email dated 5/27/08
Well, it happened again. My companion has been Dear Johnned. I feel for him. He has been a tough companion but we are really close. I consider him one of my best friends. He is an especially cool companion because he is 26 years old. He has a lot more life experience than all of my other companions have had and has a lot of good advice for me. I am sad he got Dear Johnned because he goes home to a very different life than most missionaries. His family lives in Indiana, and Texas, and Ohio, and he came from Florida, he thinks maybe he will go to Utah, etc... It is a different situation than it is for most of us Utah boys that go back home to mom and dad and college. He is a good guy. He goes home on my birthday. I wish him the best. I hope I have been a good comp for him. I am gonna miss him as I do with any comp when we have transfers. And yet again, I was only with him for one transfer. Now I am on number 5 and I have only been out here for 6 months in Uruguay. I never imagined the mission being like this before the mission. It seems I am always with someone new. Anyway, back to the point! Dear Johnning has got to stop. At least Elder Surtees doesn't seem to be taking it too hard. He kind of saw it coming for months.
My new companion is named Elder Oliphant. I think they said he was from CA. He is apparently my rival at the piano in the mission. So I am really excited. Our ward is going to love him. I don't know much about him, except that he has only been out a few months longer than me, and that he is said to be pretty shy. I have a good feeling about this one. I think we are going to have a really good transfer.
The work is going really well in Tacuarembó. I feel really comfortable with the area now. I know the people and we have some good investigators. I am really excited to have a new comp with a new way of looking at things and hopefully a new style to teach me. There isn't one right way to be a missionary. That is what I have learned. Preach My Gospel is a GUIDE to missionary service, and it is full of ideas for how to teach, how to find, etc... IDEAS!! One ought to try working a number of different ways. It is just a testimony to me that the Lord really does call US, for who we are. He knows we aren't all going to work the same way and that is exactly how He wants it. I may connect with somebody that another missionary wouldn't have, and he may find somebody that I never would have even looked for, etc... Anyway, I am excited to learn new things from a new comp.
I am sad now that my Artigas summer tan has worn off. I am a white-white boy again. The oncoming cold weather is hard on a good tan. But the upside is that while I may be losing the dark and handsome look in that aspect, it is being compensated for by my trench coat, which if I do say so myself, makes me look even MORE dark and handsome. If I throw my glasses on I am unstoppable.
I don't really know what else to say for today... sé que iba a decir algo pero no me acuerdo. No importa. Por lo menos tengo salúd y aun mas importante soy tan lindo. La vida es buena. Yo ando bien por ahora.
Andy
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Transfers next week
For all my faithful readers, don't be alarmed next Monday when the email doesn't come, because it is TRANFERS WEEK!! That means I will write on Tuesday. But the anxiety is gone because I know I am staying and my companion is leaving. President gave us a sneak peak and told us in interviews. So it looks like I will be staying in Tacuarembó. But I would have guessed that anyway. So I still get to enjoy the anxiety of wondering who my new companion will be. And I hope that you are all counting. That marks Transfer number 5!! I will be in 5 of 15 or 16. I am a third the way into the mission now. 8 months! What a good age! I am definitely not a kid anymore!
So we had a baptism this last week of my Ernestina, the cute old lady. I was sad because her daughter didn't come to the baptism and we were really hoping to start working with the rest of her family. We will still keep trying. The baptism went well. She asked me to do it. I was scared because she is old and I have never baptized somebody quite so old and I was scared of killing her. I truly was. The worst part is that the heater is broken and so the water was COLD! And with the cold weather and her being old, I was honestly concerned and considered saying we should delay until we could heat the water. But we went in anyway and she came out fine. But, as is often the case when you baptize older women, she just could not keep her feet planted for fear of the water and I had to push her down to make sure all of her got under water. I figure it is better to shove them down on the first one than have to do it again so I really got her down there. I just wish she had kept her feet planted and I could´ve done it a lot nicer. She was SO excited to get baptized. She showed up a half hour early to the baptism and just was so antsy. You would´ve thought she was an 8 year old girl. She was so excited to be baptized she just couldn't wait. The water was decently cold. It made me shiver. She was a trooper.
