Tranqueras Uruguay - January 31th 2012

Things are hot.  The temple trip was great. I really miss the spirit of the temple and the peace that can be found within it's walls. I do get to go once more before I leave and if any of my zone's are close enough to the temple during the duration of the mission I think we get to go at least once then too. I actually understood a lot more than I thought i would and it really was a wonderful experience. I find that in the scriptures, the language is much more simplified in spanish and it helps you think about and realize things about the gospel that had never occured to you before. Looks like the gospel is true in spanish too. :)


Tell grandmother I slept on both bus rides to and from the temple and that I sacked out that night. I'm tired all the time. Most of my morning prayers and numerous prayers during the day are me beseeching God to keep me awake and give me the strength to keep going. I'm so tired all the time but it's okay. I've got God on my team. I can promise there have been numerous days this week where it wasn't me getting out of bed but concourses of angels rolling me out.


We're finally back on track for a normal week so yes, lots of work. Our Zone Leaders asked us to find 9 last week. The mission goal for each week is 8 and we only had five days in our area. We decided to fast saturday night and Sunday morning. Saturday night, we found jessica. We were across the area and trying to look up some really good contacts and old investigators but everything fell through. So, we decided to pray. Then we hi-tailed it to the other end of our area and started tracting. We decided to do one last door and well...you can guess the rest.  We found a new investigator named Jessica.


During sacrament meeting, in walked an investigator we'd dropped and she brought 5 others. We talked to 2 of them that were interested and had 9 found by sunday night. The Lord truly blesses his servants. I have no doubt about that. i have actually been doing some of the teaching. Elder Velazquez are really focusing on following the promptings of the holy ghost and so whenever we feel like we should say anything we use the sign and start teaching. I've started talking a lot more the last couple of weeks and so hopefully at this rate my spanish will improve rapidly.

The branch meets in a house that used to be an Elder house. There are 308 members on record and 12 active. This last Sunday we had about 40 people there. Elder Velazquez and I were ecstatic. Fasting really does pay off. :)

Tranqueras isn't actually that far from where I was before. The food and the people are about the same. There are more and less farmers out here at the same time. Tough to describe really, but it's the way it is I promise. The house is certainly cleaner and elder Velasquez and I are pretty good at keeping it tidy and spider free. Yes, we eat with members Wednesday through Sunday. We fend for ourselves mondays and eat at the line in rivera on Tuesdays for district meetings. Today we're going to have french toast and bacon for lunch. I made the syrup last night. I like eating too much for us to go hungry mom. Don't you worry. :)

If i slept with the mesh over me, i'd probably drown in my on sweat. As such, i sleep about two feet away from the walls. I've yet to hear of an elder getting bitten out here so hopefully i'm not the first. We're walking more than we were in Tres cruses because there are no buses out here so it's all by feet. On P-days we explore shops and restaurants that we find. Today we took pictures and then we're going home to make lunch and clean and write family and friends. He and I also write sometimes and so we're developing a series of short stories together. I actually really enjoy P-days out here. Rather relaxed. Tranquilo (peaceful) is what matters.

Tonight I'm going on divisions with a member of the branch presidency and we're going to go do some teaching. I've done it before but it still makes my stomach do turns when i think about it. I know that in the strength of the Lord I can do all things. As such, i try and clear my mind of worry and doubt before we leave so that I can be open to the voice of my Heavenly Father directing me in the pathes he would have me walk.

We are pretty agreeable when it comes to food so we really just buy things and then share them. It works out nicely that way. I'm so glad you get to know that area more and more each day. It's the same way with me. We find something new everyday and we're thankful for the chance to explore as we work. We meet a lot of interesting people, some grumpy some happy some complacent, some sad but mostly it's funny when people are scared of us.


