Week 15 - January 27, 2014

Mon jan 20 today was great. we had the regular meeting lunch and email. Pday was nice. We went to go to see a new possibility for a new chapel. It is a huge building that used to be a club. We will make it sacred though... We met the Sailers afterwards. Hermano Sailer was the president of the branch but they are now inactive. They were super nice though! We ran into a man who was a bit tipsy on the way home. He talked about nothing for 10 minutes. It was hilarious actually. I could actually understand a drunk man talking Spanish though so I think thats pretty impressive. 

Tues Jan 21 Today we had a zone meeting. We don't have any money today though so I just ate a sandwich one of the sisters gave me for lunch. I am making eggs I found right now though. We had a big meeting with our branch about the new chapel opportunity and everyone is super excited! QUE ANIMO! I was super pumped all day today, because HOY ES EL DIA 

Wed Jan 22. Today was one of the best days yet. We went to look at the new chapel again with a couple members. They liked it but it needs a lot of work. We had lunch with Sonnia Rodriguez and her husband. They just had their 48th anniversary. She married her husband when she was 16 and he was 22. Thats insane. We contacted these guys that were smoking in a park too. They were at first pretty shy, but one of them asked why there are so many churches that are Jesus Christs church. We taught them the first lesson. Two of them were actually interested so we are going to keep teaching them! Long story short, we had an amazing spiritual experience with teaching 2 guys that smoke how to pray! Crazy I know, but AMAZING. 

Thurs Jan 23. Today was HOTTT. We had 2 appointments scheduled with the guys from yesterday but they fell through. However we met with Mirta finally and she said she can come to church. If so, she can get baptized! We had the famous Villegas family gizo for lunch. It was really good. We had 3 people show up to the activity today. I taught how to pray in English class and we watched Smurfs 2. Last night I didnt fall asleep until 4am so I am hoping I can get some sleep tonight. 

Friday Jan 24. Today we had awesome weather so we changed our weekly planning to tomorrow. We had service with Lorena. We cut her 2 foot tall weeds that cover her yard. It took all afternoon. We had lunch with the Mesa Family. It went really well because we want to teach Daniel, their 17 year old son. The others are members. We had a ping pong tournament for our activity. I won it but the best part about it was that we had 5 new people come that we want to visit! 

Sat Jan 25. Today we had service with Susana Rey  mowing the lawn. We had our weekly planning session after that. IT went really well. We are doing great. We visited Estela Perez for a minute and then the Villegas but they werent home. We had two people show up to our activity but it was fun! 

Sun Jan 26. Today was odd. I taught Elders Quorum about marriage, I directed the sacrament meeting, and I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about humility. I thought it went really well. We had a man come in to sacrament who is CRAZY. Literally. Crazy. He was commenting about everything we said but we would always just talk louder in the microphone. We are working on our patience and actually doing much better. After we had 5 hours of bajando la caña because of stupid gossip that is passed around the church about nothing really. Lorena and Matias lifted our spirits afterwards though and we had a great attitudes at the end of the day! 

Week 14 - January 20, 2014

Monday Jan 13 14 - Today we emailed, cleaned, and got ready to do the Lords work! We visited Lorena Vanessa and Matias. We talked about praying. It was a great leson. WE went to the Acevedo family later. They were talking about going to church and they want us to prepare them for the temple! We were pumped for this! Good day

Tues Jan 14 14. Today we had a district meeting and I got packages too! We had a good day of work considering  we only had a couple houras. We we had a couple contacts in Cardona. We visited the Villegas  family so we could teach Joaquin but he wasn't there. We alo went to the lopez and shared alma 7 with them. 

