Austin's Gift to us...

¡Feliz Navidad!

For the first time in my life, I`m putting on sunscreen for christmas. Also for the first time in my life, I won`t be with my family for christmas. But after this, there`s only one more.

Well, I`ll start with the exciting news. I had another companionship change. I`m still here in the same sector, and my former companion Elder Ferreyra went to another sector. My new companion is Elder Saravia, from Cochabamba, Bolivia. We are working hard, and having a lot of fun. Oh, I also got my package on wednesday. No, I haven`t opened it yet. I`m saving that for tonight at 12:30 when we get back to the apartment. Tonight we will be celebrating with members, and having a christmas eve dinner. We have to be back in the apartment at 12:30 AM - it`s a tradition here to stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve. Then tomorrow we have lunch with a member family, and then I will be calling at 4:00 pm MY TIME - 11:00 AM your time!!!!!!!!! Please be ready and make sure that everything works. Oh yeah, dad will love this. This past week we had a christmas party in the mission house, and they took us on a tour. The house is almost a hundred years old. I took a video that we will watch when I get back. It was really cool.

I want to give you all a gift for Christmas, and I have decided to share with you all what I know. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, bleed, and die for us, so that we can return to live with God again. I know that The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that it was translated by Joseph Smith, who was called to restore the Church of Jesus Christ, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that same church that Christ established, and it is led today by a Prophet of God. I invite everyone, my family, friends, and everybody else, to find out for themselves if this is true or not. During this holiday season, I grateful for the greatest gift ever given, even that of Jesus Christ. I wish I could be with you to celebrate, but you know that I`m there in spirit. I love you and I miss you.

I`ll be home for Christmas, If only in my dreams,

Elder Austin Bryan Hjelm

Dreaming of a white Christmas -yeah right!

Happy Holidays! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

One week before christmas, and all through our house, not a creature was stirring, because we´ve been out working. It sounds like everything is going well. Congrats, Mom, on your classes - I do take after you. And why did nobody tell me that Dad is having Knee Surgery? This is the type of thing that I would like to know. I wish I could have been there for Mom´s birthday, and the delicious lemon berry cake. But know that I was thinking of you, and we did eat cake with a member for her birthday. However, it was the Anti-Jodi cake, that is, Chocolate Cake with fruit. It was good.

I will be writing next monday as well, and I plan to be calling between 10:00 and 12:00 tuesday morning. I will try to zero-in the time this week. I can´t wait. Still no package by the way. If all works out, I should get it tuesday morning - on christmas day.

I´m dreaming of a white Christmas (pssh, yeah right),

Elder Hjelm

Very short, but pretty sweet

Hola,

I don`t have much time. First, I am extremely saddened by the loss of uncle Kurt. Please give my condolences and love to the family. Everything is well here. I am excited, and can`t wait to talk to you. Remember that I love you. I will write more next week.

Love,

Elder Hjelm

Sunscreen in December

Since when do I need to wear sunscreen in December?

It´s summer here, folks. It`s starting to heat up. My new area is, once again, large, but we are working in one little sector inside the ward. The ward is great - great members, many of which are ready and willing to help with the work. I found out last night that I will be here in La Rioja for this next change, which lasts until 2013. Wow. That went by really fast. This week we have Tour of the Mission, with Elder Jorge Zeballos of the Area Presidency. In two weeks we have Christmas at the mission House, and the next week is christmas. I`m already singing christmas songs, and we have a small christmas tree in our apartment. About the christmas communication - I need to start arranging things for a skype or phonecall. What you need to decide is if you want to buy or borrow a webcam, set up two skype accounts - one for you and one for me - and then I can use a member`s computer to talk with you. Or, we can talk on the phone. I would like to talk on skype so I can see your beautiful, smiling faces, and you can see my tan. Please decide what you want to do, and then we will work out the five hour time difference.

I am doing well. I can understand about 90% of what everybody is saying. I am not sick. I am safe. I love you, and I miss you. Good luck.

May the force be with you, always,

Elder Hjelm

Doesn't he look awesome?!

Elder Williams and Elder Gibby

The three Elders

Elder Hjelm & Hermana Lazcano

Hermana Lazcano & the three Elders

Greeting from La Rioja....what?

Greetings from.......

La Rioja. My new sector. Let me explain just what happened. On Tuesday (the day that I recieved my package - gracias for the shirt and the goodies), we had our regular interviews with President Essig. At the end of the Interview, he told me that he might change my sector. I said, oh yeah, in two weeks, when we have the scheduled changes. He said no. I said, Sooner? He replied, It could be tonight. GULP! I said, Okay, President, what are the odds? He said 90%. Anyway, long story short, I got a call wednesday night. Thursday morning I packed, got on a bus to santiago, and now I´m here in La Rioja, just north of Simón Bolívar, where I was just a month before. My new companion is Elder Ferreyra, from Rosario, Argentina. We´re opening a sector. This emergency transfer was not my fault, nor the fault of my companion. I just got hit with the blast.

Anyways, I´m doing fine. No problems. It´s time to start preparing for the christmas call. Would you like to skype, or use the telephone? It can´t last more than 40 minutes. I

haven´t recieved any message from Brooke, so I have absolutely no idea what you´re talking about. Love you all.

Como Siempre,

Elder Hjelm

Austin has a tan!

Greetings from the other land down under!

