Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - June 25th 2012

Hi All,

Yesterday, we went to look for Joel during the second hour of church... He lives an hour walk away so we took the bus and went and clapped and clapped and threw rocks at his door. Nothing. It was a depressing bus ride back to the church. We talked to him that night. He'd gone to the ferria to gather food, because he'd run out.... My counsel to the world is let us be sure that we are not so busy that we cannot hear the Spirit. He will come and knock, but he will not throw rocks at you nor shout. We must be constantly aware of the Spirit and cautious that we are not neglecting His promptings. If we do, he won't be coming around as much...

However despite that setback, Joel is progressing nicely. We were going to baptise him this saturday the 30th but President has specifically asked our ward to do baptisms on sundays, the reason being that our church is considerably outside of the ward boundaires and our attendance on Sunday as it is are nothing to brag about. Therefore, in order to have people come to baptisms, we do them on Sundays directly after sacrament meeting. That said, it's been close to 6 or 8 months since Sayago has had a baptism so....VAMOS ARRIBA!!! :D I'm more than a little bit stoked about Joel's baptism. He needs the help, and the ward is already coming together to help him.  With the added blessings of the gift of the Holy Ghost, I think he's going to change his situation very very soon. Luna, the 8 soon-to-be 9 year-old, is doing great as well and she will be baptised this coming Sunday as well. Carlos and Iria are....old. :) They are struggling to understand and they are still waiting on the okay from the surgeon for carlos to be out and about. So....We'll see what July brings. Eesh, is it really already july? Fa....crazy.


My companion is  a convert of like 12 years and he's the only active member in his family. His dad is inactive and the rest of his family is anti.... It's tough I know, which adds to the greater need for compassion.


As for BBQ....I'll take some pictures of an asado sometime and perhaps of the local butcher shops. Perhaps not. :) Speaking of food... I made meatloaf with my bare hands yesterday. That was a trip. The family forgot they had lunch with us, even though we CALLED the night before so when we showed up they were like crud! So we asked if we could help and they said sure and I made fruit salad and then I made meatloaf, which they actually used to make homemade hamburgers and we had fried beef stakes and fried potatoes. I didn't even get to eat what i made...Where is the justice in that??   I've been watching my intake lately and I'm doing really well. I've upped my work out routine and I stop eating after a plate or two to see if I'm really full. Usually I am, so I'm eating about a quarter or a third less than I used to. Looks like my metabolism is slowing down. That's okay though, because I'm not getting fat. Most of the members in Montevideo like to do fruit for dessert too which helps a bunch and I'm refusing fried foods whenever I can. Gotta watch those trans fats!! 


Weather wise, it's been pleasant this entire week. Sun, slight breezes, moderate temperatures. I cruised around today for a little while in just a short sleeve shirt. I've only been sporting a sweater and I usually have to take it off after bout 20 minutes of walking. I wish it would stay like this all winter long... we'll see what happens.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we did divisons with the Zone Leaders which was fun. I'm really happy I get along with them. THEY HAVE CARPET!!!! It's insane! I still didn't walk around barefoot but CARPET! It's spectacular!

Anyway, that was pretty much my week. It's been going a lot better, because I'm focusing on charity, patience and looking how I can keep us rolling along without problems and on time.

Chau
Elder Andy

Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - June18th 2012

Hi All,

Obtaining referrals in this area is rather difficult and knocking doors is mostly unproductive so we do a lot of street contacting combined with tracting to find new people. We're also raiding the area book to look for old investigators and good contacts from past missionaries. As for the area, it's really not that big in my opinion. I can walk from one end to the other in about a half hour, that's moving like a missionary though. Ya know, on the wings of the Spirit and all. 

As for the weather, it's been interesting....we've had a 3 or 4 days of rain this week and this last saturday was what I would call a torrential downpour. Granted, I was prepared with my trench coat and umbrella so it really wasn't all that bad. Once I get walking, I'm almost too warm for just my trench coat. It's during studies in the morning that's the coldest because we sit for 2 hours. 

