Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - May 21th 2012 (The Parable of the Wounded Soldier)

Hi All,

I'm doing well today. I'm happy too. :) It's been rainy these past couple of days, but not too cold so that's a definite plus. I wore a jacket for the first time yesterday this whole week so it's not too cold...yet.
By the way I had blood sausage for the first time on mothers day. It was actually pretty good. I was pleasantly surpriesed by that.

Anyway, I went on divisons (Splits) with one of the zone leaders this last Tuesday. I hope that means I'm doing something right, not something wrong...We had a good time though. We talked and got to know each other. Elder Cooper is from a little town just outside of City of Rocks Idaho and he says I'm the only missionary he's ever met that knows where his back home is. That's the case because if he ever wanted to do anything he had to go into Burley to do it. He also wants to go climbing with me when I get home. I've heard that a lot on my mission already. Anyway, most everything fell through and no one wanted to let us in, and we looked up an old contact named carmen that they had and she let us in. We had a great lesson and got to know her and taught her about the book of mormon and the resturation of the gospel. It was a nice lesson and the first one I've had in a while which as pleasant as well. Then I went home that night which made it all the better because I got to sleep in my own bed.

Wednesday I had a realization hit me when we were having a lesson with a recent convert. We got inside and she dropped a bomb on us. Elders, I'm not planning on going to church anymore. It's not making a difference in my life. Well.....It would help if you had gone to church for the last two weeks was my first thought. Anyway we sat down and talked about what she was feeling and thinking and experiencing. It ended up being a good lesson and she did come to church yesterday but I couldn't help but think about being a front line fighter again. Once more in the trenches, we happened upon a recent recruit. He had a wound in his chest and it would continue to rip open with his struggles if it was not treated soon. We arrived and he said, guys I just don't want to fight anymore. It's not making a difference. I feel crappy. We surveyed the situation. His body armor laid next to him and his rifle, uncleaned and caked in mud lay next to his armor. We asked why the armor was off. He replied that it was just too hot and uncomfortable. Then my eyes fell upon the rifle. It was a good make, standard issue. I thought of all the times that mine had saved my life. I thought about the thousands of rounds that I had fired without fail. Then I realized that my rifle, while worn and chipped in some places, fired with out fail and offered complete protection because I took care of it. I identified the problems and did my best to correct them. I constantly had it out, cleaning, polishing, checking the action and adjusting the sights. A precision tool of destruction that required precise care. Then, I considered the rifle of the fallen soldier. His lay in the mud, the clip, empty, lay beside it. We asked if he'd been using it when he was hit. "No...It's too heavy and I don't know how to clean it that well. It miss fires a lot and I can never hit my target." Kneeling in the mud, I pulled a hypodermic needle from my bag. "Son, this is going to sting a little bit." I said as I pushed the point into his wound. "Great Scott, you trying to kill me??" He yelped as he pulled back. Then, the sedative kicked in and he relaxed. My companion quickly dressed and treated the wound and I saw to his rifle, carefully wiping the mud from the stock and cleaning the clip. We rose and walked away as our comrade on the mend murmured his thanks. We saw him in the trenches yesterday. His rifle was out. He was firing and he was surrounded by friends.

On Saturday, we stopped by the house of a contact that Elder Dickson and Elder Fitzgerald made when we were on divisions on Tuesday. We had a great lesson with Joel and taught him about the Book of Mormon as well. He knows a great deal about the bible, as he reads it a lot. Side note: His bible was printed in the 1890's. Freakin boss. Anyway, he wasn't too stoked about the idea of going to church but we said we were going to pass by the next morning regardless and so we did. He came out ready to roll and said he really enjoyed church. He has a very philisophical mind and he looks deep into the heart of all the world around him. Because of this, he sees a lot of societal problems and the underlying causes. He's prone to being pessimistic about it so we'll see what some reading and the Holy Ghost can do for this wandering soul.

Other than that, that's pretty much my week. Elder Dickson is starting to get trunky and is showing symptoms of the soon-to-die. That's okay though. I'm cool with taking the lead. That's pretty much my week.

Elder Andy

Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - May 7th 2012

Hi All,

I'm healthy, it's been very warm this week. I've heard that it will be warm clear through next week. And no I do not have the sweater yet. As for my neck of the woodss......we have no one to teach still. That's not for lack of effort though. I promise.