This past week was great. We are working super hard, and having a lot of fun. Before I forget, I want to tell you about our lunch yesterday in a town called Curimon - bascially out in the middle of nowhere. The family we ate with is Russian. They spoke to each other in Russian. And we ate Russian Food - bolsch, to be precise. It was kind of cool, because we don`t speak Russian, and they don`t speak English, but we could all communicate in Spanish. Wow.

Still no sign of my package. I`m praying that it comes tomorrow. I´m a little worried, becuase Hermana Essig said that every once in a while they´ll open a package, and if there´s food, adios. I hope that my package is just late. But everything is going well other than that. I`m withstanding the heat. I got sunburned on Monday when we played soccer - yes mother, I forgot sunscreen. but now its faded and I look tan. Boo yah.

It`s weird to think that this is the fifth week of this change. And, it`s almost December. The time is flying. We have a baptism planned for saturday. And more planned for December. I don`t know if I´ll still be here in december. But anyways. Love you all and miss you all.

Ciao,

Elder Hjelm

Happy Birthday in San Felipe

Hey family,

I´m bushed. We just got back from playing soccer for our zone activity, where I scored my first goal. It was fun, but extremely hot. This week luckily was a little bit cooler, which was nice. It´s wierd to think that now I´m 20 years old. My package didn`t arrive, but I got my weekly letter from Mark, and we celebrated. Elder Gibby (he is such a nice guy) called ahead to our lunch appointment and told them it was my birthday, without my knowing. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when they brought out the bowl of ice cream with a candle on top. Later on, we bought alfajores, a chilean cookie with caramel and chocolate, and italianos, which is a hot dog with diced tomato, avocado, and mayonaise - so good. That, and some chocolate ice cream, and we had a party. I don`t think that I will forget this birthday, especially since Elder Gibby just told me that his sister gave birth to her son on that same day. Funny how that works out.

Gosh, I really don`t know what more to say. The time is flying by. I`ve already spent three weeks here. My skills in the english language are diminishing as my spanish skills increase. I can basically understand everything now, but there`s a lot of accents and things that i`m having trouble with. People have been saying that my accent is different than that of other gringos, a lot stronger. I guess that`s a good thing. I`m still losing weight - right now I`m hanging around 225 lbs. Now my drivers license isn`t lying. I guess that`s about it.

I miss you all, and wish you luck.

As always,

Elder Hjelm

A pencil with buff legs?

Chile log: Change 4: Week 3: Day 1:

It´s really starting to get hot here. They say that in Santiago, it gets to about 95 - 100 degrees, but it gets hotter in San Felipe. I´m going to come home as a pencil. Well, a pencil with buff legs, because we´re also riding around town on bikes - yes, with helmets. Don´t worry, we´re safe. But yeah, it´s hot.

We have investigators who are really cool. One is giving up smoking, and gave us her cigarettes and lighters, which are now sitting on my desk - I should probably clean that up. We have found people recently, and we are working hard. I enjoy my companions, Elder Gibby and Elder Williams. They are really fun, and work hard.

We are expecting the mission to grow, due the change in age, the beginning of next year. Right now we have about 200 missionaries. We expect to have 280. The church is growing, and I am witnessing it firsthand. I hope that the elections are going well - I have absolutely no Idea how to vote from here. You have to tell me who wins.

Bumm, ba ba ba bumm, I´m lovin´ it,

Elder Hjelm

Pictures of life in Chile...

Leslie, Carlos, Bexy, Herman William, Martha
Elder Huaratapayro, Elder Hjelm

Lunch with some members -yummy!

Matias and Elder Hjelm
(He is looking slim!)

Austin is eating tomato, peppers and lettuce?!
Miracles do happen!

Greetings from San Felipe

Greetings from the beautiful city of San Felipe!

It´s starting to get hot here. San Felipe, much like Wenatchee, sits in a bowl, formed by the surrounding mountains. For this reason, it gets HOT here during the summer. I´m going to leave here looking like Jonah. Our sector is still large, but I´m used to that now. My new companions are Elder Gibby, from Ogden, Utah, and Elder Williams from Rockford, Illinois. Elder Williams is being trained by Elder Gibby, and I´m helping/being trained again/learning how to train - something like that. I didn`t know that I was going to be in a trio, but that`s okay. We have lots of people to teach, and we`re running all over the place. And if we have to go to Santiago, like we had to Friday, it`s an hour and a half by bus to get there. Fun Stuff.

No package yet - I´m expecting it to arrive the day before my birthday. It usually takes about three weeks for it to get here. I honestly don`t know how we`re going to talk on Christmas - I will have to ask around. You may have to break down and get a web cam, or we could talk on the phone. I`m doing fine. I´m not sick - minus the headaches. I´m just enjoying the work.

As always,

Elder Hjelm

Hello San Felipe!

Greetings from.....

LOS ANDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That´s right, Elder Hjelm has been transferred to the country, where it is much, much hotter. and on top of all that, I´m in a trio. It´s like they took all of the things that I didn`t want to do, threw it in a box, and sent it with me to the city of San Felipe (I didn´t want to change in the first place, go to los andes, or be in a trio.) But that´s okay, because I´m not in charge.

We had the wonderful opportunity on Saturday to listen to Elder Bednar. It was awesome. The only problem was that he was so busy, that we couldn´t shake hands or greet him. But don´t worry - I took notes.

