Cardona Uruguay - Oct 15th 2012

 Hi All,
 
I’m doing good. It’s a little bit warm today and we’ve been having a touch of sun for the past couple of days which has been nice, but it hints at a much more brutal and hot time to come. Do I hear refiners fire?  Everyone is saying that we’re going to have a very hot very wet summer. They also said that this was going to be a winter to beat all winters. I really don’t ever remember being that cold, so we’ll see what happens  I do remember last summer was the hottest time that I have ever passed through in my life.  So, we’ll see how I do in this summer. I think I’ll be able to make it. I hope I’ll be able to make it. I think I can I think I can I think I can…

If you really want to know how I’m doing. I’m tired. I’ve never been so tired in all of my life. I literally do not remember portions of last night I’m so tired. That said, I’m happy. I cannot believe how happy I am when I consider how tired I am. I know that I don’t have to strength to do what is currently being required of me. The Lord is surely bearing me up with His Almighty Hand. Like a limp fork.    

A good lesson for all of us.

We read the Book Of Mormon every time we’re on the bus now, and at the stations which is a LOT now that I’m district leader.  As for my district,  I have Elder Rodríguez and Elder Wald in Juan Lacaze. Elder Ponce and Elder Leininger, the Zone Leaders, in Nueva Helvecia and Elder Huaracha and Elder Marinosky in Rosario. Rosario is the closest to us, as the bus drives. Takes about 40 to 50 minutes by bus. From there we can take another 40 minute bus to NH or a different one to JL. So…..we’re pretty spaced out. I actually couldn’t tell you how big of an area my district is, because I don’t see too many detailed maps down here, but I’d say roughly half or perhaps a third of Colonia, the Department in Uruguay. We have district meetings every Tuesday at 1030, which means I’m teaching for the first time tomorrow and we’re going on divisions immedeatly afterwards until Wednesday morning. We also have a Leaders Council on Sundays, (the zone leaders and elder larson my old comp, the other district leader) which eats up our entire Sunday because of the bus times. It’s okay though.

On Friday I had my first baptismal interview. Little girl named Macarena (seriously). It was....wonderful. We bused around all day (because the bus times are all super spaced out so we do a lot of waiting) but it was worth the last 2 minutes of the interview. I asked her why she wanted to get baptized...and she said that Jesus is her friend and that she loves Him very much. Man, I just wanted to start crying right then and there. The Lord touched my heart through that little girl and I am so grateful for it.

Tomorrow, I teach district meeting for the first time.  Saturday, we went to the house of a brother and did some painting for him and cleaned a little bit of his yard. I felt like a servant of the Lord right then and there. I dunno. I just love serving. I know that the Lord gave of His time to the people, and that’s the only reason that I’m here on the mission so I’m really trying to learn to love the people and develope charity for each person that I see. We are all children of our father, we all want mercy, we all want respect. Might as well give it if I want some in return right?

 Love always,
Stupendous Man

Cardona Uruguay - Oct 8th 2012

Hi All,

This week was indeed transfer week. Elder Rosete and I are gonna stick here together for the next 6 weeks, and I’m okay with that. We're working so hard out here and I'm just tired of having everyone say no. It makes me sad that they are rejecting their salvation. On the plus side, we're getting really good at contacting.  I'm not discouraged, by any means. I know that this is the Lord's labor and that really none of this rests on my shoulders. Now that I've said it, I just have to believe it and apply it right? I'm sure I'll be praying even more now, which is cool because I really like talking to God. He knows everything which is really comforting.

I’ve been learning a lot from my companion too, and I really feel like I’m progressing as a missionary. I love that he and I are always looking for ways to improve ourselves as missionaries and servants of Christ. It means we are always working on something. Usually it’s our teaching and understanding of the doctrine, but as of late we’ve been a little bit short on investigators, so we’ve really been focusing on ourselves. It’s been interesting to see all the things that we know need to be different and that we can change. Sometimes it’s little things, sometimes it’s really really big things. Either way, we know that through concerted effort it can be rectified, improved and even entirely changed for the better. I’m so glad we have the Atonement. Without it, there’s not even a reason for us to have FAITH! The Atonement justifies the necessity of faith in this existence. How cool is that?

Also. I was notified this morning that I’m the new District Leader. That’s a rather crippling thing to contemplate. Fortunately, I know that  I don’t have to handle anything that’s on my plate alone. Heck, I don’t even think it’s my plate to handle. I’m the fork, so who am I to quell at the thought of grabbing something bigger? Since when does the fork talk back to the Hand of God?? Anyways, I’m excited and more than a little bit nervous. We’ll see how this change goes, one day at a time.

