I`m running out of witty subject lines
Monday, November 14, 2011 6:03 AM
Dear family,
Well, here I am after going through another rough week. Sadly, it seems that all areas just have their ups and downs. We don`t think we`ve done anything special; it just seems that our investigators want to crater themselves. I think we lost like 7 investigators this week or something like that. It is just a huge load of opposition. Oh well. We`re working through it. The good news is that we do have investigators still and that our area has a lot of potential. We`re just trying to figure out how to tap into it. We did have some good lessons this last week and we did find 2 new people that look pretty solid.
It was interesting that you had your lesson on the Millennium because that`s what ours was too. Ramon came to church again with his nice shirt and tie and everything. But sadly, we once again had no investigators in church. Like I said, opposition. It`s been kind of rough, but we`re not getting down on ourselves.
This week for mail, I received a letter from Aunt Margaret, one from Michael (I had written him a few weeks back), a few from grandma (but the birthday card she sent hasn`t arrived yet), as well as letters 93 and 94. Like I said a while back, you`ll probably want to get the word out to not send anything else after November. I probably wouldn`t get it.
The weeks go by incredibly fast here, and I only have 5 left. It`s a super strange feeling. It used to be that I counted months. For example, I`d know that I had 9 months left. And then a whole month would have to pass before I could decrease that number (and a month is a decent length of time). Now weeks go a whole lot super faster (if that even makes sense), so the numbers are decreasing much more rapidly. Wow. We go to the temple on Thursday, so this`ll be the last time I go until I get home.
I was thinking a little yesterday about how the whole transition is going to be. I`m sure you`ve probably already figured, but I`m going to be leaving a grand majority of my clothes and stuff here (for other missionaries or whoever). I`ve gotten through the entire mission with just using the one suit coat and one of the pairs of suit pants. So I`m planning on throwing out the pair I`ve used and then I`m going to get the suit coat dry cleaned here. I`m then planning on giving the coat and the other pair of pants to a member from my 3rd area in Prosperidad because he`s tall and skinny like me and I think he would appreciate it. My shoes are obviously trashed (but I`ll bring one pair home as souvenirs). My shirts and pants that are still in good condition (and most are), I`ll give to other missionaries or Hermana da Silva so she can distribute them.
Also, I was thinking about how I`m pretty much the same person and how I`ve changed dramatically at the same time. I`ve decided that my personality is pretty much the same, but my focus and priorities are a whole lot different. Be warned that I`m going to be super strange when I get home. You probably have no idea. And yes, I have a rather interesting time speaking intelligible English. You`ll get used to it. :D I`m glad Nana will be able to come. That sounds pretty exciting. I try not to think about after mission details too much because I`ll get unfocused. (I`m not saying that you are unfocusing me). I`m just saying that vague details are about as good as it gets in my brain. It`s really interesting pushing yourself to work hard even though the end is right around the corner. What I mean by that is that sometimes it`s more attractive to just give myself slack and coast through the last part, but that`s not how it`s done. Nopers.
Did you guys have anything in mind for things you want to do when I get back? I don`t even know if you had thought about it at all. Unfortunately, I`ll have to go the dentist and the doctor and the eye place and the calf place and the lung place and the toe place and the who knows where else place. Oh well. They are things that have to be done.
Anyhoo, I`ve got nothing else to say for now. I hope you all have a wonderful week. We`ve got 2 weeks left in this change...it`s gone by fast. Say hi to everybody for me. I`m glad Hudson`s excited to go. It`s the best. :) Monkeys.
Love Always,
DJ
Oots, one more thing or two...
Are the letters that I`ve sent home saved somewhere (in addition to the ones that you have sent me)?
And sorry about the lack of pictures.
