8/28/10

hey, sorry i didn't write this last Wednesday. but this last week was transfer week and us in the office don't have pday till Saturday. but finally it has come! transfer week is usually stressful. i have to deal with all the old and new missionaries, its hard because I'm in charge of all that and if I'm not there no one knows what to do. its annoying having so many people ask stuff. especially with Latin's. they are the worst. you have to say everything like 3 or 4 time before it clicks in their heads. they only listen to what they want to hear. lol

But one thing that gave me a good laugh is that 2 annoying Mexican elders were delayed going home. hahaha. these elders really bother me and the day they were supposed to go home the travel agent called and said the Mexican airline workers were on strike. so they stayed here for 3 more days. they were so annoyed! . lol i just about died laughing when i told them. to top it off they had to take a 10 hour bus ride to buenos Aries to fly out. normally they fly there. i know I'm horrible for getting kicks out of it but it made my day. lol. another thing i hate is that seeing all the old elders makes me really trunky. i have to take them to the airport and get everything ready for them. if it wasn't for the new kids the next day i would be dead. i love seeing their faces.

so this last Friday we had lunch with a member. we have eaten at her house several times. the last time we talked about empanadas. so we decided we were going to make some. so we wen over early and she showed us how. they were some of the best i have had in the mission. now i know how so I'm going to try. i have some fotos of al this. i just put them on face book if you want to see them.

so this last Monday they cut our gas. so we have been showering cold this whole week. definitely an exciting shower experience. so we made for sure that we got the bill paid. but yesterday the other elders we live with called the gas company to have them come by and connect it and tehy said that we still hadn't paid. but they reconnected the gas anyway. its kinda funny because the guy that did it is a member. hes like, well you still haven't paid the gas bill but i like you guys and i know you so ill unlock it. but on Monday turn it off before you go and pay it.

so Monday we have to go and show them that we paid it. so finally today i was able to shower warm, but i made it cold at thee end just for good times. lol. it feels really good after your done showering. well its starting to warm up down here really nice. last p day it was pretty hot. luckily it cooled down again. but today was perfect. i was really cloudy but not cold with a nice cool Oceanside feel to it. so today we went to a park where there is a flea market. it wasn't set up completely so we left to go wandering downtown. after looking at stuff we went to McDonald's. i got myself a triple mac. it was pretty small but it was really good.

Now we are back at the office and we ware waiting for the others so we can go back to the flea market. maybe ill be able to find some cool stuff. oh, last night was pretty cool. we went on splits because my comp had to do a baptismal interview, so i left with elder frias. he was one of my old comps in punta alta and now he is the assistant. so we left for some of our investigators. it was a really good time. we taught 3 lessons. one to a less active woman, we have been working with here and her husband but he wasn't there but we talked to her and helped motivate here towards a marriage date so the husband can get baptized. the husband is really receptive and i think he will get baptized. he had a really cool experience where he felt the spirit really strong. then we left for another investigator and she was a little more stubborn, she doesn't want to read or pray. but we had a good lesson still. in the end she said that she would read. we´ll be passing by her some more. then we went to another investigators. normally we pass by for the husband because we seems more interested but boy were we wrong. it was just her and her kid( and a member of course) and we had a really awesome lesson with her.

She seemed more willing to do the necessary to get an answer. to me it seems that the husband is just listening to us just because he likes what a church does for the family. he wants his kids to be raised in the gospel. not because he wants to know the truth. just me saying but that's how it seems. well when we were talking with the wife we had a really good spiritual experience. she basically told us about her marital problems and how she really needed help and an answer in her life. she even prayed too. in all the best day of the month for the missionary work. crazy how that goes.

 well i don't have much else to say right now. but... would any of you care to send some goodies down?? i would really appreciate it. or in the words of Nicole... Who wants to be my favorite family member?? lol. well i hope you have a fun week. love you guys.

