My homecoming talk...

Thanks so much to all who have supported and helped me on my mission. It was a incredible experience. I'll be giving my homecoming talk on May 16th in Payson at 1:30pm. The address is 100 South 700 East right across the street from a old old school. All are invited!!! Nos vemos!!!!

LAST EMAIL FROM URUGUAY

Hola mi famila y mi amigos,
I decided to write you all one last time. Como andan? I hope all is well. Thanks for the emails Dad (a couple), Nikki, and Kim. Well, last week was really good, so wierd it was my last week as a missionary. But it was good. We found a few new people to help the area keep growing, which is really great. We had some rain storms as well. Always fun we sang and danced in the rain. And we had interviews with President, it was a good interview we did it tuesday so I had a week left exactly and he said remember the Savior how he endured to the end and then said it was finished on the cross. It was a really good analogy. So I tried to do that. Then on saturday we celebrated my birthday with pizza from Hna Thompson and she post stick noted our whole apartment in the night with good things about me. It was really nice. And a great confidence booster. We had stake conference on sunday and it was really nice, our mission president spoke and then a counselor in the temple presidency about the temple. I really want to go at least once a week when I get back. And then on Sunday night, my uruguayan grandparents made me cake and pizza and we celebrated my birthday on sunday, it was so kind of them. And that week we were obedient and did our 140 contacts. Good way to finish the last week. On monday, I had a great day as well. We found 2 new people to teach and so I got to teach the first lesson one last time, I was happy about that. And then we did our 20 contacts monday and one more and so I feel like I ended my last week and day really good. We had also a great retention lesson with Sebastion who was baptized about 2 months ago and we helped him resolve some doubts he had with the help of some members. I was really excited. I loved Paso de Los Toros, it´s great area. And I love Hna Thompson, what a great friend. I´m really excited to see you all next week. I love you all mucho!!! I can´t believe my mission is over. It really flew. I really loved this time here. Heavenly Father really blessed me, because I thought I wouldn´t live to see the end in the beginning, but here I am, and I love my mission, it has changed my life. Nos vemos in a week. LOVE YA!!!
con amor, Tiffani

Time is flying...

Hola mi familia y mi amigos,
Como andan? Mucho gracias for the emails Dad (a few times), Mom, Stefi, Joseph, and Kim. I just can´t believe this is my last pday and my last email home! It´s nuts!!! I appreciate very much all of you for writing me. 18 months is a very long time. And you all are the best family ever. I love you! Answer to your question, Dad, no he didn´t give them out and he didn´t say a word about them. Oh..I also recommend Mom and Dad to bring a jacket, it´s getting chilly. I also decided about where we´re going and when I wrote some people from my other areas, on thursday we can go to minas, on friday progreso, and on saturday paso de los toros, and sunday La paz. On saturday my uruguayan grandparents said they´d feed us. So nice, and I told my comp we´d take her and her comp to get ice cream. So that´s really a fixed day, because I´m here. But it will be fun. The mission packet said I can´t see you all till after the family home evening with the mission president at 9 on tuesday...so maybe you can go to the temple, or see something, or sleep, probably the best option. But I´m super excited to see you all.

I feel like there´s a lot of pressure as this is my last email, (might write home next week) but I honestly don´t know what to say. This past week was good. We did a lot of contacting and a lot of finding. This week will be better in that department. My comp is great. We have a lot of fun together. We found this really great lady last week and her two kids and they were really excited to listen to us. So hopefully, we´ll help them progress this week. Pamela the lady that got baptized was confirmed and she was really excited and the bishop introduced her to the ward and told everyone about her to help her have support. It was great. Then we have a fun family home evening with the family fernandez that we baptized a while a go and I played the guitar and we sang hymns and at uruguayan sausages (not so yummy) But fun altogther. We´re really building good relationships with the members and planning family home evenings and charlas with them. So hopefully, they´ll start to give us references. Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and I decided to give my last testimony in uruguay, kind of crazy. And then in zone meeting today they asked me and another elder going home to give some counsel, I was like well, I don´t know, I don´t think they care to much, we´re the only hermanas and they kind of ignore us, but I read Jacob 6:12. Figured that summed up what we should do :). Then we decided to celebrate my last pday and we went out to eat in a uruguayan restaurant. ahh memories. :). I´m plugging away at the book of mormon in spanish, I´m excited to finish is right as I´m done. I also, talked to my old friend hna yeates last night and we we´re just talking about how we can´t believe it´s the end. I told her I didn´t think in the begginnning that I would live to see the end. :) It was fun. It´s been great having such a good friend to grow up with in the mission. I´m glad we live in the same state and I´ll see her again. Well, I just have to say I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY FOR THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER SAINTS!!! It´s such a great privilage. I know this Church is soooo true. And that Heavenly Father loves me soo much and answers prayers. I also know Jesus Christ paid for our sins and our pains and he understands everything. He´s a true friend. I know God restored the church through Joseph Smith and he translated the great book of mormon. All the answers are inside. I know we have a living prophet today, President Monson, and I know God continues to guide us and help us. I love this work so much. I want to be a good member missionary and do this forever. Thanks so much for the love and support. I love you all so much!!! Nos vemos en un rato!!! LES QUIERO!!!!

