Week 19 - February 22, 2014

Sat  Feb 15 2014 Today was President Smiths bday. The APs, the financieros and we went to get him a present. We got him some candy and a ship made out of bones. Then we went to the offices after our studies and did email. Then we went to the Fortaleza, which is basically an old fort and now a military museum. After that, we ate lunch, hung out in the offices, and then bought bus tickets and picked up all the bolsas. We had a lesson with our investigator Ursula. Her mom speaks Portuguese and I remembered how lost I felt the first while in the mission because I couldnt understand much. It was quite an adventure, but we had a great lesson. We were really happy with it. Then we went to Carasco to Presidents house so we could drop off the present. I can now say that I ding dong ditched my mission president. In a suit.J We took the APs home and then we got home around 11.

Sun Feb 16 Today was great. Church was awesome. It felt like a normal church because we have a giant chapel and 93 people at church. Plus... I didnt have to teach anything for the first time in a while! There were great classes and great talks. We had lunch with the Melo family. They were nice but super quiet so we had to initiate all the conversation. Elder Woods told me before that they would try and talk us to be their link to get  into the US. During lunch they were asking all about me. The questions people usually ask is 1, Where Im from 2, Pictures of my family 3, How old I am, and 4, if I have a girlfriend. The only people that ask if I have a girlfriend is the families that have girls that are about my age. After the interesting lunch, we had our weekly planning session. It went pretty well for how Little I know about the area. Then we went to Marys house. She is awesome. She was super nice, helpful, and spiritual. She is basically everyones dream convert. Then we got home and the Binghams invited us over to eat ice cream. Then we ate ice cream, and went to bed!

Monday Feb 17. My half birthday! Today I had to go sign my Uruguayan residency papers today. It was awesome because the whole ditrict from the MTC was there. I was so glad to talk to them and I talked to all of the Elders in our group! I ate McDonalds with Elder Baggett, Brown, and Finlay afterwards. McDonalds is actually pretty expensive here. Then we walked around the mall at tres cruces. When I left, we prepped the bolsas and I did the statistical numbers in the offices until our Family Home Evening. The FHE went very well. We ate after a spiritual lesson and we actually had pizza with cheese on it! At 10 oclock we made the bolsa run. We got home at 11:30. I dont sleep a lot in the offices.

Tues Feb 18. Today we had our studies and then went to work! We had lunch that was the best chicken I have had in a LONG time. It was great. I did updates on the baptisimal records and number sheets for the mission all day. We had a great lesson with Ursula about baptism. The record today was that we finally got home before9:30!

Wed Feb 19 Today we had our usual studies and then we went to Independencia to get the packages that got caught up in customs. Then we bought food and made lunch of rice, beans, salsa, beef, and tortillas. We worked in the offices until about 8. I was actually super focused in the offices today and that felt good! Then we went to Carmen Diaz´s house and talked to her about going to church. It was hard because it seemed like she was making excuses. Elder Woods was pretty disappointed after the lesson because she didnt seem super willing or excited to go to church, but life goes on!

Thursday  Feb 20 Today we had a GREAT day. We woke up at 6 and went to go play basketball with the financieros and the APs. It was pretty fun! We then had our regular studies. Elder Woods and I went to pick up Susana Rey´s son, Juan Escobedo, from the airport after. He was awesome. Total Stud. He has been in the states visited for 6 months. We took him to his bus at Tres Cruces. I made panchos and longaniza for lunch. It was really really good. Then I went to Presidents house to get a couple signatures with Elder Lamb. Then we filled our van full of boxes we  needed for our mission. Then when we got back, we unloaded it, and then Elder Woods and I went to get the bolsas. I organized all the mail. It was a ton. Then we visted Lorena. She was awesome. She is a strong member but has an inactive son. We talked about being converted and it was a really good lesson. Then she fed us a torta de fiambre. It was a great day and we had good attitudes!

