Week 9

uruguay

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 7:30 PM

hello family,


i am here in uruguay and i don`t feel much like using capital letters today. the travels went smoothly. it`s currently 5:15 here in uruguay and i`ve been up for roughly 14+ hours since we had to get up at 3 today to leave. crazy times.

i`m already with my companion. when we got to uruguay, we went to the mission home and saw a couple of presentations, had some food, and did interviews with the president. it was really nice. uruguay is amazingly beautiful and the mission home and temple are gorgeous as well. president da silva is really nice, as expected, and his wife too. so anyways, we met our trainers and then headed out to our areas. my trainer is a latino from peru named elder apaza. he is really cool and nice. he`s been out for a little over a year i think. the area i`m in is toledo, otherwise known as la tierra prometida (or promised land), i guess. we have a couple of appointments tonight at 6 and 7. pdays are on mondays (sorry this email is so scatterbrained) now so that`s when you can expect my next email. if there is mail here, i didn`t get it.

anyways, leaving the mtc was kinda hard since we`ve become such great friends with all of the missionaries there. it was especially hard leaving elders powell and young. we`ve been together for 9 weeks and we`re so close. in other news, yes, we did perform our musical number. i accompanied a sextet singing abide with me. my old companion, elder bradshaw, had arranged an accompaniment for the third verse. it was really nice. then yesterday was really different. it seriously felt like the last day of school because we were cleaning out desks and not really doing anything and such.

oh before i forget, president da silva wanted me to thank you (and i wanted to thank you too) for making the sacrifice to send me on a mission. he said that a lot of times we forget how much of a sacrifice it is for the family and just focus on the sacrifice of the missionary. so thank you. :)

anyways, speaking of sacrifice, our house is very small, very hot, and very messy/dirty. there are 4 of us in there, the district leader and his companion and us. they are cool guys as well. actually all of the missionaries i`ve met so far, which has been a fair amount have been really nice and all. i`m not scared of the mission, per se, but it`s definitely a new experience to get used to. and there is a lot to keep track of, on top of making sure i catch all of what my companion says.

in other news, i found out sunday that president and sister george lived in grand junction for 10 years in the 3rd ward. their kids went to nisley. pres george was working for ces and he helped to get release time seminary. he also played a major role in remodeling the house that is now our seminary building. they also know president chadwick and crista white. crazy times huh?

how is everybody doing? having fun during spring break and all? mail could be crazy for the next couple of weeks until everything gets settled down. just fyi. i think that is all. peace out until next week.


love always,

DJ (yes caps there, of course)