Monday, December 28, 2015

Hello family!!  I hope that all is still going well.  It was great to talk to you even though the connection was pretty bad almost the whole time.  

So this week teaching wise was a little bit tougher because of Christmas because people went shopping others were traveling so it was a bummer ,,, BUT, It ended on a high note.  So when we talked I told you we had a lesson with a guy from Ukraine and his wife from Perú.  We went later that night and it was awesome.  They are really excited to learn more.  In the first lesson we watched the Restoration in Russian so our investigator could understand it better.  With Spanish subtitles.  They liked the video and to end the lesson he prayed in Russian.  When he finished I said I did not understand a thing you said but it was perfect!  

They went to church yesterday for the second time and we had a lesson with them again in the night.  In the lesson we explained the Restoration a little bit more so they could understand it.  His wife started talking at the end that she had been searching for a church for a while and asked God for a church.  But it couldn't be any church because her husband doesn't speak Spanish.  So when they found our church and the missionaries speak English and some members she said it was like an answer from God that they should go there.  We invited them to baptism and they accepted!  So hopefully they keep on being so excited and can be baptized on the 16.  They are seriously so cool and after they gave us food from Ukraine and it was good.  And I know how to say delicious in Russian now.

One funny story. On Christmas we were on my ward mission leaders balcony watching the fireworks and his two year old son shut the door.  It was a sliding glass door.  And then my ward mission leaders wife called us all back inside and my companion didn't notice that the door had been shut.  So he turned around and started to walk the other way BUT....  there was a glass door in the way and BAM.  Nailed it.  I fell on the floor laughing because it was hilarious.  Seriously so funny.  

That is the news from this week family.  I love you all and hope you have a great week and a happy new year!  I love you all!

Monday, December 14, 2015

If I had to sum up this whole week in one word it would be SERVICE.  We did  a bunch of service projects this week.  We had one where my companion and I had to clean out a big pine tree and it was rough.  We took turns climbing up the ladder to clean out the tree and the other person had to stand below and hold the ladder and just get rained on by branches and dirt and bugs so that was interesting.  I am going to send a picture of what the hermana gave me so that I was protected from all the dirt and needles and everything.  

We also did a service project as a zone.  For this Christmas, president wanted us to do a service project from 4 to 6 hours.  As a zone we found a project in one of the sectors of my district.  We were going to clean out the stadium of this city.  It wasn't much of a stadium it was a grass field to play soccer, with a track around and it had a pool and basketball courts so it was pretty big.  My companion and I started pulling out all the weeds around the whole field.  We had a shovel and a pick axe type of thing and we started working and it was tiring.  Then we had to clean out the pool.  There were about 8 of us that had to clean out this pool that hadn't been used in over a year.  It was huge.  We had to sweep it.  Then we had to scrub it with brooms and soap and spray it off with a hose.  It was very tiring.  It is a good thing that the sun wasn't out that day.... oh wait.... it didn't matter because I still got fried!!  It was bad.  My neck the next day was hurting with a collared shirt.  It didn't feel to good.  But oh well, I am better now.  

This past week it was also cool because we got to go to the temple.  It is a long story because it was a little rough getting there  but it was great because two converts of my companion from this ward were able to go to the temple for the first time!  One of the was a girl who waited 4 years to be able to get baptized.  She has read the Book of Mormon like 4 or 5 times, finished her personal progress before she was a member and is just full pilas.  And the other lady is awesome too! she is a little bit older but she loves the church and she took 5 names to the temple and has a calling in the Relief Society!  It is so awesome to be able to go to the temple with converts!  The spirit is so strong and they come out of the temple just shining.

I guess we have to coordinate the skype.  So we still have to find members that will let us use their computers but what time is good for you all?  don't know why I asked because I know you are going to say at whatever time.  But I will talk with members next week and tell you all the time next Monday.

I love you all!

 

Monday, December 7, 2015

So this week was another week that absolutely flew by!  It is crazy how fast the weeks go.  And it was fun because we got to teach the people with the ha nacido un salvador - the new video that the church released!  It is so wonderful because hearts can be softened this time of year.  There is a special Christmas spirit whenever we have the opportunity to talk about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

Speaking of that, the Christmas devotional was great!!  One of my favorite parts was when Elder Bednar was talking about the signs of Christ and what the Lord said when he came to America.  THE LIGHT.  Christ is light of the world.  In any place that is dark the Lord Jesus Christ fills it with light.  I had never thought about that before.  All the signs of light...  A day a night and a day without darkness.  A new star in the sky, etc...  Then Jesus Christ said he is the light and when he was crucified there was darkness in the world.  That is the part that hit me the most in the devotional is that JESUS CHRIST IS THE LIGHT.  