Happy Easter!!! (a little late I know)

Hola mi familia y amigos,
¿Como andan? Muchas gracias for the emails Mom, Dad, Nikki, and Joseph. I´m glad all is well. Dad, I´ll keep you in my prayers. I hope you feel better. I´m glad you all enjoyed conference. It was fantastic. My conference experience was the best I´ve ever had. I went in with a question for help and guide for my life after the mission and every talk gave me like one piece of advice that I should remember when I get back. I´ve never had a conference talk to me like that before. It was great and I watched in English. And then to feel like it event talked to me more, President Monson closed with my absolute favorite scripture proverbs 3:5-6, that´s on my plack. And it´s basically, what you all tell me all the time, everything all works out. But it was very comforting and very amazing. Also, this past week we prepared Pamela to be baptized and she was baptized friday. A lot of poeple didn´t come because it was a holiday week, so I gave the talk and played the piano. And my comp did the musical number, but it was so great in the end. She even teared up. Which is interesting because she´s so heavily on depression pills that she can´t show emotion, but she did and she was so happy. And then she came to every single session of conference which is a lot better the most of the members. I was so happy for her. She has a lot faith. It was an interesting experience this week, because in the baptism interview preparation we had with her she confessed something and we had to call president but he cleared it up and all was well. Phew... Then on thursday which was April fool´s day, I had my best april fool´s day ever!!! In morning we decided to play a joke on the elders who live 2 blocks away. So my comp called in a panick voice and said that I fell down the stairs and wasn´t moving, and then we put a sign on the door saying april fool´s day and ran across the street to watch. Well, if it was real, I think I would have died they took so long. But they finally came kind of half dressed. And then they knock on the door and find the sign, it was so funny. They rolled their eyes at us, but we laughed about it all day. And then to top it off. They tell us that Pamela is at the church waiting for her interview, and we´re like you all are liars. But it turns out she was at the church waiting for the interview, and misunderstood 8 in the night for 8 in the morning. But fortunately the elder told us he´d do the interview and all went well. It was a blessing we found her because she doesn´t have a phone, and the guy to pick her up at night bailed that night, so it was a blessing in disguise. I think Heavenly Father has a sense of humor also. :) It was a funny experience. Well, that´s about what happened this past week. It was a great week. I have a great comp. I hope you all have a great week as well. I love you all. I´ve attached pictures of the bull here and of us and the baptism. Fun stuff.
con amor, Tiffani

Happy 18 months in the mission April 1st!!!!!! CRAZY!! (from March 29)

Hola mi querida familia y amigos,
Como andan? Muchas gracias for your emails Mom, Dad, Nikki, and Kim!! And a thank you to Hna Vera!!! I´m really glad all is well!! I´m super excited for conference and it´ll be fun that we´ll watch it at the exact same time!!! Have fun at priesthood Dad and Joseph. This week has been good. I have a great companion and we´re very united and so we share everything and so it was her turn to be sick this week. She was sick for 4 days and so we were in the house that time. I was bored out of my mind, but I have a good comp and she´s fun to be with even sick. I really know my apartment here in Paso a lot. It´s really good that I´m staying an extra three weeks just to make up for the week of my toe, the week of the flu and the flu of my comp.
But she´s better now and so we can work. We had a miracle these past 2 weeks this really great investigador we have Pamela, she´s 27. she´s came to church and we´re having a baptism for her friday the day before the conference. She´s really excited. And so are we. She´s really medicated on depression pills and so she has a glazed look on her face all the time, but she understands everything and is reading book of mormon and loving the church. And I´ve seen more emotion on her face now that she´s participating in the church. It´s amazing her family is against this but she´s set on
going and the ward the sisters are really befriending her. I´m so excited for her. So please pray for her. I also this week had zone conference well a tri zone conference. My very last zone conference ever. It was really a wierd feeling. All the missionaries that go home give there testimonies in front of everyone. I only cried a little bit. :) But I received great news, the family gonzalez that we taught in progresso is progressing well and they are getting baptized in May. I´m so stoked. This last conference was really good. The president talked a lot about the book of mormon and the power in this book and he gave us all a new copy of the book of mormon in spanish and told us to read it before the next conference. And do what we ask investigadors to do and pray to know the truth of the book. And mark all the
parts that mention the savior and the words he says. So I decided because I only have to month left to finish it in a month. That´s 23 pages a day, in spanish and it´s pretty intense. But I´ve been doing it and it´s amazing EVERY page mentions the Savior or God, every page. It´s so neat, I can´t get a ton out of it because I´m a lot slower reader in spanish but I´m learning and my testimony is growing. And I´m excited to read the book of mormon my last month of the mission. It´s like a cherry on top of the mission. We also this week, went to my first quince party. This recent convert had her 15th birthday party and it´s huge the number 15 so we went and watched and ate.
It was really fun. I love this family, Flia Ferdandez and am excited for you to meet them. They treat us so well and they would do anything for the church for the Savior. But this is what happened this week. I´m excited to work this week. We´re healthy now and we´ll be careful. :) I hope you all have a great week!!! Enjoy conference!!! I love you all MUCHO!!
con amor, Tiffani