deej
DJ with his new washer
Piedra Alta, Uruguay
Ramon's Baptism
DJ and new Companion Elder Craynor
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Week 95
This is an email...warning...this is an email
Monday, November 7, 2011 6:13 AM
Dear family,
It`s the 7th of November. You know what this means? This week is 11-11-11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please celebrate accordingly. Well this past week was....rough. If you look at our actual numbers (of lessons and whatnot), they are better than last week, but they don`t show that we had a bunch of investigators exercise their agency this week (in a kind of failish way). Also, for the first time since May, I had no investigators in church. That was also sad because we were expecting about 5 or 6 for sure. The plus side is that Ramon did get confirmed. The minus side is that there was a problem with the microphone. Thus I could only hear about 50% of what was being said, and Ramon who is hard of hearing heard basically nothing. :( So needless to say, my comp and I were joyous to be done with last week. The Lord is basically just trying our patience. He wants to see if we have faith to keep working hard. Among the very few positive things that happened last week, we had a lesson with a new guy we found. I was explaining the Joseph Smith story and whatnot and for the first time in my whole mission, the investigator said (before I told him) ¨Oh, so they chose him to put the church back on the earth.¨ Most investigators don`t even really understand that after you tell them, but this guy seemed to intuitively know before we even told him. So that was cool. He also, out of nowhere, said ¨I want to commit to go to church next Sunday (the 13th)¨ That doesn`t happen too much either.
Other than all that, we`re just trying to work hard and stay focused. Our area has a lot of potential and we are still excited, but like I said, we hit kind of a rough patch. We`ll work through it. As long as we`re doing our best, the Lord is in charge of the rest. Yep, that`s a rhyme. Giggles.
No mail this week. Don`t ask why. Hey, I am curious to know if Patrick and I are taking a civilization class together, and which civ class it is. If we`re not, you should tell him to take it and then beat him like a duck.
It`s getting warmer here...we`ve had some of those hot, suffocating days already. I`m so thrilled. Although, on the plus side, this house shouldn`t be as oven-like as my house last year. woo.
I don`t know if I get a Christmas list or not, but if I do, I have thought of 2 things. I want a new set of Spanish scriptures, the triple and the bible. And I want the good kind, but I don`t need indexes. Just the nice black cover triple and bible with the gold leafed pages or whatever. And I don`t need my name on them either. I just want them to study when I get home.
Anyways, have a wonderful 11-11-11. Yay! it`ll only happen once this century. I love you all. When does Nana get there? PS. I`m glad they accepted your plan, Dad. Good stuff. Have a wonderful week. I`ll be home before you know it.
Love Always,
DJ
Uh, one more thing...are all the emails you guys have sent to me saved in your account. and are the emails I`ve sent saved in the account. If so, let me know. If not, I`ll need to forward them somewhere from this account so that I can have them for memory sake. kthxbye.
Oops, another thing. Sorry. Mom, I don`t even think the people down here know about that book, let alone have it. I could be wrong though.
Monday, November 7, 2011 6:13 AM
Dear family,
It`s the 7th of November. You know what this means? This week is 11-11-11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please celebrate accordingly. Well this past week was....rough. If you look at our actual numbers (of lessons and whatnot), they are better than last week, but they don`t show that we had a bunch of investigators exercise their agency this week (in a kind of failish way). Also, for the first time since May, I had no investigators in church. That was also sad because we were expecting about 5 or 6 for sure. The plus side is that Ramon did get confirmed. The minus side is that there was a problem with the microphone. Thus I could only hear about 50% of what was being said, and Ramon who is hard of hearing heard basically nothing. :( So needless to say, my comp and I were joyous to be done with last week. The Lord is basically just trying our patience. He wants to see if we have faith to keep working hard. Among the very few positive things that happened last week, we had a lesson with a new guy we found. I was explaining the Joseph Smith story and whatnot and for the first time in my whole mission, the investigator said (before I told him) ¨Oh, so they chose him to put the church back on the earth.¨ Most investigators don`t even really understand that after you tell them, but this guy seemed to intuitively know before we even told him. So that was cool. He also, out of nowhere, said ¨I want to commit to go to church next Sunday (the 13th)¨ That doesn`t happen too much either.
Other than all that, we`re just trying to work hard and stay focused. Our area has a lot of potential and we are still excited, but like I said, we hit kind of a rough patch. We`ll work through it. As long as we`re doing our best, the Lord is in charge of the rest. Yep, that`s a rhyme. Giggles.
No mail this week. Don`t ask why. Hey, I am curious to know if Patrick and I are taking a civilization class together, and which civ class it is. If we`re not, you should tell him to take it and then beat him like a duck.
It`s getting warmer here...we`ve had some of those hot, suffocating days already. I`m so thrilled. Although, on the plus side, this house shouldn`t be as oven-like as my house last year. woo.
I don`t know if I get a Christmas list or not, but if I do, I have thought of 2 things. I want a new set of Spanish scriptures, the triple and the bible. And I want the good kind, but I don`t need indexes. Just the nice black cover triple and bible with the gold leafed pages or whatever. And I don`t need my name on them either. I just want them to study when I get home.