This week was another good week with _____.  He is progressing so well!  So I think it told you all last week that he smoked because it was the only thing he could do to keep himself calm.  Anyways we told him that between each time he smoked to make it more time than the last time.  So on Sunday we told him that and on Monday he came into the lesson we had and he told us that he had not smoked the whole entire day!! My mind was just completely blown in that moment and the joy in his face and the joy that we felt in the room was incredible.  We saw him almost every day of the week and we played soccer with him too!  He is the best and we are going to the temple with the ward on Friday and we are hoping he comes with us!

This week I also had the blessing to baptize someone.  In my district we are 9 missionaries.  Me, my companion and 7 hermanas.  So I do all the baptismal interviews in the district and sometimes the hermanas need someone to baptize their investigator so since I did the interview a week ago their investigator chose me to baptize her.  It was a great blessing.  It is always the best to be able to participate in a baptism.  

I hope that you all have a great week, be safe, have fun and share the gospel with someone.  I love you all!!!!!!

Monday, November 30, 2015

Sounds like you had a good thanksgiving!  We had a good thanksgiving!  We went to a restaurante with our ward mission leader.  Pollo a la brasa.  It was great.  He payed and everything so even better!!  haha but it was a good day.

So this week our goal was to contact everything that moved.  And we did it.  We had a TON and I mean a ton of contacts.  The bummer is that not a lot of them live in our sector because if people are here they are working or on vacation but we did find a few people.  But the cool story from all the contacting was someone that the hermanas from our ward contacted.  His name is Felipe.  He has had some big problems in the past with the word of wisdom.  He was good for a couple weeks but he was going to fall again.  He had already made the decision.  When he was about to buy some stuff the hermanas contacted him and gave him a card with a picture of Jesucristo.  After the hermanas left he stood there for 30 minutes looking at what he could do and looking and the picture of The Savior. He decided that he was going to walk away and change his life.  The next day he called the hermanas and committed himself to come to church.  On Sunday he went.  For all 3 hours.  And we had a lesson with him because it turns out he lives in our sector.  He is awesome!  I have never in my whole mission seen someone who wants to change so much.  We have lessons with him just about every day this week and he is probably going to go to the temple with us to be outside on Wednesday.  Seriously it was such a miracle that they were able to find him this week.

Also, another cool thing that happened is that we went to the temple and in the session that we were in el obispo Waddell was there with his wife.  It was a cool experience to be in a session with a general authority.   That was about it for this week  I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and know that I am thankful for you!!

 

Monday, November 23, 2015

Hello family!!  Buenos dias.   One weird thing that happened this week was that about 5 people got mad at us in a two day span because we don't watch the news.  With the whole France thing they all got mad because we didn't know about it and they asked us and we had no idea what they were talking about and so they all got mad and lectured us about how we need to watch the news.

One good announcement.  So my ward mission leader is from Perú but he has lived in Utah for about 20 years but is here for 3 years working then back to Pleasant Grove.  So he has developed American traditions one of them being Thanksgving.  We have one American Elder in the ward.  ME.  And 2 Hermanas that are from the United States.  So our ward mission leader on Thursday is going to take us out to eat so that will be awesome.  

From this week we found a new investigator that is awesome!  He is this little old man and was super interested.  The first lesson we gave him was just reading the Book of Mormon.  3 Nefi 11.  We read it and the spirit was so strong.  It was incredible.  He accepted a baptismal date for the 19 of December and he said I am going to go to church with you guys tomorrow.  We said we would go get him and he said I will be here ready before you get here.  It was true.  We went and got him yesterday and we went to church and he loved it!  That was a great blessing to be able to find him.

One other thing that happened in our ward is that they changed the limits where our sector and the sector of the hermanas starts.  They cut a part of ours out and gave it to the hermanas and gave us a part of the hermanas sector.  The only problem is we had a bunch of investigators in this part that they cut out but oh well.  We will just have to find more to teach!  The leaders are called of God so I will trust in them and their decisions!!

We had a Multi zone this past week with President and his wife and it was awesome.  There is a video coming out for Christmas so get prepared.  We were able to see it but it comes out in a 6 days.  Get prepared, it is a good one!  Tthat is about it for this week family!  I love you all!  Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Monday, November 16, 2015

This week was a bit tougher than the last ones.  A bunch of appointments fell through this past week so that was a bummer but here in the mission we just have to keep on trying.  If we get down on one week the next one will be that much worse so we just have to keep on trying.  

