Week 84

What a Joke
Monday, August 22, 2011 8:06 AM

Okay this is a terrible computer. I´m never coming to this place again. We`re in a new place and it doesn’t work well. The internet has shut down on me like 4 times now and it won`t let me send pictures to you guys. I actually have them here to send and everything. What a joke. Ugh.

So anyways, this last week was pretty interesting. We had a lot of stuff fall through on us and then there was practically nobody in church yesterday. Also I got sick on Saturday and am still not feeling too hot. On the plus side, we have a couple of people that are getting closer to baptism. We had zone conference this last week; that was nice.

Let`s see...life is going pretty well. We`ve only got 2 weeks left in the change. I`m glad that Grandpa had a good birthday. ps. I`m about ready to throw this keyboard through the window. This computer is absolutely horrendous.

Consequently this email is terrible, partly because I can`t think of what to tell you and partly because it`s taking me forever to type. Ignore the mistakes. I am tired of correcting all of them.

I don`t know what to tell you guys. I`m doing alright. I`m getting over my sickness. Hopefully I should be good to go by tomorrow. My comp is doing well. I think that he`ll be fine when I leave the area.

The pancakes we had at a member’s home recently were almost like ours, but that was because they used an American recipe. They don`t have maple syrup, but they have another type of syrup. They were tasty.

Ok. I`m wrapping up this email. Be safe in Provo. Sorry for this sorry excuse for an email. Love you all

Love always,

DJ

Week 83

Bananas

Monday, August 15, 2011 7:46 AM

Dear family,

This computer is driving me bonkers. If you get the pics I`m sending, it`s a miracle.

This week was pretty good. We had one baptism on Saturday and we did it together with two other wards so we had a three ward baptism with one baptism each. It was really good. Franco (the kid who got baptized) was super happy. There are a couple pictures. Or there should be.

Let`s see. Life is pretty good. We`ve started working more closely with families in the ward, trying to help them get more involved in missionary work. It`s going well. There is this really awesome family (one of the stronger ones). He was recently released as bishop and now they are both temple workers. Their 5 kids are all active as well, one return missionary. So we went on Saturday morning and they fed us pancakes and then we started working with them. I`ve got really good feelings. We were definitely inspired to go visit them and talk about missionary work. Turns out that they are already working off and on with some people and so we`ll be able to help them share the gospel more effectively. Most members really want to share the gospel, but don`t know how. That`s where our work comes in. We teach them how to do it. We`ll continue working with more and more families, which is good because we don`t have a lot of people to teach right now and we`ve hit a tiny dry run. We`re working through it. The good thing is that I feel really good about how things are going.

Happy birthday to Grandpa on Thursday.

My comp is doing well. He`s understanding and speaking more and more every day. He seems to be adjusting pretty well. He`s a really funny kid. I enjoy it because he says things differently and they sound funny. For example, he doesn`t say "go pee" he says "take a wee." It`s wonderful. And the zone leaders we live with are obviously good so we all get along well. Last Monday we played soccer and we were sore until Thursday. We`re playing again here shortly. The Lord is protecting me nicely so that I do not sprain my ankle. Knock on wood. (or touch wood as my comp would say).

You should tell Nana that I only have 4 and a half months left and she can do nothing that will put her life in danger. We`re so close. :D

This past week has been a tiny bit strange. It passed by slowly and really super quickly all at the same time. Sorry for the lack of interesting stuff in this week`s email. But hey at least you have pics. I loved the packages. I`m about ready to make a ray grow. That should be interesting in our little house.

Um, well that`s what I got for now. I don`t know for sure, but we might have another baptism in 2 or 3 weeks. We`ll see how things work out.

Have a wonderful week. I feel like this email has been scatterbrained. I hope you like it. Love you all.

Love

DJ

Week 82

Safe and Alive
Monday, August 8, 2011 10:20 AM

Dear family,

This last week I did not have a close call with a large bear running rampant through the streets of Durazno, and so consequently I am still safe and alive. :)

Life is going pretty well. We just got done playing 2 hours of soccer and I`m tired, but it was enjoyable. My comp plays pretty well and he likes it a lot. This last week was pretty solid. We were going to have 2 baptisms this Saturday, but one of them got pushed back a little bit at the request of the parents (it`s a long story, let`s not go into it), so we will have one baptism this Saturday. The cool part is that we will be having a huge 4 ward baptism with each ward having a baptism. Should be a really nice experience. With regards to the other guy who showed up at church, we went Tuesday and he totally accepted the Book of Mormon saying he`ll read it. He said he needs his time to learn. That`s the goal ;) He didn`t manage to go to church yesterday because he had a family member die at 2:00 in the afternoon (and we start at 2:30). We`ll be seeing him more obviously.

