Sorry I have not updated in awhile. Thanks to a friend who reminded me today and thanks for reading.
June 7, 2010
This past week in church was really nice. Lots of the members came, and lots of people shared their testimonies. I just felt this wonderful peace and simple joy. In priesthood, they were working on reorganizing their home teaching efforts. It was great to remember all the times I went out with Dad. It made me think of how grateful I was for those experiences and how great it was for the youth to be able to do that. Even though I really wanted to sleep on Sunday, I am so grateful that Dad always made time to go visit and always motivated me to go with him. I am so thankful for that. It was nice to see their excitement and I pray that all goes well for their program. It will really help lots of the less active members return to the church. I wanted to thank you as well for all your prayers and support. I have really felt them supporting me and uplifting me. As Dad told me months ago, Angels fly because they take themselves lightly. I’m trying to apply this more and not take myself too seriously. As you know, in certain circumstances and situations, this can be difficult for me. But I’m learning. I suppose this is why the Lord chooses young men and women to serve missions. I read a scripture the other night that has inspired me to give it all I’ve got. I have heard it before, but it kind of rang true in particular to me in this occasion. D&C 58:26-29 We are who we chose to be. Our actions speak so much louder than our words. We need to be working hard with our own initiative to bring about good things. I am so thankful for you all, and the huge examples you have played in my life!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thanks for your support
I really enjoyed talking to you all yesterday. It was so nice to hear all of your voices, and thank you so much for all the advice and support you keep sending my way. As I was thinking last night, I really didn’t feel that far away from you all. Life is so short and the world so small when you think of the infinite nature of the gospel and the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children. It was such a nice comforting feeling to hear that you are all well, and I really enjoyed laughing and just spending time with you for a little while. Although, I do plenty of laughing here in Uruguay. There is a lot to laugh at when you’re walking in the street!
Anyways, this past week was pretty chill. We continue looking for and finding new people to teach. We have found this really neat family named Alejandro and Jennifer. They have been married just a few years and have a really nice family. They work A LOT!!! He has heard the gospel and knows its true; it’s just that he works so much and has lots of responsibilities. They have so much interest in what we say and teach. He just seems to not have time. That seems to be the case in a lot of families we teach. They feel nice, but just ¨don’t have time.¨ We just keep doing our best to let them know how important it is and how much it will truly bless their lives. They are so nice.
We also found another man named Nestor who has read the Book of Mormon. He needs glasses to read and said that he didn’t understand the book; however he wanted us to help explain it to him. We have plenty of wonderful people listening to us; it’s just a matter of patience and following the spirit.
Last night were the district elections, where EVERYONE votes for their regional leader. It’s so funny. In a country of 3.5 million people, you think that people wouldn’t get that excited about politics. But they just can’t get enough of it! There were people honking horns and cheering all day!
I love you all! Thanks again for all your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you and keep you! KEEP THE FAITH!
Anyways, this past week was pretty chill. We continue looking for and finding new people to teach. We have found this really neat family named Alejandro and Jennifer. They have been married just a few years and have a really nice family. They work A LOT!!! He has heard the gospel and knows its true; it’s just that he works so much and has lots of responsibilities. They have so much interest in what we say and teach. He just seems to not have time. That seems to be the case in a lot of families we teach. They feel nice, but just ¨don’t have time.¨ We just keep doing our best to let them know how important it is and how much it will truly bless their lives. They are so nice.
We also found another man named Nestor who has read the Book of Mormon. He needs glasses to read and said that he didn’t understand the book; however he wanted us to help explain it to him. We have plenty of wonderful people listening to us; it’s just a matter of patience and following the spirit.
Last night were the district elections, where EVERYONE votes for their regional leader. It’s so funny. In a country of 3.5 million people, you think that people wouldn’t get that excited about politics. But they just can’t get enough of it! There were people honking horns and cheering all day!
