Well, I can’t really put into words how special and insightful this past week has been. It’s been a change, but I now know this is where the Lord wants me to be. I have felt such a comforting peace during my one week here and I am sure that something special is about to happen. I LOVE the ward here! They are so caring and so organized. They all are busy about the work. We sat in a meeting for the ward mission coordination. They had representatives from everyone, and coordinated who needed to be visited and gave us some families we needed to pass by. It made me so very happy to see them concerned for those who had gone astray. I LOVE it! We had some very awesome lessons in church as well, which ended the very tiring but spiritually filled week.
My companion Elder Gonzales is from La Serena Chile. He is such a stud! We have been getting to know each other really well, and my Spanish is improving in leaps and bounds because of him. I rarely speak in English, (I need to help him learn English as well) so it’s kind of nice to help each other out. We have had some really awesome and powerful spiritual experiences. He has such a great knowledge of the scriptures and is such an insightful person. And he likes to have fun. That’s important too!
Things are going very well here. We’ve found new people to teach and lots of friendly faces. Like I said, it was a weary week (lots of walking) which was hilarious when we didn’t have a map or know who the bishop was. We had to wait till Sunday to meet the majority of the members, but they were all calling us and helping us out. It really is like a big family here. I can’t wait till next week to tell you more. I have never felt more guided by the spirit in my life. I can feel His influence every day comforting me and guiding me.
Monday, November 16, 2009
A Surprise
November 10
We had a surprise change yesterday morning. I left Las Piedras and came to Coroñas in Montevideo which is pretty close to the neighborhood where the temple and offices are. It was really short notice. The assistants came and picked me up, and we got to our house finally, after some other quick stops, and we had to pick up my companion. Yes, it’s a white wash. (Meaning both of us are new.) And to top it all off, I have my first companion from South America. His name is Elder Gonzales from Chile. The house is really small and cozy. I was going to tell you all about Las Piedras yesterday, but oh well. I’ll go where He wants me to go. As most of you know, that’s just the mission for you. Never a dull moment. So now, we’re just going to go home, eat, and...well... do some contacts. I’m so excited. This is going to be such an adventure!
We had a surprise change yesterday morning. I left Las Piedras and came to Coroñas in Montevideo which is pretty close to the neighborhood where the temple and offices are. It was really short notice. The assistants came and picked me up, and we got to our house finally, after some other quick stops, and we had to pick up my companion. Yes, it’s a white wash. (Meaning both of us are new.) And to top it all off, I have my first companion from South America. His name is Elder Gonzales from Chile. The house is really small and cozy. I was going to tell you all about Las Piedras yesterday, but oh well. I’ll go where He wants me to go. As most of you know, that’s just the mission for you. Never a dull moment. So now, we’re just going to go home, eat, and...well... do some contacts. I’m so excited. This is going to be such an adventure!
Leaving Melo
November 3
Well, these past few weeks, it seems like the work has been exploding. We have met so many wonderful people ready and willing to listen to the gospel and changing their lives in small ways. I wish I could tell you about each and every one of these experiences!
I'm in Montevideo right now in the bus terminal waiting to meet my new companion and to head to my new area, Las Piedras just 45 minutes or so north of Montevideo. His name is Elder Hoffling. I don't know anything about him yet.
It was REALLY hard to leave Melo. We passed by a lot of our dearest friends before we left and took some pictures and taught some nice lessons. I'm so excited for them. Even though I didn’t get to see them continue all the way to baptism, I’m glad to have at least played a part in their journey and to have been a tool in the hands of the Lord to extend the good news of the gospel of Christ. There are a few couples who I know will eventually continue on and seal their families in the temple. I can’t wait to hear about it!I feel like I left part of my heart and soul back there, and I guess that means I’m doing my job.
The owner of our house Sonia (I’ve told you about her, abuela) always cries when a missionary leaves. She has only been a member for a year, but I think she understands what it means to be a disciple of Christ more than most people. She ALWAYS had a smile and was ALWAYS giving food to the missionaries. I'll never forget her either.
Sheesh, it was just that hard leaving an area. I'm going to have to get used to it! It's tough to have to leave it in someone else’s care, but really it isn’t. They are always in the care of the Lord. We are just the Laborers in the vineyard. I love this wonderful gospel. I love the light and hope it brings into our lives. Each time I bear testimony of Eternal Families and how it was made possible through Christ, my love and appreciation for you and what you have done for me grows and grows. I’m sorry if I was ever ungrateful for anything. It’s funny. We never truly appreciate how much we truly treasure something until it’s taken away from us. The beautiful thing is that through Christ and the power of His gospel, everything will be restored to us. I am so thankful to be here sharing things I've known since I was a little child in Primary, but with a whole new understanding and appreciation. Well, I love you all. No doubt I’m going to be telling you all kinds of interesting and amazing stories about Las Piedras. Elder Painter was there before he came to Melo. He told me it was just as hard for him to leave there as it was for me to leave Melo. Pretty ironic.
