Tender Mercies...

Why hello all. Man I’ve been waiting for today for... idk… all week or more. I could not have been more excited to talk with you. Look familiar? My home away from home... the docks at Punta!
Yes, I went to Maldonado on Monday. It was the best ever! My comp was freaking out on the drive there. It’s so pretty there and I kept telling her we still hadn’t reached the best part. She didn’t know Uruguay could be so beautiful. Man, I miss the "real" Uruguay, my home! We got there late. Everything we planned out happened late so we didn’t have much time to enjoy ourselves and we got home at 11 at night but, it was good. We got there and zoomed to Nina’s. On the way we saw a bunch of members who freaked out and ran to me to hug me. It felt so good to be there with people who already know me well and yes... appreciate me. We sat with Nina and my comp got her foot fixed. It’s a matter of time though, it still hurts her and we still have to walk slowly. But Nina told me everything about the ward. She told me that Hermana Laursen and I were "to tell you the truth" she says, were a rockin’ companionship. It was a good three transfers with her. Luciano and Shantal are good, and so is Yuri. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about Diego (a 14 year old boy whose family all got baptized except him. He didn’t want to). We tried working with him a little but we didn’t really get anywhere. The mom told us she didn’t want to move to Maldonado but knew they had to. They just had the feeling and prayed about it to receive an answer. Well, we told her it was because the hermanas were going to baptize her son so they could all be sealed. Welp, he got baptized last weekend. How cool is that? It made me happy; they are totally going to be an eternal family! Depending on when they decide to be sealed (because they have already waited a year), Hermana Laursen will be able to go to the sealing. That’s cool, huh?

After that we rushed to Punta Del Este, ate some Burger King and just HAPPENED to run into Hermana Lundskog and her new comp. Random! We honestly had like 20 minutes to get out of there so we couldn’t talk much, but it was good to see her. We ran to the Dedos, took pics for my comp and then ran to the other side of the peninsula to take pics by the docks and the boats and then we had to run to catch our bus to Montevideo. The bus was driving so slowly so we missed the bus at 6 from Montevideo to Sarandi so we got to shop at the mall in Tres Cruces for 2 hours. Aww too bad! It’s really expensive there so we didn’t buy anything but we got to witness a guy trying to steal a bag from a lady. That was interesting. He didn’t get away though. Like mom said, I reminisced the rest of the day, reflected on the bus and... it was good. I miss Maldonado. I want to go back later, at some future point in my life I’ve decided.

Oh man...well, Jaekelin called us that night and told us because her husband lost his job they had to move out of their house asap! They were already gone and we couldn’t teach her anymore. We felt so hopeless right after all the drama with Ruben. It was a heartbreaker, but it wasn’t like it’s over. We´ll pass the reference to wherever she moves and she can get baptized over there. I felt so sad.

We found some new investigators... Ruben’s son for example. He’s 8, Emiliano. He wants to be baptized and they are backing him up. Too bad it’s really awkward teaching him with all of them there when they aren’t really living how they should be and showing the example. He will be baptized on the 24th! Completely soaking wet!
Cristina... we taught her a few more lessons, suggested a date to be baptized as a goal and told her to pray. She agreed and we went by the next day to verify. She was so happy. She had received an answer and she said she wanted to be baptized on that date. She already went and talked to her parents and they said they would get back to her with an answer. The next day she called us and said they said no. What! I don’t know what happened. I guess it’s really not her time. We gave her all the pamphlets and told her to keep reading them and to call our number when she can be married and baptized. In the meantime you’ve got to keep coming to church we told her. She said ok. I guess some missionaries will receive a big surprise when they get her call. Maybe I will still be here. You never know. It’s just sad, because she knows she has to be baptized and has the desire, but past choices and consequences won’t allow her to right now. I guess we´ll see.

