Sunday, October 28, 2012

Jeremy is doing very well and is extremely busy. He and his companion, Elder Haacke (from Utah), are over two areas 40 minutes apart; Coelemu,where he lives, and Querihue. They have a pretty strong Branch in Coelemu which he thinks will be a Ward soon and they are working on starting a Branch in Querihue. I will share pictures he sends and snippets from his emails as they come. The following are things he told me about the area of Chile he is in and where he lives.

"Well, the main business of the town and a lot of towns here actually, is forestry. So there are a lot of trees around the town, but it`s just a normal town inside. And since they plant their own forests, all the forests are in neat rows, and it looks really weird."

"I live in a litte house. It has a small kitchen, a study room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a middle room. My companion and I are the only ones that live there. It`s pretty low quality, and when I first got there, disgustingly dirty, almost as if 19-21 year old guys had been the only ones to live there for years, but I devoted an entire P-day of mine to cleaning the deuce out of the whole place, and I must say, it`s better. That is, we`re no longer living amongst a colorful forest of mold. That reminds me though, I`m going to have to devote another P-day to cleaning soon, because it`s getting kind of dirty again."
(Side note from me: I am so proud that he cleaned something!! He always told me he knew how and just chose not to, now I have hope that his future wife will not have to pick up after him!)


"Food here is just more bland. There`s just less flavor in everything. They do sell American candy here, I had a Milkyway the other day, but Chileanos think that our food is "muy rico", very intense, and flavorful, and sweet. Many things taste pretty much the same. The spaghetti, for instance, is as good as ever, but ice cream here, my comp told me that it`s more water based, and that it was going to taste blander, but all the ice cream I´ve had here, although lighter, has been the most flavourful I´ve ever had so that`s sweet. Yeah, there are a lot of American things here. Entire sections in stores of American food. They even have Dr. Pepper, but all of that is more expensive, and Chilenos think it´s very rich."

And now.....pictures!

Elder Haacke and Elder Meservy









Monday, October 22, 2012

Letter from President and Sister Humphrey


The letter from President and Sister Humphrey we received upon Jeremy's arrival in Chile.



Dear Brother and Sister Meservy,

Sister Humphrey and I had the great pleasure of welcoming your son, Elder Meservy, to the Chile Concepción Mission. After we met him at the airport when he arrived on Tuesday, we enjoyed lunch together with the other new missionaries.  Afterwards, we held an orientation and testimony meeting, and Elder Meservy met his first companion, Elder Haacke, who will train him to be a missionary. They will be laboring in the sector of Coelemu and located in the zone of Penco.       

A mission is a wonderful experience filled with challenge and success that strengthens the testimony and spirituality of each missionary. The greatest support you as a family can give your son during his time as a missionary is that of uplifting letters. Missionaries look forward with great anticipation to each letter from home. In addition to using email, you can send packages and letters to our address. The U.S. Postal Service and the Correos de Chile do a good job of delivering mail and packages.

Elder Jeremy Meservy
Misión Chile Concepción
O’Higgins 940 Oficina 502
Concepción, Chile.

 You may also send letters (and only letters taped shut; no envelopes) via the "pouch.
                                              
                                                               Elder Jeremy Meservy
                                                               Misión Chile Concepción
                                                               POB 30150
                                                               Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

We encourage each of our missionaries to write to their parents each week. Please let me know if a reminder to him is needed. You may contact us at 2015528@ldschurch.org.

We invite you to look at our mission blog.     www.chileconcepcionmission.blogspot.com.

It will be our privilege to work closely with Elder Meservy as he serves here in Chile.  We are blessed to have him join us in this mission and know that he will have many life changing experiences as he proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your support and for sharing your son with us.

Attached are photos and a map.

Sincerely,

Neall Weston Humphrey                                                                                                                         
Mission President