Well, these past few weeks, it seems like the work has been exploding. We have met so many wonderful people ready and willing to listen to the gospel and changing their lives in small ways. I wish I could tell you about each and every one of these experiences!
I'm in Montevideo right now in the bus terminal waiting to meet my new companion and to head to my new area, Las Piedras just 45 minutes or so north of Montevideo. His name is Elder Hoffling. I don't know anything about him yet.
It was REALLY hard to leave Melo. We passed by a lot of our dearest friends before we left and took some pictures and taught some nice lessons. I'm so excited for them. Even though I didn’t get to see them continue all the way to baptism, I’m glad to have at least played a part in their journey and to have been a tool in the hands of the Lord to extend the good news of the gospel of Christ. There are a few couples who I know will eventually continue on and seal their families in the temple. I can’t wait to hear about it!I feel like I left part of my heart and soul back there, and I guess that means I’m doing my job.
The owner of our house Sonia (I’ve told you about her, abuela) always cries when a missionary leaves. She has only been a member for a year, but I think she understands what it means to be a disciple of Christ more than most people. She ALWAYS had a smile and was ALWAYS giving food to the missionaries. I'll never forget her either.
Sheesh, it was just that hard leaving an area. I'm going to have to get used to it! It's tough to have to leave it in someone else’s care, but really it isn’t. They are always in the care of the Lord. We are just the Laborers in the vineyard. I love this wonderful gospel. I love the light and hope it brings into our lives. Each time I bear testimony of Eternal Families and how it was made possible through Christ, my love and appreciation for you and what you have done for me grows and grows. I’m sorry if I was ever ungrateful for anything. It’s funny. We never truly appreciate how much we truly treasure something until it’s taken away from us. The beautiful thing is that through Christ and the power of His gospel, everything will be restored to us. I am so thankful to be here sharing things I've known since I was a little child in Primary, but with a whole new understanding and appreciation. Well, I love you all. No doubt I’m going to be telling you all kinds of interesting and amazing stories about Las Piedras. Elder Painter was there before he came to Melo. He told me it was just as hard for him to leave there as it was for me to leave Melo. Pretty ironic.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Whew! What a week!
As the title implies, we had quite a rough week this past week, and kind of humorous. It started off great. We had lots of lessons, and we have been starting to see some people who finally might be willing to make the changes in their lives to find out the truth that Heavenly Father wants to give them. Anyways, as we were about doing this, I got a little sick, but it wasn't too bad and I was getting better.
We had a zone conference on Wednesday with Presidente and Hermana Da Silva. They gave some GREAT talks and comments. Here is where we made our booboo. We had lunch together. The Zone had ordered these giant hamburger like things called bauros. They were very tasty and we continued with our week. However, my companion the day after got REALLY sick. He had diarrhea and everything. We stayed in the next day and I took care of him. We soon found out that our zone was getting sick and dropping like flies! The next day I wasn't feeling to well. I was working with another companion while mine and his were recuperating. We worked, and I started to feel bad. I got the bug, but not as bad as my companion. We had told some of the people we visited that some of the missionaries were sick. We began to think it was the food we ate on Wednesday. When we told them, they freaked out and said. "No No, you can’t order food from there. They put on old ingredients. It's not clean." So, this week almost our entire zone was sick from eating a couple of bad bauros. But don't worry. We're all feeling a whole lot better. We drank lots of water, and are now cleaning up after things piled up to do around the house, and we are going to work twice as hard to catch up for lost time.
OH one more funny story! It rained REALLY hard again yesterday. The holes in our roof were really bad and my companion-s bed got all wet. Thankfully my side didn’t h
ave as many leaks. It was pretty frustrating, but also a fun reminder that the mission really is an adventure. Thankfully we don-t have any giant bugs like an Indiana Jones movie.....yet. Anyways, It-s hard to believe I’ve been here almost two months already! I have been growing a lot since I’ve been here. I am so thankful to be out here, though it gets really hard. I recently brushed over the verses in ´Doctrine and Covenants 89 about the oath and covenant of the priesthood. I-m going to work as hard as I can to magnify my calling and develop true Christ like love for everyone, even though it can be hard sometimes. At times, I still get a little homesick, but when this happens, I just work and remember why I-m out here.
