Week 48

50th email.

Monday, December 13, 2010 12:19 PM
Woo Hoo!

This is definitely my 50th email because, funnily enough, it`s definitely my 50th pday.

Hi family,

Well here we are in December and it is hot...although we had a storm come through Saturday night and stay until yesterday so it`s fairly cooler here today. I`m not complaining. Speaking of said storm, it absolutely stinks that it rains on Sundays because we have a hard enough time getting people to church. Ugh. Consequently, we had no investigators, no recent converts, and no less active families in church yesterday. Heck half of the members weren`t even there. The unfortunate part was that it was Ward Conference so it was really good. We had 31 people in church...and at least 10 were from the Stake. :( So anyways, that`s the update on investigators and the church scene. Our investigators are doing fine, but like I said, the lack of marriage makes it hard for them to progress fast. To answer mom`s question...it appears that the biggest reason that people just get together without marrying is because there are no cons to it. And to boot, Uruguay recently put in a law that says that people living together for 5 or more years have the same privileges as married couples. So that combined with the fact that people don`t like to enter into commitments, it makes just getting together and having families so much easier.

I`m doing alright with my comp, but I am really looking forward to having a comp with less time in the mission. Even though I`m technically senior comp right now. What I really want is to train or get somebody in maybe their 3rd or 4th change and then just teach them with obedience. That would be my little perfect world. I was actually thinking about it the other day and I made a list of things that I would like to change if I got the opportunity...and it actually made me really excited for this upcoming change...and the second year of my mission in general. I feel like the first year has been learning and adapting and now the second year is application. And then, if baptisms and whatnot come, then so be it...but at least I`ll be doing my part. We`ll see what happens.

Mail...I got letters 41 and 43 and Patrick`s card and 2 letters from Grandma. So that`s good. In response to Mom`s letter...I was actually thinking the other day about the privileges we have as Americans. There are neighborhoods here (and I use the term loosely) that are basically the Uruguay version of basically just poor, drug-filled, theft-ridden areas. and I was thinking about how those people probably don`t even dream of seeing an airplane up close, let alone flying to another country (to preach or to study or to visit or whatever). We truly are blessed.

Um, congrats to Sis Nye and Ashleigh. That`s kind of crazy to think about. I still feel like a teenager (in some ways) so that`s why.

Ok what else...well this week was very interesting and I had some new experiences that really tested me and made me grow. I guess we can be thankful that I`m still here and working. :) We have a whole mission Christmas conference this Friday. That`ll be pretty sweet and then Saturday we have a Stake baptism and we`ll get to watch the Christmas devotional afterwards.

That`s cool that you guys will get to go to Provo, but too bad Aunt Margaret can`t go because she is awesomesauce. Well anyways, that`s pretty much all I have for today. Hope everything is going well for you guys during this Christmas season and I hope you get some snow. Oh and FYI, the people here are just as closed and uninterested as ever. I don`t think the Christmas spirit really exists here. :/ Have a great week. I`ll be back next week for the last pday of the change!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!

Love always,

DJ