Bacán

Well This week was really weird.  It has been awesome, and tiring.  I don't know if you can see on Google maps but our sector is divided into two regions,  Ovejeria alto and Ovejeria Bajo.  We live in Alto,  But we always are working in bajo.  And their are some serious hills connecting the two areas.  We live right next to the biggest hill and we walk up and down it everyday at least 6 times.  I have legs of steel now.  Still no endurance though.  Thanks to the Pedometer I know that we walked a total of 40.7 Miles this week.  Impressive, right?  Yeah lots of walking.  I have started judging the days success on the amount of miles we walked.  The fewer the better.

Well  I think Ovejeria is going to see a baptism soon.  I don't know if i will get to see it but i know i it will happen.  We have an investigator named Silvina who has been progressing like crazy.  She has a son who has been really sick the past few weeks and we have been visiting her about four times a week.  But the son is finally starting to get better so i think she will finally be able to come to church.  I really hope so.  She is the first real investigator i think i have had.  "Real" being that she really is searching for some kind of religion/change in her life.   

This week as a zone we went to every sector in Osorno and sang Christmas songs to investigators.  We had a ton of cars that would take us from place to place and then we would get out sing and then move on to the next sector.  When it was our sectors turn we went to Silvina´s house and i think the other missionaries were a little scarred of her.  She has lots of tattoos.  And a huge burn that covers most of her body.  A tea kettle spilled on her when she was a kid.  But I think she really liked us coming to her house to sing.  

Well that's about it.  Well not really,  We did do a lot of stuff this week but those are basically the highlights.  I love all of you guys a ton.  Cant wait to talk to you at 10am MDT on Christmas.  Going to be amazing.  Let me know if anything changes.  

Love, 

Elder Bacan Borup

Good

Hi.  Hows every one doing? I loved hearing from all of you this week.  I can not believe how fast the time is going by.  I have almost been gone for 5 months.  That's really weird to think about.  But i think the reason time is going by so quick is that i am in a constant state of semi sleep.  I am exhausted.  We have been working like crazy people this whole week.  Every week we are teaching more and more.  We are finding new people to teach every week as well.

This letter might be a little short because my body is broken.  We played American Football as a zone and i dove for several passes.  Dumb.  I am going to hurt for the whole week.  Oh well.  It was fun.  We lost to the APs team.  

Thanks so much for the package the other week.  I forgot to tell you last week but it was the best. I loved the yo-yo´s.  its like you know me.  I am going to send Madison the calender on Monday. I might have drawn a little on it... but its basically intact.  just some Christmas countdown that i made.  

Well we need to start coordinating for the Christmas call.  We get to call with SKYPE!  so i need to know what time, either on Christmas or Christmas eve, would you like to chat.  I would like to talk with Madi for a little if that's possible. maybe just overlap the times or something.  I need to know your Skype account as well.  I still need to make mine.  

I think that is about it.  We have done a ton of other stuff but i think that about covers all of it.  Keep reading elder warrens blog. He can write a ton more in his letters because he is a machine at typing. 

Love,

Elder Steamboat

Not Thanksgiving

Hi everyone.  How is it going? Good job at the race! I feel like you guys look way different, what with all of the surgeries and diets, I don't think I'm going to be able to recognize any of you people in 2 years.  I love hearing from all of you, Mom, Dad, Whitney, Mckenzie, Jessica, Grandma, and Tom.  It really is a big boost to hear from all of you.  Sorry I can never really write all of you back in a timely manner, but ill try harder.

So this week was something else.  Tons of work. TONS.  I am exhausted.  but I'll try and write a worth while letter.  We started the week by receiving news that last week was not Thanksgiving.  Its OK though.  We bought another pizza and celebrated again.  So I had two thanksgivings this year.  HA.  

On Sunday we decided we were going to work.  The mindset in the mission is that Sun. is a day to talk to all of the members.  But we decided it would be better if we knocked doors.  Good decision.  The second door we knocked that day the man invited us in immediately.  We met his family, 4 year old son and his wife, and we talked to them for about 30 min about all sorts of stuff.  Then we taught the Restoration. That never happens! no one ever invites us in.  Then we asked them if they would be baptized if they found that what we taught them was true.  They accepted!  again, that never happens.  We have an appointment with them again on Sunday.  

Mon. was an average day.  But Tuesday was extraordinary.  We taught a daughter of a recent convert that Elder Warren had taught a few times before.  Her name is Silvina.  Then we went to the home of a family that Elder Warren had contacted the week before I got here and they let us in and we taught the whole first lesson with them. They also committed to be baptized.  I can still hardly believe it.  Ovejeria has been struggling for the past little while but now it is in full swing.  I am seriously pumped to be here! 

Yesterday was not so productive.  We woke up and while Elder Warren was in the shower the pipes below the kitchen sink blew.  There was a huge flood in our kitchen and we spent most of the day cleaning and drying things.  We did make it out in the end of the day and we went to an investigator named Constanza.  She is 17 years old and her mom owns a little store right next to the church.  We teach them a lot and I think that they are really progressing.  In the end of the day we bought some Pan con Chicharon.  Basically what it is is a cinnamon role, but instead of the cinnamon and raisins, it is made with Pig Fat.  Real healthy. lots of Protein.  

I am staying healthy though.  Not so much by choice but that doesn't really matter.  Our sector is divided into two areas, Ovejeria alto, and ovejeria bajo.  Alto is on a big plateau and there are some crazy stairs and hills to get there. and we have to climb them at least 4 times a day.  And this morning we, for morning exercise time, decided to run them.  Lots of fun.  But its good for me.  

Well I got to go now. My Pday plans for today.  Sleep.  Going to be awesome. Next week I'm going to try and send some pics of our tree. Oh and i made some sock reindeer out of an old sock and a broken umbrella.  I´ll try and send a picture of that as well. 

Love,

Elder Chicharon Borup

Ovejería

Hi! hows it going? I just got the package you sent me! It is sitting right next to me but I am going to try and restrain myself until i get home.  Dad why are you in Chicago?

Well transfers happened.  I took a two hour bus ride on wed. and it was awful.  I hate bus rides.  The scenery was amazing but i couldn't look out the window because i was on the verge of throwing up the whole time...  I made it though.  I did throw up a little.  But Dad, we need to make the motorcycle trip happen.  The road was epic.

