July 2nd

So i am really sorry that this letter is going to be really short. I am in Chillan visiting a few of my converts and then I have to get back to Concepcion for a bunch of other things I need to do. This week is going to be crazy! There is so much that I need to do that I don't think I'll be able to do it all. These past few weeks have just flown by.
We will have a baptism Sunday which should be a good way to finish of my mission.
So I'm not sure I told you about my comp's dad's book. GO BUY IT!!! I got an original copy from my comp and it is incredible. Its named "My Orange Dufflebag- a journey to Radical Change" by Sam Bracken. It should be in Barnes and Noble there in California. He said that the book went national two weeks ago.
So this might be my last letter to you guys as a missionary. I am going to try and make some time next week but I am not quite sure what the schedule for the day is going to be.
I love you tons and I will see you soon. I am so excited for everything I have to do this week. Its gonna be great.
Love,
Elder McNeil

June 25th

First things first, don't worry about me being trunky. All missionaries get trunky and, yes, I do feel the desire to "relax" but all in due time. I am not in a hurry to be home. I love the mission and I am very blessed to be able to help the saints here in Chile and I will keep doing it until the day I go home. Then, very happily and satisfied. I will get home, sleep a lot, watch a lot of movies, play with some of your shiny new toys that you've got while I've been here but that thought isn't destracting me from the work. Actually I don't even know how I would slow down. There is way too much that still needs to be done.

I am excited to go to MN again. that is gonna be great I have to visit a lot of people there. Plus NO SALES TAX!!! on clothes at least. Mom do you want to go to the mall with me? 

I am just trying to imagine being home. it isnt possible so its not a big deal. We are working with a girl named Fernanda who could be my last baptism before I go home so we are working hard with her.

Sorry if this letter is a little short. I love you a ton and I praying everyday for the family. Please take advantage of having me in the field as long as possible.

Love,

Elder McNeil

June 18th

Thanks so much for letting me know that everything is going well. Don't worry too much about the landscaping. Heck I'll even try to pitch in a little. Heck, I don't really have money but I can move some big rocks around if you think it will help.

So I am not trunky but people do like to ask about what I'll be doing 3 weeks from now. (Technically I will still be here in Conce but I'll have a ton of meetings and stuff, plus I dont return to my sector after that so everyone is telling me that that is the day that I "die") I personally don't think about it much but the members here are pretty good at mention it a million and a half times. 

So the baptism went great. I am really happy about it. We have no idea how the Lord did it but He complete changed Maria's life in less than a month. It was incredible. There is still a lot more work to do here in the sector before I go but things are going incredible right now. We are working hard and I think we will baptize a few more people before I go so I am really happy.

So there really isnt much news. My comp had to go the hospital this week but we just spent a few hours there because it wasnt anything that couldnt be taken care of with a few medications. Things are going great and I cant wait to tell you some more stories soon.

Love,

Elder McNeil

June 11th

So it is great to know that I was accepted to band again. I know I'm gonna have to practice but that should be really fun. I am really excited for all of the fun stuff I'll do in band again. So did they say anything about a scholarship or am I gonna have to find a job too? Well, I guess I wont worry about that quite yet.

So I saw my travel info today. That is pretty exciting. I am really not trunky at all because we have so many people that we are still working with. We are going to have a baptism on saturday which is going to be awesome. It is Maria, the almost 70 year old lady I was teaching. She is doing great and things couldn't be better. 

We had a really fun activity the other day. We had a pizza competition and we had a blast. We made a mixiacn style spicy chicken pizza and it was really great. My comp liked it enough that he said that he would be willing to invest in a restaurant with me. It was really, really tasty stuff. We thought we were going to win when out of nowhere a member brought a 5 ftx5ft monster pizza. It was a ton of fun. 

I don't know if I explained this but we live in a house owned by a member of our ward. It was getting a little cold in there so my comp mentioned it to house owner (who absolutely loves us). The next day we came home from work and they had surprised us with a brand new wood stove. That might not sound exciting to y'all but it made us cry. It was so awesome. The members here love us so much. I have to admit, this is my favorite ward. The sector is unique and I love it so much. 

So that was our week. I hope everything goes well with the hous.

Life is good. I am happy and I really can't complain. The Lord has been blessing us a lot so I guess I wont be calling costumer service any time soon. Love you a ton.

Love,

Elder McNeil

June 4th

This week was significantly better than the last but today I am fighting against the clock so I can't really write much but I would like to let you know that Lissie got baptized which was a great experience. She got baptized on friday and right after there was a ward party which was really great too. We had two really great investigators (my first complete family in my entire mission) come to the baptism and they loved it. It is a wealthier family so I was surprised but just how well they are progressing. They had a little bit of a trial this week when during the ward activity some kids (not members) tried to steal their very nice car from the church parking lot but they actually thought it was really kind of funny and saw it as proof that this is something they need to follow. The only problem is that we have to get them married but there arent anything holding them back plus they already said that they would love to be sealed one day. 

We also have an amazing investigator named maria who I talked about on mothers day. She is the grandma who I promised would get baptized. She is going to be baptized on the 16th and is super happy about it. Things are going well and I'm happy. So I am sending in the band application right now. I couldn't fill it out very well but they atleast have the general idea, plus I think they will let me back on with out a problem. 

Sorry I'm outta time but I love you tons and hope everyhting goes well this week.

Love,

Elder McNeil

May 28th

So, I am really excited to go to MN. I think that would be a great time to go out and visit our friends out there in MN and check up on them. I would also love to see the Akenson's. I guarantee that that family will be one of the first invited to the new house (or atleast they better be).
So I'm trying to do the band form but it looks like the BYU website is down so I'll try again. I don't know when they want to form by but if it is soon, you can just fill it in and if not I can take care of it next week.
So this week was a little crazy. I will try to explain what happened as simply as possible. So, we found out that there was a scabies outbreak in our zone so we took the entire zone to the doctors on thursday. Half the zone was diagnosed (it isnt deadly or anything like that just annoying) and my comp and I were put incharge of a large scale disinfecting of all the houses in our zone. We had to order 6 bottles of a 22 dollar medicine (sorry, i had to use my check card for that, I got paid back). On saturday we went in to pick up the medicine and the pharmacy had only recieved one bottle. The mission was already in the process of cleaning the houses (a process that cost the mission about 1000 dollars) but we didn't get the medicine we needed so that really complicated things. Then later that afternoon there was a gigantic storm front that came in from the pacific which brought the strongest wind storm in about 20 years which led to lots of service projects and running from house to house trying to help our investigators nail thier roofs down and repair broken fences and cut down trees that could potentially cause more damage. It was a really fun week. It was actually really funny. My comp and I loved it just because it was nearly epic.
This week we are expecting to have a baptism. We are really excited for it. Mom, i dont really keep track of my baptisms but if you were wondering, this is going to be my 26th. The thing is, the amount of baptisms doesn't really mean anything. Like you said, it is about the lives we touch. I am really excited for these next few weeks. Today I start my last transfer as a missionary so I am really working hard to finish strong.
So I am really excited for the house and I hope everything goes well and I am confident that things will go fine there in CO.
I love you all a ton,

Elder McNeil