In relation to unmasked optimism...I wasn't aware that I was guilty. I'm just rollin' on (lil' BSC for ya.) I'm doin the best with what I have, just like McGyver. Sorry, I'm just in a really goofy mood. Life is boss when you're rockin the tag n tie. Granted, not if you're workin like KFC or a store. Only when you're a servant of the Almighty God.

Let's see. Tuesday was labor day. As such, pretty much everything shut down. Including the busses. So we walked 40 minutes to and from district meeting. That was interesting. I made hamburgers for lunch. That was good. On thursday, I went on divisions and was with my MTC companion once again. Elder Tyree! Little bit of deja vu and his area looks exactly like Buenos Aires. NOOOOOO!!! I'm back to square one! 8 months down the drain! Except I can actually talk to people now... that's cool I guess.


On Friday my companion tried to convince me that jackalopes are real and they are jack rabbits with little horns on their head. Granted this was at a members house in Spanish. After a hushed and very rapid discussion in English, I couldn't stop laughing. They were a little confused (the members) and we told them to not worry about it. On the way home that night I couldn't stop laughing as we discussed it. I felt bad and apologized but jackalopes...?


I've seen clips of things that I know for sure are funny in english and no one here thinks they are funny. Also, sarcasm does NOT work in spanish. That's a bit rough and I've had to bite my tongue more than a couple of times when I've been asked como andas? Well usually I use my feet but today I was considering my hands...Promblem is como andas is pretty much slang for what's up so only americans that speak spanish think I'm funny. :D Oh well.
As for mothers day...I have access to skype. I was origianlly just going to have you call our house phone but I think I'll opt for skype. I'll be sitting at a computer at 2015 on sunday so that would probably be the opportune time. :D



Saturday, we prepped to teach the ward on Sunday about missionary work. We printed the talk by Donald A. Hallstrom from this last conference and used parts of it. We taught about understanding the importance of the gospel and the chuch. Then we discussed the chance that we have to combine them and become powerful representatives and disciples of Jesus Christ as we live and apply the principles of the Gospel. Through faithful chruch attendance and application of the concepts of the gospel, we will truly bring others to the fold. They are always watching and when we are living righteously, we will be able to answer the questions when they come. Because they will come, one day or another. As members of the true and restored church, it is our responsibity to respond to any and all questions treating our affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ. It went off really well and I know that can be attributed to careful, prayerful, thoughtful preparation and then heeding the Spirit as we executed our master plan. We had about 40 minutes and ended up switching off every 5 or 7 minutes so we each taught for about 20 minutes total. It's also ironic because earlier in the week we'd discussed "winging it by the spirit" (A talk sometime by Elder David A. Bednar.) In reality, we cannot wing it by the spirit. We have to prepare, know the word, know the scriptures, think about it, pray about it, plan the talk. Then, when it comes to the actually delivery, the Spirit will guide our words and give us what we need to say, from our own memory banks. As such, the class went well and I'm very grateful because I was a little bit nervous for it. God has our backs though and so as long as we are obedient, it's all going to work out for our good right?

 

Basically, we're walking our pants off (not literally. How embarrassing.) looking for old investigators and new ones. It's hard going but I know that as we keep searching we'll find what this area needs. It's just going to take concerted effort. Like always right? I think if I'm not in submission to stifling optimism, I'd probably be drowning in the gravity of this situation like some sort of black hole swimming pool. If missionaries neglect faith and optimistic point of view, our brains would explode like so much C4 on a bank vault. The key to the work is trusting the Lord and pushing as hard as you can. That's why I'm optimistic. Because in the desperation of the realisation of what exactly I've gotten myself into, the only answer can be found in reliance upon the Lord. That's why missionaries are so creepily happy. Perspective and all that. No smoke and mirrors, just blantant realisation of reality. I know that Jesus Christ lives. That's why I'm happy and sane. That's why I'm in south america. To testify of that truth. That's the heart of it all. Not baptism, not numbers, not more members. The glorious truth that comes with the Spirit confirming to the heart that Jesus really does live, that He loves all, heals all and saves all. That's what's up.

Chau,
Elder Andy

Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - May 1st 2012

Hi All,

I'm currently in barrio Sayago in Montevideo. We are on the boarder of the mission with the east mission and it's a supportive ward. Elder Dickson is great. He and I get along really well. Not quite like elder V and I but we still have a ton of fun and he's not too trunky yet which is great. He is from more than a couple of places but most recently he is from Las Vegas for most of his teenage years.

