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

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