2014-05-26 Working Hard and Cleaning Up

Hey guys how are you doing?  Well this past week was a good week and we finally have been able to get some members to leave with us.  A lot of things fell though which was a bummer, but we are working around the potholes in the road.  We found some new people to teach, and they are going well, but some of the common challenges between all of them is that they have obligations every Sunday.  One of the people that we are teaching, is really good and all, but she works every Sunday.  There is another family that the parents study every Sunday too! haha my comp. and I always get a good laugh out of this because everyone professes to be a follower of the scriptures and religious and they always overlook this one commandment! Six days you will work... but the seventh you will rest! But oh well, we will get the work done here.  Slowly but surely we are paving the rough edges that was there before we got to the area, and the members are warming up to us.  We got a new bishop this past week, so the ward should run a little smoother now, if everything goes to plan.  But we have a lot of goals to fill for next month so we will have to crack down this coming week to fulfill them.  What we plant now, is what we will reap in a few weeks.

Well I love you guys! have a good week!

2014-05-19 Another week down here in La Leyenda

Hey!  Another week down here in La Leyenda.  The area is kind of slow, but we are working and getting the trust and help of the members slowly.  This week was Family Week here, and on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday they had activities in the chapel for families, where they would invite non-member families to participate... and everyone brought non-members that lived in the other area, and not ours.  I think only one non member family that came was on our side that we could actually teach... but oh well, there is nothing you can do about that.  

We were talking to a member here in the ward, and we visited him in his house for a family home evening.  We just talked about the mission.  We started on the topic of what our challenges were here in the ward, and he told us to just focus on being the missionaries that God wants us to be, and emulate Christ's attributes as best as we can.  There is a verse in Alma 5 that talks about receiving the image of Christ in your life or something like that.  And it is true... The member went on and told us that the members here will help, but they need to rebuild that trust in the missionaries again.  Time will pass and we will change them through our efforts and example.  He also said to enjoy the mission and that when you get home the things that you will actually remember are the people and the memories, not how many contacts you made in the street or the number of lessons you taught that one day... just live in the moment.  But at the end of the visit he told us that the mission has blessed him in so many aspects of his life, and that the Lord provides for you as a recompense for your service.  He has a type of cancer, and he has to pay 7000Q every month for the medication.  He does not always have work every month, but somehow the Lord provides and he is able to pay all the house bills, cable, food etc. as well as every cent of the 7000Q.  

 I Love it here, and I know that there is no other place that I am supposed to be right now in my life. Thank you guys for everything, and Have a good week! I love you!

2014-05-12: The BEST MOM EVER!

Hey guys! Well it was really fun talking to you all yesterday... especially since i got to talk with THE BEST MOM EVER! haha happy mother's day mom! I love you, and thank you for helping and giving me so much over the years.  

Well I don't really know what to talk to you guys about this week since I told pretty much all that we did this week. But just to recap, since last week the area is doing much better and we have been working hard to rebuild and find.  Recently we have been trying to get the members on board the missionary work train, and most of the week was spent trying to find the members willing and able to help us in the work.  We do not have a bishop in this ward so we are hoping that they call one soon... but all in all I really like the ward. It is starting to rain really heavily here, and we have to work and contact people in the rain which is kind of fun, but at the end of the day we are just soaked.  Once again we had to bucket shower for the whole week because we didn't have water at all.  In our house we have 2 blue plastic tunnels that we fill with water for the week.  The water is kind of dirty, but hey, it is better than no water huh? 

All in all good week, and we are working hard to turn the area around.  Many missionaries say that calling home gets you baggy but I feel determined. haha I know I say this a lot, but I feel like I have found myself... if that makes sense. But I love it here, and time just flies so I have to work the hardest I can and do all I can do.

I love you guys, and have a good week!

2014-05-05: Yet another Transfer and a New Area

Hey guys! Well this week has been a wreck, and exciting at the same time.  Monday night the ZLs called and told us that I had changes AGAIN.  Haha I have been at almost every change conference ever since I started the mission.  So Tuesday was spent saying goodbye to members and people that I got to know here in the area.  The greenies came to our zone and spent the first night in the field doing splits with us.  It was kind of fun because I could remember the first night in the field that I had just like yesterday...  Wednesday we woke up at 5 and I finished packing and the taxi came for us at 6:30.  My new comp is named Elder Jeremy Moss from Cut Bank Montana.  He has 21 months in the mission and he is probably going to die (finish the mission) with me.  

Our area is called La Leyenda in Zona 18.  And once again I am in an area rebuilding and basically opening it.  The house is cool, and really big, but we only have water on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  So we have to fill up a water container and have bucket showers on days without water.  The ward is called Barrio La Leyenda and the saving grace of this area is the members.  Since we have been rebuilding the area, all week we have been visiting and leaving with members.  I can tell you that they are really good... they are willing to help and leave with us which is much better than all the other areas where we have been rebuilding.  The area is freaking huge though, and it kind of reminds me of Jackpot, because it is a smaller town in the middle of a valley.  We walk a lot here, but I really like it.  

My companion is cool and we get along great... but I can't believe (no one can believe) the amount of gringo companions I have had in the mission.  It is unheard of to have 4 areas, 7 comps (5 of them gringos) in only 8 months.  The climate here has been rainy and windy all week, and I think soon rainy season starts.  It is kind of dry like a desert, but there is greenery here if that makes sense.  

Well for my birthday, I bought a cake and invited the other elders in my district over for cake on Friday night.  They sang happy birthday to me in Spanish, and everything went well.  Just working hard here and doing all we can do for the area.  Thank you all for the birthday wishes!  Haha I woke up at 6 like normal and I sat at my desk and read them all and started crying!  Haha I can't believe I am 19 now.  Oh well time ticks and advances, we cannot stop its advance... but what we can control is our advancement.  This whole week I have been trying to lose myself in the work... and time just flies!  

I will keep coach S in my prayers and it sounds like the bad news bears over there.  Elijah just have confidence in your calls as an umpire and don't let no one shake you.  You don't take back a call for no one... and just remember: When in doubt, CALL EM OUT!  Haha

Well, I love you guys and I will talk to you guys later!  I love the work, and I am doing my best out here!

 Beautiful Downtown La Leyenda in Zona 18

 

Spam and Eggs for Birthday Breakfast