Has the heat hit over there yet? This last week has been a scorcher. I was thinking about it and i am really stoked to get to have a non-stop sauna on the home stretch to burn off some of the cushion i have built up. You know, pross-cushion. Makes sitting and walking through big crowds a lot less painful.
I will get you the pictures of my john the beloved impression next week.
Call time, whoo! My companion is getting his call at 700pm our time. That stands unconfirmed. He has a really big family and we want to allow for some buffer so i was thinking 900 or 930 my time. If that gets in the way of church you could even push as far as 1000ish. We go to bed at 1130. So let me know which works for you. They are all good with me. It is the same number as Christmas = 627486512. As always i will let you figure out all the codage so i don't mess us up.
Wow, that pretty much does it for the business. Okay then, lets get to it.
I have two occurrences of note. I will tell them in reverse order. One comes from Saturday and the other from Sunday, and you were paying attention when you read the previous sentence that means i will start with Sunday and then tell Saturday's. "Why?" you might ask. Well, i am not really sure, the recent one is just fresher in my mind so i want to spit it out quick. Plus, i think the Saturday one is more of a mission nature, so we will count it as the grand finale. "Why is he expounding on such a useless explanation?" you might ask. Well, i would ask the same question. That is why we get along so well, you and i (consider the you to be the Spanish vosotros so that you can all be included).
Also may be for the lack of info i have to share this week. Sorry, it is rather warm in this cyber spot and i think my brain is sweating.
On to Sunday's happenings. We have been pushing way hard to work with the youth of the ward. They are super sweet but the adults treat them like crudloads (to be honest, i don't even know what that means, but it came to mind, and as always happens, what come to mind comes to pass). Our big focus right now is to find families and replacements (young dudes that will go on missions after baptism). We decided to go right ahead and start working with the possible ward replacements. We play soccer ever Saturday with them which is sweet. I have discovered how to deceive them into thinking i have talent. I do either one of two things. 1- play goalie. In Spain there is no public grass, so everyone plays on concrete mini courts. The goals are small and i am big. Whenever anyone wants to shoot a just gently lay myself down in front of them and make the save. That is the first mode of deceit. Next up. 2- move and flail arms a great deal while running. I have come to find that the added movement adds a great deal of trickery to one's level of play. These have both worked wonders for me and have gotten me into their circle of trust. Their families were pretty excited about that so they invited us over to eat empanadas. I refused to let them feed us empanadas unless they agreed to teach us how to make them. They agreed. It was awesome. I am know capable of making an Ecuadorian cheese empanada. Now for the point of all this. While we were finishing things up. The young men of the ward had successfully been gathered together and to pass the time pulled out the karaoke game they have for the xbox 360. When i walked in, cooking apron and all, they jokingly asked me to give it a try. I looked them in the eye and with the speed of a snake strike snatched the microphone right out of their hand. This game was legit, it rates you and everything. They carefully picked my song and set me loose. The performance left all of us breathless. They gave me complicated by Avril Lavigne so that was my excuse. But as for them, they saw me take that song out for a stroll through the park and even gave it a goodnight kiss, and not only that, the game gave me a big bang rating. I don't even know what that means, but apparently it was good because we have now become their idols. They kept saying, "Elder Carr, eres una maquina, tio." I love the Spanish culture. Had i known the path to the trust and heart of a Spanish joven was a simple stroll down karaoke lane i would have taken these kids out for a walk along time ago. So, the big news is that we are in. I will keep you posted.
On to Saturday's happenings. The week was a pretty rough one. It happens. No biggie. Saturday was one of the happiest days ever. I love how much Heavenly Father loves giving us presents. On Saturday there were 3 baptism in our ward. Cicilia, Guadalupe, and Luis. They are all so amazing. They are all such miracles. It seriously was one of the most amazing tender mercies of my life. As always happens, there are those feelings i have and i think just about every missionary has when things go tough about not being sure if I'm doing enough. You know, not really sure if there is that much change being made. It is a nasty temptation, but it happens. It was a tough week so i was getting some thoughts like that and i just had to keep telling myself, "Self, shut your mouth, you know you are working hard. Quit thinking it depends on you." Then Saturday came and it was incredible. Cicilia is a woman that was walking down a dark street on my first night in the area. I saw her and thought that it would be weird to talk to her because it would probably freak her out. We passed her and i just felt the strongest feeling of "who cares?" I stopped and ran back to get her. Funny because this actually freaked her out more. She tried to get away and almost ran, but as soon as had made my move toward i felt so strongly that she needed to hear something. So i told her that. She stopped, turned around slowly and i told her she needed this message. She asked me what it was and i just said the first thing that came to mind. I told her that she would be able be with her family forever. She started to cry and said that her husband had died just a little while ago. It was an incredible experience. It freaks me out to think what would have happen had i just kept walking. It is really sad to think of those i have let walk by. Pretty good motivator to do better. Guadalupe is her daughter and is now preparing to serve a mission. Luis is an old Spaniard man that was investigating the church 10 years ago but as soon as he started to get interested his father died and he lost contact with the church and God. 10 years later he ran into missionaries and asked them to pass by him, but they could never get in contact with him and lost his info. I was flipping through some old numbers we had lying around and i saw his name "Luis Conejo" and i thought, "that name is sweet, we have to go by him." Elder Wallace found his info and made it happen. He is so cool. Then when we got home that night i got word that a kid named Michael Alvarez had been baptized in Aranjuez. He had moved in while i was there and i got to get his info when his member family introduced him to us. He said he wasn't interested and i just called him a liar. When i asked why i told him that he didn't even know what he wasn't interested in. He was in the middle of making some big changes and he was looking for something more. We started teaching him and he totally got into it but had to leave because of a new job. Apparently he just got back and was baptized soon after. It was such an amazing weekend.
As you can imagine, life is good.
Stay true, don't turn blue, i love you,
Elder Sky
Saturday, May 8, 2010
hey y'all 21 Apr 2010
Hey Hey HEY!
Big week, good to hear from you, not much time to answer you.... welcome to the story of my preparation day email life.
Lets get going, time to fly through this sucker. There has been some serious coolness going on in the temporary homested.
We went to the temple today and then had a killer big soccer tournament with almost all the elders in madrid. Time is spent, it is my own fault, lets get running.
Wednesday: (is that really how you spell it? i dont even know anymore, AAH! no time to contemplate it!) Elder Wallace loves risk. Elder Bartholomew and I dont really care to much for it. We decided to go ahead and make his day by playing with him and created an unbreakable alliance against him so we could crush him and get on with our pday. Well, we started blasting the Enya, but things went a little different than we planned. We did indeed crush him, and it was a thorough crushing, but the addictive poison of possible world domination had already worked its way into our veins and we were done for. We got him out after about 30 min, but we ended (and by ended i mean i ended up throwing the board through the air yelling "second coming!") 3 hours later. We didnt even want to play.
Thursday: More on the workish spiritish side of things. We had some really amazing lesson experiences on this said thursday. We went by an investigator named Liliana who just had her husband walk out on her. We had a really great lesson and at the end the spirit said to my companion, "Elder, give her a blessing." We explained it, went through with it, and it was exactly what she needed. It was incredible. Later that night we got to have another visit with the Enrique and Elvira (the drunk guy that got hit in the heart by the book of mormon). He is a really sharp guy when he is sober. He read and loved it, but is having a hard time understanding everything because he is connecting things together a little too quickly. We were explaining the pattern of apostasy and in the middle of things the spirit said to me, "Elder, tell him his family can be together for ever." We did, and it was so humbling. While we were trying to explain everything and give him the logic of it all, just letting him know a simple truth is what brought the needed comfort. You could see it happen in his face. He just relaxed and understood that there is a bigger picture. He is doing amazing.
Friday will remain a mystery.... no time!