Spiritual thought time. I spent my personal study today in 3 Nephi 19. So much can be learned about the ministry of Christ, the manner of prayer, demonstrations of faith and desires to serve in this chapter. The magnitude of the spirit while reading this chapter is of crushing proportions. I cannot express the feelings I had while reading. I'll share a thought I had about verse 3. "The people did labor exceedingly to come to the place where Christ would minister on the morrow. Labor exceedingly. This is the night of our lives. The coming of Christ is eminent and be it that we pass on to meet him or arrive in the city of Bountiful when he comes, I would that each of us did labor exceedingly. They received news of his coming, grabbed food and walked out the door. I'm sure they walk/jogged the whole night through in order to arrive and upon doing so, they were taught by the called disciples of Jesus Christ. They had an opening pray, taught with exactness from the Saviors words and closed with a prayer. Then, they went about doing what he had commanded them the day before, namely baptism and confirmation. it was during this  time of proactive obedience that they received ministry and supplication from on high. I testify that as we activly seek to obey the words of Christ and rely on pray, that we too can receive supplication. We have to demonstrate our faith before we can receive God's help, and sometimes that means we walk out the door for the day. And sometimes, to demonstrate our courage AND our faith, we go to bed saying, i'll give it my absolute best tomorrow. Feast upon the words of Christ, for they are the words of life and salvation. I testify of his divinity as a called servant of his ministry. He lives, He loves us, and His invitation is to all. We only have to choose to "labor exceedingly" and demonstrate our faith on his words and the help will come. 

Enjoy the pictures, we had fun taking them.

Elder Simpson

Tranqueras Uruguay - January 25th 2012

Hi All,

Here I am finally. We were notified last minute of a temple trip that we took today and they cancelled our p-day.   I don't have nearly as much time as I'd like because I got off a bus from MonteVideo about 15 minutes ago and I have to catch a bus to Tranqueras in about 40 minutes so I'll make this quick.

Anyways! Elder Velazquez is doing great!  He and I continue to wear ourselves out every day. No, his family did not convert. Just him. But, he has a family in the church whom he took the lessons with and they're very supportive. He gets letters from his girlfriend a lot and his church family sends him packages and letters as well as emails so it's all okay. He has a very firm testimony of the gospel so he doesn't really get `fased by much.

I try to make my letters as interesting as I can, but I blink twice and another week has flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was moving out to Tranqueras. Days feel like hours and weeks like days. I forget sometimes that I did something two or three days before because it feels like it was yesterday.  When we get out and work hard, the days come screaming past. It's hard to believe this change is already over and I talked on the phone with you an entire month ago.

So about the temple trip. When my mtc group entered the country we didn't get a chance to go to the temple because everything was done so fast because president had to leave. They let us know on Friday that we ( Elder McDaniel and I), were catching a midnight bus to MonteVideo on Tuesday night. I was in La Padreda  doing divisions with the junior companion of our District Leader, Elder Mullen. He was in my area with my companion. So, Elder Velazquez and I caught a bus out here on Tuesday morning for district meeting and then did a choque de fuerza in the area of chico dos. Basically that means we contacted for 8 hours in another area to help them out and give us something to do. Not as bad as it sounds because it poured all that morning so the temperatures were relatively low for the rest of the day. We had some really good conversations and stumbled upon a menos activo (less active) where we were able to end the day on a strong spiritual note.

Also, we found a former Stake Patriarch and so we were able to talk to him and recharge our spiritual batteries. Anyway, we then caught a taxi to central uno at about 9 at night and ended up staying awake til midnight because they didn't have mattresses and by the time we could have gotten it worked out we would have had to leave. So, we walked the remaining 4 blocks to the bus station where we met up with Elder  McDaniel and his companion Elder Killpack. Elder Velazquez and Killpack went back to Killpack's place after Elder McDaniel and I caught the 00:30 super-cama to MonteVideo. (By the way, La Padreda where I went on divisions is also the 4 elder house that elder McDaniel is in.) Our bus got into Tres Cruces bus station in MonteVideo at 6:30 this morning.

We met up with the office elders and high tailed it to the mission home where we pounded a cinnamon roll and walked to the temple. We did the 8:00 session with `president and it was so wonderful to be in the celestial room once again. How I've missed the temple. It was really hard to stay awake because of the crazy hours and it was all in Spanish. The Lord truly blessed us for being there though. Anyway, we got done and changed back into our suits and went to the mission home for 10 minutes and then grabbed sandwiches and went with the office elders back to Tres Cruces bus station and then Elder McDaniel and I got on the 12:30 bus to Rivera. And that, has been the last two days of my life. I'm freakin tired.

We found some amazing investigators this last week and the work looks like it's going to pìck up very very soon in Tranqueras. Elder Velazquez and I have great hope for this area. Our bus leaves at 8:15 so we'll have to move fast.  The weeks without mail suck and then you all go and send me a ton like you did last week. Thank you all so much.


Quote of the week from elder v: "We're gonna keep going like two rats on fire. I don't even know what that means" I just don't think i can top that. So for now, I'll be running like a rat on fire.


