monkey
Monday, May 24, 2010 10:54 AM
woo?
Hello all. Glad to hear you received the SD card, not so cool about the whole erase thingy. Um, yeah, those were other pictures. I opened a new card, right, and took pictures for you guys. So my "actual pictures" we`ll say, are still on the card I have here. It`s really weird that it got erased though because Elder Nomani has sent his home and not had any problems.
Have fun with Bernie and Tom this week.
Um, the weather here is bizarre, yeah. It`s ridiculously warm for the end of May (or so it seems). It did, however, rain this morning and I got to use my boot things. woo!
So the work here is kind of exploding. This past week we had 35 lessons, but the best part was that we had 9 investigators in church and 5 of those have a baptismal date. We also had one of our less active families that we focus on in church. We have 5 less active families that we focus on. and up until yesterday, none of them had ever come, but yesterday one of the families came. It was sweet. Let`s see..and the other elders had 5 in church, so between the 4 of us, we had 14 investigators, plus various recent converts and menos activos who don`t often come. Church was packed. :)
We have no baptisms this week, but we have two next week, provided they can get married before then without much problem. Then 2 more lined up for the following week, and one the week after that. Good stuff. and we keep finding new people to teach too. We contacted one lady on Saturday. We managed to teach her the first lesson at her gate and when we were done, she said something to the effect of "look how many times I`ve ignored or dismissed you guys and now that I`ve listened, I`ve been given something that interests me". so we`ll see where that goes, but it`s encouraging.
I haven’t received anything other than one letter from grandma for 3 weeks. I think there is a lag now because they are changing addresses.
Thanks again for sending the jacket. I`ll more than likely get it at the next zone conference in 3 weeks. That`s my guess. Also, I`m pretty certain that we`ll be staying together here for another change, which is great by me. We work well together, He`s a fun guy and I want to be here for the baptisms.
Anyways, cool about Patrick. I didn`t know they were going to Chicago now. Weird. Also congrats to Chris on his permit.
School here is bizarre. From what I can tell, it`s only obligatory up until 12 years of age. After that it`s optional, and I think you kinda pick what you want to study (kind of a mix between high school and college). Anyways, some kids go half time and some go full time. I don`t know why the distinction exists or what the advantages of either are, but school runs from beginning of March until the end of November or beginning of December I think. They have a break of about 3 weeks in July (equivalent to Christmas break) and a break of a week or so in September (spring break more or less). It`s pretty similar in that respect, from what I`ve heard.
Anyhoo...I have nothing else for now. Have fun with Bernie and Tom and say hi to them for me. hopefully I`ll get some mail tomorrow...hopefully. Sauce. Take care.
Love always,
DJ
DJ with his new washer
Piedra Alta, Uruguay
Ramon's Baptism
DJ and new Companion Elder Craynor
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Week 19
Goober
Monday, May 17, 2010 11:09 AM
Goober Goober Goober,
Ooglie booglie, sauce. Anyways, hello again to all. Welcome to the second half of May...tomorrow starts week 5 of this change. I`m hoping/thinking that me and my comp will be together another change. Right now, the work is getting set to explode. This area used to be the promised land, but then it kinda slowed down. I think what happened was the area got some trucho missionaries (we call them), missionaries who don`t really want to work too hard / aren`t too obedient. Because this area is seriously full of people ready for the gospel. This past week we had lots of lessons with people, most of those with investigators and the others with recent converts or less actives. But yeah...I`m hoping we stay here the both of us because we should have some solid baptisms this next change. Hoping. We keep finding people in new areas who are ready to listen to us. It`s awesome. So yeah, we`re excited.
We too, had stake conference yesterday. That was nice. Good stuff. The funniest part is when they try to pronounce the apostles names.
Well, I did get the package with the boot things. Woo!
I think I seriously underestimated how cold it would be here...and I forgot that the houses wouldn`t have heaters. They`re not much warmer, just without the wind. We do have a little heater thing for emergencies but it sucks energy so we prefer to bundle if possible.
So they have a weird custom here with trees. Evidently every winter they cut off all of the branches....as in cut off. Thus there are a bunch of trees here that have really old trunks and then newer stumps up top and then nothing because every year they cut it off. Weird.
You did put the new address on the blog, I assume. Probably a good idea, if you haven`t yet.