100 Countacts (from March 22)

Hola mi famlia y mi amigos,
Como andan? Muchas Gracias for the emails, Mom, Dad, Nikki, Joseph, and Kim. I´m glad things are going well. I´m glad you had a great trip to Alaska dad and a great trip phoenix all of you. Mom, tell that crazy stalker dude that if he doesn´t stop he´s going to have a angry returned missionary come and give him a piece of my mind and a lesson on the eternal families. Say hi to grandma for me dad, and tell her I love her. Well, this past week has been quite interesting. I got really sick this past week. Go figure...my body is almost done... It´s like that scripture the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Yeah, my flesh is dying. haha. I got the flu, stomach flu, and fever and we were out from work for 4 days. It was super boring as always, but I have a good comp and she did a great job at entertaining. We had fun,
even though I felt awful. But we have such a good ward and this elderly couple that´s like our grandparents called and visited us everyday to make sure we had everything. And then they did our laundry. SOO kind. I told them I would visit there daughter when I get back she lives in ogden and she´s a less active returned missionary. So they are excited about that. And it will be fun to see connections when I get back. But now I´m better and working.
The subject is "100 contacts" because during this illness of mine, my doofy zone leader was telling my district leader to excite us to work and to push and I´m like, you are such a dork, I have a fever and my body hurts so bad.
This past week the president really wanted the whole mission to do there 140 contacts for the week. And it´s saturday and we´re like well that´s to bad we have 13. But we just kind of thought that we could try. So on saturday we did 100 contacts. It was NUTS!! I was so exhausted and sore after. But by sunday we did 140. And they were real contacts not just throwing brochures at people, but we really talked to 100 people or groups of people. CRAZY! We celebrated with pizza and ice cream. It was well deserved. But also, this week we have a baptismal date with a great investigador, Pamela. She´s a great person. She´s like 27 and she´s heavily medicated on depression pills.
It´s really sad. But she understands the church and the things we´re teaching and she loves it. We went to go get her Sunday and she already left for the church because we were a little late. And it was rainy. We were excited. She´s scheduled to be baptized the day before general conference.
So if you´d like, you can all pray for her, her family is really against it. I really am enjoying my personal study and more my companion study now that I have a new comp. But I just love how much I´m learning and how much the scriptures talk to me. It´s so interesting. I was reading in the book of omni and jarom and I was like what is the point of this book, it´s like 5 authors and they write like a verse each. But then I thought that´s kind of sad actually, most people don`t say how much they love the book of omni or how it´s been a answer to their questions. But when reading the authors are like well I´m doing this because it´s a commandment and here´s my part. But I was like there calling was to write in the book of mormon a record that would be read for ever and they just half heartily did there callings, and there writings are a testimony of that. I was like how important to always
magnify our callings, who knows what things they could have written to help us now or there children. And I´ve seen that here, how important it is to do our callings and the magnfiy them so we can help others. So that´s what I learned the past couple of days. I´m going to miss miss miss this fixed personal study every day. And I know I have to fight with a lot of other thigns to keep my personal study after the mission. But I plan to. Thanks so much for everything. I love you all much!!!
con amor, Tiffani

Helaman 3:35

Hola mi famlia y mi amigos,
Muchas muchas gracias for the emails Mom, Dad, Nikki, and Kim. I´m so jealous dad, those pictures are gorgeous, ENJOY! I also am so happy for my little stud brother. Good luck! And enjoy the warm Phoenix everyone. Tell grandma happy birthday for me. It is getting colder here, it´s starting fall. It´s really nice, I´m really enjoying that part. I can´t believe how the time is flying. Time is so warped on the mission some days are really long and then you look back and I can´t believe how much time has passed. My companion is great. Her family lives in Salem and her little step sister goes to Salem Hills High. She wants to work hard and wants to be obedient it´s a breath of fresh air, last change we had some disagreements on obedience. It´s really great, and she´s a friend. Today we´re in montevideo because she has immigration stuff, so I got to see my old pal Hna Yeates. She´s just a wonderful friend. Hna Farnsworth is with her now, so ít´s funny we´re both here at the same time with comps that were comps in the CCM. This past week has been a little crazy, our baptisms fell through they hid from us on the day of the interview, I was really sad. First time that happenend to me. We also had a talent show the same night so the peope had something to do at the church and me and my comp sang and I played the guitar. It was fun. Then on sunday I had to give a talk, I was nervous as always, but Heavenly Father helped me, it was how the gospel is a guide for our lives and they asked me use preach my gospel. I love that book. I talked about the Family Vidarte and there change and how the gospel guided them to baptism. It was good. I hear the family vidarte is still struggling but I´m excited to see them. We also had two miracle investigadors in the church we just invited them in a street contact and they came because our ward mission leader picked them up. It was a miracle. I hope they progress, I know I´m here 6 weeks longer to have more sucess. Oh quick note my toe is practically perfect, a little infected but good still. My email is still a little crazy so just send the emails to my old account, this account and my comps account until I let you know what´s up. So I put this scripture as my subject because we read this week in comp study and then when I talked to Hna Yeates about the end this scripture really hit me because it talks about the purification of souls and heart because of much fasting and prayer and yielding your heart to God. In the first of my mission Hna Ashby talked about how a mission is a fast from the world and I´ve come to see that through this fast and this refiner´s fire of a mission, I´ve learned so much and how this has been an incredible sanctification for me, I feel like Heavenly Father has helped become more like he wants me to be, I still have a long way to go but it´s been amazing. You should all read this scripture. This is kind of fast explanation but it really touched me this week this scripture. I sure love being a missionary. Thanks for your love and your emails and your PATIENCE!! I LOVE YOU!!!
con amor, Tiffani

