FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!!!!!

Hola mi familia and amigos,
First thanks so much for the phone call. It was the best christmas gift I recieved. Also, thanks for the packages of food, you will see pictures of how well it used. THANKS. I really aprecieated the emails Dad, Mom, Nikki, Stefi, Joseph, Kim, and the Crums. Both weeks. Well, the past few days have been exciting. It´s been a rainy muggy hot christmas, but that doesn´t stop the excitement.On Thursday we at e christmas eve dinner at out president of the rama´s house which was good. I brought a kenny rogers salad and they liked it. We couldn´t eat with them because they eat at 12 at night and we had to be back by 11 on christmas eve. But they packed us dinner and then walked us home. At 12 the war started and there were fireworks eveywhere it was gorgeous. I´m going to take pictures the 31st because it´s a bigger show. We also set baptismal date for the first of january it´s for a 11 year girl but she´s excited to start the year out clean and a member. On Saturday we had a service project removing paint from a house of an invesigador with the bishopric. It was hard work, but it was fun to help and she was grateful. In the afternoon we ate with this family that lives 40 minutes away from us. So a member of the bishopric drove us out there which was super nice and this family lives on a ranch with horses and animals and a pool and everything. It´s super nice. They offered us to ride the horses but we can´t unfortunetly. But we fed the horses and we milked the cow. THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE…It was kind of fun. It´s not as gross as it looks and it´s quite the work out on the hands and arms. But it was fun. And then on Sunday we had a charla with this great family we´ve been teaching the Family Gonzalez and we watched the temple movie “Between Heaven and Earth” and then we challenged them to go to the temple in one year on January 9. We´ve asked to be baptized before and they always say a quick no. But this time they said they would think about it. The are scared of the changes and the rules. But we were brave enough to bring our branch president because he had to change a lot to be baptized and he shared a good testimony. Kind of put us down a little bit because we were born in the church and don´t understand. But I quickly said we had to find our own testimonies just as much as you all. Silly guy. But it was a good lesson. And we have a lesson with them tomorrow. I pray pray pray they accept tomorrow. Please pray for them. Thanks so much for everything. I LOVE YOU ALL MUCHO!!!! Here´s some photos, one is of a pig they normally cook for christmas. It´s actually really good. Have a great week and happy new years. Talk to you next week. Thanks for your prayers, I´m feeling better.
Con amor, Tiffani

Merry Christmas!!! (from 12/14)

Hey everyone,
Thanks for the emails Mom, Dad, Kim, and Naomi (I mean Hna Bell). Congrats Joseph on doing so well in your tournament. Thanks so much for the package of the CDs and the boxes and the money, and alergy medicine. THANKS THANKS. I really really appreciated it all. So last week was interviews, and I asked about the phone call. We have one hour on Christmas to talk to you all. I don´t know if we´ll have a pday on monday or if christmas is. I have no idea. But can you call me at 3pm our time and I think it´s 10am your time, I hope that hour works. Five hours difference. I went to countrycodes.com and couldn´t find progreso but Las Piedras is the city closest to us so I hope it works, if not, after 15 minutes I´ll call you. I´m not changing as you already know. I´m glad I didn´t want to change right before the holidays (It´s already rough enough). Did you also know that changes are now on tuesday so that means you can come wednesday in April. I don´t know if they told you that. But anyways, we went to tres cruces anyways the big bus station where everyone meets for changes because we live kind of close. So I saw Hna Yeates and Orme and Vera. Hna Vera is done. It´s crazy. It was fun seeing everyone. This friday we have a big mission conference for Christmas. That will be fun. Yesterday Alejandro that was baptized the week before was confirmed and then he bore his testimony and he was really excited. I´m glad for him. Also, this really great family we´re teaching the parents came to sacrament, it was exciting. The wife Yolanda has a testimony but Gustavo her husband is kind of here and there. Then the next day we had a family home evening with the president and his wife (I know...but we brought the wife) And at the end it turned in to a make fun of testimony meeting session between gustavo and the president. I was just shaking my head. However, they were talking though a couple of days ago saying how they wanted to the temple work for their family. And I´m like yay,first you need to be baptized. But they are thinking about it. I really hope they get baptized. Last week we had interviews and it was kind of a call to repentance, to do our 140 contacts every week. He´s like I know you can´t control baptisms or people in church but you can control this and it will help you focus and bring greater joy in your life. He did it really lovingly, but I felt bad and so we did our contacts last week and are going to do so. He did that with basically all the missionaries. But I did feel better after doing them last week. I have a really good zone and then after we all ate lunch together at a restaurant. So, that´s kind of what happened this past week. Thanks for everything, I love you all. Talk to you next week, maybe write you too on monday, I don´t know.
con amor, Tiffani

Next week´s changes...

