A Funny story from Steven's Companion

Elder Polera's mother sent the following message to me yesterday. For those of you who know Steven well, you will know that he is TERRIFIED of dogs! Hates them. And he has mentioned to us before how almost everyone in Uruguay has dogs--and they are NOT well-behaved. So, picture Steven and his dog phobia when you read the following...

I know Cody is really enjoying serving with Steven. I am so grateful that he has such a good companion. I thought I would share what he said last week below.

Take care,

Janine Polera

Last week he said: So Thorderson and I are getting along just fine. We work together really well and can get stuff done. He speaks spanish really well and knows his stuff.

Crazy story:

Right now we are just contacting people all the time trying to find new investigators. So we contacted this house with this old guy. He invited us to sit on his porch to talk which stank to high heaven and there were so many flies. Well he has like 6 dogs and they start wandering over and start laying under our chairs and stuff. He yells at them to leave and then says he will back in a second. He comes out with a stiff rubber hose thing about 2.5 feet long and rushes towards us. I thought he was about to hit me for a second. Then he starts whaling on these dogs and yelling like he is possessed or something. The dogs start to scatter and Elder Thorderson is already out of his chair off the porch. I'm about to jump up and out of this crazy chaos when one of the dogs runs into another that is kinda angry. Suddenly there is a dog fight on my feet. So now I'm stuck in my seat and can't go anywhere and E' T' is just stuck watching. Holy cow, just crazy...Needless to say we kinda wrapped it up quick and left.

MOM NOTE: Can you just picture Steven FLYING off the front porch with those dogs scattering everywhere?! I just laugh out loud thinking about it!

Maldonado Week 4 (2/22/10)

Hey fam!

Elder Montgomery pointed out today that in 10 months I will be home (if you don't come down and get me). That's like two hands... weird not having to use my toes anymore. That really doesn't leave me a lot of time... and yes it has flown for me too.

Elder Cundick is getting married??? That boy is so funny! I have been talking a lot about him with Elder Painter, my ZL who met Cundick when they were in Las Piedras together. I really was blessed to be his comp... I got some really awesome companions on my mission...and the cherry on top of it all is Elder Polera. Trunky as a monkey. :P

Well we had a couple of really good lessons with the Libonatti fam and they promised they would come to church. But it rained - which apparently means church is cancelled. Our church attendance halved, and the Libonatti fam didn't come. Neither did Valentina Barroso, which means no investigators in church, no baptismal dates. But the other elders had one in church, and she has a baptismal date for the 6th of March. Huzzah!

We are also trying to figure out a new division of the two areas in the ward... the other elder's area just isn't seeing progress we were hoping for and they don't have a lot of members to help them, so the Bishop wants us to change the areas up. But he proposed a split that gives one companionship a huge area that would take an hour to walk across and the other companionship would get a couple of neighborhoods comprised of maybe 40 blocks. We have Zone Conference and Interviews on Wednesday, so I'm going to talk to the Pres a little bit about it.

Not too much else to report here, just about to head home and make some sloppy joes. :D Oh - there is a family that has given us all nicknames. There's Elder "Como" (Elder Montgomery says "como" about every other word - it is the spanish equivalent of "like", and it drives us nuts!), Elder "Turtleneck" (Polera in spanish means a turtleneck sweater) and Elder "Speak-too-much" (yours truly). :D They are a really cool couple and they always give us a bag of chocolate milk or drinkable yogurt or something when we go over. And she makes really good pizza. :D

Oh - dad - found out that the bishops brother has the same birthday as you. Day, month, year. He also served a 18-month mission, but in Uruguay. You should look him up - his daughter is pretty cute. She was there when we ate lunch with the bish yesterday.

Let's see... in my next package (or in the current one if you haven't sent it) could you toss in some measuring spoons?

Well, nothing else to say, just waiting for zone conference! Pres Da Silva is such a stud!

Maldonado Week 3 (2/15/10)

Hey fam!

So good news! The church made a contract with Google, so our new MyLDSMail is powered by google! As a result of the change, my email has been changed to steven.thorderson@myldsmail.net. Huzzah!