Weather here has been rainy, overcast and HUMID for the past week. So humid your bed is damp when you get in it and the walls of the bathroom stay soaked all day long.  I’m really tired of the rain. Somebody must have been talking to the Rain Wizard. Whoever it was, will you let him know that I’m Tired of this Rain?

I spent a couple of different days this week seeing if we could hook the church computer up to the tv, and I couldn’t get it to work out, so we just moved the computer out in front of the office and watched conference live. Usually branches go out to another larger branch or ward to watch conference, but because we have so few members, which means a small budget, we couldn’t afford the trip. The streaming was a little bit stuttery at times and sometimes it flat out choked, but we made it through and heard all of the regular sessions of conference. I was not so blessed as to have heard the priesthood session, so perhaps next week I'll print out one or two of the talks. Perhaps I'll merely wait for the Liahona, so I can study everything better. As such, we watched the whole thing in our building, in Spanish. Which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I know that I could probably have learned a lot more from it in English, but I still really enjoyed it, especially the hymns.

 When I heard Pres. Monson's announcement, I actually thought of my dad and the changes to the age and time requirements that were made during his mission. I'm sure one day I'll make a comment to my children and have to explain that the mission ages haven't always been so low, and that when I was in the mission field they made the change. :) That'll be fun.

I really found it interesting how much they talked about the necessity of service in our lives as members. To me, it also seemed like a lot of talks spoke about the importantce of geneology. I’m starting to understand more and more of why that work is so important, so we’ll see if I get a little more involved in that after the mission.

I know that the Lord is effecting the changes in me that are necessary now to prepare me for future changes. Here's to the consecration of the life of another disciple of Jesus Christ. Onward my friends, into the gaping jaws of death and hell. We ride as conquerors. Despite our knowledge of the ultimate outcome, the fight will still require our greatest efforts.

Elder Andy

Cardona Uruguay - Oct 1st 2012

Hi All,

This week has been.....very long. And really hard. But It's okay. I still keep walking and waking up so at least I'm not dead yet.As of today I'm still dry. I think it's going to try to rain tomorrow or perhaps tonight. You can tell because there is a lot of humidity in the air. Your cloths feel damp and your bed is cold and wet when you get into it. But if it rains then all of that goes away and it becomes okay again.  It looked like it was going to rain this morning but then it didn't. It tried. And failed. Which was disappointing. Fortunately, it's really not that hot yet so the humidity doesn't make you feel like you're being smothered by a wet rag. Yet. Summer is coming though. It's already starting to get hot and I can't hang around the house in sweats anymore.

The area is really struggling and I can't figure out why! We're doing so much and it's getting to a point where I'm running out of ideas. We almost have 0 investigators and the people just aren't listening to  us. That said, I'm not disheartened. Just frustrated and sad that so many people are closing their hearts to the word of the Lord and Salvation.  We started a fast on Saturday and ended it yesterday. We managed to find a last investigator at the 11th hour yesterday so we're really going to be focusing on her needs and how we can help her. Her name is Virgina and she lost her son about 9 months ago, but is still really wrapped up in the entire ordeal. So, we're going to see if s she's willing to let Christ heal her wounds. 

Cristhina was an old investigator of other missionaries and we managed to find her last week. Well turns out that it was a week of vacations and she wasn't working her 2 jobs. This week, she started work again and we haven't been able to meet with her at all. We've called a couple of times and sent a couple of texts but now I feel like she's just getting bugged by us. She works as a live in nurse from 2 until late at night and works in a school from 730 in the morning until 130 and then goes to her other job which makes it utterly impossible for us to visit with her during the week. Then, this week end, we called to set up a lesson and she sounded really exasperated with us and said that she'd send us a text when she could meet with us. She still hasn't sent us a text.... She's the first of many people that have done similar things to us this week. A lot of people have set lessons with us and then they aren't there and stop answering our calls or texts or try and hide when we pass by. It's really frustrating but life goes on.