I got into the bus station at around 12 and then we went to the apartment.  Its nice.  a little dirty, but it does have a Christmas tree.  The one big problem is that there is no hot water.  Showers are the worst.  I try to shower in about 2 min. We don't do our laundry in a bucket.  The members take turns washing them for us.  We do have a mamita. She is really nice.  We go to her house and pick up the food, because her husband is a truck driver, and is hardly ever home.

My companion is awesome.  He is from American Fork.  Really nice guy, really hard worker.  Like El Estanque this sector has been "dead" for the past couple of months, but we are definitely going to change that.  

Well i am in Osorno.  Every one says Osorno is super ugly but really its not too bad.  I like it a lot.  I am loving the new ward.  Still haven't met everyone but they all seem really nice.  The past few days have been a blur.  completely forgot about Thanksgiving, we celebrated last night though with a pizza.  We have been working like crazy people.  Contacting every one we see.  I am starting to learn how to contact.  It's sad but me and elder Randall hardly ever did street contacts.  Now that is all we have been doing.  People are a lot more receptive here.  It is really nice.  

Something that I am trying out this week is giving treats to dogs.  When we are doing contacts sometimes there are dogs barking at us, and it is distracting, so i thought it would be a good idea to throw them something to eat to keep them quiet.  We´ll see how it works.  

Well i got to go.  I love you guys.

Love,

Elder Steamer Borup

Transfers

How is everyone doing?  I am still doing great.  This wasn't a very successful week.  Still struggling with finding people to teach.  But The good news is that the language is finally starting to come along!.

Well transfers are wed. and i am leaving El Estanque.  It still doesn't feel real.  I cant believe i am already done with my training and now i am leaving my first sector.  But I'm going to the Osorno stake and the ward is called Ovejería.  My new companions name is Elder Warren.  He is the district leader i think.  But that's all i know about him.  Oh and he is from Utah.  I was kind of hopping to get a Latino companion but its nice to have someone who understands both languages.  

About the package.  I forgot to write you last week about it.  It is from me.  But its for Christmas.  I didn't think it would get there that quick. So keep it closed and then open it when we get to chat on Christmas.  That's coming up quick isn't it.  That is what is going to be nice with going to Osorno, being so close to the mission office i am going to get mail a lot quicker, and i am hopping that we will do something with President for Christmas and thanksgiving. So don't be afraid to write me.  I enjoy letters.  I sent 3 today. Jessica your about to get two. thank you for writing me.  

But the language is definitely improving.  I am really starting to like the Chilean accent.  i learned that if i  drop all of my s´s then people understand me better.  And just throw a Po on the end of a sentence and instantly you are speaking Chilean.  Its awesome. 

Well I'll be writting you from Osorno next week.  Love all of you guys a ton. 

Love,

             Your Favorite Son/Brother

Disco

Hi everyone.  How are you all doing.  I am doing good.  Mom.  i hope your nose turns out.  I wish i could eat some scones.  They have something similar that is keeping me from getting too home sick. Sopaipias, pretty much scones, just a little thicker.  This week we did a lot of stuff.

Knocking doors is the worst.  I don't like doing it.  About 90% of the population of Chile(it seems like) are devout evangelicals.  And they are taught by there preachers to hate us.  Not joking.  They call us wolves in sheep clothing.  It has actually gotten me a little discourages this week.  

But anyways on a brighter note we had some of the best food ever this week.  We went to this Chilean bbq.  It is called a disco, and what they do is put a circular tray above a bed of coals and then cook some steak, then they throw some chicken on, and they they throw some sausages on, and then they throw some hot dogs, and then to top it off, they throw a million clams and oysters on top of that.  It is incredible.  It is the best BBQ that i have every eaten. 

This week our ward mission leader broke his back. His family is also having some hard times so we spent a lot of time over there this week.  helping them with stuff around the house.  

Well i guess we didn't do that much stuff this week, but next week will be better.  It is going to be the last week of my training. i think next week ill be telling you about transfers for the first time.  Well i love you guys a ton.

Elder Steamboat

This Week Service

Hi.  How is every body doing?  Good job with the running every one. I just took my BMI at a grocery store.  Turns out I'm not doing to bad.  I am only 14% fat!  So that's good.  I am only carrying 10 kilos of fat with me where ever i go.  I was really worried, because we eat ridiculously well here.  Its awesome.  The other day for lunch we had two huge stakes and a huge pile of mashed potatoes.  It is amazing. How was Halloween for everyone?  me and my companion celebrated with a tiny little great value cheese cake.  It was alright.  I was expecting more. It is weird to think that it even was Halloween.  But really it was good to hear from you.  I love reading about whats going on back home.  i didn't get a letter from dad though.  I am calling you out.

Well this week was really good.  It was mostly centered around service.  We did a ton of service this week.  On Wednesday we went out of our sector to help a family in another ward clean their backyard.  It was way fun.  They had a huge pile of boards and house building material that they wanted broken into pieces that would fit in their fireplace.  My job was breaking the pieces.  I love breaking stuff.  We had an ax.  But that was too slow, so what we did was lean the boards up on the chopping stump and then throw a gigantic 40 lb. log at them.  It was super fun.  And a good work out.  My arms are still a little sore. 

We also cut a ton of wood for a little old lady, named Hna. Nancy Ponce who is less active.  It was way fun.... Until her yappy little dog bit my leg. It still hurts.  But we finished all of the wood and then this Sunday the lady came.  Service is the best.  It always works.  

I don't know if i told you already but we also have been working on another less active lady, named Hermana Eduvina, fence.  we started it about two weeks ago and we still aren't done.  It has taken forever.  But we finally finished.  It looks incredible by the way.  She also made it to church this week.

  

Well I think that is all from me.  I want you guys to go out and serve.  It is way fun and you will feel great afterwards.  Love all you guys.

Chau chau po,

Elder Borup

Long Week

Hi everybody! hows it going.  I cant believe the picture of the van! Its unreal!  You put a completely new engine in it? that's crazy. But it looks as good as new. You guys are finally going to New York for the marathon?  Have fun! and send me some pics.  I like pictures.  BYU! taking care of business! sounds like they are doing really well this year.  Figures... they decide to play when im out of the country.  Well i probably should talk about my week.

Well you know how we thought it doesn't get hot.... Haha. It does.  And you know how we were wondering how bad the fleas could be.... bad.  My legs are covered in bites.  I hate those little devils.  But so far they haven't moved to the rest of my body.  

Well this week our land lady asked us to do something weird.  She has a kitten that she rescued from the streets and that still needs to be fed by a bottle, and she said that we needed to take care of it for a day.  We couldn't really say no.  So this is a picture of me feeding it.

