A little tired, a little sad, but happy...

Dear Ma,

     I am reasonably sure that the anniversary came first, considering that I`m only twenty, going on twenty one. 

     It sounds like your keeping pretty busy. I am as well. Yesterday I was rather busy saying goodbye to my home for the last seven months. It was hard to say goodbye. Honestly, I cried. It was tough. I`m now in Los Andes with Elder Bush, a gringo from Alabama who arrived with me. This is going to be fun. We have a nice, big house in a very calm area. 

     I love my new backpack. It is not eddie bauer`s fault that it cost so much. FedEx is weird down here. The majority of the charges were taxes from the government. That`s all. Sister Essig said to never do this again, or at the least, send it to the house first, and you can send it to me via USPS. I told her not to worry about it.

     Yes mom, I`m okay. A little tired, a little sad, but happy. Thanks for all of your love and your support. If I had a penny for everytime I thought about you, I guess I`d be making about a hundred bucks a week, to quote Radar.

As Always,

Elder Hjelm

Elder Hjelm and Elder Saravia  on their last day together.

Quick post and freaking fedex

Mom,

    I don`t have much time. I got my backpack today - it is super cool and I already love it. But I had to pay $110 to get it out of customs and everything. I took the money out of my account last week. Freaking FedEx. But hey, now I have my backpack. 

    Sounds like a busy week this past week. Hope that you can keep up with things - I know that you can. I`ll send more info next week. We receive changes on Saturday - wish me luck! I love you Mom.

Elder Hjelm

PS - the photo is of me and elder Saravia on our last day together

Random stuff

Hey mom,

     Sorry, I completely and utterly forgot about doing a video or taking a picture, basically about everything. We had to go to the airport today and visit the fedex people. That was fun. At least I know how to get to the airport now. The fedex people said that they would send my package on to the mission mail box tomorrow, which means that I should be getting it on wednesday.

     Sounds like quite the party there in Lakewood. I sure miss all the green and the lakes and the curvy roads. And you can`t move from the house just for a couple of rats - for heavens sakes, we just painted a year ago! Things are getting back on track, and we are working super hard. Can you send me Leavitt`s mission email? I love you mom, and I still miss you. Oh, can you send me a scarf? I have no Idea where mine is, probably in Gambino.

Until Later,

Elder Hjelm

 

Just to clarify, the rats are not at our house - they are at the neighbors.  They had better stay there!  I thought I should let you know that.  We would hate to frighten away any future houseguests!

 

-Jodi

Persevering through trials

Hello Mother,

     This past week we saw the blessings that come from persevering through trials. We found and taught a lot of people. I`m hanging in there, so don`t worry.

     I talked with a FedEx representative on thursday, and she told me that I had to send some info to someone else about what`s in the box and how much it cost. I sent the info, and now, I`m just waiting. Hopefully, it will arrive to district class on thursday.

     The jacket needs to be BLACK!!! And if it has a hood, even better, but it`s not necessary. I would like it to be what they call a soft shell jacket, like what they sell at costco. Hmmm, What else do I want? Peanut butter. A large jar please. That would be delicious. And my usb drive if Jonah hasn`t stolen it. And my black running gloves. They are made by Champion, C9 brand. I think that they are in the pathfinder or with the other gloves in the closet.

     Anyway, Mom, I love you. Thank you for your prayers and your support. I miss you.

Until next time,

Elder Hjelm

Crazy weeks

Mom,

     We both had crazy weeks. I had a week where every single appointment failed and we only taught two lessons the whole week. You have always done extremely well with young children. It`s a gift that you have.

 I will try and do a video for jonah`s eagle court. It will be interesting to see how I can send it to you, but I feel that I will have help from on high. Speaking of help from on high, I could use some. I found out that my backpack is here in chile, but it`s caught up in customs in the airport. Now I have to call a number and find out what it is that I need to fill out or who I need to talk to. That should be fun. Please pray for me. I need it. I love you.

Elder Hjelm

ps - can you include a package or two of jelly-bellys in the next package? I need them for a companion.  thanks

Mother's Day

Hey mom,

     Great to see you yesterday. Isaac and Jonah are still the same as always. How is your kindergarten class? I hope that it is going well. Are you still working with the same teacher? How are my teachers there? Tell them Hi for me. I wish that I could be there to help with the carnival, but I will most likely be there next year. I still don`t know what I`m going to do. Anyway, there aren`t any gangs here. Don`t worry. I`m fine. I love you.