Anyways, have a wonderful 11-11-11. Yay! it`ll only happen once this century. I love you all. When does Nana get there? PS. I`m glad they accepted your plan, Dad. Good stuff. Have a wonderful week. I`ll be home before you know it.
Love Always,
DJ
Uh, one more thing...are all the emails you guys have sent to me saved in your account. and are the emails I`ve sent saved in the account. If so, let me know. If not, I`ll need to forward them somewhere from this account so that I can have them for memory sake. kthxbye.
Oops, another thing. Sorry. Mom, I don`t even think the people down here know about that book, let alone have it. I could be wrong though.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Week 94
Googles
Monday, October 31, 2011 7:51 AM
Dear family,
Well to start off, Ramon`s baptism was really good. There were some complications, but the ZLs (zone leaders) were really good with us. We ended up having to go to his house on Saturday morning and do the interview there. But it was nice, and he liked it. He said he felt content and that it was a pleasing experience and that it went by too fast. It`s really fun talking to him because he shares stories...he kind of reminds me of a grandfather in that sense. He used to go out alone to the forests and stuff and hunt carpinchos (look it up) when he was 11. Crazy huh. Sadly, yesterday, he did not get confirmed because he had no decent pants to wear to church. He felt bad about that so when he gets paid this week he`s going to go buy a pair. He`ll get confirmed next week. I swear baptisms are the most stressful thing in the world, but they are worth it. The harder part (the water baptism) is done, so that`s good.
Next on the list of business. We were going to go the temple this Thursday and I was going to talk to President. I think I mentioned this in the last email. Anyhoo, our temple trip got pushed back 2 weeks, so I decided that I would call President last night to see if he had found everything out. Turns out, he took the liberty of buying me another ticket for the 19th. I`ll be leaving here on the 19th and I`ll get there at night time on the 20th. I`ll forward you the itinerary. I am pleased that it is all worked out, although it was kind of shocking when he told me that he was looking to send me home on the 19th. When you start the mission and have 105 weeks, cutting off 2 or 3 doesn`t seem too bad at all. It`s nothing, but when you have 2 months left, and you suddenly cut off a week, that`s like traumatizing, but I`ll get over it. So this means, that 7 weeks from today, I`ll be flying out. What a joke. That`s too quick. But I was thinking, why do I think it`s too quick? I`ve worked hard and so far, I have no regrets. I think I just really like being a missionary. I`m excited to get home and all of that jazz, but I`m super comfortable here. Oh well, the sad reality of life, time moves onward and things change.
When I talked to President last night, I asked him if there was anything he needed from me, and he said "anything and everything you can." This is like the final push of everything I`ve got. President Holland joked about how we should come home on a stretcher. In other news, I don`t know what day my homecoming talk will be. I`d be okay with it being on the 1st still. It doesn`t matter to me.
PS. Look at my layovers on my itinerary. What a joke. Oh well. Can`t complain, can I? Well I suppose I can, but I probably shouldn`t ;)
I got letter 92 this week. :) And also a letter from Grandma. I`m glad that the BYU scheduling thing went well. Thanks for doing that. That should be more or less everything I think until I get home, right? Or maybe there is stuff I don`t know about. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Life is going well. We`re seeing some really good stuff in our area. Hopefully we can pull it through and see some baptisms next month. Wow, November starts tomorrow. And then Wednesday is the Day of the Dead here....cool. :D The weather is getting warmer. I`ll deal with it. My small consolation is that I don`t have to deal with it too much. My comp is good. We`re getting along well and we`re seeing good results. It`s weird to think that I probably won`t have another comp........until my wife. Ooh trunky! :D:D:D
Anyways, have a wonderful week. Hope everybody is doing well. What day does Patrick get home from BYU for Christmas...and what day is Christopher done with school? Boogity.
Love Always,
DJ
PS: Did I tell you guys that we found a new investigator named Bernard?!? Cool!!!
Monday, October 31, 2011 7:51 AM
Dear family,
Well to start off, Ramon`s baptism was really good. There were some complications, but the ZLs (zone leaders) were really good with us. We ended up having to go to his house on Saturday morning and do the interview there. But it was nice, and he liked it. He said he felt content and that it was a pleasing experience and that it went by too fast. It`s really fun talking to him because he shares stories...he kind of reminds me of a grandfather in that sense. He used to go out alone to the forests and stuff and hunt carpinchos (look it up) when he was 11. Crazy huh. Sadly, yesterday, he did not get confirmed because he had no decent pants to wear to church. He felt bad about that so when he gets paid this week he`s going to go buy a pair. He`ll get confirmed next week. I swear baptisms are the most stressful thing in the world, but they are worth it. The harder part (the water baptism) is done, so that`s good.