 Jesus is the Christ. He gave his life willingly on the cross for all of us. He submitted to the will of the Father that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Only through him can we recieve salvation and true healing. I testify of his divinity and power everyday and I see the difference that he makes in the lives of those who turn to him. I pray for you all and I know that God loves each and every one of you. Above all else, never forget that.

Til tuesday!

Tranqueras Uruguay - January 16th 2012

Hello All,

Where on earth do I begin....I'm in Tranqueras with my new trainer/senior companion, Elder Ulysses Velazquez. Tranqueras is about an hour bus ride away from Rivera and it's in the middle of no where. The town literally shuts down from the hours of 1 to about 4 and sometimes from noon til 5. That's all about the area for now. I have to keep things in order or I will lose track of what everything I want to tell you.

Elder Velazques is from Spokane Washington and has been a member of the church for just over 2 years. He's completed a year at BYU-I and was studying to be a youth preacher for an evangelist church when he started taking the lessons from the missionaries his senior year. He has been out for 8 months and is in his 4th change. He knows the Bible like the back of his hand and has an absolute hunger to learn more of the Book of Mormon. I remind you that I have been out for 4 months and am in the middle of my 2nd change. A situation such as this is rare at best, unheard of at the very least. That being said, VAMOS ARRIBA!

Coming into the area was interesting. About a half hour out I asked if there was a lot of lumber production in the area. You remember in books when they talk about forests appearing as oceans of rolling green? I saw that. Tranqueras is a small island of barely functioning civilization in a calm but deep sea of foilage.


The new area is tough. Lots of problems.  A lot of the people are very judgmental and we're working mostly on revitalizing the branch. Without their help, it's going to be impossible to get any work done in this area. The mission is stressing working with members so we're trying our best with that. The problem is, there are only 12 active members in our ward even though there are 300 members on record, and roughly 30 other churches out here, all with more attendance each week than ours. Without a strong ward, the work here is going to die. That is our task. I level my sword and wage war. Elder V and i mean business. We've come home exhausted each night this week, happy with how we've done. We're seeing a little bit of progress in some of the menos activos (less actives). I'll keep you posted on all of that.


I truly love elder Velazquez. I'm going to learn so much from him. He aches to follow the savior and we try our very hardest  to be the best missionaries we can be each day. He has such a testimony of Jesus Christ. I don't even know if i can describe the power his testimony holds. It's astounding. My spanish gets a little bit better everyday. I'm speaking a lot more out here that in was in Rivera so we'll see if that helps. Elder V is still learning so it makes it fun when neither of us know the word we're looking for.   The members really seem to like us and we leave a lot of people smiling so that makes me very happy.

I currently live in a place I've dubbed the spider house, a reference to the legend of zelda. The catch phrase in the house is, Elder we're gonna need the mata'todo (Kill all) and a lighter. Because the mata todo doesn't work on these ones. They're too big. I've currently killed about 3 that were as big as the palm of my hand. You have to burn them because the bug killer doesn't work on them. Needless to say, we keep on our toes. It's getting to be kind of funny  now and I'm a lot less....fearful of spiders.

I don't know if i've told you this yet, but its HOT. This last week was actually okay, because it rained for a couple days and the clouds stuck around for a couple days but it was hot at 10:30 this morning which means we're right back into the devils armpit.

I have actually been drinking a decent amount of milk and yogurt. I try and keep myself eating healthy down here. It's hard but it's certainly possible.

We laugh a lot every day and some days come close to crying during studies. We continue to learn so much from each other and from the Spirit. And we yo-yo. His girlfriend sent him 2 yo yo's in a package and so we have a lot of fun with that. We tried out a lancheria today. Type of a diner. It was decent. We just look for ways to have fun and new things to do out here. I just think this is what missionary work is really like. We pray often, and are constantly seeking to do the Lord's will and have a great time while doing so. We see the hand of the Lord so much in our travels. Yesterday, we contacted for about 2 hours. Everything we had fell through and so when that happens, we try and find menos activos (less actives), inactivos (inactives) or go find new investigators so that we're not wasting time.

We ask for references if we ever visit members. So anyway, last night, we knocked 30 doors. 4 answered. It was a rough night, but we keep up good spirits because we have faith that the Lord will watch over us for doing his work. This morning, we left at 10 to get some work in before p-day. We found a great family. The Lord sometimes pays us back immediately, some times we have to wait. We visitied a lot of menos activos this week and committed them to all go to church. None of them showed up but we ended up going to get two of them. This is one of those things were we're just going to have to wait. We have faith that the Lords will will come about in this area as we apply ourselves to the utmost of our abilities.

