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