December 3, 2018

Welp fam I think this is last time i will probably write one of these family letters. I have one more PDay but i dont know if ill have time to write. So we have a good week, not a ton of news honestly haha. We have been praying and fasting for the family Reynaga to be able to be baptized this saturday. The mom and her 2 kids and sooooo ready, but the dad doesnt want to go his permission for them to get baptized, so we have a lesson wednesday and we are really hoping that he will open up and have his heart touched so that his family can get baptized! As my time in the mission has come to an end, ive been pondering alot about what I have able to learn in these 2 years. I think the greatest and most important thing I have gained in my time serving as a full time missionary is a greatly strengthened testimony of my Savior. I have learned and experienced of the Savior´s love for me and for all of God´s children. I know he is my Savior because I have felt the love, peace, and direction that comes from living His gospel. I know that as I make the transition to no longer being a full time missionary I will have a lot greater trials, but I have understood and learned that as a I rely on Jesus Christ and as a follow in his footsteps I will be able to overcome any trial that comes my way. So after 2 years of hard physical and spiritual work, I have been molded into who my Heavenly Father needs to be, to help Him better carry out His work on the earth. Fam and friends I love you all dearly! See yall next week!!

November 26, 2018

Super good week out here in Bolivia! Well this sunday we were able to get a lot of our progressing investigators to church. We are still working with the family Reynaga. That is the family where the mom had a super cool dream and well here and her 2 kids Jair and Rous. We are really hoping they can get baptized this next saturday. There is nothing stopping them, just their own desire! Another family is Ena and her daughter Sara. This is their 2nd time coming to church and they really like it, they are just really busy and well their biggest obstacle has been coming to church but they are doing good. Then we have another teenager of 18 years called Romer. He was brought up in basically an atheist back ground but hes been reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church and he´s been changing a ton its been cool to see that. That is one of the most amazing things ive learned in the mission is that as we strive to live the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness we will receive strength and happiness and other people will detect that in us! Well fam love and miss you all!

Photo: A super dope member loves us and north americans in general and made us a pumpkin pie, it was great

November 12, 2018

Hey fam hows it going,hope all is well! Well this week Hector got baptized this week so that was the highlight! We had a really good week tho. We have this other family that came to church this week, well a mom and her 4 kids. She was a reference from the Bishop and we contacted them last week and she came to church yesterday with her whole family! She had a pretty interesting dream too. So in her dream she was on top of a big hill. From up above she saw the rest of her family of the bottom of the hill drowning in a big flood that had come. So in short basically she saved her whole family from the flood and she feels that she needs to help her family being saved spiritually by going to church as a family and thats what she did! So that was pretty cool. We hope to help them prepared to get baptized in these coming weeks! Welp fam love you all, hope yall have a good week!

November 5, 2018

Hey fam hows it going!! So we had a really good week out here! We had a really cool miracle this week. So saturday we started our fast and that night we decided to go contact a reference que our bishop had recently given us and we knocked the door and they let us come in. We then shared our message with them and then mom tells us that today she had been lookng for a church nearby to send her kids that sunday! She said that she felt that we were sent to god to help guide them. She wasnt able to go to church yesterday but her 3 kids went and they really liked it. So that was pretty cool. This saturday Hector is going to be baptized. They were a menos active family that apparently had gotten baptized like 40 years ago but there is no record for the dad Hector who is 63. So hes gonna get baptized this saturday so that´ll be cool. Welp fam love and miss you all till next week!

October 29, 2018

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes they mean alot! Well we had a good week despite the trials! The biggest trial was friday in the morning we were playing soccer in the house for exersize and i kicked the ball alittle too hard and it hit my companions feets, and it took his big toe nail right off. Then we went to the mission doctor and he pulled out the rest. So my comp hasn´t been able to walk at all. So this weekend was pretty long haha. But he´s getting better so this week should be a little more normal. Uhh honestly thats about it, we have some really good people with baptism dates they are just being pretty lazy about going to church, so we are hoping to be able to help them go to church this sunday. Well my comp, Elder Van Alfen, and I are staying together for this transfer, so looks like he`s gonna kill me! Well fam Ill thats about it, update yall a little more next week!