Sounds like fun stuff is happening in Lakewood, with a new stake presidency and all. You have to tell me if Rick and Lynda started their mission papers sunday night, or if they are waiting. We need more missionaries! And they would be great!

We had two baptisms yesterday, but I forgot my camera in the house. They will come next week. The past three days have been wild, but fun. You should have seen the house last night when I was packing - you know how I pack. I literally brought all of my things into the living room of our apartment and then started to pack. It was fun.

Con cariño,

Elder Hjelm

PS: Only two months until a phone/skype call..... and only two weeks until I turn 20!

Yea! More pictures!

Austin is eating avocados and tomatoes?  Miracles do happen!

Doesn't he look awesome!?  He says he's lost about 20 pounds from all the walking.

Almost to the 6 month mark - the bump!

Hello,

That was a fast week. It didn´t really feel like it during the week, but it sure feels like it now. In fact, the past six months have gone by extremely fast. That´s right, Thursday, October 18th, I will have completed a full six months in the mission. Wow. That´s crazy.

Anyway, Everything here is good. We had to change a few baptisms, but we have two set for this week. Carlos is married to Marta, a less active member. And we did some digging, and it turns out that Marta´s daughter Bexy isn´t in the church records. So we have two baptisms for this sunday. Oh, and this week is changes, so next week I might be writing from somewhere else.

I am recieving the letters from uncle mark. I miss you all.

Adios,

Elder Hjelm

Yea! Pictures!

Fiesta!

 These pictures are from the house in
Gambino. 

His bunk is the top one - and look, it's made!

 This contraption is called a triciculo.
He looks happy :)

 Elder Hjelm and Elder Chung

Elder Hjelm and Elder Metcalf

 

Elder Hjelm and Elder Riches - he makes Austin look small!

 

Baptism of John Briones

He found something to remind him of home!

Kitchen in Gambino

The Munoz Family

Austin calls this a large, chilean Jack! 

Somewhere in Santiago

He claims this means the members love the elders.  We're not sure!

Short but sweet!

Dear Hjelm Family,

I don´t have much time, so I´ll make this quick. Everything is fine. We have three baptisms planned for the next two weeks, elder bednar is coming in a week and a half, and everything is good. General Conference was great, and all is well. More next week.

Love,

Elder Hjelm

Work, work, work and a baptism!

What a week!

We started off with Tuesday, which was the annual celebration of chilean independence. On this day, everyone parties, and almost everyone does one of the following three things: Goes to the beach, goes out into the country, or partakes of alcoholic beverages. Basically, there was nobody here. Our numbers were way down this past week. We spent the day with members, and had an asado - a chilean barbecue. Yeah. Wednesday, we had my first baptism - I don´t really even know guy, but, of course, my companion tells me three hours before the service starts that I´m going to be baptizing him, so that was fun. Thursday I gave my companion excedrine for his headache, and he felt rather weak and woozy afterwards, because of the caffiene. friday, I was sick again, but still went and worked, and my companion was walking like he was part the indianapolis 500. Ugggggh. saturday we had a zone activity, where I couldn´t eat anything or participate because I was sick. Then we went and painted a house, and then we went and worked. Sunday we confirmed our investigator, John briones, a member of the church. we helped out in the primary, and had a family home evening with another investigator. today, a haircut. this week has gone by so fast.

Please give my condolences to the tomlinsons. Please keep me informed about my seahawks (pictures would be nice), and tell me all about the mariners.

Cordially,

Elder Hjelm

Independence Day in Chile

Greetings from Chile!

The entire country is preparing a party for me tomorrow, to celebrate my five months in the mission! Okay, it´s actually el 18 de septiembre - Independence Day in Chile. everybody´s going to be celebrating, and we as missionaries can visit with members, work, and participate in the activities of the ward and stake. the only problem is that our ward actiivity is next saturday. but I hear that everyone gives you an empanada or something when you knock their door.

My sector is huge. It´s like three times the size of my last sector. we´ve been walking a lot, which is evidenced by the blisters on my feet. My new companion is cool - he really knows how to develop a relationship with the investigators. We have a baptism on wednesday, and another planned for sunday. Oh, our investigator in gambino was baptized on saturday.

The water problems are fixed in the apartment. Now the owner is going to put in tile and fix a wall. Now if he could only fix the shower - it sucks!

Everything else is good here, and it sounds like everything is good there, too. Keep me in your prayers - you´re always in mine.

Ciao,

Elder Hjelm

Goodbye Gambino...

Querida Familia,

I have been transferred. Goodbye Gambino, hello Valle Grande... No wait, Simon Bolivar 3? What happened was that I was supposed to go to Valle Grande, out in the country, put there was a missionary who had a relative in the ward in which he was going to serve. So President Essig called me up, and sent me off to Simon Bolivar 3, close to downtown Santiago. My new companion is Elder Huaratapayro ( try saying that three times fast) from Peru. This sector is baptizing like crazy apparently, and now I`m here. It`s actually a large ward that is divided into three different sectors. I`m excited. The only problem is the house - it has water problems. Needless to say, we will probably be changing in the next couple of weeks.

We had a ward activity on friday that started out with just us, the ward mission leader, and his family. We gained a few more people, but that was basically it. Everyone wished me well in the ward yesterday. I finished packing this morning. My bags weigh a ton. I`ll send pictures of the old ward and house next week.