Next on the list of business. We were going to go the temple this Thursday and I was going to talk to President. I think I mentioned this in the last email. Anyhoo, our temple trip got pushed back 2 weeks, so I decided that I would call President last night to see if he had found everything out. Turns out, he took the liberty of buying me another ticket for the 19th. I`ll be leaving here on the 19th and I`ll get there at night time on the 20th. I`ll forward you the itinerary. I am pleased that it is all worked out, although it was kind of shocking when he told me that he was looking to send me home on the 19th. When you start the mission and have 105 weeks, cutting off 2 or 3 doesn`t seem too bad at all. It`s nothing, but when you have 2 months left, and you suddenly cut off a week, that`s like traumatizing, but I`ll get over it. So this means, that 7 weeks from today, I`ll be flying out. What a joke. That`s too quick. But I was thinking, why do I think it`s too quick? I`ve worked hard and so far, I have no regrets. I think I just really like being a missionary. I`m excited to get home and all of that jazz, but I`m super comfortable here. Oh well, the sad reality of life, time moves onward and things change.
When I talked to President last night, I asked him if there was anything he needed from me, and he said "anything and everything you can." This is like the final push of everything I`ve got. President Holland joked about how we should come home on a stretcher. In other news, I don`t know what day my homecoming talk will be. I`d be okay with it being on the 1st still. It doesn`t matter to me.
PS. Look at my layovers on my itinerary. What a joke. Oh well. Can`t complain, can I? Well I suppose I can, but I probably shouldn`t ;)
I got letter 92 this week. :) And also a letter from Grandma. I`m glad that the BYU scheduling thing went well. Thanks for doing that. That should be more or less everything I think until I get home, right? Or maybe there is stuff I don`t know about. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Life is going well. We`re seeing some really good stuff in our area. Hopefully we can pull it through and see some baptisms next month. Wow, November starts tomorrow. And then Wednesday is the Day of the Dead here....cool. :D The weather is getting warmer. I`ll deal with it. My small consolation is that I don`t have to deal with it too much. My comp is good. We`re getting along well and we`re seeing good results. It`s weird to think that I probably won`t have another comp........until my wife. Ooh trunky! :D:D:D
Anyways, have a wonderful week. Hope everybody is doing well. What day does Patrick get home from BYU for Christmas...and what day is Christopher done with school? Boogity.
Love Always,
DJ
PS: Did I tell you guys that we found a new investigator named Bernard?!? Cool!!!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Week 93
Hi
Monday, October 24, 2011 6:59 AM
Dear family,
Here I am. Thanks for your emails. This week was pretty good and we`re really seeing a lot of good things happening in our area. We`re pretty excited. We`ve got a fair number of lessons set up with potential new investigators (that rarely ever happens...usually they just say come back another day and we have to try our luck). Elder Craynor is a stud. He`s got 6 months in the mission and he`s from Ogden. We`re doing well together. I included a picture. I`m barely taller. Git sum. :D
Ramon will be getting baptized this Saturday so that`s pretty exciting. That other new family was planning on going to church, but didn`t make it yesterday for some reason. We`re going tomorrow so we`ll figure out what happened. They’re still up for baptism for the 12th of November. I`m enjoying being DL (district leader). It`s been a good experience. We found out that we`ll be going to the temple on the 3rd. So I figure that that day will be the very latest day that we`ll have to wait to decide on a sure date with President da Silva. I`m kind of assuming he`ll call me soon, but that may be not entirely accurate. As far as the endorsement thing...I don`t figure that I`ll apply for the MTC until this semester (and then start working over the summer or something, I don’t know, so I can get him to possibly do the endorsement afterwards. We`ll see. I can always talk to him about it.
I attached various pictures for your viewing pleasure. I do inform you that Christmas is 9 weeks from yesterday. It`s kind of weird knowing that I have so few weeks left because weeks pass by so quickly. It`s all very strange, but I`m just trying to remain focused.