October 22, 2018

Hey fam whats up! We had a really cool week! Some highlights. The baptism of Axel! He is an 18 year guy we have been teaching for a little less than a month. He is honestly such a stud. He went to General Conference a few weeks ago and during that time he said he felt the power of President Nelson and could feel that he was a living prophet. So that was awesome. Then saturday in the afternoon we had a special broadcast from President Nelson to all of our area. And then Sunday in the afternoon he talked directly and specifically to the country Bolivia! It was pretty awesome he started talking in English and then he said ´´I feel like I should talk to all of your in your native language´´ And then he talked in Spanish for the rest of the conference. It was really powerful he made a ton of promises to the people of the country as they strive to keep the commandments even more faithfully. So good week all in all! Miss and love you all fam!

Photos: A dope jungle garden we went to with my comp. and then the baptism of Axel!

October 8, 2018

Hey fam hows it going!? Well first of all conference was super good. When president Nelson was talking about correcting our use of the church´s name, he promised us as we fixed it the Lord will pour down his blessings upon us as we did his will. It is pretty cool that the Lord`s prophet can promise us so many blessings just for being obedient to this one command. Now if we are obedient to all of his commandments that God has given how blessed would we be! We had a cool miracle with a teenager named Axel that we are teaching. He told us he read the BoM and prayed and recieved an answer from God, He also went to to General Conference and really liked it, so hes preparing to be baptized in a few weeks. Sorry fam dont have more time, ill update yall more next week!!

October 1, 2018

Well fam we had an alright week! We found a tonn of new people this week too so that was cool. We had about 3 new families that we found this week tell us that they felt we were sent from God to guide them because we had knocked their door or talked to them in the street, right when they were having some big problems in their life. So we are hoping to work alot with them this week. Well thats about this week. Soo stoked to watch general conference. The mission has really helped me understand the importance of listening to our living prophets! They are going to guide us to help us through out trials that are happening right now in 2018! How marvilllous. Welp love and miss you all fam!!

Photos: 1-dope members from my last area

2-when some members smashed my face in a cake as a going away gift haha

3-the members that smashed my face in the cake haha, they were awesome

September 24, 2018

Well week 1 down as a ZL, wasn`t too bad haha. We have 18 missionaries in our zone, and 6 are brand new missionaries bieng trained, and all of them are gringos, so its always funny trying to hear them speak and understand spanish haha. But zone is honestly super awesome, we got some really good missionaries. So my comp and I started from scratch in our area, literally no progressing investigadores. So this week we were able to work hard and find 25 new investigadores and put 7 baptism dates, so we are pretty stoked to be here. Welp fam thats about it love you all!! Chau!

September 17, 2018

Well it was transfer week! Always pretty exciting geting new tranfers. So our tranfers we not very expected haha. My comp had been in our area for 3 transfers and I had only been 2. So they took me out and sent me to Santa Cruz as a Zone Leader. My new comp is Elder Van Alfen from Cottenwood Heights, Utah, My 5th companion from Utah haha. So the area we are going to is Roca y Coronado and we are whitewashing it. That means that they took out the 2 ZL´s that were already there and put in us. And my comp hasn´t been ZL either so we are both gonna learning together haha. So pray for us!! Im stoked tho, I´ll for sure learn a ton being a ZL. It was sad leaving my last area because i loved it a ton, but God needed me in a different place. Well fam Ill update yall next week on the area and the  progress we have. Love and miss you all!!

September 11, 2018

Hey fam! This week we had our zone conference and Elder Texeira from the presidency of the 70 came! So that was pretty cool. He talked alot about the purpose of finding people. We find people to teach them restored gospel of Jesus Christ! He also talked about how we must help our investigadores change their knowledge into understanding which only comes when the Holy Spirit whispers us or helps us understand the truth of a doctrine. It was a pretty good conference. So last week. So this is the last week of the transfer pretty crazy how fast this transfer went by. I¨ve been with my companion for 2 transfers so almost like 100% sure he´s getting transferred. This week we have a baptism date for an investigator called Luis that has been progressing really well, the only thing is his parents dont support him getting baptized cause he´s already baptized in another church. So we are really hoping that their hearts will be softened this week! alaove ya fam!!