As for the house, it's the nicest one I've seen in the mission. I know its not the best but its the greatest one I've ever been in. It's really small but that's okay. There is hot running water in all faucets which is great. The shower is tiny. Bit like a linen closet really but it's clean and warm. I feel like if i sneeze while showering I'll fall out but it's okay. The city is huge and our area is really mostly just houses. There is a store called devoto in our area which is like a smaller version of walmart which is nice. Prices on the other hand in this town are ridiculous. Good thing I'm a bit of a tightwad.

Yes we are walking, unless it's for things outside of our area and then we bus. I'd say the area is a little bit smaller than Tranqueras. Probably quite a bit smaller actually.  The stake patriarch is in our barrio. They just sent a missionary out 6 weeks ago and so mom is still struggling a little bit and loves having us over. She says not to worry because she is taking good care of me.

I'm very happy with the members thus far. If we could just find them some investigators to help now....That seems to be the problem that this zone has, finding. It seems like our entire zone is really struggling. As such, we do a lot of contacting and no one really has investigators. We'll see what the future brings. Elder Dickson and I just overhauled the area book and map and are planning on hitting all ex investigators to see if we can drum up some action for, with and by the spirit. Because everyone in this city works a ton so that they can stay alive and keep living in the city. We'll see what happens when we stir this pot up with the Rod of God.


I really don't have a ton of stuff to say, nor scriptures. This has been a really chill week and we're just trying to get things going in this area.   We went and visited a recent convert planning on reviewing tithing with her. We got in and chatted a little bit and then out of left field Elder Dickson decided that we should teach her how to use the scriptures. He picked one from D&C, the New Testament and the Pearl of Great Price. I picked one from the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament. She started looking for them and halfway through I thought that I should change the Old Testament one. So I changed it to ezk 37.16 & 17

 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

That just worked out perfectly to wrap up the lesson. It was great. we both testified of the scriptures and then headed out. Bottom line is, follow the promptings. Even the little ones. It makes a difference.


Elder Andy

Tranqueras Uruguay - April 24th 2012

Hi All,

As for elder Larson, we worked great together. He's a very focused missionary and he's taught me a lot about prayer this last change.  But........... I'm going to MonteVideo to be Elder Dickson companion before he leaves for home.  Elder Larson is going to stay here and train. It's colder in 'deo than up here.   Yup yup yup, I'm outta Rivera and on to the bustling city to help Elder Dickson finish his last change. I don't know a lot about him but I'll let you know what I think in about 6 days.


For the sake of time, I'll just brielfly summarize our week. This last Saturday Keila Fabiana Suarez Luz got baptized. The service was great. I was really nervous but things went really well. Her mom and younger sister who have been investigating with her came to watch. Her older sister Marcia who very recently started investigating came and her older sister Lucia who hasn't been investigating at all came too.

Sunday, was stake conference. They all went to that as well and Marcia said she really liked it.  I heard something that I really liked and so I'ma pass it on. "Hate is not the opposite of love. Pride is." For what is love, but the pushing aside of your wants and needs for that of another. What is pride, but the placing of yourself before all others. Let us be lovers, not people of pride.

Like I said, I don't have a lot of time, but know that I'm so happy and doing well.


My thought of the week. Mosiah 3.19

 19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.


Chau chau,

Elder Andy

Tranqueras Uruguay - April 16th 2012

Hi All,

Weather wise, it rained all day Tuesday. The storm started at like 4 am in the morning and it was just cold enough that I could wear my trench coat without the thermal lining and only just be a little bit hot. That's tolerable. That said, I was told by a member that I looked like a secret agent and that if I was a little darker, like Will Smith from "Men in Black". I don't see it but hey! I don't mind getting told I look deadly. Same day, a fit of insanity overcame me and I sang in the streets. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!?! I've taken to singing lately, a cross between Spanish and English hymns and any snatches of songs I can remember from home. Think there is sunshine in my soul today crossed with blacken the cursed sun.

Wednesday, we had a great noche de hogar (Family Home Evening) with a couple members and Ricardo, who got baptized on Saturday. More on that later. Anyway, great lesson. We taught the word of wisdom and he said he'd stop drinking coffee. Then they all started saying how great of elders we are and that we're the best ever and this and that and the other and it was really amazing.

