hey there cute fam-
thanks so much for the emails, i am so glad to hear that things are going well and that you are getting everything pulled together for the holidays and i am glad to hear that you have the new tree all put together, so sad we had to put the other one to its grave last year after many years but this one will function much better for you old folks with the pre lit lights haha. to answer your question i did get one of the boxes!!!! thank you so much, i will be well makeupd and will enjoy my treats and of course the great socks for next winter.... i am boiling right now though.
well it has been a good week, we had our christmas mission conference on friday which was really great, always gives me more motivation is a great recharge. one of the senior mission couples talked at the very end and it was really cute. they were only called to serve english speaking in the offices for 6 months but when they were here they were assigned to serve in a ward that is struggling a bit and were sent off to serve a full time mission.... no spanish and all. they struggled to give their testimonies in spanish but it was really so sweet to hear them. we had a lunch with everyone and they served us stuffed chicken and sent us off with a bag of goodies... yummmm. got to see all my old comps and hermana thompson brought me stuff from some of the cute families i taught in maldonado. the calamaris family, of richard and paola, made me a video with new baby claudio, and the moirera family sent a letter that was so sweet it put me to tears. we were teaching ¨the abuela¨ and she was baptized a few weeks ago and sent me a letter to tell me all about it. hermana thompson keeps me up to date every week with a letter about the old area, i love those people and miss them tonz!!! speaking of that i was in church yesterday just chatting with someone when i caught a familiar face out of the corner of my eye, it was my DOM of my old ward in Maldonado, or the member who is in charge of helping with the missionary work within the ward, and then right behind him was his wife and baby!!!! they had taken a bus to come and suprise me and bring me a christmas gift. made me cry like a little baby but i was so so happy to see them, they are a family that will always be really close to my heart. so my christmas has been filled with some really great suprises already.
well if its not chicken pox..... its fleas.... yuck, yet another adventure. we have a flea problem right now and i look like i am back to chicken pox. there is someone from our ward that is going to come and spray our house tomorrow while we are out working so everything can settle while we are gone. guess its a big problem during the summer in this area because of the tall weedy grass and the heat and humidity... they reproduce really quickly. the problem started a few nights ago and i could feel them crawling and i was scratching like mad so i finally got up and tore the sheets off my bed and just laid on my matress. good thing we are getting it taken care of because we cant sleep with them either!!!! well guess its another adventure to add to the book.
well we found this really cute woman named clarita that we are teaching... haha honestly i dont know where it is going to go. she is a beautiful old woman that is about 75 with white hair and blue eyes. really i think that she just likes talking to us but we will see. we went to visit her this morning and she came out to the gate in her swim suit. while we were saying the closing prayer she started out with a prayer and then she just started saying... well i have no idea.... she went totally off topic, and then she started having a conversation with her eyes closed and her head down and then out of no where just opened her eyes and started talking, cant really explain but it was really cute and funny. i still had my eyes closed and head down until my comp nudged me and clarita was in full conversation with us. but ya she is adorable. we have found some really great families that were great contacts as well that we are going to go back to this week. things are really rough and slow right now but i am trying to work on my patience. i read this talk by one of the church leaders named Elder Uchtdorf called Continue in Patience, highly suggest you look it up and read it, its amazing. i have probably read it at least 7 times now and have needed something different from it each time. He says ¨Patience is the ability to put our desires on hold¨ I am truly learning to accept the Lord´s will and timing, i fall short every time but i have to be patient with myself as well. i know that as long as i am doing my part 100 percent that everything else will come with the Lords timing.
well cute fam, cant wait to talk to you. i tried to send a little box off to you today but when we went to the correo someone had broken in over night so they were closed... and i took that as i dont trust the mailing system here for this box to get to you so i am giong to save it until i get home.... sorry charlie, but its really great so i dont want it to get lost in the mail. but anyway, love you tonz, miss you always, and cant wait to hear your sweet voices. send foxy a smooch and tell her she is allotted a few barks. love you millions and zillions and trillions- monkey
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
December 13
thanks for the email updates!
on our way to the cyber we just saw a moto accident, motorcycle that is, scary stuff........
so glad to hear that you have plans to go see the minnesota fam poppy and that auntie holly and the boys are going to come and visit mama, that sounds like a fun little trade. give them all my love okay??? its true poppy, aunnie and auntie marilyn are a HUGE blessing, dont know what we would do without them. how great is it to have family to take care grandma and grandpa. we went to an old folks home this week and sang some christmas songs and they were so happy!!!
okay okay now i understand the whole retirement deal... sounds like a pretty good plan you have going, but also sounds like you are retiring one job to work more in another... kind of kills the word retirement haha. mamas baking ahhhh!!!!! i miss the smell of the house with all her baking for the business at this time of year, enjoy it for me!!!
well today i officially have 7 months in the mission!!! wow the time passes so fast, each change goes by faster.
this past week was really good, we were able to do intercambios with the other two hermanas that we live with and i went with Hermana Enamorado in her area and the other, Hermana Puentes worked with my companion in our area for a day. It was SO good and I learned a ton, Hermana Enamorado is an amazing person and missionary. I really felt that that intercambio took place for a reason, i figured out so much by teaching with her for just one day.
My companion and i are continuing to look for new people to teach, we had some really great lessons this week and found some really great new people that are interested to hear more about our message. Its a fight to find people but it is such a good lesson of patience for me. I think i have been so used to things moving so fast in life that it has been hard to realize that we will be blessed if we can have patience. If i continue to do my part the Lord will do His, reminds me of a quote that says something along the lines of pray like it all depends on the Lord, but work like it all depends on you. I really feel that I am learning to trust in the Lord and His timing.
This friday we are having a mission Christmas conference, i am super excited!!!! The conferences are always great, and i am so excited to see my old companions as well of course!!
well earlier this week during my study i came accross a scripture that i have read plenty of times before, but that took a new meaning to me. it is in John 15 verses 1-13 really. but i am just going to quote a few of them. Jesus is comparing himself to a vine and us as the branches of the vine, it reads ¨abide in me, and I in you. As the branch itself cannot bear fruit itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ya can do nothing..... As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you : continue ye in my love.... if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love.¨ wow oh wow i love this scripture, i was truly able to read it at just the point i needed to. I know that without Christ I am nothing and that if I put my trust in Him and do everything I can I will be able to bring forth fruit.
well i love you millions and zillions and trillions, love you so much and hope that you are all doing so well. xoxoxoxoxoxo- Jess
on our way to the cyber we just saw a moto accident, motorcycle that is, scary stuff........
so glad to hear that you have plans to go see the minnesota fam poppy and that auntie holly and the boys are going to come and visit mama, that sounds like a fun little trade. give them all my love okay??? its true poppy, aunnie and auntie marilyn are a HUGE blessing, dont know what we would do without them. how great is it to have family to take care grandma and grandpa. we went to an old folks home this week and sang some christmas songs and they were so happy!!!
okay okay now i understand the whole retirement deal... sounds like a pretty good plan you have going, but also sounds like you are retiring one job to work more in another... kind of kills the word retirement haha. mamas baking ahhhh!!!!! i miss the smell of the house with all her baking for the business at this time of year, enjoy it for me!!!
well today i officially have 7 months in the mission!!! wow the time passes so fast, each change goes by faster.
this past week was really good, we were able to do intercambios with the other two hermanas that we live with and i went with Hermana Enamorado in her area and the other, Hermana Puentes worked with my companion in our area for a day. It was SO good and I learned a ton, Hermana Enamorado is an amazing person and missionary. I really felt that that intercambio took place for a reason, i figured out so much by teaching with her for just one day.
My companion and i are continuing to look for new people to teach, we had some really great lessons this week and found some really great new people that are interested to hear more about our message. Its a fight to find people but it is such a good lesson of patience for me. I think i have been so used to things moving so fast in life that it has been hard to realize that we will be blessed if we can have patience. If i continue to do my part the Lord will do His, reminds me of a quote that says something along the lines of pray like it all depends on the Lord, but work like it all depends on you. I really feel that I am learning to trust in the Lord and His timing.
This friday we are having a mission Christmas conference, i am super excited!!!! The conferences are always great, and i am so excited to see my old companions as well of course!!
well earlier this week during my study i came accross a scripture that i have read plenty of times before, but that took a new meaning to me. it is in John 15 verses 1-13 really. but i am just going to quote a few of them. Jesus is comparing himself to a vine and us as the branches of the vine, it reads ¨abide in me, and I in you. As the branch itself cannot bear fruit itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ya can do nothing..... As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you : continue ye in my love.... if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love.¨ wow oh wow i love this scripture, i was truly able to read it at just the point i needed to. I know that without Christ I am nothing and that if I put my trust in Him and do everything I can I will be able to bring forth fruit.
well i love you millions and zillions and trillions, love you so much and hope that you are all doing so well. xoxoxoxoxoxo- Jess
Thursday, December 2, 2010
November 30, 2010
hey there!!!!
i cant thank you enough for the emails... my companion hasnt received an email from her parents in over a month now so i feel extremely blessed. thank you for your love and support.
ahh i cant believe how much it is snowing there!!! that is so nuts!!! enjoy it!! i hope thanksgiving was wonderful, i totally forgot that it was thanksgiving until my old comp sent me a message, haha, but i live with three latinas so they didnt know either. hope you ate enough candied yams to last you till next year... that is one of the first things i want, marshmallows dont exist here!!!! poppy thanks so much for doing the shopping, you are a dad with a fashion sense, blessing in disguise. i am a bit worried that you said you bought pumps though... that means with heals and we walk all day but i am sure everything will be just fine. you are the best!!!!! im sorry you didnt find the backpack and bought a new one!!! well you are definitely going to make my companions christmas, i am not sure she will get anything so you are going to put a huge smile on her face. i am so greatful to be here for that very reason though, to be able to teach people that this life is just preparation to meet our Heavenly Father, there is a great plan for him. thanks so much for everything!!! hey only 25 more days till we can talk on the phone!!!!! yeeehawwww!!!! oh i didnt tell you, katie taylor (baker) is pregnant with a baby boy!!!! just got the final news that it is a boy, so if you see her give her a huge hug for me....dont know that that will happen but just wanted to share the good news with you, that i will be an auntie in a few months.... hehe.
well where to start.... i really feel like i have stepped into europe... who new that one country could carry so many different types of people, varying the missionary work alot. this area is really hard, really slow. its hard to not really be able to see the fruits when i feel like i am working so hard, i know everything will come, its just a matter of being patient. most people in my other area believed in God in one way or another, but here i would say the majority are athesit and have no interest in what we have to say. the Lord sure stretches us throughout our missions, every area and every companion bring something new to our lives, something we need to learn, and ways to grow and change. one of my favorite scriptures states that the Lord gives unto us our weaknesses so that we can be humble, and through the Lords help he can make our weaknesses into our strengths. i know this is possible if we put our trust in the Lord. haha i thought before the mission that i was a patient person... i had no idea what patience is!! i still dont but i am learning slowly but surely... its all a matter of patience.
we did find a woman this last week named Luisa while walking in the street. she recently lost her husbund due to bone cancer and her daughter last year due to a flu. we have been teaching her this past week and poor thing she is really a wreck. when we met her we asked her if she believed in God, she started crying and answered more or less and then told us what had just happend. we shared a bit with her and then met up with her at her house a few days later. she has been doing better but is in a really difficult time in her life right now. ill keep ya updated on how she is doing.
well i love you to pieces. attached are some pics!!!! i cant remember the order but are of some families i taught in my last area, a few members, the baptism of the Izaguirre family, me and Juan, and me and my comp... oh we have bikes finally!!!! i fixed mine because it was busted.... expensive. one petal, brakes dont work, sounds like its gonna fall apart when i ride it but oh man i have never been happier to have a crappy bike before, i cant even explain how huge this area is. (dont worry about the brakes... since i know you will... i am really careful and always wear my helmet and ride at snail speed) love you, talk to you next week!! muah!!!! -jess
i cant thank you enough for the emails... my companion hasnt received an email from her parents in over a month now so i feel extremely blessed. thank you for your love and support.