I love you all! Thanks again for all your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you and keep you! KEEP THE FAITH!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Change is good.
Week two in Florida and I must admit it’s been a little hard getting adapted to a new area. Especially since I was in my last area for 6 months! But like Mom said, change is good. It helps us grow. I definitely have done lots of growing these past few days, and I hope to continue doing so! Not too much has happened this past week. We’ve continued working and have found some really wonderful families. One woman named Mabel whom we have been teaching for a while, is having some difficulty, but continues to come to church and pray and read. It’s amazing. When we do these three simple things, we receive all we need for our spiritual nourishment so we can continue forward in obedience and happiness.
This last Sunday was very nice. Sacrament meeting was pretty full, due to a baby blessing, and we had fast and testimony meeting. It was nice to hear all these sweet testimonies from the members. Even though Florida is pretty small compared to the hustle and bustle of Montevideo, I have thoroughly enjoyed the time away from the BIG city and have gotten comfortable out here. It’s much easier to find things and get around.
This last Sunday was very nice. Sacrament meeting was pretty full, due to a baby blessing, and we had fast and testimony meeting. It was nice to hear all these sweet testimonies from the members. Even though Florida is pretty small compared to the hustle and bustle of Montevideo, I have thoroughly enjoyed the time away from the BIG city and have gotten comfortable out here. It’s much easier to find things and get around.
I’m very happy, and the zone is really awesome. We just had an activity today. We had asado (barbecue), salad, and purè de pàpa (mashed potatoes). It was pretty fun. We cooked at the Elders’ house who live next to the church in another part of town after district meeting. It was great, and I made sure to take some pictures.
There is a very interesting gaucho shop in the town center. I’ll have to make sure to buy something to bring home to show you all. Gauchos are their equivalent to cowboys. And there are quite a few of them, seeing as how there are more cows than people in Uruguay. Maybe we’ll have to take a page from Saint Francis of Asisi and start preaching the gospel to them.
(See All creatures of our God and King).
Love My New Area
Well, here I am in Florida, the capital city of the department that has the same name. It is a nice zone with 10 elders and 2 hermanas (sisters). It’s been really beautiful here as well, and I really love my new area. It’s nice to be out of the big city and into the countryside again. Florida is a pretty small city, but it is very clean. It reminds me a little of Folsom, or something, although I’m pretty sure it’s smaller. But it has the same feel. Small, but kind of trendy. It has a nice central street with lots of ´´stuff´´ and it even has a giant cathedral.
My area is called Piedra Alta, and I’m here with my companion Elder Bonilla from Honduras. He’s pretty crazy, and I have been having lots of fun getting to know him. He has a monstrous testimony and has been a member of the church for 4 years. He’s also 20. Whenever he bears his testimony, he bears it with such a pure and bright love for those he is teaching. He’s been helping me out a lot getting used to the responsibilities of being a zone leader.
Florida is still developing and is not a stake yet. It is a district of six branches. There are two very beautiful chapels in Florida, recently constructed. Our branch has about 60 active members, and we continue to look for more. The people here are really nice to talk to. Anyways, the week was for me mostly just trying to keep up with Elder Bonilla. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a new area, that I feel like an oro again! It gets kind of frustrating sometimes, but I’ve got to keep growing I guess. I’m excited to really immerse myself in this new area and start to take on more responsibilities. The branch is amazing and everyone is really nice! They all came up and greeted me after sacrament meeting with all these bright cheery faces. Not to mention, they feed us VERY well. :)
This week all the zone leaders had a conference in the mission home with the assistants and with President and Sister Da Silva. He is so amazing. I’ve learned so much from him and he really is like the father of the mission. The advice that He and Dad have given me have given me so much comfort in my hardships that I wonder why I ever worry. I have had such great examples, both from my family and church leaders. During the conference, we talked about a number of topics, but I want to focus on one for the moment. The power of the Book of Mormon. We have had a challenge as a mission to read the Book of Mormon in 6 weeks and mark every reference to the Savior, and what he says directly or when it says, thus saith the Lord. It has been a remarkable experience. Although I’m inching my way through the book, I have grown to love and adore it. Whenever I read it with the spirit guiding me, I feel like Heavenly Father lovingly created it for me. Like he inspired Mormon to take out specific parts from their history that I would need to hear at each moment of my life. I have come to wonder why I have never realized how truly valuable and priceless the message is. I find it not a coincidence that it was written on gold plates, though the message is far more precious than the gold it was written on. I love that book. I hope you all continue to read it, even when you are studying the other scriptures. I know and promise that you will all come to treasure all the words of the prophets old and modern if you keep reading it at least 5 minutes a day.