Um, I have nothing else to bring to the table. Thanks so much for the mail and packages and email. I feel loved (and rightly so)...have a great week to all.
Love always,
DJ
PS: My comp is Tongan and there is a Samoan in my district...Grandma told me one of the missionaries there is Samoan. Just fun fact for the day. Woo Polynesia!
Monday, May 17, 2010 11:09 AM
Goober Goober Goober,
Ooglie booglie, sauce. Anyways, hello again to all. Welcome to the second half of May...tomorrow starts week 5 of this change. I`m hoping/thinking that me and my comp will be together another change. Right now, the work is getting set to explode. This area used to be the promised land, but then it kinda slowed down. I think what happened was the area got some trucho missionaries (we call them), missionaries who don`t really want to work too hard / aren`t too obedient. Because this area is seriously full of people ready for the gospel. This past week we had lots of lessons with people, most of those with investigators and the others with recent converts or less actives. But yeah...I`m hoping we stay here the both of us because we should have some solid baptisms this next change. Hoping. We keep finding people in new areas who are ready to listen to us. It`s awesome. So yeah, we`re excited.
We too, had stake conference yesterday. That was nice. Good stuff. The funniest part is when they try to pronounce the apostles names.
Well, I did get the package with the boot things. Woo!
I think I seriously underestimated how cold it would be here...and I forgot that the houses wouldn`t have heaters. They`re not much warmer, just without the wind. We do have a little heater thing for emergencies but it sucks energy so we prefer to bundle if possible.
So they have a weird custom here with trees. Evidently every winter they cut off all of the branches....as in cut off. Thus there are a bunch of trees here that have really old trunks and then newer stumps up top and then nothing because every year they cut it off. Weird.
You did put the new address on the blog, I assume. Probably a good idea, if you haven`t yet.
Um, I have nothing else to bring to the table. Thanks so much for the mail and packages and email. I feel loved (and rightly so)...have a great week to all.
Love always,
DJ
PS: My comp is Tongan and there is a Samoan in my district...Grandma told me one of the missionaries there is Samoan. Just fun fact for the day. Woo Polynesia!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Week 18
woo!
Monday, May 10, 2010 4:58 PM
`Family people of mine,
Ah, it`s been a long time. It was nice to talk to you guys yesterday. I enjoyed it, and from the sounds of your emails, the feelings are reciprocated.
Um, as of next week, district meetings will change back to the way they used to be. It doesn`t make a whole lot of sense to me, and we lose a substantial amount of time this way, but what can you do. So we`ll have 3 hours of work time on Monday. It`s scheduled for the night time, but that is about as effective as trying to do contacts by throwing rocks at people, so we might move those 3 hours to the morning before Pday starts...dunno yet.
I forgot to tell you guys about Mate (pronounced MAH-tay). it`s the biggest thing here, and everybody drinks it. Basically it is grass with sugar (optional) and hot water. And you drink it through a metal straw. I kid you not. That is pretty much the national sport. People get up, drink mate, work for a couple hours, take a 3 hour siesta, work a little bit more, and have fun before going to bed. Mind you, they are pretty much drinking mate constantly during the day. There`ll be times during the day when people just sit around drinking mate. The best is when they say that they can`t talk/listen to us because they are busy (drinking mate and doing nothing).
So yeah, good stuff there. Halfway through another change, we are...crazy stuff. I was thinking...Christmas doesn`t seem that far away, not really anyways...and when I call on Christmas, I`ll have less than a year left. Weird, huh? Yeah, I thought so too.
I really don`t have a whole lot to relate today because of the phone call yesterday. I hope everybody is doing well, especially the grandparents. I`m glad that Grandma was there for the call, that was nice.
Have a great week. Enjoy those busy lives of yours and the wonderfully warm weather that you are taking from the southern hemisphere. Pbbbbbb.
Love Always,
DJ
Monday, May 10, 2010 4:58 PM
`Family people of mine,
Ah, it`s been a long time. It was nice to talk to you guys yesterday. I enjoyed it, and from the sounds of your emails, the feelings are reciprocated.
Um, as of next week, district meetings will change back to the way they used to be. It doesn`t make a whole lot of sense to me, and we lose a substantial amount of time this way, but what can you do. So we`ll have 3 hours of work time on Monday. It`s scheduled for the night time, but that is about as effective as trying to do contacts by throwing rocks at people, so we might move those 3 hours to the morning before Pday starts...dunno yet.
