Getting Into the Swing of Things

July 7th - 13th, 2025

This week I started off with a meeting with my 2 counselors in the mission presidency. Each mission president has counselors that are members of the church who live in the mission boundaries. They know the area and the local members well, and help mission presidents to keep an eye on the safety of the missionaries. My counselors' names are Mallen Miranda and Jaime Sandoval - they are actually brother-in-laws! This week they orientated me to the mission. I look forward to working with them and getting their help and insight. 

Chile Santiago South Mission Presidency: Jaime Sandoval, Presidente Bartholomew & Mallen Miranda

Every Tuesday morning we have a mission-wide zoom call with a short devotional with everyone. It’s a chance for us to review our goals and achievement of key-indicators, as well as share pictures and experiences from any baptisms that week. As part of the meeting this week, all the missionaries that are leaving the mission next week had the chance to share some final thoughts and testimonies with everyone. 

I then spent the rest of the day beginning our preparations for transfers next week. Every 6 weeks we have transfers - where we will have some missionaries finishing their missions and going home, and then we will receive new missionaries that have just finished their training at the MTC and are beginning their missions. This first transfer we were losing 17 missionaries total, and receiving 15 new ones. Preparing for transfers is like a big jigsaw puzzle. We have to take a look at which areas the missionaries are serving in, and who their companions are. Depending on how long each missionary has been in a particular area, or with a companion, we move them around in addition to pairing up each of the new missionaries with a more experienced missionary to be their trainer. I felt a great deal of responsibility making these changes and helping them to be in the right place with the right people. This took a lot of time throughout the week, and a technology glitch made it a little more complicated than I had hoped. Moving forward it should be a little bit smoother of a process. 

Tuesday night we headed to the airport to drop off Brandon for his flight home. It's been great having him here with us for the first week and a half as we got settled in - although we've been so busy since day one, we wish we could have spent a little more time with just him! He actually flew home on the same flight as Elder Averett who we mentioned last week is heading home a week earlier than the rest of the missionaries who are ending this transfer. We were glad they had each other as travel buddies on the way home!

Goodbye Brandon ♡

First airport drop off for a missionary heading home - Elder Averett.

This week we also got to attend a district council meeting with some missionaries in the furthest south part of our mission, in an area called Buin. Each of our districts (groups of 4-5 companionships, or about 8-10 missionaries) meets together once a week for a district council meeting. Led by the district leader, the missionaries review goals and get the chance to dive deeper into topics from Preach My Gospel. It was great being with them, and they were happy to see us and even happier to get some treats we brought to share!

Our big event of the week was hosting all the outgoing missionaries at our home for a “day of honor” on Friday, celebrating them and all they have accomplished during their missions. I had the chance to interview each missionary one-on-one starting at 10am and ending around 4:30pm. It was a great experience - these missionaries are so mature and experienced and it was amazing to talk to them about how they have grown and changed. One of the Elders asked for Monica to join us for his final interview, and she loved being a part of that. Throughout the rest of the interviews, Monica was on entertainment duty - she loved talking to all of them, and taking pictures and videos as they played some spikeball, ping pong, etc. We had pizza and snacks available throughout the day. We ended the evening with each missionary sharing their testimony about how they’ve grown closer to Jesus Christ throughout their time here in Chile. We are sad we only got to know them for a few short weeks, but we’re grateful for the chance to see them off and give them some advice as they head home. In their final interview, I really tried to emphasize that while their mission has been an incredible experience, they shouldn’t let it be the spiritual high of their life. They need to continue to focus their life of Christ and following His gospel and they’ll be blessed with the help they need to make their next life decisions. 

Left to right: Elders Bair, Bunker, Barney, Brown, M. Anderson, Christensen, President & Hermana Bartholomew, Allred, West, Shepherd, Chipman, K. Anderson, Shiflett

Left to right: Hermanas De la Cruz, Rivera, President & Hermana Bartholomew, Johnson

Intense game of spikeball.

