Mitchel Christmas Video (2013)

Mitchel Christmas 2013 - Video Link

Week 10 - December 16, 2013

Testimony in Spanish:

Entonces... Yo se que este es la obra del Señor. Amo esta obra. Yo aprendi mucho y puedo aprender mas y mas cada dia. Yo amo las personas aqui en Florencio Sanchez. La mision es dificil pero divertido tambien. Jesucristo vive. Yo se que el quiere yo a sea aqui y compartir el evangelio. Yo se que HOY ES EL DIA y todos necesitamos compartir esta gran mensaje! Esta iglesia es verdadera! 

Mon Dec 9 Today was super relaxed. We woke up, bought stuff for lunch and went to Matias house. We played monopoly, prepared lunch, and hung out. We were there until about 2. Then we went to email and I got my weekly update! This week was especially awesome email wise... OU BEAT OSU HA Suckers. I was so pumped. Still pumped. Cant wait to watch that game in 22 months. We went and decorated the chapel after that. It made me kind of sad because I always love decorating our house for Christmas. That is one of my favorite things to do as a family. Elder Chali had to do some stuff on the computer for the branch after that so I played piano for a couple hours. 

Tues Dec 10 Today we had service project at Susana Reys house. We were working all morning until she called us in for lunch. We painted almost her whole house (outside) and she has a big house, for Uruguay at least. One thing that was hilarious was Elder Chali was painting on a ladder. The ladder started falling, and I ran over and caught him. He was freaking out haha. Then we got clean, and headed to Colonia Centro. We are staying with Elder Villar and Espinoza tonight because we have a big meeting tomorrow with the Area 70 over the missionaries in Montevideo. We went to a Noche de Hogar (Family home Evening) with one of their families. Their house was gorgeous. They overlooked the stadium in Colonia, and the ocean. They were super nice and we had a good time. After that, we went to the house, got ready for bed, and then waited for 4 more Elders to get to the house. Elder Baggett was one of the four Elders that came. It was so good to see him again. 

Wed Dec 11 Today we got up at 5, after going to bed at 12. We had to catch a bus at 6. The bus ride was fun. It was just our zone, and we were all headed to Montevideo so it was about 2 hours or so. Once we got to the meeting, we had zone meeting, district meeting, and then the big meeting with Elder Gonzalez (Area 70). After the meeting, I found Elder Sanderson and Elder Thacker from the MTC. I was so happy to see them. We caught up for a while and it was sweet to hear their stories. Elder Sanderson is in Rivera, right by Brazil. He said he goes to  Brazil all the time. Elder Thacker is in Montevideo, and it was cool to hear the city stories. The coolest thing at the area conference was when we sang hymns. It was so loud and so powerful. I would say there were probably 150 or so missionaries. We were louder than any other group I have ever heard sing, besides concerts. After that, we said our goodbyes, and headed our own ways. Luckily, I still had a three hour bus ride home to F.S. I talked to Elder Baggett literally the whole time. I miss him as a comp, just because he is such a stud. We got back home around 10, planned, and went to bed. 

Thur Dec 12 I was tired all day today. We had a service project in Cardona with Hermana Foitick. We were shoveling and wheel barrowing all kinds of stuff from about 7-12. Elder Mendoza and Elder Robles showed up just in time for lunch. We had lunch there, and then we went back to study. We went all the way to Mevir, and none of our appointments were home. That was pretty hard. We went to the Villegas home after that. They are adding another room on their house. Hermano Villegas was laying the concrete. That is a hard working man. He is always doing something around the house. Movie night went well. We watched Planes. Elder Chali and I left early though to try and get a lesson in, since all of our lessons fell through today. We went to two houses, and had a couple little messages with them. 

Fri Dec 13 Today was good but hard teaching wise. First off, it is freaking hot here now. Usually in the low or mid 90s. Walking around in a collared shirt and slacks isn't fun in that kind of heat. We went to Hermana Perez home to make some kind of ribs. We had to make the charcoal to cook the meat. It was pretty cool to do that, and they were pretty good. We had our weekly planning after that. We tried to talk to Nicos parents after that, but he didn't say much when when we asked if we could. After that, we had Noche de la Rama. It was fun. We left early to go contact a reference. But we found out that it was about 7 kilometers away. We didnt have time to do that. 