Photos: 1.Lunch we had one day, looks nasty but it was really good

2. Pday we played basketball in a pretty nice gym, im rusty haha

September 3, 2018

Hey yáll how´s it going! All chill out here! Our week was a little slow honestly. Not alot of big news this week. So I´ll update yall next week about the progress of our investigators. So honestly we have about 10 investigators that are progressing really well and are ready to get baptized but they still don´t feel ready, but they could get baptized right now if they wanted. Some people just need their time to get baptized, but we are confident that God will be able to touch their hearts and help them make that decision. Welp love ya fam take luck!!

August 27, 2018

Hows it going fam! We had a pretty good week out here! The highlight was the baptism of Wilson! This last week we couldnt find him till thursday he kind of like disappeared but we found him and he was excited for the baptism for this saturday so we did his interview friday, and saturday got baptized. We only found him 3 weeks ago, but he was prepared to get baptized! So the rest of the week was pretty normal, the heat is starting to pick up here, so we are gonna be suffering soon, this littile city is about the hottest city in Bolivia, and its suppper humid so its even worse. But this littile city is honestly super awesome, Im loving it here. The time is going by way too fast, today i complete 20 months in the mission which I honestly don´t like to think about, but I´m gonna be running to end so don´t worry fam I ain´t trunky! Miss and love you all! Grateful for the gospel in my life, I know its true and that it is our guidemap to happiness and our Heavenly Father! Chau!

August 20, 2018

Hey fam! So this was week had its ups and downs as always haha. So we´ve been preparing some people to get baptized and well I´ll explain their progress. So this saturday we are hoping that Wilson gets baptized. He is 17 years old and he´s been progressing pretty well, he´s been coming to the church these last couple weeks, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying. So we are praying that he will be make the decision to get baptized. We have this other kid called Luis that had a baptism date for this saturday, but he didn´t go to the church yesterday, so he stills needs to go to church one more time to be able to get baptized, so we are hoping he gets baptized next week. Then we have this other kid called Fernando who also had a baptism date for this saturday but he had to travel this week. So we had been teaching the commandments to him this week, and this friday he told us that he wasn´t gonna be able to get baptized because he cant keep the commandments, then we explained about blessings of comfort, and he wanted us to give him a blessing of comfort. So we gave a blessing and after he said he just felt a lot of peace and tranquility, and started to explain that he will strive to all the commandments so he left for a week for vacation, so next week we are hoping that he will be ready to be baptized. Well those are a few of the people we are teaching right now. So besides that everything else is going good. I have honestly never been happier in my life, this work is so incredible. I love seeing the change that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to other people and in myself. Love and miss you all!

August 13, 2018

Well a pretty good week out here, so alot of our investigators are progressing pretty well. This week we had a pretty cool miracle. So we started a fast saturday afternoon, and then we went to go visit an investigator that we had found 2 days before and we got there and then we started to explain to us how he had read the pamphlet and the Book of Mormon, had prayed to god and received his answer about the truthfulness of Joseph Smith and the church! He then accepted to get baptized the 25 of August so we´ll be helping him get prepared in 2 weeks. So that strengthened my testimony alot about the power of fasting! So that was the big miracle of this week. We are also helping a few other people for the 25 of August. An other kid called Wilson he´s been coming to church but we havent been able to teach him  much this last week, but Im confident that he´ll get baptized. Then we have Amelia who´s been investigating the church for about a year but she´s recently gotten alot more excited to get baptized, so please pray for them!! So this little town im in right now is the hottest city in this country literally, but we have been in winter for these last few months but its starting to heat up again and man its hott and everyone says that its nothing yet, so please pray for that too, that I dont melt. Well everythings going good out here. Love yall!!

August 6, 2018

Hey fam whats up!! So this week was tranfer week but my comp and I are staying together for anther transfer! We get along really well, so it should be another good transfer. After this transfer I only have 2 more, so yeah the time is going by way too fast haha. So the highlight of this week s the baptism of Brissa! We found her a few weeks ago, and this saturday she was able to finally get baptized! She had talked to the elders before, but a few weeks ago we had found her in the area book and contacted her and she was ready this time! So that was pretty cool. We had a few people that we were preparing to get baptized these next 2 weeks but their baptism dates fell, so our next planned baptism is in about 3 weeks for the 25 of August, we have some really good investigators that will get baptized that day. Well hope all yall are good back in states, have fun in school those who are about to start haha. 