Saturday: So apparently a lot of the members are unhappy with us. In the past the elders had spent a lot more time in the houses of the members. We just dont see the point in going by every week. They are bothered because they like us a lot more than the other that were here, but think that we are being rude by not passing by every week. We have already given them the run down on it all. If they want to invite someone over, they can invite us too, but otherwise we have way too much on the blessing menu. There was one member in particular that actually denied a calling to be a ward missionary (huge step, the ward has never had ward missionaries) because he thought we didnt like him. We went by on this saturday and talked to him about it. We told him that we are very sorry that we have not had time to pass by on a regular basis. Then we felt that we should show him why. I love those feelings. We went ahead and taught him the message of the restauration. It was a really cool experience. He apologized to us at the end and said that he understood and thinks once every 3 to 4 weeks is more than enough.
Sunday has fallen in with Friday, so many secrets! AAAH! No time!
Monday: We had a lesson and there was a guy there that you could just tell his life was totally hammered, just like he was at the moment. It was really funny because he kept trying to sneak in to sit closer to us. When we would catch him and try to say something he would run away. At the end we knelt down to pray with the investigator and i opened my eyes and he was kneeling with us mirroring us exactly. It was cool to see how much he was craving to feel a bit of what i think he saw in us or felt with us.
Tuesday: Hma Watkins gave the coolest talk ever in zone conference. She talked about the damages of working too hard, or better said, being a perfectionist. If i had more time i would expound, but i dont, so i wont. Sorry.
Loves,
I will give you time for the mother-s day call next week,
Elder Sky
Big week, good to hear from you, not much time to answer you.... welcome to the story of my preparation day email life.
Lets get going, time to fly through this sucker. There has been some serious coolness going on in the temporary homested.
We went to the temple today and then had a killer big soccer tournament with almost all the elders in madrid. Time is spent, it is my own fault, lets get running.
Wednesday: (is that really how you spell it? i dont even know anymore, AAH! no time to contemplate it!) Elder Wallace loves risk. Elder Bartholomew and I dont really care to much for it. We decided to go ahead and make his day by playing with him and created an unbreakable alliance against him so we could crush him and get on with our pday. Well, we started blasting the Enya, but things went a little different than we planned. We did indeed crush him, and it was a thorough crushing, but the addictive poison of possible world domination had already worked its way into our veins and we were done for. We got him out after about 30 min, but we ended (and by ended i mean i ended up throwing the board through the air yelling "second coming!") 3 hours later. We didnt even want to play.
Thursday: More on the workish spiritish side of things. We had some really amazing lesson experiences on this said thursday. We went by an investigator named Liliana who just had her husband walk out on her. We had a really great lesson and at the end the spirit said to my companion, "Elder, give her a blessing." We explained it, went through with it, and it was exactly what she needed. It was incredible. Later that night we got to have another visit with the Enrique and Elvira (the drunk guy that got hit in the heart by the book of mormon). He is a really sharp guy when he is sober. He read and loved it, but is having a hard time understanding everything because he is connecting things together a little too quickly. We were explaining the pattern of apostasy and in the middle of things the spirit said to me, "Elder, tell him his family can be together for ever." We did, and it was so humbling. While we were trying to explain everything and give him the logic of it all, just letting him know a simple truth is what brought the needed comfort. You could see it happen in his face. He just relaxed and understood that there is a bigger picture. He is doing amazing.
Friday will remain a mystery.... no time!
Saturday: So apparently a lot of the members are unhappy with us. In the past the elders had spent a lot more time in the houses of the members. We just dont see the point in going by every week. They are bothered because they like us a lot more than the other that were here, but think that we are being rude by not passing by every week. We have already given them the run down on it all. If they want to invite someone over, they can invite us too, but otherwise we have way too much on the blessing menu. There was one member in particular that actually denied a calling to be a ward missionary (huge step, the ward has never had ward missionaries) because he thought we didnt like him. We went by on this saturday and talked to him about it. We told him that we are very sorry that we have not had time to pass by on a regular basis. Then we felt that we should show him why. I love those feelings. We went ahead and taught him the message of the restauration. It was a really cool experience. He apologized to us at the end and said that he understood and thinks once every 3 to 4 weeks is more than enough.
Sunday has fallen in with Friday, so many secrets! AAAH! No time!
Monday: We had a lesson and there was a guy there that you could just tell his life was totally hammered, just like he was at the moment. It was really funny because he kept trying to sneak in to sit closer to us. When we would catch him and try to say something he would run away. At the end we knelt down to pray with the investigator and i opened my eyes and he was kneeling with us mirroring us exactly. It was cool to see how much he was craving to feel a bit of what i think he saw in us or felt with us.
Tuesday: Hma Watkins gave the coolest talk ever in zone conference. She talked about the damages of working too hard, or better said, being a perfectionist. If i had more time i would expound, but i dont, so i wont. Sorry.
Loves,
I will give you time for the mother-s day call next week,
Elder Sky
Our mission leader describes me as "Mimoso" 14 Apr 2010
Sweetness,
You got the package, YES! Alright, here's the low down. All the little wrapped package thingys are for all of the nieces and nephews. They are Mardrid key chains. I dont remember how many i sent, but hopefully there are enough for everyone. If i remember right, i bought them pre-Kaysoughn mortality, so i think his is for you, mom. Everything else should be labeled or just for everyone in general.
As for the extension of my mission, I clearly remember the following statement,
"If you have the guts to extend your mission, even by only one day, don't bother coming back because i will be waiting here to kill you."
-Maria Carr
That may not be word for word, it has been a long time since you said that to me, but it is the general idea. My current thought, which has been my way of thinking for a while now, is that i will not ask for an extension, but if they ask me to extend i will tell them to call my mom and ask for permission. As of right now i am thinking that what is planned is what will go down.
As for the New Testament videos, i think it sounds awesome and hilarious. Awesome because they might let me be one of the dragons from the book of revelations. Hilarious because i was talking to a companion about a year ago and told him, "I am probably going to end up selling stuff door to door during the summer, but i would much rather be at home. So if i manag to get an acting job during the summer, i will stay home, and odds are that if my mom finds out about that she will make it happen, she is one of those universe commander people." Mom, you are so omniscient it scares me. I will try to get some mug shots off next week. Is there a deadline?
As for the russian accent, i think that is awesome. I am not really sure why Alejandra thinks that, but i can see a little bit of that. Most people say i sound dominican, but that is mostly due to the fact i am in the dominican capital of spain. I dont really try to have an accent, just speak clearly. Funny how all of it added up sound russian. When she told me that i just started saying DA whenever she asked me something. That is the extense of my russian expertise. Oh, and i flipped when she told me she is going to get baptized. It is going to be incredible, apparently she is going to travel all the way to madrid so that all of her missionaries can come and so i can baptize her. It was way humbling to hear that.
As for the last note i wrote in my planner for stuff to answer/tell you, i had a really cool interview with president this last week. Usually i always have one things in specific i need to ask him about or get helf on, but this time i had a million things. I am so caught up in working on tons of things right now that i had no idea where to start. When i go there he asked me a few questions about normal stuff than asked if he could help me with anything personally. The only thing i could think of was to get a priesthood blessing. The last time i got one in this style was from dad. It has been a long time, and i was kind of craving it. It was a really amazing experience. The interview consisted in pretty much just that blessing. The pàrt that hit me the deepest was that it felt like dad was doing it. Hard to describe. The priesthood is so real. It was exactly what i needed.