Sat Dec 14. Today was pretty rough. All of our appointments fell through. Elder Chali and I werent on the same page today either. It is pretty tough because I feel like I try so hard to serve, be kind, and help him out. Some times it seems like he doesnt really follow the plan. That is hard for someone like me, who needs to have things planned. We borrowed bikes today too. That was nice until Elder Chali decided to go walking speed. I didnt understand the point of bikes if we are going to go so slow. Some times his reasoning for things is legit but a lot of times I dont understand why he does things a certain way. 

Sun Dec 15 Today was much better than yesterday. We had 23 people at church, which was more than we have had the whole time I have been here. We went and talked with a ton of people. We had a stellar lesson with Matias and Lorena. Jean, Lorenas son, kept asking me about wrestling. I miss wrestling a ton. Especially hearing about Isaac and Eli wrestling every week. We also had a study session about family history. It got me excited for the work. Especially because my patriarchal blessing says that I will love it and do a lot of work. I also found out a workout routine for the mornings that I liked. Sit ups, push ups, squats, and burpees. I do that for 20 minutes and then I stretch for about 10. 

Week 9 - December 9, 2013

Mon Dec 2, Today we went to Colonia for pday. We walked around the gorgeous city, took pictures and visited the river. Then we went to play soccer with other Elders in the zone. We had three teams. One of all Peruvians, one of a mix of Latinos, and one team of all AMERICANS!!!! Woohoo! The big ole white boys from the United States of America kicked Latino trash. I am the second biggest out of all the Latinos, and I am the smallest American. We destroyed actually. It was super fun. We just played really aggressive and it was too much for the latinos "skill". We went and bought a chorizo sandwich after soccer and then we bought some dulce de leche, and went back to Florencio Sanchez. When we got back, I realized how sunburned I was. It was bad. We bought Mathambre (kill hunger) for Elder Chalis one year mission anniversary coming up. Then we made visits to a couple non active members houses. We had a great message with both of them. 

Tues Dec 3, Today was great. We had a quick breakfast, and headed to colonia for the district meeting. We made sandiwches after that for lunch and I headed off on divisions with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Bulloch. He is a stud. He has been out for just over a year. We went to a kid´s house who is getting baptized saturday and we taught him the ten commandments. After that, we went to an English Academy to teach and English class. Apparently she told us the wrong day, so we ended up just teaching two girls that were there. They have been studying English for 7 years. They were pretty good! They were amazed at my Spanish when I told them that I have been out for just about 2 weeks. Their teacher, when she first met me, asked if I was from Chile. I thought that was hilarious. After that, we were going to a FHE and then we decided to stop by a references  house that we had received. At first she didn´t want to talkto us, but after 20 minutes, she didnt want us to leave. She cried for almost all the lesson. It was amazing. FHE was really fun. We played games and had a spiritual thought. After that, we went to a girls house named Victoria. She is 17 years old and all Elder Bulloch told me before, was that she was crazy. She was crazy. She was super touchy and basically wanted to know everything about my life. It was quite interesting. After that lesson, we went back to Elder Bullochs house. Perks of having a latino companion that I don´t communicate very well with: I had NO IDEA that I was spending the night in another city. 

Wed Dec 4, Elder Bulloch got me pumped towork. His spirit was so awesome. Even the speed that he walks is astounding. When I got back to Flo Sanchez, we studied and went to paint Olgas house. After that we went to Mevir, which is about a 40 minute walk from our house. It was blazing hot. Our appointment fell through, so we decided to go contact a family that was talking outside. They accepted our message and we set up an appointment to talk again. Then we went to the Acevedo home. They were pretty nice. We talked to the daughter about her relationship and a tattoo that she wants of the band Guns and Roses. We talked to her dad after that, and he ended up invited us to FHE to play Call of Duty. When I told him that we cant play COD, he was pretty devastated and upset, especially because he said he had played with other Elders before... I am trying to be exactly obedient though so NADA. My allergies were kicking my tail all day, and it didnt help that the Acevedos had a cat. 

