Hey All,
Things are great here. It's currently 80 degrees outside. It's been like that since I got here. I hope it keeps it up for a long while. The baptism on Saturday went great! They are such a prepared family and the Lord has truly prepared their way to be able to come and partake of the gospel of Christ and have it in their lives as a family. They were so so happy Saturday and Sunday. On Wednesday they are going to the temple with the branch. Even though they can't go in they are still super excited to be able to go which is rather impressive. The Lord is really going to bless them for so actively seeking after Him.
Things with my comp are good. Last night we were taking a short cut on a dirt road in the middle of no where and I started to feel just awful inside. Rather unsure about our way and I honestly felt scared. It didn't help that it was getting dark too. So I mentioned it to my comp and he said we should keep going so we did. Then he started to sing Let the Holy Spirit Guide. He's really not that great of a singer at all. But. It helped me so much. I am so grateful that my companion was willing to invite the spirit with a hymn. Nothing happened to us. We got to where we needed to be safely. But I know that in that moment, I felt a little bit more of the Saviors love for my companion. If we had turned back, perhaps I never would have been able to learn to love my companion a little bit more.
Luis and Anna have pretty much disappeared....that happens a lot in this country. Their baby was born and is fine but they didn't come to church on Sunday. We'll see this week what we can do for them.
I went on divisions with Elder Nuffer on Wednesday and Thursday. He's
an elder that I was in the MTC with and he's my zone leader out here.
I've always really respected him. Turns out we get along great and we
had a blast. So while i was there, there was a rat in their house. And
it kept us up all night long. Not kidding. It got trapped in the
bathroom but every time we got up to go try and trap it, it would go
hide. It doesn't help that Elder Nuffer is also very very afraid of
rats. Which is kinda funny if you see him. He's like 5' 10'' and weighs
probably 200 pounds of sheer muscle. He's HUGE.
Yesterday a member of the high council spoke in sacrament meeting. One thing that he said really stuck with me and I thought I should share it with you. Service is the way we grow as people. And it's true. When we serve, we learn so much more about who we are and how to love others. The Lord, when He was distraught about the death of a dear friend, went and served others. And then something that the stake president said that I really enjoyed was that in this life it's not why did this happen to me? It's for what did this happen to me? How can I learn and benefit and grow from what is happening or has happened? Like I've said before, the Atonement allows us to change. Let us take advantage of every chance we have to grow.
I've been focusing a lot on teaching about the atonement and gaining a
testimony of it's power. That was one thing that I noticed about Elder
Nuffer when we were on divisions. He spoke of and testified of the
atonement in every single visit we did. When I told him I'd never seen
an elder do that before he looked at me and said, "We'll that's why
we're here isn't it? To teach and testify of the atonement." And that
really is why I'm here. Everything we teach about, the restoration, the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the plan of salvation, the commandments all of
it, is thanks to the atonement. All of it. We're here to show others how
to apply the atonement in their lives and live happily as a result. I
know that's why we can live as a family forever. The Atonement is so
earth shakingly vital and we treat it with almost a trite simplicity far
too much. It is EVERYTHING! I know that Christ lives. I know that He
suffered it all so that we can change who we are to become more like
Him, and thusly, become happy. HE is the reason for this life. Wouldn't
it make sense that we all live a little more for Him...
Well, I think that's about all for now.
Beware of the Jabberwock!
Have a stupendous week
Elder Andy
Elder Andy
Monday, March 25, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Salto Uruguay - March 19th 2013
Hi All,
I’m doing great if slightly damp. It rained this morning on our ride into Salto for our leaders council. Salto is called Zion because it’s probably the strongest stake in our mission and they consistently baptize the most almost every single month. It’s been that way since I got here. It’s a legendary zone for the success they have, the availability of Argentinian goods and overall awesomeness. I guess. It’s pretty much the same as Rivera or Tacuarembò if you ask me but I like it here a lot.
My comp is Elder Delgado and he’s from Peru. He’s 25 years old and we get along okay. He’s still a relatively young missionary having only 10 months in the mission and is still unsure of a lot of things and how they work and what to do. I’m searching for the balance so that he doesn’t spend the entire change irritated with me. We are indeed co-district leaders. We just take half of the work. Each does half of the calls and we’ll take turns doing divisons and my comp is going to teach the district this Tuesday and I get it next week. So on and so forth. Yesterday in interviews president Heaton said that he'd like me to teach my companion how to be a good leader and how to be disciplined, because part of our responsibility in the mission is to promote leadership in South America. My comp speaks with the same tonality of Yogi Bear. The whole up and down laid back thing with the voice. Makes me chuckle sometimes.