ave as many leaks. It was pretty frustrating, but also a fun reminder that the mission really is an adventure. Thankfully we don-t have any giant bugs like an Indiana Jones movie.....yet. Anyways, It-s hard to believe I’ve been here almost two months already! I have been growing a lot since I’ve been here. I am so thankful to be out here, though it gets really hard. I recently brushed over the verses in ´Doctrine and Covenants 89 about the oath and covenant of the priesthood. I-m going to work as hard as I can to magnify my calling and develop true Christ like love for everyone, even though it can be hard sometimes. At times, I still get a little homesick, but when this happens, I just work and remember why I-m out here.Thursday, October 1, 2009
COVENANTS
My new companion is Elder Painter from Texas. He has about a year, and he speaks the language VERY WELL. It's been really nice and I have to be careful not to rely on him too much when we teach. However, I have been improving a lot on understanding, which was a challenge for me at first. Now comes the next step. I can teach basic things, I just need to work harder on grammar so I can convey my feelings a little more clearly. Elder Painter is very knowledgeable in the scriptures, and though at first it was a little intimidating, we have had some really interesting discussions.
I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting about baptismal covenants. I talked about what a covenant was and cited scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants. It talks about how blessed are those who keep the covenants they have made with the Lord. As I have been out here, I have come to realize little by little the importance of these covenants. They literally bind us to our Heavenly Father in the sense that we receive blessings in this life and have the opportunity to live with Him in the eternities. Elder Bowen in the last conference told us to ask those we talk to the "disturbing question" or "questions of the soul." Disturbing in the sense that they lead us to have a thirst to satisfy and answer the question that is burning within our soul. Who am I? What is my purpose here? Those are just some of the cliche examples, but really I think we take for granted sometimes how much comfort we have in knowing the answers to these questions. No matter what happens, we ALWAYS have a loving Father in Heaven, bound to us by our covenants and promises we have made with Him. I love that talk that Elder Christofferson gave last general conference about the comfort that our covenants give us. They are truly more powerful than we can imagine, made by the same power that created worlds without number.
I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting about baptismal covenants. I talked about what a covenant was and cited scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants. It talks about how blessed are those who keep the covenants they have made with the Lord. As I have been out here, I have come to realize little by little the importance of these covenants. They literally bind us to our Heavenly Father in the sense that we receive blessings in this life and have the opportunity to live with Him in the eternities. Elder Bowen in the last conference told us to ask those we talk to the "disturbing question" or "questions of the soul." Disturbing in the sense that they lead us to have a thirst to satisfy and answer the question that is burning within our soul. Who am I? What is my purpose here? Those are just some of the cliche examples, but really I think we take for granted sometimes how much comfort we have in knowing the answers to these questions. No matter what happens, we ALWAYS have a loving Father in Heaven, bound to us by our covenants and promises we have made with Him. I love that talk that Elder Christofferson gave last general conference about the comfort that our covenants give us. They are truly more powerful than we can imagine, made by the same power that created worlds without number.
An Awesome Goal
Guess what? We have our first confirmed baptism date set up! October 11. His name is Willington, and he is I think about 21 years old. He’s really awesome and has already come to church! He still has a lot to do before the baptism, one of which is quitting smoking, but we told he and his wife that if they read and pray, Heavenly Father will help them to quit. He is so cool. He loves to talk with us about home, and about gospel things. For instance, I showed him the pages in the back of the scriptures where all the pictures are. I showed him the ones of Jerusalem and of the sacred grove. He liked it and kept asking questions about where all these things happened. We’re so excited and continue to pray for him that he will follow through on this wonderful decision.
We had an awesome Zone Conference last week in Treinta y Tres with Elder Bowen of the Seventy. I don’t know if I have told you this, but we have a goal in the mission to baptize weekly. It is really bold. Presidente Da Silva shared his thoughts with us as well and shared D&C 4 with us. "The field is white, already to harvest". That seems an appropriate theme, especially since I have been studying about the Savior’s Parables. I find it amazing how much the world truly can be used as a symbol of the Kingdom to come. The simple truths of the Gospel can be compared to the simple truths of nature. I love the Savior. I love His teachings. It’s sad when we find those who are so overwhelmingly confused by how much the world has changed His simple pure doctrine. I am so happy to be here spreading His pure doctrine and gospel to fill the earth. I just love it! It is profoundly and deeply simple. It has been a little discouraging to try and start this trend, but the more I get into the work, the more I realize how possible and tangible this goal is. It’s not just a goal, it is a miracle. I know that if we continue to pray and work diligently, that we will find those ready and willing to accept the pure and simple message of joy and eternal peace.
