Monday, March 30, 2009

6 months - CRAZY

Hola mi familia y mi amigos,
THANKS SO MUCH for the emails mom, dad, nikki, and kim. Well, wednesday is happy 6 months to me on my mission...I can´t believe how much time has gone by. I have a little suprise in the mail for you all, hopefully it will make it, I think you all will be happy. Well, I was able to get some envelopes in the mail. MUCHAS GRACIAS!!! I got my medicine, garments, chocolate, awesome DVD and picture book. Wow, that will be so awesome to use when teaching. Actually both of them. My comp is really enjoying all the treats you send. haha. Well, this week we have a missionary concert in the town next to us and the elders are putting it on and yes we have to sing. But also, we were thinking of showing this dvd you gave me. It would be awesome. It´s supposed to be pretty huge, the mission president and his family are coming and they are singing. So we´ll see how that goes. Oh also, p day is next wednesday and not monday because it is change day, I hope and pray I don´t change, but I´ll go where He wants me to go...So depending on that we´ll see about email, please still email. Anyways, tomorrow is interviews. You know me and interviews, job,work, school, church, they all make me nervous. Oh we found out who are new mission president is he´s a Latin from Argentina or Paraguay. So that will be another scarey change, but one I don´t have to worry about for a while. I´ll get pretty used to change I think by the end. Also, I am so excited for general conference. Today the Crums took me and Hna Wilson to that giant statue of General Artigus, the one they took me to before but Hna wilson hasn´t seen it. We also went to an Uruguayan cememtary it was really interesting. Lots of sculptures and they just put them in boxes over the ground. It´s like a little city. It was a nice pday. Yesterday, we decided to reenact the story of the good samaritan. We were far away on our bikes and my comp´s bike broke. We decided to knock on some houses and we were right next to a another church. We talked to one lady who was outside her house and she´s like no I can´t help you I´m from this other christian church and pointed to the one we were by, and we´re like we just want a wrench, but she was like no no. And so we went next door and this guy with kind of a tough exterior helped us and took like 45 minutes of his time to help us take off the tire clean out the bolts, etc. etc. It was so kind. Then we gave him a pamphlet and got his name and address and to find out he lived in the other area so we gave his name to the Crums. But he was so awesome. It was like a modern day good samaritan story. It was really cool. We also were really excited yesterday because a couple we´ve been working with came to church after he worked the graveyard shift for 12 hours. It was like their test and they still came and he´s a member of like 7 years and he wants to come back and she wants to be baptized, but they need to get married so we´re working on that. It´s a struggle to get married here. It´s really sad. We´re going to try to talk the judge here to see if we can work out a way to get married faster and easier. We´ll see how that goes. Well, it´s been a good and hard week. It´s pretty warm here. But I love you all. Thanks for everything so so much.
con amor, Tiffani

Monday, March 23, 2009

Hola and happy belated st. patricks day

Hola mi familia y mi amigos…
Happy belated St. Patty’s Day! I hope you all found your pot o’ gold. :) I found mine…well two...two great packages. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!! I LOVE IT. I finally got my raspberry gingerale, they were full of yummy food items, I had to rip them open real fast and then run over and do email, so I’ll explore more later. THANKS SO MUCH. I LOVE IT.
I’m glad to hear your week has gone well. Thanks for the emails Dad, Mom, and Kim. I loved them. I read them like 5 or 6 times. :)
Well, another week has gone by. Boy, this change has flown. I know I still have 2 weeks but still. Anyways, I have to say Hna Wilson is an amazing companion and I am so grateful for her. This week she got sick with a sinus infection and had to miss a few days of work, she still went out for little bit. The Crums took care of her like they did me. On the second day I called a member (with her help) and I went to charlas with her for like 2 hours. I got so good studying in this week because of it though, but it was soooo scarey. Because I really just bear my testimony, normally. And so I had to teach a first lesson in like 5 minutes because the woman was really busy, but I asked the member to bear her testimony and so she started bearing her testimony about baptisms for the dead, resurrection and the word of wisdom. And then she kept telling the lady that I didn’t understand anything. And I was thinking you know I don’t understand much, but I sure understand all your saying and I had no idea what to do. So I just bore my testimony at the end and said we’ll be back to explain more because she needed to go. It was actually pretty funny, because that poor woman had no idea what the member was talking about and was just nodding her head. We have a return appt. this week, we’ll see how it goes. But it was nice of her to help. I was able to practice sharing scriptures and teaching basic principles. I know I had some divine help, because I didn’t understand a lot.
Also, this week we got the bikes fixed and so we are using bikes. We really fly and it’s so nice, except it’s really hard to make street contacts and my backside is extrodinarily sore. Hopefully, I’ll get use to it. But it so fun to ride a bike I felt like a little kid again.
On Sunday the Crums had a baptism after church, because the father works every other day. It was a family a father, mother, and daughter. It was exciting. It was really different because at twelve a clock right after sacrament we had the baptism so Hna Crum made a pizza for the kids to munch on and then we had the program. I played the piano. And you’re not going to believe this but I sang a duet with a solo part for the baptism for like 50 people. It was terrifying. And my companion has a gorgeous voice but she insisted a duet. So we sang I like to look for rainbows in Spanish of course and I sang the first verse. CRAZY I know. Poor people’s ears :) Anyways, so yeah. And we had some really neat investigators 3 women, come to the baptism and they don’t have a problem with the law of chastity, unlike pretty much the rest of our investigators. It is so hard to get married and almost everyone has a problem with it here. Anyways, exciting.
Sunday night I got a phone from the offices saying I needed to go down to Montevideo today by nine fifteen in the morning to sign an immigration paper. So we woke up bright and early and went. But they said they would bring our packages to us. YEAH!!!! And so I went to immigration with some missionairies from the Montevideo west mission some hermanas I knew in the MTC and it was so cool to see them again. It was fun the visit. And then we came back and The Crums made us good old American or Mexican American taco salad. It was fabulous. They are so neat and spoil us rotten. 
Well, I have to be off, but thanks sooo much for everything. I love you and miss you. You’re always in my prayers. Have a great week. When you send the next package no need to make an extra one just whenever could you send chunky peanut butter and knee high nylons, we have to start wearing them again and I tear them a lot. THANKS. I LOVE YOU!!! Happy week.