 

It was a weird week.  And a really hard one. We kept getting shut down.  We are trying really hard to find new people to teach but so far it has been completely unfruitful ( that's a word right?). But we did have success with the less active members this week. it was awesome.  We taught about 15 lessons with new members that we found this week.  

Contacting new people is fun.  My personal favorite is when old ladies who look through the curtains and see us and instantly their face turns super sour and they shake their finger at us.  At least answer the door. i mean come on.  Or the people who open the door expecting some friend or family and then see us and then immediately slam the door. It is fun though and we have found a couple nice people who might progress.  

Well that is all from me this week.  I need to write president now.  Love you guys a ton.  

Love,

Elder Steamer Lane Borup

This Week

Well how is every one doing? It sounds like you are doing good.  I dont get the joke dad. So i dont think the primary kids will either. And they need to come to church.

Well this week has been awesome.  well not really... until Saturday night it was one of the worst weeks ever.  We worked a ton but there was absolutely no results. Until Saturday that is.  Sat we had a couple of citas set up,  They turned out to be awesome!  all of them were with less active members.  the next day everyone we visited the night before, and more, were in sacrament meeting! It was awesome!  We had a ton of people to talk to after because we had never met them.  It was amazing.  We now have a new investigator as well. His name is Oscar.  He is a really cool guy whose wife is a returned missionary so he knows a ton about what we teach but i know there is something that we can teach him that will convert him.  

This week i have a ton of pics for you guys. Ill try to explain all of them as well as i canThis is only half of the sandwich that we had for lunch one day at a members house.  It is called a churazco it has grilled stake, avocado, tomato, mayo, and lettuce.  It is amazing!

I think i broke the computer because it wont let me send anymore pictures...  Sorry mom i took a picture with a normal face and everything.   Oh well ill just send them next week.  

Being a missionary is awesome.  I love it so much. This is the greatest thing i have ever done.  It is also one of the funnest.  I cant really explain why it is fun but i know that it is.  As you can tell by my face, as pictured above i am content.  Have a good week.  Talk to you next week.

Love, 

Elder Paco

Answering Questions

What do you do on Pday?  Your letters come early in the morning and you seemed rushed.
Well the reasson i am so rushed is that we only have 45 min to email family.  and 15 to email our mission pres.  It is hard for someone who types 10 words per min.  But besides that we normaly go to the church building and play ping pong with the other elders in our district. then go home and make lunch. 

Are the members feeding you every lunch?
Yes! it is amazing.  The church is super stong in valdivia.  The only day we have to cook is p day.  Sometimes its hard though because some members get offended because i dont eat very much.  Turns our most missionaries have the reputation of being complete animals when it comes to food.

Are you becoming less intimidated and speaking more often?  And have you given a talk in church?
I getting more comfortable every day but it is still really hard...  Havent given a talk yet but i think i probably will have to soon.

What is your ward/branch like?
Our ward is amazing.  we have a huge area called the bosque where all of the rich people live and then a place called the Pablo Neruda where all of the extremely poor people live.  There is quite a difference.

Whitney wants to know how nerdy is your companion?
Not quite as nerdy as me. But extremely nerdy.  We get along great.

Does it rain every day?  And how are your shoes holding up?  Have you worn your boots yet?  Does your backpack work well?

It rains almost every day.  but i think that will stop now that summer is coming along.  My shoes are awesome. mission shoe is a little uncomfortable but that is why i asked for insoles.  boots are great ive worn them a couple of times now and they are by far the most comfortable shoes i have.

How many active investigators do you have right now? What is their names so we can pray for them?

We have one real investigators as of today. But we also have a guy who we have taught once that sounds interested.  His name is Omar. Our other is Victoria. She is awesome but is scared to make changes in her life.

What is your area like? Is it hilly or flat? Is it poor or richer? (i always liked poor areas).
There are a few hills but for the most part flat.  It is rich besides one little poblacion named pablo neruda that we aren't aloud to go in at night.  for the most part it is just huge.

What's your biggest challenge right now? (so we can pray for you)

Finding people.  We knock doors a ton and most of the people have heard of us and don't want anything to do with us.  It's hard.  that would be nice if you prayed for me.

Well its been nice talking to you.  that was a ton of typing and now I'm going to go take a nap.....

Elder Paco Lane Borup

Email Conversation 10-14-13

(Note from Dad: as soon as I emailed this morning he noticed I was still on line. We had this conversation.)

Elder Borup: hey you still online?

Dad: yes, are you?

Weston: Si

Dad: this is sort of weird isn't it? How’s things in Valdivia? What do you think about my stalking techniques?

Elder Borup: Valdivia is great!  So you can see my entire sector?

Dad: Yes, Are you the only missionaries in the Ward?

Elder Borup: yep

Dad: What street do you live on? (so I can look it up on Google Earth)

Elder Borup: Huilahue, in a little cabaña behind the house of Obispo

Dad: give me a close by street. is Obispo = Bishop?

Elder Borup: Yep.  Pedro Montt and Circumvalacion. we are at the verry bottom of the ward

Dad: I can look up your bishops address in the directory.

Elder Borup: our bishop just got made 1st counselor in the stake presidency, so he might not be listed as bishop any more.  His name is Chacon

Dad: I can find him that way then. Do you have a new Bishop then? Is he all about missionary work? IF not convert him. or I'll talk to him.

Elder Borup: yeah he loves missionary work

Dad: How's your training going?

Elder Borup: Well.  It’s hard when the language is still coming but I’m feeling better about it everyday.

Dad: Try to be bold and talk to everyone you meet. You'll get better at the language and you'll find people that way.

Elder Borup: yeah that is what I’m finding out

Dad: So are you doing something fun today?

Elder Borup: We are going to the church building to play ping pong

Dad: Oh good. GO dominate!!!! Slam one for me. I know you have a lot to do. I better let you get to it. Work hard and talk to everyone, you have the best message in the world to share. There is a living prophet of God and His church is on the Earth.

Elder Borup: Bye dad, I love you.  thanks for being such a good example for me.

Dad: Bye! I love you to. You're a great son. I couldn't have a better one.

Fun With the Niños

HELLO my friends.  how are you?  I hope you are all doing well.  Sounds like you are.  Way to go Mckenzie that is really impressive, same to mom and dad.  Well this week has been a real blur.  I am struggling to remember all of the things we did this week.... Uhhhh... Well I´ll tell you the highlights.