We went to go visit Joel on friday of this last week and thats when things started to go a lot better. We'd talked about fasting with him in district meeting and we got into the lesson with him the next day. I had this impression that we should start fasting right then and there. So, unplanned, I commited the three of us to do so. We had service the next day, breaking old plaster off of the walls of a members home. Well, an hour into it, I was exhausted. Turns out chipping at plaster is really really hard when you've been fasting for about 20 hours. Anyways, we got to his house after service and closed our fast and talked about how he felt and what he'd learned during the fast. He started talking about a couple of things that he thought of that he'd forgotten about that might make it possible for him to get a job. I testified to him that it was the Spirit that had brought those things to his rememberance as a result of the fast. Like I said, he's now on his way to baptism and to work. Fasting without a purpose is just starving yourself. With a purpose, fasting brings about miracles.

The ward priesthood are really stepping up and supporting Joel. He's still looking for work, but what happens is he needs a new ID card because his is expired and he also needs a proof of health. But what happens is that he literally has no money. He has water that he gathered before they cut it and he has no power. He gathers food from the farmers markets that has fallen and that's how he survives. It looks like he's going to be able to get the documentation that he needs and he's on track to be baptized the 30th of this month! 

Also, we've a 9 year old girl of a less active grandma that we're teaching and she's to be baptized the same day! There's also an older couple named carlos and iria that we're working with. Recently Carlos had a tumor removed from his left ear, as a result of skin cancer. They were investigating a while back, but his bed ridden mother was living with them so they really couldn't make it to church. His mother having died 5 months ago, they feel like they're ready to start taking steps in the right direction. They can't come to church til next month because Carlos really can't be outside for too long and the church isn't that warm at all so his ear would possibly be damaged by the continued exposure to the cold. So, the doctor says that he's good to go by the end of this month. Hopefully we can get them baptized by the 15th or so. We'll see what happens 

There's a member in my area that made the michael Jackson thriller knock off leather coats in the '80's and there's also a really good Michael Jackson impersonator in the next ward over. Before I leave this area I'm going to try and get some pictures with him. He's a temple worker and I think the Elders Quorum President in that ward, which I was surprised to hear. Funny guy though. 

Elder Andy

Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - June11th 2012

Hi All,

Elder Salgado is from Chigan, Chile, south of Santiago and north of Concepcion.  As part of weekly planning which we do every friday, we have a thing called companionship inventory and I mentioned to him then that we need to make sure that we are 100  percent obedient. I told him that we're both aware of what the rule book says and that we need to make sure that we are following it. More than that, I'm just trying to lead by example. I just keep trying to focus on what I can learn and on the long run. I realize that these past couple changes have made me a more proactive leader and that I'm getting good at handling situations that I didn't plan for. Once again, a blessing from the Lord. We'll see what happens. Not much more that I can do. You know how little I like conflict, even less in Spanish. Oh and just so you know, turns out my spanish is pretty good. BLESSING

Elder Salgado does not speak a lick of English, though he has great desires to learn it. I've been helping him with that a lot lately. I see no reason not to help him. It's just frustrating sometimes with you're trying to study or do something else and he starts asking you about English. Anyway, ususally we start and then he gets to a word that has three or four vocalizations that simply don't exist in Spanish. At that point I'm prone to laughter and a lot of sympathy, because for a phonetic language speaker, English is a nightmare. That more often than not helps me have more patience and charity. All of this is also fueled by the fact that some Elder's sister's friend is writing Elder Salgado, for what appears to me to be just for fun, but he's sunk his little heart right into her. I hope it doesn't get broken.... Anyway, he very badly wants to write her back and so he's really pushin it with his english. Makes me chuckle.


Elder Salgado has been out for about a year and three months.  He's very very focused on the work, but sometimes just doesn't know what the simplest and fastest way to do things is. Also, he's pretty bad with dates, numbers and the time, so I'm always keeping an eye on the clock. I tend to push things along, call the shots and lead lessons. He teaches well, but sometimes misses the needs of the investigator in his rush to throw out more examples. That's okay though. We're all here to learn. I'm currently learning patience, drive, how to be senior companion and love. It's great right?