Oh man, I have to go to the bathroom! but we are in a Ciber and a Guayan public bathroom can be pretty gross. Any public bathroom can be pretty gross... I just dont know what to do.
I have no interesting stories from this week really... beyond the baptism it was a fairly dry week. I have been feeling nautious (I dont remember how to spell it, but it is nausea either way). I don't really know why. I was kind of nauseous all week. I think something did me bad. But my companion is fine so I don't know what. We eat all the same things. I think my stomach is just crying out in pain and pleading for no more oil! They DROWN everything in oil down here. And then they put mayo on it. It took me a few weeks to be able to digest down here if I remember correctly. I think maybe my stomach is just getting tired. It really is unhealthy the way they cook. You all think a happy meal is bad for you, but there is double the oil in a guiso of rice and eggs and vegetables down here. I think right now I would take the happy meal. But it is bad to be sick. You can't refuse food. But I had to yesterday. I figured it would be fine because they were really good members that always joked with us. She offered some pizza thingy she had made and I said "no thanks, I am not feeling too well." I knew we shouldn't have even worked if I was feeling sick. She told my companion she thinks I am racist. I am racist because I didn't want to eat? I don't get it either. I will have to go and suck up to them later this week and apologize. I wish people down here would stop getting offended so easily. Every less active in the church down here claims that they don't go because somebody offended them and that the Bishop knows and etc... It is all just an excuse. But they do get offended really easily. You have to be careful. I remember in my first transfer Elder Dennis offended a recent convert at Christmas. She offered us some Sweet Bread (which is gross down here), but it was in a weird awkward way. We were already on our way out the door basically and she said, "oh, you wouldn't happen to want this bread would you" and it was sitting on a table with some other old christmas stuff and looked like it had been there for months, and he said, "no thanks," or something along those lines. Anyway, she stopped going to church and her husband too. I spent the next 2 transfers reactivating her and I never did get the husband back to church. It is a VERY annoying problem the way they get offended so easily. I have learned to just say "si, como no" "Yeah, why not" whenever they offer something. Yesterday was the first time I couldn't do it because I felt like throwing up and look what happened to me... I am racist. I wish everyone would read Elder Bednar´s talk about taking offense from a few conferences ago! The irony of it all is that I was probably sick because I had managed to avoid offending somebody else by eating something that wasn't good for me.
Well, there is my cool story for the week. So if any of you find yourselves in Uruguay, just accept the sweet bread, just eat the pumpkin, just eat the chicken heart, just eat the cow stomach, don't complain, just do it. At least if you have the name of the church on your chest, you have to do it. You can't afford to offend people.
I hope that everyone is doing just peachy! I am doing well, I think I am starting to feel better from my nausea, but it is still kind of there. My companion says I have an apendicitis. I seriously doubt that. That would be so horrible. I can only imagine the scar the doctors would leave down here! Doctors is another topic. I have to go. I love you all! Take care!!
Andy
So we had a baptism this last week of my Ernestina, the cute old lady. I was sad because her daughter didn't come to the baptism and we were really hoping to start working with the rest of her family. We will still keep trying. The baptism went well. She asked me to do it. I was scared because she is old and I have never baptized somebody quite so old and I was scared of killing her. I truly was. The worst part is that the heater is broken and so the water was COLD! And with the cold weather and her being old, I was honestly concerned and considered saying we should delay until we could heat the water. But we went in anyway and she came out fine. But, as is often the case when you baptize older women, she just could not keep her feet planted for fear of the water and I had to push her down to make sure all of her got under water. I figure it is better to shove them down on the first one than have to do it again so I really got her down there. I just wish she had kept her feet planted and I could´ve done it a lot nicer. She was SO excited to get baptized. She showed up a half hour early to the baptism and just was so antsy. You would´ve thought she was an 8 year old girl. She was so excited to be baptized she just couldn't wait. The water was decently cold. It made me shiver. She was a trooper.
Oh man, I have to go to the bathroom! but we are in a Ciber and a Guayan public bathroom can be pretty gross. Any public bathroom can be pretty gross... I just dont know what to do.