I forgot to tell you guys about Mate (pronounced MAH-tay). it`s the biggest thing here, and everybody drinks it. Basically it is grass with sugar (optional) and hot water. And you drink it through a metal straw. I kid you not. That is pretty much the national sport. People get up, drink mate, work for a couple hours, take a 3 hour siesta, work a little bit more, and have fun before going to bed. Mind you, they are pretty much drinking mate constantly during the day. There`ll be times during the day when people just sit around drinking mate. The best is when they say that they can`t talk/listen to us because they are busy (drinking mate and doing nothing).
So yeah, good stuff there. Halfway through another change, we are...crazy stuff. I was thinking...Christmas doesn`t seem that far away, not really anyways...and when I call on Christmas, I`ll have less than a year left. Weird, huh? Yeah, I thought so too.
I really don`t have a whole lot to relate today because of the phone call yesterday. I hope everybody is doing well, especially the grandparents. I`m glad that Grandma was there for the call, that was nice.
Have a great week. Enjoy those busy lives of yours and the wonderfully warm weather that you are taking from the southern hemisphere. Pbbbbbb.
Love Always,
DJ
Monday, May 3, 2010
Week 17
woo hoo!!!!!!
Monday, May 3, 2010 9:29 PM
Hola bizzare family of mine.
I hope life is the booty booty for you guys...in a completely good, missionary way. Life here is awesome with a capital Boo Yah.
As far as packages, I have not yet received any, but I didn`t receive any mail today at all. We have zone conference on Thursday this week and I know that last time they like to save stuff to just bring it there, so I should be getting the boot things as well as other mail on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
So the work here is good. We taught about 7 more lessons last week than usual. We are teaching more and being more efficient. The Lord has really been blessing us here in Toledo (that`s where I`m working. We are a bit northeast of Belloni). We found several people this past week that have definitely been prepared by the Lord. One lady, Patricia, had been firm in her church for about 30 years and then something just recently happened that shook her faith in her church a little bit...and then we contacted into her and had a really good lesson. Another contact, Juan Garcia, pretty much has a testimony already. Everything we said, he agreed with. And when I asked him if he would be baptized when he received his answer, he told us that he had already been baptized. We briefly explained the authority and he said "Oh, so I`ll have to be baptized again. Ok". That`s the easiest I`ve ever seen somebody take the "your first baptism is invalid" thing. Amazing.
So yeah, the work is good, and I am absolutely loving it. I love being a missionary. So many small (and large) blessings too. Amazing. I can`t believe that we`re already starting week 3 of this change. Bizarre.
So I sent out a letter today like last time. There are letters for Aunt Margaret, Cy, my roommate Ben (with address) and you guys. It has an SD card in it too, with labels for each picture. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to do absolutely whatever with the pictures. Put them on the blog, save them on the computer, eat them...whatever.
Also, I found some kleenex today at a store. Well it`s not kleenex per se, but it is tissues and stuff, so I bought some. Good stuff. Also, I splurged/treated myself and bought a box of mac and cheese. :) :) :) :) WOO!
Okay, let`s answer some questions. Yes, we are being fed everyday. Um, names of towns...don`t really exist. We have the area of Toledo Chico, but the easiest thing would be to look up where Route 6 meets Route 33. We have that intersection and pretty much everything to the left of route 6 and on both sides of 33 (and it goes for a while, the area). Hope that helps you find it.
My knowledge of life outside of my area is about 0 on a scale of green to banana. Um...I`m sure Laundromats exist somewhere, and I would presume that there are richer areas somewhere...maybe closer to the city. I have absolutely no idea if and where I could get size 14 shoes. My guess right now is no, but who knows. Also, I know nothing about how they define middle class. Sorry to be so little help, but my knowledge is extremely limited right now to the area I`m in.
Anyways, that`s the info I have now...if you want to send more questions next week, I can answer them. Thanks so much for everything. I appreciate it all. Hope you guys have a great week. Say hi to all for me...oh and thank the Bishop for his letter. Um, until next time...peace dawgs.
Love always,
DJ
Monday, May 3, 2010 9:29 PM
Hola bizzare family of mine.