Seriously. It's not us. We're just out here trying our best to help the All Powerful Creator with His work. It's not us. Really it's not. Anyway, we were a 20 minute walk from home and got out of the lesson at 9:20 pm  ..............................................We ran. Hard. Our investigator thought it was funny and ran with us. We made it home at 9:29 pm. Gotta be obedient. The next day, Ricardo told us how great he thought it was that we are that worried about the rules. People are always watching.

Friday, our district leader bussed in with his companion at 7:30 in the morning. We got Ricardo and they had a baptismal interview while Elder Larson and I made pancakes and omlettes. That was a lot of fun. He passed the interview by the way.

Saturday, BAPTISM. 'Nuff said. K maybe I'll explain some more. It was great. We had 4 investigators show up and Elder Larson and I sang "I love to look for rainbows". The branch president baptized him which is wonderful. That afternoon, we went and picked up lunch from a member and got to the branch house at 1 pm and started filling the font. We were in and out of the building for the rest of the day, teaching lessons and cleaning. The font has a few small leaks. That was exciting to find out. Anyway, everything went well.

We had 25 people show up and Ricardo was very very happy with the way things turned out. So was I.  Afterward, we emptied the font with 2 buckets. Bout a half hour of solid bailing. Cleaned the floor, set up the chairs and home by 9:15.

 Sunday, we had lunch with an investigating family, a first for me and my companion. Their 14 year old daughter is getting baptized this saturday. Their 12 year old is unsure. The mom has to get married. After weeks of work, the husband has said yea what the heck let's do it. Now they just have to get birth certificates for their 7 kids and they'll get married sometime soon. The dad is starting to like us and their 16  year old who barely comes out when we're over, asked to listen to us today. Wish us luck.

Today we went to a sisters house and cleaned her  yard for about an hour and a half. Afterward, we ate with her. Then we went to the branch building, swept the floors, pulled the font back out and patched it. Now I'm here, writing you.

I recently finished the Book of Mormon, this morning to be precise, again. I'm so thankful for this book in my life. I get to teach from it everyday and there is so much to be learned from it. I tried that Mormon guy on his promise yesterday and the Lord told me I already know it's true. It's true. I already know that it's true but it's okay to ask for a reassurance every single day. That way, we're working out our spiritual muscles each day. I've been really grumpy in the mornings lately and I don't know why. I talked to the Lord about it and he said that I had to serve my companion and choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice. Even in the gospel we face rough days, even when everything is going alright. You have to take an active part in how you feel.

2 Corinthians 4:5-9
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

We preach Jesus Christ not the gospel of mankind! We are persecuted but never forsaken! Rise and fight. Bare your teeth and rain the brutal fury of salvation upon their heads. With the blade in our hands we are quick and deadly, light shining from every orafice. The fierce warriors called upon by our Savior to crush the foe beneath our heel. On my dear friends, to triumph, bathed in the blood of our enemy. On, to salvation and the eternities, striking on the left and right, clearing the path for those that follow. We are troubled on every side, but we the vessels of light lead the way. Falter not, the way is steep now. Look high, to the peak! There, in His majesty, he stands with arms out stretched. Cleave your foe with each blow. Perplexed, but not in despair! Rise up and fight! To arms for the cause of Christ!

Chau chau!

Elder Andy

Tranqueras Uruguay - April 9th 2012

Hi All,

I''m doing well. I actually cannot believe how well things are going. Looks like your hopes and dreams have been fulfilled ;D Things with our investigators are.......................................I'll tell you about that in a sec.

I just finished watching priesthood session and earlier today we set up the baptismal font in the capilla (Chapel). Yes. That does mean we are having a baptism. It's this saturday. More on that to follow.

My week, very quickly. Yesterday, 5 investigators in church and a family that has been inactive my entire time here came. Looks like they squared their grudges away. I hope so. Saturday we went to that inactive families house and met up with representatives with the stake and our branch. Ricardo also came with us. That said, at 8:00 am we started building another room onto their house for them. By 3:00 pm it was done. Construction in South America is a new thing by itself not to mention the fact that I was taking instructions in very rapid portunol. Turns out I don't know normal Spanish. Just gospel Spanish as of right now...I didn't lose any fingers and I'm all  here so looks like it went well.