Thur Dec 5, Today we ate very well. We had breakfast of crepes with dulce de leche at Hermana Reys house. It was the cumpleaños of Elder Chalis mission, so we went and had the mathambre after that. Both the meals were AMAZING. After that, in our comp study, Elder Chali asked if I would teach institute tonight. I was really nervous and I didnt want to do it. It actually went really well though. I taught from Alma 48 about Moroni. I had an awesome personal study today too. I was thinking about how we will meet people that will change lives for generations. I was thinking about Elder Hofstetter, the Elder that taught my dad. He changed many lives because of that one baptism and he helped make my dad the hero that he is to me today. On a little bit of a different note, today I was messing around and trying to scare Elder Chali while he was trying to find something in the chapel. I jumped up on top of one of the classrooms, and there was a nail sticking out and I it went all the way into my wrist probably about an inch. It hurt like crazy. It looks like I have the same marks that Jesus had on his wrist when he was crucified... Elder Chali pointed that out to me. He had to put a sharpie on my palm too. We took a picture of it. It is pretty funny. We had a interesting movie night. The crazy spaz kids that we met on the street showed up. They woudnt watch the movie and they ended up breaking a door knob off one of the doors in the chapel. Viviana, one of the Yw, set them straight and basically kicked them out. It was pretty funny. Elder Robles also gave us work that President Smith is thinking about closing Cardona and Florencio Sanchez, because of the lack of members and priesthood holders. We started a fast. 

Fri Dec 6 Today was awesome. I got through the Isaiah chapters of Second Nephi. When we woke up in the morning, Elder Chali didnt have his camera. After calling all the mmembers at the movie night last night, we decided to go to the spaz kids house. They had the camera. Then we went to Hermana Reys house and she offered to feed us lunch. WE had a great meal with pasta, potatoes, and beef. We taught a new investigator today too. He is a ten year old boy named Nicolas. We call him Nico though. He is awesome and really entergetic. We played ping pong for Noche de la Rama and Elder Robles and I had a great couple matches. Everyone else stunk. 

Sat Dec 7, Today we studied for a couple hours and went to the family that we contacted the other day. The Clavero Family. It was a great lesson, besides the fact that all three of the ladies that were there decided to feed their children in front of us. We got a call from President Smith after the lesson. He was calling about our area. We got our answer from our fast. He said that we now have permission to return home at 10 and that they will work to get us bikes. That will definitely hasten the work even more. For lunch we had milanesas. They were great. We went to Natalias house to paint her house after that. That took all afternoon. We went to another institute class, came home, planned, studied, and then went to bed. 

Sun Dec 8, Today I had a great attitude, and we had a great day. I played the piano at church and it went really well. Everyone was surprised that I could play and a lot of the women were really grateful for it. I also was asked to teach primary, just as primary was starting. It went really well though. We went and had hamburgers at Hermana Reys house afterwards. She made a ton of food and I had three hamburgers. The hamburgers here arent really hamburgers but man they are freaking good. Then we visited the Villegas family, the Mesa Family, Matias, and the Lopez family. We set a baptisimal date with matias for Jan 25th. We had the best week yet, stat wise and I thought it was the best week overall. Elder Chali said it was his best week yet in Uruguay too! Tomorrow is Pday and my TWO MONTHS of being out! 

Week 8 - Settling In

Monday, December 2, 2013

Mon Nov 25 13- Today was my first pday in the field. It was much needed. We woke up at our scheduled time, 6 30, said a prayer, and went back to bed. We got up at 9 and got ready. Then we went to go wash our clothes. We hung them to dry at a members house. We went and make chorizzos with pasta after that. Chorizzos are basically a really good bratwurst with onions and a bunch of good stuff. Then we went to the Villegas house. It took them a while to all get together so we could teach a lesson but once they got together, we had a good lesson. Then we went to another non active member home. The Perez family. Some kids stopped us and asked if we had anything for them to read. We gave them a couple pass a long cards. It started to rain towards the end of our awesome lesson with the Perez family. I said a little prayer that we wouldn´t get too wet in the rain and just as soon as we stood up to leave, the rain calmed down. We hardly got wet at all. Heavenly Father blesses his missionaries in little ways like that every day. Good way to end the day. 