Well we are pretty much rocking it. We are still working with incomplete families, but we have three now... that's three definite baptisms this change. There is also a pretty golden investigator we found on an exchange with the zone leaders. Karina lives next door to a member (also Karina) that she has known since they were kids. She's pretty much a member... she has a garden, she handmade an oven (wood oven, basically a mound of muddy horse poop) and is really nice. She's recently divorced and her 12 year old son lives with her. They have a really good relationship as mother/son. She was really acceptive when we taught her about Joseph Smith and read most of the pamphlet. We went back (Elder Polera and I) and we gave her a Book of Mormon. We really focused on the blessings of the Book of Mormon (Jeffery R. Holland never bore testimony of the veracity of the BoM without testifying of the peace it brings to the soul. :D ) and when Elder Polera was bearing his humble testimony she cried. It was a really powerful lesson. She promised to read 3 Nephi 11 as soon as we left - we are kinda hoping that she is done with 3 Nephi by the time we visit her Wednesday. Really awesome lady.

We have a pretty awesome family home evening planned for tonight - with the Libonatti family. Valentina is 9 and wants to get baptized. The other two daughters go to church, but the mom, dad, and son are inactive. But we are going to have a good lesson with them. We think that she is going to get baptized on the 27th. We might have to push it back to the 6th depending on how dedicated the dad is. We'll see.

Well, that's all for now. Love you all!

Maldonado Week 2

Hey fam!

Well pretty normal week this week. We are looking for some new investigators... we are currently working with some incomplete families, but I'm getting bored of teaching little kids. We are trying to work some more with members... it is a really complicated time because the whole world comes here for vacations, and all of Maldonado works for the businesses that house or feed said tourists. We call it the "temporada" and it is a really hard time to work. But we are just doing our part and looking for the people that are ready now.

We're also looking for a house... our house is tiny and doesn't really work for 4 elders. We aren't really sure what we are going to do... if we are going to move together to a bigger house or if the other two are going to find a smaller house in their area. We are still kinda searching for options... it is just complicated because of all the people moving to Maldonado.

We are getting lunches. I'm the one who has to organize it, and it is all pretty crazy. But we are getting fed (and pretty well) but it involves a lot of last minute searches. It really is just a hard time to be here... we don't even have ward council or PEC, and our ward mission leader is trying to do a boot camp for the ward missionaries (how to pray, how to bear testimony, how to give a talk) and insists that we don't use them - we have RMs to use that aren't ward missionaries.

"El cerebro de mi compañero se le explotò... no tienes papel higenico?" haha that was hilarious! The family is from Columbia, so I have fun using all the little saying I know like "how's the camel" and ending every sentence with "ready?"

Well I am praying for Corry... I hope that he continues doing well in rehab and takes advantage of it. I look forward to hearing about the evaluation results.

Elder Polera is a capo. He speaks Spanish just as well as you should after 2 months in a Spanish-speaking country. ("thanks, Elder," he says) but he speaks a lot better than he thinks he does. Every once in a while I surprise him. "Well, Sister Gonzalez, Elder Polera would like to share a scripture with you!" I think I have received more death threats from Polera than I ever did from Elder Wally. haha but he is doing really well and we continue to progress. (PS Polera is apparently Italian).

Not any funny stories from me this week. I'm thinking I should write all the spiritual stuff and Elder Polera will write the funny stuff and our moms can share and you'll end up with everything. :D

Oh, mom... I need some favors from you. I need a couple of recipes. I need a no-bake cookie recipe that has oatmeal in it (maybe Clint has a good one) and I need a waffle recipe that doesn't use buttermilk (because there isn't buttermilk here). But we have a waffle maker in the house - huzzah! I also need Sarah Dial's address so I can send her a quick letter telling her I knew she couldn't make it until 25 years old! :D

Well I love you all! Say hi to Grandmapa for me, I'm praying for them!

Maldonado Week 1

Hey fam! (you are probably getting old of that salutation! lol)

Glad to hear everybody is alive. I have been a little sick here too... I have some cold goo and have had a pretty nasty sinus headache for a few days. 800mg of ibuprofen didn't fix it - thanks for the extra little bottle. Turns out they do have ibuprofen here too, and it is pretty stinkin cheap. So I'm good on pain meds. I think Elder Montgomery passed

it to me. Oh yeah - Elder Montgomery is in my house - he's one of the ones that came down with me on the same plane. The big one from Cedar City. Attaching photo of us four - Elder Polera and I, and Elder Villafuerte (Peru) and Montgomery. Huzzah.