I got mail this week, a couple letters from grandma and I think one from mom, but I don`t remember the number...does 90 make sense? So what does Nana want to do then...is she going to be there for Christmas? How long is she going to stay? How does that all work. Keep me posted on my living situation. :) Have a wonderful week. I love you all tons.
Love always,
DJ
PS: If neither Arabic nor Italian are available for my school schedule, we`ll have to figure something else out. I figure I might as well start right back in on languages when I get back. I don’t know. I need to think about it more. I plan on doing a life-evaluation as soon as I get home and off the mission so that I can figure out where I`m going with life.:)
Monday, October 24, 2011 6:59 AM
Dear family,
Here I am. Thanks for your emails. This week was pretty good and we`re really seeing a lot of good things happening in our area. We`re pretty excited. We`ve got a fair number of lessons set up with potential new investigators (that rarely ever happens...usually they just say come back another day and we have to try our luck). Elder Craynor is a stud. He`s got 6 months in the mission and he`s from Ogden. We`re doing well together. I included a picture. I`m barely taller. Git sum. :D
Ramon will be getting baptized this Saturday so that`s pretty exciting. That other new family was planning on going to church, but didn`t make it yesterday for some reason. We`re going tomorrow so we`ll figure out what happened. They’re still up for baptism for the 12th of November. I`m enjoying being DL (district leader). It`s been a good experience. We found out that we`ll be going to the temple on the 3rd. So I figure that that day will be the very latest day that we`ll have to wait to decide on a sure date with President da Silva. I`m kind of assuming he`ll call me soon, but that may be not entirely accurate. As far as the endorsement thing...I don`t figure that I`ll apply for the MTC until this semester (and then start working over the summer or something, I don’t know, so I can get him to possibly do the endorsement afterwards. We`ll see. I can always talk to him about it.
I attached various pictures for your viewing pleasure. I do inform you that Christmas is 9 weeks from yesterday. It`s kind of weird knowing that I have so few weeks left because weeks pass by so quickly. It`s all very strange, but I`m just trying to remain focused.
I got mail this week, a couple letters from grandma and I think one from mom, but I don`t remember the number...does 90 make sense? So what does Nana want to do then...is she going to be there for Christmas? How long is she going to stay? How does that all work. Keep me posted on my living situation. :) Have a wonderful week. I love you all tons.
Love always,
DJ
PS: If neither Arabic nor Italian are available for my school schedule, we`ll have to figure something else out. I figure I might as well start right back in on languages when I get back. I don’t know. I need to think about it more. I plan on doing a life-evaluation as soon as I get home and off the mission so that I can figure out where I`m going with life.:)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Week 92
Brains
Monday, October 17, 2011 7:38 AM
Dear family,
I just realized that I brought my SD card with me today, but I had not put any new pictures on it. Fail. Actually, that may be a lie. Hold on. Nope it`s not a lie. No pictures this week. Ok. So first of all, this week was really good, in that we are super excited. Sadly, Elder Coon will be leaving. My new comp is named Elder Craner. He`s from Elder Coon`s group so he knows him. Said he`s from Utah. Anyhoo, this last week we saw some more miracles. (I`m still District Leader by the way). On Tuesday we had interviews. At the interviews the sister missionaries gave us a reference. We went by on Wednesday and found a mother living with 6 kids. The mother had gone to church a lot years ago but never got baptized. And somehow (this is the miracle) the 14 year old daughter got interested in the church and wanted to listen to the lessons. We`re confused, but we figure it must be divine intervention to get us into that house. Otherwise, how else would a girl just randomly decide she wants to listen to missionaries. We had passed by that house several times going to other places and I also told myself that someday I would knock it because people always waved from the window when we walked past. There were a couple times that the girl even tried to hail us down but we walk too fast. So I was too thick-skulled, so the Lord had to use another way. Anyways, we enlisted a family in our ward to help us. They have a 12 year old daughter. We went on Saturday and the mom and daughter accepted the baptismal challenge for the 12th of November and then the member family went by on Sunday and took the daughter and a brother to church. Woo! In sacrament meeting, I just got this feeling that the Lord has a special love for this family and a special purpose. My job is to be a worthy instrument in His hands.
Ramon`s family randomly showed up yesterday (and they come once every 4 months or so) so he didn`t make it to church. He`ll get baptized next week. But he`s doing well. It`s amazing. He just accepted tithing without any problem. It`s super awesome. The ward is good. We`re getting help, which is solid.
