June 8 update

Elder Kenison writes this week that he and his companion are spending some good time with recent converts and inactive members. In addition, they have a new investigator, a woman named Rosa, whom they found tracting. Matt noticed that the only people they were teaching in apartment buildings lived on the top floors, so when they were knocking, Matt joked with his companion that they should just do the top floors. They did, and Rosa invited them in to teach her!

We were glad to hear him report that he's understanding a lot more Spanish. He describes conversing with the members in Church and occasionally misunderstanding them, but he's definitely making progress in his Spanish skills!

We asked for some photos of his apartment. There are four elders living here — Matt says it's small but comfortable. He also sent a photo of one of his favorite desserts, called "manjar y manzanas" — apples with caramel "except manjar is better that carmel haha"



For today's P-day activity, his zone of missionaries played soccer on the beach (he promised they did NOT go swimming!). Looks like a spectacular setting, and they obviously had a lot of fun:

June 1 Update

We're already craving our Monday emails from Chile! Can't Monday come more frequently? Can't it last longer so we get longer letters? We feel we're just getting a brief, superficial glimpse of what's going on in Chile and wish we could get much more. But we have to trust in the Lord's plan and support our missionary as best we can!

Elder Kenison seems to really be enjoying Cartagena. He loves being close to the ocean (this photo was taken on the street where he lives — nice view, huh??). He mentions that the climate is still pretty temperate (based on the coastal location), though we expect rain to increase as the winter begins in the southern hemisphere. Getting around in Cartagena is easy, since public transportation is very cheap; about 150 pesos (30 cents) to go most places by microbus or taxi. But they do a lot of walking, except on p-day when they go to the store.

We asked what he likes most about Chile so far:

the people. and the food. and the weather. and the view. haha the sunsets are GORGEOUS!!! haha I don't know pretty much everything.

That's the Matt we know and love, isn't it?? Pretty typical. I bet he's taken many hundreds of sunset photos in his short life. This one was apparently somewhere near their house. Thank goodness for digital cameras; not only do we get to see photos much more quickly, but we save having to buy hundreds of dollars worth of film so that Matt can take more and more sunset photos!!

One of his interesting experiences recently was to have a "division" (exchange of companions) for a day. Matt spent the day with an elder (shown in the photo) who didn't speak a word of English — that was probably very good for him! But we're sure he was glad to get back to his own apartment. We don't know if this picture was in his apartment or in the other missionary's.

He closed this week's email with this:

YO SÉ que el Libro de Mormón es verdadero. YO SÉ que Jose Smith vio Jesucristo y Dí­os. YO SÉ Jose Smith tradujó el Libro de Mormón por el poder de Díos. YO SÉ. YO SÉ que la iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los Últimos Días es verdadero. en el nombre de Jesucristo. Amén.

Sweet!

May 25 Update

We were delighted to receive our first photos from Chile today! Elder Kenison is doing great and continuing to progress.

He had the privilege of returning to mission headquarters in Santiago last Tuesday for a special zone conference at the Santiago Temple; the photo shows him with President and Sister Jones, mission president, and his companion, Elder Mecham. They are standing in front of the Santiago Temple. Matt said this about the conference and the temple:

It was awesome! The celestial room is small but GORGEOUS!!! haha It's really nice. We also did sealings which was a really cool experience. We didn't get to do baptisms but we did get to see the font. It, like the rest of the temple, is amazing.

We asked about how the work is going, and what kind of things they do — working with members, less active members, investigators, "finding" activities, etc.. This was his summary of the activities:

we try to spend a little bit of time with everyone. except members. If we visit a member it's usually just for lunch or we just share a short scripture. for less active... there are actually a lot of less active members here so we've been trying to teach them as much as we can. but... most of them aren't interested. but we still try. if a sita (appointment) with an investigator falls through we knock a couple doors in the area. haha there are gates all over here. so to knock you stand outside the gate and yell ALLO! it's fun. haha

He's working hard on his language skills; it's been hard so far to understand much, since Chilean Spanish is pretty non-standard. But he's determined to do his best and persist in learning.

He also expressed his enjoyment of a new evening tradition — apparently the elders all enjoy drinking Maté every evening (see photo — click for enlargement). This is a Chilean tradition, so they are fitting right in. He loves his companion and the other missionaries in his apartment: "they're really cool." Apparently they tried to pull some greenie tricks on him, but he was on to them pretty quickly. He mentioned something about the word "caliente" which means hot in describing food, but "for people ... it means something else." He didn't give us any details, but we can imagine his companions trying to embarrass a poor greenie!

Cartagena for real

We were finally able to track down Elder Kenison's email to us — only one day late. Hurray! And in the mean time, Bonnie was able to make contact with his companion's mother via a "missionary moms" email list she is on. So we have lots of additional info!

Elder Kenison and Elder Mecham (from Arizona) are actually living in an apartment with two other elders: Elder McKay (from Idaho) and Elder Marquez (from Texas). That will be nice for Matt, to have the extra interaction. He says his companion is "really smart" — knows a lot about scriptures and the Church. He's been on his mission for 21 months (22 according to his mother). He did mention the fleas in the apartment... oh joy.

He says Cartagena is "an amazing place" and he likes it a lot. The city is right on the ocean, and he says they have "GORGEOUS" sunsets (some of you know how Matt will appreciate that; his favorite photo subjects (other than girls) are sunsets and waterfalls). The city is "really humble" - a lower standard of living than he's used to. The homes he's seen were not very attractive outside, but are pretty nice inside. (The photo shown here is from the Internet; we hope to get some pictures from Matt next week.)

