September 28, 2009

dear family i dont have much time like usual haha but to clear up something, i am not training but i living with a missionary who is getting trained. i am still zone leadering it up haha. but i know you like experience and so i dont want to give you a bad one. but it was definately a bad week. we just figured out how to get people to pray to God and ask him if it is true and them to get their answer right then. but last week was a huge test for me and my companion. we were just working our tails off but we couldnt find anyone. we were working our butts off but nothing went right. it was the wierdest and worst week of my mission. we had to drop about 6 people that were committed to getting baptized. because they werent progressing. so it was a sad week. but we just figured its because we found out a way to give the people testimonies way easy, so satan worked his hardest to hide the people waiting for us. so it was pretty frustrating and not to mention that an investigator that we were teaching that was committed to baptism talked to a member because they were friends. and the member scared her off way bad. the investigator had only heard the first 2 lessons but already knew the church was true but a member went up to our investigator and asked her if she was going to quit smoking, drinking, and dump her boyfriend. and our investigator got scared and said no. so the member told her to give back the book of mormon and said she wasnt ready to be baptized. so it was pretty frustrating and we told the member that we never taught her those lessons yet and the member got all defensive and said that she knew who was ready to get baptized and who wasnt. so it was pretty frustrating because usually the opposition comes from outside of the church, but this time it came from the inside. so it was a pretty tough week. but it doesnt matter this is a whole new week. but i got to go and thanks for writing everyone. i am proud of you megan for teaching the lesson. thats way cool. lessons always mean more if you take time to prepare it. you can always tell a difference. thats way cool that you are having the missionaries over to dinner. just make sure they dont stay too long. some missionaries like chilling with members cuz they dont have to be working. and nikki i did recieve your video, i even got the sound. so keep doing it. make sure lance isnt getting too fat. haha kelsey espero que saques buenas notas en la escuela y no salgas con chicos que se han vuelto de la mision. divertíte pero no salgas con changos como ellos. jaja cuidáte. chau. remember the spanish from here is a little different. instead of using tu. they use vos. chau

September 21, 2009

dear famthis week was a sick week!! it was a way good week. we finally put in to practice and we have been doing what president and preach my gospel says. we teach the first lesson to the people and at the end of the lesson we ask them to pray about it to see if it is true, and every person that has prayed has gotten an answer to there prayer. they try to explain what they feel but they cant because they have never felt like it before. one lady had no idea what it was but she said it felt like a heat inside her chest. kind of like a fire. so that we read d&c section 9 verse 8 where it says we need to study it out in our mind first, and then ask God. and if it is right he will my our chest burn telling us that it is right. so we read that to her and she just got shocked and didnt know what to say, it was pretty crazy. so we did it like 5 times last week where we got on our knees and prayed with our investigators and all of them got answers to there prayers. it was crazy. and so i am way mad i havent been doing my whole mission. so that was our cool week. i cant believe you guys arent in jordan school district anymore. thats crazy. and i am sorry to hear about preston and what hes doing with his life. i know he will get humbled and want to go back to church again, people sometimes get so selfish. God just asks us to worship him once a week and only for 3 hours at church. and its crazy how some people cant complete with something that easy. but oh well. and i am keeping a journal. i have 2 journals completed and i am working on my third. unfortanately i dont think i will finish the third. i dont have any time at all. when we get home at night, we usually get home at 9 30 and have to plan for a half an hour for the next day, so we get dont at 10 00 and at 10 we start getting our phone calls from the district leaders and talk to them for a while and at 10 15 we have to start going to bed. so i am trying to write but there is barely any time. i cant believe how easy my life was before the mission. i had so much free time. oh and i am living with jordan beeches cousin elder moore. and he is way cool. he is a good missionary. he struggles with the mission but he only has 3 weeks here in argentina. he is way talented though and really funny. i already love the kid. he will be a way good missionary. sorry i didnt have too much time to write everyone. thanks for the letters everyone and Lance i already realize how fast time goes and it honestly scares me. but yeah here in argentina they love playing soccer but they got some ballers also and we destroy them. whenever we play basketball there is a school right in front of the court and so everyone comes out of school and about 100 people watch us play. we even played against some argentines and we destroyed them. but i will destroy you in basketball lance. but i love everyone so much, and keep sending me jeffs and codyes letters if you can. i love everyone chau!