I hope life is the booty booty for you guys...in a completely good, missionary way. Life here is awesome with a capital Boo Yah.
As far as packages, I have not yet received any, but I didn`t receive any mail today at all. We have zone conference on Thursday this week and I know that last time they like to save stuff to just bring it there, so I should be getting the boot things as well as other mail on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
So the work here is good. We taught about 7 more lessons last week than usual. We are teaching more and being more efficient. The Lord has really been blessing us here in Toledo (that`s where I`m working. We are a bit northeast of Belloni). We found several people this past week that have definitely been prepared by the Lord. One lady, Patricia, had been firm in her church for about 30 years and then something just recently happened that shook her faith in her church a little bit...and then we contacted into her and had a really good lesson. Another contact, Juan Garcia, pretty much has a testimony already. Everything we said, he agreed with. And when I asked him if he would be baptized when he received his answer, he told us that he had already been baptized. We briefly explained the authority and he said "Oh, so I`ll have to be baptized again. Ok". That`s the easiest I`ve ever seen somebody take the "your first baptism is invalid" thing. Amazing.
So yeah, the work is good, and I am absolutely loving it. I love being a missionary. So many small (and large) blessings too. Amazing. I can`t believe that we`re already starting week 3 of this change. Bizarre.
So I sent out a letter today like last time. There are letters for Aunt Margaret, Cy, my roommate Ben (with address) and you guys. It has an SD card in it too, with labels for each picture. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to do absolutely whatever with the pictures. Put them on the blog, save them on the computer, eat them...whatever.
Also, I found some kleenex today at a store. Well it`s not kleenex per se, but it is tissues and stuff, so I bought some. Good stuff. Also, I splurged/treated myself and bought a box of mac and cheese. :) :) :) :) WOO!
Okay, let`s answer some questions. Yes, we are being fed everyday. Um, names of towns...don`t really exist. We have the area of Toledo Chico, but the easiest thing would be to look up where Route 6 meets Route 33. We have that intersection and pretty much everything to the left of route 6 and on both sides of 33 (and it goes for a while, the area). Hope that helps you find it.
My knowledge of life outside of my area is about 0 on a scale of green to banana. Um...I`m sure Laundromats exist somewhere, and I would presume that there are richer areas somewhere...maybe closer to the city. I have absolutely no idea if and where I could get size 14 shoes. My guess right now is no, but who knows. Also, I know nothing about how they define middle class. Sorry to be so little help, but my knowledge is extremely limited right now to the area I`m in.
Anyways, that`s the info I have now...if you want to send more questions next week, I can answer them. Thanks so much for everything. I appreciate it all. Hope you guys have a great week. Say hi to all for me...oh and thank the Bishop for his letter. Um, until next time...peace dawgs.
Love always,
DJ
Monday, April 26, 2010
Week 16
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Monday, April 26, 2010 6:28 PM
Hello fam fam fam family!!!
It`s another week here in good ole Uruguay! can I get a woop woop baller?? Thank you.
Anyways, I`m super stoked that you guys sent some boot things...you have no idea. I`m like having a party inside my brain right now. Woo! I haven`t received them yet, but it does sometimes take a while to get from the office to the zone leaders home. I`m excited. I also received the card from Dad with the pics...sweet times. Also letters 13,14,15 with the card thingy. Woop! Also an email from Bernie. That`s cool and a letter from Grandma and a letter from my roommate Ben! He got his mission call to Frankfurt Germany and leaves June 23rd. It`s super exciting. Also my friend from my ward last semester who is here in the mission with me is actually in my zone so I’ll get to see him every week at district meetings. Sauce.
Speaking of district meetings, they were switched to Mondays and then pday was extended to include the rest of the day (we used to leave at 6 to work). Thus I can open my mail right away but that means an extra week for response on my end because I can`t send them out until the next Monday. Cool beans though.
So my new comp is awesome . Yes he`s from Oregon and before the mission, he played O-line for Oregon State. He`s huge. He`s about 315 pounds and a couple inches taller than me. His feet are size 17. Heavenly Father sure knows how to bless us. My biggest anxiety down here was clothes really, but now I have somebody who has the same problems finding shoes and whatnot to ask different questions. I guess his parents had to send him a pair of shoes somewhere along the way...I suppose you guys will have to do the same eventually, but all is good now. I glued my shoes using pretty much super glue (it`s novopren) and so far so good. It`s sweet. but yeah, comp is sweet. He is laidback like I am so we get along really well, and I have high hopes for success this change (hopefully 2). We set a couple of baptismal dates as goals more or less last week, but at least there are goals. We also found some really good potentials. My biggest fear is that we won`t have enough time to visit everybody as frequently as we want/hope to. Our area is huge. I have a feeling that this change is going to fly by.