Me and my companion decided this week that we need to be more Chilean.  Haha. It has been fun to try.  We have made a huge group of new friends, the average age of them is probably around 8, but they are really nice and don't make fun of us.  Our new group of friends taught us how to use Trompos, these awesome top things that you have to throw in the air with your fingers attached to a string that is wrapped around the top, and then whip your hand back to spin it.  It spins way fast and then you can do some crazy things with the spinning top.  Look it up on youtube.  It has taken some practice but now i can pick up the top and balance it in my hand. cool right?  But our friends were really nice and now we talk to them for a little every time we pass.  That is how we get through to the hearts of the parents. through the children. 

We did watch all of the conference sessions. Awesome!!! I loved conference.  Member Missionary work. Amazing. Victoria our investigator went to all of the sessions! The talk President Uchtdorf gave in the sat. morning session was directly to her.  It was awesome.  I did get to watch it in English which was nice.  English is so beautiful.  

The language is rough.  I can not understand what they are saying!  When i tell them to slow down and talk clearer then i can but i don't get why they cant just talk like a regular Latino.  It is so slurred and abbreviated that some words are almost unrecognizable.  its insane.  But ill get it eventually. I have faith.  

I think that is all....I have some stories but they are too long to tell right now. When i get home ill tell you every thing that happened.  i love all of you guys so much. Take care of izzy. tell her hi fo me.  

Love, 

Elder Paco Borup

This is a picture of me with the El Estanque. the name sake for our sector

This is me with our cactus that we bought a couple of weeks ago.  His name is Carlito.  That is a cut out of Noah that we have put in his pot.

 Buenos dias

Best Week Ever

Hola hola!  Hows every one doing? sounds like you are doing great, sounds like the primary program was wonderful. Every one excited for general conference? Well you should be. Its going to be awesome.  This week was one of the best weeks of the mission. I have had the sponge bob song the best day ever stuck in my head all week.  We found an Investigator!!!!

So the week started out with something called an invasion.  It is when all of the elders from an entire zone invade one sector and do contacts like crazy people.  This time they went into our sector because we have been struggling for the past month.  But it worked amazingly we have a huge list of awesome people that we still need to contact.  

 on Thursday We went into the Poblacion Pablo Neruda.  It is the rougher part of our sector, but while we were in there we helped a blind man tare apart this huge rotting chair and then after that we were walking past this house and saw this lady crying outside.  She had her face pressed up against the gate and she was just bawling.  But we asked what was wrong.  She then proceeded to direct us into her house.  When we went in she told us how she was just about to go and kill her husband and if it hadn't been for us she would have done it.  So talk about being in the right place at the right time. I know that the spirit directed us to that place at that exact time.

This Sunday was the money day though.  We just got to church and we were starting to greet people.  ( i don't have that much more time).  But a super active guy came up to us and told us that his daughter is going to be coming to church today and that she wants to learn more about the church.  She is awesome. Pray for her.  Her name is Victoria.

Love you guys a ton. next week i'll send some pics. no time.

Love, 

Elder Steamer

Chilean Independance Day

Hi everyone.  Hows it going? good? good.  You all sound like you are doing great.  I wish i could have been there for the party McKenzie, but i don't think i would have watched the game. that sounds like the most painful thing in the world. Tell me, how is Izzy doing? has she finished that gigantic bone that i left her yet?

Well Chile is awesome.  So most of this past week was taken up by the 18th but before that on the 17th we had intercambios.  I went on splits with the zone leader.  He is Latino.... But he was from Argentina and i could almost understand him word for word.  I still don't understand why Chileans can't pronounce their words.  But the intercambio was awesome. I learned a ton and at the end of the day that Ward had a huge 18 party.  It was awesome! lots of patriotic karaoke and assada (Chilean BBQ).  I love the food here! it is amazing.  This week i have eaten problably around 15lbs of just meat.  It was amazing,  the empanadas are awesome! they put hard boiled eggs in them and this awesome grilled meat.  They are awesome. but the cambio went good and then when i get back to my sector i find that my companion has lost our phone. he feels guilty.... but we are borrowing a members phone, for some weird reason he has a back up phone, and all is well.    

So the 18th we had a day packed with visits, because we are only aloud to work with set appointments.  But all of them bailed on us.... So we spent most of the day in the cabaña.  I have made 2 hats since i have come here.  They are pretty good.  one was super small so i gave it to a little boy in the ward and now me and him are best buds.  I love crocheting (is that how you spell it? because i have no idea). why am i turning into such an old lady?  

I invited my first person to be baptized. We were talking to some guy in the street and we gave him an abbreviated plan of salvation lesson and then i invited him.  It was awesome. He rejected me. but i felt the spirit.  I guess he didn't.  But someone out there is waiting for me to invite them.  Missionary work is way fun. I love it.  Oh by the way i sent a letter to Tanner through the house. i hope that's OK.  But missionary work is the best.  I go to bed feeling fulfilled almost every night.  

Thanks for being such a great support to me and for all of the letters.  I love you guys a ton.

Love, 

Elder Steamer Lane Borup

The Bospue is a section of our sector that is huge.  It takes 30 min to walk from end to end.  So i thought that this sign was funny

we found real mac n cheese! there is a store down here that got bought by Walmart so they have all sort of different great value products

this is my companion looking like a dork.  He is super funny. But really goofy. i guess a lot like me. I made him the old lady hat.

So Much Better

Hello everyone.  How are you all doing? thanks so much for all of the letters! they were great.  Whitney I'm glad you enjoyed the fair so much. Dad those glasses were very nice. Mom I'm glad you are all healed up, and that you enjoyed chalk the block.  This week was much better. I am completely healthy now! So that's good.  Mission life is great.  I feel really fulfilled at the end of every day, and really excited for the next day.

The work is really hard.  We have been really trying to work with the less active this week.  And until Sunday night it had been going awful. We just kept getting rejected. It was hard.  But then sun. night we went out with a member and every house we went to let us in and we got to give a short lesson and then give them a small assignment for church next week.  I am super pumped.  We need to be working with the members a ton more.  There are members that are willing to go out with us and we just need to work with them to get these less actives active again.  

This week in district meeting, we were told that we weren't aloud to leave our house.  None of the other missionaries from our zone were told this. Just us.  We live right on the corner of the most dangerous part of Valdivia, and last year, just a block away from us, they stole a bus and set it on fire for the 11th.  So we were stuck in our apartment again this week.  But i am really happy that we weren't aloud to leave.  When we finally left the house, we walked out side and almost immediately had to go back.  The sky was full of tear gas residue.  We could hardly breath and my companions eyes were watering like crazy!  It was nuts.  we went back out with bandanas over our faces,  we got out of that area as quick as we could.  While we were hurrying out of the area we noticed that there were a ton of rocks laying around. We didn't understand why, so when we had a meeting with the ward mission leader we asked him.  He told us that some people decided to steal a taxi and set it on fire.  While they were watching it burn they would throw rocks at passerby's.  It was nuts.  but all over now.  