They played ping pong forever!

That evening after the missionaries left, we had a meeting with some area-wide leaders of our church, specifically Elder Bravo of the quorum of the seventy. All the stake presidents and their wives from the 6 stakes in our mission were also there. They had a translator for Monica so she was grateful to not have to rely on Google. The meeting lasted from 8-9pm. We then ate a late dinner, referred to as “la once” in Chile. A few members of the church down here have started their own BBQ company, so they catered some delicious food for us. We stayed until 11pm and got home by midnight - we’re still getting used to a typical Chilean schedule. 

Saturday is normally our preparation day, but with transfers coming up, I really felt like I needed to review everything one more time. Each week the missionaries write me letters/fill out a form to let me know how they are doing. It includes things like health problems, how well they get along with their current companion, etc. I hadn’t had the chance to read any of these letters yet since arriving, so I had over 200 ready to read. Going through each letter gave me extra insight and helped me make a few changes before submitting the transfers. 

That evening we met up for dinner with The Killgores who are also from Draper - they are the new mission leaders over the Santiago West mission, and we live only about 5 mins from each other. We met them before coming to Chile, so it was good to see each other again. It was therapeutic to share our stresses and successes with someone else who knows exactly what we are feeling right now. 

P-day work from our home office.

Today (Sunday) we attended the Vicuña Mackenna ward for their meetings from 10-12. At 12:30, there was a baptism service for Claudio and Carolina. Afterwards, we went out to our car and ate some lunches we had pre packed for ourselves in the car. We drove over to the other side of the building to leave, and found the gate locked. We had to call some missionaries who live 10 mins away to come back and open the gate for us, so that was a funny experience!

The missionaries that came to save us!

Then we headed to 2 more baptism services in another town called Paine (one at 3pm and the other at 5:30) for Lia and Thania. Afterwards, we drove down to Buin to attend one more baptism service for Eliana. She has been investigating the church for 16 years. In 2008 and 2018 she actually traveled to Utah and attended General Conference in person. She has been taught by countless sets of missionaries over the years, but has never decided to commit to being baptized. On July 4th (just 9 days ago), Elder Allred, was on exchanges one day with Elder Munk (in Elder Munk’s area) and they had a lesson with Eliana. Elder Allred shared his testimony about the temple and shared some experiences he had when he worked in the temple. She started getting emotional when he was sharing and he testified to her that she was feeling the spirit. She agreed that God was helping her to feel Him in that moment and she decided it was time to be baptized! 

Carolina's Baptism

Just after Claudio's baptism.

Lia's baptism

Thania's baptism.

Eliana's baptism.

Today was the highlight of our mission so far! Seeing 5 people choose to follow the Savior’s example of baptism was truly a beautiful experience. We got to share a few remarks at each of their baptisms, and reminded them that this is just the beginning of their journey to follow the Savior every day. What a special day to witness!

Well, that’s it for this week - We are exhausted, but we’re happy! 

We brought some dehydrated sourdough start to Chile and it's back to life! Let the baking begin :)

Beautiful flowers on our balcony.

 

From Farewell in Salt Lake to Firsts in Santiago

June 28th - July 6th, 2025

On Saturday, June 28th we said goodbye to our kids and grandkids at the Salt Lake Airport. Our son Brandon traveled with us, helping with our 8 checked bags and 3 carry-ons— packed full of hopefully all we'll need for three years in Chile. While we waited for our flight, we saw a large homecoming group for mission leaders returning from Honduras. It was touching and bittersweet to see their joyful reunion as we tearfully said goodbye.

Our luggage helpers, Jane & Lily!

Last picture with the Bartholomew clan for 3 years.

We'll miss our nietas (granddaughters) the most!

Boarding our flight with Brandon.