As for the work, there have been some amazing things happening. We found a man a few weeks ago in the street who was really cool. I was walking beside him and i looked over at the same time he did and he kind of jumped and dropped his sodas. It was funny, i didnt expect the baby face to have that kind of effect. We ended up talking for a while and he was really cool. Apparently his life was pretty dumpy, which explained a bit of he nervousness, and he was looking for something to calm him down. When he asked why we had been walking so fast i told him that we have something really important to share with as many people as we can and that we would love to share it with him too. He was pretty stoked. Well, the devil hates it when we teach people, so he made him really busy for a couple weeks. We ended up going by his house one day and teaching his roommate. He actually walked in towards the end, totally hammered, and we told him that we would be by the next morning so we could talk to him sober. He was there when we went by the next day, and it was one of the coolest lessons ever. I had never been so forward in a lesson. We sat down with him and he kind of vented about his life and how much he wants to fix things. After he got it out, we told him a bit about the atonement and how it was going to help him. I then asked him what he was willing to do to change, and when he said anything, i committed him to stop drinking that very day. He agreed. Then we told him that what we were going to share with him was why he would be able to do it, our message is a testament that God is still in control and still cares and would help him do this. After explaining about the importance of prayer following everything we share, i told him to open his heart be ready because when finished sharing the experience of Joseph Smith, we were going to kneel down and pray with him about it so he could know it was true. It was so cool how the whole direction of the first vision changed after that. He soaked it all up. When we prayed the spirit was so strong that he just hugged us forever after we said amen. We set up to pass by the next morning and we taught about the book of mormon and prophets. I had never been able to see it so clearly before, but it was like he was dying from thirst and we were just teaching out buckets of water. We set a baptismal date for the 22 may. He is so excited and so prepared. I have always heard people talk about elect people and very few times have i ever been able to see it. It is incredible to see. Most of the time, though, i dont agree with what most people say (caution: you are about to get an elder carr power point of view) that if they are elect it wont matter how we approach them or teach them. I think that is bullhunky. In my opinion, only the elect find the elect. I am in no way elect, but i know that i am trying pretty darn hard to be better than i was yesterday, everyday, and i know that the Lord is capable of making up for the rest. It was cool, we were working one day and there were a bunch of wierd things that came up. Contacts and failed lessons that are usually awkward or tough to go through that we just swallowed hard and did, and after doing them, he came to mind to pass by. It has always interested me to think about what i have had to do on my mission to earn a referral from the Spirit. It has never been easy, and i am super grateful for that.
Well, times up,
Loves,
Elder Sky
You got the package, YES! Alright, here's the low down. All the little wrapped package thingys are for all of the nieces and nephews. They are Mardrid key chains. I dont remember how many i sent, but hopefully there are enough for everyone. If i remember right, i bought them pre-Kaysoughn mortality, so i think his is for you, mom. Everything else should be labeled or just for everyone in general.
As for the extension of my mission, I clearly remember the following statement,
"If you have the guts to extend your mission, even by only one day, don't bother coming back because i will be waiting here to kill you."
-Maria Carr
That may not be word for word, it has been a long time since you said that to me, but it is the general idea. My current thought, which has been my way of thinking for a while now, is that i will not ask for an extension, but if they ask me to extend i will tell them to call my mom and ask for permission. As of right now i am thinking that what is planned is what will go down.
As for the New Testament videos, i think it sounds awesome and hilarious. Awesome because they might let me be one of the dragons from the book of revelations. Hilarious because i was talking to a companion about a year ago and told him, "I am probably going to end up selling stuff door to door during the summer, but i would much rather be at home. So if i manag to get an acting job during the summer, i will stay home, and odds are that if my mom finds out about that she will make it happen, she is one of those universe commander people." Mom, you are so omniscient it scares me. I will try to get some mug shots off next week. Is there a deadline?
As for the russian accent, i think that is awesome. I am not really sure why Alejandra thinks that, but i can see a little bit of that. Most people say i sound dominican, but that is mostly due to the fact i am in the dominican capital of spain. I dont really try to have an accent, just speak clearly. Funny how all of it added up sound russian. When she told me that i just started saying DA whenever she asked me something. That is the extense of my russian expertise. Oh, and i flipped when she told me she is going to get baptized. It is going to be incredible, apparently she is going to travel all the way to madrid so that all of her missionaries can come and so i can baptize her. It was way humbling to hear that.
As for the last note i wrote in my planner for stuff to answer/tell you, i had a really cool interview with president this last week. Usually i always have one things in specific i need to ask him about or get helf on, but this time i had a million things. I am so caught up in working on tons of things right now that i had no idea where to start. When i go there he asked me a few questions about normal stuff than asked if he could help me with anything personally. The only thing i could think of was to get a priesthood blessing. The last time i got one in this style was from dad. It has been a long time, and i was kind of craving it. It was a really amazing experience. The interview consisted in pretty much just that blessing. The pàrt that hit me the deepest was that it felt like dad was doing it. Hard to describe. The priesthood is so real. It was exactly what i needed.
As for the work, there have been some amazing things happening. We found a man a few weeks ago in the street who was really cool. I was walking beside him and i looked over at the same time he did and he kind of jumped and dropped his sodas. It was funny, i didnt expect the baby face to have that kind of effect. We ended up talking for a while and he was really cool. Apparently his life was pretty dumpy, which explained a bit of he nervousness, and he was looking for something to calm him down. When he asked why we had been walking so fast i told him that we have something really important to share with as many people as we can and that we would love to share it with him too. He was pretty stoked. Well, the devil hates it when we teach people, so he made him really busy for a couple weeks. We ended up going by his house one day and teaching his roommate. He actually walked in towards the end, totally hammered, and we told him that we would be by the next morning so we could talk to him sober. He was there when we went by the next day, and it was one of the coolest lessons ever. I had never been so forward in a lesson. We sat down with him and he kind of vented about his life and how much he wants to fix things. After he got it out, we told him a bit about the atonement and how it was going to help him. I then asked him what he was willing to do to change, and when he said anything, i committed him to stop drinking that very day. He agreed. Then we told him that what we were going to share with him was why he would be able to do it, our message is a testament that God is still in control and still cares and would help him do this. After explaining about the importance of prayer following everything we share, i told him to open his heart be ready because when finished sharing the experience of Joseph Smith, we were going to kneel down and pray with him about it so he could know it was true. It was so cool how the whole direction of the first vision changed after that. He soaked it all up. When we prayed the spirit was so strong that he just hugged us forever after we said amen. We set up to pass by the next morning and we taught about the book of mormon and prophets. I had never been able to see it so clearly before, but it was like he was dying from thirst and we were just teaching out buckets of water. We set a baptismal date for the 22 may. He is so excited and so prepared. I have always heard people talk about elect people and very few times have i ever been able to see it. It is incredible to see. Most of the time, though, i dont agree with what most people say (caution: you are about to get an elder carr power point of view) that if they are elect it wont matter how we approach them or teach them. I think that is bullhunky. In my opinion, only the elect find the elect. I am in no way elect, but i know that i am trying pretty darn hard to be better than i was yesterday, everyday, and i know that the Lord is capable of making up for the rest. It was cool, we were working one day and there were a bunch of wierd things that came up. Contacts and failed lessons that are usually awkward or tough to go through that we just swallowed hard and did, and after doing them, he came to mind to pass by. It has always interested me to think about what i have had to do on my mission to earn a referral from the Spirit. It has never been easy, and i am super grateful for that.
Well, times up,
Loves,
Elder Sky
heeeeeeey, MOM! 7 Apr 2010
Way cool link to Jason's video. Didnt sound like him singing. Didnt really look like him. Sounded like the screams of love and affection drowned out the usual screams of pain and terror. Either that was an amazing editing job or i really have been gone as long as everyone keeps trying to tell me.
Twas cool.
I got your little package, it was gool (combination between great and cool (maybe it should be grool but that sounds gross)) and perfect. Thank you so much!
Knowing you, you have probably already disconnected from the media filtration, but i am still curious. What do you think about all this that is going on under the care of papa obama? Being in an already socialist country gives a twisted perspective. Is everyone as clueless there as they are here? I get worried when the anti yanks get excited. I smile and nod at most the stuff. It is really comforting to know that my parents were inspired to by a plot of land to build their pre second coming cabin in. We will have a lot to talk about when i get back. I dont really care about the info as much as how you feel about it. I guess i am just seeking some satisfaction to know that the family is still well rooted. Or even better, you could just ignore this strange tangent. I probably would.