I have no interesting stories from this week really... beyond the baptism it was a fairly dry week. I have been feeling nautious (I dont remember how to spell it, but it is nausea either way). I don't really know why. I was kind of nauseous all week. I think something did me bad. But my companion is fine so I don't know what. We eat all the same things. I think my stomach is just crying out in pain and pleading for no more oil! They DROWN everything in oil down here. And then they put mayo on it. It took me a few weeks to be able to digest down here if I remember correctly. I think maybe my stomach is just getting tired. It really is unhealthy the way they cook. You all think a happy meal is bad for you, but there is double the oil in a guiso of rice and eggs and vegetables down here. I think right now I would take the happy meal. But it is bad to be sick. You can't refuse food. But I had to yesterday. I figured it would be fine because they were really good members that always joked with us. She offered some pizza thingy she had made and I said "no thanks, I am not feeling too well." I knew we shouldn't have even worked if I was feeling sick. She told my companion she thinks I am racist. I am racist because I didn't want to eat? I don't get it either. I will have to go and suck up to them later this week and apologize. I wish people down here would stop getting offended so easily. Every less active in the church down here claims that they don't go because somebody offended them and that the Bishop knows and etc... It is all just an excuse. But they do get offended really easily. You have to be careful. I remember in my first transfer Elder Dennis offended a recent convert at Christmas. She offered us some Sweet Bread (which is gross down here), but it was in a weird awkward way. We were already on our way out the door basically and she said, "oh, you wouldn't happen to want this bread would you" and it was sitting on a table with some other old christmas stuff and looked like it had been there for months, and he said, "no thanks," or something along those lines. Anyway, she stopped going to church and her husband too. I spent the next 2 transfers reactivating her and I never did get the husband back to church. It is a VERY annoying problem the way they get offended so easily. I have learned to just say "si, como no" "Yeah, why not" whenever they offer something. Yesterday was the first time I couldn't do it because I felt like throwing up and look what happened to me... I am racist. I wish everyone would read Elder Bednar´s talk about taking offense from a few conferences ago! The irony of it all is that I was probably sick because I had managed to avoid offending somebody else by eating something that wasn't good for me.
Well, there is my cool story for the week. So if any of you find yourselves in Uruguay, just accept the sweet bread, just eat the pumpkin, just eat the chicken heart, just eat the cow stomach, don't complain, just do it. At least if you have the name of the church on your chest, you have to do it. You can't afford to offend people.
I hope that everyone is doing just peachy! I am doing well, I think I am starting to feel better from my nausea, but it is still kind of there. My companion says I have an apendicitis. I seriously doubt that. That would be so horrible. I can only imagine the scar the doctors would leave down here! Doctors is another topic. I have to go. I love you all! Take care!!
Andy
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Story Continues
The story of our hero continues this week in the land of Tacuarembó. He faced many challenges. Such as: a sick and grumpy companion, being somewhat ill himself, the wicked cold, the even more wicked cold inside of his cement box of a house, the words he still doesn't know, the issue of the ever growing stomach from a ward that feeds him far too much, and his ridiculous good looks were an ever present burden. As his father taught him well, "It isnt easy to be so good looking." Our young hero learned that lesson well this week as all the women in the street continue to try and kiss him for a greeting as he continues to place a firm handshake in their path. It isn't easy when everybody wants to kiss you...
It really is kind of a challenge. I have been, for the most part, very successful at stopping people from kissing me. It is just the greeting they do down here. Very few have successfully laid one on me. The worst being an old lady in Artigas that didnt have any teeth and she got slobber on my cheek. That was SICK! And there was once a 13 year old girl in a house where I was teaching in which I had already established that I only shook hands and gave her my hand to shake and she shook it and 2 seconds later when I wasn't looking she still jumped in and laid one square on my cheek. I am just glad I have never been nailed on the lips. I know an Elder that got kissed by a guy who got him on the corner of his lips. I am glad that I haven't yet been kissed by a guy. Old women and little girls aren't nearly as awkward.