Next week we have the 18th, which is the complete opposite of the 11th.  The 18th is Chile's 4th of July.  Except my companion says that it is the biggest holiday of the year. bigger than Christmas.  And we aren't aloud to proselyte on the 18th or the 17th.  But the members have invited us to their houses to eat.  I can not wait there will be so many empanadas!

Well i think that is all from me.  Love you guys a ton.

Love 

Elder Steam Boat Willy

PS please, if it isn't too much trouble, send some bear grylls deodorant.

Let It Rain!

Hola.

How is everyone doing? I hope good.  It was really good to hear from all of you.  LOTOJA sounds awful but i am really glad you finished.  The BYU game sounds like it was awesome! that has turned into one of the hardest things for me to miss, college football.  But keep sending me the scores, i promise i wont let it distract me.  Well this week has been quite the experience..... 

It really has been hard.  On Wednesday we went back over to hermano Santiagos house for a noche de hogar. He told us that he would make us some Peruvian food.  All it was was a huge plate of rice and potatoes and this disgusting spicy sauce.  My companion was having a hard time with the spiciness so he got out these glasses that looked kind of gross and poured some soda into it. Once he finished his drink he noticed that there was something in the bottom of the glass. It was mold.  

We left his house feeling super gross.  That night i had a dream that i got shot in the stomach and was looking for a hospital. And then i woke up with awful stomach pain.  I got out of my sleeping bag and then went to the bathroom and threw up for about 10 minutes.  That pretty much describes my next two days.  My companion was also super sick.  We couldn't leave the house and it was awful.  

Well that took up lots of the week but we have been able to do some real missionary work as well.  We have given 4 blessings to members and 1 to a less active. We have given a whole bunch of lessons. But none of our investigators seem to be progressing a whole lot.  It is really hard. And it is even harder because i cant understand this language very well.  This is not Spanish. It is some other thing.  i have never seen peoples mouths move so fast... its ridiculous.  Even when i ask them to slow down they still sound like they are going a million miles an hour. but it will be good, because once i get this dialect down i will be able to speak any form of Spanish.       

This week has been nothing but rain.  I think i have seen the sun once. and that was last Monday. It rains a ton here, but at least it is starting to get warmer.  It no longer is 40 ever morning it has been bumped up to about 55 degrees.  

I love this place! it is super cool.  But on the 11th i don't  think it will be super cool.  all of the members have been warning us about that day because it is the 30th anniversary of the big uprising. It is supposed to be dangerous, and seminary has been canceled because no one wants to leave their houses.  But we will be out there! Trying to contact some people.  It should be fun.

Love you guys a lot! i cant wait to hear from you next week.

Love, 

Elder Steamer

This letter was sent to us at the same time we received the email from the Mission President.

Hola from The Chile Osorno Mission

Dear Family of Elder Borup,

We are pleased to inform that your son has arrived safe and sound and smiling to the Chile Osorno Mission.  It was a pleasure for us to greet your son upon his arrival and feel his desire to serve.  Enclosed is a picture that we took with him shortly after his arrival. Your son's address during his time in the mission will be:

                                                Mission Chile Osorno

Elder Borup

                                      Casilla 7-0

                                      Osorno, Chile

Sister Rappleye and I love our missionaries and are truly happy to have the opportunity to work with your son.  We appreciate your willingness to share him with us as he works as a missionary and ambassador for the Lord in Chile.  Sharing the gospel with these deserving children of our Father in Heaven will certainly bring great joy and satisfaction to him, and to you as well.  Thank you so much for helping him get to this point.

Please write him regularly–at least once a week.  Your love, interest, and support will be of great help to him.  Should there be any emergency or if you desire information regarding any urgent situation, please feel free to contact the Missionary Department in Salt Lake City rather than go to the expense of phoning the mission here in Chile. 

The missionary work is progressing rapidly here in southern Chile, and I hope that you will share in his exciting mission experience as he writes to you weekly and keeps you informed of his challenges and achievements and experiences.

Sincerely,

President John E. Rappleye

Chile Osorno Mission

CHILE

 

Hello! how is every one doing? this is weird. Every word that i am typing right now says that it is spelled wrong. I don't like this.  But oh well. besides that everything here is awesome!!! 

So we flew in on a little pane and it was super cool. It looked like we were flying into Yellowstone.  Everything here is super green and there are tons of water ways all over the place. This place is really cool. 

We got picked up in the airport in Puerto Montt.  I got sick on the small 2 hour drive to Osorno.  It really wasn't pretty... i ate duncan donuts in the airport in santiago and it all came up again..... 

When we got to the mission home we met with presidente Rapleye and he is super awesome.  We then had individual interviews with him.  He talked to me about being diligent and then he told me where i was going and who would be my companion. I am in Valdivia, my companion in Elder Randall.  We then went to a hotel and I had the best night sleep ever!

We woke up got our visas in order and then we went to the stake center to meet our companions.  My companion, Elder Randall, is super cool, he is soft spoken but he is a really good teacher.  he has been out for about a year and he is from Missouri. (i have no idea how to spell it).  After that we went and had some delicious hot dogs.  They call them completos here.  and they are amazing! what you do is get a hot dog, get some sturdy bun, and then you put chopped up tomatoes and guacamole (not real guac. it is just smashed avocados) and then you put on some cheese.  It is incredible. 

Then we went to our sector.  We are in the Estanque Branch.  They have been struggling in the branch for the last year.  Missionary work is really slow right now... we have three investigators right now so it has been really hard.  We spend most of our time knocking doors and street contacting.  We have got a lot of references this past week so we will see where we are by the end of the week.  My companion has only been in this sector for 2 weeks, so we are still trying to get to know all of the active people in the ward.  That is the thing, There are hundreds of members, i think about 550 just in our ward, but only 90 or so of them are active. most of our work is reactivating people.