Speaking of food. I'm currently in Rosario with elder Merrill we made homemade taco burgers and french fries for lunch with homemade fry sauce. WIN. It was super delicious and I actually was the one who made the burgers. Fun, and really tasty. It's been a good p'day, the last one of this change. It's really possible that he's getting out of here so we decided to party a little bit before he took off. He's come to be one of my really good friends and we've had a lot of fun together here in the same zone.
As a mission, we continue with the program of reading the Book of Mormon in 90 days and I'm loving every day of it. Every time that we travel, I read a ton. I know I've said this numerous times already, but I keep finding so many new and wonderful things. I read from Alma 16-22 on the 30 minute bus ride here this morning and I'll read more this afternoon. I love reading about the sons of Mosiah. What manner of missionaries they were! What faith and dedication to the Lord in His work! Freakin stud muffins.

I was really excited about General Conference until Sunday. Then I found out that we were just going to be watching it in our branch building...which I have to set up.... and we'll only be watching it in spanish. Bummer. Conference talks in spanish just aren't the same. I'm totally capable of understanding the talks but I just get so drowzy as it is and it's even worse just listening in spanish. I know that I'll still learn a lot. Conference is such a high light of the year so we'll see what this time brings for me. There's always the ensign right?

Speaking of not having time. I was asked to give a 15 minute talk on sunday and given 5 minutes to prep it. I would like to thank you and the Spirit for the words and talent that I had at that point and time to step up to the plate and deliver. I spoke about the importance of daily study from the Book of Mormon and honoring the sacrifices of the prophets. I quoted my favorite prophet Jacob and his older brother Nephi. I used the scriptures 2 Nephi 33:3-5, 1 nephi 19:23 Jacob 6:12, 7:24-25 and 7:26-27. I feel like it went really well. I'm happy because I'm finally getting to a point where I feel like the spirit can tell me what I need to say in Spanish and it just happens. I'm not struggling as much to be able to follow the Lord's will in a foreign tongue and I hope it hit home with some of the people that were listening. I thought of my dad and mom and the fact that they were always reading from the scriptures as we were growing up. I'm glad they made daily study a habit.

I've been teaching English to the elders quorum president every morning as well as my comp. Looks like the branch president wants to come too. I don't know if I'll ever get over the fact that I'm teaching English to people as I communicate the structure and how to speak in Spanish. I find it all more than a little bit funny. It's amazing how the Lord works through us to better the lives of those around us.
I know this is short, but sometimes that's just the way it is. Look at the book of Jacob. He's convinced he hardly wrote anything. Then we have the book of Alma. Both are just as important and both teach wonderful doctrine. God rocks!

One of the coolest parts of my week was one night when we were walking down the street at about 8 at night. I looked up and stopped dead in my tracks. The moon was all white with a nice orange cap and a HUGE halo around it. It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Elder Rosete and I just stood there for probably 5 minutes talking about the heavens and how cool God is and how much we can't wait for our turn to do amazing things with the skies. It was great. I hope that I never forget that image, because I don't know if I'll ever see it again.

I know that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet. He's been called of God and he directs the Lord's church. Let us take advantage of the great blessings that the Lord has in the words of His prophets. Til next week,

Elder Andy

Cardona Uruguay - Sept 24th 2012

Hi All,

Monday, pday. Always good. Tuesday, got SOAKED! But had a killer lesson with Cristhina. We had brutal winds and a torrential downpour Tuesday evening but it was okay because the Spirit kept us warm, because our trench coats couldn't, being thoroghly soaked. Wellll....it was okay, but then we had to get up at 3:30 am to catch a bus to Montevideo. And our trench coats were kinda dry. Until we walked out the door and got soaked at 4:30 in the morning. Not fun. So we sat wet on a bus for 3 hours with the lady next to us coughing up a lung the entire way. There went my beauty sleep....And it rained. And rained. And rained.... and then rained some more.

Then we got a call from the zone leaders 5 minutes before we  got in to MonteVideo saying that they didn't wait because...well....yea....that's literally what they told me. Then, they gave me crappy directions. But I didn't know that til 10 blocks and 20 minutes later, dripping like a sewer rat in the most furious storm of my life minutes before a conference with a member of the 70. So I chuckled as I thought of torturing them and got us back to the right place. So, soaked, we sat through a really cool 3 hour conference with elder Viñas about conversion and retention and the fact that like 11% of the people that we're baptizing are staying active after the first year. Gotta fix that one.... It was great!

Then, we got wet on the way to XXX to catch our bus to Cardona. And when we got home....no more rain. I WAS SO HAPPY FOR NO MORE RAIN! And I put on dry clothes and it was great and I was warm and toasty and happy. And then. I got sick on Saturday. There's a shocker. It's really just been more like really really bad allergies so i can't complain if that's the worst I'm getting after being soaked for 24 hours straight.