Well, I’ve got to go. On a little note, the boy who was supposed to get baptized this week in my last area got baptized! I heard it was amazing! Anyways, I love you all! Keep the faith, and may the Lord bless you and keep you!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
OFF TO FLORIDA
Well, changes have come, and I’m off. Well, both of us are off. They are doing a white wash (when they put two new Elders in an area) in our ward, and they are going to have lots of work on their hands, especially because they have a baptism this coming weekend. We made sure to tell them, everytihng they needed to know and left them lots of notes. Our ward mission leader was sad we were leaving, but he promised he would do everything he could to help them. We had to say goodbye to lots of investigators and explain the situation to them. They all understood and all went very well. So much has happened this week.
Well, my Oro (greenie) Elder Delbar is going off to Durazno in a little town called Villa del Carmen. He’s going to be with an Elder named Elder Hoggan who was in my group in the MTC. He’s very sweet and very funny, almost exactly like Tyler. My companion is all grown up and moving off on his own... sniffle sniffle..... I’m so happy for him. He really likes the country which is good because that’s where he's going. I’m heading off to Florida. Not the state, the province. And... I’m going to be a zone leader. So, I’m a little nervous and I was a little frustrated Sunday night after we received the calls making sure all was prepared and organized for the new Elders coming. But, after a good nights sleep, I just felt this huge sense of peace and I felt very content. We said our goodbyes to our converts and the awesome members of the ward, and I felt a little like Paul leaving behind people who had become his dear friends. Well, as our convert Luis said ¨ Es la ley de Dios¨ It´s the law of God.
I’m very excited and ready to head off to a new area, having learned loads. I’ll never forget this ward and area and all the Lord has taught me here. More and more I grow to understand that the Lord really doesn’t need missionaries. His gospel will roll forth with or without us. But we need to be missionaries. So, I’m off to Florida, just north of Montevideo with Elder Bonilla. I’m excited to work with him, and he seems very nice. I’ll give you more details next week.
Back to what happened this past week. We had a baptism! Sergio, the younger brother of Nicholas who was baptized 6 weeks ago, got baptized. Furthermore, he was baptized by Rafael, a priest/youth in the ward. I think I already told you his story. His family was inactive and had moved into our ward. It was a nice baptism and it all worked out very well. Also, the neighboring ward and their missionaries who are in our district came over for an emergency. Their heater wasn’t working in their building and the water was cold. So they decided to come over, and we had a joint baptism. It was pretty funny, but all worked out very well. When all was said and done, four people were baptized. The three they baptized were these girls that contacted us in the street. We went and talked to their family, but they were right on the border of our area. It’s been a few weeks, and now they got baptized! It was fun that we had a tiny little part and that we got to see their baptism.
Well, I think that’s all that happened last week. Lots of running around, doing baptismal interviews and of course teaching and sharing the gospel. I had kind of a hard time at one point these past few weeks, but then I have just felt this overwhelming sense of peace, knowing that I’m doing my best. It’s been so fun today to be here in the terminal to see all my friends and talk to them and hear their experiences. I have learned so very much. The Lord has poured out His spirit, and I have never felt closer to Him.