Well, as for me, today has already been one of the coolest days ever. We took a trip up to Segovia, and that is my new favorite place. We went with some missionaries who knew their way around and it was amazing. It had everything. Cave diving, old stuff, A CASTLE, more old stuff, GRASS, a few more old things, and an all you can eat buffet. I will try to send some pictures of it so you can get a little taste in your mouth, my companion has one of those adaptor dealies.
Well, as for the week, i will just have to run through some of the experiences. Consider it to be a free sample friday in the costco of memories that make up my week.
We went by a less active member who we found in the street the other day. Whenever people yell at me, i immediately go talk to them. He yelled at us, "¡Elderes de Dios!" I flipped around and yelled back, "¿How in the world do you know so much about us while we know nothing about you? Lets fix that." One thing led to another and next thing you know we are praying in the street and walking away with an appointment for the next day. Turns out he is a lot more less active than i had begun to think. When we got there is smelled strongly of that one free concert i went to at the venue. Turns out he was smoking marijuana while watching "A Walk to Remember." I will let you guess which one surprised me the most. We started trying to figure out how to help him, but he was pretty baked. I didnt want to waste all of our effort, so i grabbed a picture of his son and shoved it in his face. I told him that he had to baptize him when he turns 8. From then on the things made more sense to him.
I ran into the MTC president who just got here a couple months ago. I spoke to him in Spanish because we had an investigator with us at the time. He asked me where i was from and i told him Orem. He then said, "no, where are you from." He thought i was from Spain. It was funny. You should of seen his face when i spoke to him in english.
Conference was off the hizzy. I dont even know what the hizzy is, but if there is such a thing, it would definitely be off it. The sattelite got messed up for priesthood session so we had to watch it in spanish, which means i zone out a lot more. Plus, we missed the last session as always. But even in spite of that, it was really cool. Missy, didnt you think it was cool that the whole conference was directed at you? Tons of stuff about new families and raising your kids. Needless to say, some missionaries may have liked that a little too much. Maybe could include myself in that one. Ha, just kidding, girls still freak me out. Anyways, dad mentioned he wanted to hear about stuff i have learned from studies and stuff. I will see if i can make something out of the next session of emails. I will look through my notes.
One of the coolest things though was seeing everyone. In between sessions everyone just hangs out and eats on temple square. All of my pueblo families made it up. It was incredible. Talavera and Aranjuez. I saw people i have not seen in years. Okay, that is a little dramatic, but it felt like a long time.
We ran into the drunk the other day. Not anything new. He did manage to make it different though. He introduced himself as Jesus Christ to get the party started. Then he started yelling that we were here to impregnate all the innocent women of Spain. I wasnt really sure how to react to that one, Preach my Gospel doesnt say anything about that. As he walked away ranting, i turned to the spaniard man next to me who had stopped to enjoy the show and said, "That is amazing. I had no idea Jesus was peruvian, i thought he was born in jerusalem. And i am not gonna lie, i expected a bit more..." He appreciated that.
Okay, this will be a short one, i want to try to make this whole picture thing work. Wish me luck.... in the past tense since i will have already succeeded/failed by the time you get this.
Loves,
Elder Sky
88 kilograms
PS Tell Brielle i visited a real castle. One of the pictures of me in the cave is with my companion, elder kay. I am a rare breed of cave cougar in case you couldnt tell.
Twas cool.
I got your little package, it was gool (combination between great and cool (maybe it should be grool but that sounds gross)) and perfect. Thank you so much!
Knowing you, you have probably already disconnected from the media filtration, but i am still curious. What do you think about all this that is going on under the care of papa obama? Being in an already socialist country gives a twisted perspective. Is everyone as clueless there as they are here? I get worried when the anti yanks get excited. I smile and nod at most the stuff. It is really comforting to know that my parents were inspired to by a plot of land to build their pre second coming cabin in. We will have a lot to talk about when i get back. I dont really care about the info as much as how you feel about it. I guess i am just seeking some satisfaction to know that the family is still well rooted. Or even better, you could just ignore this strange tangent. I probably would.
Well, as for me, today has already been one of the coolest days ever. We took a trip up to Segovia, and that is my new favorite place. We went with some missionaries who knew their way around and it was amazing. It had everything. Cave diving, old stuff, A CASTLE, more old stuff, GRASS, a few more old things, and an all you can eat buffet. I will try to send some pictures of it so you can get a little taste in your mouth, my companion has one of those adaptor dealies.
Well, as for the week, i will just have to run through some of the experiences. Consider it to be a free sample friday in the costco of memories that make up my week.
We went by a less active member who we found in the street the other day. Whenever people yell at me, i immediately go talk to them. He yelled at us, "¡Elderes de Dios!" I flipped around and yelled back, "¿How in the world do you know so much about us while we know nothing about you? Lets fix that." One thing led to another and next thing you know we are praying in the street and walking away with an appointment for the next day. Turns out he is a lot more less active than i had begun to think. When we got there is smelled strongly of that one free concert i went to at the venue. Turns out he was smoking marijuana while watching "A Walk to Remember." I will let you guess which one surprised me the most. We started trying to figure out how to help him, but he was pretty baked. I didnt want to waste all of our effort, so i grabbed a picture of his son and shoved it in his face. I told him that he had to baptize him when he turns 8. From then on the things made more sense to him.
I ran into the MTC president who just got here a couple months ago. I spoke to him in Spanish because we had an investigator with us at the time. He asked me where i was from and i told him Orem. He then said, "no, where are you from." He thought i was from Spain. It was funny. You should of seen his face when i spoke to him in english.
Conference was off the hizzy. I dont even know what the hizzy is, but if there is such a thing, it would definitely be off it. The sattelite got messed up for priesthood session so we had to watch it in spanish, which means i zone out a lot more. Plus, we missed the last session as always. But even in spite of that, it was really cool. Missy, didnt you think it was cool that the whole conference was directed at you? Tons of stuff about new families and raising your kids. Needless to say, some missionaries may have liked that a little too much. Maybe could include myself in that one. Ha, just kidding, girls still freak me out. Anyways, dad mentioned he wanted to hear about stuff i have learned from studies and stuff. I will see if i can make something out of the next session of emails. I will look through my notes.
One of the coolest things though was seeing everyone. In between sessions everyone just hangs out and eats on temple square. All of my pueblo families made it up. It was incredible. Talavera and Aranjuez. I saw people i have not seen in years. Okay, that is a little dramatic, but it felt like a long time.
We ran into the drunk the other day. Not anything new. He did manage to make it different though. He introduced himself as Jesus Christ to get the party started. Then he started yelling that we were here to impregnate all the innocent women of Spain. I wasnt really sure how to react to that one, Preach my Gospel doesnt say anything about that. As he walked away ranting, i turned to the spaniard man next to me who had stopped to enjoy the show and said, "That is amazing. I had no idea Jesus was peruvian, i thought he was born in jerusalem. And i am not gonna lie, i expected a bit more..." He appreciated that.
Okay, this will be a short one, i want to try to make this whole picture thing work. Wish me luck.... in the past tense since i will have already succeeded/failed by the time you get this.
Loves,
Elder Sky
88 kilograms
PS Tell Brielle i visited a real castle. One of the pictures of me in the cave is with my companion, elder kay. I am a rare breed of cave cougar in case you couldnt tell.
hey 31 Mar 2010
Some cool happenings this week. Seriously, i am not even pulling your leg this time. Well, not that i have ever pulled your leg before, but I'm for sure not pulling anything this time. Gosh, i am digging a hole....