ahh i cant believe how much it is snowing there!!! that is so nuts!!! enjoy it!! i hope thanksgiving was wonderful, i totally forgot that it was thanksgiving until my old comp sent me a message, haha, but i live with three latinas so they didnt know either. hope you ate enough candied yams to last you till next year... that is one of the first things i want, marshmallows dont exist here!!!! poppy thanks so much for doing the shopping, you are a dad with a fashion sense, blessing in disguise. i am a bit worried that you said you bought pumps though... that means with heals and we walk all day but i am sure everything will be just fine. you are the best!!!!! im sorry you didnt find the backpack and bought a new one!!! well you are definitely going to make my companions christmas, i am not sure she will get anything so you are going to put a huge smile on her face. i am so greatful to be here for that very reason though, to be able to teach people that this life is just preparation to meet our Heavenly Father, there is a great plan for him. thanks so much for everything!!! hey only 25 more days till we can talk on the phone!!!!! yeeehawwww!!!! oh i didnt tell you, katie taylor (baker) is pregnant with a baby boy!!!! just got the final news that it is a boy, so if you see her give her a huge hug for me....dont know that that will happen but just wanted to share the good news with you, that i will be an auntie in a few months.... hehe.
well where to start.... i really feel like i have stepped into europe... who new that one country could carry so many different types of people, varying the missionary work alot. this area is really hard, really slow. its hard to not really be able to see the fruits when i feel like i am working so hard, i know everything will come, its just a matter of being patient. most people in my other area believed in God in one way or another, but here i would say the majority are athesit and have no interest in what we have to say. the Lord sure stretches us throughout our missions, every area and every companion bring something new to our lives, something we need to learn, and ways to grow and change. one of my favorite scriptures states that the Lord gives unto us our weaknesses so that we can be humble, and through the Lords help he can make our weaknesses into our strengths. i know this is possible if we put our trust in the Lord. haha i thought before the mission that i was a patient person... i had no idea what patience is!! i still dont but i am learning slowly but surely... its all a matter of patience.
we did find a woman this last week named Luisa while walking in the street. she recently lost her husbund due to bone cancer and her daughter last year due to a flu. we have been teaching her this past week and poor thing she is really a wreck. when we met her we asked her if she believed in God, she started crying and answered more or less and then told us what had just happend. we shared a bit with her and then met up with her at her house a few days later. she has been doing better but is in a really difficult time in her life right now. ill keep ya updated on how she is doing.
well i love you to pieces. attached are some pics!!!! i cant remember the order but are of some families i taught in my last area, a few members, the baptism of the Izaguirre family, me and Juan, and me and my comp... oh we have bikes finally!!!! i fixed mine because it was busted.... expensive. one petal, brakes dont work, sounds like its gonna fall apart when i ride it but oh man i have never been happier to have a crappy bike before, i cant even explain how huge this area is. (dont worry about the brakes... since i know you will... i am really careful and always wear my helmet and ride at snail speed) love you, talk to you next week!! muah!!!! -jess
November 22, 2010
hey there-
i cant believe that it is snowing there!!! well i guess i know that is happening but i cant even imagine it with how much sun we have here. wow enjoy it for me will you, i am definitely going to miss a white christmas and a good ski season, but i will get that next year. wow you are all about to have thanksgiving eh??? well sad news for you... remember how that is an american holiday... haha sorry poppy but to answer your question i will be workin like usual, they dont celebrate thanksgiving here, no worries though i eat as much here on a daily basis as i would on thanksgiving so im not starving. but do enjoy it for me and give the fam my love. i know the minnesota kubs will cheating and having their usual double thanksgiving for lunch and dinner yum yum!! buddy enjoy some good old tofurky for me... hehe. i am going to miss you all like crazy, but the church members here are going to take good care of us and we already have some invitations to eat for christmas. i have something for you that i was going to send home with my old zone leader to deliver to you but the man who is making it in my old area got really sick and was hospitalized so he just started working on it, so sorry it wont be there on time.
well greetings from salinas, my new area. wow i must admit i kind of feel in a sense like i started over, the nervousness, not knowing anything or anyone, feeling really lost but i am getting there, i am sure i will get to know it faster than i did the first time in maldonado. poppy no worries, my address is the same, everything goes to the mission home and then they ship it to us. well like i said my new companion is Hermana Rodriguez, she is from El Salvador and is really such a sweet girl. she is very quiet and soft spoken which is a reverse from hermana thompson, so my life is a bit more quiet but we are getting along great. she really wants to learn english so we are working on her telling me stories in english to help her improve. this new area... man is hard, it is super slow and hard to find people to talk to. the people here are generally more wealthy than those in maldonado, there are still areas that are poor, but thier living conditions are much much better. people are usually really nice when they reject us... but finding people that want to listen is a bit like pulling teeth. but i know the Lord will never give us things that we cannot handle, and he will put people in our path, its going to be a learning experience, thats for sure. i am going to learn alot about patience and that everything comes in the Lords time as long as we are doing our part. its just really weird going from Maldonado where we were able to see some really amazing things happen and have really steady people we were teaching to this area which is really dead. also i thought my area in maldonado was huge and we walked a ton but geez, this is probably double, its really great to come home tired but wow....
well my companions family is having a difficult time financially and she has no money from home to buy anything and i was wondering, because her shoes are completely falling apart, if you can send some shoes, flat and durable, like the ones i have, size 8, doesnt need to be fancy, just hit up nordstrom rack again. and also, my old backpack that i have for school, it is orange and should be in my stuff that you moved, hers is falling apart and the one i have at home is practically new, promise i will pay you back. i would buy it here but the quality of the stuff here is really bad and doesnt last. if you cant i understand, if at least you can send the backpack that would be great.
well i know this isnt anything really exciting, but know that i am doing well and am alive. i love you all to pieces and you are always in my prayers. tell everyone i say hello and that i love them. much love-jess
i cant believe that it is snowing there!!! well i guess i know that is happening but i cant even imagine it with how much sun we have here. wow enjoy it for me will you, i am definitely going to miss a white christmas and a good ski season, but i will get that next year. wow you are all about to have thanksgiving eh??? well sad news for you... remember how that is an american holiday... haha sorry poppy but to answer your question i will be workin like usual, they dont celebrate thanksgiving here, no worries though i eat as much here on a daily basis as i would on thanksgiving so im not starving. but do enjoy it for me and give the fam my love. i know the minnesota kubs will cheating and having their usual double thanksgiving for lunch and dinner yum yum!! buddy enjoy some good old tofurky for me... hehe. i am going to miss you all like crazy, but the church members here are going to take good care of us and we already have some invitations to eat for christmas. i have something for you that i was going to send home with my old zone leader to deliver to you but the man who is making it in my old area got really sick and was hospitalized so he just started working on it, so sorry it wont be there on time.
well greetings from salinas, my new area. wow i must admit i kind of feel in a sense like i started over, the nervousness, not knowing anything or anyone, feeling really lost but i am getting there, i am sure i will get to know it faster than i did the first time in maldonado. poppy no worries, my address is the same, everything goes to the mission home and then they ship it to us. well like i said my new companion is Hermana Rodriguez, she is from El Salvador and is really such a sweet girl. she is very quiet and soft spoken which is a reverse from hermana thompson, so my life is a bit more quiet but we are getting along great. she really wants to learn english so we are working on her telling me stories in english to help her improve. this new area... man is hard, it is super slow and hard to find people to talk to. the people here are generally more wealthy than those in maldonado, there are still areas that are poor, but thier living conditions are much much better. people are usually really nice when they reject us... but finding people that want to listen is a bit like pulling teeth. but i know the Lord will never give us things that we cannot handle, and he will put people in our path, its going to be a learning experience, thats for sure. i am going to learn alot about patience and that everything comes in the Lords time as long as we are doing our part. its just really weird going from Maldonado where we were able to see some really amazing things happen and have really steady people we were teaching to this area which is really dead. also i thought my area in maldonado was huge and we walked a ton but geez, this is probably double, its really great to come home tired but wow....
well my companions family is having a difficult time financially and she has no money from home to buy anything and i was wondering, because her shoes are completely falling apart, if you can send some shoes, flat and durable, like the ones i have, size 8, doesnt need to be fancy, just hit up nordstrom rack again. and also, my old backpack that i have for school, it is orange and should be in my stuff that you moved, hers is falling apart and the one i have at home is practically new, promise i will pay you back. i would buy it here but the quality of the stuff here is really bad and doesnt last. if you cant i understand, if at least you can send the backpack that would be great.
well i know this isnt anything really exciting, but know that i am doing well and am alive. i love you all to pieces and you are always in my prayers. tell everyone i say hello and that i love them. much love-jess
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Nov 16.
hey-
well im sitting here in montevideo again... we have changes... i am leaving Maldonado. i was really hoping for one more change with my companion and in the area but i am greatful i will get to experience other areas. I am going to miss my companion SOOOO much!!!! We went around yesterday and said goodbyes to all the great people i was able to teach and see get baptized. man it was a really emotional day, maldonado really became my home away from home and these people have such a big part of my heart. i will definitely be making it back one day to visit. I am going to be going to an area called Salinas, go and look it up. My companion is named Hermana Rodriguez, i am not sure where she is from but i am going to be living in a house with her and two other hermanas... all latinas... bring on the spanish baby!!! haha wow this is going to be really good for me, hard but good. and guess what, not that it really means much but i am going to be the senior companion!!! which means i have more time on the mission than my comp, weird, i swear i am still a baby on the mission.
luckily to end my changes in Maldonado we had the most amazing week and were able to witness many amazing miracles. Last week we found this really amazing woman named Ana. She was sick but let us come in and chat with her, she had recently lost her dad, actually four months to the day, due to medical neglect so she was really torn up that he had to go in the way he did. we were able to share the plan of salvation with her and i cant tell you how amazingly strong the spirit was, my comp and i came out and both knew that we were exactly where we were supposed to be at that moment. my comp and her new comp are going to continue to teach her.
we started teaching a man named andres again, the one i had told you about. i really have never met someone with so much faith and such an unwaivering testimony, talking to him makes my testimony stronger. he will be baptized this next coming wednesday.
we have been working with a family who is less active in the chuch and have a really amzing relationship with them and have been able to see them gradually come back to church throughout our two changes together. the grandmother of the family has decided that she wants to be baptized as well. she is so great and loves learning about the gospel. she is really old and has no teeth, she is so dang cute!!! im sad i wont get to see her baptism but my comp is going to keep me updated.
So Richard and Paola and their family are doing wonderful, Paola is going to deliver her baby this coming week, baby claudio, ahhh sad i wont get to meet him for a while. but anyway their son damian was baptized just a bit ago and has been a huge punk. he recently received some really great responsibility within the church and i cant tell you how its changed him. he is so respectful now and he has undergone a complete change. this last week during church he said the prayer to bless the sacrament or you would know it as the holy communion. gosh i had such a proud mom moment, i am so happy to see the people that i have been able to teach progress and have the gospel change their lives.
we were able to have some really beautiful baptisms on sunday. mario was baptized finally!!!! he overcame his fear of water and he was so proud and excited. the Izaguirre family was baptized as well, they are so amzing i cant even tell you. married couples are super rare here, its really sad. they are such an amazing family and we are really excited for them.
its been really amazing here to listen to the prayers of these people when they are praying in lessons or when we are at members houses, they ALWAYS pray for you as my family. these people have a love for you and dont even know you. so know that you are in our prayers all around the world!! I love you so so much and hope all is going well. -jess
well im sitting here in montevideo again... we have changes... i am leaving Maldonado. i was really hoping for one more change with my companion and in the area but i am greatful i will get to experience other areas. I am going to miss my companion SOOOO much!!!! We went around yesterday and said goodbyes to all the great people i was able to teach and see get baptized. man it was a really emotional day, maldonado really became my home away from home and these people have such a big part of my heart. i will definitely be making it back one day to visit. I am going to be going to an area called Salinas, go and look it up. My companion is named Hermana Rodriguez, i am not sure where she is from but i am going to be living in a house with her and two other hermanas... all latinas... bring on the spanish baby!!! haha wow this is going to be really good for me, hard but good. and guess what, not that it really means much but i am going to be the senior companion!!! which means i have more time on the mission than my comp, weird, i swear i am still a baby on the mission.
luckily to end my changes in Maldonado we had the most amazing week and were able to witness many amazing miracles. Last week we found this really amazing woman named Ana. She was sick but let us come in and chat with her, she had recently lost her dad, actually four months to the day, due to medical neglect so she was really torn up that he had to go in the way he did. we were able to share the plan of salvation with her and i cant tell you how amazingly strong the spirit was, my comp and i came out and both knew that we were exactly where we were supposed to be at that moment. my comp and her new comp are going to continue to teach her.
we started teaching a man named andres again, the one i had told you about. i really have never met someone with so much faith and such an unwaivering testimony, talking to him makes my testimony stronger. he will be baptized this next coming wednesday.
we have been working with a family who is less active in the chuch and have a really amzing relationship with them and have been able to see them gradually come back to church throughout our two changes together. the grandmother of the family has decided that she wants to be baptized as well. she is so great and loves learning about the gospel. she is really old and has no teeth, she is so dang cute!!! im sad i wont get to see her baptism but my comp is going to keep me updated.