September 14, 2009

dear family thanks for sending me the chearleading picture, i just told my companion that story about it yesterday, and you guys sent me the picture today haha, so it was really cool. this week was a pretty good week. we had a crazy week. monday and tuesday we were here in cruz del eje working. wednesday morning at 3 30 we woke up to go to cordoba for zone conference and interviews, so that was a 4 hour bus ride. then we went from cordoba to villa dolores which is a 5 hour bus ride, we went there to do interviews for some missionaries in our zone. oh and we got there at one in the morning then woke up at 6 30. then friday we woke up at 4 in the morning and went from villa dolores to our area which is another 4 hours. then saturday we got a surprise call for another interview for a baptism so we hopped on a bus and went to cosquin and back to make another 4 hour trip. so it was a crazy week, and it was the first week that my companion is a zone leader so i am hoping he thinks thats not how it is all the time to be a zone leader haha. that was the craziest week of my mission i think, and also we were able to get a new family in the church on sunday. so it was pretty fun to see. our members are getting a lot of animo to work because they see like 10 investigators in church every week and thats like 1/4th of the members so they are happy. so it was a fun week. and thats weird that i have 19 months in the mish. i think its coming way to fast. i think when it comes, i will not be ready. but i guess we will see. maybe i will have to extend my mission a little bit, maybe a couple months longer.... haha, just kiddding, just wanted to see moms reaction. and i think you should try the rabbit at la caille. i told you that i tried it at members house didnt i? i ate brain, cheek, and toungue of a rabbit. so it was pretty cool. haha and yes the cotton garments are wonderfull. and i love everyone so much, keep up the good work. me and my companion are fasting so that we find a new family to baptize in the church. so pray with us. i love everyone and have a good day. chau!!!

September 7, 2009

dear familywe got transfers and my new comp is pretty cool. yes i am still zone leader, but president is doing a new thing where the zone leaders and the assistents wont end the mission as being assistents or zone leaders but they will end training new missionaries so that they learn a bunch. so that will be way fun. zone leader is way fun, its way fun when you have a companion thats willing to work cuz if your a leader and you arent working very hard, its a difficult task to help other people out if your not having to much success haha. but now we are doing great. we have found amazing people. one lady, we gave her a pamphlet of lesson one and we went back the other day and she had a page and a half of notes written down and was so happy talking about the gospel. it was really amazing to see. so it was a good week and we have a great zone. so this week was a pretty good week. thanks for the e mail dad. i love to hear about football and how everyone is doing. good ol Alta. and Byu sound like they are doing good. its sounds like you are kicking butt in golf!! mom here are the answers to all of your questions haha1. my companion is from san diego california. his name is elder teemsma2. yes i am still a zone leader3. no, it is not getting colder, it is getting hotter every day, todays nice because its a little cold4. just pray for us so that we can find a family to baptize here in cruz del eje to help out the branch5. no i dont use a towel anymore. it was pretty nasty. i am converted to toilet paper. but i still use the bidet. and no i never shared my rag haha6. the mission president is doing great. i love him so much7 my health is great!!but thanks for all the e mails and i dont have any cool mission stories for ya right now. we are finding little miracles every day with just finding fun people. today we cleaned the pension for a good 2 hours and it still needs a little bit more. some times p day isnt to much of a day of rest cuz there is so much stuff to do. even using the internet i have to work, because there are a couple forms we have to send in. but i love everyone chau!