My last change...

Hola mi familia y mi amigos,
Thanks so much for the emails Mom, Dad, and Kim. I´m glad all is well. Thanks for the well wishes. My toe is getting better which is a huge blessing. I´m still walking with one flip flop and a normal shoe. It just hurts when I bump it or if I try to wear a normal shoe. But it´s getting better. Huge blessing. I just found out who my new comp is Hna Thompson from Las Vegas. She came with Hna Farnsworth. I hope we have a great change. We had some really good charlas this past week. I started working wednesday, Hermana Rojas left wednesday morning (the substitute while I was in bed rest) and I was really sad we became friends really fast. She said we can visit her when you all come. I was like I can´t sit in the house or the house of someone else anymore. So I went to work with my flip flop. But we found some investigadors which is a great blessing and we have a baptism scheduled for this friday. We´re praying really hard for this because they filled up the font 2 times before, but hopefully she´ll go through with it this friday. I´m excited. Her name is Carmen and all her family are members but inactive and so she can help them come back. Her son Anthony is getting baptized too. We also have a talent show this friday after the baptism and so I´ve been practicing the guitar. It´ll be fun. Sorry I didn´t send any pictures, next week. But this email is going to be a little short because we´re at the bus station and we´re going to catch a bus to paso de los torros. I´m so glad I´m finishing there. I love you all so much. Thanks for your love and support and emails. Have a great week.
con amor, Tiffani

Hola from the Hermana gimp in Uruguay :)

Hola mi famlia y mi amigos,
Como andan? Thanks so much for the emails Dad, Mom, Nikki, and Joseph!!! What´s up Stefi??? Congrats on a good basketball season jose vaughn. I´m glad life is well for you all and you are all happy and busy! Next week is changes, so pday will be tuesday as a heads up and I´ll have my last companion. I hope I finish here in Paso de los Toros. Well, this week has been very interesting, very interesting. We had a baptism Saturday of Paola, she´s 14. it was so great, she was so excited. It was a fight in the beginning to get her to listen and commit, but she watched the Testaments after the baptism of her family and it just changed her outlook and touched her heart and then she started listening and finally saturday was baptized. It was monumental for her and for other recent converts Miria who was baptized last week and Sebastian who was baptized 3 weeks ago, because we asked them to say the prayers and so it was there first prayers in public. It´s so neat to the progression. But I´ve included some pictures of the baptisms. The other big news this week is that I was operated on...my toe. You all know it´s been hurting and infected and the doctors wouldn´t do anything about it because I´m a out of towner. And so finally some doctor said come on tuesday because you need to see a surgeon. And so we went on tuesday hoping someone would help us because they just like the red tape. But there was a member, her name was ana there for a check up and she ended up helping us and talking to the nurses to get me a appointment with the surgeon. She´s was a answer to prayers. And so the surgeon saw me and said well we need to operate. And he said we´ll do it today. But he didn´t get my records or anything no one did which was a miracle because if they did I would have to pay a bunch. But they didn´t and he just said follow me and so we went to wait for the surgery upstairs, (this hospital looks like it´s from the early 1900s and from england, it´s crazy) But then we waited in line to be operated on for 3 hours. They do things very different, but then they called me into the room and the doctor looks like he´s ready to heart surgery with a nurse and we´re in a room about he size of a bathroom and sitting on a little bench side by side. Then he said put your leg up in my lap and so I turned a little bit and I had to support my leg with my arms while he gave me a PAINFUL shot and started digging in and then put stitches in. Oh it hurt. All while my leg was in his lap, it was so strange. And I was supporting my self. Talk about an interesting experience. They were really nice though and we talked about the church while they were operating. I couldn´t watch there was a a lot of blood. But then they bandaged me up and gave me pain killers but not a antibiotic. So I called Hna Da silva and she made call the mission doctor and say what happened and he told me that I could go to work that same day. I was like ummm it really hurts. And hna da silva was like no you need to rest one day at least. And the elders gave me a blessing. But then my toe got really swollen and infected because I didn´t have antibiotic and it felt like a knife was in my toe and so we went back to the doctor thursday and he gave me pills. It´s been painful. So this past week I´ve been in my bed with my toe in the air trying to get rid of the infection. It feels better and is getting better, fortunately but I haven´t done much. The president sent a corto plazo which is a member to work with hna bangas saturday until I feel better. Tomorrow they are getting rid of the stiches. I don´t know when I go back to work, I hope soon, I´m so bored. But the corto plazo Lucy Rojos is really nice and is preparing ot go on a mission. But there is this really nice couple has been taking care of me and watching me while my comp´s been working. It´s been really nice. Here´s some lovely photos of my experience this past week :) I know you´re all grateful for this. Heavenly Father always sends me grandparents when it get rough :). And I know he´s always looking out after me. And this was a big blessing to get it taken care of now. The members have been so nice and great. But that´s what happened this week. Talk to you next tuesday. I love you all mucho!!! Have a great week!!!
con amor, Tiffani