Hey there is a new address to send stuff to, here it is:
Elder David Joshua Thornton
Uruguay Montevideo Mission
Dalmiro Costa 4635BIS
C.P. 11400
Montevideo Uruguay
Something like that above. Basically the first two lines are the same and then the middle part changes. So yeah. Send letters and packages here. :)
Oh, so also my comp has been out for almost 19 months...he goes home in October. He`s on his 4th pair of shoes I think, so that might give you some idea. He speaks pretty good Spanish too. He is an anomaly in his family as both of his parents are short and huge...like his Dad is 5`4 and his Mom 5`0 or something, but they are wide. My comp is just huge.
I have no need of anything this week, except for a box of small envelopes would be nice whenever you send the next package out. I don`t know how easy it is to get envelopes down here and I`m conserving right now.
We had a little rain last night but it`s been pretty nice. On change days, it is just a huge mall really and we just pretty much take over a small part of it with luggage and missionaries and stuff. We got there last week at like 8 or something and left at 3. So we have time to just hang out as missionaries and do shopping, email, eat, and whatever we feel like.
Glad to hear that things are going well back at home. I think I`ll be ok for jackets and warmth and whatnot...things should be alright. luckily, I don`t tend to get cold as easily as others do. Glad you have apricots. that`s always good. I`ve had peaches here a couple of times like we have back home,the canned ones. It`s nice.
Things are going well here. I`m having a good time at least. Although I`ve decided that it`s going to take some serious self control to not spend all my college money on American things when I get back. ;) Nah, just kidding, but sometimes I do just want a nice box of macaroni and cheese or some small Reese`s. Oh well, the sacrifices we make for blessings. :D
Have a great week all. I`ll be back again in no time.
Love always,
DJ
PS Congrats to Angela and Trevor
PSS Oops! I forgot a funny story. There are a lot of animals around here. Anyways, we were at a house clapping the other day and there was a sheep. So Elder Nomani went to play and the sheep wanted to avoid him. Elder Nomani was stepping on his rope and the sheep decided that jumping would be a good way to avoid him. Hence, the sheep took a jump and cratered himself into a ditch. seriously...cratered. It was the funniest thing I`ve seen in a while. He didn`t realize that a) Elder Nomani was on his rope and that b) his foot was caught in the rope. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA....dumb sheep. I also saw a dog faceplant when it slipped on a wet bridge. good stuff. peace
Monday, April 26, 2010 6:28 PM
Hello fam fam fam family!!!
It`s another week here in good ole Uruguay! can I get a woop woop baller?? Thank you.
Anyways, I`m super stoked that you guys sent some boot things...you have no idea. I`m like having a party inside my brain right now. Woo! I haven`t received them yet, but it does sometimes take a while to get from the office to the zone leaders home. I`m excited. I also received the card from Dad with the pics...sweet times. Also letters 13,14,15 with the card thingy. Woop! Also an email from Bernie. That`s cool and a letter from Grandma and a letter from my roommate Ben! He got his mission call to Frankfurt Germany and leaves June 23rd. It`s super exciting. Also my friend from my ward last semester who is here in the mission with me is actually in my zone so I’ll get to see him every week at district meetings. Sauce.
Speaking of district meetings, they were switched to Mondays and then pday was extended to include the rest of the day (we used to leave at 6 to work). Thus I can open my mail right away but that means an extra week for response on my end because I can`t send them out until the next Monday. Cool beans though.