I`m sorry to hear that Joann Stevens died. She was so sweet and kind. I will miss Her. And now Jon Mortenson is the Bishop in Steilacoom ward? Whoa. Best of luck to him.

That`s all for today folks,

Elder Hjelm

Short, but sweet!

Hola,
     Transfers are in one week. I have the feeling that I will be
leaving Gambino, which sucks, because we have several baptisms lined
up. Oh well. Things are going well. We´ve been working hard. It´s
still hard to understand the spanish here, but I´m picking it up. The
food here is pretty good too - I´ll be bringing home some recipes.
     And the house is painted? Finally? Whoa. I need pictures - photo
verification. It´s good to hear that Leavitt is getting his papers
together, and Colton got his call - Boo yah! spanish speaking is the
way to go! I´ll ask some of the elders who have been here a little
what things they suggest to bring.
     Who are my seahawks playing next? I want play by play emails -
but I think that´s impossible. I love you all a lot.

Ciao,
Elder Hjelm

From Chile with Love...

Hola,

Elder Hjelm here reporting from Santiago, Chile. It´s a balmy 18 degrees here - celsius of course. That´s one of the wierdest parts - going from feet and miles to meters and kilometers, and farenheit to celsius. But it´s nothing that I can´t handle. Things are going well here. We´ve found a few investigators, one of which is progressing. The problem is that she goes with her dad on the weekends, and she can´t miss church before her baptism if she wants to be baptized on September 9. All investigators from 12 - 18 have to go to church four times before they can be baptized. Our other investigator with the smoking problem hasn´t smoked in a month. I am so happy for her. The only problem is that she and the rest of our investigators have baptismal dates for after this change, and I´m likely to leave after this next change, most likely to the middle of the country. Oh darn.

It´s great to hear that mom is going back to school - I´m excited. When I get back, we can be study buddies. And now Jonah´s going to get his license - another reason that I´m glad I´m here, several thousand miles away. And school´s starting - that was fast. This whole thing is going by really fast. The days feel long, but looking back it has gone by so fast. I´m basically one fifth of the way done. That was way too fast. But It´s so, so good.

From Chile with Love,

Elder Hjelm

Let it snow!

¿Qué Tal? (What´s up)
     Why is it that as soon as I leave, everything interesting starts
happening. Felix Hernandez pitches a perfect game (against who?).
Romney chooses Paul Ryan as his running mate (not gonna lie, I like
the choice), and now my Seahawks are winning all over the place. Why
does this happen when I´m gone, and I really shouldn´t worry about it?
I´m sorry to hear about Mark Thibo. He was a great man, one of my
examples. I will miss him a lot.
     We just got back from the mountains north east of Santiago,
almost in Argentina. We went there for a zone activity, mainly because
seven of the twelve elders in our zone live near the equator or in the
desert, and have never had the chance to play in the snow, have a
snowball fight, or build a snowman. We built a snow missionary,
complete with tie. However, I forgot my camera. I´ll ask one of the
other elders for some pictures.
     The work here is still work. Elder Chung was sick most of last
week, with a virus. We only worked four days out of the seven. But we
worked hard. There´s a chance that the rest of us will get sick too -
I hope not.

May the Force be with You All,
Elder Hjelm

Short, but very sweet!

The work continues! We have begun to see the fruits of our hard
work over the past few weeks. We now have five people who are golden,
and need to be taught. We have found new people. And our investigator
who has a smoking problem hasn´t smoked in two weeks. It is so
awesome!
I´m sorry to hear about Mark Thibo. I haven´t heard about Pyron´s
disease, but it sounds terrible. He will be in my prayers. And girls
camp sounds about like normal. I can´t believe that you left Jonah and
Isaac alone in the house for a week and It´s still standing. Oh, my
package came. Nice call with the chips and pretzels - they´re super
yummy!
     It sounds like my Seahawks are doing well - who did they play?
And What!? They signed Terrell Owens?!?! Oh well.

Adios,
Elder Hjelm

Adventure Log: Chile: Week 7

Adventure Log: Chile: Week 7.

No baptisms this past week. Fresia didn`t feel ready, and so she and her daughter both have dates for the 26th. Chuta. But life goes on. This past week has been hard. We have worked harder than before and walked more and done more, but have achieved less. We taught a total of six lessons and found 2 new investigators. That´s it. However, we did walk basically every street in the sector twice. That might be a little high, but it sure feels like it.

Still no package - hopefully wednesday. I can´t really wait, and Elder Chung is tired of hearing about my jacket. I miss helping out with things like girls camp shopping, or working on the Temple. I doubt that this will be Mom´s last year at girls camp - she´s too good at what she does. I don´t know very many people who could cook for 150 hungry girls, and have everything prepared on time. She´s amazing. Everything is going to go all right. Don´t worry about it.

I don´t know a marcus williams - do you mean Marquis? Either way it will be cool to have someone else from washington here. Whenever I say that I´m from washington, everybody thinks Washington DC. Oh, and what´s this I hear from Isaac that Ichiro has been traded to the Yankees?!?! That would be something that I would want to know. How are my Seahawks doing? How are the Olympics? They don´t tell us very much here, so I need you all to send me info, por favor. I love you all.