The water here is amazing! i was never a believer in good tasting water until i came here.  It is amazing.  The water is super cold right out of the tap and super pure.  The Food is incredible! we do not have a mamacita like the rest of the mission. The members feed us here. And it is incredible.  They are always giving us bread and fruit. I love it.  Our house is probably the nicest apartment in the entire mission.  We just moved in and we have an awesome location an awesome shower and just a really nice set up.  It reminds me a lot of our apartment in Spain.  I'll send you pics of it next week.  Most of the houses here are wood heated so we have to split the wood. The weather is very cold. Its 50 degrees outside right now but it feels like a good 25.  My hands have not been warm for days.  But it makes things feel more like an adventure.  At least there are no Fleas right now. I hear they get really bad. 

I took this pic this morning.  It is the first day since i got here that it has been sunny. It is super nice.  

Quick story.  So we were just about to leave for our house when my companion got a call from one of the members inviting us over for cake.  It was pretty late but we figured we could make it.  We get there and This guy is absolutely bonkers.  He is super nice but completely crazy,  he has tons of ear hair and nose hair and a lazy eye.  When he was pouring the soda he drooled a ton and the drool missed my cup by about 2 inches.  But he was really nice and kind of funny.  He reminds me a lot of Pepe.

I love you guys a ton and i love to hear from you.  If you see alex or kline tell them that i love them and am looking forward to their letters.

Love, 

 

Elder Paco 

 

finalmente

 

yippee, I'm done!

 

not really. but i am done with the mtc!  I just had my last meal and it was awful.  I cannot wait for some real food in the airport tonight.

 

Thank you a ton for your emails! they are the best!  I have been in a really good mood all today, because i know tomorrow i will be in Chile! This place has been sort of hard but the time has flown by, i cant believe it has already been six weeks. That's nuts.  This place has taught me a ton of valuable lessons and i am stoked to go out and apply them to the people.

 

I am going to call you guys once i get to Santiago. it will be between 8 am and 1 pm.  we have a five hour layover there because we fly form there to Puerto Montt.  it is going to be a tiny plane, and i am super excited.  So if anyone wants to talk to me be at the house.  Im so excited to talk to you guys!

 

as you can tell i am just really excited.  Bye! ill talk you when i get to Chile!

 

Adios,

Elder Paco Taco

 

The MTC is Terminado

 

¡Hi! 

 

¿Como estan?  I cannot beleive that this will be the last time i will be emailing you guys in the MTC!  I am so excited!!!  My teacher gave us a lesson yesterday about his mission.  He went to Argentina and loved the food, but he told us that he loved the Chilean food more.  he served right on the border so he knows a lot about both kinds of food.  But i really cant wait to get out in the feild so that i can really teach and preach the stuff that i have been learning my whole life!  So i might not be able to call you.... it depends on what Presidente Pratt tells us.  we will see.  I will check my email again tomorrow too. My companion leaves at 1 am tonight so i have to go around with the other elders from my mission.  And they are going to email as well. 

 

So this week has been hard.  Mostly because my concentration has been off.  I really had a hard time with calasses this week. but oh well. no more.  I am a ball of concentration now.  I cant wait to meet my trainer! i cannot wait. 

 

I talk every night with my dormmaits about our mission.  It is going to be awesome.  and i cannot wait to serve the Chileans.  All we do for service here is scrub walls with dirty rags until our service time is up.  But down there i have a feeling we will find lots more ways to serve. 

 

This is my companion.  he is in a hurry.

 

So this week some of the guys in our dorm decided to catch a ton of mosquitos and put them in a water jug and then let them all loose in our roommates room.  He is always getting mad at us for leaving the door open so they thought it would be super funny.  It was.  but i think I was punished for not doing anything about it because for the first night since the first week i got about 15 mosquito bites just on my hands.  he got it worse though, he got 23 on his face.  rough.

 

love you guys a ton.  ill probably send you another email tomorrow.

 

love

Elder Weston

 

 

 

 

 

 Week 5

 

dear acquaintance's,

 

how is everyone this fine week? i hope you are all fine.  One of the best parts of my week is when i get to read about how everyone is doing back home. I know it shouldn't be but this place is really starting to get the better of me.  I really can not wait until i go to Chile!  I am mostly excited about the food.  Yesterday we had hot dogs.  I honestly have never had anything like it before.  it tasted a little bit like spam but with less real meat.  We went to the temple today (it was amazing), and on the bus ride home that hot dog destroyed my insides.  I had to hold in some crazy urges for the 1 hour bus ride back to the CCM.  It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.  but i am alright now. 

 

So i found Hunter last Tuesday.  It was awesome to see someone i knew back home.  He is doing great.  he also enjoyed the hot dogs last night.

 

This week has been a lot harder than previous weeks... I am really struggling to keep focused, this being the last week in the CCM.  During our study time i find myself day dreaming of Chile.  Its not that this place is bad, its just that i finally want to apply what i have learned here to real life teaching.  But I am still learning more day by day. I do like this place a lot and it will be hard to say goodbye to my district, and to the ping pong tables.  My companion is playing in the devotional tonight and i will be in the choir.  I still really don't like to sing.  I have gone with my companion to the piano room for the past two weeks so that he can practice his piano.  I have heard the same song for 12.5 hours.  I am slowly going insane. And because i have to be with my companion at all times i got roped into the choir.  Oh well after tonight i am telling him no more piano for the next week.  maybe. if i can muster up the courage.  I have sung more here than i think any other person should ever have to sing.  maybe besides bruce springsteen.  We sing constantly, and i think i am finally getting used to it.

 

My life has changed a ton since i have come here I have really learned what it means to study, and what it means to teach.  And now i am way excited to get to Chile to apply every thing that i have learned here to my investigators.  I CANT WAIT. 

 

Well my companion is waiting for me so that he can go practice piano more. so i gots to go.  I love all of you guys so much.  I know that i am here on the Lords errand and that he will protect me.  Ill write you again once i get to Chile!

 

love,

Elder Steamer Borup

 Week 4

Hola! how is everyone doing? Sounds like you're doing good. I'm doing great! I got all of the various packages from Daniel Metro and through the mail.  They were amazing!!!  This week has been a little harder than past weeks and those packages just pepped me right up.  thank you so much.   I am really starting to count down the days until i leave for Osorno.  I can't believe I have been out for a month already.  The days are really starting to fly by.  I am a little conflicted though, i want to leave and go down to Chile but at the same time i feel like my spanish needs tons of improving.  I'm sure i'll be fine though. 

this is a view from right out side of our dorm room and it is what i woke up to this morning. 

I cant even begin to describe how amazing this place is.  we are surounded by mountains and it is always the perfect temperature.  There is an amzing spirit that is here and you can deffinently feel it. 