Elder Wilkey is doing really well. I don`t know if I mentioned that he is a bit hard on himself sometimes, so I`m mentioning it again. The reality, though, is that he is improving very well. We`re trying to keep him involved in the lessons and whatnot and we`ve been implementing new ideas to help him progress even faster. We`re having a good time together. The time for me more or less is just disappearing. Weeks just pretty much fly by. I`ve decided that I`m so involved in this lifestyle right now that it`s not really a burden anymore (getting up early, studying a ton, etc.) I`ve also noticed that more or less my testimony has gone from mere belief to sure conviction. It`s just such an integral part of who I am now. The trial will be continuing with that after the mission, when I`m no longer in this atmosphere. That`s cool that Calvin did a missionary lesson with the ward youth. If they asked me I would refuse....or ask for a translator. I cannot by any stretch of the imagination talk about the gospel coherently in English. So yeah, the homecoming talk should be quite strange.

Anyways, as the months pass, I continue working hard. I think my focus has changed a lot recently. Before I did missionary work gladly and happily because it was what was expected of me. Now I think I do missionary work more because I know that it is the best way to help anybody in this world with any problem. The trick is getting them to understand that. The problem is that the church isn`t even 200 years old and Satan`s been working since who knows when. There is a saying in Spanish that roughly says, the devil knows more for being around forever than he does for actually being the devil. The best part however is that we win because we have God and the Spirit. So take that Satan. Yep.

I got letter 79 and 80 today. And I believe I typed wrong 2 weeks ago. I got 77 two weeks ago. I don`t think I have 78 yet. I`ll confirm next week. I also got various letters from Grandma. She`s a studess. :D Thanks for your emails and support. I`m feeling pretty good about everything....at least I`ve got nothing to complain about (and even if I did, I wouldn`t). Thankfully, the weather is milding up a little bit. I always figured Calvin would be AP. That kid`s a stud.

I`ll send pics next week of the baptism, unless I am a noob. We`ll hope not. Love you all a ton. Nobody die...I`ve only got four and a half months left (ish). Tell Nana too. :P

Love always,

DJ

Week 81

Chinese waterfalls
Monday, August 1, 2011 7:48 AM
Dear Family,

I`m currently in Montevideo because my comp has medical stuff (being new in the country and all) so I`m typing this email on a terrible keyboard. Yay.

So updates. My last comp`s name was Bruno Contrera. I left him in the bus station on Tuesday and then went to the mission home. My new awesome comp is Elder Wilkey from Portsmouth England. :D:D:D He`s awesome. So now in addition to the email I sent last week, there is now one more kid from Spain and 2 from England (my comp and another). And next change there will be another Englishman as well. I`m attaching a pic of me and my comp. He`s a stud. He speaks pretty good Spanish for it being his first week. He doesn’t give himself enough credit. We’re getting along really well and he’s got a lot of desires to work.

Church was good yesterday. We had about 75 people which was good and 2 investigators. We`re teaching 2 part member families right now, the kids of which should be getting baptized in the next couple of weeks. We`ll see. It`s kind of hectic. And then yesterday in church, this contact we had made showed up. We contacted this guy a couple of weeks ago and he promised to go to church. The 17th he was going to go but he locked his keys in the car. And then the 24th was Father’s day. So yesterday he showed up for all 3 hours. After the meeting, I went to talk to him and he said See you next Sunday. I then set up an appointment as well to pass by tomorrow. It`s great. I guess he liked it. He knows a lot about the church and he told us in the contact that he`s really open, but it`s really hard to convince him. :D

I got a letter from Dad and I think it`s number 78 this last week along with two little envelope packages. I haven`t opened them yet because I left at 6:30 this morning. So I`ll thank you in advance. In the box I got from the stake were various snacks and candy as well as some drawings from little kids (or so it appeared). It was really cool.

Hey weird about the kid from Tooele. There were 2 missionaries from that place in my mission. They just went home last Wednesday. You should ask him if he knows Kyle Pratt or Jared Mangelson. I`m assuming he does since Tooele is not a huge city.

Anyhoo, I am grateful for the opportunities the Lord is giving me. Obviously the Lord has trust in me enough for me to train other missionaries. I realize that it is also a huge responsibility. I`m just trying to do the best that I know how to do.

I can`t believe we`re in August already. I turn 21 next month. Actually it`s a lie. I still feel 19. :) Have a wonderful week. I love you all bunches.

Love Always

DJ (the sexy spanish-speaking stud)