Um, yeah, life is good. We`re getting warmer and warmer days now. My only consolation is that I won`t be here for the brunt of it. :D Woo Hoo! What are Nana`s plans? Is she still planning on going to GJ for Christmas, I don’t know. Thanks for Patrick`s address. Um yeah. I love you guys lots. I appreciate all you do for me. Have a wonderful week.
Love Always,
DJ
Monday, October 17, 2011 7:38 AM
Dear family,
I just realized that I brought my SD card with me today, but I had not put any new pictures on it. Fail. Actually, that may be a lie. Hold on. Nope it`s not a lie. No pictures this week. Ok. So first of all, this week was really good, in that we are super excited. Sadly, Elder Coon will be leaving. My new comp is named Elder Craner. He`s from Elder Coon`s group so he knows him. Said he`s from Utah. Anyhoo, this last week we saw some more miracles. (I`m still District Leader by the way). On Tuesday we had interviews. At the interviews the sister missionaries gave us a reference. We went by on Wednesday and found a mother living with 6 kids. The mother had gone to church a lot years ago but never got baptized. And somehow (this is the miracle) the 14 year old daughter got interested in the church and wanted to listen to the lessons. We`re confused, but we figure it must be divine intervention to get us into that house. Otherwise, how else would a girl just randomly decide she wants to listen to missionaries. We had passed by that house several times going to other places and I also told myself that someday I would knock it because people always waved from the window when we walked past. There were a couple times that the girl even tried to hail us down but we walk too fast. So I was too thick-skulled, so the Lord had to use another way. Anyways, we enlisted a family in our ward to help us. They have a 12 year old daughter. We went on Saturday and the mom and daughter accepted the baptismal challenge for the 12th of November and then the member family went by on Sunday and took the daughter and a brother to church. Woo! In sacrament meeting, I just got this feeling that the Lord has a special love for this family and a special purpose. My job is to be a worthy instrument in His hands.
Ramon`s family randomly showed up yesterday (and they come once every 4 months or so) so he didn`t make it to church. He`ll get baptized next week. But he`s doing well. It`s amazing. He just accepted tithing without any problem. It`s super awesome. The ward is good. We`re getting help, which is solid.
Um, yeah, life is good. We`re getting warmer and warmer days now. My only consolation is that I won`t be here for the brunt of it. :D Woo Hoo! What are Nana`s plans? Is she still planning on going to GJ for Christmas, I don’t know. Thanks for Patrick`s address. Um yeah. I love you guys lots. I appreciate all you do for me. Have a wonderful week.
Love Always,
DJ
Friday, October 14, 2011
Week 91
Hi
Monday, October 10, 2011 7:50 AM
Dear family,
I, sadly, do not have any pictures this week. Anyways, how are you guys? Thanks for the emails. I got a letter this week from mom...I think it`s 89. I haven`t opened it yet, but I know that it is more than just a letter. It had something in it. Anyhoo, I also finally got a letter from Kyle, so that`s cool.
This week was really good. Elder Coon and I had decided to put forth more focused goals and then really really work to get our goals. Some of them we reached and we were super close on others, so that just made us feel good. It`s nice to have accomplishments. We should be having a baptism next week (assuming I don`t leave this area). His name is Ramon (I can`t recall if I told you about him before). He lives kind of at the edge of town in a shack place. He more or less lives out in nature, I suppose. I don’t know. His wife has died, but she was a member. His friend that also lives with him on this property is actually a less active Melchizedek Priesthood holder. The whole thing has really been a miracle. Missionaries had talked with Ramon before but I guess it wasn`t his moment. Last week we invited him to live the word of wisdom and stop smoking and he hasn`t smoked since. He eats mints when he gets the urge (reminds me of Grandpapa and his raisins). They both went to church yesterday and the whole branch (it seemed like) was excited to see Pedro there (his friend). It`s amazing because with Pedro we didn`t really do anything. He just felt the Spirit I guess. We didn`t even know he was a member. A couple of weeks ago when we went for a visit, we gave Pedro a wave inviting him to join us. He shook his finger at us saying no, but a few minutes later he comes over with his chair and his hymn book. It was then that we found out he`s a member. Since then he started reading the Book of Mormon again (without us saying anything) and he self-committed himself to go to church and went. How cool is that. It`s pretty awesome.