     If you could include my 8 gigabyte usb drive in my next package, that would be great. Also, more photos. I like photos. I would also like mints, and some gum to chew in the house. 

Love,

Elder Hjelm 

Staying in La Rioja

Well, I`m still here in La Rioja in central Santiago. This will be my fifth change here - seven months in one place. Wow. My new companion is Elder Wright from Ogden, Utah. He is a hard worker and we will be kicking butt here. It was hard to let Elder Saravia leave. He is a great friend, and I will miss him. All in all, things are going well. Not much to report on this past week. Thanks for the prayers and support.

Elder Hjelm

Asado, yummmmm

Hola,

     Well, changes are this next week. I`m pretty sure that I  am going to stay, since my companion  is finishing his mission and going back to Bolivia, but nothing is for sure. One thing that is for sure is that It will be hard to change companions. I have been with Elder Saravia for four whole months. I will miss him, I already know it.  The good thing about having a companion who is finishing the mission is that the members want to celebrate, and here, they celebrate with Asado,  or chilean barbecue.  Yum. Anyway, things are going well. Hope everything is going well up there. 

Chao,

Elder Hjelm

Happy Birthday Elder Saravia

Hola,

     This past week was really good. We got to go the temple, which was really cool. Also this past week, I completed a year in the mission. This time next year, I`ll be at home. This past week we found a lot of new people for whom we will be passing this week. It should be pretty fun. Also, my companion, Elder Saravia, celebrated his birthday. He says thanks for the birthday wishes, and thanks for sending me on the mission to celebrate his birthday. His b-day is the same day that I started the mission, so we celebrated the two events together.

      Anyway, things are going good. Thanks for all of your prayers and your support. I need them.

Love,

Elder Hjelm

One year down, one to go

Well,

     in two days I will complete a year in the mission. Wow. I don`t really know how I feel about that. Anyway, I will most likely be coming home two weeks early, instead of four weeks later. The only way that I could be here for four more weeks would be if I extended, and I`m not sure what I want to do yet, but I will keep you informed.

     I`m writing on tuesday because they changed our preparation day so that we could go to the temple today. It was pretty cool, and interesting in spanish, to say the least. I understood everything, and was able to translate somethings in my head correctly. I really enjoyed going to the temple again after almost a year. The temple in Santiago was remodeled in 2006, and it is very nice. It`s not very big like seattle, but it`s beautiful all the same. 

     About the puzzle, I haven`t used it yet, but when I do, I`ll let you know. We had a great ward activity this past week - a talent show, and We, the missionaries, won first prize. If you can imagine the missionaries and other members of the ward, including the bishop, dancing to the popular song "Gangnam Style", you can picture the first of our two acts. The other had something to do with glowsticks, pitchblack darkness in the gym, and dancing. The videos are a little too big to send via email, so you`ll have to wait a year to see them. But it was so freaking cool. 

     Thanks for all of the love and support. It will be nice to count down instead of counting up, but, I still don`t know how I feel about that. I love ya, and I miss ya. And I would like more info on my seahawks please.

Chao,

Elder Hjelm

Conference in Spanish

Greetings,

     What a great General Conference we had this past week. It was the hilight of my whole week. I understood eveything, even in spanish. I even took notes in all five sessions. Mom should be so proud of me. I feel grateful to be able to listen to men and women who are called of God to lead his children here on the earth. It was a really good conference. Oh, and I bet another elder on saturday that President Uchtdorf would be the first one to speak on sunday. The loser has to buy french fries for the other. Needless to say, I will be eating french fries in the near future.

     This past week was good. One cool thing that happened is that two youth, ages 11 and 9, actually chased us down in the street to set up an appointment with us. One bad thing that happened is that I lost a screw on my glasses that holds the frame together and keeps the left lens from falling out. I will try and get it fixed, but if not, I`ll be needing either my prescription or new pair of glasses. We`ll see what happens. Oh, I am excited for the new Cedar City Temple. It will be fun to visit while at BYU. Grandma is already planning what she thinks will be my marriage in that temple, and the reception to follow at the Parowan House. I told her that it is not my decision in which temple I get married. It`s my future wife`s decision. Anyway, I`m looking to a great week this week, with lots of fun, and lower temperatures. Hope you`re all having fun.

Yours Truly,

Elder Hjelm