So Richard and Paola and their family are doing wonderful, Paola is going to deliver her baby this coming week, baby claudio, ahhh sad i wont get to meet him for a while. but anyway their son damian was baptized just a bit ago and has been a huge punk. he recently received some really great responsibility within the church and i cant tell you how its changed him. he is so respectful now and he has undergone a complete change. this last week during church he said the prayer to bless the sacrament or you would know it as the holy communion. gosh i had such a proud mom moment, i am so happy to see the people that i have been able to teach progress and have the gospel change their lives.
we were able to have some really beautiful baptisms on sunday. mario was baptized finally!!!! he overcame his fear of water and he was so proud and excited. the Izaguirre family was baptized as well, they are so amzing i cant even tell you. married couples are super rare here, its really sad. they are such an amazing family and we are really excited for them.
its been really amazing here to listen to the prayers of these people when they are praying in lessons or when we are at members houses, they ALWAYS pray for you as my family. these people have a love for you and dont even know you. so know that you are in our prayers all around the world!! I love you so so much and hope all is going well. -jess
November 8.
Hola everyone,
For halloween we dressed up.... as eachother.... thats about as exciting as a missionary gets on halloween. we wore eachothers name badges for the day. uruguay, or maybe just south america in general is just now starting to catch on to halloween. there were a few little kids out dressed up, pretty much all the boys were devils, grim reapers, or were wearing a scary mask, and ALL girls were witches, haha they are givin it a try, pretty cute though to see all the kids in their costumes.
we had a really good week and found some really amazing people. i told you about the familia Izaguerre last week who has four little kids, they are amazing and are progressing so great. they are going to be baptized, well the parents and one of thier children, this next week! They have had some changes that they have had to make within their family but their faith has been really amazing and they have really been applying what they learn. they are super cute but super shy so at the end of our lessons we have been playing uno with them to get them to open up a bit and it has worked magic!!! haha, they have a little girl that is two that was so silent for the first little while and now she wont stop chatting, so cute.
i dunno if you remember me telling you about mario a while ago, he was scared of water so he wouldnt be baptized. he has been taking swimming classes, just so he could go through with his baptism and finally this last week... he went under water!!! so he will be baptized this next saturday.
we had a wonderful zone conference with our mission president this last week and the message he gave was really powerful. first his wife spoke to us on improving our personal and companionship study times and how we really need to focus our time studing for the needs of the people we are teaching, and not for our own benefit. she also talked alot about obedience and how when we are disobedient it is like a parasite, we do small things that build until soon it has taken over. Presidente Da Silva talked about the atonement of Christ and how he suffered for each individual pain, affliction, sin, temptation, and sicknesses so that he may be able to understand and succor us when we are in need of comfort.
well i have a really great quote i want to share with you from the church magazine that was given in an amazing talk about the love of God. It says ¨for what we love, determines what we seek. what we seek, determines what we think and do. what we think and do determines who we are and who we will become.¨ and another part i really loved states, ¨Think of the purest most all consuming love you can imagine, now multiply that love by an infinite amount- that is the measure of God´s love for you. God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that he doesn´t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely, though we are imperfect, he loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God´s love encompasses completely.¨
well i love you so so much!!! keep me updated, sounds like the fam is having a bit of trouble right now. my pictures didnt all load but enjoy the ones that are there!! one of me and my comp and the other is of Andrea who is 25 and her fam. her and her daughter alexandra who is in front of me are recently baptized. love you love you love you!!! -jess
For halloween we dressed up.... as eachother.... thats about as exciting as a missionary gets on halloween. we wore eachothers name badges for the day. uruguay, or maybe just south america in general is just now starting to catch on to halloween. there were a few little kids out dressed up, pretty much all the boys were devils, grim reapers, or were wearing a scary mask, and ALL girls were witches, haha they are givin it a try, pretty cute though to see all the kids in their costumes.
we had a really good week and found some really amazing people. i told you about the familia Izaguerre last week who has four little kids, they are amazing and are progressing so great. they are going to be baptized, well the parents and one of thier children, this next week! They have had some changes that they have had to make within their family but their faith has been really amazing and they have really been applying what they learn. they are super cute but super shy so at the end of our lessons we have been playing uno with them to get them to open up a bit and it has worked magic!!! haha, they have a little girl that is two that was so silent for the first little while and now she wont stop chatting, so cute.
i dunno if you remember me telling you about mario a while ago, he was scared of water so he wouldnt be baptized. he has been taking swimming classes, just so he could go through with his baptism and finally this last week... he went under water!!! so he will be baptized this next saturday.
we had a wonderful zone conference with our mission president this last week and the message he gave was really powerful. first his wife spoke to us on improving our personal and companionship study times and how we really need to focus our time studing for the needs of the people we are teaching, and not for our own benefit. she also talked alot about obedience and how when we are disobedient it is like a parasite, we do small things that build until soon it has taken over. Presidente Da Silva talked about the atonement of Christ and how he suffered for each individual pain, affliction, sin, temptation, and sicknesses so that he may be able to understand and succor us when we are in need of comfort.
well i have a really great quote i want to share with you from the church magazine that was given in an amazing talk about the love of God. It says ¨for what we love, determines what we seek. what we seek, determines what we think and do. what we think and do determines who we are and who we will become.¨ and another part i really loved states, ¨Think of the purest most all consuming love you can imagine, now multiply that love by an infinite amount- that is the measure of God´s love for you. God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that he doesn´t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely, though we are imperfect, he loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God´s love encompasses completely.¨
well i love you so so much!!! keep me updated, sounds like the fam is having a bit of trouble right now. my pictures didnt all load but enjoy the ones that are there!! one of me and my comp and the other is of Andrea who is 25 and her fam. her and her daughter alexandra who is in front of me are recently baptized. love you love you love you!!! -jess
November 1, 2010
Hola!
well I have exciting news.... well for me anyway!! My comp and i had to get up at five to come to Montevideo this morning so i could sign my visa papers, finally, and we were being really quite getting ready because there are two other hermanas living in our house, dunno if i told you that or not, but anyway when we left she was like i wanted to tell you something but i didnt want you to scream while the hermanas were still asleep but you were SLEEP TALKING IN SPANISH!!!! and but of course i screamed because i was really excited!!! exciting huh!!??? and she said that what i was saying actually made sense haha. one step in the right direction i guess!!! haha so ya that was really exciting.
we had a really great week once again and were able to have Cristina´s baptism, it was so special and she was so so happy. she was really nervous that something was going to go wrong again with the baptismal font and said that she was going to take that as a sign that it wasnt supposed to happen if it fell through again haha, so we checked on the font probably five times during the day to make sure it was actually filling this time. i will send some more pictures next week, we are in montevideo right now so i cant hook up my camera
my comp and i are teaching this really amazing new family that is adorable!! they are a young couple that is married (which is really rare here) and they have four kids. They are so so sweet, they just moved into our area. We have only taught them once but ill let ya know more. They have two little little girls that remind me of my murd girls, man i miss them!!
we are still teaching those three women Gloria, Estella, and Karin. We had the most amazing lesson with Karin and she said an amazing prayer at the end of our lesson. She is a really great mom and really wants to make a great family for her son.
well i wanna tell you more but our bus for Maldonado is leaving in like ten minutes!!! But i love you so so much and look forward to hearin from you next week!!!!
Jess
well I have exciting news.... well for me anyway!! My comp and i had to get up at five to come to Montevideo this morning so i could sign my visa papers, finally, and we were being really quite getting ready because there are two other hermanas living in our house, dunno if i told you that or not, but anyway when we left she was like i wanted to tell you something but i didnt want you to scream while the hermanas were still asleep but you were SLEEP TALKING IN SPANISH!!!! and but of course i screamed because i was really excited!!! exciting huh!!??? and she said that what i was saying actually made sense haha. one step in the right direction i guess!!! haha so ya that was really exciting.
we had a really great week once again and were able to have Cristina´s baptism, it was so special and she was so so happy. she was really nervous that something was going to go wrong again with the baptismal font and said that she was going to take that as a sign that it wasnt supposed to happen if it fell through again haha, so we checked on the font probably five times during the day to make sure it was actually filling this time. i will send some more pictures next week, we are in montevideo right now so i cant hook up my camera
my comp and i are teaching this really amazing new family that is adorable!! they are a young couple that is married (which is really rare here) and they have four kids. They are so so sweet, they just moved into our area. We have only taught them once but ill let ya know more. They have two little little girls that remind me of my murd girls, man i miss them!!
we are still teaching those three women Gloria, Estella, and Karin. We had the most amazing lesson with Karin and she said an amazing prayer at the end of our lesson. She is a really great mom and really wants to make a great family for her son.
well i wanna tell you more but our bus for Maldonado is leaving in like ten minutes!!! But i love you so so much and look forward to hearin from you next week!!!!
Jess
Sunday, October 31, 2010
October 25, 2010.
well its becoming more and more like summer here!! we are still wearing sweaters almost all the time but it is getting really nice, finally!!! i am nervous for another winter though!!!! so i will just have to enjoy the heat while i can. i hear that there are TONS of mosquitos here during the summer and that it is extremely hot and humid, so i guess i am down for another adventure of a season. oh here is an interesting fact about uruguay... there are three cows to every one person here, weird huh.
this past week was so great!!! my comp and i really had alot of success finding really amazing people to teach about the gospel. I had told you about Cristina this last week and how excited she was for her baptism this past sunday but guess what... our zone leaders went to the church to fill up the baptismal font at three am so that it would be ready by nine and my comp and i headed to the church at about 8:15 to get everything ready and we walked into the church, i was locking the door and just heard my comp yell that the font was empty.... yup empty, the water was running but somehow the drain was on and the water was draining as fast as it was filling. we were in a panic and didnt know what to do, but we couldnt really do anything because it takes 6-7 hours to fill so we were out of luck. Cristina came just shortly after and we had to break the news to her. she was really sad but we rescheduled it for wednesday so its all good, just have to wait a few more days.
we are teaching this really amazing woman named Estella that is so faithful, i just love her!! she has really great insight on the gospel and has really been working hard to apply it to her life. her grandson bruno, who is like two, is always there when we teach her and man is he a stinker!!! the whole time we are there he will switch off between my comp and i and hitting us, trying to pull down our skirts or take off our shoes. this past week i was talking and he just came up and slapped me in the face!!! hahaha. when we were praying he threw a ball at my comps head and was pulling on my bangs. oh man he is so funny, he just really wants attention i guess but man he is a naughty little kid.
the woman i was telling you about, Gloria, who doesnt read or know how to write, had a really hard trial this last week when a friend of hers that we have met died in a moto accident. it was really crazy that it happened just days after we taught her about the plan of salvation or where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after this life. it really gave her alot of peace of mind to know of God´s plan in such a hard time.