July 30, 2018

Well a pretty chill week, we lost about 2 days of work because we had to travel to the big city a few hours for our zone conference, but still a good week! So brissa passed her baptism interview, but she felt like she needed another week for her baptism, so this saturday super sure she´ll get baptized! So these last 2 weeks we had found a ton of good people and put a few baptism dates but all of those people we found just like disappeared from the planet hahaha. But we had a few other people that we are preparing to be baptized in these next few weeks. So thursday we were coming from the zone conference and we got home at 7 at night and the ride is supper curvy, and we got home and i was feeling super bad, my head and stomach were hurting pretty bad, but we left to go work those last 2 hours anyways, and the appointments we had, had all fallen, so it was like 8:45 at night and I was just exhausted and wanted to go home, but then a phrase of Elder Holland came into my mind. ¨It was never easy for Him¨ How could it be easy for you? Missionary isn´t easy, but its the most satisfactory work in the world. So after that experience, we felt the impression to go pass by the house of an investigator, and we knocked and  he wasn´t there haha. But his older came out, and we were able to teach him, and he turned into a really investigator! So that was a pretty cool experience this week. Well thats about it, Love ya fam!

July 23, 2018

Sup well my and my comp found a menos active family 3 weeks ago, and their 2 kids werent members, and they wanted to get baptized, and about a year ago they had a bunch of elders pass by, but their mom for some reason wasnt ready to give them permission. But we were able to teach them and well the kids were ready this time, and the mom was willing to support and she has started coming to church again! The kids are called Joselin and Aaron, they are honestly supper intelligent, so it has been pretty cool to help them enter the church and to help the family come back to activity in the church. This next saturday we have a goal for another girl to get baptized. She´s ready, but she justs want to be supper sure that this is the true church and she is going to stay in the church, so pray for her! Her name is Brisa. Well the week was pretty good, aside from the baptisms, we were able to find some other really good people that will be getting baptized soon Im sure! Well thats about it for now, everything is going good out here, we have zone conferencias this week so we have to take this minivan for 3 hours to get to the closest city, the drive is supper pretty, but dangerous haha. Welp miss and love you all!! Write me!! :)

July 16, 2018

Hey fam hows it going?? We had a pretty good week out here in the jungle. So this place is literally infested with mosquitos haha, they are really small, but they leave hugggge red swelled mark. So i look like a walking tomato right now haha. Well this week we honestly had a ton of really good lessons. So in this little city, about half the people are members, and the other half are former investigators, so the good thing is that there are a ton of part member families, and the bad thing is that they´ve already talked to the elders before haha. But we´ve been seeing the good progress with our investigators lately, so we should see some results from them soon! This week we did a pretty dope district activity. So yesterday, Sunday was the world cup and so saturday as a district we went to one of the big center plaza in the city. We all put on soccer jerseys and we put up a little goal, and people could try to score a goal and if they scored they got a brownie and then we would just start talking to them and then contact them, and we were able to talk to a few hundred people so it was dope. Well thats about it fam, keep yall updated next week alittle more!

Pictures: Monkey that acts kind then steals all your stuff haha, he stole my plaque thats why its not on my in the picture haha

The mundial activity we did as a district 

July 9, 2018

Hey fam realllllly hope your 4th of July was better than mine. We had a really good week. We were able to find alot of people, put alot of baptism dates, and have a ton of investigators in the church. So we have a ton of people that are progressing really well, they just gotta take one more step and they will be able to get baptized, so we´ve been fasting and praying pretty hard to reach our goals we´ve put. So in this little city theres only 8 elders and 1 district leader, and the DL was the old assistent so its pretty cool to get weekly training from him. It rained alll week so that means straight mud everywhere, Don´t got much to update honestly, we are working with a lot of people to get ready for baptism the 21st of this month, so next week we will know if they will be ready! But Im really just enjoying everything about the mission now, On the mission ive learned that complaining does honestly nothing. We can´t change the past but we do shape the future. Well miss and love you all!!

Picture; The other side of the river is Argentina, to the left you will see 2 people illegally crossing the river haha