This week me and my compadre have really had to step up our game.  They added 3 more pretend investigators that we have had to prepare for, and less time to prepaire for them. but that is probably how it is going to be out in the feild.  Anyways we have had to adjust to how we study and how we prepair and it has all worked out fine. 

The ping pong net has been awesome! i found Daniel teusday night and we had a tournament because it was our pday. i won. But we found out we arent aloud to play games after 9:30 so we stopped. Total Obedience. At least we try.

My compadre Elder Beach is going to the Farmington NM mission.  He is super excited because most of his mission is on the Indian reservation.  Durango is also in his mission and so i have been telling him all about the million dollar highway.  And luckly Hermana is going to a different mission then me so i probably won't ever to see her after the mtc. 

I have been rocking the book of mormon this entire week.  i am already on alma 20.  That Book is amzing!  I am excited to share it with all of Chile. They will love it for sure.  I have gotten so much more out of it because i have been taking notes and writting down all of my thoughts. 

I think i am already startting to get weird.  When ever i take a break for studdying i go over to the window and just stare at the birds.  I have no idea why but i have developed a strange interest in them.  Right outside our classroom window there is a huge tree and in the tree there are at least 50 or 60 parakeets at any given time.  I just look at them and watch their behavior.  I am woried about myself.  Oh and every time i hear a plane i look up and watch it until it is out of view.

Over all i think my sanaty is mostly there.  Once i am done here we are going to go play volleyball with our branch, and before that we are going to trade ties.  i dont know if i want to get rid of any of mine yet but we will see. by the way mom those ties that you sent to me were amazing!  all of my district wants them but they will never have them.  thank you so much. 

I am really looking forward to seeing Hunter.  i miss that guy. And it will be nice to see a familliar face. Good old Pancho. (spainsh name in elementry) 

This week i made a funny spanish mistake.  i was going to go sit down and i said voy a sentir me, which means i am going to feel myself, what i meant was voy a sentar me, but the damage is done and i get made fun of every day. its alright though, it was super funny.

i probably should be going.  I love all of you guys. it has only been a month and i can already tell this is going to be the best two years for my life.  I really don't like being a way from home but it is going to all be worth it.  Till next week.

Love,

Elder Paco Borup

First Letter from MTC

 

I made it! it wasn¨t even that bad. there were ten of us all going  to chile osorno mission in dallas we met up with two more going to chile rancagua mission.  the MTC is great so far.  i dont have a companion yet but i think he will be arriving later today. 

  

So on the plane from Salt Lake City to Dallas i was able to talk to this really cool guy.  He was from Tampa and he was in Salt Lake to visit family. He sat in between me and a sister missionary who had already been in the mtc for six weeks.  We saw that he had a bible in his hand and asked him what religion he was a part of he said that he didnt really beleive too much in organized religion! Boy did I have an awnser for him.  but the sister sitting on the other side of him beat me to the punch. We had a great discusion that lasted all of the flight.  We talked about the first vission and the plan of salvation, and the trinity. He wasnt crazy about what we were saying but he definantly was interested, especially when we told him how long we were going to serve.  At the end of it i gave him the Book of Mormon dad had given me right before we left and asked if he would read it.  He said he would and then he had us write our email addresses on the tittle page.  I cant think of a better way to start the mission. 

 

I am really blessed to have travled so much growing up.  i felt confident and safe while traveling.

 

so we got our schedule right when we got here, and boy is it packed.  tuesday is my temple and preperation day. i hope i can get to go there a lot.  but it is one of the most beutiful places ive seen. 

 

This is going to be a great experience and although i will miss you guys a lot I know that this is the lords work and that Joseph Smith is a real prophet and so is Thomas S. Monson.  Love all of you (especialy izzy).  I hope that by the time i get back i will have the confidence.

Love,

       Elder Weston Borup

 

 

We got this email  the next morning.

So my companion came at 10:30 last night.  he is awesome, he has great spanish and i hope i can learn from him.  but what is really great about him is that he is a huge lord of the rings fan.  we get along great and so far we still havent had any kind of instruction, besides go to breakfast.  it is beutiful here, we have a gigantic campus that has lots of benches and parks.  We do have our own shower and bathroom.  there is a small problem with mosquitos though. I have completely unpacked and everything is either hung up or folded.  if you could send me my emunization dates through email in the next few days that would be amazing. love you.

 

Elder Borup 

 

I think that the best way to contact me is still through email. I think it would fun though to get some letters.  i have no idea how often we would get them but it would still be fun. 

 Week 3

 

This has been an awesome week.  Thank you so much for the emails, they mean a lot to me.  This place is getting a little monotonous but i am loving it.  I learn more and more every day and the spanish is coming along slowly but surely. 

 

its good to hear how every one is doing.  Dad you need to get that paddle for the long board. that sounds awesome. Mom thank you so much for cleaning my room for me and for sending that stuff down. i havent seen any busses come in yet but i will find Daniel Metro when i see them start to come in. How should i send the camera back?  we get tons of new missionaries in every week and so far none have left. besides the latinos who only stay for 2 weeks.  Have you gotten any of my letters yet? i have sent 8 so far. 

 

Dear, Scott

 

Happy Birthday Scott. I hope it was a good day. 

 

Sincerely,

Weston

 

P.S. I cant wait to murder you in solitaire

 

So this week we had a ton of lessons to teach. we got two new pretend investigators and me and my companion are killing it.  I hope we can get them to commit to baptism before the end of this week.  probably not.  I hope though.  Our branch president, Presidente Machado, challenged us to re read the book of mormon before we leave.  Initially i was upset with that because i was in ether chapter 12.  I decided to take notes though while i read, it has helped me so much.  You get so much out of the scriptures when you are writting every thought that comes into your mind. It has been fun and i am already to 2nd Nefi ch. 15.  it has been a very rewarding experience. 

 

This week for Pday we ran out of ping pong balls so we have been playing volleyball.  haha! It has been super fun though.  all of the elders in  my districto play and it is awesome!  I am not good at all but it is still very fun.  maybe by the time i get back i will be able to feel confident enough to play at the swain christmas party.  probably not.  but maybe.

 

i played one of my roommates in pingpong today.  he said he was the best in his entire district. Whooped his bottom.  It was great. Thanks dad for teaching me all of the tips and tricks. Cant wait to get home so i can beat you.

 

It is weird how much has happened in a week and how little i can remember from it.... there is a story about Hermana though.  She has been sick all week, and when she blew her nose this sunday something unearthly came out. She then went around and showed everyone in the entire building what came out.  she is just the best.   