My first week on bikes has been great. I really have to try not to get frustrated by the fact that my companion never leaves 1st gear…..We could literally third or half our travel times if he bumped up to 2nd or 3rd gear. But. That’s really not important. He just likes to ride slow is all. Other than that, I’m great. I get haulin when we get out on the freeway and I haven’t been sore and for that I’m grateful.
We taught the Ferreira family. The came to church for the third time on Sunday and they are getting baptized on Saturday. They are such a prepared family and accept everything with no doubt. It’s amazing how much the Lord has prepared them and how willing they are to accept the gospel into their lives. Fanny and Fabian are the parents and Gabriel is their 10 year old son. Aside from that our most promising investigators are Ana and Luis. They came to church for the first time on Sunday and are also very willing to learn. It would seem that after about 9.5 months, Ana is finally having her baby. That’s what her neighbor told us last night because they went to the hospital and haven’t returned. They’re going to name their son Moroni because elder Delgado made a joke about it like 2 weeks ago and they liked they name. So that’s….interesting.
Elder Davis from Livermore was in Elder Lambs MTC group and I met him the day I went to go pic up Elder Lamb. He said that some people back home told him to watch out for me and there I was on his first day in the field so that was pretty cool.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance to the atonement in my life as of late….We watched the Mormon message mountains to climb with a portion of President Eyerings talk. It’s….one of a kind. I would highly recommend that you guys watch it.
Til next week,
Elder Simpson
I’m doing great if slightly damp. It rained this morning on our ride into Salto for our leaders council. Salto is called Zion because it’s probably the strongest stake in our mission and they consistently baptize the most almost every single month. It’s been that way since I got here. It’s a legendary zone for the success they have, the availability of Argentinian goods and overall awesomeness. I guess. It’s pretty much the same as Rivera or Tacuarembò if you ask me but I like it here a lot.
My comp is Elder Delgado and he’s from Peru. He’s 25 years old and we get along okay. He’s still a relatively young missionary having only 10 months in the mission and is still unsure of a lot of things and how they work and what to do. I’m searching for the balance so that he doesn’t spend the entire change irritated with me. We are indeed co-district leaders. We just take half of the work. Each does half of the calls and we’ll take turns doing divisons and my comp is going to teach the district this Tuesday and I get it next week. So on and so forth. Yesterday in interviews president Heaton said that he'd like me to teach my companion how to be a good leader and how to be disciplined, because part of our responsibility in the mission is to promote leadership in South America. My comp speaks with the same tonality of Yogi Bear. The whole up and down laid back thing with the voice. Makes me chuckle sometimes.
My first week on bikes has been great. I really have to try not to get frustrated by the fact that my companion never leaves 1st gear…..We could literally third or half our travel times if he bumped up to 2nd or 3rd gear. But. That’s really not important. He just likes to ride slow is all. Other than that, I’m great. I get haulin when we get out on the freeway and I haven’t been sore and for that I’m grateful.
We taught the Ferreira family. The came to church for the third time on Sunday and they are getting baptized on Saturday. They are such a prepared family and accept everything with no doubt. It’s amazing how much the Lord has prepared them and how willing they are to accept the gospel into their lives. Fanny and Fabian are the parents and Gabriel is their 10 year old son. Aside from that our most promising investigators are Ana and Luis. They came to church for the first time on Sunday and are also very willing to learn. It would seem that after about 9.5 months, Ana is finally having her baby. That’s what her neighbor told us last night because they went to the hospital and haven’t returned. They’re going to name their son Moroni because elder Delgado made a joke about it like 2 weeks ago and they liked they name. So that’s….interesting.
Elder Davis from Livermore was in Elder Lambs MTC group and I met him the day I went to go pic up Elder Lamb. He said that some people back home told him to watch out for me and there I was on his first day in the field so that was pretty cool.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance to the atonement in my life as of late….We watched the Mormon message mountains to climb with a portion of President Eyerings talk. It’s….one of a kind. I would highly recommend that you guys watch it.
Til next week,
Elder Simpson
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Salto Uruguay - March 12th 2013
Hi All,
The Patria Gaucha last weekwas actually kind of a let down. There were mostly just artisan booths of leather goods, gaucho clothes, mate’s and novelty items. Most of the cool stuff they do at night and we were out of there by about 4:30. It’s a festival that happens annually here in T-bo and every year the missionaries get to go. So for that, it’s pretty cool. All in all it was okay. Something that I can say I did at least once in my life.
This week has been miraculous. I have 0 complaints in relation to this week. 0. None whatsoever. For the last couple of weeks Elder Lamb and I have been finding people almost non-stop and we are seeing so many miracles. This next change should be a very interesting change and I do believe that many miracles will be witnessed.