I know that I'm going to chuckle about this storm in a few weeks and it'll only get funnier with time. We had a good time with it on Tuesday night but Wednesday was just miserable....Also. Someone threw an egg at us the other day, probably trying to stick it with the insult so commonly hurled at us. Juevos. How original....Anyway. I totally felt like Samuel the Lamanite because it zipped past my head and landed in front of us. I'm sure kids could have sworn it was gonna hit us. God protected us. I know He did.

I do need to get a new umbrella.  Mine very nearly lost it's life in the storm on Wednesday and Tuesday. You can see in the picture what happened to Elder Rosete's Umbrella.

Faith is a prerequisite to learning. That was something that I had never considered and really enjoyed. Our next door neighbor is Juan. He's the executive secretary of the branch and a RM of 6 years. He's been really frustrated with his life in that he's not been able to progress in his work and he had great plans for after the mission when he left but due to family problems, he's been working like a fool trying to make up the loses. Today...He asked me to help him learn English. He received a job offer in the United States. His dreams are all right before his eyes and he still can't believe it. I dunno why I'm sharing this I just want to say that the Lord always makes good on His word and always has our best interest in mind. It took 6 years for Juan to even possibly have the chance of progressing in this life because almost all of his earnings have been going to support his mother who got divorced from his father during his mission service. And it went from I'm never getting out of this po-dunk town to I have to learn English now because I'm getting out of here. Only the Lord moves so swiftly, precisely and certainly. It is our job to stay on our feet and ready for when He gives us blessings and even more urgent, for when He comes. 

 Well...that's about it for this week mom.  I know that Christ lives and that He kept me safe and healthy through that storm. We are protected by the spirit. I know we are.

Elder Andy

Cardona Uruguay - Sept 17th 2012

Hello All,

I'm doing great. It has been a tough week, but hey, it was rewarding and that's what counts. Our numbers were a crap shoot in a shanghai alley, but that's not what matters because you can't call in to report the miracles that the Lord blessed ya with during the week. The bread recipe I make is really really really easy. And I mix it with my bare hands. Like a man. I do indeed get fruits and veggies. I eat at least 1 banana a day and then what ever else I find. I cook with tomatoes peppers carrots corn peas and onions a lot. Oh yea. The big bag? Potatoes. 100 pesos for a bag that size. They're itty bitty little guys but they're spuds none the less and I love me some taters. And yes. We ate it all in three days. So I made it again today. But better. And more. For just me. Soooo there's lunch for the next week.

The new branch president is indeed here full time. That's all they do. Live a normal retired life and share the gospel casually but actively with the people that they come across. This last week....was the lowest that I have seen since I've been here. It was 8 members. Eesh....We gotta fix that!

And as for the area....we were really frustrated and distraught for the first half of the week. We really weren't seeing progress in anyone and dropped Tamara and Yulisa.... Which pretty much meant we knocked doors for a lot of 3 days. During our studies, separately, we both felt that we should fast this week end. So, we started our fast after lunch on Saturday. And found 2 new investigators and had some BOSS lessons. Sunday, we had a district conference (stake conference but none of the areas in the stake are wards so we're a district) and SURPRISE it was a satellite transmission from Salt Lake to 22 stakes and 12 districts in Uruguay and Paraguay! Elder Gonzalez spoke and someone from the relief society who's name I can't recall and then we heard from Elder Anderson who spoke portuñol with a french accent. That was interesting. Then, we heard from the Prophet! It was pretty boss. I enjoyed it. Then, when we got home, we found ANOTHER great investigator! I'm so thankful for the miracles that the Lord threw our way. We were so in tune with the spirit for each charla it was NUTS! I love being a missionary.


Now more than ever I feel like I'm finding and learning so many new things about the Book of Mormon! I've just begun reading it in Spanish (I actually started in Mosiah 3 where I was at in English) I'm going to try and get to Mosiah 2 by the end of the year. I think I can do it. Then I'm going to sprint through it in English. There's just so much to be found and learned and felt! It's the best! Today for example....I've been reading about Abinadi and I read Mosiah 14. He bears such powerful testimony of the Lord and Savior. I don't know how many times I've blown past that part in English, but this time it really rang home. It's interesting seeing the differences between the English and Spanish versions. Some things speak to me in one and other things in the other. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He suffered for me. I'm thankful for Isaiah and his prophecies of the Savior. I'm thankful that Abinadi was faithful enough to study the scriptures and bold enough to answer the call of God and face down an entire nation to bear a fiery witness of Jesus Christ. I want to shake his hand when I see him in the next life.