8.18.10

Hows it going again, luckily last week went by fast and p day is here, to start off, sorry about last week, it was just a big letdown of a pday. i was just in a bad mood. just one of those days when nothing goes your way. but today was awesome. we did had an asado as a zone. and we played soccer. it was insanely fun. it helped out that i had bought some actual soccer shoes too. lol. we went looking for some this morning and the very last place i went i found the ones i wanted. they are pretty cool. then we played mafia. that was actually really fun. i was one of the assassins and they never caught me. hahaha. we did that the whole day. i never really got really tired though. normally it just wears me out. but lately me and my comp have been going on morning runs and then some exercises. it really helps out alot. especially with my mood. hopefully I'm losing a little weight. I'm nowhere near fat but i have gained several pounds and i don't want them. so hopefully i can continue with the exercises. so this last week wasn't bad. kinda fun actually. yesterday and Monday i had a lot do. transfers are next week so i have to prepare for the missionaries leaving and coming. one thing i was doing is the missionary cards. just a card with the picture and some of their simple info. we use this to make a visual list of the missionaries and their areas. so i designed a new style because the old one was really ugly. just have to see what pres thinks. then on Sunday none of our investigators came but we have been working with this inactive family and the daughter has been coming. she skipped out on work to come. lol. so i gave her a high five. oh this last Monday i went on splits wtih a guy in our ward. we passed by alot of inactive members. back to Sunday. in elders quorum they made alist of names of inactive and we passed by them. it was cool to see them finally take initiative. that's how it should really be. later that day we went to a less active members house. we have been going over there alot recently because its an incomplete family. so there is potential to baptize. they are really fun though. they always feed us something. last night they gave us this homemade chicken noodle soup but without chicken. but it was super good. and the son that never wants to have anything to do with the church finally sat down and we got to know him a little more. on Saturday we had splits with the zone leaders. i went with elder decilia. he is and Argentine and he is super funny. not that he has a joke to say but just the way he says it is really funny. he teaches really well too. we did contacts like crazy and we met a lot of people. the thing i like is that he is able to ask alot of different questions to get them to open up. i still haven't developed that really well. but its getting there. I'm more direct with how i say it. i should probably change. also on Saturday the ward did a party for one of the old ladies. she turned 80. so we had good food and good music. one member brought in his computer and some speakers and he was playing all the popular songs. it was really fun. there is this one inactive family that we pass by. we have been trying to get them to come again. but anyways their son wanted a book of Mormon but as all little kids go he was shy to ask. so he told his grandma and of course we gave him one. but only if he would read what we marked for him and if he prayed. so we go back on Tuesday and the parents said that he was wondering when we would come by next because he had already read. i told him if he did i would come back with a surprise. so i gave him a dollar. then we gave him something else to read and hes like, can we read it now? so we all took turns reading and we got almost everyone to read. then he said he wanted to come to church this next Sunday. so i think we´ll use him to get the family activated again. then on Thursday we had district meeting. i was really tired and i guess i take after mom because as soon as i stop doing stuff and take a moment to sit down i immediately fall asleep. ha ha. jeez thanks mom, hahaha. jk i love you. then we had some awesome ice cream. if only people realized how much having food and some sort of meeting will excite people to participate. lol. at least that's how it works with me. so to give a highlight of last week a well. i don't remember much but on Sunday we gave lesson one to a young couple, they are members and they gave us lunch. then we decided to show them how the first lesson goes. that's actually something that helps gain the members trust and then they can help out in the lessons when they give us references. its not very often but occasionally we do get references. its weird how many members don't know how to talk to someone about the gospel. but if we only practiced we wouldn't be as afraid. we would know exactly what to say. i think that would have had a big difference if i had know how to teach someone. so maybe what you can do for a family night is sit down and try to make a fun interactive lesson for family night using preach my gospel. then make it a challenge to go teach someone or to be ready in case someone ever asks. so the other day i made some Yahtzee score sheets. i just need to play it now. maybe one of these nights before we go to bed we can. that would be fun. so recently i have been reading in second nephi. i just finished it yesterday. even though the Isaiah chapters are still hard to understand i kind of enjoyed them. i like how nephi put all of it together. for me its like his version of the first lesson. i like how he uses the Isaiah chapters to back it up. and at the very end there is a quote that i really like, he says how if we believe in Christ then we will believe in his words. and then he says, " And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye,-for Christ will show unto you with great power and great glory, that they are his words, and at that last day; you and i shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that i have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness", then later it says how if we don't heed them to have caution for they will judge us in the last day. i love how he words it all, he says it so powerfully. it kinda makes me wonder if anyone has ever thought that i have said something with power like that. if not its OK. either way nephi will see them at the last day and he is going to wrestle them to the ground and rub their noses in some dog poop. hahaha. i think it would be funny if he was there just pointing saying to all the people, " I told you so!!!!" probably wont ever happen but it would still be funny. another thing that i was thinking about is how i have been able to use what i have read in the scrips in a lesson later that day. it happens so often. its like god waits until we are prepared a little beforehand so we can be ready. its all these small things that are testimony builders. well family that's about all i can think of for right now. hopefully you will enjoy this email more than the last one. hope everything goes well for you dad, and your operation. your guys are always in my prayers. you guys really worry me, I'm always hearing about family and relatives that are always sick, they're in my prayers as well. i wish there was something more i could do. or at least be there for you guys. so don't make me worry and keep safe. I'm pretty sure you re in more danger than i am. ha ha. well keep it safe and fun. hey if you guys want. you could send me some goodies sometime. that always makes a fun day down here. maybe a random letter as well. its kinda depressing seeing so many others getting lots of letters. its not a big deal but it would make me feel happy. if you have time that is. well hopefully all goes well for you guys this week. until next Wednesday!!