Friday Feb 21 Today we started off the day with Ab Ripper X. I am already pretty sore. Then we had our regular studies and we were in the offices until lunch. After lunch I went on splits with Elder Miranda, our ZL from Colombia who is about to finish his mission. We had to go to his area and it was a bit of a bus ride. Then we had a sweet lesson with a less active man. We brought a man named Daniel, who is a RM. He served in Peru. He was a stud but he kind of took over our lesson. It was a good lesson, but I only talked a couple times. One cool thing he said though was that before the mission, he looked to missionaries as angels. After he served a mission, he looks at them as angels but he understands that MISSIONARIES NEED the help of the members. We had a broadcast after splits that was being broadcasted to the stake centers in Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. It was just for melchezidek priesthood holders. It was a great broadcast. They talked about missionary work the whole time. They really “dropped the cane” as they say here, on the members and leaders. The missionaries really do need the help of the members to progress the work.

Week 18 - February 15, 2014

Monday Feb 10 Today was crazy! We had service at Susana Reys house in the morning cutting the lawn. We got a call from president at 11:10 in the morning. He told us that Elder Chali will be staying in FLo Sanchez with Elder Husaya from Peru, and that I will be heading to the offices to work as a secretary with Elder Woods. After that call, I was thinking about my new opportuninty all day. I thought about almost everything possible change wise, besides going to the offices. We visited Nico, Adrian, Susana Foitick, and Ana Mesa during the day. We had dinner with Lorena, Matias, y Vanessa because I am headed out. I don know how to feel about it but I know it will be a ton of hard, but different work. plus, all the other missionaries arent big fans of the secretaries. It should be an adventure.

Tues Feb 11. Today was my last day with Elder chali and it was Pday. We had chicken and french fries with Valeria Perez for lunch. Then I packed, we cleaned the house, and headed out in pouring rain. My umbrella broke, so we ended up SOAKED. We took a bus to El General and then Elder Arguello and I were new companions for a day. He is from Paraguay and this is his last change in the mission. We had dessert at a members house. After that, Elder teloma met up with us. We went to visit the branch president of E Arguellos ward and then we bought our last Fagar de Manzana. Fagar is only sold in Colonia, so I will miss it! Elder Averett and Baggett were at the house when we got back. We all got to bed around 12.

Wed Feb 12. We woke up at 3:30 today and caught a bus to Montevideo at 4:30. I met Elder Woods in the terminal. He is from Blackfoot Idaho and he is 6 foot 3. He was born on August 11, 93. He has been out for 15 months. He has a twin brother that is serving right now in Peru. He is in the offices because he has a torn ACL. He also has personal problems because he is balding ;) He is super nice. We worked with the new Elder and Hermanas coming in today. We helped the APs and the President all day with whatever they needed. We had two meals that were both in the mission headquarters lunchroom. I havent had American food since Utah and that was awesome to eat sloppy joes, and a bunch of eggs with bacon and potatoes. We went to the offices later, did some work there, prepped the bolsas to send out, and then we got home around 10:30. It isnt hard physical work, but I will lack more sleep, and Spanish will not increase as fast. 

Thur Feb 13. Today was somewhat of a normal day in the offices. We woke up, excercised and got ready, and then we studied at the offices. We had a zone meeting that went well but I miss elder Bullochs excitement in Colonia as ZL. After that, I filled out baptisimal record and submitted them on the computer to the church and to the President. That took almost all day. We had a lunch break for spaghetti. Then we went to Tres Cruces, the GIANT bus terminal, and we bought a ton of bus tickets. We finally planned and should have a normal work day tomorrow too. 

Friday Feb 14. Valentines day. Hermana Smith and Bingham (married missionary couple) brought us goodies today. The day was pretty normal. We worked in the offices until 6 with a lunch break. We ate with a member that fed us a TON. It was good food though. After the day of office work, we headed to our area but our lesson fell through. After that, we had to take an Elder to the airport. We stopped by presidents house and Elder Woods and I talked with the presidentss 16 year old son, Jerry. He gave us Hagen Daas ice cream and we just talked for a while. After we went to the airport, we had to go pick up the APs in Cerro. After that, we went home and went to bed. It was fun riding in the car because we just belted EFY songs the whole time. Elder woods is pretty fun to have around. 