Hey everyone,
Thanks for the emails and photos Dad. That´s a ton of snow you´re having. It´s really pretty. Also, thanks for the emails Mom, Nikki, and Kim. I also want to thank Uncle and Aunt Julie, Dawn, and Hna Wilson (Sariah), and grandma Mohrman for the letters, I really appreciate them. Just as a heads up next week is changes, I have no idea what will happen if I stay or go or what so just so you know I´ll have pday tuesday (most likely..things sometimes change) and I´ll check it really early just so ya know. We also didn´t have interviews or zone conference last week so we have them tomorrow, so next week I´ll let you know how it goes. Well, last week had a baptism with Alejandro and he´s really excited about it. The branch president and counselors were against it, so that was hard, but we felt he was sincere and our district leader did also. We had stake conference yesterday which was really good so he´ll be confirmed next week. I had to call the mission president because the branch president was going to do it all in one day and I so I called and the mission president said to wait, and that didn´t fly well with the branch president either and he didn´t even show up to the baptism. It´s been very dramatic these past few weeks in this little branch. I feel like writing a book called Progreso, the rengade branch. Because they like to do things their own way. I really like the president he´s a good, but he told me once I don´t care what the stake president, or the leader, or an apostle tells me I will do what the Lord wants me to do. So they´re a bit rebelious and then they get upset when the ward members are rebelious. We have so much contention and back biting and drama. It just makes me sad because this is not how The Church of Jesus Christ should be. After the baptism some forever investigadors who need to get married started having a YELLING match with the one counselor that came and in front of investigadors and just accusing him of stupid things and telling them what horrible leaders they are. I am just like, who do you think you are, you´re not even members. And I´m like how can we help this branch. But 3 or four times this week I´ve been on late night phone calls of talking sessions with some recent converts who just have problems and don´t want to find solutions but want to vent. And I´m just like I´m not a therapist and if they don´t want to turn to the Lord then there is nothing that can help them. But I´m really just scratching the surface on the problems in Progreso. But we´ll just keep being missionaries and trying our best. I´ve learned a lot about respecting and supporting leaders and trying to build an area instead of tearing it down by complaining. It´s just sad. I really want to help this area. We had a really good family home evening and played uno with this amazing family, flia gonzalez, and the dad gave the lesson it was amazing. I love them, they just have some doubts and won´t accept a baptism date. We decided to fast for them yesterday. I really want to help them. Oh, at stake conference I don´t know if you remember but I told you about this woman Norma that we found during general conference as we doing contacts in the other city and she came to conference the next day. Well, the elders have been teaching her and she is so awesome and progressing. I saw her at stake conference yesterday and it was so great she goes I´m learning and I´m trying to help my family understand these great things. It was so neat. I hope she gets baptized also.

con amor, Tiffani

weekly email

Hola mi famila,
Thanks for the emails Dad, Mom, Stefi, and Nikki. Also, thanks Hna Bell and Mitch for the letters.
This past week was good we set a baptismal date with this man named Alejandro for friday. He was going to get baptized the 21st of november, but after Hna Rogers left he kind of dropped out of site. I kind of thought she was the reason, so I called to see what was up and if he still wanted to get baptized the 21st and he said he´d talk about in church. He didn´t come. So we dropped him. Well, the next sunday he shows up and he calls a meeting with the counselor and us and kind of complains and whines to the counselor that he wanted to get baptized and we weren´t helping him. Well, that was not true at all and I told him straight up, what he did. So we straightened some things out and had some charlas with him and set his own fecha for this friday. He started being a lot more nicer and is very excited his baptism. The fight isn´t over, there is a little more drama the president of the branch doesn´t like him, but we´re praying for him and Alejandro and the President will come and support it, just more drama. I felt like a therapist this past week we had a lot of people call us for emergency charlas literally crying to us there problems. I´m sure glad I´m not a bishop. I felt really bad and helpless. But this week work wise will be good, we´re trying super hard to be obedient to get all the help we can get. We have zone conference and interviews with the president this thursday. And then alejandro´s baptism friday (we´re praying). We also have stake conference sunday and some investigadors are really excited. Yesterday we made our thanksgiving dinner it was super good and we made brownies, thanks for the food again. Also, today we made a thanksgiving dinner as a zone and got permission to watch the "Other side of Heaven". On thanksgiving we ate with our branch president and made him turkey card, it was so funny there reactions, they don´t eat turkey here. Yesterday was the elections for uruguay and the communist party president won. Very sad. I´m serving in a communist country. It´s also been super crazy weather we´ve had a lot of heat (as you can see by my sundburns) and yet rain EVERY day for the past 2 and a half weeks. I love you all.
con amor, Tiffani