That brings up the issue of "Snakes" as they are called. It is a word that I am not fond of, but all the missionaries use it, including the latin missionaries. There are some "Snakes" as they call them in our ward. There is a girl who is always giving us the eye and has said she wants to marry a gringo and go and live in the United States. She won't get this gringo, but the sad thing is that some Elders are really dumb and do fall into bad situations like that, and even if they don't do anything they get themselves into trouble by allowing themselves to even be placed in bad situations. There are TOO many sad stories of missionaries getting into trouble. So to all my faithul readers, if you are a female DO NOT FLIRT WITH THE MISSIONARIES and if you are a future missionary BEWARE OF THE SNAKES, and if you are a future Sister Missionary DO NOT FLIRT WITH THE MISSIONARIES. Same advice from the Shepherd Corner this week. It is a tragedy to see Sister Missionaries trying to flirt with Elders. I haven't seen it since the MTC though, so it is okay now. But I do remember some pretty iffy stuff in the MTC. In an effort to make my emails more interesting, I will recount a VERY old story from the beginning of my mission because I have nothing interesting to tell from this last week. Well, there's really two stories.
So there was this Hermana (Sister) in my Zone in the MTC that was very aware of her female status and demanded the due respect to a degree that I felt was inappropriate of a mission atmosphere. One day, the innocent Elder Timothy McClellan (my dear friend who is now in Rivera) and I were walking up to the class building and this Hermana and her companion were at least 10 Meters in front of us. Without books or anything in her hands, or anyone else around, she turns around, and looks at us Elders who had just come from the bookstore and had FULL hands, waits the necessary 15 or more seconds for us to arrive at the said door and simply demanded, "open the door for me." Being polite, the Elder McClellan did as was commanded but grudgingly. Later the same sister missionary, who had managed to seat herself across from me, shoved her tray across the table at me when she was done eating and said "thanks." WHY I OUGHTA!! I took it without complaint, but I did find it ridiculous.
So are you ready for the worser of the two stories? Okay here we go: I was near leaving in the MTC when there was a blonde Hermana missionary come into our zone who seemed to think she could just flirt as she pleased. I don't know why on earth any 22 year old girl would want to flirt with us 19 year old boys, but it happened. Anyway, she was studying in the hallway once and asked me for help with her Spanish. I offered a few pointers and tried moving, but she insisted she needed more help. Feeling VERY uncomfortable I offered a little more advice and told what some more words meant and then said I had to go. She would continue to ask ONLY me for help. I avoided her like the plague. She would try to situate herself to sit by me at lunch. That was the worst. One time, and only one time, she succeeded. I was good at trying to sit in the middle of a bunch of Elders to avoid her. I will have you know I was never rude, nor disrespectful to her. That is not my way. Nor did I talk bad about her to the other Elders and tell them what I noticed was happening. I quietly tried avoiding this situation. I was kind and tried to ignore her. Anyway, she managed to sit by me one day and kept bumping elbows with me. I was SO frustrated. I scooted my chair a good 6 inches to the left to avoid the elbow bumping. To no avail. The elbow kept coming. I did not find it amusing. I switched to my left hand and she scooted her chair closer and tried talking to me. I was polite...and very uncomfortable. The same Hermana stood by me when we were singing the "Til We Meet Again" as a Zone as I was to depart for Uruguay and she kept bumping into me during the song. I must've moved 5 feet during the standing song and she came along. UGGHH!!! Things like that just should not happen, especially to a poor 19 year old boy who basically took a two year vow of complete and utter abstinence from even looking at or talking to girls for the gospel. I get uncomfortable if someone tries shaking my hand too long. Although, there was this really cute old lady in Artigas who was about 90 years old that would always hold my hand for like 2 minutes as I was saying goodbye. I still felt a tad uncomfortable, but I just thought she was so funny and nice that it didnt bother me.
The sad thing about this story about the Blonde Hermana is that it is so tiny and minimal and nothing. You all probably think I sounded mean or that I was over thinking things. But to a missionary, little tiny things like that are tough to deal with. I remember it really bothered me. I remember wanting to ask, "what are you thinking?" so many times. I am glad I was nice and left without ever being rude. So those are my stories of Hermanas from the MTC. I know, ¿¿arent they SO dramatic?? They really are stupid little stories...but I had nothing better to talk about this week because nothing really happened last week. And I am trying to tell more stories and less thoughts. I always say my thought process, but as a perfectionist-missionary as you know that I am, I tend to be a little hard on myself at times and I appear bipolar on paper and email. So I dont want to do that anymore. So I will tell you stories. I do have them. They may be some boring ones, some that I think are funny that arent funny at all, etc... But I am going to make a goal to start telling at least one story per email. I want you all to know that I am a happy missionary and having fun out here.
