Hi there!  First off, yes... the trip to Arica was long.... but safe and without problems. My companion, Elder Pasigan has 14 months in the mission, and doesn`t have much of an accent, as he already spoke 3 languages before learning Spanish. And we also live with 2 other elders from the US.  

This first week in Arica has been a good one. Arica is really pretty, and we have several investigators that are progressing a lot, such as a man named Juan Pablo, who has been addicted to cigarettes for more than half of his life, but has put faith in the Lord this week, and has cut down from 20 cigarettes to 7 in a week! We also have an investigator named Belen, who is a 19 year-old girl who previously did not believe in God... but decided to do so after the occurance of several difficult situations in her life, and is now progressing tons, and is progressing toward baptism! The members that I`ve had the opportuniry to meet are also very good people, and willing to help the investigators progress.

As for General Conference... it was truly amazing!! I especially liked Elder Holland`s talk about trying to improve, but in constructive ways. It`s something important to always remember as a missionary, if I also want to influence others to feel the spirit and be happy. But to be honest there wasn`t a single talk that didn`t make me feel the Spirit strongly and recieve greater insight for myself and the investigators. I loved them all, and once again... it was too short ;) .

Anyway, I`m doing great, and I`m glad that you and the family are doing great as well! I`ll let you know how next week goes!  Also, I`m really sorry, but I`m short on time again! I feel really bad, because that`s happened a few times. I promise I`ll write more next week, and send all the photos... 

Love you!

--PJ