This week was quite interesting in our room.  Haha so I had been sleeping on a very dirty mattress without a cover, but with a blanket covering the mattress and my sheets on top of the blanket.  And the mattress cover was full of garbage in the patio area of our room outside.  The room was not used for a long time so when the elders that cleaned it out didn't have any trash bags they used the mattress cover.  But Hermana Larson found out and I soon had a new mattress but all is well.  But this past week we threw out the big bag of garbage when it was dark so nobody saw us.  After that our sink broke where we used to wash the dishes.  So now we have to wash our dishes in the shower.

So since this area is full of tourests my companion said that sometimes we run into members from the United States and they want to buy us food.  And last night it happened.  We ran into this guy that called us over and was from Ogden but here for work for a day.  We talked for a little, I translated for my companion and then at the end he was going to buy us food but 1/ sabbath day.  2/ we had an appointment but hopefully this week we run into a member Monday through Saturday, that would be nice haha.  

There is a lady that we are teaching that could be baptized but is super sick.  The doctors know that she has a virus but don't know what virus it is.  For a month she hasn't been able to keep like any food down.  But we went over and we are going to read with her every night from now on so that she can have the desire to get baptized once she is better.  But the first night we went over to her house we started talking about guinea pigs and I told my story about my guinea pigs and she started laughing so hard that her stomach started to hurt again and she almost threw up.  Sorry kind of gross but it was funny.

One postive thing from this week is that we contacted some pretty cool people.  People that were excited to hear about the gospel.  One thing that I already knew but strengthened my testimony of is that if we serve people they will be more wiling to listen to the gospel message.  We were in a building on the fifth floor last night and these two guys in their twenties were taking a couch down to the first floor.  So when they first saw us they didn't really want to talk but we said that we were going to help them take the couch down and while we were taking it down we were talking and by the time we finally got to the first floor and we had taken the  couch out they were grateful and they were willing to listen to us.  So it is just like Ammon when he served the king Lamoni.  first he served, then he preached and converted.

Anyways, the time seriously flies by.  So many people are getting home but it is great to see the testimonies they have gained on their missions.  The mission is the best preparation that any young person can have for the rest of the eternity.  

Monday, November 9, 2015

So I totally jinxed myself.  Last week I said that I didn't want to get sent to a rich area here in the mission.  Well, me tocó.  I got sent to Santa Cruz.  Miraflores.  Which just happens to be like the richest and biggest sector in all the mission.  The video that we me and my friends made before the mission with all of our mission calls where it has the ocean in it and the coast - that is my sector.  Also if you want, you can put Larcomar which is a touristy spot in my sector.  

So anyway, I am here in Santa Cruz. The work is super different.  The people here are so cold.  For like the first time I am getting doors shut in my face.  Not just shut like people yelling.  We say buenos dias and buenas tardes to people and they don't even respond.  In the really rich areas apparently we can get tickets for talking to people and contacting them.  It is so different from my other sectors.  I must say that as far as that goes, I like my other sectors better where it was poor and dangerous.  Mom, don't worry about me getting robbed or anything.  With that being said, there are not a whole lot of people that we have right now to teach.  But this week we were able to find 5 new investigators.  So I guess the work will be steady and slow but we just have to work.   Haha we are in the richest sector but our room is not very nice.  Probably the worst one I have had haha.  Not complaining but it is just funny.  With the mixture of fungus and other bugs, won't be surprised if I get sick but oh well, the Lord protects his missionaries.  Another downside of this sector is that everything is wayyyyyyy more expensive.  Like super expensive so money will be a little tight.

My companion is awesome.  Seriously he is such an example for me.  He has 3 months in the mission and just barely finished his training.  His name is Elder Guevara.  He is from Bolivia Santa Cruz and has about 18 months being a member. He is the only member in his family.  What absolutely blows my mind is that in May of 2014 he was baptized.  One month before I left for the mission.  He has so little time but knows so much and loves the church and the Lord.  Seriously he is awesome.

As for the work this week in the sector it was a little slow.  It is a lot different from my other sectors.  The sector is gigantic and there are a lot of people that are here just for vacation.  It is tougher to contact because there aren't really a lot of houses.  More buildings and to enter in the building you have to know somebody so it is tough.  But this week we were able to have some success so it was good and next week will be even better!