well i gotta go!!! but i hope you know how much i love you!!!! you are always in my thoughts and prayers! i want to share a little scripture with you that i just love. i came across it this morning during my scripture study. i love scriptures about being greatful during afflictions which is kinda odd i guess but they always seem to help me. this is a prophet speaking after he had been through a great deal of trials, i really think that it is amazing how he much he trusts in the Lord always and that he faith is so unwaivering no matter what he has been through, it says ¨My God hath been my support, he hath led me through the wilderness, and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh...Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, oh my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strenghth because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, oh my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say, Oh Lord I will praise thee forever, yea, yea my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation... Oh Lord I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh, for i know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if i ask not amiss, therefor i will lift up my voice unto thee yea, i will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and my everlasting God.¨
I know that is a bit long but i love it!!! hope you enjoy!!! look forward to hearing from you next week!!! love you love you LOVE YOU!! -Jess
this past week was so great!!! my comp and i really had alot of success finding really amazing people to teach about the gospel. I had told you about Cristina this last week and how excited she was for her baptism this past sunday but guess what... our zone leaders went to the church to fill up the baptismal font at three am so that it would be ready by nine and my comp and i headed to the church at about 8:15 to get everything ready and we walked into the church, i was locking the door and just heard my comp yell that the font was empty.... yup empty, the water was running but somehow the drain was on and the water was draining as fast as it was filling. we were in a panic and didnt know what to do, but we couldnt really do anything because it takes 6-7 hours to fill so we were out of luck. Cristina came just shortly after and we had to break the news to her. she was really sad but we rescheduled it for wednesday so its all good, just have to wait a few more days.
we are teaching this really amazing woman named Estella that is so faithful, i just love her!! she has really great insight on the gospel and has really been working hard to apply it to her life. her grandson bruno, who is like two, is always there when we teach her and man is he a stinker!!! the whole time we are there he will switch off between my comp and i and hitting us, trying to pull down our skirts or take off our shoes. this past week i was talking and he just came up and slapped me in the face!!! hahaha. when we were praying he threw a ball at my comps head and was pulling on my bangs. oh man he is so funny, he just really wants attention i guess but man he is a naughty little kid.
the woman i was telling you about, Gloria, who doesnt read or know how to write, had a really hard trial this last week when a friend of hers that we have met died in a moto accident. it was really crazy that it happened just days after we taught her about the plan of salvation or where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after this life. it really gave her alot of peace of mind to know of God´s plan in such a hard time.
well i gotta go!!! but i hope you know how much i love you!!!! you are always in my thoughts and prayers! i want to share a little scripture with you that i just love. i came across it this morning during my scripture study. i love scriptures about being greatful during afflictions which is kinda odd i guess but they always seem to help me. this is a prophet speaking after he had been through a great deal of trials, i really think that it is amazing how he much he trusts in the Lord always and that he faith is so unwaivering no matter what he has been through, it says ¨My God hath been my support, he hath led me through the wilderness, and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh...Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, oh my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strenghth because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, oh my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say, Oh Lord I will praise thee forever, yea, yea my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation... Oh Lord I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh, for i know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if i ask not amiss, therefor i will lift up my voice unto thee yea, i will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and my everlasting God.¨
I know that is a bit long but i love it!!! hope you enjoy!!! look forward to hearing from you next week!!! love you love you LOVE YOU!! -Jess
October 18, 2010.
well this past week was really good!!! we have found some really amazing people and are really excited to teach them. there is this really awesome woman named Estella that has been in contact with missionaries before and loves the teachings of the gospel and wants to progress and improve her relationship with God. She is a really awesome and sincere woman and we are really excited to work with her.
we have run into quite a few people this week who are illiterate and can´t read or write. we are actually teaching a woman named Gloria right now that is illiterate and it has opened a whole new way of teaching for us, we really have to be simple and clear with what we say and teach. we had a really awesome experience with her when she prayed with us and she told us that she really had an overwhelming feeling of comfort and peace with her prayer. goes to show that the Spirit can touch all and testify of the truthfullness of the love of God.
Christina is going to have her baptism this coming Sunday before our steak, or several wards in one, conference. We had an awesome lesson with her this morning and she is very excited to be baptized, she prayed for us at the end that this week would go by fast because she is so excited. she continues to struggle with the death of her son, as i could only imagine, but is doing amazing on relying on the Lord for comfort and peace during this time.
i had my second interview with my mission president this week and it went really great!!! he asked me probably three times at the beginning if i was concerned with anything... i was almost forcing myself to try and think of anything, but i just said ummmmm no everytime, guess he just really likes to make sure that we are doing okay!!! he is such a great mission president, really strict but thats all the better, it really helps us to stay on track. oh and i did my whole interview in Spanish!!! haha last time i didnt say one word in spanish so i guess that is an improvement.
well i better go yall. i love you oh and of course i wanna leave ya with a little scripture!!! i found this during my study this morning when i was actually studying about taking upon us the name of Christ in baptism, it led me in a bit of a different direction for a while but i definitely needed to read this, amazing how that happens!!! its in 1 Peter 2:20 which reads, ¨for what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.¨ I love this so much, it is our trials in life that make us strong, that make us the people that we are sculpted into. we grow and learn from our trials in preparation to live with our Heavenly Father again some day. every trial will pass and we will be exhaulted on high if we endure them well.
I love you ever so so much and will be praying for you always. much love!!!! -jess
we have run into quite a few people this week who are illiterate and can´t read or write. we are actually teaching a woman named Gloria right now that is illiterate and it has opened a whole new way of teaching for us, we really have to be simple and clear with what we say and teach. we had a really awesome experience with her when she prayed with us and she told us that she really had an overwhelming feeling of comfort and peace with her prayer. goes to show that the Spirit can touch all and testify of the truthfullness of the love of God.
Christina is going to have her baptism this coming Sunday before our steak, or several wards in one, conference. We had an awesome lesson with her this morning and she is very excited to be baptized, she prayed for us at the end that this week would go by fast because she is so excited. she continues to struggle with the death of her son, as i could only imagine, but is doing amazing on relying on the Lord for comfort and peace during this time.
i had my second interview with my mission president this week and it went really great!!! he asked me probably three times at the beginning if i was concerned with anything... i was almost forcing myself to try and think of anything, but i just said ummmmm no everytime, guess he just really likes to make sure that we are doing okay!!! he is such a great mission president, really strict but thats all the better, it really helps us to stay on track. oh and i did my whole interview in Spanish!!! haha last time i didnt say one word in spanish so i guess that is an improvement.
well i better go yall. i love you oh and of course i wanna leave ya with a little scripture!!! i found this during my study this morning when i was actually studying about taking upon us the name of Christ in baptism, it led me in a bit of a different direction for a while but i definitely needed to read this, amazing how that happens!!! its in 1 Peter 2:20 which reads, ¨for what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.¨ I love this so much, it is our trials in life that make us strong, that make us the people that we are sculpted into. we grow and learn from our trials in preparation to live with our Heavenly Father again some day. every trial will pass and we will be exhaulted on high if we endure them well.
I love you ever so so much and will be praying for you always. much love!!!! -jess
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pictures from Oct. 5, 2010
okay here goes the pictures again!!! the first pic is of me and my mtc comp Hermana Grow, she is darling huh... she just barely had to get her gallbladder out here!!! crazy huh. the next one is me and my little ecuadorian comp Hermana Alvarez and our foot long ponchos, hot dogs, there is literally someone vending them on every street corner. the next few i think are just me, one with my third busted umbrella, yehaw, uruguay knows how to rain and wind all at the same time that is for sure. one of my comp and her hillerious rain jacket, gotta love it. and the next are my favs with the cute fam of Paola and Richard, Jaque is on my left, Dameon behind her, and Juan on my right. arent they precious!!!!??? oh and then the last is just of Dameon and Jaque before their baptism.
October 5, 2010
hey there fam-
this was definitely a week filled with Richard and Paolas fam. we had their wedding that we attended on wednesday which was really eventful because we were short a witness because they would not let us use our copies of our passports as id so we had to find someone in the street, luckily this wonderful woman that was passing by offered to help us and wha lah!!! they are a happy new married couple!!! gosh i cant tell you how much their family changed with this marriage, there is truly something so special that has bound them together and they have a whole new sense of commitment to their relationship, i really have never seen them so happy!! the next day we had their baptism which was such an awesome and powerful experience for me, they were all so happy excited. Richard left for Venezuela on saturday for his new job and my comp and i went to thier house right before they left to do a little family prayer and lesson with them. Paola was really sad with the fact that Richard was leaving, geez im sure i would be too if i were 8 months pregnant with three kids! but she has been amazing, my comp and i have visited them and they are doing great, jaque and dameon help out so much with juan and paola is a wonderful mother. its really amazing to watch them carry out the love of Christ within their home.
other than that i have been really sick this past week with some sort of flu so we had quite a bit of time in the house. mama you would be happy with what good care my comp took of me, she made me rest even when i was trying to force my way through it, which is all for the better because i am all healed up now. other than that we had change calls on sunday and....... my comp and i are staying together!!! yehaw, so we have at least another six weeks together which will be great for me, i am learning so much from her and she is really helping me to learn how to grow as a person through the gospel. i cannot tell you how much i love studying the gospel and im so happy that i have this short amount of time to dedicate my life to it.
we were able to watch the church´s general conference this past weekend at our steak center while everyone was there back home... really surreal to see beautiful salt lake city during the broadcast and not be there!!! but oh my it was soooo gooood. the very first talk was by one of the general authority´s of the church Elder Holland and wow i cannot tell you how hard it hit me. he was talking about selfless sacrifice, sacrifice given without expecting anything in return, a VERY LARGE part of that being our parents. I know you are probably sick of me saying this but thank you mom and dad. i know i will never fully recognize everything you have done for me but i know that i am who i am and have the opportunities that i have had because of you. the President of the church spoke on gratitude and how many times we take foregranted those who deserve our gratifude the most, i am so greatful for you and all the wonderful people in my life, i hope that i can live to be a more greatful person. one of the quotes that he said was, ¨to live with gratifude is to touch heaven.¨
I love you so very much. Hope to hear from you again soon!! Much love-Jess
this was definitely a week filled with Richard and Paolas fam. we had their wedding that we attended on wednesday which was really eventful because we were short a witness because they would not let us use our copies of our passports as id so we had to find someone in the street, luckily this wonderful woman that was passing by offered to help us and wha lah!!! they are a happy new married couple!!! gosh i cant tell you how much their family changed with this marriage, there is truly something so special that has bound them together and they have a whole new sense of commitment to their relationship, i really have never seen them so happy!! the next day we had their baptism which was such an awesome and powerful experience for me, they were all so happy excited. Richard left for Venezuela on saturday for his new job and my comp and i went to thier house right before they left to do a little family prayer and lesson with them. Paola was really sad with the fact that Richard was leaving, geez im sure i would be too if i were 8 months pregnant with three kids! but she has been amazing, my comp and i have visited them and they are doing great, jaque and dameon help out so much with juan and paola is a wonderful mother. its really amazing to watch them carry out the love of Christ within their home.
other than that i have been really sick this past week with some sort of flu so we had quite a bit of time in the house. mama you would be happy with what good care my comp took of me, she made me rest even when i was trying to force my way through it, which is all for the better because i am all healed up now. other than that we had change calls on sunday and....... my comp and i are staying together!!! yehaw, so we have at least another six weeks together which will be great for me, i am learning so much from her and she is really helping me to learn how to grow as a person through the gospel. i cannot tell you how much i love studying the gospel and im so happy that i have this short amount of time to dedicate my life to it.
we were able to watch the church´s general conference this past weekend at our steak center while everyone was there back home... really surreal to see beautiful salt lake city during the broadcast and not be there!!! but oh my it was soooo gooood. the very first talk was by one of the general authority´s of the church Elder Holland and wow i cannot tell you how hard it hit me. he was talking about selfless sacrifice, sacrifice given without expecting anything in return, a VERY LARGE part of that being our parents. I know you are probably sick of me saying this but thank you mom and dad. i know i will never fully recognize everything you have done for me but i know that i am who i am and have the opportunities that i have had because of you. the President of the church spoke on gratitude and how many times we take foregranted those who deserve our gratifude the most, i am so greatful for you and all the wonderful people in my life, i hope that i can live to be a more greatful person. one of the quotes that he said was, ¨to live with gratifude is to touch heaven.¨
I love you so very much. Hope to hear from you again soon!! Much love-Jess
Monday, September 20, 2010
Letter from Jess' companion
Hello! By way of introduction, I am Hermana Thompson, your daughter/sister/friend´s companion. I think Herman Kubly is FABULOUS. She is a VERY hard worker, very dilligent in her studies, exactly obedient, and so fun to be around. It makes it so easy to be her companion, friend, and confidant. I am really enjoying being with her and already having nightmares that I will have to leave her. We are trying to teach by the spirit, help people have thier own spiritual experiences, and find the people who need us. It is wonderful. Thank you so much for being part of her life and making her such a wonderful person so that I can enjoy her presence now.