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now,

Elder Hjelm

Staying in Gambino...the heads will have to wait!

Dearest(?) Family,

This week is transfer week, and I have been sent to Easter Island to convert the heads. Just kidding. I´m staying here in Gambino for another month and a half. One of the elders in our house got transferred, and his former companion is training a new elder fresh from the MTC. Yes, I am feeling better. I´m not sick anymore. I´m still waiting for my package - I´m hoping for thursday, but most likely next tuesday - I hope. I attached a map of my ward, just for you all. Our house - which I forgot to mark, is on the street behind the chapel. Everything is going fine here. Our baptisms were moved back to this week, and with any luck they should go on. We have three others with a date to be baptized on the 26th. I sure hate missing the olympics. It sounds really, really cool. I love you all.

Ciao for Now,

Elder Hjelm

He has found the bread of life...literally

Hola, Familia - ¿Qué Tal?

Nothing much is new here in Chile. We have all worked super hard this week setting the example for the zone. We would have done better, but the problem is that I´m slightly sick. It´s only an irritated stomach - I hope. But I´ve been on clear liquids for the past 24 hours, and have gotten some additional sleep. I don´t know why I´m sick, but oh well.

That reminds me, I haven´t told you all about the food here in Chile. We´ll start with the bread. It is so, so good. Marraqueta is like french bread, but better. And "pan amasado" is this thick, dense homestyle bread - absolutely delicious. And what´s better, pan (bread) is cheap here. What´s also really good are "completos", or more specifically, "Italianos", basically a hot dog on an oversized, toasted bun with diced tomatoes, avocado, and home made mayonaise. I like mine with a little ketchup. They are so good, and a great reward for doing your daily contacts. On the sweeter side, there´s "berlines", which is basically a bismarck doughnut, and this delectable thing called "brazo de reina", which translated means, "the arm of the queen." It´s like a cake, but it´s filled with cream and manjar - basically caramel. It´s so good. The empanadas here are great too. There´s a lot of dishes with rice here, which is good. But salad is weird. The basic salad is lettuce with oil and lemon juice, generally served with tomatoes. Luckily, there´s pan at just about every meal.

I can´t believe that our ward beat Gravelly Lake - !Qué Bueno¡ The 24th of July isn´t really a big deal down here. I´m glad to hear that you all are surviving camps and temple remodels and everything else. I´m starting to settle in here. I´m adjusting to spanish, and I am even starting to think in Spanglish. I´m enjoying the work. I´ve already been here for 5 weeks - changes are this next week. I hope that I get to stay here. I really like this ward, and the people here. Oh yeah, if everything goes accroding to plan, we´re going to have one, if not two, baptisms this week! I will be sending pictures. Tell Bro. Roholt that he will do fine in the bishopric. If I can learn spanish, he can be in the bishopric.

Ciao, Amigos!

Elder Hjelm

From Chile with love

Hey, family. It´s still winter here in Santiago, but it is slightly warmer now. I think we´re starting to head into spring, which will be nice. I finally obtained a backpack - a gift from an investigator. Finally, my shoulders shouldn´t hurt very much. But now I have a shoulder bag that I don´t know what to do with! Oh well, I rather have that problem than back problems. The work here is going well. We´re contacting a lot, mainly because our appointments keep falling through. We had our Zone Conference on Wednesday - that was really good. Oh, and I had my first ward activity where, surprise, we had to share a message and a video about faith with like two minutes of preparation. But we pulled it off. The time here is really quite strange. For example, the activity started at 8 pm. We didn´t actually do anything until 9. They didn´t start cooking until 8.I was thinking the whole time that we would have had everything planned out and set up if this was back in Washington. Welcome to Southern America. I´m doing good. It sounds like you all have a busy week this week. I didn´t know that Dad was cubmaster. That should be fun. I will miss teaching knots with Uncle Rick. I enjoyed that. Just keep on working hard, and the blessings will come. You are in my prayers every night.

From Chile with Love,

Elder Hjelm

Yea pictures!



He knows where he is going!

Pizza, grilled cheese and the "white boy from Washington"

Greetings from Santiago!

I am currently in what I believe is Northeastern Santiago, in an area called Gambino. I´m not exactly sure where it is in Santiago, but I´m reasonably sure that I´m in Chile. I´m over one ward - the Gambino Ward. All the members are really nice, and they feed us three times a week. We buy lunch - the big meal here - three times a week from a member, and P-Days we have to basically fend for ourselves - don´t worry, I have become a master at making grilled cheese using the toaster and the microwave. I even bought my own bottle of ketchup, just for my grilled cheese. Grilled cheese sandwiches are warm, which is nice, considering that it´s the middle of winter here. I´m not to cold - I have my thermals, gloves, and a big coat, and lots of blankets. None of the houses here have heating or insulation, so we use plug-in heaters. We celebrated the fourth of July the other with, of course, PIZZA! Yes, even here in the middle of nowhere santiago, chile, they have pizza. Which reminds me, happy birthday to Rix, Dad, and Isaac, and congratulations to Rix on being baptized. I´m sorry I had to miss it.