 

Durring testimony meeting this week something crazy happened. Hermana was bearing her testimony and i had zonned out.   I was just sitting there thinking about lunch, when all of a sudden i felt this weird feeling.  I heard her say something about her Gandma who had died a while back. I started thinking about Grandpa Borup and how dad said i would feel closer to him on my mission.  And then i just started crying.  I felt his love. And i felt the love from all of you guys back home.  It was like our whole familly was in a room together again.  It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  I know that we will all get to see Grandpa again. I felt it. 

I love all of you guys so much. 

 

Love,

Elder Weston Borup

 

P.S. i havent seen anyone from our stake here, but so far i have seen two from my school. Cameron Burr and Trevor OBrion. And the food is still aweful. the highlight of the week was when we got cereal dispensors. I have had fruit loops for breakfast every day. and some times for dinner.  And so far i weigh the exact same as i left. 

Week 2 in the Mexico MTC

Week 2 in the Mexico MTC

Hey hey hey!!!  How is it going every body? It’s good to hear from everyone.  I love reading all of these letters; it makes me feel like I am back home when I get all of them.  It’s good to hear bout ocean side and all of that chocolate sounds amazing.  I have a quick request before I get into how my week went... would you message lots of my friends to try and get their addresses? I have been writing everyone I can, and sending them through the church mail service to our house.  I hope you can tell all of them that I have mail for them.

This place is still amazing.  Tell hunter and the new kid to bring fly swatters though.  They will be the heroes of their district.  Their are so many mosquitoes here we have started a new game to see who can kill the most of them in our classroom.  I am winning be miles. The other day I killed 16 in one morning.  It’s a new found talent. 

My companion elder beach is a really cool guy. He is from Atlanta, Georgia. The only problem with him is that he is a UofU fan.... we try to avoid the topic of college sports as much as we can.  But really he is a great guy.  He is almost completely fluent in Spanish and he helps me a ton. 

My district is awesome... except one hermana.   She is a nightmare, she is super loud, she flirts with every elder in the entire mtc, she is super inappropriate, and she can not sensor herself.  The other day I accidentally fell asleep in the computer lab while studying Spanish and she thought it would be hilarious if she gave me a wet Willie. I was very angry.  She has had lots of conversations with the zone leaders and the branch president but so far nothing has worked.  But, as a district, we are doing very good. So don’t worry too much.

Besides that though everything is great. I have memorized the first vision and the missionary purpose in English and Spanish and I am working on heleman 5¨12.  The rest of our district is awesome.  I have started talking more and more. And our lessons with our pretend investigators are going better because of it.  I feel like I am getting a little bit better at Spanish but it is still difficult.  Pray for me. I need all of the help I can get. 

I gave a talk in sacrament meeting the other day. It went ok but I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been.  Presidente Mechado is our branch president, and he doesn’t believe I assigning a talk to a specific person. He tells all of us the topic and expects us to prepare a 5 min talk and then he picks who will give it in sacrament meeting.  Dad I think this is a really good idea for what you should implement in our wards sacrament meeting.  It is super intimidating though. And not everyone prepares.  But I will have 5 talks in Spanish ready for me to use when I finally go out in the mission field. 

Our mission president is Presidente Pratt for colonial Juarez.  He reminds me a lot of grandpa Borup.  He was in our branch when I gave my talk.

Ping-pong is the best stress reliever I have found.  I play it every day. My entire district is about at the same skill level.  So it makes things very interesting.  If Daniel has room for ping pong paddles and balls and a net he would be my hero.  We have some paddles but they are really awful and almost all of them are on their last leg.  We only have two balls left. An elder had his mom send down a whole box and now they are almost all gone. 

They do have a store here and that is where I bought all of my stamps I think I will buy lots more before I leave.  I have never written so much in my entire life.  Its fun. 

I only have a couple more minutes so I’m going to finish up. I rely love this place. I miss home a ton.  I miss all of you guys.  But I know that this is where I am supposed to be.  The spirit here is amazing. There are almost 600 of us here now, all of us going around the world to different countries.  I know that this is the only true church.  I love all of you guys

Elder Weston Burrup

First week

hello hello! This will be the first of many letters.  How are all of you doing? Good? good.  Because i am doing great.  this has been one of the fastest weeks of my life.  it feels like I just got here. Missoinary work is so much fun it makes the days blur together.  i miss all of you guys so much but this is where i am supossed to be right now. 

So this mexico mtc is one of the greatest places i have ever been in my whole life.  it has the most beutiful grounds in the world.  The weather here is very predictable. here is a forecast for the next 6 weeks; Little chilly in the morning sunny and warm at noon and then severe thunder storms in the evening. its not anything like i thought it would be.  The food is either delicious or completely unedible, most of the times it is delicious but you always need to eat as much as you can when it is because you dont know when you are going to have to go without food.  I am loving all of the classes and i am learning a lot, my teacher hermano robinson is the best, and my spanish is getting much better.  Mi compañero is awesome. his mom is from chile, and he has been telling me about all of the good things there are to eat down there, it sounds amazing.  we get along great and as a bonus he loves lord of the rings and pingpong ( they have two really nice tables in the gym).  This is a really great place, but right now they are still in a rush to set everything up and get everything organized.  besides that i love it here. 

Class is always fun and you can normaly feel the spirit.  We have the best districto in the entire mtc.  every one is super funny and we are always laughing.  there is one crazy hermana in our district. all of the other districts simply know her as hermana crazy or hermana annoying.  she is very very loud and she always has a completely unrelated story that had nothing to do with anything.  but overall class is great. we are really learning to teach with the spirit, and even though we are not doing to well with our practice investigator, we can feel the spirit every time.

everyday we have 50 min of exercise.  most of the time i play ping pong with my district, but i am starting to love to play soccer.  it may be a sissy euro sport but it is lots of fun when you play with no rules.  my comp is amazing at soccer. 

we got to go to the temple earlier today. it was amazing. they had lots of aztec designs and it was awesome.

its really good to hear from you guys, good to know that moms ffeeling better.  I know where the longboard is.  It is in the back of Alex's car. use my phone and text him and tell him to drop it by the house on sunday.  really sorry i forgot to take it out when i went to the canyon with him.  dont bother with the ipod i have dads old black one.  but if you could send down the portable pingpong net and some paddles and a few balls that would be beyond amazing. i had forgoten how much i love ping pong.

They have three sprinter vans!

My district at the Temple

Studying with elder teddy and my roommates