Santa Rosa

So we had a big "temporada" come through - that would be translated as a "major storm system that comes every year and turns the streets to mud"... I think. It sucked. Here are some pictures.

An Umbrella (lasted 24 hours): $10.

umbrella2.jpg - Another: $10.

Three loads of wet laundry: $15.

Hot Chocolate: $2.

Knowing that the more it rains the cuter your wife gets: Priceless. Bring it on!

So... the Balbi fam came to church yesterday! Yay! And they brought a friend! They are doing pretty good, pretty scared for their first time in church. Haha during the sacrament - "If we haven't taken the communion can we take the sacrament?" Great people. We had a KILLER charla with them with a super-stud RM, he basically taught the whole time and committed the kids to get baptized the 30th of October and the parents to get married the 15th of November and baptized that weekend. So they're doing great.

Veronica's kids Lauriano and Romina are getting baptized Saturday, Nicolas and Nadia (who is 8 and technically a ward baptism) are getting baptized the 25th. They are doing well.

We are still looking for more people - we had an investigator stop investigating and another who is still super drunk. We'll see how they do.

Dad: Vamos a tener que hablar en español para poder practicar antes que vengas! Sì, el horario que tienes es correcto, en cuanto a hoteles, si te da la plata, quisiera quedarnos en el Conrad en Maldonado (Punta del Este) - èste es el hotel iconico (Iconic?) de Punta del Este. De hoteles de Montevideo, busca uno en el este de Montevideo, nos quedarà mas cerca. Tal vez puedes hablar con Analìa, ella sabrà. Josè Lavega es un miembro acà en El Pinar. Tiene una familia muy buena, creo que almorcemos con ellos cuando vengas. Y èl refiriò a la "tarjeta" de cumpleaños. Gracias por las fotos y firmas - intento no ponerme trunky! :P

What computer did mom get? That OS disc I made is for installing OSX on a PC... haha good thing it didn't work, it could have gone very wrong. :P Ah speaking of technology - the GPS doesn't work down here. I left it on top of the house for like an hour and it never got a single satellite (before it started raining, of course!) So... yeah. I'll just hang on to it for a little longer.

That's all folks! Love you all!

Alright, I think that's it for the week. We're going to go to El Bosque and party.

El Pinar--Woot! 8/30/10

Hey fam!

We are doing good here in El Pinar. It's an awesome area... We are really excited to be working here. We are working with a couple of families, so that's good. There's the Balbi family, they are what some would call "golden." They are a family of four, and they are all pretty stinkin interested. They always read, and three say that God is answering their prayers about the Book of Mormon (mom says she feels good, but is waiting for something a little more concrete). Today we're taking some time out of p-day to do an FHE with them and a STUD couple in the ward. We're going to talk about obedience (they didn't go to church yesterday). So that's all good. We're also teaching the family of a recent convert. He just got baptized saturday (the saturday before I got here) and his mom has been inactive for years, she's coming back now and the other 4 baptizable kids want to get baptized.

We've got some work to do here! :D

Well it turns out I am not a DL... the pres called 2 DLs when in reality there is just one district (the other district is all sister missionaries) so he ended up calling Elder Mendoza instead of me. It's all good... just gotta keep myself humble and not get frustrated. But the pres needed to call more younger leaders because like half of the current leaders are going to finish the mission before the end of the year, so he's trying to get some fresh blood in. So basically Elder Luke and I can just work and focus on our work and not have to worry too much about the rest of the district. :D

Oh, fyi, my pdays are back to Monday. So... yeah.

There is another young Analìa here that loves helping the missionaries, weird huh? Her name is Analìa Pratti, she lived in Raleigh, NC for 4 years and just got back like 8 months ago. We talk in English to her on the way to charlas. :D She's cool. I told her to expect a facebook friend request from my mom. haha

What else... Elder Luke is a stud. You can tell he gets the mission. His contacts are awesome and totally focused on the family. I'm definitely learning more from him than he is from me. :P

Oh - Micaela is getting married?!?! Man, my prospects are dropping like flies! Haha let's hope Chels is still around when I get back, otherwise I'll have to start fresh!

My comp wants me to drop the cane on you guys for going to Disneyland 4 months before I get home... he says you should have waited. haha I agree. :P

How's Corry doing? Any news? Good to hear Tina is learning from her struggles. Tell her that she should keep playing hard to get, because when big brother gets home she WILL be impossible to get! haha I look forward to it, but the fact that she'll have 3 months of dating without me there is killing me!!

All good on the trip? I'm still getting the details down, but nothing big has changed. This being my last area (probably) is actually nice because that means that we will be able to stay in Deo the four nights, like we had planned.

Alright, I think that's it. I hope you are happy with the long email. :D I love you all and you are in my prayers!