THE OFFICES: I am really enjoying the offices but I feel like I am going to get fat here. We eat and get spoiled by the married missionaries and the mission Presidents family. We have our own computers and desks. We get to DRIVE too. It is sweet. Pretty soon I will be a licensed driver in Uruguay and have two cards to prove it. I think thats pretty sweet. I have a Texas Flag hanging on my computer. Our house is sweet and we have a washer AND dryer. We and the APs are the only missionaries that are blessed with both.  The down side is that we have 4 gringos that we live and work with. So my Spanish wont increase as much as I want. I am still holding proud the claim of the youngest missionary in the mission. Its pretty sweet to work on the computers because I literally have access to everything. I have called a couple buddies from the MTC for bus tickets, so that was fun! I am loving the offices though. 

Week 17 - February 11, 2014

Heading to Montevideo tonight to be a mission secretary!  "Tengo una noticia de los cambios! Me voy a Montevideo, la zona Oeste, voy a trabajar como secretario en las oficinas! Nueva companero sera Elder Woods. ME voy a las 4 hoy. "

Mon feb 3 today we had the leader meeting. I talked with E Gomez y E Mackinlay the whole time. When we were leaving, Hermana Smith, the daughter of the mission president, gave me a note because she was headed back to the states. Elder Chali was not happy about it and told me to write Presidnet smith about it. So I wrote president smith a letter about how nice his daughter is. We ate with Elkder Trucolo Argentina, Espinoza Peru, Baggett Nevada, Averett idk, Arguello Pâraguay, and gomez peru. WE had chicken and rice. it was fin. WE had a visit with mirta when we got back. she had a girl there named Rosio who is 8. Rosio learned what we taught super quick and mirtha is rather slower... She was the cutest little girl and she was really funny too. WE visted the lopez and shared a scripture. We went to teach carlos, who we contacted yesterday. He is super nice and wants to learn more.

Tues feb 4. Today we had our district meeting. it went really well but our bolsa didnt come with the mail. WE had matambre with lorena matias vanessa and jean afterwards with all the district (6) of us. It was a super lesson with matias to try and get a baptisimal date. it was a super strong sprititual lesson but he is still not wanting to put a date to it. We talked to mirtah after and finished preparation for her enterview tomorrow. We talked to hermano villegas about being a leader and stopping smoking. One hilarious thing that happened today was that Mirtha farted in our lesson. No one said anything for a while and then Rosio just started cracking up and that started a good 1 min laugh session. 

wed feb 5 today we started off with a lesson that fell through. the zls came and did the interview with mirtha. SHE PASSED haha. WE will have her baptism saturday. WE met with the arrue family after. it went well. Matias wasnt in a good mood after our super lesson yesterday. We also had a big storm and i took a picture of the clouds and there is a big lightning bolt that just so happened to go off right when i took it. Its a sweet picture. 

Thur feb 6. today was my daddys bday and I had no communication with him. The morning was slow because elder chali wasnt happy. I wrote him and note and made his bed. I hope it helped a bit. It rained all day. working in rain is hard because everyone just sleeps all day. We only had one lesson and it was during the activity for the branch. We had gizo with hermana rey. 

Fri Today it started pouring rain and the end of the day was HOT. WE had good visits and spiritual messages with the perez, rey, and villegas families. We visted mirtha and rosio and rosio astounded us again. We found out her mom is one of the ladies we met in mervir that had a ton of kids about a month or so ago. 

Sat feb 8. WE had the baptism for Mirtha. it was great and super spiritual. I was super happy and everything went great. Jose Gomez did the ordinance. We emptied the font and cleaned the church after and we got home late. HOY ES EL DIA! We just prepped for the baptism all day. 