So my new comp is awesome . Yes he`s from Oregon and before the mission, he played O-line for Oregon State. He`s huge. He`s about 315 pounds and a couple inches taller than me. His feet are size 17. Heavenly Father sure knows how to bless us. My biggest anxiety down here was clothes really, but now I have somebody who has the same problems finding shoes and whatnot to ask different questions. I guess his parents had to send him a pair of shoes somewhere along the way...I suppose you guys will have to do the same eventually, but all is good now. I glued my shoes using pretty much super glue (it`s novopren) and so far so good. It`s sweet. but yeah, comp is sweet. He is laidback like I am so we get along really well, and I have high hopes for success this change (hopefully 2). We set a couple of baptismal dates as goals more or less last week, but at least there are goals. We also found some really good potentials. My biggest fear is that we won`t have enough time to visit everybody as frequently as we want/hope to. Our area is huge. I have a feeling that this change is going to fly by.
Hey there is a new address to send stuff to, here it is:
Elder David Joshua Thornton
Uruguay Montevideo Mission
Dalmiro Costa 4635BIS
C.P. 11400
Montevideo Uruguay
Something like that above. Basically the first two lines are the same and then the middle part changes. So yeah. Send letters and packages here. :)
Oh, so also my comp has been out for almost 19 months...he goes home in October. He`s on his 4th pair of shoes I think, so that might give you some idea. He speaks pretty good Spanish too. He is an anomaly in his family as both of his parents are short and huge...like his Dad is 5`4 and his Mom 5`0 or something, but they are wide. My comp is just huge.
I have no need of anything this week, except for a box of small envelopes would be nice whenever you send the next package out. I don`t know how easy it is to get envelopes down here and I`m conserving right now.
We had a little rain last night but it`s been pretty nice. On change days, it is just a huge mall really and we just pretty much take over a small part of it with luggage and missionaries and stuff. We got there last week at like 8 or something and left at 3. So we have time to just hang out as missionaries and do shopping, email, eat, and whatever we feel like.
Glad to hear that things are going well back at home. I think I`ll be ok for jackets and warmth and whatnot...things should be alright. luckily, I don`t tend to get cold as easily as others do. Glad you have apricots. that`s always good. I`ve had peaches here a couple of times like we have back home,the canned ones. It`s nice.
Things are going well here. I`m having a good time at least. Although I`ve decided that it`s going to take some serious self control to not spend all my college money on American things when I get back. ;) Nah, just kidding, but sometimes I do just want a nice box of macaroni and cheese or some small Reese`s. Oh well, the sacrifices we make for blessings. :D
Have a great week all. I`ll be back again in no time.
Love always,
DJ
PS Congrats to Angela and Trevor
PSS Oops! I forgot a funny story. There are a lot of animals around here. Anyways, we were at a house clapping the other day and there was a sheep. So Elder Nomani went to play and the sheep wanted to avoid him. Elder Nomani was stepping on his rope and the sheep decided that jumping would be a good way to avoid him. Hence, the sheep took a jump and cratered himself into a ditch. seriously...cratered. It was the funniest thing I`ve seen in a while. He didn`t realize that a) Elder Nomani was on his rope and that b) his foot was caught in the rope. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA....dumb sheep. I also saw a dog faceplant when it slipped on a wet bridge. good stuff. peace
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Week 15
aupa
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 11:56 AM
hello family who lives in Colorado.
I am here in Uruguay sending messages of greetings via this thing they call the internet. Sweet times. Anyways, this past week was pretty good, I suppose. The weeks and days kind of just blur together...that`s what happens when it`s the same routine day after day. Anyways, Elder Apaza is getting transferred and my new comp is Elder Nomani...I haven`t met him yet as I`m currently at the huge bus station/mall/whoopie doo with a ton of missionaries. We all meet here and then break off for our various destinations. The other two elders in my house did not get changed. Anyways Elder Nomani, from what I`ve heard, is taller than I am by a substantial margin and from Samoa. He is awesome everybody says so I`m excited to meet him and start. We have a couple families that have a very good potential to be baptized so we hope to set some dates within the next week or so and give them a goal to progress towards.
Okay so this past week has been filled with water. Tuesday night at about 8:00, it started raining and didn`t stop until 3:00 Thursday afternoon...and then rained periodically throughout Thursday evening. On the plus side, my rain jacket is awesome with a capital boo yah. It`s amazing and all of the water just flows right off of it. Consequently, my entire upper body was warm and dry (thanks to the other jacket I bought). From my knees down, I was completely drenched and I pretty much walked around in puddles of water all day in my shoes...and I kind of have a tiny fear with regards to wet feet all day but it hasn`t been a problem. I`m beginning to think about boots...they said they were optional and could be bought down here, neither of which are really true. I haven`t decided yet how necessary boots are, but I`m thinking it might be nice to have some. The thing is that days of rain result in me putting wet shoes on day after day because it makes no sense to get both pairs of shoes wet, so I use the same wet pair day after day.