Oh yeah, we have a baptism coming up this week of a woman named Ernestina. She is around 60 years old I think. SHE IS SO CUTE! She told us that she wanted to be baptized. We didn't even challenge her. And she is so excited. She tells everyone that she is getting baptized this friday. I love cute old people. I hope that we will be able to start working through her to teach her kids that are grown up now. The first step is getting everybody to her baptism. Anyway, she is even more amazing in that she seems to be healing miraculously. She had a stroke and couldn't even move half of her face or the eye on that side of her face. But as she told us, the more we teach her the better she feels. And it is visible. Her eye has opened up a ton and her face has movement that it didn't have. I was promised when President Virgin set me apart that I would see miracles on the mission and I have. I was promised that I would be an instrument in healing the sick and the near dying, and watching them live. I still havent found someone near dying that I have given a blessing to, but I believe it will happen as everything else that was promised me when I was set apart and in my patriarchal blessing also are being fulfilled out here. I have given blessings to the sick and seen them get better. Angels are with me. I have faith that the Lord truly does bless us when we trust in him and do as he asks. We are a blessed people. He has so promised us.
Well, I am out of time. I hope that you all are doing just peachy!! Take care!! I love you!! Andy
It really is kind of a challenge. I have been, for the most part, very successful at stopping people from kissing me. It is just the greeting they do down here. Very few have successfully laid one on me. The worst being an old lady in Artigas that didnt have any teeth and she got slobber on my cheek. That was SICK! And there was once a 13 year old girl in a house where I was teaching in which I had already established that I only shook hands and gave her my hand to shake and she shook it and 2 seconds later when I wasn't looking she still jumped in and laid one square on my cheek. I am just glad I have never been nailed on the lips. I know an Elder that got kissed by a guy who got him on the corner of his lips. I am glad that I haven't yet been kissed by a guy. Old women and little girls aren't nearly as awkward.
That brings up the issue of "Snakes" as they are called. It is a word that I am not fond of, but all the missionaries use it, including the latin missionaries. There are some "Snakes" as they call them in our ward. There is a girl who is always giving us the eye and has said she wants to marry a gringo and go and live in the United States. She won't get this gringo, but the sad thing is that some Elders are really dumb and do fall into bad situations like that, and even if they don't do anything they get themselves into trouble by allowing themselves to even be placed in bad situations. There are TOO many sad stories of missionaries getting into trouble. So to all my faithul readers, if you are a female DO NOT FLIRT WITH THE MISSIONARIES and if you are a future missionary BEWARE OF THE SNAKES, and if you are a future Sister Missionary DO NOT FLIRT WITH THE MISSIONARIES. Same advice from the Shepherd Corner this week. It is a tragedy to see Sister Missionaries trying to flirt with Elders. I haven't seen it since the MTC though, so it is okay now. But I do remember some pretty iffy stuff in the MTC. In an effort to make my emails more interesting, I will recount a VERY old story from the beginning of my mission because I have nothing interesting to tell from this last week. Well, there's really two stories.
So there was this Hermana (Sister) in my Zone in the MTC that was very aware of her female status and demanded the due respect to a degree that I felt was inappropriate of a mission atmosphere. One day, the innocent Elder Timothy McClellan (my dear friend who is now in Rivera) and I were walking up to the class building and this Hermana and her companion were at least 10 Meters in front of us. Without books or anything in her hands, or anyone else around, she turns around, and looks at us Elders who had just come from the bookstore and had FULL hands, waits the necessary 15 or more seconds for us to arrive at the said door and simply demanded, "open the door for me." Being polite, the Elder McClellan did as was commanded but grudgingly. Later the same sister missionary, who had managed to seat herself across from me, shoved her tray across the table at me when she was done eating and said "thanks." WHY I OUGHTA!! I took it without complaint, but I did find it ridiculous.
