June 18, 2012

Hey mom. . . 

How was the week???

This was a good week, except for the rain.

We didn’t have as many lessons that we would have wanted.  We are having some trouble in the branch with the branch president and we have been fixing some things.  The branch president does not know how to keep secrets and all of the interviews he does the whole branch knows about.  And there are some people who are not very happy about it.  Elder Keller & I are only 2 of them.  Mostly because he has been making problems between our recent converts.  We called president Callan to tell him about it and ask what we could do, he told us to just do some damage control and to help the president out a bit...President Callan told us he was going to call the area 70 to come and help because this is not the first time it has happened in the branch or in this district....He’ll be here next week.

But anyways on to some good things. . . Andres, our convert passed the sacrament yesterday and I was sitting next to Ruth, the other recent convert and she was so focused in on the sacrament.  It was nice to see them taking things seriously.  They are doing really good as members now.  Ruth has a calling to be the secretary in the primary now, and I’m not sure if Andres has a calling, he had an interview yesterday with the branch pres, I think it was about that.  

So like you already know, we have changes this week.....and I am not in the same area as Elder Richards anymore....I wish I was, he is better than any of the other zone leaders that I have had haha.  But we have 2 elders in our district that are going home too,,, the letters from their moms this morning were so trunky....I’ll bet you will be more trunky than me also haha.  But this is the start of my 10th change...I only have 15 in total.  Spencer will have 16 cuz that lucky guy only has 3 weeks in the MTC.  But it’s going by really fast right now mom.   I don’t even care about other things right now, like being home and stuff...yeah it would be fun and stuff but whatever, I’m in fetchin Paraguay ha.  I did see this week that Madagascar 3 is coming out...can’t wait.

This week we had one investigator go to church but she is only 11 and doesn’t understand really anything.  We have been getting a ton of references which is new for us, since we never get them.  But we do have 2 others that are progressing.  Jose can get baptized now, and he is reading and praying everyday with Sister Achucarro.  He just needs to commit to a day.  And then we have Andrea, she is half Brazilian and WAS a coffee drinker.  She stopped drinking coffee completely last week, but had a downfall, she is pregnant.  Elder Keller & I  were so sad when we heard that.   She got pregnant before we started to teach her but still we are worried that she might stop progressing.  You can pray for them :)

Love ya Mom

Poor Shoes!  This is another pair that we sent him in February!

What a mess that red dirt is!

June 11, 2012

Dear mom. . . 

It’s been a good week, a little tuff because it’s getting really cold and that makes it harder to talk to people but it’s all good.  This week it got way cold and Elder Keller & I both got kind of sick.  I just have a stuffy nose and a cough and he does too.  But whatever, it’s only like 60 or 654 degrees here but the humidity makes it feel even worse.  Last winter for me until next December, I hate the winter.  

It rained yesterday and so we only had 2 investigators come to church instead of the 5 we were planning on.  There were more people than last week but it was still little.  We went over to a member’s house to watch the restoration movie with one of our investigators.  She is progressing a little but it’s hard because we can only visit her once a week, twice if we are lucky.  We taught her the word of wisdom, and she doesn’t like the part about coffee but she hasn’t had any for 2 days so that is good- Then we have some other investigators who are just sort of floating around.  They can be baptized today but they are afraid of the decision.

Mom, I need you to send me some stuff.....I need you to send me some pen refills.  I would like refills for my pilot pens, I want a refill of blue red and black.  I have the pens, so if you could get the refills of the 0.5 size so I can continue to mark my scriptures.....also I need some tabs.....they are like plastic sticky notes they are about half an inch wide and inch and a half long.  They come in a pack of blue pink yellow green and orange.  I put a pic in this email with my bible and how I mark my scriptures now and it is really helpful.  I could really use two packs of them mom....if you could just send that in a yellow bubble mailer.  Or send me pics next week of what you have found so I can confirm:)  I would sure appreciate it!!!

Love you mom!

June 4, 2012

Dear Mom

This was a good week...I’m glad it is over because it was just way too stressful. Spencer is going to have it easy in Florida as far as help from the members. We have to drop the cane on them so much. Anyways, we had the wedding and the baptism. It was nice, even though she wore a dress that was pretty racy with a still in the front that went all the way up her leg!!!! It was good though. Ruth asked me to baptize her so that was exciting. We did have to pay 300,000 for the wedding though, that like 15 boxes of Trix that we could have bought, but it’s a new month so we should get 150,000 back from the office and we pulled our money out today for the new month so I’m gonna eat something good.

So I have a scripture that i want on my mission plaque...Moroni 10:32. I sent you a letter last week, so Spencer should get one in like a week and you in 2 weeks.

So tell Spencer to get some shoes that do not have fabric on the inside like mine do that you sent me,,,,it wears away really fast, and get shoes that have more rubber on the bottom, nice thick ones. Also, you don’t have to be plain Jane. You can have cool fun ties, you can have a belt with a cool belt buckle, and your backpack does not have to be logo free...if he wants a back backpack that has a dc or a fox logo...it’s ok, he won’t get sent home.

Sunday it was raining really bad and there were only 20 people in the church. And Elder Keller and I were just mad at the branch president because he seriously has no clue what he is doing. They started the sacrament meeting like 25 min late. But then we confirmed Ruth and when they said amen, she was just crying, and when I saw that, I just forgot all that had happened and just felt really good. Just felt, well I fulfilled my purpose this week. Of the 6 people that I have baptized, 3 of them are converts. Ruth is going to be a strong member for a long time!!!

I have started the Old Testament....Genesis isn’t that bad but the next 2 books are going to be a little harder!!!! HAHA I was studying about fasting this week, and how to really do it, and then I read in Isaiah 58. After reading that I was excited for fast Sunday. I was going to eat dinner Friday night and then fast for the baptism and other stuff, and I was going to end it Sunday for lunch. That didn’t happen....so much stuff happened. We had food all day, plus food at the wedding and I still haven’t fasted, only paid my fast offering. SO I’m going to do it this week. You should all read Isaiah 58 for next fast Sunday.

I think the winter is here now for good, its cold but not really...all the Paraguayans are freezing, and it’s been raining not cool :(

 That’s about it for this week

Love you mom