Happy Birthday Kim!!

Hola mi familia y mi amigos,
¿Como andan? Thanks so much for the emails Dad, Mom, Nikki, Kim, Los Crums, and Naomi!!!! I really appreciate them. Congrats Jose Vaughn on being accepted to BYU, that´s awesome!!! Feliz Cumpleaños Kim!! What a great way to celebrate a cruise!!
This new email website is www.new.myldsmail.net, and I have the same password as before not the new one I changed it. So you can check now, if you couldn´t find it. I have a quick favor, could you email me the address of Grandpa in Nicuragua all of it and city. Because the missionary that baptized my companion Hna Banegas and her family is the bishop in Nicuragua and I think it´s the same city that Grandpa lives in. If you could give me the address, I could write him to go visit grandpa and invite him to church or whatever. It would be great. A update on my toe...It´s pretty fat and infected and I´ve seen a bunch of doctors, some nice and some not so nice. But they couldn´t do anything because the church´s insurance is in montevideo. I got a blessing last week. but this week I called Hna Da Silva and she said to soak it everynight and take some medicine. I am going to a surgeon, and I think they are going to remove the nail. But I´m going to wait till next week because we have another baptism of the daughter of the family we baptized a few weeks ago, but she didn´t want to and now she does, she´s really great. So I´ll take the antibiotic and pain killers and soak it and then we´ll see next week. But I´m really excited for this girl Paola that will be baptized this next. The baptism this past week was so nice. Miria the woman that got baptized didn´t have any support from her family she is a widow and has eight kids. But she was so excited and the ward just welcomed her so much. It was a great testimony to me of the importance of friends and support in the church for these new members. There are photos. We are being so blessed, it´s amazing how despite our difficultadies the work is going forward. I also had an interview with President Da Silva and it really helped me. It was a great feeling of peace. It´s still hard, but it´s better. I attached photos of the baptisms and of the skies. I´ve never seen such beautiful skies, than in Uruguay. Well, thanks so much for everything and for your love and patience. Have a great week!! I love you all Mucho!!!!
con amor, Tiffani

a new week....

Hola famlia,
So this is my new email. I hope all my emails will transfer to this account. If not, I hope you printed them. But the old account will close the 31st of March so if there are problems.

But thanks for the emails Dad, Mom, and Kim. It sounded like everything went well.

We´ve been looking for new investigadors all week. We also put a baptism date with an old investigador named Miria for the 20th, she´s really excited and she´s stopped smoking. Her husband died 2 months ago and so she is really looking for peace. And finally is stopping smoking. It´s really great. I´m really happy for her.

This past week and half I´ve been sick to my stomach, I think I had food poisoning or something really bad, but we have a doctor in the ward and so I´m finally feeling better. I also went to the hospital for my ingrown toe nail and the doctor said to take antibiotics and then he´ll look at it when the swelling goes down. But everything was free and all the medicine, and our neighbor drove me to hospital so I didn´t have to walk, which was really nice.

I´m sorry I don´t have much else to say. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all!!! Talk to you next week.
con amor, Tiffani