Well, my Oro (greenie) Elder Delbar is going off to Durazno in a little town called Villa del Carmen. He’s going to be with an Elder named Elder Hoggan who was in my group in the MTC. He’s very sweet and very funny, almost exactly like Tyler. My companion is all grown up and moving off on his own... sniffle sniffle..... I’m so happy for him. He really likes the country which is good because that’s where he's going. I’m heading off to Florida. Not the state, the province. And... I’m going to be a zone leader. So, I’m a little nervous and I was a little frustrated Sunday night after we received the calls making sure all was prepared and organized for the new Elders coming. But, after a good nights sleep, I just felt this huge sense of peace and I felt very content. We said our goodbyes to our converts and the awesome members of the ward, and I felt a little like Paul leaving behind people who had become his dear friends. Well, as our convert Luis said ¨ Es la ley de Dios¨ It´s the law of God.
I’m very excited and ready to head off to a new area, having learned loads. I’ll never forget this ward and area and all the Lord has taught me here. More and more I grow to understand that the Lord really doesn’t need missionaries. His gospel will roll forth with or without us. But we need to be missionaries. So, I’m off to Florida, just north of Montevideo with Elder Bonilla. I’m excited to work with him, and he seems very nice. I’ll give you more details next week.
Back to what happened this past week. We had a baptism! Sergio, the younger brother of Nicholas who was baptized 6 weeks ago, got baptized. Furthermore, he was baptized by Rafael, a priest/youth in the ward. I think I already told you his story. His family was inactive and had moved into our ward. It was a nice baptism and it all worked out very well. Also, the neighboring ward and their missionaries who are in our district came over for an emergency. Their heater wasn’t working in their building and the water was cold. So they decided to come over, and we had a joint baptism. It was pretty funny, but all worked out very well. When all was said and done, four people were baptized. The three they baptized were these girls that contacted us in the street. We went and talked to their family, but they were right on the border of our area. It’s been a few weeks, and now they got baptized! It was fun that we had a tiny little part and that we got to see their baptism.
Well, I think that’s all that happened last week. Lots of running around, doing baptismal interviews and of course teaching and sharing the gospel. I had kind of a hard time at one point these past few weeks, but then I have just felt this overwhelming sense of peace, knowing that I’m doing my best. It’s been so fun today to be here in the terminal to see all my friends and talk to them and hear their experiences. I have learned so very much. The Lord has poured out His spirit, and I have never felt closer to Him.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A NEW GENERATION
Well, another week has flown by, and another change is about to come to a close. It’s hard to believe that I’ve almost been in this area for a forth of my mission! (6 months) If you still don’t know the name, it’s probably my fault. I’m in Montevideo, but I’m in Maroñas, which is a thriving stake and I’m in a ward called Libia. And guess what? The little brother of the boy we baptized a few weeks ago wants to be baptized and follow his brother. He’s going to be baptized this Saturday. His older brother is 12, and he’s 11. They live right next to the church and have been going since I got here in November. They are a little rambunctious sometimes, but the members have lots of patience with them and they have changed a lot. Plus, they are 12 and 11; of course they are going to be a little rambunctious! Anyways, their parents have a few problems and want to get baptized, but just have some changes to make. They support them in their decisions to be baptized. Nicholas, the older brother, has been fully integrated into the young men’s program and has received the Aaronic Priesthood. He’s passing the sacrament every Sunday, along with Luis who was baptized a few months ago. The members kindly provided them with pants, shirts, and ties to wear. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they came to church all dappered up! AHH! It was so cool! Plus, a less active family we found months ago are all now starting to come to church. All of the boys received their priesthood offices and are now participating weekly in passing the sacrament. The ward also helped them out with the clothes. It’s so awesome. The young men’s program and priesthood has started to develop. Plus, Raquel has a calling for passing out the Liahona Magazines. Its so neat to see all these people and how they’ve changed and how the ward has adopted them. It’s really like a big family.