Yes, I have been kind of frustrated lately. Homesick, tired, lonely, and not having fun. But some interesting things happened this week that changed that. A member of our ward died on wednesday. We went to the viewing, and I didn´t think much more of it. That is, until we got a call the next day from our ward mission leader, Hermano Muñoz, who had been authorized to preside and conduct at the funeral, and needed our help. We ended up obtaining permission from President Essig to go to the graveside service, where, of course, I, the white boy from washington who had been there for two and a half weeks, had to give the opening prayer. Thankfully, I had enough Spanish to suffice, and was given some help. Two days later, we visited his family. We sang, "Come follow me", in spanish of course, and then we prayed, and elder chung shared a message of hope. And then I had a feeling, a feeling that I should share Matthew 11:28-30, about coming unto christ. As I did so, my mouth was filled with what to say. I didn´t know as much spanish as I said that night, nor do I remember exactly what it was that I said. But one grandaughter felt it, and we are visiting them again tonight. A similar experience happened when we taught Fresia later that night with Elder Brown, one of the Assistants. Again, What I said was not of me, but from on high. The same thing happened again yesterday as well. And I can now contact better than I ever have.

I still don´t understand a lot of what people say, or why I´m here in santiago instead of San Antonio or St Paul. But I understand a lot more now than I did three days ago. I´ve been here for three weeks, and I only have another 94 to find the reason, or reasons why I´m here in Santiago. I still miss you all a lot.

Buena Suerte,

Elder Hjelm

There's Spanish and then there's Chilean Spanish....

Hello from Chile! Right now, I am in the middle of downtown santiago.
It´s kind of nice here - lots of old buildings and things. It´s a
holiday here, so we are going to go to a museum. It rained for two
days straight here, so now we can see the mountains. I still can only
understand about half of what people say. Our ward mission leader
Hermano Muñoz told me that there´s spanish, and then there´s chilean
spanish. I just want to understand something. But sometimes it´s
better to not understand. For example, when you knock a door, and the
guy is drunk. I had no idea what he was saying, but I looked and
listened intentively and then we left. No clue what he said. But we
gave him a pass along card. I guess that´s about the best that I can
really do. I know that eventually I´m going to pick up the language,
but it´s hard. I´ve never had a really hard time learning something
before. But this is different. I want it now. But it´s not my time
frame. I miss you all so much, and I can´t believe that I still have
94 weeks to go. It feels like I´ve had a lifetime of experiences
already.

With love from Chile,
Elder Hjelm

First news from Chile...and it's good news!

¡Hola, familia! It´s nice to see something in english. It´s kind of weird here. Everybody has a big fence in front of their house, so when we knock doors, we have to yell through the fence, and then they come out. Oh, and everybody watches or listens to soccer. Yesterday there was a match between the two main teams here - Colo-Colo and La Universidad de Chile - and there was nobody out on the streets. But it´s good. There´s a lot of dirt, so all of my shoes are dirty. I kind of like it here. My house is apparently one of the nicer ones, but it´s not much compared to what I´m used to. My companion is Elder Chung from Lima, Peru. Luckily he speaks some english, and the other elders in the house with us are American, so I´m not going to lose my mind. He´s crazy, and I don´t understand him half of the time, but he´s cool. We have one investigator from the previous missionaries with a baptismal date that we had to move back two weeks because she can´t stop smoking. Oh, and I´ve met a few drunks and a couple druggies. That was interesting. But we have taught some people. However, none of them are progressing, so its nothing to get excited about. Oh, I´ve found out that I can speak spanish pretty well for a white guy. However, I have no Idea what anyone else is saying. They speak really fast and really bad, dropping letters all over the place. I can pick up more now, but the first day I was completely lost. Even now, I still only pick up about 2/3 of what they say. But I´m doing good. I´m pretty much settled, and now I´m getting to work. Oh, and I´m safe - don´t worry, I´m in the Lord´s hands. I hope you all have fun at the renunion - I´m sad that I have to miss it. Be sure to send me pictures. I will try and send some pictures next week. Right now we´re at a mall. We just had lunch, and they have a cool exhibit on Tutenkhamen that we´re going to go see. I miss you all so much, and I can hardly wait another 665 days (approximately) to see you all again, or to talk to you in six months. You are in my prayers every night.

Someone in Chile Loves You,

Elder Hjelm

Last post from the MTC....

Hello Hjelm Family! This will most likely be the last time I will email you from provo. We got our travel plans on Friday. We fly out of Salt Lake at 2:00 Mountain time on Monday, April 18, and then we arrive in Atlanta at 8:00 Eastern time. Then I have a 2 1/2 hour layover before a 9 1/2 flight to Santiago. We get there at 8:00 in the morning. I already bought a prepaid phone card to use at the Georgia airport. I figured that If I called you about 5:30 pacific time, we could have about an hour and a half to talk. Does that work? I don't know what your plans are... Just dearelder me with what your plans are. Things here are going great. I'm continuing to learn spanish, and I'm learning a lot about the gospel. I thought I knew a lot, but I really didn't.It's harder when we have to explain to someone who doesn't know anything. It's amazing how much I've learned about myself here. I've learned how to live with companions who are literally the exact opposite of me. I'm starting to realize that I'm not in charge. It's all about the work. We're going to the Temple later for the last time - we'll do a session. Tonight we have a general authority devotional. We're hoping someone big, like Elder Bednar or Elder Holland to send us off. I don't really care how good of a driver Jonah has become, I'm glad that I'm in Provo and he's in washington. I can't send him a birthday present, but he'll get to talk to me - that's enough, right? I can't wait to talk to you all on monday - It's already been two months! only twenty-two to go! I 'm excited to go to the field. I can't wait to learn more spanish. When I call at christmas, I should basically be fluent. I'm more sure now than I ever have been that I can do this, and that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