Tues Nov 26- Today we wnet to Colonia Centro for the zone meeting. It was nice to see Elder Baggett and Hermana Sorenson again, and to see people that can talk English. They both said they had hard weeks so I was glad I wasnt the only one. We went to get food after the meeting. I got a hamburguesa completa which was a hamburger with eggs, meat, cheese, onions, peppers, jalapeños, salsa, fritas, lettuce and some funky sauce. I thought about my family the whole two hour drive back. We went to Matias´house after the drive back and taught him. We had a spiritual thought with the Mesa family after Matias. I explained to Elder Chali that I was having a hard time and he helped me out a bit. It is hard without your family, friends, and trying to learn a language. There is no choice but to rely on the Lord. 

Wed Nov 27 Today we woke up at 3 am to pouring rain. Of course our roof was leaking too so my bed was a little damp. We fixed the problem for the most part but I didnt fall asleep for a while. We studied, cleaned, bought lunch after we woke up. We made papas and milanesas for lunch. Mashed potatoes with some sort of fried chicken. It was the best meal here yet. Then we studied some more. I had an awesome study time today. Then we went and taught Susana Rey. We shared a good message with her. WE taught an investigator after that and we ended up giving her a blessing because she was sick. I did the anointing of the oil. Elder Chali asked if I wanted to do it in English but I thought I needed to do it in Spanish, so I did. Then he gave her the blessing. That was pretty sweet experience. Then we went to the Villegas house to tell the father happy birthday. Then we wnet to the church and I taught an English class. It was really weird to teach English. Estela Perez house was the last stop of the day. We ended up teaching her something different than planned but it was amazing. I felt the spirit so strong and that was an awesome way to end the day. Best day yet. 

Thurs Nov 28 - Thanksgiving in Uruguay was absolutely non existent. No one mentioned anything about it to me all day. Life is very differnt a couple thousand miles away. I had another awesome study session. I read about Moroni in the Book of Mormon. He was an absolute stud. Alma 48 17! I didnt feel very good after our first two lessons with non members, so we wnet back to the house and I layed down for a while. We went to movie night at the church afterwards and we watched Wreck it Ralph. 

Fri Nov 29 Today actually was really good, Spanish wise. I had a good conversation with the Villegas family, who I can usually never understand because they all yell over eachother and talk really fast. Uruguayans talk really fast. Some tmies Elder Chali cant even understand them because they get going so fast. We got more money on our mission cards, so we went grocery shoppinhg. WE had weekly planning, which took 3 hours. During the activity that night with the branch, we played games and ate some snacks. It was pretty fun. I feel better about the missiona each day. 

Sat Nov 30 Today was pretty good. I started the Book of Mormon again. I read through 1 N 15. I got a ton out of it. I read about the plates, the vision of the tree of life, and the coming of christ as seen in a vision by Nephi, 600 years before. We had two lunches today which was really nice becasue tomorrow is fast sunday. I ate three tacos on top of a ton of rice, salad and beef. Then we went to institute. Elder Chali taught about enduring to the end. Then we played soccer. I dont have the most skill, but being bigger faster and stronger than all these latinos is quite a help. I scored a couple goals and they said I was pretty good actually. I am just a really competitive and aggressive white boy. 

Sun Dec 1 Today was fast sunday. I hardly slept at all last night because my allergies were so bad. After about 3 total hours of sleep, I got up and started studying the scriptures. I read up to 2 Nephi chapter 2. I love studying the scriptures. I have never loved it like this before. When you have a set aside time to study them, It is awesome and you get so much more out of it. It is like a book I dont want to put down, but then I remember I have to put it down, so I can go share it with people! Sacrament meeting was awesome. It was Marisels last sunday before she leaves on her mission to Concepcion Chile. I shared my testimony and five people told me how much I have improved in just a week. I still dont understand a ton, but that is nice sometimes because you can just feel the spirit. It is really good because it was amazingly strong during sacrament meeting. We hung out with Marisel after that and had a huge water and water baloon fight after. It was super fun. After that, we went contacting. It was a lot of fun because people just judge mormon missionaries, but after about 2 minutes of talking to us, they seem to like us. I have definitely learned how to not judge people out here. They are just really different.