I loved that talk last general conference by Elder Choi in the priesthood session entitled ¨I Love Loud Boys.´´ It talks about how leaders became like parents to a group of loud rowdy boys and how they eventually went and served missions, and they all now have families in the Church. It was an amazing story. I have seen this miracle come to pass here in Barrio Libia. When a ward acts as a family and just acts, miracles happen. I’m so excited for this baptism this weekend. The best part is that Sergio wanted Rafael to baptize him. Rafael is 16 and was part of that family that moved in and got reactivated into the Church. He’s now a thriving priest and blessing the sacrament, not to mention, he ALWAYS wants to accompany us. He wants to be a missionary, and has a very profound understanding of the gospel. He has taken Sergio and Nicholas under his wing, and has become like a big brother to them. Wow! I really can’t believe all the things that have been going on here.
The President visited all of our houses to do interviews this week. Luckily we had cleaned our house before knowing! I’m glad I don’t have a sloppy companion. Elder Delbar is pretty neat and tidy. Well, I might not be here in the next week, seeing as how it will probably be time for me to move on. However, if the Lord sees fit to leave me here, all the better! I will miss this area very much.
We had the opportunity today to have a zone activity. We went to the Fùtbol museum in the Centenario Stadium. We also got to see and walk around the stadium a bit. It’s where they had the first FIFA World Cup, in which Uruguay won. However, Uruguay hasn’t won in about 60 years or so. HAHA! Oh well, it was very interesting and we had a good time. I took lots of pictures.
Well, I think that's about it. I was feeling a little tired last night and discouraged, but it’s funny about how when we really do count our blessings, the Lord shows us the things He has done for us. We are just so impatient, like Pres. Uchtdorf said, and we want everything now. I have been richly blessed to have been here. I don’t know where I’ll be next week. I will NEVER forget this wonderful ward and all the lessons I have learned here. It’s been a very special experience. I love you all, and always remember to count your MANY blessings. KEEP THE FAITH!
I loved that talk last general conference by Elder Choi in the priesthood session entitled ¨I Love Loud Boys.´´ It talks about how leaders became like parents to a group of loud rowdy boys and how they eventually went and served missions, and they all now have families in the Church. It was an amazing story. I have seen this miracle come to pass here in Barrio Libia. When a ward acts as a family and just acts, miracles happen. I’m so excited for this baptism this weekend. The best part is that Sergio wanted Rafael to baptize him. Rafael is 16 and was part of that family that moved in and got reactivated into the Church. He’s now a thriving priest and blessing the sacrament, not to mention, he ALWAYS wants to accompany us. He wants to be a missionary, and has a very profound understanding of the gospel. He has taken Sergio and Nicholas under his wing, and has become like a big brother to them. Wow! I really can’t believe all the things that have been going on here.
The President visited all of our houses to do interviews this week. Luckily we had cleaned our house before knowing! I’m glad I don’t have a sloppy companion. Elder Delbar is pretty neat and tidy. Well, I might not be here in the next week, seeing as how it will probably be time for me to move on. However, if the Lord sees fit to leave me here, all the better! I will miss this area very much.
We had the opportunity today to have a zone activity. We went to the Fùtbol museum in the Centenario Stadium. We also got to see and walk around the stadium a bit. It’s where they had the first FIFA World Cup, in which Uruguay won. However, Uruguay hasn’t won in about 60 years or so. HAHA! Oh well, it was very interesting and we had a good time. I took lots of pictures.
Well, I think that's about it. I was feeling a little tired last night and discouraged, but it’s funny about how when we really do count our blessings, the Lord shows us the things He has done for us. We are just so impatient, like Pres. Uchtdorf said, and we want everything now. I have been richly blessed to have been here. I don’t know where I’ll be next week. I will NEVER forget this wonderful ward and all the lessons I have learned here. It’s been a very special experience. I love you all, and always remember to count your MANY blessings. KEEP THE FAITH!