May the force be with you,

Elder Hjelm

Random thoughts from the MTC

Dear family O' mine,

Como estan? It's another 75 to 80 degree day here in Provo. My clothes are holding up just fine, and several other elders have channel belts too, but as far as I know, I'm the only one with a cool tie rack. I plan on leaving a few things here in the free box to lighten my load. I've heard that overweight bags can cost as much as $330 for international flights. I think I could deal with one overweight bag, but not two, so that's something that i'm working on. We get out travel plans on thursday, so I'm scared, but excited. My spanish has begun to pick up. I can just say things now, and don't really have to think about it as much. I was able to activate my card, I just haven't used it yet. It sounds like you had a lot of fun with the Roholts and Sis Brown. Too bad I missed it. Hopefully the birds don't get Jack. I expect the house to be perfectly painted by the time I get back - are you still thinking the same colors or have you changed your mind again? The MTC is still standing, but i'm starting to go crazy in here. It's the same thing day after day, week after week. I'm still not used to having a companion - I think that's the thing I don't like the most, is having someone with you 24/7. But I agreed to it, and I get a new one in two weeks, so I'm not worried. I've some really good experiences here, just over the past week. I think I'm actually starting to became a missionary, instead of just someone with a badge. I only have another 97 weeks to go, or 22 fast sundays, or sixteen transfers, or 681 days. But whatever the count, I miss you all. Please keep me informed. You are in my prayers.

As always,

Elder Hjelm

Hola, familia! Huh?

Hola, familia! Como estan? Estoy muy emocionado que yo tenga la oportunidad de hablar con ustedes ahora (I'm very excited that I have the opportunity to talk with you all now.) The mtc is pretty good so far. I can't really complain. I'm not really surprised about the M's losing, but the fact that dad finished the Feller project is pretty good. My clothes are working out pretty well so far - I've learned some new tie knots that look pretty snazzy. I have no Idea when I fly out yet. They give us our travel info ten days in advance, and I still have three more weeks. My spanish is improving. I'm starting to do more things in spanish on a daily basis. I can read and usnderstand most of the scriptures in spanish, and My mind is starting to switch back and forth between spanish and english. I spend a lot of time in a class room, reading, studying, and learning. Lately, I've been playing soccer during gym time (defense of course) and have actually done rather well. This past week, we had Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy speak to us. It's ridiculous how many missionaries are here right now - we're up to 2,000 now, and more are coming. Tomorrow I get to be a host for the incoming elders, which should be fun. Thanks for all your love and support. please keep me informed about what's going on in the world - they don't tell us much.

With love,

Elder Hjelm

Soccer, baptism and cross bearing protesters....just another week at the MTC

Hey family, what's happening? I finally got your package yesterday - the jerky is really yummy, and It's nice to have something else to do during my down time - you know, the five minutes that I have a day. It's nice to hear that my painting ability helped Phase II to win an award. I guess my cleaning ability also helped, since I cleaned the place the day before the photo shoot. But hey, what can I say? I bet Dad did a great job accepting the award. I expect Jonah to kick butt tomorrow night. Old testament is hard, but he can do it. Isaac almost has his bear badge already? Dang, he's growing up too fast. I miss the father son campout and the fun times we had there. And honestly, I miss helping out at the carnival. It was always such a great challenge. Please have Isaac take some dance lessons - I can imagine the moves he had at his party. What is the Mariner's record now? Are they doing better than last year? They don't tell us much here. We have had some cross-bearing protestors outside the MTC during our temple walks on sundays. I guess some people don't have anything better to do than to tear down other people's faith. The food is still good, and we have started playing soccer every other day for Gym - you know me, I have to have something to run after, like a ball or a frisbee. Our investigators are doing okay. One won't get baptized because his family doesn't want him to even meet with us, and we had to explain to the other one that her baptism was technically invalid in her church, and she needs to baptized in the same way that Christ was. That was a very touchy subject. But she understands now. This past week we have had L. Tom Perry of the Twelve speak to us about the priesthood, and the President of the Provo temple talk to us about the temple. It's really weird, because I feel like I'm at an extended EFY, but It's going for two years.

I miss you all so much, and I will leave you with the Words of Lloyd D Newell from music and the spoken word:

"Peace be with you, this day, and always."

Elder Hjelm

Missionary Life

Hola, familia! MTC life is great so far. I can't really complain. I keep busy all the time, mainly because my every minute is planned out for me. Today we are going to the temple and doing a session, and then having dinner, and then a devotional. Last week, we had D Todd Christofferson speak to us. This morning, I got a Haircut, because my hair was in that stage where it was both too long and too short to do anything with. It's pretty short now, but it feels a lot better. I'm glad to hear that MoProm went well - it was always really fun. I'm starting to learn what it is to be a missionary. Our three investigators are always somewhere in my mind. I'm learning how to study, and I am getting a lot more out of the scriptures. I'm starting to rely on the spirit, and to work with my companion better. We got some new missionaries on wednesday, so we are no longer the new ones. Oh, they offered me the chance to go to the intermediate spanish class with the intermediate distrct. I turned it down, mainly because it didn't feel right. but now I have to challenge myself more. It's hard to believe that four weeks have gone by already, and there's only 100 more to go, or in other words, 702 more days. but I think I can make it. In fact, I know i can. I miss you very much, and You are in my prayers. Oh, Happy Belated Mother's Day.