It´s raining, it´s pouring, no time for snoring in Paso

Hola familia,
¿Como andan? Thanks so much for the emails Dad, Mom, Kim, Nikki, Stefi, and Joseph. Oh, I got the a package and an envelope, THANKS THANKS THANKS!!! It had my medicine and candy and the package had lots of great chocolate (that didn´t melt) and the stuff I need to doctor my self up. I did sugery on my toe last night for a deep ingrown toenail, kind of gruesome and oh the pain, it´s amazing the things you do on the mission. But it feels better.I know you all wanted to know that haha. But also, thanks so much kim the for the lotions and spray and scrub. I loved it. I´m glad the wedding planning is going well. Good luck with everything this week. I´m sure it will be good. Thanks for the pictures dad and for bringing that doll, Nikki you looked very pretty. Thanks Joseph for dedicating the game to me, I hope you win, even though payson was my school. :) And mom, No te preocupes, todo estará bien. Stefi, thanks, smile and be happy!!!! Nicks, I´m glad you enjoyed the temple, I love the temple. I thought it was very different as well, the intitarories got me, and the endowment was better. But it´ll get better, it´s good you didn´t go to salt lake first. I was blown away and really confused. But I loved the peace inside. Kind of crazy how it worked. But I really miss the temple right now, so go lots.
So I´ve attached a bunch of pictures, finally it works. Some are from Progreso and some from Paso, the scenery ones are from Paso, this is my view from our balcony it´s pretty sweet. And very pretty. We´re by the river. and our churchhouse It´s called rio negro because the at times it looks black because of some elements at the bottom, it´s pretty cool. Also, this past week the family ferdandez that I told you about was baptized after some close calls like oposition from the husband at first, and the baptism questions but in the end it all worked out, they were so excited. I was really happy for them. The mom Blanca and three of her kids Sebastian 18, Jacklyn 16 and fabiana 10, and Sebastian can go on a mission in a year, that would be awesome. They were excited. This is a really good ward. They really fellowship people really good and support and help us a lot. We´ll have to do a lot of finding these next weeks because we don´t have any investigadors but it´s a lot more fun knocking doors when you´re new to an area so that´s good. We´ve had a ton and I mean a ton of rain. I´ve never seen it rain so much or so hard in my life. We´ll probably have to start building an ark. It´s rained for 44 days straight in brasil and we´ve gotten some of that, fortuanately I wasn´t here for January. CRAZY. But that´s about it. Oh some photos are of the temple and of the trip we took as a branch in progreso. They were so excited, it was neat. So pretty. Anyways, have a good week. I love you all. Good luck!
con amor, Tiffani

Hola, from Paso de los Torros!!!

Hola mi familia,
Muchas Muchas gracias for the emails Mom, Dad, Stefi, and Nikki, and Naomi. I sure enjoy them. I´m glad all is going well. Enjoy the temple Nicks it is so neat. I´ve seen a lot of blessings in my mission and in my past area and now. Thanks for your patience and love and emails, and the packages haha. I also, learned a very good lesson not to judge people from hearsay. My companion is Hna Benegas from Honduros and she´s a really great person. A little crazy but a great person. We´re having fun and working hard. I´m teaching her to play the guitar because she wants to play a song for her mom when she goes home. So that´s fun and I´m getting to practice some. She doesn´t speak english, so I´m getting to practice which is great. Paso de Torros is so so pretty. Super duper hot, but pretty. We´re right next to a river. It´s kind of like Minas. It´s pretty. But the people are really nice. They don´t understand me too much but I guess we´ll get used to each other...haha. It´s kind of interesting we have church at 4 to 7 in the afternoon. Because there are 2 wards and because of the heat the second meets at 4. We have a great ward mission leader who goes and picks people up and drops people off for church. So all our investigadors can come. It´s such a great service and a great example. It´s a lot of fun. The people here are very relaxed and so it´s a very calm and peaceful area. I really like it. I´d love to send pictures but the attach button is working, sorry. But we´ve been teaching this family a mom, and 2 daughters that are preparing to baptized this saturday. They are really excited to baptized. The problem is they are moving to campaña which means out out in the country where there is no church or missionaries. But they want to get baptized and they might move because the Dad who works out in campaña will come and get them soon. So hopefully, can get baptized and then when they are in town they can go to church when they can. It´s kind of hard for those people that live in the middle of no where. But we´ll see. Well, that´s about it for this week. But thanks so much for everything. I love you all mucho.
con amor, Tiffani
p.s. Hola, Brother and Sister Cook!!! I just wanted to right a quick note to say hello and thanks so much for your love and your letters and the money throughout my mission. I´m so grateful and Iove you all much. I can´t wait to see you all in April.