Thursday, the service that we did saturday was originally planned to happen. Well it started pouring at 4 am in the morning. And there was a brutal lightning and thunder storm from then until 430 am. Fun to watch from my bed.  It poured until about 7 am. We left at 7:30 for the service and got to their house at 8:20 am. Wellllll they canceled it. So we turned around and  walked back home. There was a road bike race that started in the center of town which was fun to see as we made our way home.

Easter was pretty tranquilo but I've been asked more than once this last week if we can eat beef on friday. I told them to go ahead and chow down.


Sunday here was actually  not fast sunday for us. Looks like Pascua (Easter) is still big enough to hold off fast sunday. THAT'S a depressing thought. Time to go root out more tradition, falsehoods and superstition I guess...Not tooooo much of that down here but I've encountered more than a couple instances. Mostly in the older members. Comes from their catholic roots.



Monday, we had tacos in a bag. That was a lot of fun actually. Basically it's taco stuff and you dump it in a bag of Doritos and eat it all. It was actually really really good. Meal idea i think. Okay, on to investigators.

Silvana still really needs to get marreid. We had a charla (lesson) with her husband yesterday but he still isn't jiving with it. Rather frustrating. We may just end up baptizing the 2 daughters and helping the mom to stay active even though she's not baptized. We'll see what happens. They went to conference and really enjoyed it and they also came to chruch this last week. We praying for miracles with them. Ricardo is a stud. He has absolute desires to follow Jesus Christ. He also came to church this last week and is ready to get baptized. He's goin under this Saturday! I'm so stoked. He very much wants to change his life and be the best person that he can be. I'll tell you more about all this next week hey? Other than that, we've got some others in the works. We'll see how they develop in the weeks to come.
 
And my Spanish is........yea. It works. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it isn't. I still really struggle with Portuguese. Portuñol comes sometimes. I'm not too worried about it. I can survive on what I have and it gets better all the time. I'd say people understand me about 80 percent of the time. I'm okay with that.

Elder Andy

Tranqueras Uruguay - April 2nd 2012

Hi All,

How quick things change.  It's been COOOOLD here in the mornings and at night. I need to find a proselyting jacket or something because it's still too warm for my trench coat and my sweater has no sleeves...That said the days are still pretty warm it's just freezing in the mornings!

General Conference. We came to Riviera on Saturday to watch.  What an experience with the theory of relativity it was! Before the mission the rest hymn used to be the sign that I only had to hold on a little longer. Saturday and Sunday I felt like they had just stopped singing when the rest hymn started up again.  At home, it was like 2 weeks crammed into 2 hours each time. On the mission I swear each session was only 20 minutes long. I feel cheated... Not to mention the ulcer I recently acquired on Sunday. We bused home Saturday night from Rivera so that we could make sure 4 of our investigators made it on the branch bus for the Sunday sessions. Yes, we did watch both sessions on Saturday but we booked it home Saturday night so we missed priesthood session Sunday morning because our branch bus left at 12 and the elders in rivera watched priesthood Sunday morning. Anyway, so we ran around like madmen making sure our investigators made it on the bus which they did. Then we got to the conference and it was all great. Between sessions our branch went to go eat the lunch they brought in the plaza. Well there are 2 plazas in Rivera and turns out the branch decided that they would split. One of our investigators went to one, 3 to another. We went and taught a lesson with the three and then looked for the other. We met them en route and they said they didn't know where he was. So we called him and asked him to meet us at the obelisk. And we waited. And waited. And called him 15 minutes later asking where he was and he said he was coming. And 5 minutes before the second session started we got a text saying that our investigator was back at the church....nice. I wasn't worried at all. I just need to go talk to the doctor about the stress induced gaping hole that's in my stomach lining. (I'm kidding about the ulcer by the way. )

Our investigators really liked the sessions and I have great hope for them. One of them has to get married and El Juez is closed for all of holy week so we might have to wait til the 21st to baptize them. Her daughter will probably wait for her. The last investigator really wants to get baptized and he has fecha (date) for the 14th and we found him on Wednesday, had a second lesson with him Thursday morning and he made it to conference. We'll see what happens with ricardo.

 Conference itself was spectacular. I loved President Eyrings talk and Elder Christofferson's was amazing as well. Not to mention Elder Cooks! Right on man, right on. I'm so stoked for the May ensign! It's gonna be great to read all of it again.

Love
Elder Andy