September 13
well things here are going great, this last week was pretty rough for us but i couldnt have a better companion to have a rough week with. we are teaching some really amazing people but everything that you could imagine seemed to go wrong this week. i am starting to understand a ton more spanish and my companion can tell me what i dont pick up on which is exactly what i have been working and praying for but it is so hard to hear what is happening in some of these peoples lives and the trials they are going through. i feel so horrible and just want to fix everything for them but it is so out of my control. but on the flip side, its amazing to see the spiritulal comfort that they can recieve in these hard times. well i can tell ya a little story of a few things that happened this week. one of the guys that we have been teaching is named Guillermo, he is really amazing but unfortunately this week he told us that he is in a relationship with a married woman and her husbund does not know. we were really shocked at first when he told us but the lesson that we were able to have with him went really well. he feels really bad about his decisions but is lonely so we are trying to help him replace his relationship with this woman for a relationship with God.... a bit complicated but we are doing as much as we can. other than that we have also been teaching a really amazing woman named Cecelia who is a little spiritual powerhouse, my comp and i think she is a bit like a Uruguayan form of Whoopie Goldberg from sister act, she is so great and hilarious. anyway we went to pick her and her friend Ana Vela up for church on Sunday and Cecelia just starting crying and told us that they had absolutely no money to pay for anything to eat or pay the bills but within a little bit of time they decided to come to church with us. they really enjoyed church and felt comfort and peace from the messages that were shared. other than that we are still searchin for people to teach and looking to progress with the ones we have. we had a really great meeting with our ward mission leader this week and he was really positive towards the work we are doing in the area. he said that many ward members are impressed with us which just makes us so much more motivated to work hard, we have been working hard to re gain the trust of the ward so this was wonderful to hear.
we went to punta del este today which is i guess a little hidden treasure of the world. it was really rainy so we werent able to do much but it was really nice, i kind of felt like i was back in the states in vegas or something. i couldnt believe how uncomfortable i felt though!!!! i am so used to it here in little maldonaldo now that i was kind of a bit nervous being around that. i cant believe that there are areas of such great poverty like the area i live in and punta del este so close to eachother, its really crazy.
anyway i better go but i love you ever so much!! i forgot my little chuch magazine to leave ya with a little spiritual thought so i will have to give ya a really good one next week. but i love you to pieces and am excited to hear from you!!
JESS
P.S. P day is going to be next Wednesday
we went to punta del este today which is i guess a little hidden treasure of the world. it was really rainy so we werent able to do much but it was really nice, i kind of felt like i was back in the states in vegas or something. i couldnt believe how uncomfortable i felt though!!!! i am so used to it here in little maldonaldo now that i was kind of a bit nervous being around that. i cant believe that there are areas of such great poverty like the area i live in and punta del este so close to eachother, its really crazy.
anyway i better go but i love you ever so much!! i forgot my little chuch magazine to leave ya with a little spiritual thought so i will have to give ya a really good one next week. but i love you to pieces and am excited to hear from you!!
JESS
P.S. P day is going to be next Wednesday
September 6
mama thanks so much for all your work in getting me a package going. the pouch mail service through the church is only for letters and you cant send boxes through it so im sorry to say that we are gonna have to work the good old postal service. here is a trick that elder moffitts mom has been using when she has sent me packages... dont know if its legal. but she will put stuff in like empty rice a roni boxes and other food boxes and then tape them up and put them in the box and when she makes the list at the post office of what is in the package she just puts rice a roni, missionary supplies, mac and cheese... etc... so that no one is tempted to steal them. oh and my comp said that a good idea is to put a picture of Jesus on the box or a cross and i guess its less likely to be stolen then too.... dunno, just throwing out some suggestions... dont put anything too expensive in. one last request. if you can find an umbrella that is sturdy. i have already killed three in the fierce uruguay rain/wind... its intense. one that is short that i can stick in my backpack in the water holder. if not i can look around here but uruguay does not make things well so ya, just if you can. and then send it to the mission home. you are the best!! thank you so much!!!
poppy so sorry i get going sometimes and dont explain lingo so you all just need to tell me if i use words you dont understand so i can get ya in the mormon lingo loop haha. but comp stands for companion or the girl that is with me all the time. right now my little red head friend hermana thompson. to answer your questions we dont really get to see the seashore, saw it today because we had to go to montevideo again... story to come.... but it is really beautiful when we do get to see it, we drove right along it today on the way there and it looks like my comp and i are going to try to go to punta del este on our next prep day... look up some pics online, it is supposably beautiful. here there really isnt much vegatation but on our drive to monte its always really beautiful and green with lots of trees, but overall its a mix of tropical and desert. haha i dont really know how to describe it, not much vegetation in maldonado. thats funny that you ask about the sea food because my comp and i were just talking about that today how we really havent had any seafood here. the most seafood i have had was in a dish the members served us that was mayonaise, rice, tuna, and canned peas.... yum.... haha not, thats the worst i have had and everything else is good. the food here is really bland though. we eat alot of what is called gizo, its a soup and its usually really good, but they just throw in a whole animal, cow, chicken, whatever, and you usually end up eating some interesting animal parts. but ya they feed us well.... well a ton, and they tend to just plow more food on your plate and think you dont like their cooking if you dont want more so its interesting, we leave lunch everyday feeling like we are going to puke but its all good haha.
so this was quite the week but i am so greatful for my companion, we can always find something to laugh about even when we want to cry. it rained all week night and day and was freezing cold but today was our first day of beautiful sun!!!! well first off last monday my companion and i were just chattin and i was eating a piece of what they call miel candy, its like a hard piece of honey. and i know you are going to say i told you so, but i bit down on the candy and broke my molar so ya.... we called the mission home and the presidents wife had us set up an appt with the dentist for today in montevideo so thats why we were there today. my tooth is fixed no worries and i am on a strict no more hard candy phase of my life, my poor teeth cant take it anymore. oh and the dentist said that it looks like i am doing some intense tooth grinding.... if you can find a plastic night guard that would be great too.... sorry so many requests!!! but my tooth is good, just took a chunk off the side but she filled it in and i am doing good now. i paid for it and all so no you will not be sent a bill or anything haha. okay so we had a crazy intense week of tracting, or knocking houses in the rain. we were soaked to the bone every night we came in but the sun is a coming!!!! my companion was sick one day with stomache trouble and a few days later i was sick with a 24 hour flu type thing so we had to spend a few extra hours in the house this week getting better but we are both in great health now!!! my companion celebrated her one year mark on the mission on friday and we bought her a nice big chocolate postre and celebrated with our zone leaders.
we had some really funny experiences finding new people to teach this week and found some really amazing people that we are excited to share the gospel with. on i think tuesday when we were clapping houses we came to a two story house and when we clapped a man appeared at the top story window and motioned that he was coming down, as he came down and opened the door..... he was pantless.... no worries he was sportin his tidy whities but still.... awkward. he excused himself for a minute to put some pants on and just as we started walking away thinking he wasnt coming back he opened the door and yelled "pasan!" meaning come in, which is really rare in the first place, and secondly ya.... i dont know we were both really confused. but all in all we had an amazing lesson with him and are going back this week. he was really interested in knowing where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after death and that is just what we are here for so wa-lah!!! perfect. Richard and Paula´s little family is doing amazing, they are really progressing and are working on implementing daily family prayer and scripture. they are set to be baptized as a family on the 25th and i cant tell you how excited i am for them and how amazing it has been to watch the gospel change their lives. i want to send you pictures of them soon!!! by the way did you get my pics last week???
okay my last story for the day. my companion and i were in a lesson yesterday with a family that is going through alot of hard times right now. the father is really struggling to raise his two children who are still living at home right now who are 11 and 9 and we were talking about the importance of prayer as a family and how powerful it is for children to see their parents have a relationship with Heavenly Father. I was able to share with their father the amazing effect having you mama in my life and how my faith with my Savior and Heavenly Father was able to develop through your great faith and example. I was able to share how amazing it has been at times throughout my life to pray with you and how much your example has made me want to gain my own testimony and relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.Thank you for your love and support and i hope you know that your emails keep me truckin along. I LOVE YOU MILLIONS AND ZILLIONS!!!!! -JESS
poppy so sorry i get going sometimes and dont explain lingo so you all just need to tell me if i use words you dont understand so i can get ya in the mormon lingo loop haha. but comp stands for companion or the girl that is with me all the time. right now my little red head friend hermana thompson. to answer your questions we dont really get to see the seashore, saw it today because we had to go to montevideo again... story to come.... but it is really beautiful when we do get to see it, we drove right along it today on the way there and it looks like my comp and i are going to try to go to punta del este on our next prep day... look up some pics online, it is supposably beautiful. here there really isnt much vegatation but on our drive to monte its always really beautiful and green with lots of trees, but overall its a mix of tropical and desert. haha i dont really know how to describe it, not much vegetation in maldonado. thats funny that you ask about the sea food because my comp and i were just talking about that today how we really havent had any seafood here. the most seafood i have had was in a dish the members served us that was mayonaise, rice, tuna, and canned peas.... yum.... haha not, thats the worst i have had and everything else is good. the food here is really bland though. we eat alot of what is called gizo, its a soup and its usually really good, but they just throw in a whole animal, cow, chicken, whatever, and you usually end up eating some interesting animal parts. but ya they feed us well.... well a ton, and they tend to just plow more food on your plate and think you dont like their cooking if you dont want more so its interesting, we leave lunch everyday feeling like we are going to puke but its all good haha.
so this was quite the week but i am so greatful for my companion, we can always find something to laugh about even when we want to cry. it rained all week night and day and was freezing cold but today was our first day of beautiful sun!!!! well first off last monday my companion and i were just chattin and i was eating a piece of what they call miel candy, its like a hard piece of honey. and i know you are going to say i told you so, but i bit down on the candy and broke my molar so ya.... we called the mission home and the presidents wife had us set up an appt with the dentist for today in montevideo so thats why we were there today. my tooth is fixed no worries and i am on a strict no more hard candy phase of my life, my poor teeth cant take it anymore. oh and the dentist said that it looks like i am doing some intense tooth grinding.... if you can find a plastic night guard that would be great too.... sorry so many requests!!! but my tooth is good, just took a chunk off the side but she filled it in and i am doing good now. i paid for it and all so no you will not be sent a bill or anything haha. okay so we had a crazy intense week of tracting, or knocking houses in the rain. we were soaked to the bone every night we came in but the sun is a coming!!!! my companion was sick one day with stomache trouble and a few days later i was sick with a 24 hour flu type thing so we had to spend a few extra hours in the house this week getting better but we are both in great health now!!! my companion celebrated her one year mark on the mission on friday and we bought her a nice big chocolate postre and celebrated with our zone leaders.
we had some really funny experiences finding new people to teach this week and found some really amazing people that we are excited to share the gospel with. on i think tuesday when we were clapping houses we came to a two story house and when we clapped a man appeared at the top story window and motioned that he was coming down, as he came down and opened the door..... he was pantless.... no worries he was sportin his tidy whities but still.... awkward. he excused himself for a minute to put some pants on and just as we started walking away thinking he wasnt coming back he opened the door and yelled "pasan!" meaning come in, which is really rare in the first place, and secondly ya.... i dont know we were both really confused. but all in all we had an amazing lesson with him and are going back this week. he was really interested in knowing where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going after death and that is just what we are here for so wa-lah!!! perfect. Richard and Paula´s little family is doing amazing, they are really progressing and are working on implementing daily family prayer and scripture. they are set to be baptized as a family on the 25th and i cant tell you how excited i am for them and how amazing it has been to watch the gospel change their lives. i want to send you pictures of them soon!!! by the way did you get my pics last week???
okay my last story for the day. my companion and i were in a lesson yesterday with a family that is going through alot of hard times right now. the father is really struggling to raise his two children who are still living at home right now who are 11 and 9 and we were talking about the importance of prayer as a family and how powerful it is for children to see their parents have a relationship with Heavenly Father. I was able to share with their father the amazing effect having you mama in my life and how my faith with my Savior and Heavenly Father was able to develop through your great faith and example. I was able to share how amazing it has been at times throughout my life to pray with you and how much your example has made me want to gain my own testimony and relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.Thank you for your love and support and i hope you know that your emails keep me truckin along. I LOVE YOU MILLIONS AND ZILLIONS!!!!! -JESS
August 30, 2010
hey there fam fam!!