After a layover and delay in Atlanta, we finally boarded our 9.5-hour flight to Santiago overnight. We arrived early Sunday, June 29th, where we were met by the Rosenlunds (outgoing mission leaders) and the Clarks (a senior couple serving in the mission office). Driving through Santiago was surreal. The airport is in Pudahuel, which was one of the ares I served in as a young missionary, and our new home is in Lo Barnechea—another familiar area from my young missionary days. A lot has changed here in the last 36 years, and I'm excited to finally be back!

Welcomed in the airport by the Rosenlunds.

Our mission home is lovely, located in a quiet, safe neighborhood. It’s a spacious two-level condo with three bedrooms, an office and lots of gathering space. After some rest and unpacking, we drove to the mission office in San Bernardo. It’s a former chapel now converted into offices for the mission. Monica and I have our own offices, and there are desks for the Clarks, and three young office Elders who handle visas, housing, and travel (Elders Miles, Berrett and Bunker). We got to meet them along with our three AP's (assistants to the President)—Elders Ditto, Sanchez, and Bray. Another senior couple, the Wrights, also joined us that evening. They are serving as MLS (member leader support) missionaries here in Chile. They happen to be friends with the Bristols from our neighborhood back home, so it's fun to have that connection to them. 

Elder & Sister Clark (left), Monica, Sister Rosenlund (right) - taken on the back patio of our condo. It's winter time in Chile right now.  

Sister & Elder Wright (left).

Dinner with our office team!
Top Row (left to right): Elder Ditto, Elder Bray, Hermana Bartholomew, President Bartholomew, Elder Miles, Elder Berrett, Elder Bunker
Bottom Row (left to right): Elder Sanchez, Hermana Wright, Brandon, Elder Clark, Hermana Clark, Elder Wright

On Monday we had a Zoom meeting with Shane Littlefield, our Area Mission Specialist. He gave us an overview of the mission and helpful data to guide our efforts. Afterward, we got to spend about 4 hours with the Rosenlunds who walked us through mostly mission administration and Sister Rosenlund specifically shared health information to help Monica support our missionaries’ medical needs as that will be one of her primary roles here. That afternoon, they left for the airport and we were on our own! We then had a full debrief meeting with our assistants to plan the week ahead. That evening we drove ourselves home—my first time driving in Chile! Despite a few wrong turns, we made it, and ended the night with a Zoom call to introduce ourselves to all 158 of our missionaries. 

Tuesday was full of preparation for our first Mission Leadership Council (MLC) meeting. For those unfamiliar, the mission is divided into zones (larger geographical areas) and districts (smaller areas within zones), each with leaders who help support and train their fellow missionaries (called zone leaders, district leaders and sister training leaders - who help out the sister missionaries specifically). Our monthly MLC includes all these leaders and is an important time for counsel and training. I spent most of Tuesday night (and well into the early morning) preparing for our first one.

On Wednesday we held our MLC from 10am–2pm. We focused on our shared missionary purpose: to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We watched videos, had discussions, and practiced teaching skills. The goal is for these leaders to now go out into their areas and pass along the same training to the missionaries under their jurisdiction. We have been very impressed with these young leaders and look forward to working with them to help the rest of the mission thrive. Later that day, we reviewed finances with the Clarks and then did our best to  prepare for the next two days—our first in-person meetings with all missionaries!

Our first Mission Leadership Council (MLC).
Top Row (left to right): Elders Kulbacki, Medeiros, Ditto, Sachetti, Munk, Sanchez, Mason, Rodrigues, Gibson, Albujar, Olsen, Klein, Harris, Anderson, Bray
Bottom Row (left to right): Hermanas Garn, Holt, Franco, Klegg, Hermana Bartholomew, President Bartholomew, Hermanas Peña, Berrett, Cavalcante, DeVries

Since December, Monica and I have been studying the photos and names of each of our missionaries. We were encouraged to memorize them before our mission began. It was not an easy task, and at first I tried focusing on last names but eventually found that memorizing full names was a bit easier. My family even quizzed me back home! I reflected on how meaningful it is that God knows us by name and decided to share that message with our missionaries.