As for transfers now…..I’m going to………………SALTO!!!!!!!!!! One of the most legendary zones of the mission, most commonly referred to as Zion. But. Of course, as is to be expected. There’s a catch in my area. It’s the only area in the zone that’s a branch. ? Back to the sticks, back to the complicated area. We have bikes….which means God has been telling to get ready for this for the last 2 areas and I’ve been ignoring the messages. We absolutely need the bikes in the area because we have three small towns that we visit and the main town is about 25 minutes away by bike. So….yea.
My companion is Elder Dalgado and we’re going to be Proselyting comps. He’s really young in the mission, not even a year yet. He’ll hit that point in June. Also, we’re both going to be district leaders. I know that there’s a lot I’m going to be able to learn out there.
I’m really sad to be leaving Tacuarembo. It just hit me the other day how little time I have left in the mission. I can’t explain what I’ve learned even in the last three days. I’m so very happy with this life and I love the Lord more than ever before. I know that this is His work and His will. I know that we can become like Him. That is what He wants. He wants us to come and live with Him and have all that He has. I love the Savior. He is my friend and my advocate. He leads me along, step by step as I am willing to follow His loving yet firm instruction.
Elder Ender. I’m here to finish this.
The Patria Gaucha last weekwas actually kind of a let down. There were mostly just artisan booths of leather goods, gaucho clothes, mate’s and novelty items. Most of the cool stuff they do at night and we were out of there by about 4:30. It’s a festival that happens annually here in T-bo and every year the missionaries get to go. So for that, it’s pretty cool. All in all it was okay. Something that I can say I did at least once in my life.
As for transfers now…..I’m going to………………SALTO!!!!!!!!!! One of the most legendary zones of the mission, most commonly referred to as Zion. But. Of course, as is to be expected. There’s a catch in my area. It’s the only area in the zone that’s a branch. ? Back to the sticks, back to the complicated area. We have bikes….which means God has been telling to get ready for this for the last 2 areas and I’ve been ignoring the messages. We absolutely need the bikes in the area because we have three small towns that we visit and the main town is about 25 minutes away by bike. So….yea.
My companion is Elder Dalgado and we’re going to be Proselyting comps. He’s really young in the mission, not even a year yet. He’ll hit that point in June. Also, we’re both going to be district leaders. I know that there’s a lot I’m going to be able to learn out there.
I’m really sad to be leaving Tacuarembo. It just hit me the other day how little time I have left in the mission. I can’t explain what I’ve learned even in the last three days. I’m so very happy with this life and I love the Lord more than ever before. I know that this is His work and His will. I know that we can become like Him. That is what He wants. He wants us to come and live with Him and have all that He has. I love the Savior. He is my friend and my advocate. He leads me along, step by step as I am willing to follow His loving yet firm instruction.
Elder Ender. I’m here to finish this.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Tacuarembó Uruguay - March 6th 2013
Hi all,
All in all this summer has been much less than what was the summer of last year. No complaints from me on that one. We'll see how winter behaves herself.
Things this last week really involved a lot of personal growth really. I've been learning a lot about how to overcome myself and let go of all of the nasty little pride particles that float around in my blood. I really feel like over the last 2 changes I've become a lot more humble and that the Lord has truly blessed me with rapid growth and progress. Regardless, I know that I still have an extreme distance to go. It's really actually been a hard week for me. Lots of negative experiences, or rather, lots of experiences in the which I had to choose to be humble and charitable or not. They were super tough. Just lots of negative people and comments. Total buzz kill. I'll be honest. T-bo has not been one of my favorite areas thus far. I truly do love a lot of the people here. Some great great people and I've learned and grown so much here. So for that, I wouldn't trade my time here for anything. Not much more to do but put one foot in front of the other.
I'm fine. I'm tired. All the time. Getting out of bed is probably one of the top 5 hardest things that I do every day. Also on that list of top 5 is staying awake during studies and lessons. But the Lord blesses me with strength and the days continue to absolutely fly past. It's rather astounding at times at how relativistic the mission is. I mean seriously. There should be some quantum theory based solely upon a missionaries perception of the passing of time. I don't know if there's any other point in life where the rate of time passing can be plotted on an exponential graph! Quite obscene really....for example. Elder Velasquez goes home in 6 weeks. I can't believe this...All of my friends are leaving.
I found dental floss for the first time last night in 3 months. That made me pretty happy. Apart from that, I'm really not in that much need. A lot of the American brands have production companies in Argentina and Brazil and Uruguay imports a lot of those goods so brand names are super familiar. Johnson and Johnson, Colgate, Dove, Speed Stick, so on and so forth. The quality isn't quite as high, but it's still okay material.