So there are whispers in the wind of girls who want to marry me? I don't believe it. Where are the fruits of this outrageous claim? Where are the scented letters? Where are the pink mystery packages? Where's my ego? I have only ever gotten a smelly pillow case in the mail, and that was from Mica so that doesn't count. She's family. And that was stolen.
Side note: I am right now wearing a luminescent green tie that we made this morning out of duct tape. Thank you pseuzyn.
We now have 4 elders and 2 sisters in the ward, with six 6 total in the apartment. It is a blast. We got to experience some way cool new stuff. For example, language study band practice. I currently play the drums, which consists of 3 bowls, a Tupperware, a stapler, and of course, the area book to get a good base line. We are hoping to hit it big in the ward talent show next week. Also cool, we were coming home the other day after a ward missionary dinner, which went a little long. We were in the metro and there were a lot of weirdos, as always. We had the two sisters in the middle, and four of us in black suits creating a power perimeter. After we got mother goose to the nest, we went ahead and called it a day. Playing secret service really takes it out of ya.
We got to have another combined lunch the other on the tenth floor of a sweet apartment building. I have been lugging around extra paper for a good while now, and finally we got to put it to use. After having a 10 floor paper airplane throwing activity, we went ahead and let the sisters teach their lesson. I dont know what has been going on lately, but i have been feeling really in your face, like way more than usual if you can believe it. There was a nonmember that had just been hovering the whole lesson. She was way nice, but nobody was making a move. So after the sisters finished their lesson about prayer, which was really good, i asked them if they had an extra book of Mormon. They pulled it out and gave it to her. This has happened a lot before, but the thing i thought was cool was the feeling i had before. I felt so sad that she had no idea what the heck we were doing there or why we were there. It was like a huge craving for her to know. I told her that it was all in the book, and what she had just heard about prayer would make her just as sure as us. It was a really cool experience. So i just told her the sisters would get her info after we said a prayer to end and would tell her more. She is doing really well, and it was really cool to get to the feel that perspective. It has been like that for a long time now. I wish i could have hit this point sooner, but i wont waste time wishing and just make up for it.
Last story. We got home, on time for once, and opened up the planners to make some calls. We have gotten a few hundred names in the past couple weeks so we are really trying to cycle through them, but the time is against us. I scanned down, and there was one name in particular that stuck out. It was interesting because we had tried calling a couple times and she had never answered. I was thinking it but i just kind of automatically put the number in and called. The lady who answered was crying along with her baby in the background. All she could manage to say was to come now. So we said goodbye to being home on time, and shot out the door. We got there and it turns out her husband had come home drunk and was mad because she didn't want to let him hold the baby, and just when we called, he was about to try to take the baby, and she told him it was the cops so he backed off. It was sketchy, usually a situation i would not want to get caught up in, but i felt totally at peace, plus Elder Kay is a beef cake so i wasn't worried at all. We went up and found him sitting there waiting for us. He was surprised when he saw that it was a couple of preacher boys. Turns out that most of his family are members of our Church and he has read the book of Mormon and wants nothing to do with us because he doesn't want to change and doesn't think he can. I told him i didn't care. I didn't know why we were there, what the Lord wanted us to tell him, or what he had to learn from this, but i was going to do my part. I was going to make sure he got a another chance since the Lord for some reason had decided to give him another chance. He started to protest and say that lots of religious people had tried to change him and that we would never be able to either. I told him that he was right. God had brought us here and we were going to do all we could to let God do the rest. I told him that he needed to hear something that the Lord would say to us, but i was not going to waste time talking to a drunk. We told him we would be by at 130 the next day and asked him to do the same. We went by the next day and he was there waiting. We taught him and he it was a really powerful lesson. At the end we read a couple scriptures that had been hitting me in the head the entire lesson. One from the new testament which really took him by surprise, then one from the Book of Mormon which was amazing. I have seen it very few times, but it has always been incredibly to see. The visible change in somebody when they are hit in the heart by the spirit. He stopped, said something about what he read, closed the book and pulled it into this chest. He then put it into his backpack and said he would read it this week during his commute to and from work. It was incredible.
As always, time is way spent,
Sorry,
Loves,
Elder Sky
So there are whispers in the wind of girls who want to marry me? I don't believe it. Where are the fruits of this outrageous claim? Where are the scented letters? Where are the pink mystery packages? Where's my ego? I have only ever gotten a smelly pillow case in the mail, and that was from Mica so that doesn't count. She's family. And that was stolen.
Side note: I am right now wearing a luminescent green tie that we made this morning out of duct tape. Thank you pseuzyn.
We now have 4 elders and 2 sisters in the ward, with six 6 total in the apartment. It is a blast. We got to experience some way cool new stuff. For example, language study band practice. I currently play the drums, which consists of 3 bowls, a Tupperware, a stapler, and of course, the area book to get a good base line. We are hoping to hit it big in the ward talent show next week. Also cool, we were coming home the other day after a ward missionary dinner, which went a little long. We were in the metro and there were a lot of weirdos, as always. We had the two sisters in the middle, and four of us in black suits creating a power perimeter. After we got mother goose to the nest, we went ahead and called it a day. Playing secret service really takes it out of ya.
We got to have another combined lunch the other on the tenth floor of a sweet apartment building. I have been lugging around extra paper for a good while now, and finally we got to put it to use. After having a 10 floor paper airplane throwing activity, we went ahead and let the sisters teach their lesson. I dont know what has been going on lately, but i have been feeling really in your face, like way more than usual if you can believe it. There was a nonmember that had just been hovering the whole lesson. She was way nice, but nobody was making a move. So after the sisters finished their lesson about prayer, which was really good, i asked them if they had an extra book of Mormon. They pulled it out and gave it to her. This has happened a lot before, but the thing i thought was cool was the feeling i had before. I felt so sad that she had no idea what the heck we were doing there or why we were there. It was like a huge craving for her to know. I told her that it was all in the book, and what she had just heard about prayer would make her just as sure as us. It was a really cool experience. So i just told her the sisters would get her info after we said a prayer to end and would tell her more. She is doing really well, and it was really cool to get to the feel that perspective. It has been like that for a long time now. I wish i could have hit this point sooner, but i wont waste time wishing and just make up for it.
Last story. We got home, on time for once, and opened up the planners to make some calls. We have gotten a few hundred names in the past couple weeks so we are really trying to cycle through them, but the time is against us. I scanned down, and there was one name in particular that stuck out. It was interesting because we had tried calling a couple times and she had never answered. I was thinking it but i just kind of automatically put the number in and called. The lady who answered was crying along with her baby in the background. All she could manage to say was to come now. So we said goodbye to being home on time, and shot out the door. We got there and it turns out her husband had come home drunk and was mad because she didn't want to let him hold the baby, and just when we called, he was about to try to take the baby, and she told him it was the cops so he backed off. It was sketchy, usually a situation i would not want to get caught up in, but i felt totally at peace, plus Elder Kay is a beef cake so i wasn't worried at all. We went up and found him sitting there waiting for us. He was surprised when he saw that it was a couple of preacher boys. Turns out that most of his family are members of our Church and he has read the book of Mormon and wants nothing to do with us because he doesn't want to change and doesn't think he can. I told him i didn't care. I didn't know why we were there, what the Lord wanted us to tell him, or what he had to learn from this, but i was going to do my part. I was going to make sure he got a another chance since the Lord for some reason had decided to give him another chance. He started to protest and say that lots of religious people had tried to change him and that we would never be able to either. I told him that he was right. God had brought us here and we were going to do all we could to let God do the rest. I told him that he needed to hear something that the Lord would say to us, but i was not going to waste time talking to a drunk. We told him we would be by at 130 the next day and asked him to do the same. We went by the next day and he was there waiting. We taught him and he it was a really powerful lesson. At the end we read a couple scriptures that had been hitting me in the head the entire lesson. One from the new testament which really took him by surprise, then one from the Book of Mormon which was amazing. I have seen it very few times, but it has always been incredibly to see. The visible change in somebody when they are hit in the heart by the spirit. He stopped, said something about what he read, closed the book and pulled it into this chest. He then put it into his backpack and said he would read it this week during his commute to and from work. It was incredible.