Other than that, we`re working hard with the various investigators we have and trying really hard to find more. We`re also trying our best to work with the members here. For some unknown and assuredly obscure reason, the branch presidency is in love with the idea of splits. I don`t understand. They are relatively pointless if there aren`t scheduled lessons. Anyhoo, we`re working with it. My companion is a stud. We get change calls in 6 days which is crazy. When I think that I may have to get to know another comp, it boggles my mind because it honestly doesn`t feel like I`ve been with Coon very long. PS Bernard is a stud.
These last few days, we`ve strangely not had a lot of scheduled appointments so we`ve been walking like fools. It`s insane how much we`ve walked. It also hasn`t helped a ton that the weather has been crazy and it rains/pours on and off. Oh well.
My license is extended for a year, or 90 days after I get back into the country, whichever comes first. I`m glad you had fun at the football game. If Coon told me correctly, this week`s game is against Oregon State. If you watch it, keep an eye out for number 71 (I`m pretty sure) which is Elder Mau Nomani (or should be).
Well thanks for all that you do. I`m doing well. I love you tons. Next week we`ll know what is happening for changes. Woo!
Love Always,
DJ
Monday, October 10, 2011 7:50 AM
Dear family,
I, sadly, do not have any pictures this week. Anyways, how are you guys? Thanks for the emails. I got a letter this week from mom...I think it`s 89. I haven`t opened it yet, but I know that it is more than just a letter. It had something in it. Anyhoo, I also finally got a letter from Kyle, so that`s cool.
This week was really good. Elder Coon and I had decided to put forth more focused goals and then really really work to get our goals. Some of them we reached and we were super close on others, so that just made us feel good. It`s nice to have accomplishments. We should be having a baptism next week (assuming I don`t leave this area). His name is Ramon (I can`t recall if I told you about him before). He lives kind of at the edge of town in a shack place. He more or less lives out in nature, I suppose. I don’t know. His wife has died, but she was a member. His friend that also lives with him on this property is actually a less active Melchizedek Priesthood holder. The whole thing has really been a miracle. Missionaries had talked with Ramon before but I guess it wasn`t his moment. Last week we invited him to live the word of wisdom and stop smoking and he hasn`t smoked since. He eats mints when he gets the urge (reminds me of Grandpapa and his raisins). They both went to church yesterday and the whole branch (it seemed like) was excited to see Pedro there (his friend). It`s amazing because with Pedro we didn`t really do anything. He just felt the Spirit I guess. We didn`t even know he was a member. A couple of weeks ago when we went for a visit, we gave Pedro a wave inviting him to join us. He shook his finger at us saying no, but a few minutes later he comes over with his chair and his hymn book. It was then that we found out he`s a member. Since then he started reading the Book of Mormon again (without us saying anything) and he self-committed himself to go to church and went. How cool is that. It`s pretty awesome.
Other than that, we`re working hard with the various investigators we have and trying really hard to find more. We`re also trying our best to work with the members here. For some unknown and assuredly obscure reason, the branch presidency is in love with the idea of splits. I don`t understand. They are relatively pointless if there aren`t scheduled lessons. Anyhoo, we`re working with it. My companion is a stud. We get change calls in 6 days which is crazy. When I think that I may have to get to know another comp, it boggles my mind because it honestly doesn`t feel like I`ve been with Coon very long. PS Bernard is a stud.
These last few days, we`ve strangely not had a lot of scheduled appointments so we`ve been walking like fools. It`s insane how much we`ve walked. It also hasn`t helped a ton that the weather has been crazy and it rains/pours on and off. Oh well.
My license is extended for a year, or 90 days after I get back into the country, whichever comes first. I`m glad you had fun at the football game. If Coon told me correctly, this week`s game is against Oregon State. If you watch it, keep an eye out for number 71 (I`m pretty sure) which is Elder Mau Nomani (or should be).
Well thanks for all that you do. I`m doing well. I love you tons. Next week we`ll know what is happening for changes. Woo!
