT 14) Yeah!!!!

Ten, nine, eight, seven....

Hello everyone! Well, the MTC experience is almost over. October seemed so far away when I got my call in April but, it finally came. Ten days til I leave for Chile. The highlight of my week this week will be getting my flight plans. We will get to call our family in the airport during layovers. Thanks everyone for your letters. Just a reminder that I will not be in the MTC after October 13. Mom will put information on the blog about how to send letters through the weekly pouch....it's still FREE. Well...not much to say now. I should have lots of interesting news in a couple weeks. Take Care, Love Elder Nelson