We finally got Jess and Agustin a wedding date. March 29th. So they can’t get baptized till that same day. At least they still will be baptized. In the meantime, they still continue to face challenges and they keep fighting… thanks to a real testimony of the gospel. They will need to have a certificate of residence to be married so the ward is looking for property that they can build them a house on. It is so cool!

On Tuesday we were walking to find some references when we heard whining. We go to the side of the road and in a little stream by a bunch of trees we find seven newborn puppies thrown out. We gathered them all together and two little boys brought us a sheet to take them home in. We went home and now the owner of the house is taking care of all of them (with our help). Now we gotta get rid of them quick. Too bad no one here wants girl dogs because zillions of dogs roam freely and they always end up pregnant cause no one cares. We gave away one dog and one died so now we have five. Abandoned puppies we took in
The letter I’ve been waiting for from Hermana Laursen finally got to me. Oh. my. gosh. I miss her! She tells me a lot of cool stuff and more than once in the mission she has helped me keep going. I’m so grateful for her. I’m sad I have to wait 6 more months for her to finish the mission so we can talk all the time. We were meant to be friends for a long time. I do know that. Heavenly Father still sends little tender mercies for me. That’s the best part.

Also, the Barreto family has been a huge help. Their daughter is in Mexico on her mish and her mom showed us some of her emails. The mom reminds me of my mom! I love you mom, and dad, and sisters.

All I know is that the church is still true. Even when we have difficult times that doesn’t change, and it doesn’t change the nature of our loving Heavenly Father. He is our constant. Thank heavens for that knowledge. I’m grateful for my blessings and grateful for you and for the opportunity I have to be here and to learn, but most importantly to help my brothers and sisters make it back to live with our Father again.

I love you all so much. Everything works together for our good. Be good so we can be worthy of blessings, but look for others to help along the way too. I love you!!!! Love, me

I'm Going Home....

You seriously will never guess where I am... or where I am headed. So my comp has a huge plantar’s wart on her foot. For that reason, we have to go see a foot doctor to get it removed. I don’t know if you recall who the foot doctor is for the mission... her name is Nina Rivera and she just so happens to live in Maldonado Centro. Yeah! We are totally going to Maldonado today! We are waiting right now in Montevideo for our bus. It’s been a long morning: three hours here to Montevideo and another two hours to Maldonado, then all the way back today. Ten hours on a bus. Oh man, but it’ll be alright. I get to go HOME! or my home away from home. Hermanas Lopez and Farr
More on that in a sec. We have had a lot of memorable experiences this week. First off, I love you all. I hope everyone is doing alright. This week has been ahi... ha … not sure how to say that in English... alright I guess. Lots of ups and downs, like always!

So we got some of the papers for the two couples to be married, but they swapped the couples, so we have papers for Jaekelin & Agustin and Jessica & Jaekelin’s husband, which means we got nothing done for marriages this week. We are getting down to the wire. We gotta get these people baptized. I guess Heavenly Father knows what he’s doing… if they were meant to be here, they would be. So I’m not really worried; just annoyed. We will hopefully have the rest this week. I really hope.

Jessica received an answer to her prayer about if the Book of Mormon was true. She prayed for Heavenly Father to show her a sign and she asked for a specific one... yikes… that Agustin could get a job and two days later... guess what he found... a job! We are so happy. They can start to pull out of this crappy situation they are in. It’s pretty awesome. Agustin said, whoa! What faith my woman has. It was funny. He was proud of her and so were we. She now knows with certainty that it’s true. They’ve been reading from the start and are almost to second Nephi. She’s also trying to find a job but apparently here you have to officially quit one job before you can start the next and she didn’t quit a job in Montevideo.

We also had a family home evening last Monday night with a member family. Their son is a member but inactive and so is his wife and they’re kids aren’t members. The grandson came over. He’s from Montevideo and has read the Book of Mormon, knows everything about Joseph Smith and wants to be baptized. We taught him some stuff and after we left he called his parents to get permission to be baptized and he hasn’t ever had a lesson. They said yes. The mom is interested and they are just waiting for the missionaries in Montevideo to show up at the door. We gave the reference to the missionaries. They will be surprised when they go over to find someone all ready to be baptized. It was a cool experience even though we won’t get to participate in the baptism or anything. He’s only 11 too. What an example to the family.