Wed Jan 15 today we got up at 4. We went to nueva helvecia for interviews with president smith. We got there at 6 twenty and no one was at the church. We went to the ZL home and they were still asleep. They got up a couple minute later and went to the church. The interview was aweome. I didn't really know what to expect from it. I went in talking Epanol and then he started talking in English so I did too. The first thing he asked was how I was doing. I told him I am GREAT. He told me that he knows the Lord put me there through personal inspiration. He told me he wants a nicer chapel in our area. He also told me my Epañol is GREAT. He told me he is confident in me and knows I will be a great missionary. The AP told me my spanish is good too! They are both Latinos.   After the meeting. E Ramoc was talking with the con of president smith. he called me over to translate for him because they couldn't have a convo haha. I was very happy he asked me and I actually did pretty well! I was super excited after today. We had a great Noche de hogar with the Villegas family. 

Thur Jan 16. Today was HOT. over 100. Today was pretty normal but E Chali had to do a lot of stuff for the branch so we didnt work a ton. I taught Englih class again. It went pretty well. WE watched despicable  me two for movie night. We were happy all day today. 

Fri Jan 17. Today a lot of sad,bad thing happened. The uncle of Matia is dying. Cucana opez is in the hospital. We watched the lamb of God video for the activity that we only had 3 people come to but it was uper Awecome ecperience. The Spirit was super strong. WE had our weekly planning today too. It went pretty well. 

Saturday Jan 18. Today was different but great. we had to go to Nueva helvecia for a baptismal interview. I played ping pong with the ZL while it was going on. We were waiting for our bus home and Hermana Smith drove up. She just talked to us and asked how we are doing. She also asked if they could take us home but it was way out of the way and I told her not to worry about it. They came back 5 min later with ice cream. oreo, mento, water, and yogurt. They are an AWEOME family. 

Sunday. Jan 19. Today was normal. E Chali felt bad though. Church was good. I blessed the sacrament and taught EQ. We had lunch with hermana Rey. We contacted 4 guys that were mid twenty. We also visited matia and she is doing better. 

I feel like my Spanish is really good now. I feel like I bacically understand everything. I dont know if my shoes will last long. They are already pretty worn haha. My feet are even tearing on the bottom. I am doing great though! 

Week 13 - January 13, 2014

There is nothing better I can be doing right now. I have been able to recognize more and more blessings this week. I just feel more comfortable with the language and the people, and I am figuring out how to teach specific people according to what they need to hear. It is amazing to be able to do this FULL TIME. I love it here. I love the work that we can do as missionaries. We can literally change peoples lives. I am seeing it happen everyday. Prayers are amazing and I have seen that especially this week. Just small prayers in my head for my companion while he is testifying, or small prays that everything will be okay, or that this man will want to listen to our message. Prayers really work, according to our faith.

Mon Jan 6. today we had a leader meeting. we had lunch with everyone there. it was super fun. i talked with every single missionary there too. It is nice to speak english with gringos at meetings, but it is also great to see how much I have progressed when I talk to the oros. I found out that THE SOONERS BEAT ALABAMA! We went to Mevir after our travels and had two lessons with inactive families. They are awesome and we cant figure out why they dont come to church. I was super energized today. We had a great day. 

Tues Jan 7 . Today we had a district meeting. IT went well but Elder Chali wasnt actign normal after. When we got back to the house, he laid it all down and I was able to help him out. I taught him a lot o english today. It poured all day. I got letters from a bunch of friends today too. That was super nice! I also got my Christmas eve PJS! 

Wed Jan 8. Today was great. We had great lessons and worked hard all day. We just worked all day. We didnt have any activities or anything. I also found out that they mow their grass here with weed eaters. Fun fact. Great day. 

Thu Jan 9. Today was 3 MONTHS IN! I went on divisions with Elder Rufi who is in Rosario. We worked in his area. We had two lessons of our 9 planned. The rest fell through. WE walked a ton. We had a ping pong activity with the branch, but the 4 people that showed up were just missionaries, so we went back to work. I also found out that I am not gaining as much weight as I thought I was... I finally found a scale! 

Friday Jan 10 Today it rained a ton. We had our studies, lunch with Hermana Rey, and then our weekly planning sesh. We felt good about it and hoping for a good week. We also had noche de la rama. We played a bunch of fun games and everyone had a great time. I had a great attitude today. Great attitudes are contagious. 