I´m leaving on a jet plane...not quite but I´m leaving Progreso

Hola mi famila,
Como andan? Well, first thanks so much for the emails Mom, Dad, Nikki, Stefi, and Kim. That is so INCREDIBLE that Payson is getting a temple. That´s so awesome. I´m excited.
I´m going way north to a place called Paso de Los Torros. Hna Yeates was there before and she loved it. But everyone told me it´s SUPER hot. So I´m thrilled. But I´m with a latina, Hna Benegas, who goes home this change, and who really doesn´t speak spanish that I know of. (But I´m super scared, I´ve not heard the best things) We´ll see.
This past week has been pretty busy. We had a baptism for Gladys. The woman that is blind. It was so beautful. I was so excited and she was also. We also went to temple. What an incredible place, I sure miss going regularly. We got to do a session with the DaSilvas. But in the morning we brought 2 investigadors to the temple and the branch went for the first time in at least a year. It really excited the branch. They now are focusing on the temple and trying to plan a trip every month. I´m so excited for them. The branch president has a lot of enthusiasm too, it´s great. It was him and his wife and his counseler and his wife´s first time at the montevideo temple and they did baptisms and so they just ate it up. We printed pictures to put on the bullten board to keep them excited and they love it. That´s how the work progresses when you focus on Temples and the Savior. One of the investigadors Blanca and older woman said she recieved her answer at the temple and felt such a peace. We watched Between Heaven and Earth in the church next door with them. But the next day she was jumping off her chair for excitement, however, yesterday she told us she can´t pay tithing and she won´t commit to anything she can´t do. So I was sooo sad. But the other hermanas will work with her. We shared our testimony with her about it and then invited her to pray about it which she said she would. So I hope for the best. She was going to be baptized this week, but there is always a chance. Yesterday, you´ll be so proud of me I didn´t cry like a baby the whole day, just a little bit. The branch was super nice they had a family home evening in the church just to say good bye to me. And like 20 people came. It was so nice. I´m going to miss a lot of great people here. One family of investigadors gave me a huge ugly hat as a goodbye present because I wear a straw hat to survive the heat and it´s ugly and so I always say this is my ugly hat. Well, this familyl loved that and so they gave me another ugly hat. It was funny. Another cool experience, I gave the blind woman Gladys my card and a letter and she had her daughter read to her after I left and then she went to the family home evening and told me that her when her daughter read my first name she goes "I´m going to name my baby, Tiffani". And so Gladys said now I´ll always remember you, and then she started crying. I was so touched. There are some really neat people there. The branch president said that they want to have a barbaque at the church when you guys come and get me and some other people are excited to meet you and feed you :). That´s the highlights of the week. Thanks for encouraging me and helping me. I´m really grateful for Hna Farnsworth, she´s helped me alot. I know I´m being blessed and that this is huge privelage to be here. Have a great week. I love you all mucho.
con amor, Tiffani

Happy 21 Nicks!!!

Hey family,
Happy birthday Nikki!!! Thanks for the emails Dad, Mom, Nikki, and Kim. Dad, I was just kidding Dad last week because your email was so short and I like them long, this week was pretty short as well. What´s up?
Well, I´m glad all is going well with the wedding plans. Sorry you´re going crazy mom. :) Sorry about your crazy interview nicks, my mission interview was pretty crazy intense as well. And there are no boys involved there...
Well, as a heads up next week is changes, so pday will be tuesday. I´m pretty ready to leave, I hope so. Sad, my first area that I´m not going to freak out when I leave. haha. Anyways, this past week was fine. We had interviews with president. Nothing to exciting, but it was fine. I´m excited to go to the temple wednesday. We turned it into a an opportunity for the branch to go, they haven´t gone in at least a year. And so it will be great, we´re also bringing investigadors so they can see the outside of the temple, and I called the bishop down in montevideo to see if we could use the church next door to watch a movie about the temples and then have someone in his ward talk to our investigadors about the importance of temples. I hope it turns out well. We also introduced a famliy that we`re teaching to tacos, so saturday we made tacos with the seasoning you sent me and my comp and I made tortillas. It was really good, and they really enjoyed it. I gave them a bunch of taco bell packets they liked to put on their tacos. They don´t eat spicy food here so it´s really new to them. It was fun. We´re also teaching this really neat lady Gladys, right now that is practically blind but she has really neat and is going to get baptized this saturday. We really want to take her to the temple grounds, but she might have to go to the doctor with her daughter. She listens to the book of mormon every day on cd. She´s pretty amazing and has just great faith.
No more drug deals happened in sacrament and it turned out really good. The branch president is getting really behind this temple trip and wants to do more and so he had talks about the temples to excite the people and explain a little about them. And friday we watched moutain of the lord for an activity in the branch and ate fruit salad. About 10 people including Gladys who can´t see but wanted to be apart of it and another investigador Blanca that is amzing also and she loved the movie. so they came but they are really excited. Our president hasn´t been to the temple since he got sealed to his wife in the buenos aires temple. He´s never been into the montevideo temple. So that´ll be great for him and his wife.
Things are still super hot. I´d send you all a photo if I could of all the bug bites (mosquitos) on me and have you guess how many bites I have. But that´s a little awkard so just imagine I counted 55 bites JUST on my legs last tuesday or wednesday. Kind of crazy and itchy.
Thanks for everything!!! I love you all mucho. Talk to you Tuesday.
con amor, Tiffani

Feliz Cumpliaños a mi madre...Feliz cumpliaños!!!