As always, time is way spent,
Sorry,
Loves,
Elder Sky
Todo el mundo esta diciendo que elder carr tiene tumbao 24 Mar 2010
Less questions this week, but still questions.
Stickers. I dont really have any idea what he would want, but what you have sounds awesome.
Temple Pics. I will try to pass by soon to take some pictures. Hopefully during general conference. Sorry i have been slacking on that. At least my new companion (we will get to that later, dont be pushy) has a really really really nice camera. We will take them with his and copy it over to my card. Just remind me next week so it will be fresh in my mind.
Guitars. The two that we have in our possession right now are not ours. One belongs to the mission and the other belongs to a member from Aranjuez who found out about the class and has committed himself to the commute. We will see what happens with the class now because my new comp knows how to play better than i do (seriously, i will give you the low down in like 2 seconds (if you read slow it will be like 8 seconds)).
EFT. Once again, it was a blast. He does it all in such a cool way. His focus is on using all the tools we have been given at all times all the time. He told us stories of people who were in really bad shape that he went to work with. He would start with a blessing, then do EFT, and top it all off with reflexology. With us, everytime we work with something, he puts it into terms we can understand and and always ties it into the gospel. It is super interesting. I will be blunt, mostly because that is who i am, and secondly so you can get a good example. Working with the luggage is now to the point that we can do it on our own. I got an idea the last time of something we might be able to do with him, so i ran it by him. In europe the women have zero standards. During the summer it sucks to have eyeballs. Everyone is either in the process of becoming, or already are, naked. I wanted to see if the miracles of EFT could help with the defense. It was cool. He didnt just go through the motions, he knew this was an important one for missionaries. He talked us through it which was really cool. I have always heard talks like it, but the way he referred to everything, and the little tweaks he put it really made it hit home. He said that the problem in the world is that we objectionalize women. It consider everything in front of our eyes as what it really is and what God made it to be than they are the tools of God and not the tools of the devil. Second, he said that we most importantly need to remember that these are our sisters. That is was i thought was cool. I have always heard people say they are daughters of God, which means a lot, but i relate more with the sister. Had Preston turned out to be a jerk, we would have destroyed him. It wasnt until we realized that he was even more committed to the protection and care of missy than we were that we let him join the pack, and he's alright. Then he threw in the EFT and it was really cool how it wasnt a loss of desire at all, it was just a change in mindset. Gaining control over what we want to feel. Like i have said about 12 times now, really cool. My favorite quote of all was when he was talking about how he wished every missionary would be open enough to try it because if we are free, we will be able to "have the faith to share with others what the Lord has had the faith to share with us."
I just had a thought of what that whole story might mean to 90% of those who have no idea what i am talking about. It makes me laugh how wierd it all is from the outside. Just ask mom.
Okay, so i will finally let you in on the big news. I know i know, it has been way longer than i promised, but now you will get the info. They split the Barrio 1 area because there was an incredible amount of blessing to be received by just one companionship. The brick wallace (as i like to call him) is now with Elder Bartholomew from Springville, i think. And i am with Elder Kay from mesa Arizona pioneering the new area limits. So much fun. Elder Kay started his mission in Cuenca one transfer before i was transfered to Aranjuez. We got to go a bunch of exchanges and it was always so much fun. Ever since then we have joke about becoming companions. It was cool when we both showed up to transfer meeting and had no idea what was going on. Now they call people to tell them if they are leaving and then make them wait until the meeting before they let them know where they are going. When i got there he was super excited at the slim possibilities. I naturally assured him that it would happen fo sho fo sho, si o si, because i had done all the necessaries to guarantee it (fasting, prayer, burnt offerings, the works). His natural resoponse after a short pause was that if we ended up being companions he would poop his pants, an acceptable response if you ask me. Well, the time came, pants were pooped, and now we are here. Okay, now for one of my favorite parts. It is so cool to have moments where i get to realize how well the Lord knows me. As tends to happen in the mission, i have made a lot of improvements, but recently i have been hoping that they would be of a permanent nature. Anyone can be a good person as a missionary, the challenge i think will be after. Well, Kay reminds me of someone i would hang out with as a normal human being which is allowing me to mold the two. Being a missionary and being a person. Luckily it is not too tough yet, but it is exactly what i needed, and exactly when i needed it, in exactly the way that will cement it forever, i hope.
Okay, i am almost out of time, but i just wanted to quickly tell you about a cool split we had last week. We planned for it to be with 2 young men, but one cancelled at the last second leaving us shafted. We called up Hestrobel, the mission leader, and he said he was willing and ready. So we split up, changed all the plans, changed all the set ups, and went of too hit the town. We passed by Carlos and he is doing great. Afterwards we were walking to nowhere because the set stuff went with the other companionship. That was when something amazing happened. Hestrobel is an extremely fat and jolly man. He walks slowly. As we walked, i got the chance to really think about where we were and what we could do and the idea came to pass by a potential. Weird idea because he was never home, but i felt like it needed to be done. I told that to Hestrobel and he got way excited. We got there and the man was not home. Luckily, the Lord is in charge, because there was a family there that has been praying to find a way to grow closer and change. After an amazing lesson with them (i am sorry this is so brief, i am out of time) we went to pass by someone else. When we got to them, i got another idea of another person we could pass by, even stronger feeling than before. I wasn't going to pass up another opportunity to see something great happen so we shot right over. We rang up to his room, nothing. We called him, nothing. Rang again, nothing. I was a little down about it. I said we could maybe go try and contact somewhere nearby. Hestrobel just looked at me and asked if we should pray. I love stuff like that but i have never been one to do it. He said that he felt like God wanted to show us a miracle. I thought it was a sweet idea and he offered to say it. We prayed and it was a really neat moment. I really needed something like this to happen. We had been through some weird stuff the earlier days with anti Mormon people and losing some investigators and i just really felt like i needed a good reminder that the Lord was in charge. He prayed out loud, i plead inside. We rang again, nothing. Called again, nothing. We sat for a second and decided to ring one more time, and right when we did, we heard someone come around the corner and ask if we were looking for him. It was the man we were looking for. It was exactly right.
Time is up.
Love you,
Elder Sky
Stickers. I dont really have any idea what he would want, but what you have sounds awesome.
Temple Pics. I will try to pass by soon to take some pictures. Hopefully during general conference. Sorry i have been slacking on that. At least my new companion (we will get to that later, dont be pushy) has a really really really nice camera. We will take them with his and copy it over to my card. Just remind me next week so it will be fresh in my mind.
Guitars. The two that we have in our possession right now are not ours. One belongs to the mission and the other belongs to a member from Aranjuez who found out about the class and has committed himself to the commute. We will see what happens with the class now because my new comp knows how to play better than i do (seriously, i will give you the low down in like 2 seconds (if you read slow it will be like 8 seconds)).