Sat Jan 11 Today was a good day. We were always talking, we had great lessons, etc. We had service at Hermana Reys house. We mowed the lawn, with a weedeater. We had great weather. 

Sun 12 14. Today we had 21 people at church. Sadly, Mirta didnt come, so we have to postpone her bap`tism again. However the Villegas and Arrue families came. They are less active or maybe even inactive. I got to teach another suprise lesson in Elders quorum. I taught the first lesson of gospel principles too. I should probably just have a lesson plan every sunday... I conducted sacrament meeting this week too. It went really well. We had a man come to us after sacrament meeting and he just wanted to bible bash. After he finished talking, I took him to the hall to just talk. We had a good convo. We just talked for a few minutes and I tried to be super nice to him. I hope he walked away with a good impression of us, after bashing us. Sundays are the day of rest in the world, but in the mission field, it is WORK DAY. We have a ton of work to do on Sundays, but I always have great experiences on sundays.

Week 12 - Happy New Year!

Tues dec 31. Today we woke up at had the leaders meeting. We had a good time meeting the new missionaries in the zone, and the oros. We have two oros. Hermana Smith, who is only here for 6 weeks. She is the presidents daughter. Elder Mackinlay, who is from Mesa Arizona. We went back to our area after and went to the Villegas and MAtias house. We had chicken and pig at the villegas. I was stuffed. We went to matias and they fed us more. We watched fire works and snacked. It is crazy to think about this past year and everything that happened this year, all the people I met, and memories I had. It is also crazy to think that I will spend this WHOLE year in the service of the Lord. What a great year this will be. I cant wait to see how I have progressed, and what I have become when this year comes to a close. Even though I wasnt able to receive a new years kiss ;) , I am happy to be here and to be doing what I am doing.
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> Wed Jan 1 14. Today I was tired alll day. We had lunch with matias and we had a really long and good talk with him about his potential and how he can help us in the branch,. We also visited the Villegas, Hma Rey, Olga, Hermana Sonnia, and hma estela perez. It was hermana perez bday so we were gonig to get her something, but everything was closed. We had great weather today.

> Thur Jan 2 today was a great day. we had our district meeting. it was pouring rain and we decided to run through it and splash since we were soaked. We got confirmation for the temple tr4ip feb 8 since our last one got cancelled. we had a good lesson with mirta. After that, President Smith called us. It was mainly for E Chalis new glasses, but he asked to talk to me too. just his voice made me so excited. He is amazing. He just asked how I was doing. He also said he was very impressed with my letters I send to him, and the work we are doing.
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> Fri Jan 3 Today we bought elder Chali new glasses and I bought a hat. It is a sombrero that has clips to make it look like a cowboy hat. It was 100 pesos, which is about 5 bucks. It is amazing! I look like a dork, but dont all missionaries?! We made panchos completos for lunch. They were bomb. I had to run the noche de hogar with our branch because E Chali was talking ot people about callings ibn the branch. It went pretty well.
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> Sat Jan 4 Today we had lasagna for lunch with estela perez it was made of pancakes, meat, cheese, ham, and corn. It was amazing. We had a lesson with mirta too. It takes her a while to learn, but she is learning. We played soccer for our activity. My team won, but I had to stop playing after one game, because I dont have the most patience with people who cant play very physically. Needless to say, there was a lot of "flops". I am working on my patience though. But of course, learning how to have patience even takes patience.
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> Sun jan 5. Today was fast sunday. I taught Elders quorum. It actually went really well. I am officially the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency and the Elders quorum president. I also had a great experience sharing my testimony in sacrament meeting. I felt like I didnt even have to translate what I was saying, it just came out! That was really cool! Mirta didnt come to church, so her baptism is postponed a week. Hopefully next saturday. I traded a US soccer shirt for a worn soccer jersey with jorge villegas. I asked for a uruguay or penarol jersey, but I will live ;) jWe visited a ton ñof people today. I am getting used to about 1 meal a day now. But thanks to the lack of excercise, I am not growing the direction I want to.