We taught Christina this week. She’s a girl who is dating a less active member. They have started coming back to church… or he has and she has been reading the Book or Mormon . Well, we went back to teach her about the restoration and she said that some people don’t believe this is the true church. We were confused because she mentioned it out of nowhere in the middle of the lesson. We asked her what she thought. Is this the true church? She said she knew that it was. How do you know that we asked? She responded with this, "Because I prayed about it. I asked God and he told me in my heart it was true. I felt a burning in my chest and that’s why I want to be baptized." We were in shock. It was so awesome. Malta (Uruguay's fav drink): It's disgusting! It tastes like barf... I'm not even kidding!

We have seen a great deal of adversity and honestly I am sick of Satan this week. We have seen his hand in so many people’s lives especially this week. He makes people fall, he tricks people, he deceives people and he justifies. HE IS REAL. And he is at work. He’s made good members fall and it blows my mind. We must be so careful in our lives. I just stand in awe this week at the things he is capable of. I have seen it first hand and I hate every second of it. We must stand strong and close to the Savior. Satan is an alligator at the edge or the water hole. He doesn’t wait in the middle; he knows we won’t go to the middle, but if he can get us to come to the edge, he can have us. We must be decided. We must be on the Lord’s side of the line and well over it. It’s just crazy. Please be careful out there.

I have had sweet spiritual experience after sweet spiritual experience this week as well, not about a specific gospel principle but about my mission in general and about the people I am here serving. I got to call Nina to coordinate for the doctor’s appointment and we talked for so long. It felt so good talking to a familiar voice, someone who genuinely cares about me and loves me and wants the best for me. She told me how much everyone there misses me and how things have just not been the same since I left. Her husband got on the phone and told me everyone was signing a petition to stop doing missionary work until Hermana Farr came back! haha. He says he’s doing a BBQ for us today. We will see if there is time. Even though I have moved on from Maldonado, it seriously will always have a part of my heart. I gained such a love for the people there. I miss them so badly and I’m just glad that thanks to the gospel we can all be together again for forever if we do things right because I don’t know if I’ll ever make it back here to Uruguay at another time in my life. I would love to, but I don’t know if I could do it. It would be hard. I have been reflecting on my other two areas also. Just thinking about the people there that I have come to love brings me to tears every time. I know I’ll feel the same when I leave Sarandi. I have had a number of other experiences, but it’s too much to write. I don’t want to leave the mission! It’s going to be so RIDICULOUSLY hard. I wouldn’t even be thinking about it, but seriously everyone reminds me of it daily. Ugh! Last week we introduced ourselves to our district and my district leader said to me (when I got up), tell everyone how much time you have been on your mission. I rolled my eyes. He said, actually just tell them how much time you have left. I think that’s easier. Ugh! I’m excited to come home and to take the next steps of my life, but I’m never going to be able to live this experience again. I hate the thought of that. When I leave, there is no going back. Anyway, all I can do is enjoy it right now. Take advantage of the little time I have left and make the most of it. That’s all I’ve got. I love the mission! I love all you guys. Most importantly, I love the gospel that brings us all together. How wonderful it is. I appreciate everything you do. Thanks for always being there for me. I heart you! Until next week... Love me, Ash

The Sweet Life of a Missionary...