So this has been such a hard but such a wonderful week!!! my new companion is nothing short of amazing. i just love her to pieces. so like i said before her name is hermana thompson and she is from las vegas. she is a red headed bombshell and is seriously just on fire. she is diligent, obedient, hard working, spiritual, studious, christ like... well i could go on and on but we can just say i have been blown away. she is SUCH an amazing missionary and i am so so excited that i get to be with her. we have this amazing book that is called preach my gospel that we use to learn how to be missionaries and she is what i call a walking talking preach my gospel. amazing. haha well i guess i can stop raving about my companion now. just know i am in good hands and am really really happy!!
we have been workin our little bums off this week trying to get this area to take off and it has been quite the adventure taking over the area for me. i am just a baby missionary still so i guess the Lord knew I could do it even though it has been really tough. I was able to get my companion around and help her to get to know the area pretty well this week, in fact i think we have been able to hit up all the places that she needed to be acquainted with so now we are just plowin through. we have had some really funny adventures this week... well you may not think they are funny.... but we were laughing pretty hard. i was going to attach a picture of my war wounds from one of the adventures but i guess the email cant handle too many so i didn't. turns out the dogs here really hate my comp and i. we were clapping houses earlier this week when all of a sudden three huge dobermans come lunging towards an open gate and my companion has this immediate reaction to push me toward the dogs. anyway we both try to start running but since she pushed me i tried running and tripped over the sidewalk and biffed it hard face down, i just curled up in a ball expecting to get mauled and save my face. turns out the dogs were trained to stop at the gate so they had stopped and there were just a bunch of people that were playing soccer in the street that just stopped and were looking at me as i was laying on the ground in pain, greatful that i didnt get attacked. i got some nice road rash on my knees and some rocks in my hands but all was well. i was laughing so hard i had tears all the way home, but in a bit of shock that i was still alive haha. i know not funny to you but dont you worry i am well protected. all is well though so dont you fret. other than that dogs just hate us.... i am blaming my comp and her red hair haha, my other comp and i didnt have any problems with dogs but now for some reason every dog just wants to eat us.
well i could tell a million funny stories this week but more importantly are the miracles we were able to see. unfortunately alot of the members in this area were not to fond of my old comp so we have been doing clean up work trying to gain the trust of the members with my new comp. she is amazing so it has been really successful so far. she is super organized and ready to work and they all seem to be really happy so far so we are looking forward to working with them and continuing to gain their trust. we have found some really amazing new people to teach this week and actually found two this morning. one is named ruben, he is divorced, had three children, 3,6,11 he has full custody of his children and is working as a painter. he is looking for a way to raise his children correctly with how hard the world is and has been touched by how the gospel can help him to raise a strong family. this morning we found carla and cecelia. carla is about to be a mama of her first child and is living with her boyfriend and they have a really rough relationship. she has a mountain of problems that i could not even imagine having to deal with but we know the gospel can help her. then there is cecelia and she is a little spiritual powerhouse, she said that many of the things we had taught her were things she already knew but had not been taught beforehand. we are beyond stoked for all three of them. there is one more that really has been amazing this week, her name is soledad. we ran into her while clapping doors one day, she was sitting on a cement wall with some of her friends outside of her house and we walked up and started talking to her and all of her friends started to mock and laugh at us. i was feeling really uncomfortable because i am still getting used to stuff like that, but my companion was able to really just talk to her regardless and soledad was really engaged in what my companion was teaching, we made an appt to go back and have visited her once since. once again when we went her friends were there laughing but everything just seemed to fade away. she is 18 and has a baby and really wants to be able to raise her baby correctly with how difficult her world is, we are really looking forward to teaching her and watching the gospel change her life.
paula, richard, dameon, jaque and juan are moving right along. paula and richard should be getting married within the next week or so. we went with them this week to post their marriage in the paper for appeals. its a really weird system here, they have to post their marriage for appeals before they are actually able to be married. but we are sure all will go well. they are amazing and i love them so so much. jaque is such a light in my days right now, i cant tell you how much i love being with this family and watching them grow in the gospel.
i want to leave you with a spiritual thought that i read this morning from the church magazine. it says ¨giving up is not an option. without delay, turn to the Lord. exercise all of the faith you have in Him. let him share your burden. allow his grace to lighten your load. we are promised that we will ¨suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ.¨ never let an earthly circumstace disable your spirituality¨ I love this quote and am so greatful for the truth that it speaks, we never have to face our challenges alone, and we can choose to let these challenges shape us into the people that our Heavenly Father intends for us to be. Our challenges make us strong and our Savior helps us to endure through them.
Jess
So this has been such a hard but such a wonderful week!!! my new companion is nothing short of amazing. i just love her to pieces. so like i said before her name is hermana thompson and she is from las vegas. she is a red headed bombshell and is seriously just on fire. she is diligent, obedient, hard working, spiritual, studious, christ like... well i could go on and on but we can just say i have been blown away. she is SUCH an amazing missionary and i am so so excited that i get to be with her. we have this amazing book that is called preach my gospel that we use to learn how to be missionaries and she is what i call a walking talking preach my gospel. amazing. haha well i guess i can stop raving about my companion now. just know i am in good hands and am really really happy!!
we have been workin our little bums off this week trying to get this area to take off and it has been quite the adventure taking over the area for me. i am just a baby missionary still so i guess the Lord knew I could do it even though it has been really tough. I was able to get my companion around and help her to get to know the area pretty well this week, in fact i think we have been able to hit up all the places that she needed to be acquainted with so now we are just plowin through. we have had some really funny adventures this week... well you may not think they are funny.... but we were laughing pretty hard. i was going to attach a picture of my war wounds from one of the adventures but i guess the email cant handle too many so i didn't. turns out the dogs here really hate my comp and i. we were clapping houses earlier this week when all of a sudden three huge dobermans come lunging towards an open gate and my companion has this immediate reaction to push me toward the dogs. anyway we both try to start running but since she pushed me i tried running and tripped over the sidewalk and biffed it hard face down, i just curled up in a ball expecting to get mauled and save my face. turns out the dogs were trained to stop at the gate so they had stopped and there were just a bunch of people that were playing soccer in the street that just stopped and were looking at me as i was laying on the ground in pain, greatful that i didnt get attacked. i got some nice road rash on my knees and some rocks in my hands but all was well. i was laughing so hard i had tears all the way home, but in a bit of shock that i was still alive haha. i know not funny to you but dont you worry i am well protected. all is well though so dont you fret. other than that dogs just hate us.... i am blaming my comp and her red hair haha, my other comp and i didnt have any problems with dogs but now for some reason every dog just wants to eat us.
well i could tell a million funny stories this week but more importantly are the miracles we were able to see. unfortunately alot of the members in this area were not to fond of my old comp so we have been doing clean up work trying to gain the trust of the members with my new comp. she is amazing so it has been really successful so far. she is super organized and ready to work and they all seem to be really happy so far so we are looking forward to working with them and continuing to gain their trust. we have found some really amazing new people to teach this week and actually found two this morning. one is named ruben, he is divorced, had three children, 3,6,11 he has full custody of his children and is working as a painter. he is looking for a way to raise his children correctly with how hard the world is and has been touched by how the gospel can help him to raise a strong family. this morning we found carla and cecelia. carla is about to be a mama of her first child and is living with her boyfriend and they have a really rough relationship. she has a mountain of problems that i could not even imagine having to deal with but we know the gospel can help her. then there is cecelia and she is a little spiritual powerhouse, she said that many of the things we had taught her were things she already knew but had not been taught beforehand. we are beyond stoked for all three of them. there is one more that really has been amazing this week, her name is soledad. we ran into her while clapping doors one day, she was sitting on a cement wall with some of her friends outside of her house and we walked up and started talking to her and all of her friends started to mock and laugh at us. i was feeling really uncomfortable because i am still getting used to stuff like that, but my companion was able to really just talk to her regardless and soledad was really engaged in what my companion was teaching, we made an appt to go back and have visited her once since. once again when we went her friends were there laughing but everything just seemed to fade away. she is 18 and has a baby and really wants to be able to raise her baby correctly with how difficult her world is, we are really looking forward to teaching her and watching the gospel change her life.
paula, richard, dameon, jaque and juan are moving right along. paula and richard should be getting married within the next week or so. we went with them this week to post their marriage in the paper for appeals. its a really weird system here, they have to post their marriage for appeals before they are actually able to be married. but we are sure all will go well. they are amazing and i love them so so much. jaque is such a light in my days right now, i cant tell you how much i love being with this family and watching them grow in the gospel.
i want to leave you with a spiritual thought that i read this morning from the church magazine. it says ¨giving up is not an option. without delay, turn to the Lord. exercise all of the faith you have in Him. let him share your burden. allow his grace to lighten your load. we are promised that we will ¨suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ.¨ never let an earthly circumstace disable your spirituality¨ I love this quote and am so greatful for the truth that it speaks, we never have to face our challenges alone, and we can choose to let these challenges shape us into the people that our Heavenly Father intends for us to be. Our challenges make us strong and our Savior helps us to endure through them.
Jess
August 24
well i am actually in Montevideo again right now because we are doing changes, which means i have a new companion!! I am staying in my area in Moldonado and my trainer is leaving to go to Florida. My new companions name is Hermana Thompson and she is from good old Las Vegas. I just barely met her, she is quite a bundle of energy so that will be great for me. I think i have learned a ton having a Latin companion but I am really excited as well to have someone that I can fully understand for a bit. It should be just great, i dont think there is a better training for the future than companions, its definitely meshing two totally different worlds 24 7, the only time alone that you have is in the bathroom haha.
Another thing that this means with my companion leaving is that I get to train my companion in the area.... scary!!! I am supposed to know everything, how to get everywhere, all the people we are teaching...... oh boy. its really hard in my area because none of the houses have numbers. when someone is describing to you where they live they tell you the name of the street and then tell you about where their house is and 98 percent of the time they say the house is white.... hahaha so its a bit complicated to find anything. but nonetheless i think i know enough to get us a good start. my companion had 6 months in the area so everyone knows her WAY well and was really sad to see her go, i hope that i am able to fill her spot here.
So this is actually the second time this week I have been in Montevideo when i think of it. we had a zone conference with Elder Anderson who is one of the seventy of the church, he is a leader in the church that oversees the work in the church in different areas of the world. it was really great, I was able to understand most as well which helps... the spanish is coming.... its coming slowly but surely hehe. so that was definitely the highlight of my week. I was able to see my cute mtc comp hermana grow which seriously always makes my day, i miss her SO much!!!
Jess
Another thing that this means with my companion leaving is that I get to train my companion in the area.... scary!!! I am supposed to know everything, how to get everywhere, all the people we are teaching...... oh boy. its really hard in my area because none of the houses have numbers. when someone is describing to you where they live they tell you the name of the street and then tell you about where their house is and 98 percent of the time they say the house is white.... hahaha so its a bit complicated to find anything. but nonetheless i think i know enough to get us a good start. my companion had 6 months in the area so everyone knows her WAY well and was really sad to see her go, i hope that i am able to fill her spot here.