Con amor, Tiffani

Monday, March 16, 2009

Hola

Hola mi familia y amigos,
Well, first thanks mom, dad, nikki, and kim for the emails. Truly appreciate them.
This week has gone by fast. Super fast...It´s been getting cooler which is a huge blessing it feels like fall in March. The seasons are still really wierd. This week we went to a anniversery party for our ward mission leader and it´s similar to a reception down here they have a devotional on marriage and lots of good food. It was interesting to see. And it was nice to interact with the branch more. It really is a good branch down here. The members are neat. We also had quite a few storms this week. It was crazy one storm came out of no where and huge dark clouds came over the hills and engulfed the sky so quickly we ran into a store to get an umbrella and called our investigador to see if we could come early because she lived right there and fortunately she was there. Big blessing. The storms here are crazy and later I saw an incredible lightening storm. I´ve never seen anything like that. So I got to wear my rain gear a lot this week. Also, this past week we had zone conference, which was soooo neat. We got up at 4 am friday to take a bus down to Montevideo, about a two hour ride. Then we were instructed from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. The spirit was so strong as the President and his wife talked to us. It was a really great experience. At one part he talked about that story from Elder Uchtdor where the plane was 1 degree off and he told us that we were doing well, but that we needed to be 100 percenters and not 99 percenters. He talked a lot about the small things that make the difference. It was inspiring and I left with a resolve to want to do better. I also am understanding more which is a blessing. During lunch they gave us pizzas and then sang to all those who were going to have a birthday and they sang to me and gave me homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was fun. I don´t know the other misionaries well but they are really fun to talk to and get to know. Afterwards, we went to the distribution center and I got some dvds and we watched one today in the church for companion ship study with the Crums, On the Lord´s Errand the life of Thomas S. Monson. It was incredible. What an incredible man and prophet. On saturday our district went to Soleis a town 40 minutes away and helped the elders there do contacts and find people because they´re struggling a bit. It was interesting, kind of fun. Our bus broke down, and so I got a nap and another bus came and saved us. On sunday we had a miracle. We have been teaching this neat family for 2 weeks, the dad is a member but inactive and when we found them he wanted his wife to be baptized and she loves it. Well, they both came to church and we told them saturday we would go pick them up well walk to them and the amazing thing is they were ready to go and I could tell he was nervous but the ward welcomed them with open arms and they seemed to really enjoy it. I hope I can stay to see her baptized. We have found some neat people. There is a good chance I will be changed April 8th, I hope not but you never know. I really love Minas it´s beautiful and the people are so neat. Sunday night after planning we hung out with the crums again suprise suprise they had been gone for 4 days in montevideo and so they made us hot chocolate and we caught up a bit. They´re amazing. Time is sure flying this change...I really appreciate my companion a lot.
Thanks for the letters. I love them. I didn´t get any packages, I hope they haven´t gotten lost. Could you send me more medication please. As well as Ibprofun or advil or something, just for aches and pains, I´m getting old here. hehe. I´m excited for my packages on the way. That sleeping bag liner I talked about earlier is pretty neat and really small and my comp says it keeps the body 15 degrees warmer. My comp says she´s giving her folks your email and so you can see her emails and could you ask them what kind of sleeping bag liner they sent her. I´m a little nervous about this cold. But we´ll climb that mountain when it comes and I only have to do it once. YEAH! I LOVE YOU MUCHOS. I am glad all is well. Have a great week!

con amor, Tiffani

Monday, March 9, 2009

Whew...what a week!