We had an awesome Zone Conference last week in Treinta y Tres with Elder Bowen of the Seventy. I don’t know if I have told you this, but we have a goal in the mission to baptize weekly. It is really bold. Presidente Da Silva shared his thoughts with us as well and shared D&C 4 with us. "The field is white, already to harvest". That seems an appropriate theme, especially since I have been studying about the Savior’s Parables. I find it amazing how much the world truly can be used as a symbol of the Kingdom to come. The simple truths of the Gospel can be compared to the simple truths of nature. I love the Savior. I love His teachings. It’s sad when we find those who are so overwhelmingly confused by how much the world has changed His simple pure doctrine. I am so happy to be here spreading His pure doctrine and gospel to fill the earth. I just love it! It is profoundly and deeply simple. It has been a little discouraging to try and start this trend, but the more I get into the work, the more I realize how possible and tangible this goal is. It’s not just a goal, it is a miracle. I know that if we continue to pray and work diligently, that we will find those ready and willing to accept the pure and simple message of joy and eternal peace.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sleeping on the ....bus?
Well, It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in the mission field for a whole month! I’ve been on a mission for three months! Time has really started to fly and I can already tell that I’m REALLY going to take Elder Holland’s advice to heart and enjoy every moment. I love this area, though at times of course it can be a Little frustrating. We have met some awesome new investigators this week, and continue to hope and pray for them to feel the spirit and come to Christ.
Anyways, now for the funny part. Some pretty funny stuff happened this week. As I have ex
plained earlier to you all, we have an extension that is about an hour bus ride out of Melo towards the Brazil frontera. It’s only like 15 minutes from Brazil, so the people talk in a kind of Portuñol mix sometimes (Oh by the way, we met this guy on the street one day from Italy, and he spoke in like a mix of Italian and Spanish. It was pretty funny). ANYWAYS, we were on the bus, and of course as usual we were pretty tired. I was reading “Jesus the Christ” and my comp was trying to study, and well as usual, we fell asleep. This usually happens no matter how hard we try, but we usually wake up before Noblia. However, this time we missed our stop and Continued on to Aceguà. The good thing is that the bus attendant helped us out a ton and a bus was headed back the other direction and after a quick change we were headed back to Noblia. So yeah, that was pretty funny!
Also, I ate some pretty new and interesting things this week. We went to member/investigators house and ate something that was close to a Cow’s intestine and Hígado con arroz. I felt like Doug from that old cartoon Tyler and I used to watch! It was actually pretty tasty and I still consider myself fortunate that they usually eat pretty well here as opposed to the chicken feet Nate had to stomach. Especially since we eat every night at Abuela’s. She cooks the BEST food. Alfajores, Arroz con leche, pollo, etc… We’re going to make Gnochis today. I’m SO EXCITED!
My first change is already almost over (next Wednesday not this one). I have learned so much, and continue to learn a whole lot more. Keep the faith, and don’t forget to do your part to spread the good news.
Anyways, now for the funny part. Some pretty funny stuff happened this week. As I have ex
plained earlier to you all, we have an extension that is about an hour bus ride out of Melo towards the Brazil frontera. It’s only like 15 minutes from Brazil, so the people talk in a kind of Portuñol mix sometimes (Oh by the way, we met this guy on the street one day from Italy, and he spoke in like a mix of Italian and Spanish. It was pretty funny). ANYWAYS, we were on the bus, and of course as usual we were pretty tired. I was reading “Jesus the Christ” and my comp was trying to study, and well as usual, we fell asleep. This usually happens no matter how hard we try, but we usually wake up before Noblia. However, this time we missed our stop and Continued on to Aceguà. The good thing is that the bus attendant helped us out a ton and a bus was headed back the other direction and after a quick change we were headed back to Noblia. So yeah, that was pretty funny!Also, I ate some pretty new and interesting things this week. We went to member/investigators house and ate something that was close to a Cow’s intestine and Hígado con arroz. I felt like Doug from that old cartoon Tyler and I used to watch! It was actually pretty tasty and I still consider myself fortunate that they usually eat pretty well here as opposed to the chicken feet Nate had to stomach. Especially since we eat every night at Abuela’s. She cooks the BEST food. Alfajores, Arroz con leche, pollo, etc… We’re going to make Gnochis today. I’m SO EXCITED!
My first change is already almost over (next Wednesday not this one). I have learned so much, and continue to learn a whole lot more. Keep the faith, and don’t forget to do your part to spread the good news.
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