President passed by our house Tuesday morning so that we could interveiw with him. He's interviewing all of the mission currently. We don't have zone conference  this month. Anyways, he said that this is a very tough area. Elder V has not been taught how to train. I'm still very new. This area is in need of a swift kick in the butt. And 2 newbies got the assignment. I know that as we apply ourselves, we can do it. President testified of how he knows he receives counsel from the Lord when it comes to making changes. I know he does.

Elder V and I just mesh.  It feels like elder V and I have known each other for a long long time. He says the same about me. He wants to be such a good missionary and each day we strive to be the very best we can be. I come home so tired every night. If I sit down i start falling asleep. We are putting our all into this work. He and I learn to love the Lord a little bit more each day. We learn to love and respect the people a little bit more each day. We're always learning what works and what doesn't. We have to be flexible if we are to follow the Lord's plan for us. If i might quote my companion, "It doesn't have to be glorious to have purpose." Tranqueras is by no means glorious.

The importance of daily scripture study is immeasurable. I marvel at the fact that some days it can take anywhere from 2 minutes to an hour to study a pair of verses, depending on what the Lord has prepared for me to learn that morning. My testimony grows each day of the Book of Mormon. I too echo the testimony of Joseph Smith, Jr. No book will draw us closer to our loving Heavenly Father than that book. It is the key to everything that we profess to be. We can learn so much from it's pages, for it was written to edify, sanctify and rectify our lives. Each of the prophets received divine revelation when they recorded their words and as such, each word was placed in the book of Mormon for a very specific and divinely guided reason. It trurly is another testament of the life and works of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We can learn of his words and his will for us. The sanctity of this book is astounding. Cleave to it with every fiber of your being. Think on it's words. Trust in it¡s counsel. Ask your Eternal God, every day of your life, if it is true. You will always receive an answer. I pray that we never lose sight of this.

Chau for now
Elder Simpson

Rivera Uruguay - January 9th 2012

Greeting for the last time from Rivera Uruguay

We worked HARD this last week. We found 13 new possible investigators, had 10 lessons with a member present and 7 other lessons and 50 contacts. We put up some pretty respectable numbers. Last night, at 10:35 our phone rang. I answered and it was our Zone Leader Elder Pope.  There's an elder in Tranqueras and so he's getting sent to Monte Video. There's also a pretty fresh elder there, 3rd change which means he`'s just above me, who's had a rough first three changes and he needs a fresh start. The districts have been reorganized in this zone twice in the last change (three weeks. Hump day is this wednesday.) and so I'm going out to Tranqueras with elder Velazquez and my trainer, Elder Johnson, gets the new elder from Monte Video.
Elder Killpack and Elder McDaniel are changing with Elder Rivas and Elder Taylor, the latter of which goes home next change. So! The world went up in flames in the last 24 hours.

Last week when we were dealing with a lot of the fury of the storm, Elder Johnson was having a really hard time with it and so I offered to give him a blessing of comfort. He said yea, so we turned the lights on and I'm so thankful to my Lord above that I'm worthy to utilize the healing powers of heaven to bless those around me. That was a really good experience.

Elder Velazquez, was born in New York and grew up in Washington state, in Spokane. He converted 2 years ago when he was studying to become a preacher. He knows the bible back and front as well as the original 150 pokèmon.. :D He's in my zone and has been since I got here and so I've met him more than a couple times. I'm really excited to be able to work with him. He's very passionate about the work and has about 6 changes left.  The Lord need me in Tranqueras and I'm excited to see what I can learn and do out there. It's got a reputation as a pretty rought area.  Hopefully Elder Velazquez and I can do some serious work and see some results. The Lord knows that there is something that I can learn out there and that my progression in tres cruzes has come to an end. Time to move on.

We transfer tomorrow morning at 9:30 so it should be a pretty clean switch.  This is not a negative special change, but rather an opportunity for Elder Johnson to help another elder out and for me to learn a lot more. All I know about my new area is that it's about a 30 to 40 minute bus ride away from town and we only come in 3 P-days out of the change. We come in every Tuesday for district meeting and there are cibers out there so i will still be able to email. Oh, also, I anointed for the first time in Spanish this last week. That was really cool. 