Sun feb 9. Church was great. I taught EQ about the Plan of salvation and then gave a talk about mervy. WE had a good lunch and convo with matias and lorena. We also visited the villegas, daniel, sus rey, and marie. We had the confirmation of mirta today. Last day of my training and we had a baptism and confirmation to end it! 

Mon Today was vrazy. WE mowed the lawn at sus reys house. WE got the call about changes from President Smith. He told me I am headed to the offices to work as a secretary with Elder Woods. I am really nervuos and dont know what to expect... The other missionaries dont like the secretaries because if you mess up one thing... Someone doesmt have mail, money, or a bus somewhere.  I thought about basically every possibility for changes exepct that. We visited lorena, nico, adrian, susana foitick, and ana mesa after that.

Week 16- February 3, 2014

Mon Jan 27. Today we had a normnal meeting and all that. After we   had a lesson with the Arrue   and Daniel. They both  went very well! Today Elder Chali was pretty down and he is usually down after meetings. I didnt have the best attitude and I was feeling sorry for myself but I will do better tomorrow. 

Tues Jan 28. Today we had district meeting. We had a district change because Rosario is having problems. Elder Chali was not happy. He feels like all the leaders are so focused on numbers.  We left  after the meeting and it was fine after. We visited the Villegas and then had a branch meeting in our area. It was great and we were much better after the meeting.                           We had a good convo during our branch meeting. We chowed on Oreos that I recevied in a package this week afterwards and I showed Elder Chali how north americans eat oreos and he loved it. 

Wed Jan 29. Today we had a lot of lessons planned but almost all fell through. We set up the baptisimal font and we hope it will excited the members and investigators. WE have a good meeting with the Morales family. We had a good lunch with Suana Rey and Foitik. Matias and Mirtas appointments fell through so we will meet with them tomorrow. 

 Thur Jan 30 Today was odd at the beginning.   Elder Chali was on the phone and told a sister in the ward a joke. She got offended and started to cry. We went to her house to go try and figure things out but she wasnt there.  Then we had lunch we went to Susana Reys house. WE went to mirtas house too and set a baptisimal date for feb 8. We went to lorenas after and had a good lesson with her. I taught 10 people in English class and we had about 20 people show up to movie night. That was a record! I   was super sore today because I did a bunch of lunges for excercise. 

Frid Jan 31 Today started off great for me. I finished the BO M f or the first time on the mission and now I am going to read in JUST SPANISH if I can. WE had service in the morning with Olga.              WE cut down the forest that was in her backyard and it was GIANT weeds that were bigger than me.    I almost died because of my allergies and I got a couple blisters out of it.     We had milanesas for lunch and then we had our  weekly planning. WE found out that the baptisimal font was leaking so we drained it with a 5 gallon bucket. It took me forever. Our activity was a bust.  We had about 15 kids come and just           mess it all up.    I am working on my  patience and trying to have more of a Christlike mindset. 

Sat Feb 1. Today we had a lesson with the Villegas. It was pouring and their house started to flood. WE were fighting it for a while until we finally figured out where the watert was coming from... the cement on the ground.                       We  ate with them after wards and then we had to prepare our classes for tomorrow. WE had  ping pong for our activity and only a few showed up but it went well. 

Sun Feb 2. Today it rained all day. Church went well. I had a record  1 0 people come to elder quorum and then we had 18 people come to sacrament meeting. Considering it was cool and pouring and most peopple walk, that was really good.    We had two lunches today. Hamburgers with susana rey and then we went to lorenas. She fed us something that ssmelled like something that would come out of you r body and not something that you would put in your body. I still ate it t hough. We went to the Villegas and gave Jorge a belssing because he didnt feel good. jWe went to the smorales home and had a good lesson with them too. We had a cool experience going home too. A man stopped us and asked us if we could come visit him sometime. Of course we said we would. WE are going to have a visit with him later today! 

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.