And speaking of rain, I think it gave me a cold. so consequently I have/had a ridiculous hard time breathing...shallow breaths and my resting heart rate is somewhere around 80 or 90, as opposed to 55-60 like usual. It`s getting better though.
Now it`s just about 304% humidity with clear skies. I woke up last night so wet and sweaty that I could have wrung out my clothes and produced enough water to satisfy all of Africa...it was horrible, so yeah.
Anyways, I got some mail...I got the letter #12 with the case, thank you, as well as 3 letters from Grams...they finally caught up to me, 2 dear elder letters from Bishop and a letter from Cy. Oh and a postcard from Dad.
That`s cool about Travis. Glad he`s doing well. and Grandma did tell me about Brennan. that`s cool.
There`s not much to write about this week...it was mostly filled with rain, humidity and hard breathing, but it`s getting better. It`s kind of hard to believe that one change is gone.
Have a great week. Next week it`ll be on Monday again. Only on Tuesdays every 6 weeks during transfers.
Love always,
DJ
P.S. My new comp is great. He`s about 2 inches taller than me and huge. He played football for Oregon State. Anyways, peace out until next week.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 11:56 AM
hello family who lives in Colorado.
I am here in Uruguay sending messages of greetings via this thing they call the internet. Sweet times. Anyways, this past week was pretty good, I suppose. The weeks and days kind of just blur together...that`s what happens when it`s the same routine day after day. Anyways, Elder Apaza is getting transferred and my new comp is Elder Nomani...I haven`t met him yet as I`m currently at the huge bus station/mall/whoopie doo with a ton of missionaries. We all meet here and then break off for our various destinations. The other two elders in my house did not get changed. Anyways Elder Nomani, from what I`ve heard, is taller than I am by a substantial margin and from Samoa. He is awesome everybody says so I`m excited to meet him and start. We have a couple families that have a very good potential to be baptized so we hope to set some dates within the next week or so and give them a goal to progress towards.
Okay so this past week has been filled with water. Tuesday night at about 8:00, it started raining and didn`t stop until 3:00 Thursday afternoon...and then rained periodically throughout Thursday evening. On the plus side, my rain jacket is awesome with a capital boo yah. It`s amazing and all of the water just flows right off of it. Consequently, my entire upper body was warm and dry (thanks to the other jacket I bought). From my knees down, I was completely drenched and I pretty much walked around in puddles of water all day in my shoes...and I kind of have a tiny fear with regards to wet feet all day but it hasn`t been a problem. I`m beginning to think about boots...they said they were optional and could be bought down here, neither of which are really true. I haven`t decided yet how necessary boots are, but I`m thinking it might be nice to have some. The thing is that days of rain result in me putting wet shoes on day after day because it makes no sense to get both pairs of shoes wet, so I use the same wet pair day after day.
And speaking of rain, I think it gave me a cold. so consequently I have/had a ridiculous hard time breathing...shallow breaths and my resting heart rate is somewhere around 80 or 90, as opposed to 55-60 like usual. It`s getting better though.
Now it`s just about 304% humidity with clear skies. I woke up last night so wet and sweaty that I could have wrung out my clothes and produced enough water to satisfy all of Africa...it was horrible, so yeah.
Anyways, I got some mail...I got the letter #12 with the case, thank you, as well as 3 letters from Grams...they finally caught up to me, 2 dear elder letters from Bishop and a letter from Cy. Oh and a postcard from Dad.
That`s cool about Travis. Glad he`s doing well. and Grandma did tell me about Brennan. that`s cool.
There`s not much to write about this week...it was mostly filled with rain, humidity and hard breathing, but it`s getting better. It`s kind of hard to believe that one change is gone.
Have a great week. Next week it`ll be on Monday again. Only on Tuesdays every 6 weeks during transfers.