Hola mi familia,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! I WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I LOVE YOU!!! Muchas gracias for your emails this week Mom, Dad, Stefi, and Nikki. And thanks for the photos dad (you´re missing about half your email dad, but you can make it up next week.) That is sure a change in scenery for your engagement photos Nicks, from palm trees to snow. I like the palm trees, but the new one is cute.
Well, this past week has defintely not been dull. We had the baptism of Nancy, which was really nice. We spoke again, she wanted it the exact same as her sister. But it was really good and she was excited (in her own way, in her pictures she doesn´t smile) But we had a few investigadors come and they really enojoyed it. Also, this past week and well today, I have fleas. My comp touches every four legged creature, but I am the one with fleas. It is very uncomfortable, I have bites all over my body. It´s like the chicken pox but worse. I´ve cleaned and cleaned and then I called Hna Da Silva and she has a spray for me. But last night I didn´t get any new bites so I hope it´s working. I don´t know if I`ll make it out of here alive to be honest between the sun, mosquitos, ants and the fleas. But it´s just another summer in uruguay. Today we had pday and we went to my old zone close to La Paz and we played basketball with the elders it was fun. There was a lot of elders there from the MTC and so we all know each other well and it was really fun. Me and Hna farnsworth were the captains and my team won. (of course..haha) It was a 3 zones activity and I saw Hna Yeates (poor girl is so ready to leave). But she told me some sad news, all the people that were baptized while I was there are inactive and it´s the same with Minas too. You know that story of the water bucket and how when the hand swishes it around it does something, but then when the hand leaves the water goes back to the way it was. That´s basically how I feel. They are awesome people who now have a covenant they aren´t keeping. And it´s really sad. I don´t know if I really want to go back to my areas. Maybe we can see other stuff. We had quite the experience, I thought I have seen it all in Progreso. But not quite. Yesterday, we had fairly normal church meetings and then we go to sacrament and it was normal and then the high counciler speaks. Normal talk, but I look back and there is this kid that I´ve never seen, looked like he´s going to the beach standing just talking to one of the recent converts and she then digs through her purse and he gives her money and she sells him cigarettes. RIGHT IN SACRAMENT MEETING!!! Can you say crazy. This recent convert sell cigarettes at her home to support her grand daughter and we tried when I first got here to explain she can´t do that, but the branch president said he didn´t want us to say anything and he would look into it. Well, and so she still sells them and now in church. And then the kid took his cigaretts and leaves. Like a normal day of business. ABSOLUTELY NUTS!!! But anyways, just another week in progreso! Let´s just say we´re never not entertained. But I´m excited, because the president is letting us plan a temple trip with the recent converts in a couple of weeks. And people are getting excited for that. I don´t think this branch has gone in at least a year, and they live 40 minutes away, and so it will be a very good and necessary thing. Well, I´ll talk to you next week. Thanks so much for everything. I love you all. And happy birthday again mom!!
con amor, Tiffani

P.S. Quick explanation of the fotos. The one is of a chef that makes super good food in la paz that we visited and he´s awesome. And then another is of us with a recent convert and us eating pizza to help brighten his day. He´s great. And then one is of a car with a bottle on top, if you need to sell your car just put a bottle on top it. It´s how they advertise here. I´m serious. HAHA. Uruguay´s great!!! love ya.

Feliz Dia de Reyes!!!

Hey family,
Thanks so much for the emails Dad, Mom, Nikki, Stefi, Kim, and Los Crums. MUCHAS GRACIAS!! Dia de reyeys is day of the wisemen a holiday in south america on the 6th of january. Also, thanks for the photos Dad and Nikki. Wow, Nicks...you´re so thin. They are really cute photos. I really like number 8, 7, 13, and 4. They are cute. And Dad, great job on the invitation! It is still very strange seeing you with a guy but it´s slowly sinking in. I sent some photos not as lovely as nikki´s but they are of our service project, the president likes to make fun of me because I can´t understand as well as some and the fact that supposedly I cannot work hard because my dad is not in construction and farming, unlike hna farnsworth. I just shake my head and grit my teeth and told him just because my dad doesn´t do construction or farming doesn´t mean I wasnt taught to work. He is really getting on my nerves...he really likes riling me up and he´s really pushing it. Sorry side note, there is also photos of the baptism we had on january first of Pamela. She was so excited. And her non member grandparents came. Missionaries plan baptisms different way, but I like to do it how mine was where I got to pick the program and have my picture on he program. So I do that with the converts. And she chose hna farnsworth and me to give a talk. It still scares me. But it was fine. It was such a great and pretty service and she was so excited. But the president then got on my case sunday telling me missionaries should not give the talks and should include members, and everything and why the baptisms weren´t going to be on the same day. I was just like...leave me alone and get off my case about EVERYTHING...So this week with Nancy´s baptism the little sister of Pamela (she did not want to get baptized until she saw her sister do it) we are still going to let her choose everything (I told president that to, because she is 9 and these things matter to a 9 year old and a 11 year old) They just like to drama and if there is not enough, they make more. I´m sorry this email is kind of complaining, I just need to vent a little. The family gonzalez didn´t accept a baptism date sadly the mom and daughter would if the dad would and his problem is tithing. He doesn´t like it. But he came to church the following sunday for a little bit of sacrament which was great. It is so sad, they are so great they even feed us every wednesday. They are basically members. President Da Silva is letting every missionary go to the temple in january. I am so excited, we are going the 20th I have not been to the temple since may. I miss it and am excited. New years was good the fireworks are awesome, my comp fell asleep but I was determined to stay up till midnight as it was my last one in Uruguay. Well, thanks for everything and the updates. I love you all mucho.
con amor, Tiffani