On Thursday and Friday, we met all our missionaries in person! It was both exciting and humbling. I was hoping to greet them all by name (without looking at their name tags), but many didn’t look like their photos - with some being much taller/shorter in person or having a different hair cut to trick us. So even thought we were stumped a few times, it was still a joy to greet them - we feel like we've already known them for a long time. We showed pictures of our family, shared our testimonies and messages with them, and Brandon even hosted a fun Kahoot quiz to help them learn more about us. Questions included things like “Which Bartholomew child got lost at Disneyland?” The missionaries loved it!

Meeting half our missionaries on Thursday.

Meeting half our missionaries on Friday.

Introducing our family to the missionaries.

Brandon leading the Kahoot quiz about our family.

Thursday night we attended the Santiago Temple—dedicated in 1983. During my original mission, I only attended once at the end. While there, we ran into two of our service missionaries from Santiago who volunteer in the temple. Service missionaries live at home and participate in missionary work in other ways than proselytizing.

Friday evening we did a bit of sightseeing around Santiago with Brandon. Our first stop was the Costanera Tower—the tallest building in South America (62 floors). We reached the observatory at sunset, and although the view was smoggy, it was still stunning. Since it was the 4th of July, we found burgers for dinner at a nearby restaurant inside the most pristine mall we’ve ever seen. 

View of Santiago from the Costanera Tower.

Google image of the Costanera Tower.

4th of July dinner!

Saturday is our preparation day each week. We explored San Cristobal Hill, which offers panoramic city views and has a large statue of the Virgin Mary at the top. You can hike, bike, or ride a funicular or cable car to reach the summit. We also visited Santa Lucia Hill and the Museum of Modern Art, finishing the day with a grocery run at Jumbo, a major supermarket chain here.

San Cristobal Hill.

View of Costanera Tower from the cable car ride up to San Cristobal Hill.

Our new favorite grocery store - Jumbo.

Brent found his granddaughters favorite snack - pouches!

Sunday was a beautiful conclusion to our first week. We attended church in the Portales 1st Ward in San Bernardo, where over 100 people attended. Being the first Sunday of the month, it was fast and testimony meeting. The heartfelt testimonies—many focused on Christ—were inspiring. During Sunday School, Monica used her iPad and Google Translate to keep up with the discussion. We laughed when the name “Nephi” from the Book of Mormon was mistranslated as “Netflix.”

The highlight of the day was participating in two baptisms. Eugenio, an older man who walks with a cane, met the missionaries outside his house and was eager to learn more. The other was Roberto, a young man about 15 or 16 years old. In talking to them both afterwards I could feel the joy they felt in their decisions to follow Christ. Across the mission, 12 people were baptized this week.

Baptism of Roberto (white jumpsuit on the left).

Baptism of Eugenio (white jumpsuit on the left).

Ward members supporting Roberto & Eugenio on their baptism day.

We also spent time with Elder Averett, who is returning home a week early for a family event. I had a sacred final interview with him and afterward we had dinner with him and his companion, Elder Robinson, who happens to be from our hometown of Draper.

Elder Averett - our first missionary to head home.

We couldn't have survived our first week here without Karina, a wonderful Chilean woman hired by the Church to help us in the mission home. She cleans, and helps with laundry, and bakes the most delicious cookies for our meetings with the missionaries—we are so grateful for her! She comes over three times a week and has become a dear friend to us. Her daughter lives in Utah, and we met their family during their visit earlier this year. Though Karina and Monica don’t share a language, their friendship has blossomed—with a little help from Google Translate!

Monica & Karina

We feel humbled, grateful, excited (and a bit tired) for the weeks ahead! 

Con mucho amor, 

Presidente y Hermana Bartholomew