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm a missionary. I get up and I don't see some punk parading around in a shirt and tie with a cute little name tag. I see a missionary in the mirror. I can't believe that I was ever anything else. I won't even hint that I'm a perfect missionary or even a great one. I'm just here trying my very best to follow what the Lord has in store for me. I know I'm not some beasty baptizing machine, but I know that the Lord has effect a great change in my little heart. It's a change that I'm working to make lasting and it can only come through the Gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ.

So for service this Saturday, we were mixing and hauling cement for a member who was adding on to his house! He was doing a cememt roof and so I got to stand on a scaffolding and hoist buckets of cememt for 2 hours. I was SORE on sunday but really not as bad as I thought it would be. Fine enough that on Sunday when my comp was a little frustrated about something I picked him up and tossed him on his bed after the closing prayer of planning. Threw him over my shoulder like a bag of dirt. Really he just needed a pick me up  because he's not getting along too well with the branch president and was impatient with himself for not having more charity. Nothing a little brute force and a good laugh can't fix!

Elder Rose and Elder Simpson

Yesterday, someone asked me if I think I make a difference in the life of others. I asked her how she felt. Good she says. And before the lesson? The same. Fail. But. I know that I felt the Spirit during the lesson and I know that my companion did too. That massive feeling of a great swelling motion in your chest? Yea I felt that. I feel that. Frequently. And as Preach My Gospèl says, If I can feel the Spirit testifying to others, it means that I'm doing my job, even when they choose simply not to accept what I'm sharing. I love being a missionary. The time passes to fast.

Til next week,

Elder Andy

Cardona Uruguay - Sept 10th 2012

Hi All,

I've been doing more cooking lately (it's a LOT cheaper) then buying it prepared.  4 days of food for 2. 2.5 kilos of food. 500 g of lentils. About a kilo of rice. A green pepper, an onion, a tomato, 300 g of lean ground beef and 4 boiled eggs. Eat hearty.  Yea, I'm gonna make cinnamon rolls for Elder Rosete and I. I taught him how to make bread the other day.  I'm also gonna teach him how to make pancakes and french toast as well. He literally knows nothing about cooking so I'm helping him learn about that and feeding us at the same time.

On the 8th I realized that one year before, I was in an airport in Buenos Aires and BEWILDERED. Now I live in Uruguay and I'm slightly less bewildered. Cool huh? 



We did a lot of traveling this week, with the trip to Rosario on Monday and then district meeting on Tuesday and then we had interviews with President  on Saturday. It's been really hard on our numbers for the week. And this last Monday night.....what an ulcer. So I went to go pick up my comp at the bus station. They didn't show up....for an hour and a half....because the buses got screwed up as usual. Just like they did on Saturday. A 30 minute ride that turned into about an hour and a half. You'd think they'd have this stuff figured out by now. Surprisingly on Monday though I did relatively well. Offered a couple of fervent prayers and then just popped the Book of Mormon and started reading. I knew it would all work out, it was merely just waiting until it did so. No sense in fretting over something if it's not the end yet. 

So I don't know what it is with old people this week, but I've had far too many run in with irate victims of alzheimers! Seriously! This old ladies bike fell when she was going in to a store and we were walking right past so I stopped to help and she started shouting at me because I asked if I could help her out... That was pleasant.

Then, we went to look up an old contact and this OLD dude answered the door. We're talking early 70's at the very youngest. Well, our contact is about 15. And it's pretty common due to the moral standards of this nation for the grandparents to raise grandchildren.

So...naturally...I asked if the girl was his granddaughter. Nope. 

He starts off "SHE'S MY DAUGHTER WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?? YOU THINK OLD PEOPLE DON'T PROCREATE??" (literal translation)

"I didn't say that sir."

"YEA, BUT DO YOU THINK IT???"

"No. I do not."

"I HAVE A DAUGHTER THAT'S 50 AND ONE THAT'S 15 YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT??"

"No man I'm just here to talk about God."

"OH. WELL SHE'S NOT HERE."

"Alright cool. "

That's pretty much how it went. Fun huh?

The branch president is here. They're doing good, but I still have a lot to do because they know next to nothing about the branch and where stuff is so I have to help them out with that. I am indeed still counselor and my assignment has not been changed at all.