To quote our Zone Leader, "Fists up and fears out. There's no room in the pit for a coward." I'm definitely in the pit and in active combat against very real forces of evil, but I fight with the power of the lord. I finished Alma and now I'm in like heleman 5. The Nephites always win when they put their trust in the Lord. 1 Peter 5:8, I memorized this one this week, "Be sober. Be Vigilant, Because your Adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Maybe I construe my daily occurrences as something far grander than they really are, but i like it, and i think it's an honest evaluation of the situation. These are real human souls that will have eternal consequences waiting depending on how they receive us.

By the way, I hit my 4 month mark yesterday. Nuts huh?  We've got a big mission. I don't know if I've said this already, but there are 230 missionaries in this mission. I don't know how that compares to else where, but from what I've gathered that's pretty sizable.

So, it's HOT down here. I don't think my emails have done that justice. It's hot by 7:30 in the morning. Like sweating hot. We  take cold showers morning and night so that we can sleep and start the day off right. I have a cowboy hat now to keep the sun off my face, because even though i use sunscreen, my nose is starting to burn. I use sun screen every day and so with the hat, i should be totally fine now. ;D

I found nutella in a free shop last week. I finished it in 2 days. I'm trying to start eating healthier now, because i'll get fat off of coke and nutella. I've pretty much stopped drinking soda the last two weeks, and i've been drinking about 2 litros of water every day. That reminds me of drinking DP or coke in the shower....Jeez those were the days. :)


I think as members we forget sometimes how different we really are. How happy we are. How clear this life is to us. There are a lot of very lost and confused people in this life. The gospel rectifies and answers all of our questions.


Spiritual thought of the week. We were teaching a lesson to a bunch of little kids, aged from 8 to 11 at a members house. We were talking about Alma's parable of the seed and elder Johnson asked how we grow our seed of faith. One of the responses really lept out at me and so I felt like i'd share it. The boy, Gabriel, simply said we accept the seed. I'd never thought about that. So often we talk about all the things we have to do to develop a testimony such as read and pray and meditate on what we read and apply it to our lives. That does not mean we should over look the first and just as important step of accepting the seed. It is offered but we have to take it in our hands and place it in our heart for it to grow. Then we can nourish and till about it and such sort. Christ talks of the planter who scatters seeds, and so if we combine both parables, the gospel is offered. Sometimes it falls on rocky soil or is scorched or eaten up, but sometimes, it falls on fertile soil, where there are eager hands there to plant it and take care of it. The gospel is a gift, and gifts can be refused. I see it every day. But it is also accepted. And it clicks with some people. You can see it in their eyes. They know that what we testify of is true. Their heart tells it to them, and the Holy Ghost tells them it's true as well. Remember, we have to accept the seed before we can nourish it. :)

By the way, when you're boxing, they tell you to keep your elbows tight and in. Lifes a battle, we gotta keep swinging. 

Almost all the members are pretty well off and so the food we get isn't too sketchy. But. There are plenty of areas that are like that out here. I'm on Brasilian frontier right now. There are places in the interior that are super poor too, but don't even worry about it. I don't drink the water unless i use a filtered water bottle they gave us or unless i buy bottled water. Also, i was all my fruits and veggies with a tiny bit of bleach in the water and I pray extra hard over every meal. I'm on the Lord's errand. He will not let any harm befall his servants if we put all of our trust in him.

This is just the next step in my ascension to the heavens. Trivium has a line that goes, i will bring my insurrection, my war upon heaven. Well, i'm here to tell you, I will bring a chance for salvation, my war upon evil. I'm a preacher shakin dust off at you from my heel. Okay not really but that's a line from the showdown. But in reality, i'm out here doing what songs and stories are written about. I'm living through insanity. Take 45 minutes ago. We got 7 blocks away from a park when elder McDaniel realized he'd left his backpack with his camera in it. Needless to say i shoved my backpack at him and his companion and I took off. Elder McDaniel was wearing alpargatas and I trusted the hunch I had this morning and wore my running shoes. Thanks for the advice on the hunch thing again dad. We made it about 5 blocks back before we ran into another pair of Elders that for some reason had stayed behind and had Elder McDaniels backpack. God is watching out for us mindless 19 year olds. We're just smart enough to stay alive and just animated enough to do anything we can to bring the gospel to people. That's my theory on why god sends us out. He's watching me. And you as well.