August 4, 2010

whats up family,?¿?¿ this last week has gone by fast right? lol its been good, so i have officially 11 months now, in less than a month ill be halfway done, its a cool feeling, in the beginning of the mission your just like, this will never end, but now there is light at the end of the tunnel and it makes it that much easier to enjoy the work. 2 years is a long time. but it goes by so fast. so it sounds like your all having fun, that's good. I'm super jealous that the boys get to go to Alaska. I've always dreamed of going there. well maybe if i get lucky dad will give me the Honda, jk that is if it still runs, lol. well this week has been super busy. theres been alot to do, so last week on about Friday we got a new elder, he came late because he didn't get his visa in time. but hes finally here. the poor kid had to spend 3 more weeks in the mtc. haha then he had to take a bus from buenos aires, hahaha that's another ten hours on a ten hour flight from Houston. surprisingly he didn't seem too freaked out. so we had bought him empanadas but he didn't want to eat them, the silly child. if only he knew how good they were. last week we finished up the conference. i went in for one of them and it was actually pretty interesting, i kinda wish i went to more. but thankfully its all over now. it was really stressful having so many obnoxious elders in one spot, and then they like to come in and crowd the office and its really hard to think straight. not to mention they are all asking me for a ride. pretty gay. but anyways. so on sunday we didnt have many people in the chapel. only one investigator. its kind of annoying how lazy people are here. it drives me nuts. society down here is just degrading into nothing. there are now values. its ridiculous. its no wonder why there are so many problems in the world. geez. so yesterday we drove out to punta alta and dropped off some mattresses. that's always fun. then today we went to walmart and got some goodies. i bought some decent donuts. they are really hard to find down here. but no peanut butter. so i was pretty pissed. but i finally bought some new pday socks. the other ones were way nasty and crusty. im surprised they have lasted so long. then i bought some tweezers so i can trim down the unibrow. not that its bad but it annoys me a lot. then i bought some snickers. i think it will be the first in over 9 months. pretty crazy. then a giant bag of cereal. coco puffs!!!! its a big bag. so im happy. then we played soccer and the church with the zone. i was actually doing really well. i enjoyed myself. but now im super tired. elder rain es un gordito. y no le gusta jugar futbol. pero está bien porque sé que es un buen chico. y me prometió una princesa de su ciudad. asique todo está bien conmigo. jejeje well thats my random spanish paragraph for you. que la disfruten como yo la he disfrutado. har har har har, well im in a eird mood righ now. but today we also did a practice on the things that we learned in the conference. we had to teach anything from the book of Mormon and then make some questions. we are focusing more on questions that make you analyze, apply, and find. well me and my comp did the example and we all agreed that we did it perfect, that was cool. another thing is that i was reading the Isaiah chapters in first nephi and it was starting to make alot more sense. it was a pretty cool experience. i don't have my scriptures on me right now but the next time ill share a little bit of what i learned. its been a good week being a missionary. its about time i hit one of the highs again. i swear before that i was on the low for a whole transfer. OK well i really cant think of much else to say, keep say and be sure to take lots of fun pictures. they entertain me. especially from Alaska. you have no idea how jealous i am. but yeah, i love you guys, till next week