Love Always,
DJ
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Week 90
Barnacle bill the sailor
Monday, October 3, 2011 6:40 AM
Dear family,
It`s good to hear from you. Thanks for writing weekly. I`m doing well here. Conference was really good. There was a huge theme of trusting in our loving Heavenly Father even in the midst of trials and difficulties. President Monson is awesome and he announced 6 new temples! 2 of which are in Africa. How cool. PS. Where is Star Valley, WY. President Holland`s talk was bombdiggity. I totally called it too...before conference even started I guessed that he would speak in Priesthood. There were many talks that I really enjoyed (obviously) but Elder Christofferson`s talk on repentance was really good too. Elder Hales doesn`t look like he`s doing too well, but at least he was able to speak this time. In April, he didn`t even talk. We had 2 investigators go (of the 8 or 9 that we were expecting), but they both loved it. They both went to the Sunday morning session. Actually for us everything is in the afternoon. We watch it live so on Saturday we had sessions from 1-3, 5-7, and priesthood from 9-11. Then we actually went forward an hour on Saturday night so Sunday we watched from 2-4 and 6-8. It went by super fast. I remember 18 months ago after my first conference here when Dad told me that we would have the next one before we knew it. And here we are and all 4 of mine are gone. What a joke.
I`m trying to send pictures, but I don`t know if they want to today. Thanks so much for the birthday gift. Good munchies. If the pics go through, you`ll notice that one of the pics is the bday gifts. I also have included pics of Bernard (the purple manta ray) who has grown loads in these last 3 weeks.
Random alert...in between sessions on Saturday, they were showing something on family history and they had a dude from Rochester on it. I never realized that people from Rochester had accents before, but this guy reminded me a lot of Adam Mancuso...and others. Also, I was thinking, I would recommend that as of December, you no longer send anything to me, and try to get the word out to others (i.e. family members and put it on facebook). Anything that people may want to send me for Christmas should be reserved and just given to me when I get home because I more than likely will not receive it here.:)
About our area, things are improving. We have investigators now. We are teaching various couples as well. We`re still working on getting them to church, but there is progress. It`s been a struggle (and still is), but we`re trying to do everything we can. There are some really good members here.
On Friday, my comp and I went to the store and bought little cake things and a liter of blueberry ice cream to celebrate. Woo Hoo!
Hope everything is going well with you guys. I got my ballot, a postcard and letters 86 and 88 this week. Thank you :) Say hi to everybody. Hope I`ve answered all the questions. I love you all tons.
Love always,
DJ
Monday, October 3, 2011 6:40 AM
Dear family,
It`s good to hear from you. Thanks for writing weekly. I`m doing well here. Conference was really good. There was a huge theme of trusting in our loving Heavenly Father even in the midst of trials and difficulties. President Monson is awesome and he announced 6 new temples! 2 of which are in Africa. How cool. PS. Where is Star Valley, WY. President Holland`s talk was bombdiggity. I totally called it too...before conference even started I guessed that he would speak in Priesthood. There were many talks that I really enjoyed (obviously) but Elder Christofferson`s talk on repentance was really good too. Elder Hales doesn`t look like he`s doing too well, but at least he was able to speak this time. In April, he didn`t even talk. We had 2 investigators go (of the 8 or 9 that we were expecting), but they both loved it. They both went to the Sunday morning session. Actually for us everything is in the afternoon. We watch it live so on Saturday we had sessions from 1-3, 5-7, and priesthood from 9-11. Then we actually went forward an hour on Saturday night so Sunday we watched from 2-4 and 6-8. It went by super fast. I remember 18 months ago after my first conference here when Dad told me that we would have the next one before we knew it. And here we are and all 4 of mine are gone. What a joke.
I`m trying to send pictures, but I don`t know if they want to today. Thanks so much for the birthday gift. Good munchies. If the pics go through, you`ll notice that one of the pics is the bday gifts. I also have included pics of Bernard (the purple manta ray) who has grown loads in these last 3 weeks.
Random alert...in between sessions on Saturday, they were showing something on family history and they had a dude from Rochester on it. I never realized that people from Rochester had accents before, but this guy reminded me a lot of Adam Mancuso...and others. Also, I was thinking, I would recommend that as of December, you no longer send anything to me, and try to get the word out to others (i.e. family members and put it on facebook). Anything that people may want to send me for Christmas should be reserved and just given to me when I get home because I more than likely will not receive it here.:)
About our area, things are improving. We have investigators now. We are teaching various couples as well. We`re still working on getting them to church, but there is progress. It`s been a struggle (and still is), but we`re trying to do everything we can. There are some really good members here.
On Friday, my comp and I went to the store and bought little cake things and a liter of blueberry ice cream to celebrate. Woo Hoo!
Hope everything is going well with you guys. I got my ballot, a postcard and letters 86 and 88 this week. Thank you :) Say hi to everybody. Hope I`ve answered all the questions. I love you all tons.
Love always,
DJ
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