Week 12 & 11 Feliz Navidad!

Tues Dec 24. Today we had a district meeting in parque cazo. We ate like kings. We got hair cuts too. We made christmas cards for all the members and investigators too. We wanted to go see all of them today but we took too long at most of the houses. We had a sweet message with Hermana Perez. She always is super nice and i love how she calls me her hijo and she calls us chicilinis. We had another feast for dinner with the villegas. Everyone has a feast around 11 and shoots fireworks off at 12. Even little kids are running around with lighters and fireworks that could do some pretty solid damage. Yesterday I didnt have time to send my weekly email so i am behind! I am super pumped for skype tomorrow! I cant believe it is christmas eve. I am sad my family pajamas didnt come in, but i will live without them. 

Christmas day 2013 today was great. We slept in, went to lunch with tamara, and then i skyped my family. That was the happiest i have been in a while.However, it was really hard to come back to reality in Uruguay once I hung up. The call made me feel like I was back at home. Today I got the Uruguay finger applause down too. I practiced ALL DAY today, after practicing for a couple weeks. My arms are sore, but I can do it with both hands! 

26 dec Today E Robles left for his house. We woke up at 415 to take him to the bus stop. WE came back at 530 and went back to bed. We got ready for a normal day and then E Chali decided to call another Elder. We were, at that time, in a trio with E Mendoza, E robles old comp. Come to find out, he had to leave for colonia centro in an hour. We had to pack his stuff really quick and take him to colopnia. We got back at about 730 and we watched prince of persia for movie night. 

27 dec. Today was long day and lots of walking. WE walked from the farthest part of cardona to the farthest part of florencio sanchez. With had an odd experience with tamaras family. her whole family was there and they were just basically talking about us, right in front of us. They have 4 girls all under 19. Also, the tempple trip i have been waiting for forever just got cancelled because not enough people would be able to come.Today was the 5th consecutive day of my same white shirt. I have been washing it every night because we still havent gotten our clean clothes back. Needless to say, its a bit dirty. 

28 dec. Today we had two appointments that took a while, but they actually went pretty well. WE had chapel cleaning after, and then played ping pong for our activity. I finally used my water container in my back pack because it was about 105 degrees today. The water was heavenly, until it got hot too. 

29 dec. today was a sad attendance at church. we had 9 come, not including E chali and I. We didnt have two of our speakers show up, so I had to give a talk on the spot. It went really well actually. We are having a great experience with Mirta, but Matias is having trouble lately with the gospel. Today was the last day of my first transfer! Woohoo! 

30 dec. Today was the day that I have probably learned the most spanish. But more importantly, I talked more. I talked a lot! Even some of our investigators said something about me talking so much. I was just trying to find anything and everything to say. The work has hard today but we had great attitudes. We had service at lorenas, and we cleaned out her pool. Yesterday we found out that Elder Chali is our new district leader. We have the ZLs, STLs, and Rosario in our district. That should be fun. 

I am finally fitting in and making friends here. It is amazing how gaining trust of the members and investigators changes their view of you. I have definitely learned to be more patient and be flexible. I hate not being so punctual, but I have seen how the members really appreciate our company when we just enjoy it. I am ready to eat a ton tonight! Let the New Year festivities begin!

Dec 23 Today we had a movie party with our district. We played soccer too. I was super happy during emails because Isaac got first in his wrestling tournament, my friend Sean got his VISA to BRAZIL approved, and my friend Sam submitted his papers! I love that all my friends are going on missions! We had fish for dinner, and I am not a huge fan, but I managed and I ate two servings that she gave me! 

Dec 22 Today was the last day for E Robles and Mendoza here, and the last sunday for robles here in the mission! Crazy! I had another suprise lesson with 3 young men. We planned with the other elders today because they are making cardona and flornecio sanchez the same area.

Dec 21. Today was odd. We had a ward activity and the planning, preparing, and doing it, took ALL DAY. It went very well though. We had a feast and played games.