This week I've really enjoyed reading out of the old testament. I don't know why but I'm flying through it. I really wish that I'd paid more attention during seminary. Today in my study, I was really impressed and saddened by the persistence of Saul in disobeying the commandments of God as he became more and more enraged by David. He threw away so much and for what? Stubbornness? Pride? Jealousy? How petty. How depressing that one of the greatest warriors of Jewish history and the first monarchal figure in what was hundreds of years at that time threw everything away for sheer pigheadedness! (The entire story is in the book of Samuel. You should glance it over really. Rather entertaining and enlightening.) Anyways, it makes me think about us sometimes. What are we willing to put up as our excuse for not being perfectly obedient and giving our whole self unto the Lord? What celestial blessings are we willing to sacrifice in the name of such pathetic pretenses? Christ invites us to repent, be baptized and be saved. That is the entire purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
One thing that always always always helps me out here when the days just bite is praying it all off. I get steamed or bugged or depressed or whatever and right then is the moment to pray. Even if were on a busy street. Especially when we get frustrated. Those are the moments when I tell my companion to stop, pull out my agenda so it looks like we're merely conversing and offer a fervent and heartfelt prayer. That's when I've seen some of the tenderest blessings of the Lord on my mission. Some of my favorite moments have been on my knees as well. He's got all of the answers and can calm the wearied soul.
Elder Andy
All in all this summer has been much less than what was the summer of last year. No complaints from me on that one. We'll see how winter behaves herself.
Things this last week really involved a lot of personal growth really. I've been learning a lot about how to overcome myself and let go of all of the nasty little pride particles that float around in my blood. I really feel like over the last 2 changes I've become a lot more humble and that the Lord has truly blessed me with rapid growth and progress. Regardless, I know that I still have an extreme distance to go. It's really actually been a hard week for me. Lots of negative experiences, or rather, lots of experiences in the which I had to choose to be humble and charitable or not. They were super tough. Just lots of negative people and comments. Total buzz kill. I'll be honest. T-bo has not been one of my favorite areas thus far. I truly do love a lot of the people here. Some great great people and I've learned and grown so much here. So for that, I wouldn't trade my time here for anything. Not much more to do but put one foot in front of the other.
I'm fine. I'm tired. All the time. Getting out of bed is probably one of the top 5 hardest things that I do every day. Also on that list of top 5 is staying awake during studies and lessons. But the Lord blesses me with strength and the days continue to absolutely fly past. It's rather astounding at times at how relativistic the mission is. I mean seriously. There should be some quantum theory based solely upon a missionaries perception of the passing of time. I don't know if there's any other point in life where the rate of time passing can be plotted on an exponential graph! Quite obscene really....for example. Elder Velasquez goes home in 6 weeks. I can't believe this...All of my friends are leaving.
I found dental floss for the first time last night in 3 months. That made me pretty happy. Apart from that, I'm really not in that much need. A lot of the American brands have production companies in Argentina and Brazil and Uruguay imports a lot of those goods so brand names are super familiar. Johnson and Johnson, Colgate, Dove, Speed Stick, so on and so forth. The quality isn't quite as high, but it's still okay material.
This week I've really enjoyed reading out of the old testament. I don't know why but I'm flying through it. I really wish that I'd paid more attention during seminary. Today in my study, I was really impressed and saddened by the persistence of Saul in disobeying the commandments of God as he became more and more enraged by David. He threw away so much and for what? Stubbornness? Pride? Jealousy? How petty. How depressing that one of the greatest warriors of Jewish history and the first monarchal figure in what was hundreds of years at that time threw everything away for sheer pigheadedness! (The entire story is in the book of Samuel. You should glance it over really. Rather entertaining and enlightening.) Anyways, it makes me think about us sometimes. What are we willing to put up as our excuse for not being perfectly obedient and giving our whole self unto the Lord? What celestial blessings are we willing to sacrifice in the name of such pathetic pretenses? Christ invites us to repent, be baptized and be saved. That is the entire purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
One thing that always always always helps me out here when the days just bite is praying it all off. I get steamed or bugged or depressed or whatever and right then is the moment to pray. Even if were on a busy street. Especially when we get frustrated. Those are the moments when I tell my companion to stop, pull out my agenda so it looks like we're merely conversing and offer a fervent and heartfelt prayer. That's when I've seen some of the tenderest blessings of the Lord on my mission. Some of my favorite moments have been on my knees as well. He's got all of the answers and can calm the wearied soul.
Elder Andy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)