The visa extension is a one time deal. We just have to go in and pretty much say that we haven't falsified our documents and that the church is going to have us stay here a little bit longer. Ya know, we don't want to be illegal aliens and all that.

As for the cold, wednesday was the coldest day of my mission. It was WINDY rainy and cold. The last couple of days have been warmer though and I'm back to just cruisin around with short sleeves, a sweater with the sleeves rolled up and a single pair of pants. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I  had two pair of pants on (my scrub type pants on underneath) my trench coat with the thermal lining, gloves a hat and a scarf. It's really not that cold, it's just the friggin wind that kills me. Plus the fact that I'm skinny. I love how a lot of the sisters are convinced that they're going to fatten me up for the winter. Not happening. If I have to refuse after the first plate because I'm already full of heavy food, I'll do it.  They say it's going to be a short but brutal winter so we'll see what happens in the coming weeks. I hate winter... And  yes, we have heaters for our apartments. I'm sleeping super warm with just a sleeping bag, a sheet and a blanket. I've been waking up nearly sweeting for a couple days so it's still really not that cold.

Elder Salgado kinda just does his own thing. He keeps offering me deep fried food even after I've told him I don't eat it. He gets a little bit offended by this but, I'm keepin my arteries clean.  However, he is so focused on helping people. Everyone we see, he sees as a candidate for baptism. It's kind of cool sometimes, sometimes it's a little absured.  All in all, he's a good guy, we just have our differences is all. Normal people stuff right?

This last district meeting they said our goal for the zone is to make sure that we are spiritually healthy. We made our own standards of liberty and we put them in our agendas. .. I want to bring honor to my family name.

Elder Ender

Still I Rise

when I ran into elder Velazquez coming into deo.
Made my freakin day

My last district

Missionaries are normal people too... or boys will be boys

Elder Dickson and I this last wednesday morning before he left.

Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - June 5th 2012

Buenos Dias,

I can't believe that it's June already. I say good bye to my companion tonight so that should be interesting. My new companion is Elder Salgado, from Chile. Latino compañero number 1. Here we go....

My companion has been doing great. We worked hard all week and the last couple of days have been him saying good bye which is normal. Yesterday, though, I had to go to ciudad vieja (old town) to sign some visa extension papers and get finger printed which took a couple of hours. It's something that every missionary has to do and we sign a form that says we aren't falsifying our documentation and that we're going to obey the laws. I like to read what I sign. Then we verified information that they had copies of and then got finger printed and went home. Pretty routine stuff. I'm glad they didn't notice that I had my finger prints removed when I joined that secret government agency. That could have caused some problems. I would have had to have done a lot of brain wiping... what a messy situation it would have been.

I'm more than warm. I'm just cruising around with the sweater mom sent me and most of the time I have the sleeves rolled up. Everyone freaks out and asks why I'm not wearing more clothes. They all have 2 or 3 sweaters on by now, in their houses. On the streets people are bundled up. I guess I'm just the cold blooded heartless monster I am. It's all good. Para que sepa (Just so you know), I do have hot water for about my shower. Most people cruise around in european cars and on really crappy small engined motos or they go by bus. My bed is pretty normal too. This country is more like europe than the latin america that we picture in the States. I'm more in the suburbs of the city, because ciudad vieja (old town) is more like the centro (center) and downtown portion of town and that's about 30 to 40 minutes away by bus.

They're starting to feed us really high calorie food so that we can "get fatter to stay warm during the winter". Not cool. I've stopped accepting food after the first plate because I'm drinking more water and eating more fruit and fiber crackers. I'm also getting full faster so it looks like my metabolism is slowing down. If i eat more than one plate I feel stuffed and then i just feel gross because we have to go out and work on a bloated stomach.

Our area is picking up. We've got a couple of solid investigators and more than a couple good contacts that could very well become investigators. The ward is okay....Currently with the amount of active members that we have qualifies us for a branch which means we would go down but that doesn't usually happen. We'll see...I don't know exactly what the problem is but some of the members seem to be having a lot of problems. We'll see what this next change shakes up. Our numbers are like 42 active members and something like 10 melkezidek priesthood holders. I don't even know on full tithe payers but I know that it's really low. That's a huge problem here in Montevideo because the cost of living is so high and a lot of the members don't see how they can make it as it is much less giving the Lord %10.