Well, that's all I've got for now. I know it seems like a deluge of insanity, but i'm actually doing really well. I got a lot of my packing done this morning, and we'll finish up tonight after 9. After pday from 6 to 9 I'm gonna go say good bye to the members in our area. I've met some really really nice families out here so I'll take pictures. Don't worry :)

¡Chau!

Elder Andy

Rivera Uruguay - January 2nd 2012

Hi All,

This week has been.......full.  We did a little teaching but right now we really have no progressing investigators which really gets discouraging at times... The guy who came to church now works a job for 14 hours a day, 6 days a week and sunday is his only day off. He's 15 and lives about an hour to hour and a half walk from the church. We called him and talked to him and he said he's done. He believes in what we are teaching and that it really is the truth but right now he really just doesn't have the time for it. It's rather sad and i hope he can find the time later on. We left on good terms so I think we left a lot of seeds for him to mull over.

I love the 'Guayans. They're very nice people and they aren't afraid to talk to you unless you start talking about the Gospel. Then a lot of them wave the finger, tell us no and leave. :) A lot of the people work at plants, make bricks, work at stores they operate out of their front room, work on farms or just don't work. There's a decent amount of cops too but a lot of them live in Montevideo for a week and work and then have a week off at home. Their quality of life leaves a lot to be desired, but most of them are happy with that.

Every one is always drinking Mate (mah-tay) and most of them have bad teeth. AC doesn't exist nor does carpet. Aside from the creature comforts the states knows, they're pretty well supplied with gadgets and food. I go to a ward called tres cruces and there are about 90 members that are mostly consistent in attendance. We meet in a full blown church building and there are 3 or 4 in Rivera, which is pretty much where i'm at. The stake center is rather nice too and all the buildings are beautiful and well kept. It's about a 30 to 40 minute walk to the church for us so we make sure we have everything before we leave the house. Few of the members drive cars, more drive motos (scooters or really really small dirt bikes. Most people i'`ve seen on one is 6) and the rest walk. And yes, EVERYONE speaks spanish. I've met 2 people in this area that speak english. One is a member that learned it on his mission and the other is a lady that lived in Australia for 25 years.

I've been reading in the Book of Mormon a lot lately and i'm currently in Alma 60. I love Moroni, Pahoran and Helaman. Men of such a caliber that the world rarely sees. True heros. I love reading out of it's pages and I'm a little bit sad when I realize that I'm out of study time. Never thought I'd be this missionary :) The Book of Mormon really is the word of God. I can feel the power of the testimony of the men who wrote it. It's words really do testify of Jesus Christ, his works and his divinity as the living Son of God.

That being said. Time for a funny story. We were at a members house this last week and their son has a recently shaved head. I asked the father if he was going to do the same. Unfortunately, i said ¿se va a afeitar su corbata tambien? No response. So i tried it again, this time a little bit more clearly. He gave me another weird look. Then my companion chuckled and said, no i don't think he's gonna shave his tie. :D We really had just been talking about ties and so i got corbata stuck in my head and it just so happened to take the place of the word pelo, which is hair. Gotta love spanish.

Well that's all for now!

Chau
Elder Simpson

Rivera Uruguay - December 20th 2011

Hello,

It's rained for the past week and yesterday and today the clouds have all been gone. The humidity is back in full force and it is HOT! I don't miss the Utah cold weather yet.  I am staying in Rivera for at least one more transfer with my trainer so i don't have to worry about any of that.

There are a handful of houses down here that have lights but for the most part, there are no decorations. In all honesty, everyone is too poor to afford any of it. I saw an old man rockin a belly shirt the other day. That was.....interesting to say the least.

Here's a scripture you can share that I  like: Alma 21:23 basically, daily diligence breeds zealous obedience. Not just obedience but zealous obedience. The Lord will instill zeal into our lifestyle as we follow him daily.

I had this thought as i saw a kitten the other day. The animals down here are disgusting up close but look cute and cuddly from afar.  I worte it in my planner so this is verbatum: "Sometimes, the Devil will appear as a starving and helpless, yet disease ridden kitten. Innocent but a vehicle for plauge and evil nonetheless." The Devil does his best to appear crippled, innocent and helpless to appeal to our soft side. We ARE encouaraged to be charitable AREN'T we? What could be the harm in just playing with this sweet little cat....? The consequences are there and are deadly, regardless of the coverings. To paraphrase Christ from the Sermon on the mount, "There are wolves in sheeps clothing" and kittens that appear to be real. The claws are just as sharp over there, and just as deadly in your throat. We need to make sure we steer clear of the diseased and infected temptations that the adversary will present us. Charity is possible, as it is married with prudence and wisdom. The Lord would never have us be fool-hardy in our effort to help others.