September 2, 2009

hello family,yes we had some transfers so i got a new companion but i am still in the same area. i am glad i got a new companion haha, it was really hard with him, he was very pridefull and would never accept my ideas but oh well its already done. the street that i live on is called san luis and eva peron. its right on the corner its a green building and its 1 block in front of our church. i love the area and everything so now we are going to get things going and working our tails off i am wayexcited. this week was a pretty good week, a lot of our investigators went to church. the mission is doing better then it ever has. everyone is starting to understand the purpose of a mission and that we are here to help the people come unto christ through baptism. the mission in 2 months baptized 122 people. thats the best its ever by far. so everyone is doing well. i am sad to hear that alta lost but oh well, ya never know what will happen. i am glad to hear that skyler is doing so well. oh and i wrote kenzie a letter but i dont know her address so i am sending it home to you guys so you have to give it to her. and no you can not read it haha. and that is good to hear that kj is going to peru, i know that those people are really receptive to the gospel and he will have a lot of success. and i am sorry mom that i cant write you longer letters like i did back in the day, but i think you understand. i barely get any time now. and in the package just make sure to keep sending garments. mine are getting nasty now. they look more gray then white haha. and Dad of course we got to get some bikes!!! haha, i love everyone so much and have a good day. chau

August 17, 2009

dear family i am already apologizing but this e mail is going to be another short one. i sware i get less and less time. today i had to fill out a bunch of stuff for the zone. and dont get me wrong i love being a zone leader mom but sometimes it gets frustrating haha. i love helping out the other missionaries and see them just watch me to learn. so dont worry about that. i love being a zone leader. but this week was a pretty good week. i cant believe i have 18 months, it scared me quite a bit. of course i burned a pair of pants haha to celebrate. but it definately scared me. i remember looking at those people with 18 months and thinking that they just had so much time in the mission. i still have a lot of time left so thats good its just weird seeing it leave. but one my converts has baptized 2 people now haha. so looks like my converts are doing pretty well. unfortunately the missionaries are spending a little to much time with the familia cejas. they are hanging out there instead of working. they are a way cool family but the missionaries are just chilling there instead of working. last week we killed everyone in basketball so we will see what happens today. and dad we get about 430 pesos a month. sometimes it seems like a lot and at other times it seems like nothing. but i love everyone so much and nikki and kelsey thanks for everything and take a picture of the baby with her doll. and kelsey good luck at college. i love everyone so much and have a good week. chau!!

August 10, 2009

dear familyi am so glad you got my package!!! it cost me a lot!! but i wasnt able to send the camara or the candy, i didnt have enough money to buy the candy and i didnt feel safe about sending the camara. so i will just keep it and we will fix it when i get home. i am glad you like the dolls. no matter what i need nikki and megan to take a picture with the doll and with their baby then send me the picture as soon as possible. the members that made the dolls want a picture of the little babies with there dolls. so if you could send me that, that would be great. i didnt get an e mail from megan. i dont think the blackberry works on this computer. is fa a home though? i am excited for megan. this week was a pretty good week. we had 7 investigators in church so we had a bunch. the members were saying that there were more investigators then members so it was pretty funny. its pretty hard being a zone leader. its a lot of responsibility cuz its like if one of the areas in the zone is doing bad we get in trouble for them. but i guess it is like that in life too. the more responsibility you get, the more pressure you get haha. i would love to go down to district leader for my last couple of transfers and train again. but we will see what happens. but unfortunatley last week we lost in basketball but today we got the rematch going on. we also played american football. so that was fun too. i hope you enjoyed all the letters. it will be a fun day to read my journal with all of you when i get home. you might get a little shocked what the mission really is like haha. but thanks for everything. and dad thanks for reminding me haha. in a few days i will be burning some pants haha. i cant believe its almost 18 months. its the weirdest feeling ever. i am getting too old. i am starting to be one of the oldest in the mission. doesnt spencer get home soon? that will be pretty fun for the ward. tell megan nikki and kelsey hi. tell megan to take the picture and send it to me. and nikki too. and tell kelsey good luck at college she will have a blast. and if she gets home sick read D&C 100. but i am sure she will be fine. just make sure she doesnt get married at the age of 19 like one of our siblings haha. just kidding. but love everyone so much and i will give you an update next week on how bad that i destroyed everyone else in football. i hope you get better mom and i will be praying for you. and dont ever put the word cancer in your e mail again haha. you almost gave me a heart attack. i hope its nothing too serious. but love you and you will be in my prayers. have a good day i love everyone so much and kelsey enjoy these last few days with mom and dad. i know you will miss them just like they will miss you. love you!! chau