Maldonado is a cool place, as far as places are concerned. They had a lot of success last change, but I got here and it looks like we really only have one investigator (but they haven't visited him for a couple of weeks). So we have a lot of work to do... back to the part-families list. But I am really excited to work here. We have a really special

ward and some members who are really willing to help us out. I have been put in charge of setting up lunches, which was supposed to be easy. But after all was said and done Sunday, we only had 7 lunches scheduled. So I get to run up the phone bill (yes, we get it here) to figure out lunches. Ugh. I might have to change some stuffaround because it was a 2 elder area, but now there are four in the ward, and some of the old stuff isn't going to work - like assigned lunch days. We'll figure it out though.

I wish I had some more to report... this is a huge area! Look up Maldonado on Google Maps... our area goes from downtown Maldonado all the way to Punta Ballena. Where Lussich starts until past Punta Ballena. We aren't exactly sure how far the ward actually extends... Nobody knows. Just huge.

Well I'll have news for you next week. Love you all!

MOM NOTE: This is more from Elder Polera's mom. Evidently, he had more to say than Steven! LOL!

I don't know if your son wrote to you about this incident but I thought it was so funny that you might like to read it. Cody wrote from his perspective:

Other funny story, we were out doing contacts when all of a sudden my nose started bleeding. So im on the side of the road trying to stop my nose from leaking out my brain, and im trying to find some tissue that i forgot in my other pair of pants. All i could find was the extra cloth for repairs in the back pocket. So i had to roll it up and jam it in my nose to stop the blood. Than we had to do a contact so i could get some tissue. Talk about the most awkward contact ever. Elder Thorderson starts the contact by saying "my comp´s brain exploded, do you have toilet paper?" So funny, except i was bleeding like crazy. Ends up the guy and his family had gone to church and stuff before and we might go back out to teach them. Funny how that works out. If we get a baptism out of this, it would be quite the story.

I thought your son first words to their contact was hilarious. I laughed out loud.

ChChChanges...1/27/10

Steven and his new companion, Elder Polera from North Carolina.

A photo I came across from another missionary blog. Look how skinny Steven is! This is back in December

Hey fam!

Well, changes are come and gone, and it is definitely interesting. I am leaving Elder Fajardo and headed to Maldonado 2nd Ward. Huzzah. I hear it is really awesome and a really strong area. I am looking forward to being able to start over and tear it up. My new companion is Elder Polera from North Carolina. He's a stud, he is Elder Wright's kid (Elder Wright was my zone leader a while ago). I'll have more info on him next week. For now, here's a picture. His forehead really isn't that big. :P

Other changes - Elder Fajardo is going to Rio Branco, a border city with Brazil in Cerro Largo. He'll be with Elder Parraga, a former assistant to the President. Elder Wally is going to Maroñas (my old zone) to Toledo (where I did a musical family home evening with Elder Smeltzer). Elder Bulloch is headed to San Jose de Carrasco where he will be a zone leader with Elder Erickson. He's really excited, but kinda nervous. Well he's used to being looked up to, being

a mission president's son and all. So there are four new Elders coming to Trinidad. Elder Solano (Mexican) with a corto plazo (a mini missionary, youth who serves for one change to get the mission feel) who is from Asamblea. He's the WML's kid, Germàn. I talked to him today...he's excited and getting ready for his mission. The other couple is a Chileno Elder Gonzalez with a greenie. Don't know them yet. I passed the keys and stuff to Elder Solano, I hope they don't get lost or anything.

Dad, I transferred money from my savings to my checking to take out today, Maldonado is a really expensive place to live and I have been footing some serious expenses. I know I'm pulling a lot of money, but things should calm down since my new comp is getting a full check each month (elder fajardo's was discounted for mistakes he had made in old areas).

Good to hear that Corry is back in rehab. I hope he can make some good decisions and finish out the treatment he needs. I'm praying for him and hope he can return to full fellowship in the family.

Thanks for the pic of the living room. Looks really good... can't wait to see what you guys do to the rest of the house. I wonder if I'll recognize it! Here's hoping that you guys don't have to move for Dad's work. ;-) Also good to hear that Emily is already set up with Kevin. They'll be a good couple. It's ridiculous. LOL out loud!

Yes, the urumontemission@gmail.com is still OK. Just put Elder Steven Thorderson as the subject so it gets to me. It is really fast, faster than the post office or pouch. I look forward to hearing from her, (Nanny) I think there is a letter on the way. I lost a bunch of letters I have written... I can't really remember if I sent them or lost them. Thanks for the cards... way cool! I forgot how fat I was... my neck was as fat as my face!!! (Mom Note: I sent Steven business cards with his first day missionary photos on them. He was about 30-40 pounds heavier then...)