Keep me updated,

Elder Hjelm

First Pday!

Elder Hjelm & Elder Linares



He looks pretty happy :)

These two pictures are of the whole district.  They were pretty excited for
their first pday and  to get to go to the Provo Temple.

The latest from the MTC

Hey family,

How's it going? I'm disappointed in you though - I specifically asked for information on the draft, and I have nothing, lol. But that's alright. If you could include my rubik's cube in your next package, that would be great. I need something to do in the 20 minutes I have to myself everyday. I would like my memory card back, but I do have another one. I wasn't like, sick sick, but I was all congested and had a runny nose and I couldn't sleep. By the way, my companion runs. I play basketball. I'm not very good (in fact, I'm terrible), but that's alright. I miss everyone quite a bit, but you are all in my prayers. I miss watching Jacob on sundays - that was always alot of fun. We had a "get together" in our room last night for the four elders in our district who are leaving for the MTC in Guatemala. It was about as crazy as you can get at the MTC without breaking the rules. It's so weird here, because your every minute is planned out, from the moment you wake up to the minute the lights are off. It's also driving my crazy having to be with a companion 24/7. I won't be able to call on Mother's day, but I will when we leave for the field. By the Way, DearElder.com works. send me anything.

Someone in Provo loves you,

Elder Hjelm

Life at the MTC is good...

hey family! How's it going? I'm doing laundry right now, and they have comuters in the laundry room. I am learning more spanish and we recently switched teachers. Our investigator, Guadalupe, agreed to be baptized. Later that same day, we found out that she was our other teacher. But still, I now know that I can communicate in spanish.

Life here in the MTC is actually pretty good. They have good food, my body has finally adjusted to Utah time, and I can play basketball almost everyday. In fact, last week I sunk the winning three point shot. But the coolest thing about the MTC is the spirit that is here. Everybody is here for the same reason, and they all work hard to keep up with that. Another cool thing about the MTC are the devotionals that we have every tuesday. Last tuesday we Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the twelve here to speak. He spoke the 9 basic points of doctrine of the church. Sunday we had Robert Swenson, director of missionary service speak to us. Also, we get to go to the temple once a week. the provo temple is cool, but not as cool as seattle.

It's still really weird being with a companion 24/7. Elder Linares is a fitness freak, and I'm, well, not. But he's cool. Another companionship in our district is Elder Crossley from Roy, Utah, and Elder Smith from Indiana. Elder Crossley is kind of like me, If I enjoyed running. Elder Smith reminds me of Jonah in a way. They are both really committed elders who work hard.

I really miss you all, and I can't until next week to hear from you all again. Oh, and what is the matter with you people? The draft was last week, and no one has told me what happened! Please keep me informed about what's going on in the real world. You can write me a letter everyday on DearElder.com. Please do. I Love you all and I can hardly wait another 716 days to see you again.

Someone in Provo Loves you,

Elder Hjelm

Hooray! He's alive (and well)!

Hola familia!

Its really great to hear from you all. My P-Day is tueday, so I had to go a whole week without talking to any of you. I was really unsure at first about what was going to happen, but like Dad said, the best thing to do is to get to work, so I did. I'm starting to pick up more spanish, or rather, the spanish that I learned has started to come back. I'm even able to help my companion with the language. Elder linares is from Crestview, Florida, and is a really cool elder. We make a really good team, because he went out with the missionaries like everyday for eight months before he came out, but he can't speak the language very well. I on the other hand can speak more of the language, but can't teach very well, so we complement each other very nicely. On the third day we already had an investigator - Guadalupe. I thought it was hard to teach in english, but it's ten times harder to teach in spanish. But we have been able to put something together in spanish, and the spirit has guided us as we taught, so Its progressing well.

The food here is great - but still not as good as mom's. I actually work out here in either one of the gyms. During sacrament meeting on sunday, it was so quiet that you could hear the cups hit the bottom of the tray - that was really weird. But Sunday night we had a devotional - Bro. Stephen B Allen spoke to us. He's the managing director of the church missionary department. His talk was really cool and made me want to be a better missionary.

Later today we get to go to the temple, and then tonight we have another devotional. I've met up with Lance from the Camp H presidency and with some other people I know. Oh, and david Archuleta left two days before I got here, so no, I did not meet him. Please give my apologies to aunt Kathleen. I miss you all a lot, and I almost can't wait another 724 days to see you all again. I love you so much, and I Know that I am doing the lord's work here.

Love,

Elder Hjelm

Hey Folks! Elder Hjelm here. I just got set apart about an hour ago, so you can now officially call me "Elder Hjelm". My mother has decided to run this blog to inform all of you about my mission and how the work is progressing in Chile. My weekly letters home will be posted here, as well as my current address. Speaking of my current address, it is:

Elder Austin Bryan Hjelm
MTC Mailbox #274
CHI-SATN 0619
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
And my current E-Mail address is: austin.hjelm@myldsmail.net. I will try to answer your notes to the best of my ability. Thank you all for your love and support.

          Sincerely,
          Elder Hjelm