So this is actually the second time this week I have been in Montevideo when i think of it. we had a zone conference with Elder Anderson who is one of the seventy of the church, he is a leader in the church that oversees the work in the church in different areas of the world. it was really great, I was able to understand most as well which helps... the spanish is coming.... its coming slowly but surely hehe. so that was definitely the highlight of my week. I was able to see my cute mtc comp hermana grow which seriously always makes my day, i miss her SO much!!!
Jess
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
New Address
SISTER JESSICA LIN KUBLY
MISION URUGUAY MONTEVIDEO
DAIMIRO COSTA 4635 BIS
C.T. 11400
MALVIN URUGUAY
MISION URUGUAY MONTEVIDEO
DAIMIRO COSTA 4635 BIS
C.T. 11400
MALVIN URUGUAY
Sunday, August 22, 2010
August 16, 2010
hey cute fam-
mama thanks so much for thinking of me and a care package!!! of course i would love that!!! the only thing i might ask though is that you wait to send stuff for winter until my next winter. it is still freezing but i wont get your package for like a month so it will be warmer by then... i hope. i would love whatever you would like to include. if food is included, i dont know why but chewy bars are my craving, and whatever else you would like. it doesnt need to be food. i know you are a great package maker mama. and it can be in a box now that i am not at the mtc. but i believe it needs to be under 100 dollars to send.... hahaha and i would hope you wouldnt send that much anyway. I am doing good otherwise, just have to survive the winter for a little bit longer. My comp and i walk arm and arm everywhere to steal eachothers body heat, with our hot water bottles in our jackets. funny funny story about that actually. yesterday we were walking and started talking with this woman, while my companion was talking with her she was rubbing her hot water bottle which was in her coat on her stomach and the woman we were talking to was like, oh how sweet!! you are pregnant!! oh man we were laughing so hard. that is the last thing we need is to have people think there are pregnant missionaries so we decided that probably wasnt the best idea anymore, but so funny right. other news of the weird, we were talking to this man that was in front of his house yesterday who was, get this, painting his dog, yes painting. wow people do the strangest things. yesterday was just a series of funny events.
this week has been filled with some of my lowest and highest points on my mission so far but i can say that the lows were necessary to get to the highs. my companion and i had our first baptism of Alexandra, one of the children with a really big fear of water. we were able to use the baptismal font at the chapel on thursday to help her practice for saturday. long long long story short since i am already running short on time but my companion ended up getting in the font with alexandra and her mom to help her practice, they were in there for three hours helping her to get her head under the water. i was in charge of being the babysitter with her other two sisters/cheerleader for Ale haha. it was so exciting when after three hours she was able to overcome her fear. When saturday came she arrived at the church crying and terrified once again. Needless to say the elder that performed the baptism had to do it six times before she was able to get her head under the water, but it was so exciting. she was amazing and was so excited and we were all so proud of her.
anyway i have to go, wish i could write more. I will leave ya with a little spiritual though though. I have been reading the church magazines like mad during my personal study/breakfast in the morning. I really love this quote "I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in the service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish- and in effect save their lives." Anyway i gotta run!!!! I LOOOOOOVVVVEEEEEE YYYYYYYYOOOOOUUUU to the moon and back a zillion times!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo -Jess
mama thanks so much for thinking of me and a care package!!! of course i would love that!!! the only thing i might ask though is that you wait to send stuff for winter until my next winter. it is still freezing but i wont get your package for like a month so it will be warmer by then... i hope. i would love whatever you would like to include. if food is included, i dont know why but chewy bars are my craving, and whatever else you would like. it doesnt need to be food. i know you are a great package maker mama. and it can be in a box now that i am not at the mtc. but i believe it needs to be under 100 dollars to send.... hahaha and i would hope you wouldnt send that much anyway. I am doing good otherwise, just have to survive the winter for a little bit longer. My comp and i walk arm and arm everywhere to steal eachothers body heat, with our hot water bottles in our jackets. funny funny story about that actually. yesterday we were walking and started talking with this woman, while my companion was talking with her she was rubbing her hot water bottle which was in her coat on her stomach and the woman we were talking to was like, oh how sweet!! you are pregnant!! oh man we were laughing so hard. that is the last thing we need is to have people think there are pregnant missionaries so we decided that probably wasnt the best idea anymore, but so funny right. other news of the weird, we were talking to this man that was in front of his house yesterday who was, get this, painting his dog, yes painting. wow people do the strangest things. yesterday was just a series of funny events.
this week has been filled with some of my lowest and highest points on my mission so far but i can say that the lows were necessary to get to the highs. my companion and i had our first baptism of Alexandra, one of the children with a really big fear of water. we were able to use the baptismal font at the chapel on thursday to help her practice for saturday. long long long story short since i am already running short on time but my companion ended up getting in the font with alexandra and her mom to help her practice, they were in there for three hours helping her to get her head under the water. i was in charge of being the babysitter with her other two sisters/cheerleader for Ale haha. it was so exciting when after three hours she was able to overcome her fear. When saturday came she arrived at the church crying and terrified once again. Needless to say the elder that performed the baptism had to do it six times before she was able to get her head under the water, but it was so exciting. she was amazing and was so excited and we were all so proud of her.
anyway i have to go, wish i could write more. I will leave ya with a little spiritual though though. I have been reading the church magazines like mad during my personal study/breakfast in the morning. I really love this quote "I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in the service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish- and in effect save their lives." Anyway i gotta run!!!! I LOOOOOOVVVVEEEEEE YYYYYYYYOOOOOUUUU to the moon and back a zillion times!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo -Jess
August 10, 2010
hey
What happened yesterday.... what an adventure. it was our p day and we headed to pan de azucar around 1 to do a hike to this awsome landmark thing here called the cruz. it is a huge cross on the top of a mountain that you can actually climb into. so we hiked up... our whole zone which is 22 people... and had a great time. ah i miss a good hike like that!! it was so fun to get to know some of the other missionaries in the zone too. anyway so after we headed down and ended up waiting for the bus for about two hours to take us to the neareset city then when we got to the next city, waited for another hour or so for the next bus and when it came.... we all stuck out our hands for it to stop and.... you guessed it.... it drove straight past us. last bus of the night. stuck and hour away from our apartments with only about 1.5 hours till we had to be in our houses. so after a frenzy of discussing what to do we had to call 4 cabs and spent a ton of money to get home but luckily made it right at 9:30. ahhhhh... it was crazy. but really fun.
another great event of the week i was able to do an intercambio or like switch companions with a companionship in Minas this week... which is about two hours north. So i was in Minas for two days with Hermana Kleinman. Ah she is a blast. We get along super well and were able to work hard all at the same time. This gives me hope for companions. She is from Orem and has been here for about 7 months. I was able to learn a different approach to teaching and another area and ah it really was so so great, i was actually really sad to leave her haha. i am with her right now because her and her comp spent the night at our house last night because we have interviews with the president today. I am a bit nervous because i need to talk to him about some honesty and work issues with my companion. things have been rough and i really think that she needs someone to motivate her because it is sad to see time wasted and i really cant do anything because there is still a language barrier and when i do mention something she snaps at me. so i dont know....
Anyway last week i was telling you about Richard and Paula and there three kids. They are amazing!!! They are making so much progress and the light that they have in their faces is stronger and stronger every time we are with them. their oldest son dameon has been going to the semenary classes at the church during the week and their daughter jacqueline, who has a mental disability, is holding on to what we teach her so so well. She many times will answer before her brother or parents and just blows us away. She has such an amazingly special spirit and her and I have bonded so much. That seems to happen with the children here since I can just play with them and dont have to talk much and they wont judge my spanish haha. What a sweet family, ill let you know more as time progresses. Richard and Paula are hopefully going to get married soon as well which is really exciting!
Anyway well i have a great scripture i wanna share with you! "And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions, that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like them. But that ye have patienc, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions." Alma 34:40-41
I love this scripture and it has really taken on a new meaning to me with all the things there are to be patient with. I know that I need so much more patience but that if we trust in the Lord, all things will come according to his time. I love you fam!!! Thank you so much for your support and love always. i miss you like crazy but i know this will all be worth it. Love you Love you LOVE YOU!!! -Jess
What happened yesterday.... what an adventure. it was our p day and we headed to pan de azucar around 1 to do a hike to this awsome landmark thing here called the cruz. it is a huge cross on the top of a mountain that you can actually climb into. so we hiked up... our whole zone which is 22 people... and had a great time. ah i miss a good hike like that!! it was so fun to get to know some of the other missionaries in the zone too. anyway so after we headed down and ended up waiting for the bus for about two hours to take us to the neareset city then when we got to the next city, waited for another hour or so for the next bus and when it came.... we all stuck out our hands for it to stop and.... you guessed it.... it drove straight past us. last bus of the night. stuck and hour away from our apartments with only about 1.5 hours till we had to be in our houses. so after a frenzy of discussing what to do we had to call 4 cabs and spent a ton of money to get home but luckily made it right at 9:30. ahhhhh... it was crazy. but really fun.
another great event of the week i was able to do an intercambio or like switch companions with a companionship in Minas this week... which is about two hours north. So i was in Minas for two days with Hermana Kleinman. Ah she is a blast. We get along super well and were able to work hard all at the same time. This gives me hope for companions. She is from Orem and has been here for about 7 months. I was able to learn a different approach to teaching and another area and ah it really was so so great, i was actually really sad to leave her haha. i am with her right now because her and her comp spent the night at our house last night because we have interviews with the president today. I am a bit nervous because i need to talk to him about some honesty and work issues with my companion. things have been rough and i really think that she needs someone to motivate her because it is sad to see time wasted and i really cant do anything because there is still a language barrier and when i do mention something she snaps at me. so i dont know....
Anyway last week i was telling you about Richard and Paula and there three kids. They are amazing!!! They are making so much progress and the light that they have in their faces is stronger and stronger every time we are with them. their oldest son dameon has been going to the semenary classes at the church during the week and their daughter jacqueline, who has a mental disability, is holding on to what we teach her so so well. She many times will answer before her brother or parents and just blows us away. She has such an amazingly special spirit and her and I have bonded so much. That seems to happen with the children here since I can just play with them and dont have to talk much and they wont judge my spanish haha. What a sweet family, ill let you know more as time progresses. Richard and Paula are hopefully going to get married soon as well which is really exciting!
Anyway well i have a great scripture i wanna share with you! "And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions, that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like them. But that ye have patienc, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions." Alma 34:40-41
I love this scripture and it has really taken on a new meaning to me with all the things there are to be patient with. I know that I need so much more patience but that if we trust in the Lord, all things will come according to his time. I love you fam!!! Thank you so much for your support and love always. i miss you like crazy but i know this will all be worth it. Love you Love you LOVE YOU!!! -Jess
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Update from August 2
Hola!!
Wow time really flies! I feel like i just barely wrote you and here I am again! I am doing really well with the help of the Lord, there is truly no way to do it on my own and I know that Heavenly Father knew that i needed a good humbling experience and that is a good part of why I was sent here. I am truly more and more amazed daily by the people. I was really excited this week to experience the answers to my prayers with the language. I want so badly to understand the people and be able to help them and I feel that the Lord really blessed me this week with the ability to better understand and talk with the people. Slowly it is getting better and it is wonderful to have to speak my mission language all the time with my companion, no better way to learn than complete imersion eh??
This week has been good, we have been able to find some new people to teach and have been able to have people progress in their understanding of the gospel. We are hoping that the new people that we have found will be able to feel the love of God in their lives and the change that can be brought to their homes through applying this love in their households. There is one family in particular that we have taught twice this week. They live in a tiny one room cement house, which is the standard, but their living conditions are some of the most humble i have seen. when you walk in there is a queen sized bed a bunk bed and a stove and that is their home. there are five of them that live there and they are amazing. they have two children, jaqueline, and juan who have mental disabilites and then their oldest dameon. the woman paula is pregnant, and her and richard live together. the three children are paulas and richard has two children but they dont live with them. Their children are so amazing i cant even express. juans condition is really serious and he is very low functioning but is so sweet. everyone here greets and says goodbyes with kisses on the cheeks but as missionaries we can only do this with the women but juan insists on giving us a big sloppy kiss on the cheek, ah he is just the greatest. anyway we are going back this week for our third visit and when they were at church this week they signed up to feed us lunch on thursday. this is amazing because i doubt they even have enough money to feed their own family let alone us as well. i love them ever so much and really hope that they are able to find the peace and happiness that comes through knowing Christ.