EFT. Once again, it was a blast. He does it all in such a cool way. His focus is on using all the tools we have been given at all times all the time. He told us stories of people who were in really bad shape that he went to work with. He would start with a blessing, then do EFT, and top it all off with reflexology. With us, everytime we work with something, he puts it into terms we can understand and and always ties it into the gospel. It is super interesting. I will be blunt, mostly because that is who i am, and secondly so you can get a good example. Working with the luggage is now to the point that we can do it on our own. I got an idea the last time of something we might be able to do with him, so i ran it by him. In europe the women have zero standards. During the summer it sucks to have eyeballs. Everyone is either in the process of becoming, or already are, naked. I wanted to see if the miracles of EFT could help with the defense. It was cool. He didnt just go through the motions, he knew this was an important one for missionaries. He talked us through it which was really cool. I have always heard talks like it, but the way he referred to everything, and the little tweaks he put it really made it hit home. He said that the problem in the world is that we objectionalize women. It consider everything in front of our eyes as what it really is and what God made it to be than they are the tools of God and not the tools of the devil. Second, he said that we most importantly need to remember that these are our sisters. That is was i thought was cool. I have always heard people say they are daughters of God, which means a lot, but i relate more with the sister. Had Preston turned out to be a jerk, we would have destroyed him. It wasnt until we realized that he was even more committed to the protection and care of missy than we were that we let him join the pack, and he's alright. Then he threw in the EFT and it was really cool how it wasnt a loss of desire at all, it was just a change in mindset. Gaining control over what we want to feel. Like i have said about 12 times now, really cool. My favorite quote of all was when he was talking about how he wished every missionary would be open enough to try it because if we are free, we will be able to "have the faith to share with others what the Lord has had the faith to share with us."
I just had a thought of what that whole story might mean to 90% of those who have no idea what i am talking about. It makes me laugh how wierd it all is from the outside. Just ask mom.
Okay, so i will finally let you in on the big news. I know i know, it has been way longer than i promised, but now you will get the info. They split the Barrio 1 area because there was an incredible amount of blessing to be received by just one companionship. The brick wallace (as i like to call him) is now with Elder Bartholomew from Springville, i think. And i am with Elder Kay from mesa Arizona pioneering the new area limits. So much fun. Elder Kay started his mission in Cuenca one transfer before i was transfered to Aranjuez. We got to go a bunch of exchanges and it was always so much fun. Ever since then we have joke about becoming companions. It was cool when we both showed up to transfer meeting and had no idea what was going on. Now they call people to tell them if they are leaving and then make them wait until the meeting before they let them know where they are going. When i got there he was super excited at the slim possibilities. I naturally assured him that it would happen fo sho fo sho, si o si, because i had done all the necessaries to guarantee it (fasting, prayer, burnt offerings, the works). His natural resoponse after a short pause was that if we ended up being companions he would poop his pants, an acceptable response if you ask me. Well, the time came, pants were pooped, and now we are here. Okay, now for one of my favorite parts. It is so cool to have moments where i get to realize how well the Lord knows me. As tends to happen in the mission, i have made a lot of improvements, but recently i have been hoping that they would be of a permanent nature. Anyone can be a good person as a missionary, the challenge i think will be after. Well, Kay reminds me of someone i would hang out with as a normal human being which is allowing me to mold the two. Being a missionary and being a person. Luckily it is not too tough yet, but it is exactly what i needed, and exactly when i needed it, in exactly the way that will cement it forever, i hope.
Okay, i am almost out of time, but i just wanted to quickly tell you about a cool split we had last week. We planned for it to be with 2 young men, but one cancelled at the last second leaving us shafted. We called up Hestrobel, the mission leader, and he said he was willing and ready. So we split up, changed all the plans, changed all the set ups, and went of too hit the town. We passed by Carlos and he is doing great. Afterwards we were walking to nowhere because the set stuff went with the other companionship. That was when something amazing happened. Hestrobel is an extremely fat and jolly man. He walks slowly. As we walked, i got the chance to really think about where we were and what we could do and the idea came to pass by a potential. Weird idea because he was never home, but i felt like it needed to be done. I told that to Hestrobel and he got way excited. We got there and the man was not home. Luckily, the Lord is in charge, because there was a family there that has been praying to find a way to grow closer and change. After an amazing lesson with them (i am sorry this is so brief, i am out of time) we went to pass by someone else. When we got to them, i got another idea of another person we could pass by, even stronger feeling than before. I wasn't going to pass up another opportunity to see something great happen so we shot right over. We rang up to his room, nothing. We called him, nothing. Rang again, nothing. I was a little down about it. I said we could maybe go try and contact somewhere nearby. Hestrobel just looked at me and asked if we should pray. I love stuff like that but i have never been one to do it. He said that he felt like God wanted to show us a miracle. I thought it was a sweet idea and he offered to say it. We prayed and it was a really neat moment. I really needed something like this to happen. We had been through some weird stuff the earlier days with anti Mormon people and losing some investigators and i just really felt like i needed a good reminder that the Lord was in charge. He prayed out loud, i plead inside. We rang again, nothing. Called again, nothing. We sat for a second and decided to ring one more time, and right when we did, we heard someone come around the corner and ask if we were looking for him. It was the man we were looking for. It was exactly right.
Time is up.
Love you,
Elder Sky
my report 17 Mar 2010
Lots of questions, from both sides of the mission veil.
First of all, this is for Bri and Ali. I lost my pen in a huge contacting spree. It will be missed but it will be honor for falling in the line of duty. I was in dire need of a writing utensil so i popped into the nearest "chino" (stores that sell anything and everything and are run by little Chinese people). I needed something with fine tip to write in my planner, and the only fine tipped ones they had were located in the Disney princess collection. I am now sporting a pink and yellow Belle with diamonds. I tell everyone she is my girlfriend. I am starting to convince myself.
Second of all, this is for Susan. YEYYEYYEYEYEYEYAHAHAHAYEHA BLAST OFF! I don't know what that was, but that is the noise i make when i get a package. It was sweet. Green. HA! You rock my socks off.
Third of all, this is for Mom or for anyone who can help. We were eating at a members house and i was telling a story. Of course, my words tend to be conveyed even more loudly by my actions in storytelling and one thing led to another and next thing you know there was a little girl crying, my companion laughing, and a broken glass on the ground. I felt bad even though he ensured me that he wouldn't miss his favorite glass that much. After doing a little detective work i found out that there are two things he wants way bad. 1. A mug from the Olympics of 2002, not sure how available those are anymore. 2. Those little pictures that you put in your scriptures for certain stories and things of the sort. You know, the transparent thingies. Well, if you get a chance to sneak either one of those into the next package coming my way, i would definitely be able to make up some grown with the ward leadership (he is second counselor in the bishopric).
Fourth of all, for Dad. Santo, the recent convert has some serious back problems. In Spanish they change all the words for back problems but from what i understand he has kind of what you had. If you could send some of the exercises that you did and any other ideas that could help him it would be so appreciated, by him and me.
Okay, on to your questions. Lets hit these babies in order.
Guitar students: They are actually doing really good. Last week we actually got an extra guitar. So in total we had 17 students and 2 guitars. Believe it or not, it is actually a really good system because they all end up helping each other learn the finger positions and rock poses.
Missing toe nail: I am doing really good. I feel more aerodynamic without it. I don't even know why we have toe nails, all i can think of is to keep the foot from getting jealous of the hands.
Shoes: I don't think i will ever get used to wearing shoes. With or without toenails. The orthodics save me. I am just meant to be a free footer (i may have just made that up, if i did, i dibs the copyright: DIBS!) i guess.
Elder Kopischke: Amazing. He came and told us that he had no agenda. Whenever any one of the Lord's anointed says that i get super excited. He gave each and every one of us a spiritual round house kick to the face. He flirted with a lot of topics that usually get hit on in every conference, you know, planning, commitments, etc. Each one was incredible and done in ways i had never really thought of. But the killer for me was when he talked about mindset and vision. It sounded like he was stealing some of Mom's ideas. He talked about waking up in the morning and instead of praying right away, spending 1 min to just picture the people you are looking for in white, standing by the font, or a family, kneeling around the altar of the temple. He said that this would let us contact people we already know, because we had already seen them in our heads. He then asked everyone to work on remembering how they felt before they left on their missions. How they expected they would do because those moments and feeling were sacred. That was us seeing our future with our own eye of faith. He said that we are all capable of achieving exactly what we expected before. He then shared Ether 12:19 "Y hubo muchos cuya fe era tan sumamente fuerte, aun antes de la venida de cristo, que no se les pudo impedir penetrar el velo, sino que realmente vieron con sus propios ojos las cosas que habian visto con el ojo de la fe; y se rogocijaron." Sorry if that is wrong, and in Spanish, i don't know it in English. It was really cool. I don't have my notes with me or i would share more. But the coolest thing of all was right at the beginning. He asked everyone to write down what we expected to learn and he promised it would happen. He didn't lie.