How does the life go? Life here is... well interesting. This week a lot of stuff has happened. It’s amazing what can go on in the life of a missionary in 7 days. CRAZY. I just want to tell you all I love you with everything I possess… and more because I don’t really have a lot. hahaAugustin and Jessica after church
There have been ups and downs, como siempre, pero, seguimos igual. Hope daddio can translate for ya. As for investigators, we had many a trials with Agustin and Jessica, but they have continued to put their faith into practice and they continue to overcome the trials that Satan is throwing in their face. It’s been pretty incredible to see actually. We did not get their papers submitted in time, and so they will be baptized on the 17th of March. We hope everything goes well with their papers and that will give us enough time. We should be going in this week to the Judge and 4 witnesses to set up a wedding date. Then we have to publish it in the paper 3 times and then wait 8 days, then they can be married and then they can be baptized. So hope for the best. They need to be baptized ASAP! He hasn’t been able to find a job and as a result, their money has dwindled down to pretty much nothing. When I say nothing, I mean nothing. They called us this week and asked if we could help them out with anything for food. Oh man we thought... as missionaries we barely have enough for ourselves and that cannot be our responsibility. So we called the Relief Society President. Well, we have been meeting with the R.S. pres and she is awesome and so ready to work. She owns a little store and she told us to give them her number and she would have them come over and give them the things they need. How great is that? She gave them what they needed for the week. She stepped right up to the plate and helped. We apologized a million times, but her response, "Don’t worry hermanas, that’s what we are here for!" It was awesome.

While they were with her, they told her a man stopped by their tent and told them of an abandoned house they could sneak into and live. Of course they took the opportunity. The R.S. Pres called us and told us what was going on and that they couldn’t live in something they weren’t paying for. It just wasn’t right. We didn’t know what we were supposed to do. This is so far out of our league. We decided to call and go visit and see what was up. They told us where they were and we went to the house. Well, it wasn’t much of a house. I thought it would be something... well, nicer than the tent anyway. When I walked in, I wanted them to be back in their tent even more than before. It was just four walls, dirt ground, tarp for a roof, just basically walls to protect them from the wind. It made my heart ache, but they were so excited about it. They told us they had already had problems with the next door neighbors. They came over claiming it was their house and the police came over. The police asked for papers, but they couldn’t show any. We told them they couldn’t stay there. They thought we were picking on them and got really discouraged. They wondered why we weren’t happy for them. It was a tough spot to be in. We talked very openly and honestly and told them we only wanted the best. That’s why we were checking every little thing out. The worst part is to have their papers to get married they have to have a certificate of residence. This wasn’t their property so if they continued to live there, they couldn’t get those papers, couldn’t be married and couldn’t be baptized. He said he didn’t know what to do. He had been reading through the Book of Mormon before we got there because he remembered the things we taught him about being able to find answers to his problems if he read it. He said he still hadn’t found anything. We told him to keep it up, think about what they were doing and the whole reason they were learning about the gospel was to change their lives and follow Jesus Christ. They took it into consideration. We left with a prayer. We prayed so hard that night that they would make the right decisions and really apply the gospel and everything they had been learning into their lives. It was like their first real test.

We called them the next morning and thank heavens they had returned back to their tent! I had never been so excited. They said they read and prayed after we left and they left right after we did. Oh, man. They actually understand the things they are learning. It was a huge battle to fight and win and we were so proud of them. It’s been awesome.

We also have been working with the bishop A LOT more and he is so cool. He’s so willing to do whatever it takes to make the work grow and he has a genuine care for people. He and our ward mission leader are trying to help Augustin find work. The ward is really stepping it up. The R.S. pres also went straight to visit a sister who is thinking about leaving the church because she doesn’t understand the doctrine very well. She told the other hermanas about her also. Everyone, including us, showed up to visit her. She felt the love and for now she’s staying. They also went to visit less actives which we have been trying to get the ward members to do FOREVER! And the lady they went and visited came to our activity. We played Up Chickens (for those who are familiar with the game) and watched a movie. UP Chickens!!
Then she showed up this Sunday to church. It’s amazing how the ward members doing their part actually works, huh?! We constantly find her riding her bike in the streets visiting the hermanas of the ward. It’s been so awesome. She told us once she gets everything organized she’s gonna put us to work. It’s been awhile since I’ve been bossed around by the ward members . haha But that’s what we are here for: to serve them, not for them to serve us. Most wards have it backwards here, but they are getting it straight. We are all working together and seeing the results. It’s great. They are rescuing, serving, looking after. We have investigators and it’s a happy world over here in Sarand Del Yi. There is still much to be done, but we’re progressing. Wahooo!