So are you ready for the worser of the two stories? Okay here we go: I was near leaving in the MTC when there was a blonde Hermana missionary come into our zone who seemed to think she could just flirt as she pleased. I don't know why on earth any 22 year old girl would want to flirt with us 19 year old boys, but it happened. Anyway, she was studying in the hallway once and asked me for help with her Spanish. I offered a few pointers and tried moving, but she insisted she needed more help. Feeling VERY uncomfortable I offered a little more advice and told what some more words meant and then said I had to go. She would continue to ask ONLY me for help. I avoided her like the plague. She would try to situate herself to sit by me at lunch. That was the worst. One time, and only one time, she succeeded. I was good at trying to sit in the middle of a bunch of Elders to avoid her. I will have you know I was never rude, nor disrespectful to her. That is not my way. Nor did I talk bad about her to the other Elders and tell them what I noticed was happening. I quietly tried avoiding this situation. I was kind and tried to ignore her. Anyway, she managed to sit by me one day and kept bumping elbows with me. I was SO frustrated. I scooted my chair a good 6 inches to the left to avoid the elbow bumping. To no avail. The elbow kept coming. I did not find it amusing. I switched to my left hand and she scooted her chair closer and tried talking to me. I was polite...and very uncomfortable. The same Hermana stood by me when we were singing the "Til We Meet Again" as a Zone as I was to depart for Uruguay and she kept bumping into me during the song. I must've moved 5 feet during the standing song and she came along. UGGHH!!! Things like that just should not happen, especially to a poor 19 year old boy who basically took a two year vow of complete and utter abstinence from even looking at or talking to girls for the gospel. I get uncomfortable if someone tries shaking my hand too long. Although, there was this really cute old lady in Artigas who was about 90 years old that would always hold my hand for like 2 minutes as I was saying goodbye. I still felt a tad uncomfortable, but I just thought she was so funny and nice that it didnt bother me.
The sad thing about this story about the Blonde Hermana is that it is so tiny and minimal and nothing. You all probably think I sounded mean or that I was over thinking things. But to a missionary, little tiny things like that are tough to deal with. I remember it really bothered me. I remember wanting to ask, "what are you thinking?" so many times. I am glad I was nice and left without ever being rude. So those are my stories of Hermanas from the MTC. I know, ¿¿arent they SO dramatic?? They really are stupid little stories...but I had nothing better to talk about this week because nothing really happened last week. And I am trying to tell more stories and less thoughts. I always say my thought process, but as a perfectionist-missionary as you know that I am, I tend to be a little hard on myself at times and I appear bipolar on paper and email. So I dont want to do that anymore. So I will tell you stories. I do have them. They may be some boring ones, some that I think are funny that arent funny at all, etc... But I am going to make a goal to start telling at least one story per email. I want you all to know that I am a happy missionary and having fun out here.
Oh yeah, we have a baptism coming up this week of a woman named Ernestina. She is around 60 years old I think. SHE IS SO CUTE! She told us that she wanted to be baptized. We didn't even challenge her. And she is so excited. She tells everyone that she is getting baptized this friday. I love cute old people. I hope that we will be able to start working through her to teach her kids that are grown up now. The first step is getting everybody to her baptism. Anyway, she is even more amazing in that she seems to be healing miraculously. She had a stroke and couldn't even move half of her face or the eye on that side of her face. But as she told us, the more we teach her the better she feels. And it is visible. Her eye has opened up a ton and her face has movement that it didn't have. I was promised when President Virgin set me apart that I would see miracles on the mission and I have. I was promised that I would be an instrument in healing the sick and the near dying, and watching them live. I still havent found someone near dying that I have given a blessing to, but I believe it will happen as everything else that was promised me when I was set apart and in my patriarchal blessing also are being fulfilled out here. I have given blessings to the sick and seen them get better. Angels are with me. I have faith that the Lord truly does bless us when we trust in him and do as he asks. We are a blessed people. He has so promised us.
Well, I am out of time. I hope that you all are doing just peachy!! Take care!! I love you!! Andy
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