Love always,
DJ
P.S. My new comp is great. He`s about 2 inches taller than me and huge. He played football for Oregon State. Anyways, peace out until next week.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Week 14
Monday, April 12, 2010 4:57 PM
Hello all,
How is everybody in the good ole northern hemisphere? Doing well I hope. I have no idea what the southern cross looks like for certain but I`m pretty sure I know what it is. There is a big "cross" looking thing that is pretty much the brightest stars in the sky. So yeah, that`s pretty cool.
Yes, I am healthy. I have adapted to the smoke I think, and it no longer gives me problems unless it is really heavily concentrated and even then it is not too bad.
Let`s see, investigators...we`re actually teaching two families right now. A younger couple with 4 kids, they seem really interested and if we can get them to church, I think they`ll be baptized. We`ll see though. And the other is an older couple (no kids at home). They are a reference from the branch president and they are golden. We taught them twice last week (the first time on Tuesday) and they already attended church (yesterday)...so I`m hoping that they will get baptized. I think that they definitely have been prepared...we`ll see. We have a couple of other really good investigators who have a potential to be baptized if we can get them to keep commitments, so time will tell with those. But yeah, we`ve got some good investigators and we also teach a lot of recent converts and less actives. This area had, in the past, some issues with missionaries baptizing for numbers and not for souls so there is a fairly large number of people who got baptized to promptly go inactive. Not good. That`s the proselyting side of things here...pretty much.
Thanks for the sending the packages. I`ll get them some time in August, I think. Nah, jk, but seriously I don`t know when they`ll arrive, but good stuff anyways. Next week is transfers...we`ll find out next Sunday night who is getting transferred (or if we`ll all be staying). More than likely, I will not be getting transferred, but you never know.
Um, Elder Apaza has been out just shy of 13 months. He passed his 1 year mark while I was here. He joined the church about 4 years ago. And half of his family is in the church. Other than that I don`t know much. Really, I just know that he is really trying to learn English so that he can get a job when he returns home. (a good job). He told me that there aren`t too many jobs available in Peru. So yeah.
Also, we had interviews today with President. He`s awesome, so yeah. good times.
That`s all for the email I think. Glad everything is going well at home. Next week Pday is on Tuesday I believe because of changes. Just fyi. Have a great week. Thanks for sending stuff (even though it`s still in transit). Say hi to all.
Love Always,
DJ
Hello all,
How is everybody in the good ole northern hemisphere? Doing well I hope. I have no idea what the southern cross looks like for certain but I`m pretty sure I know what it is. There is a big "cross" looking thing that is pretty much the brightest stars in the sky. So yeah, that`s pretty cool.
Yes, I am healthy. I have adapted to the smoke I think, and it no longer gives me problems unless it is really heavily concentrated and even then it is not too bad.
Let`s see, investigators...we`re actually teaching two families right now. A younger couple with 4 kids, they seem really interested and if we can get them to church, I think they`ll be baptized. We`ll see though. And the other is an older couple (no kids at home). They are a reference from the branch president and they are golden. We taught them twice last week (the first time on Tuesday) and they already attended church (yesterday)...so I`m hoping that they will get baptized. I think that they definitely have been prepared...we`ll see. We have a couple of other really good investigators who have a potential to be baptized if we can get them to keep commitments, so time will tell with those. But yeah, we`ve got some good investigators and we also teach a lot of recent converts and less actives. This area had, in the past, some issues with missionaries baptizing for numbers and not for souls so there is a fairly large number of people who got baptized to promptly go inactive. Not good. That`s the proselyting side of things here...pretty much.
Thanks for the sending the packages. I`ll get them some time in August, I think. Nah, jk, but seriously I don`t know when they`ll arrive, but good stuff anyways. Next week is transfers...we`ll find out next Sunday night who is getting transferred (or if we`ll all be staying). More than likely, I will not be getting transferred, but you never know.
Um, Elder Apaza has been out just shy of 13 months. He passed his 1 year mark while I was here. He joined the church about 4 years ago. And half of his family is in the church. Other than that I don`t know much. Really, I just know that he is really trying to learn English so that he can get a job when he returns home. (a good job). He told me that there aren`t too many jobs available in Peru. So yeah.
Also, we had interviews today with President. He`s awesome, so yeah. good times.
That`s all for the email I think. Glad everything is going well at home. Next week Pday is on Tuesday I believe because of changes. Just fyi. Have a great week. Thanks for sending stuff (even though it`s still in transit). Say hi to all.
Love Always,
DJ
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