As for Ruben, Leticia’s new boyfriend, he is doing well. We set a baptismal fecha for the 10th. It’s pretty cool. He’s excited for it. He knows this is a better life for him and says he’ll give up anything to get to that date. The mission goal is to have a baptism every week. We are pretty well on our way to hit that goal for this month. And we have lots of potentials still to get to baptism. Jaekelin didn’t come to church this Sunday, which means she’s not progressing. When we teach her, she agrees to do everything but she isn’t coming to church. We think there is something more bothering her. We stopped by yesterday, but she is so quiet we can’t figure out what the problem is. We’ll have to see. She is reading from the Book of Mormon from the beginning and loving it so that’s good and she comes to all the activities.

... ha um... we found a bazillion bugs in our sugar, salt and other food after we had just eaten it. As a result we have been so sick this week. It’s been miserable.

On top of that, we were out proselyting one day and we found a cactus that has fruit on it you can eat. I didn’t know, but my comp has the fruit in Bolivia and said it’s amazing so we decided to get some to eat. Welp... cactus plants can be deceiving. I thought I was pulling one off without any needles or pricklies. Boy, was I wrong! I had the needles in every single one of my fingers and my comp had to pull them out one by one. They are so small though. So we thought better… we'll get gloves and pull them off into a bag. So we did, but it was windy... while my comp was pulling them off they blew into my eye. And it hurt, and I couldn’t see the rest of the day. I had to go to an eye doctor and he had to clean out my eye and afterwards it still hurt like the dickens. My comp discovered that they were also all in her clothes. She took off her clothes to find that they were in her arms and legs and all over her face, they are so small! They look like little blonde hairs but they stick in you. Her legs started getting really irritated, red and hurting. We couldn’t do anything. We had to go to a pharmacy and buy wax... yep you guessed it. Then we waxed her entire body. No joke. It was crazy. We hurt! Stupid cactus. But we got the fruit. I didn’t think it was worth it, but my comp did. I have a pic of the fruit after we cleaned it and everything. It’s kinda like kiwi but sweeter. Anywho... that was a fun day. So glad it’s over though.The "Cactus Fruit!"
I got letters from Yuri, Sheyla and Hermana Laursen this week. Oh man. Yuri is so awesome. He sent me a cool nice pen. He’s doing really well and is so grateful for Hermana Laursen and me. It brought tears to my eyes reading what he wrote. Of course, I have it saved and I’ll be able to share all these things with you when I come home. We told him after he visited all the temples in South America he had to save and come visit us in the states. He asked if the invitation was still open. So cool!!!! I hope he comes once Hermana Laursen is home. Maybe he can come for Christmas and we can take him to temple square. Wow, how cool would that be?! He does well for a young guy here in Uruguay. Sheyla is doing good too, ah misses me I guess. Hermana Laursen said everyone asks about me and asks her if she misses me, when she says yes, they say so do we. Ah! I miss everyone there so bad! It’s ok though. She also says Luciano and Shantal are great too. The ward has stepped it up with them. The bishop took him shopping for shirts, ties, pants, shoes and they are paying for him to go to EFY. So cool huh?!

I just wanted to share all these thoughts with you. Things are good. Ever since changes, my comp and I have had a chance to really get to know each other on a deeper level. It has been good. I want you to know how truly blessed we are to have each other as a family, to be here on the earth together and have the gospel in our lives. Appreciate that! Where much is given, much is expected. There is much expected of us. Live up to that. I have a cool story I’m going to send later. Be kind, love and serve one another and others. Go out to the rescue too. I love you all more than life itself. Be good… Until next week.

Love, Ash