Well I'm going to zip off an email to tina. I love you all and hope you guys keep going strong! Say hi to the still single Sister Renehan for me! haha (Mom Note: I happened to mention in my last letter that the young sister Renehan was still single...Moms...always trying to set up their sons! Love you, Micaela! :-) )

Mom Note: After receiving an email from Steven, I received an email from his new companion's mom. This is what she had to say: That is awesome! My son's quote about your son "he's a pretty sweet dude" ---surfer lingo for Cody's highest compliment! :-) Cody is a hard worker and has endless energy. I think they will get along great. This is his first area but Elder Wright was a great teacher and I know they worked really hard. I know that they also have two other elders that were moved into their tiny apartment yesterday from an area that is now closed. Cody said they seemed like "cool guys" but he said it should be interesting to see how they all fit in their small space.

One week left this transfer 2/19/10

Hey fam!

Not too much to report here. Just a super cool experience. Trivia: Flores is the most sparsely populated state in Uruguay. It has about 25,000 people with only two cities with a population over 1,000. One is Trinidad, with about 21,000, and the other is called Ismael Cortinas, which is an hour away from Trinidad and lies where four state borders meet: Flores, San José, Soriano, and Colonia. It has a population of like 1,064. There is one elementary school and one high school (the elementary school is bigger) and there is a member here who is a teacher at the elementary school. So... Wednesday night we were up late and just talking about how we are getting a little bored with the areas and knocking the same doors, etc. So in a flash of inspiration, we decided to go to this town of Ismael Cortinas. We left the next morning at 6:30 and spent the whole day in Ismael Cortinas. We actually didn't get much work done. We only knocked 12 houses on three blocks... but 6 of those people let us into their homes and we found (talked to and left committments with) 9 new people. That doesn't include family members and stuff. We had four straight lessons going from house to house and it was really incredible. We met a lot of cool people and taught some really strong lessons. If we can work something out to get them to church, we will really see some progress. It was just way cool to talk to people who had never seen missionaries before. We found that people without preconceptions or predujices are quite open to listening to us, even with an open heart. By doing so, they are able to accept the message and progress in the gospel. It was such a neat experience and we are going to go every thursday until we have at least talked to 1,000 people. The Ismael Cortinas branch... it has a ring to it. :D

Friday we had an exchange and I did an interview in Hospital. Elder Sessions worked with Elder Bulloch, and Elder Wally worked with my comp.

I got the package! They are starting to send packages to the zone in an effort to keep us happy - and it works! Thanks a ton for everything! I loved the little gifts and the scriptures! Say thanks to the beehives for me. (Yea! Shout out to the Beehives!) They're the best! Also, I got a package from the Nelson fam. I'll be writing them a letter, but I do send my love and my thanks. Everyone is pretty jealous that I have fudge and gingerbread men!

The ZLs are hinting that Pte was hinting about closing down my area again... which means that I was here to make an area explode, sat around 4 months without doing anything, so they're going to close it back up. Kind of a sucky feeling. I guess we'll see what happens. The ideal situation (what we are hoping for) is that if he does close the area, he sends me with Elder Bulloch, preserving one from each area. Kinda weird, but similar changes have occured, so we're hoping. I'll let you know next week.

Marcelo's son did make it to church, but the mom threw a wrench into the gears (is that an idiom?) and said that it is fine if we teach him, just not in her house. So we would have to do it with Marcelo, but he lives like 4 km outside the city and so we would have to do the lessons in the church, but Marcelo works a lot. It is all pretty complicated. But we keep chugging along with less active members and part-member families. We had one commit to come to church and pay tithing, it was a good lesson.

Well I am praying for Corry. Sounds like a pretty rough situation, but we trust in the Lord. From Henry B. Eyring's talk "Our Perfect Example" -
"The story of the prodigal son gives us all hope. The prodigal remembered home, as will your children. They will feel your love drawing them back to you. Elder Orson F. Whitney, in a general conference of 1929, gave a remarkable promise, which I know is true, to the faithful parents who honor the temple sealing to their children: 'Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold.'
"Then he goes on to say: 'Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God." You can pray for your children, love them, and reach out to them with confidence that Jesus reaches for them with you. When you keep trying, you are doing what Jesus does."

I love you both, and I am praying for you as well as the kids. I hope for better news next week.

Dad, I'm not sure if you got my email last week, but I took my suit into the tailor and am in need of fundage to get it back. Also bike repairs, but that could wait I guess. Could you send me like $60? Love you bunches.