My week was pretty hectic and full and busy and rainy and cold and sunny and hot. Welcome to the shire. Basically....all of our investigators suck. None of them want to come to church, and we're really pounding that down their throats. And pounding doors. And the pavement. We're really looking for people to teach, which is something that we're struggling a lot with. We get frustrated but our animo (enthusiasm) alwasy stays high. We've both been a little discouraged off and on, but we know that the Lord will provide for us.  This is the Lord's work I have NO doubt of that.

Til next week

Elder Andy

Cardona Uruguay - Sept 3rd 2012

Hi All,

 The weather here has been a bit crazy. About 4 days ago it was HOT for 2 days and then yesterday and today have been WINDY. A lot of the locals are saying that the weather forecast for today and tomorrow is rain. I loved the rain before the missionary. As missionary, it sucks. Everything a vacuum can do but not nearly as fun but just as loud on my room when dropped. (no. I have not been dropping vacuums on my roof but I imagine the noise would be fairly similar.)

I'm doing particularly well this week. It was hectic and I'm exhausted but that's okay.  I'll tell you about changes. We left Cardona at 6 pm Tuesday evening and got to Rosario at 7.  From there we took another bus with elder Rivas and his comp to Colonia. and got there at 8:40 pom. Well, no one advised the elders of that area so they couldn't show up til about 9:15 and we all bought dinner and walked to their house while 2 Elders took a taxi with all of the luggage. We got there and still hadn't heard word about 2 more elders. I called the zone leaders and talked with them and they said we had to wait for them until 11 pm, so we all just waited up for them. They rolled in at 11:30 and we weren't able to get everything settled down until about 1230 am or 1 am. Then, a few of them had to get up at 4 am to head out to the station and managed to wake us all up, (9 elders in a 2 elder house on 5 mattresses and a couch) and then we had to get up again at 5 am and walk to the station and then Elder Manning and I came back to the house, studied, did some contacts, made lunch and picked up our comps at 2 pm and bused home. I was TIRED the next day. And that night. Everyone said I look dead and my spanish was super sloppy.

My comp is from Tultepec Estado de Mexico. His name is Elder Rosete and he is really go get'em and we're seeing a lot of really important changes here together. we've already built a really positive trusting relationship and we're always looking for ways to build each other up and improve. He's a lot like his mission dad (Elder V) and we're going to see miracles this change. I'm super stoked to be working with him. 

I did not know Elder Rosete before changes, but Elder V and I talk frequently and send notes to each other every Tuesday. He called me the night before we went to Colonia for changes and we talked a little about Elder Rosete. He's been out for about 5 months I think on the fifth. Yea....pretty new. but he works HARD! He's very converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He got baptized a year and a half ago and had his mission papers ready to go even before he'd had a year in the church. He sent them in as soon as he was eligible. He reminds me so much of elder V and we get along really really well.

 We're already good friends and we have great unity in our teaching. He really likes to testify and commit which works well because he knows the language and is good at tailoring the commitment to the needs of the investigator.

We moved the couple Ruiz Diaz out here on Friday (which is why the Crawfords were out there on the same day.) and it's working out fine. I don't have to translate and his wife is now teaching seminary. It takes a load off, but I think I'm going to miss teaching it. Elder Rosete was going to help me teach it and the lesson was about Moses and so I read the lesson out of the manual and passed it to him on Friday and said have a wack at it. During comp study, he turned to me and said Elder I have no idea what's going on here. I know nothing about Moses. So we started a 2 day study of Moses and some of the bible. He's really open about what he needs to learn and isn't afraid to ask my help. It's a little weird to me being the one with all of the experience and the one who decides what gets done.

Sister and Elder Crawford, Elder Simpson and Elder Xavier

Like today, he had to go to MonteVideo to sign papers. (he went with elder Merrill so I'm with his comp here in Rosario) and he asked me what he should take. I answered without thinking about it and then realized what had just happened. Funny how the Lord prepares us little by little and we realize later.

 I've been reading Articles of Faith by James E Talmage during all of our bus rides (we travel a lot here. Just like Tranqueras. Ton of extra reading time.) and I finally understand eternal punishment. He compares it to a prison. The punishment is there. It will always be there, just like the prison. But it's the prisoner that leaves after his sentence is served. We will not suffer forever for our sins, but we sure will pay for them. We have to serve our sentence if we do not accept Christ as our Savior. That's why the labor of this life is so important! I know that christ lives!  One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is testifying of him!

Elder Andy