20 MONTHS WHATS UP!

My mission call said September 6, 2017. 20 months ago. WOWOWOW.

My companion hit 4 months and so we cut all of his hair off.

We live in a house of 4 and this week Elder Vallejos went home to Nicaragua. He only had like 3 months in the mission. He left this morning so now we are in a tripanionship. Its sad that he left. Being on a mission is the best thing Ive ever done and Ive learned too many things in my short time here. The good news is that Im companions with Elder Durham again! Heck yeah!

We had a zone conference and I saw everybody that I love again. I love my mission. Presidente Cowan is a super good guy. We talked a lot about faith and repentance and how repentance is when we actually change. I know I still lack a lot but I have definitely changed a lot in my time here as a missionary and Ive repented of a lot of my imperfections. Ive been able to see a lot of changes and blessings as Ive made those changes. Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a better way to live.

It was like 11:55 in the morning and we were about to go to eat but we decided to contact one more house. We yelled in the house and there were obviously people there but they didnt come to the door. Ugh. Right as we were about to leave this guy walks up to the door and he is really nice and he invites us in. He tells us about how he had heart surgery and that hes been looking for something more in his life. He said hes been to the catholic church and the 7th day adventists but hes still searching so we are his guys.

Good news: I ate a lot of chicken this week.

Pictures,

Me about to take the biggest bite of all time out of this piece of chicken. Ft. Jimmy and Paola hiding in the back.

One big piece of chicken. 

Its super blurry but this is the last picture with Elder Vallejos.

SEE YOU SOON UTAH!

Hello everybody!!!

So... I have some GREAT NEWS! So I'm sure you all have heard a lot about mission calls and the rumors about the length of a mission being changed. I've heard a lot about it too and a lot of rumors, but this week we had interviews with our mission president. We had a normal interview and at the end he asked me if I had any questions. I asked him what he had heard about that and I can't say everything that he told me. But he talked about a lot of things that he has heard and long story short... there is a 95% chance that I will see you all in 3 weeks!

But, other than that we saw some really awesome things happen this week. We taught this one lady last week and it was alright. We went back this week and we read 2 Nefi 31 with here and it was great.

We also found this other family and they are super good too. We sat down and started talking to this guy and he had a lot of questions and he said that he is willing to listen to us and give our church a chance. We taught him the Restoration and after he said that we answered a lot of his questions and he is very excited for us to come back.

Other good news... we played basketball today.

Pictures,

Missionaries from San Francisco, Elder Mieses, my trainer goes home this transfer

Brandon

Some people that we are teaching

There is a cemetery behind our house. It's scary.

Happy April Fools day! I'm still coming home in August. hahhhhahhaha

haleluya

We had a zone conference this week. Presidente Cowan is cracking down on us. Now we can only write for one hour. We cant say bro, dope, or piña either. They did loosen up on a few things though so I can't complain.

We went with the elders from the other area so that they could meet Brian and Mariani and Johan. We taught the Plan of Salvation with four missionaries and it was alright haha. They seem really excited for their baptisms but they don't want to go to the branch that they live in (because ours is better). But we will trust in the Lord.

We found this lady a few weeks ago. Her name is Belgica and she is 28. We contacted this old dude that could barely hear and after asked him for references. I'm sure he had no idea what he was saying, but we ended up going into the alley where Belgica lives. She is AMAZING! She is just a really nice lady and easy to get along with. We taught her with the branch president and she came to church on Sunday! I said that she liked it and that she wants to come back. God bless her. I'm so happy.

Today we went on this hike to the mountains here. I was super excited because it was the first time I've ever been, but it was kind of lame. It was nice to go into nature though. I don't have any time to write anymore. I show you all pictures when I get home.

I love you all. The church is true! Cristo VIVE!

A NEW YEARS MIRACLE

Hey everybody! This week was super good.

We had interviews with Presidente cowan and it was awesome. I asked him about the miracles he has seen as a mission president and we talked about that for a little bit. I know that he is called of God to lead and direct this mission.

Johan went to church again! He's going to get baptized soon and I'm very grateful for him. I think I'll be leaving soon from Bonao and I haven't had too much success if you look at the numbers. But, I'm super happy for Johan and being here in Bonao will have definitely been worth my time.

On Sunday, we went to this appointment that I knew was going to fall so we planned to contact this place close by. It didn't look like anybody was home, but we saw a door opened and we called. This dude came out and let us in. We started talking to him a little bit and he said that he was going through some really hard stuff and said that just a few moments before we got there he was praying to God for help. It was a super good experience. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how that can help him with what he is going through. I know that God sent us to that house and there is no better feeling than knowing that God has used you as an instrument in his hands.

A bird pooped on me today for the first time of my life.

I love you all. The church is true. Jesus lives and loves you!

Pictures,

The first look at Elder Tupou and Elder Eliason in the new year.

Visit from a 70

This week was super good. We had zone conferences and Elder Alonso from the 70 came. Presidente and Hermana Cowan talked about La Doctrina de Cristo (Faith, repentance, baptism, the reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) and how we should be implementing that in every lesson. Elder Alonso spoke to us and it was so good. Oh my goodness. He blew my mind. I learned so many good things from him and he said that if we work for it we can achieve 200 baptisms every month which is more than twice of what we are doing right now. My testimony in Prophets and Apostles is so much stronger after listening to somebody that represents them.

We went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I learned a lot. We are teaching this kid named Andrew and his siblings. He is so receptive to our message which has been a good change from lots of other people we teach. We put a baptismal date with him and I have a lot of confidence in him.