EFT: It was a blast. He is an extremely happy, energetic, overweight man. He has some fun spins on it that i had never seen you do, mama. He started by showing the video on the founders website, which is a sweet video and gave my comp the run down and me the update. Tons of fun. We are having a follow up this week again. I will keep you updated. I feel like this is going to be a huge pump for me for the time i have left. Side note: Mike, the EFT man, calls me ORBIT.
Letters to piso: They are getting here super fast. It Is really funny because my companion is now just as excited, if not more to get the letters. He loves reading your letters and now proclaims adoption throughout the mission. I thought it was good idea. Everyone should be able to have an awesome backup family. So far they are averaging 5 days to get here. It is kind of cool being up to date.
Pick up from mish: No more butts about it. Come get me. I think it will be a blast.
The Baptism: It was amazing. I will just post what i wrote to president in my weekly informe.
The baptism this past week was amazing. Carlos did everything possible during the entire week to make sure he was ready to have this amazing experience. His family was an awesome push and support during the entire process, and the refreshments they brought to the baptism were incredible. Seriously though, the refreshments were really good, but they did not beat out the power of his testimony. It was inspiring. He spent the entire week writing and rewriting his testimony because he wanted so badly to do it well. I kept telling him that he would end up just speaking from his heart and in the end that is what happened. He got to the church, reached into his jacket with a smile, the smile quickly faded, and he told me with horror that he forgot his notes. I laughed and told him that it was a sign that he would be amazing without it. He was. He bore the most sincere testimony. He told a bit of his experience, asked for forgiveness, expressed his hopes, and just told us what his heart was saying to him. It was beautiful. it was an amazing experience for everyone involved. He will be an incredible blessing to the church. The church has already been a super blessing for him.
Caleb’s birthday: Caleb? Who the heck is that?
Wow. It is really nice just filling in the topics. Turns out a lot more focused. We should do it like this more often.
Love you tons,
Elder Sky
First of all, this is for Bri and Ali. I lost my pen in a huge contacting spree. It will be missed but it will be honor for falling in the line of duty. I was in dire need of a writing utensil so i popped into the nearest "chino" (stores that sell anything and everything and are run by little Chinese people). I needed something with fine tip to write in my planner, and the only fine tipped ones they had were located in the Disney princess collection. I am now sporting a pink and yellow Belle with diamonds. I tell everyone she is my girlfriend. I am starting to convince myself.
Second of all, this is for Susan. YEYYEYYEYEYEYEYAHAHAHAYEHA BLAST OFF! I don't know what that was, but that is the noise i make when i get a package. It was sweet. Green. HA! You rock my socks off.
Third of all, this is for Mom or for anyone who can help. We were eating at a members house and i was telling a story. Of course, my words tend to be conveyed even more loudly by my actions in storytelling and one thing led to another and next thing you know there was a little girl crying, my companion laughing, and a broken glass on the ground. I felt bad even though he ensured me that he wouldn't miss his favorite glass that much. After doing a little detective work i found out that there are two things he wants way bad. 1. A mug from the Olympics of 2002, not sure how available those are anymore. 2. Those little pictures that you put in your scriptures for certain stories and things of the sort. You know, the transparent thingies. Well, if you get a chance to sneak either one of those into the next package coming my way, i would definitely be able to make up some grown with the ward leadership (he is second counselor in the bishopric).
Fourth of all, for Dad. Santo, the recent convert has some serious back problems. In Spanish they change all the words for back problems but from what i understand he has kind of what you had. If you could send some of the exercises that you did and any other ideas that could help him it would be so appreciated, by him and me.
Okay, on to your questions. Lets hit these babies in order.
Guitar students: They are actually doing really good. Last week we actually got an extra guitar. So in total we had 17 students and 2 guitars. Believe it or not, it is actually a really good system because they all end up helping each other learn the finger positions and rock poses.
Missing toe nail: I am doing really good. I feel more aerodynamic without it. I don't even know why we have toe nails, all i can think of is to keep the foot from getting jealous of the hands.
Shoes: I don't think i will ever get used to wearing shoes. With or without toenails. The orthodics save me. I am just meant to be a free footer (i may have just made that up, if i did, i dibs the copyright: DIBS!) i guess.
Elder Kopischke: Amazing. He came and told us that he had no agenda. Whenever any one of the Lord's anointed says that i get super excited. He gave each and every one of us a spiritual round house kick to the face. He flirted with a lot of topics that usually get hit on in every conference, you know, planning, commitments, etc. Each one was incredible and done in ways i had never really thought of. But the killer for me was when he talked about mindset and vision. It sounded like he was stealing some of Mom's ideas. He talked about waking up in the morning and instead of praying right away, spending 1 min to just picture the people you are looking for in white, standing by the font, or a family, kneeling around the altar of the temple. He said that this would let us contact people we already know, because we had already seen them in our heads. He then asked everyone to work on remembering how they felt before they left on their missions. How they expected they would do because those moments and feeling were sacred. That was us seeing our future with our own eye of faith. He said that we are all capable of achieving exactly what we expected before. He then shared Ether 12:19 "Y hubo muchos cuya fe era tan sumamente fuerte, aun antes de la venida de cristo, que no se les pudo impedir penetrar el velo, sino que realmente vieron con sus propios ojos las cosas que habian visto con el ojo de la fe; y se rogocijaron." Sorry if that is wrong, and in Spanish, i don't know it in English. It was really cool. I don't have my notes with me or i would share more. But the coolest thing of all was right at the beginning. He asked everyone to write down what we expected to learn and he promised it would happen. He didn't lie.
EFT: It was a blast. He is an extremely happy, energetic, overweight man. He has some fun spins on it that i had never seen you do, mama. He started by showing the video on the founders website, which is a sweet video and gave my comp the run down and me the update. Tons of fun. We are having a follow up this week again. I will keep you updated. I feel like this is going to be a huge pump for me for the time i have left. Side note: Mike, the EFT man, calls me ORBIT.
Letters to piso: They are getting here super fast. It Is really funny because my companion is now just as excited, if not more to get the letters. He loves reading your letters and now proclaims adoption throughout the mission. I thought it was good idea. Everyone should be able to have an awesome backup family. So far they are averaging 5 days to get here. It is kind of cool being up to date.
Pick up from mish: No more butts about it. Come get me. I think it will be a blast.
The Baptism: It was amazing. I will just post what i wrote to president in my weekly informe.
The baptism this past week was amazing. Carlos did everything possible during the entire week to make sure he was ready to have this amazing experience. His family was an awesome push and support during the entire process, and the refreshments they brought to the baptism were incredible. Seriously though, the refreshments were really good, but they did not beat out the power of his testimony. It was inspiring. He spent the entire week writing and rewriting his testimony because he wanted so badly to do it well. I kept telling him that he would end up just speaking from his heart and in the end that is what happened. He got to the church, reached into his jacket with a smile, the smile quickly faded, and he told me with horror that he forgot his notes. I laughed and told him that it was a sign that he would be amazing without it. He was. He bore the most sincere testimony. He told a bit of his experience, asked for forgiveness, expressed his hopes, and just told us what his heart was saying to him. It was beautiful. it was an amazing experience for everyone involved. He will be an incredible blessing to the church. The church has already been a super blessing for him.
Caleb’s birthday: Caleb? Who the heck is that?
Wow. It is really nice just filling in the topics. Turns out a lot more focused. We should do it like this more often.
Love you tons,
Elder Sky
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