Easter Sunday and house guests
April 5, 2010
Well, this week was a very special one to be a missionary. Although holy week is a little commercialized and most people just use it as an excuse to get some vacation time, there was a sweet spirit.
This weekend was so special, even all the way down here. General Conference for missionaries is like a holiday. We still work, but it was just so wonderful to hear all the messages and testimonies of the Lord’s chosen servants. We got to watch all the sessions in the stake center, which isn’t far from our house. It was fun. As it was last time, we had a special room set up in the Stake High Council room where we were able to view conference in our own language. It was wonderful to be with all the missionaries and be together. I don’t know if I ever told you, but our house is REALLY small. It turned out that some of the Elders needed some place to sleep after the priesthood session, which began at 9pm and ended at 11! They lived a little far out, and so they stayed in our house. It turned out being Elder Mangleson who came in the group after me, and Elder Wally, who was my MTC companion. It was fun. Between sessions, we had to head to the house to borrow mattresses from our member neighbors. We set up the tiny house for four, and ate some food. It was fun to talk with them and get to know each other even more. I really miss Elder Wally. We got to do some division work together. It was REALLY fun to work with him again. It reminded me of our clueless proselyting days back in the MTC. Except this time, we actually understood what the people were saying! Ha-ha! It was a pretty hilarious night. We were all crammed into the house like little sausages.
Earlier in the week, we worked pretty hard. Although we didn’t have too many people come to conference, our investigators continue to learn and grow. Yes, we did get in contact with that golden family again. They are so sweet and kind. They showed us some of their hobbies. The wife loves to do these texture paintings that I thought Mom would really like. We talked only for a little with them. They were busy with family for Holy Week, so it was a little hard to get in touch with them. They still have a desire to learn more. We’ll see what happens. We also found another few people who had listened to missionaries before but had lost contact with them. It’s amazing just how the Lord can guide you to someone without you even knowing it. He really knows us and how we think!
Well, this week was a very special one to be a missionary. Although holy week is a little commercialized and most people just use it as an excuse to get some vacation time, there was a sweet spirit.
This weekend was so special, even all the way down here. General Conference for missionaries is like a holiday. We still work, but it was just so wonderful to hear all the messages and testimonies of the Lord’s chosen servants. We got to watch all the sessions in the stake center, which isn’t far from our house. It was fun. As it was last time, we had a special room set up in the Stake High Council room where we were able to view conference in our own language. It was wonderful to be with all the missionaries and be together. I don’t know if I ever told you, but our house is REALLY small. It turned out that some of the Elders needed some place to sleep after the priesthood session, which began at 9pm and ended at 11! They lived a little far out, and so they stayed in our house. It turned out being Elder Mangleson who came in the group after me, and Elder Wally, who was my MTC companion. It was fun. Between sessions, we had to head to the house to borrow mattresses from our member neighbors. We set up the tiny house for four, and ate some food. It was fun to talk with them and get to know each other even more. I really miss Elder Wally. We got to do some division work together. It was REALLY fun to work with him again. It reminded me of our clueless proselyting days back in the MTC. Except this time, we actually understood what the people were saying! Ha-ha! It was a pretty hilarious night. We were all crammed into the house like little sausages.
Earlier in the week, we worked pretty hard. Although we didn’t have too many people come to conference, our investigators continue to learn and grow. Yes, we did get in contact with that golden family again. They are so sweet and kind. They showed us some of their hobbies. The wife loves to do these texture paintings that I thought Mom would really like. We talked only for a little with them. They were busy with family for Holy Week, so it was a little hard to get in touch with them. They still have a desire to learn more. We’ll see what happens. We also found another few people who had listened to missionaries before but had lost contact with them. It’s amazing just how the Lord can guide you to someone without you even knowing it. He really knows us and how we think!
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