We still work in this neighborhood super far away from were we live called Los Arroces. There are a lot of good people of there, but it's frustrating because we will have a good lesson, invite them to church and they will say yes. We will keep talking and realize they have no motorcycle or car and the church is super far away. If they let us buy a bus, we would fill the chapel every Sunday. 

This guy stopped us in the street today and told us they he was Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. And did it in English. I don't think it was actually Him though.

My life is very good as a missionary. I feel very blessed for the opportunity to be here. Being worthy of the Spirit is the best feeling that there is. I know that Jesus lives.

Go to church everybody.

Pictures,

There was a lizard in our house so we put a leash on him.

¡Viva Los Utah Jazz!

Padre Parte 2

Hello everybody!

This week was good. My companion is leaving. I'm sad about that, but we had a good transfer together. Presidente Cowan called on Monday and told me that I'm going to train! haha. It will be fun and I'm going to make him love the mission, whoever he is.

I went on an exchange with Elder Cutler from Cottonwood Heights. We played soccer against each other when we were little. He is a super good missionary and I learned so much from him. He is going home on Thursday. He is the closest one to the camera in the pizza picture.

We couldn't write on Monday because there was a riot because of the gas prices. haha. We went to this one restaurant that these Chinese people own. They saw a big group of people and got scared and locked us in, but it was actually nothing. We didn't see anything the whole day and I told my companion that the riot was lame, but I definitely changed my mind after we got to the house.

I called one of my converts, Elpidio, from Puerto Plata. He is like 55 years old and he told me that he is GETTING MARRIED! He is getting married to a member that lives across the street from him. He told us that he was in love with her when we were teaching him. That makes me so happy. He is such a good guy.

We have a lot of good people. There is so much sin in the world, but I know that I'm doing all that I can. I can't change the world, but I've been able to change the world of a few people and that feeling is priceless. I love the mission. The church is true. Cristo vive.

Pictures,

This is what I look like.

PIZZA

A better way to eat marshmallows... thoughts?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

This week was super good. Mainly today.

We were walking down the street one day and this guy called us over. He said he is a member, but has been going to another church for a long time. He started basically following us around and going to our appointments with us. He introduced us to a bunch of his family. They don't seem very receptive to the gospel, but we were walking and he contacted this one house for us haha. He just said, "Would you allow us to share a message with you?" Just super straight forward and I was like, dude that's not how you do it, but then they let us in and they are super cool and very nice. Maybe God put this crazy man in our path so that we would talk to this family...Who knows?

We had interviews with Presidente Cowan. He is such a good guy and I learn so much from him. In the interview, he asked me how everything was going and I said good then he just started saying a bunch of nice stuff about me. How could you not like this guy?

Today is my Birthday. I'm 20. We went to Santiago and I saw all of my missionary friends. My last birthday here we literally did not do anything so I would say that this was a big improvement.

This guy was drunk. My companion asked him what happened to his arm that he didn't have. He said he killed 14 people... uh...

This is what I look like when I'm 20. I don't know if there is that big of a difference from 19.

This week was good.

I don't have a lot to say, but I'm learning a lot.

We were walking down the street and Elpidio yelled at us. He was back in his house! He got kicked out like 2 months ago, but he talked with his lawyer and is back. We went in to teach him and all the stuff got taken out by the old lady's kids. But he is going to be baptized this Saturday! He's such a stud.

We had stake conference this week. President Cowan and the temple president came. Our president is so cool. He has so much energy. He is learning Spanish again and makes a lot of mistakes, but he doesn't let it bother him.

We had a zone conference on Friday. We talked about how the Book of Mormon can help answer any question. We don't need to fight with people, just make them read the Book of Mormon.

We passed by this guy's house that we contacted. A lady there told us, el esta pero no se encuentra. He is here, but can't be found is basically what she said.... hmmm

I'll write more next week. The church is true. Love you all.

Pictures

Elder Alba is going home. He is a good guy. Funnest transfer of my mission.

The TRIPANIONSHIP is reunited.

Elpidio!

This week went by super fast. I don't even remember what happened.

On Tuesday, we went to almost every single one of our appointments and found a lot more new people to teach which is awesome.

We had interviews with President Cowan. He came all the way to Puerto Plata and he and his wife are pretty cool. The interview was pretty good and in English. We were finishing and I asked him how he likes being a mission president so far and then he talked to me for a long time. They are both really nice and I can tell that they are loving it so far.

On Sunday, Dewdy and Marilyn came to church again. They've come 3 Sundays in a row and I'm so happy to have been able to meet and teach them. Elpidio who was going to get baptized came to church again too. He was going to get baptism then the lady he took care of died and her kids kicked him out of the house. He has been living all over the place, but we have been praying for him and prayers work!

I don't even know how to say this word in English but the girls here are so freca. They are so flirty and they don't have any shame. We will just be walking down the street and some girl will just tell us that we look good. Its kind of weird, but blessings come in all sorts of ways I guess haha.

This week wasn't as interesting as the others but I'll make sure to tell some good stories next week.

...

I totally forgot to talk about the best part of the week. The kid in the picture is named Frandy. We had an appointment with him but he wasn't there so we passed by this internet center where there are always a lot of kids and asked where he was. They showed me a video of him fighting with this other kid. I shouldn't laugh, but the video was so funny and they had scissors and everything. Frandy won so its ok. Thats it.