Hola mi familia y mi amigos,
Well, first thanks so much dad for the two emails and mom for yours and nikki for yours. THANKS. I love them. Oh last week I think mom´s email was cut off. Congrats Joseph on baseball and your future speaking in church. What great things to do. Also, I never thought I´d hear nikki and football in the same sentence but it sounds like your having fun. haha.

We haven´t found Juana yet, I think she moved out to the country so she might not ever be found unfortunately but keep praying and thanks. I´m glad the mtc is great as always for you mom and I´m glad those kids in your sunday school class are good for you, they´re sure lucky to have you. Hello bougan...hehe. I love you all so much your words and prayers help so much. I´m excited for the treats on the way. Oh my comp has a blog her name is sariah wilson and so maybe you can find hers.

Well, this past week I got the chicken pox, yes that´s right the chicken pox. The ironic thing we were talking about wierd medical things earlier and then I woke up with them all over my stomach and I felt kind of blah. I thought of chicken pox because this family we visit frequently has had them and the dad has had a really bad herpes infection on his face. And so...I didn´t know for sure because I had had them before but I had hna crum check and she researched it and the second time it doesn´t come back as bad and it starts on your stomach. Fortuantely it just stayed on my stomach and back. And friday and saturday I was quarantined to my apartment. I felt bad because I didn´t feel that sick and we had to find a bunch of members to help. But my comp had some great charlas so that was a blessing, and I studied a lot. Apparently I was contagious until the sores start scabbing and by sunday I was able to go church, but hna crum said don´t kiss any kids or pregnant people to make sure. And the miracle is I haven´t been that sick, and I feel fine now. The crums were so nice and helpful and babysat me some of the time. hehe.
Today we went to an amazing place, Punte Del Este, the richest place in uruguay and on the coast. It was incredible. We played on the beach volley ball and soccer and then we walked on the beach and it was incredible. That area reminds me of florida. It was so fun. We then went to burger king and that was sooooo good. Good ole american food. It´s been really neat. Gorgeous, Gorgeous and march is the best time to go...hint hint. Anyways, It´s been quite a week. We might get bikes because our area is so big that could be interesting especially in skirts. Spanish is still pretty rough but my comp and I are trying to talk as much as we can. She´s so nice. I didn´t know you could have fun and work hard at the same time. She kind of reminds me of nikki. I ate my first really disgusting food this week cold rice and tuna and lumpy carmel pudding, but it was from such a poor kind family that my comp and I was praying that I could eat it and not be sick and I did. What a blessing. It´s been raining a lot this past week and that has been a cool relief.

I have zone conference this friday so I´ll let you know how that goes. THe president has asked us to prepare a 5 minute talk in spanish and he´ll call on some people. I hope it´s not me.

Well, I love you all so much. Thanks for everything. I´m sorry I haven´t written any letters my pdays have been booked. I love hearing about everything and it´s not boring at all as some of you have said. I truly treasure it all. I know the prayers are working. I LOVE YOU.

con amor, Tiffani

Monday, March 2, 2009

Five months have already gone by...

Hola mi familia and amigos,
Thanks for the emails mom and dad...they are so comforting. so i got a envelope today and it was great with mms and medicine. thank you and I got the envelope the with ranch seasonings and candy. THANK YOU!!!!! i loved it all. i also got letters from tylie johnson and darrel thomas will you thank them for me please. i don´t have lots of time to write on pdays, it´s a day of rest but we´re going and going it seems.
Well, this past week and half a lot has happened we had a mission conference and it was great, the spirit was incredible Elder Jensen and Elder Zivic are amazing. There were two hundred missionaries in a room and it was awesome. I got to shake both there hands. I also got to see my old companions hna yeates and hna orme it was so exciting and they are so encouraging. I said goodbye to my trainer and have a really nice companion hna wilson. And the great thing is I haven´t got too lost. I have a lot of divine help. The Crums are really helpful and kind. We ate Sunday lunch with them...another american roast and potatoes. They are so awesome and encouraging. On Sunday evening, the Crums invited us to a charla and they invited the family to be baptized. It was amazing. It was a man and his wife and they were so excited. It was neat. We have found so many new people these past few days and hopefully we can see them progress it´s neat. Well, on Saturday we were walking to lunch and then these two girls asked us if we could carry these big bags to help them to their house and it was far but we did and then we were able to come back and teach them and there whole family. It was awesome.
Today we have had a good pday...we cooked some frozen pizzas and doctored them with some of the stuff you gave me. We have a gas oven and so we have to use a newspaper to light it and that is scary and it was my first time and all I can say it was a good thing my comp had water near by. It was so scary and funny at the same time, but we have the hang of it.
Sorry this is short...thanks for the emails again dad and mom they really help me a lot. you asked if i wanted something for winter my comp says a sleeping bag liner is really good for the winter, so will you look into that. and as for bday...i really like clothes. haha. I love you all. thanks again.
con amor Tiffani