I feel like a lot of funny things happened this week but I really can't remember a lot of them. Today we were getting off of a bus and Elder Tyree my mtc comp, who is with my district leader, got stuck behind an old lady who wasn't getting off. So three of us got off the bus and then the doors closed and the bus kept going. We started laughing really hard and just walked after the bus. He got off on the next stop of course, but we all called him a trucho missionary for trying to escape. We all had a good laugh about it. 

My first zone was also the one with Elder Salgado in it.... and he's an interesting guy. He...doesn't understand a lot of how things are and what is and isn't appropriate or normal. It's not malicious or intentional...but he doesn't walk within the restrictions of regular society. I've talked extensively with one of his past companions and seen him more than a few times. I was very stressed out when I received the call last night because it means that I have to keep an eye on him and on the area. I was rather distraught after the call so I went off by myself, (we were staying with 4 other elders so that we could go to the temple in the morning) and began to meditate. As soon as I relaxed my mind and began some breathing exercises, the Spirit came to me and told me that this change will be what I make of it. I was filled with peace and began to pour out my feelings to the Lord. He told me that it will all be for my good, and with that I went to bed.

Today, we went to the temple and when I sat down in the celestial room, I started sharing the same concerns and investigating it more. I cannot describe what I felt. I know that this change will be trying. There will be many things that I can learn and I will be challenged to the utmost of my ability. But I know, without a shadow of the doubt that this is Gods will and I'll be damned if I give up. Like quite literally damned. I can do this, and the preoccupation has fled. I felt such comfort and peace that I was brought to the verge of tears. How dearly I love the House of the Lord. How truly thankful I am to my Savior for all that He suffered for me.



I will merely close with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson.
And with a sudden plunge
on the sullen swell
three fathoms deep
on the road to Hell.
I am a tool in the Hands of the Lord God Almighty. I will be His Voice, I will be His Hands, and I will not fear. There they go, into the darkness, with a spark of light in their hearts. They, the Soldiers of Light.

Elder Ender

For I am a Soldier of Light.

Sayago Montevideo Uruguay - May 28th 2012

Hi All,

First off, with Joel, not a lot has changed. He's very ready to be baptized and truly wants to follow Jesus Christ, but his situation is no better. We talked to him about the word of wisdom and he told us to hold on a sec and came back with his tobacco. He handed it over and said I don't smoke anymore. It's always such a blessing to see when people truly are willing to make changes to follow Christ. Unfortunately, He still doesn't have a job and he got sick this last week so he wasn't able to make it to church this Sunday. We had a lesson with him and our elders quorum president who sugguested that he go take one of the church courses about applying for and acquiring a job. We'll see what developes, but until he can change his financial situation and make inner restitution with society, we really can't baptise him. We'll see what our leaders say and what the weeks bring.

We visited an lady who is 80 years old last night. Her name is Olga and she has short term memory loss, so she repeats a lot of the same things every time we visit her and she doesn't remember our names, she just knows that we're missionaries. She's been a member of the church for a long time, but the ward boundaries changed a year or two back and she got lost in the change. She doesn't go to chruch now because she can't make it on her own and we've yet to get someone from the ward to go get her. Yet, through her crushing sadness and lonliness, she is a shining light in my life. Whenever we visit her, she always testifies with acute power of the Savior and the role that He plays in her life. I always leave her house, having been boosted spiritually and with some insight or another in tow. It's great. :)

We'll that's about all for now. Elder Dickson is a bit trunky,...to be expected.  I'm excited to see what changes bring but it's all okay. The work rolls on and God grants me strength each day.

Let me leave you with a quick verse from Romans 13:11-12


11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

 I love verse 12 because of the visualization that it provides. Let us cast off all darkness, arm ourselves and ride forth in the glory of the morning of the first resurrection


Still I Rise

Elder Andy

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