The ward where they serve had 78 people in attendance on Sunday, of which 3 were investigators. That's a good start! He said the building is small and simple, with just chairs set up for the chapel (no permanent benches).

Final comments from Matt in this letter:

I'm so glad that I'm serving a mission!!! haha I LOVE CHILE!!!!! p.s. soup is good haha they have A LOT of that here. with chicken and potatoes. So everytime I eat I think of grandma because of the potatoes.

And one last thing to share. Elder Mecham's mother said her son wrote this to her about Matt:

It does feel really good to have a companion who is excited to work. I was trying to keep positive all last change, but it was really starting to get to me. Anyways, I was just meaning to say that it is really fun to have a companion who wants to work and helps you do it to the most of his ability. We've had the spirit strong with us in many lessons.

If that doesn't warm a parent's heart, I don't know what will!

First area: Cartagena!

Today was supposed to be the day we received the exciting first letter from Elder Kenison from Chile! Unfortunately, we suffered from some "technical difficulties." We believe that Matt sent an email, but unfortunately, he was replying to a message from us with a bad "reply-to" address and the message was sent to a non-existent mailbox. ARGH! We hope it gets recovered eventually, maybe next Monday.

We know he was online. We received a separate email which he wrote, to be delivered to some of his friends (guys) telling of his experiences so far and encouraging them to serve missions. It was a wonderful letter, full of encouragement and love for the work. We were so proud of him as we read it!

Meanwhile, we dropped a short note to his mission president, just to find out where he is serving and make sure "all is well." President Jones responded this evening, letting us know that Matt is doing great and has been assigned to serve in the coastal city of Cartagena (see map of the mission to the right — click to enlarge) with Elder Mecham as a companion. This was wonderful to hear! We have prayed for a wonderful first companion to help him continue to learn Spanish, and to help build on his enthusiasm for missionary work. We think an English-speaker will be great at first, to help with the transition, but then hope for a native speaker soon.

President Jones also mentioned that Matt will be returning to Santiago tomorrow for a "special zone conference in the temple." That will be exciting for Matt; he has really grown to love the temple while he was at the MTC, and will be thrilled to experience the Santiago temple! What a great way to start off his experience in Chile! Google maps says it's a little over two hours to drive from Cartagena to Santiago; a bus ride will probably be slower.

President Jones concluded his letter, "Thanks for the gift of your son in the mission!!" We already love this man, and pray for him along with Matt.

¡Hola, Santiago!

We received an email this morning that indicates Matt has arrived save and sound. He wrote this from his mission president's account (Pres. & Sis. Jones):

I'm just letting you know real quick that I made it to Chile, or as Sister Jones said, that Chile does exist. haha It was a good flight not a lot of sleep for anyone but I didn't expect to get a lot. It was a good flight though. The lady in front of us was a Chilean, I don't know if that's right haha anyways she was also LDS she talked to us, Elder Callis and me, about missionary work and what Chile is like and things like that. It was really nice. Oh real quick something kind of funny. So I was sitting with Elder Callis on the plane flight and when he asked for another coke the flight attendent said, I thought you didn't drink caffeine. We kinda laughed and said well we can we don't drink drinks with large amounts of caffeine because that can get addictive, like coffee. so that was a nice experience for me.

Now we're really looking forward to P-day next Monday!!

¡Adiós, Elder Kenison!

I returned home late this evening from Church assignments, wondering where my son was. I was able to check current status of his flight and found the picture to the right (as of about 11 p.m.). Wow!!

We're sure it has been a long and somewhat poignant day for Matt, as it has been for his family! He spent the morning packing, then left the MTC about noon. He got to the airport and checked in (total 97 pounds of checked luggage, just under the 100 pound limit! Hurrah!).

We got our first phone call from the SLC airport. How good to hear his voice!! After losing the connection once, we enjoyed chatting for about 40 minutes or so. We talked about all kinds of things, exploring details of the things that were somewhat superficial in his letters. We were again impressed by a couple of things:

• his great efforts to be obedient, even when he sometimes sees other missionaries "stretch" the rules a little. He's really trying to "obey with exactness" and we know he'll be blessed for that.
• his love for sharing the Gospel and his testimony. He really did enjoy the experiences in talking with "real investigators" in the referral center. He commented how great it was to hear their questions, to be able to share his thoughts and testimony, and occasionally, to have the challenge of studying and preparing a response. He shared with us some of the things he taught, and we enjoyed hearing how well he remembered scriptural references and concepts.
• his desire to learn and to do his best. He's a bit apprehensive about Spanish, knowing it will be a struggle for a while — especially when confronted with native speakers. But his heart is definitely right and he will be able to share the spirit even before the words are perfect. He's even hoping and praying for a native companion! (We're not sure we are!)
  

He had to leave to get on the plane, so we went back to work and other activities. But we got a second call this evening from Dallas. He was being careful what he eats there (since he has had previous bad experiences with getting sick in the Dallas airport). But he seemed to be growing in his excitement, and apprehension. There's a bit of comfort in just being in Provo, in familiar surroundings, even seeing a familiar face now and then. But leaving the country for 22 months, knowing how far away it is, and how strange the surroundings and experiences will be — that has a whole different impact.

When it came time to end, it was easy to say "I love you." It was great to be able to say, "I'm so proud of you" and "I will be praying for you, more than ever." But it was very hard to say "goodbye." We'll miss our son and brother. God bless you, Elder Kenison!