It's been pretty chill. Not much to report from the front lines. All's quiet on the western front.

Elder Andy

Rivera Uruguay - December 12th 2011

Well I don't know about the States but down here, people are finally starting to get into the Christmas mood. The stores are decorated in centro and people have lights up. That's about it. It's not nearly as commercialized down here so it's not nearly as in your face as it is in the States. I recently decided that I want to play the accordion someday as well.... We're going to have an end of the year party with the ward on the 15 so that should be fun and we're having lunch with a really funny member family on Christmas and a pretty solid family for the noche buena, which is apparantly a lot! bigger down here than the actual Christmas Day. We'll see what happens i guess. :)

Well, Tuesday was Zone conference in T-bo which is what I mentioned last week so that was a lot of fun. It was a two hour bus ride to there and we left at 5 in the morning so that was nice. Or not. And then we talked a lot about Christmas spirit and Christ-like attributes and what we can to adopt them into our lives which was rather inspiring. :) Pictures of a special visit during that time will follow as well. (See below) One thing they told us that I believe can be applied to all walks of life was this. Cuando se termine su mision, que hara apredido el Señor de usted? Rough translation, when you finish your mission, what will the Lord think of you? I'd rather not be a missionary that let the Lord down, know what i mean? :D

Well, not a lot happened this week.  We went to coisa nossa, in brazil, for lunch. It's like a far less classy version of Tocanos but it was still great to have a meat buffet once again. We're allowed to go once a change as a district because it's so far out of our areas. Centro technically is, but we're allowed to come for p-day and district meeting because the ATM's are here and so are the Stake Centers, plus in order to really buy anything we have to come here. But the restaurant is like 6 blocks further into Brazil so we only get one shot a change. It was really good though. Funny story. We were in a free shop like 20 minutes ago, free shops only sell to americans and brazilians so they don't have to pay Guayan taxes, and there was this wall of tvs. 90% of them were playing this concert of these scantly clad chicks. I was glued to this wall of TVs. Because, there were two TV's right next to each other playing Lamborghini promo videos. Yea i'm an engineer. I didn't actually notice the girls until one of the other missionaries asked what the concert was. I was like, what concert?? I'm looking at these precision designed works of sheer beauty! It was pretty funny.,... I guess you had to be there though

So Josè absconded for like a week. Then we finally found him again. Turns out his aunt is in critical condition at the hospital and his mom and he are her only family. Which means he's missed two Sundays in a row so we had to bump his baptisimal date to the 7th of January. Then, we contacted Yonathan out of the area book and he let us right in and we taught a pretty good lesson. He already had a Book of Mormon which means the missionaries taught him at some time or another and then I extended the baptisimal commitment for 7th of January and he said yea, i can do that. He's already been to church a few times and so we went to find him on Sunday morning and he was gone playing soccer. Soccer on Sundays is something we've really been fighthing with lately but hopefully we can get through all this. Matias still meets with us and his eliminations are over so hopefully we can get him to church as well. We'll see what happens this week.


My turn to share a scripture. D&C 8:1.
Oliver Cowdery, verily, verily, I say unto you, that assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall cask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive a knowledge concerning the engravings of old records, which are ancient, which contain those parts of my scripture of which has been spoken by the manifestation of my Spirit.

I love that without faith, we can do nothing. I love dearly reading from the scriptures everyday and I've been studying out of the New Testament and conference issue of the liahona everyday in my spare time. It's so nice to know that I can turn to the words of the prophets an anytime and know the will of the Lord for me.


I don't know if i've told you yet, but they have all the new missionaries bear their testimonies in their first zone conference so i went up and bore mine. It has to be in spanish of course, but i think it went well. Really though, I just want to share a tidbit with you both. I'm very thankful for the opportunity we have to kneel with our investigators at the end of every lesson. As knew as these people are to the gospel and teachings of jesus Christ, when they open their mouths to talk to him, the spirit of the lord fills the room. It's a wonderful thing to feel and an absolute blessing. God is there when these people open their mouths to speak to him. This truly is the Lord's work, I can tell you that much.

Well, that's all for now. Love from the 'guay,

Elder Simpson