So many stories to share and so little time!! Yesterday we had church and were a bit behind on what we wanted to have done for the week so we took two younger girls from the ward with us and split up. santa baca i thought i was going to die of fear at first but it was a really great experience for me to be able to learn how to teach without my companion. the girl i went with is named belen and she is great... she speaks incredibly fast though haha. but it was really great to have her there when i was fumbling for what i was trying to say. it was so so so cold and for some reason my rainboots are always damp inside so my feet were purple by the end of the night... nothing a good old hot water bottle cant solve right.... i cant tell you how much i love those hot water bottles!!!! i guess we are going to enter spring at the end of august... hallelujah... bring on the rays. i definitely will be asking for some more winter clothes next winter but as of right now i can trudge on through.
Anyways just wanted to share a little thought i had this sunday at church while i was doin some readin in the scripts so here it is for you... and charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. wherefore, my beloved betheren if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never failieth. wherefore, cleave unto charity which is greatest of all, for all things must fail. but charity is the pure love of Christ , and it endureth forever: and whoso is fround possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. ............. i love this scripture and was just thinking of how much i need to work on having charity. i truly know, especially living with a companion 24/7 that if we look for the bad in people we will find it, but if we look for the good we can learn to love them like our Heavenly Father loves them. boy i really need to work on this and this is why i thought i would share it with you, I know that through Christ we can be made perfect.
But gosh i gotta go!! My time is short but I want you to know just how much i love you, i was talking to my companion this morning and she said that more than anything she thinks she has gained a greater appreciation for her family and i can definitely feel that in myself as well. I love you ever so much k love you to the moon and back 1000000 zillion times!!! xoxxoxoxoxoxox- jess
Wow time really flies! I feel like i just barely wrote you and here I am again! I am doing really well with the help of the Lord, there is truly no way to do it on my own and I know that Heavenly Father knew that i needed a good humbling experience and that is a good part of why I was sent here. I am truly more and more amazed daily by the people. I was really excited this week to experience the answers to my prayers with the language. I want so badly to understand the people and be able to help them and I feel that the Lord really blessed me this week with the ability to better understand and talk with the people. Slowly it is getting better and it is wonderful to have to speak my mission language all the time with my companion, no better way to learn than complete imersion eh??
This week has been good, we have been able to find some new people to teach and have been able to have people progress in their understanding of the gospel. We are hoping that the new people that we have found will be able to feel the love of God in their lives and the change that can be brought to their homes through applying this love in their households. There is one family in particular that we have taught twice this week. They live in a tiny one room cement house, which is the standard, but their living conditions are some of the most humble i have seen. when you walk in there is a queen sized bed a bunk bed and a stove and that is their home. there are five of them that live there and they are amazing. they have two children, jaqueline, and juan who have mental disabilites and then their oldest dameon. the woman paula is pregnant, and her and richard live together. the three children are paulas and richard has two children but they dont live with them. Their children are so amazing i cant even express. juans condition is really serious and he is very low functioning but is so sweet. everyone here greets and says goodbyes with kisses on the cheeks but as missionaries we can only do this with the women but juan insists on giving us a big sloppy kiss on the cheek, ah he is just the greatest. anyway we are going back this week for our third visit and when they were at church this week they signed up to feed us lunch on thursday. this is amazing because i doubt they even have enough money to feed their own family let alone us as well. i love them ever so much and really hope that they are able to find the peace and happiness that comes through knowing Christ.
So many stories to share and so little time!! Yesterday we had church and were a bit behind on what we wanted to have done for the week so we took two younger girls from the ward with us and split up. santa baca i thought i was going to die of fear at first but it was a really great experience for me to be able to learn how to teach without my companion. the girl i went with is named belen and she is great... she speaks incredibly fast though haha. but it was really great to have her there when i was fumbling for what i was trying to say. it was so so so cold and for some reason my rainboots are always damp inside so my feet were purple by the end of the night... nothing a good old hot water bottle cant solve right.... i cant tell you how much i love those hot water bottles!!!! i guess we are going to enter spring at the end of august... hallelujah... bring on the rays. i definitely will be asking for some more winter clothes next winter but as of right now i can trudge on through.
Anyways just wanted to share a little thought i had this sunday at church while i was doin some readin in the scripts so here it is for you... and charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. wherefore, my beloved betheren if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never failieth. wherefore, cleave unto charity which is greatest of all, for all things must fail. but charity is the pure love of Christ , and it endureth forever: and whoso is fround possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. ............. i love this scripture and was just thinking of how much i need to work on having charity. i truly know, especially living with a companion 24/7 that if we look for the bad in people we will find it, but if we look for the good we can learn to love them like our Heavenly Father loves them. boy i really need to work on this and this is why i thought i would share it with you, I know that through Christ we can be made perfect.
But gosh i gotta go!! My time is short but I want you to know just how much i love you, i was talking to my companion this morning and she said that more than anything she thinks she has gained a greater appreciation for her family and i can definitely feel that in myself as well. I love you ever so much k love you to the moon and back 1000000 zillion times!!! xoxxoxoxoxoxox- jess
Monday, August 2, 2010
Update from July 26
hey-
When i was reading them today at the bus stop for a second i thought i was at home and then put down my paper and realized i am in Uruguay haha, quite the shocker. Also, i gave you the wrong one last time so here it is again, the subject has to be HERMANA KUBLY AND THE ADDRESS IS URUMONTEMISSION@GMAIL.COM so sorry it is actually two ¨ss¨ in mission. I am working on writing everyone back by snail mail but remember that it will take about a month to get there now that i dont have pouch.
Anyway my second week in Uruguay, here it goes, i am going to try and reaccount as much as i can haha. Its freezing and humid which has been really interesting. I definitely havent ever felt a cold like this where your bones are literally cold all the time and you always feel wet. I have resorted to carring around my hot water bottle everywhere we go in my jacket, everyone thinks its pretty funny but oh man i love them. every few houses we are at someone will offer to boil some new water to put in it which is amazing and usually i am able to keep some warm water in it. Its crazy how much i now appreciate the dry weather of utah... santa baca this is cold!!
The language is coming... slowly but surely. I dont reallly feel like i am improving but every now and then someone will compliment me which helps me to truck along and feel like im making progress. in one of our lessons this past week the girl we were teaching just broke down laughing at me, what can i say i would probably laugh at me too but it was a bit of a slap in the face haha. but i guess this is what comes with learning a new language. its really weird because i will ask my companion to translate what people say becasue i can understand almost everything she says but not much of what other people say, even though she only speaks spanish too.
Earlier this week was a bit rough, we had alot of people that bailed on lessons so we were making up for this time by contacting people. My companion would sneakily sneak off when i was clapping a gate and leave me to do it on my own... oh my intimidating. but good for me. We were able to find a few people who were sincerely interested in hearing about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can bless their lives and were able to make a few appointments. One of them was with a woman who is 21 and has a brand new baby. She lives in one of the little Kioskos here, there are like three every block, anyway it was wonderful, she truly had interest in how the gospel can bless her new family. We have had a few people that we have been teaching come to church on sunday which was amazing becasue most people say they will come and never do. It was a wonderful Sunday for them to come because the new temple president and his wife spoke. My favorite lesson this week was with a family that has five children and they live in a tiny tiny little house. They are wonderful and lessons are so great with them. Their children are always so anxiously engaged and eager to learn. We made alfajores, they are like a pastry of sorts that everyone eats here, but you buy them everywhere. We made home made ones with thier kids and it was so fun. there where little hands flying everywhere trying to help and they were so fun to be with.
I dont know if i have told you this yet but we have an awesome service opportunity we get to do here. I guess that the president has an organization set up to help those who are in poverty in our area. There is a huge scape of land right behind us that they are building hundreds of homes in and if the people help a certain amount of hours with pouring the cement for the houses they recieve one of the homes for themselves. Since many of the people are working to provide for their families they are unable to get their hours in and so we are able to do the hours for them and they get hours per person that helps. So once a month we get to help build houses which I am so so excited for. They did it last week but we were unable to go because we had appointments.
AHHH anyways my thoughts are so scattered it is hard to write everything so this is just a itty bitty preview. I get pretty lonely not being able to communicate well with anyone so its been a bit rough but i know that I am never alone. I was reading in Matthew:5 about the Sermon on the mount and this chapter always really helps me to endure through the hard times, please give it a read, I know that this has been such strength to me when i stand in need of comfort. I know that everything we endure through in this life is for our good and in preparation for us to be with our Heavenly Father. I am so greatful to have the knowledge the gospel of Christ in my life and am so eager to see it change the lives of those it touches. I have already seen so many families here that have been touched by its message and the comfort it brings. Anyway i gotta run. I love you so so so so so so much and miss you. Love you, think about you, and pray for you always- Jess
When i was reading them today at the bus stop for a second i thought i was at home and then put down my paper and realized i am in Uruguay haha, quite the shocker. Also, i gave you the wrong one last time so here it is again, the subject has to be HERMANA KUBLY AND THE ADDRESS IS URUMONTEMISSION@GMAIL.COM so sorry it is actually two ¨ss¨ in mission. I am working on writing everyone back by snail mail but remember that it will take about a month to get there now that i dont have pouch.
Anyway my second week in Uruguay, here it goes, i am going to try and reaccount as much as i can haha. Its freezing and humid which has been really interesting. I definitely havent ever felt a cold like this where your bones are literally cold all the time and you always feel wet. I have resorted to carring around my hot water bottle everywhere we go in my jacket, everyone thinks its pretty funny but oh man i love them. every few houses we are at someone will offer to boil some new water to put in it which is amazing and usually i am able to keep some warm water in it. Its crazy how much i now appreciate the dry weather of utah... santa baca this is cold!!
The language is coming... slowly but surely. I dont reallly feel like i am improving but every now and then someone will compliment me which helps me to truck along and feel like im making progress. in one of our lessons this past week the girl we were teaching just broke down laughing at me, what can i say i would probably laugh at me too but it was a bit of a slap in the face haha. but i guess this is what comes with learning a new language. its really weird because i will ask my companion to translate what people say becasue i can understand almost everything she says but not much of what other people say, even though she only speaks spanish too.
Earlier this week was a bit rough, we had alot of people that bailed on lessons so we were making up for this time by contacting people. My companion would sneakily sneak off when i was clapping a gate and leave me to do it on my own... oh my intimidating. but good for me. We were able to find a few people who were sincerely interested in hearing about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can bless their lives and were able to make a few appointments. One of them was with a woman who is 21 and has a brand new baby. She lives in one of the little Kioskos here, there are like three every block, anyway it was wonderful, she truly had interest in how the gospel can bless her new family. We have had a few people that we have been teaching come to church on sunday which was amazing becasue most people say they will come and never do. It was a wonderful Sunday for them to come because the new temple president and his wife spoke. My favorite lesson this week was with a family that has five children and they live in a tiny tiny little house. They are wonderful and lessons are so great with them. Their children are always so anxiously engaged and eager to learn. We made alfajores, they are like a pastry of sorts that everyone eats here, but you buy them everywhere. We made home made ones with thier kids and it was so fun. there where little hands flying everywhere trying to help and they were so fun to be with.
I dont know if i have told you this yet but we have an awesome service opportunity we get to do here. I guess that the president has an organization set up to help those who are in poverty in our area. There is a huge scape of land right behind us that they are building hundreds of homes in and if the people help a certain amount of hours with pouring the cement for the houses they recieve one of the homes for themselves. Since many of the people are working to provide for their families they are unable to get their hours in and so we are able to do the hours for them and they get hours per person that helps. So once a month we get to help build houses which I am so so excited for. They did it last week but we were unable to go because we had appointments.
AHHH anyways my thoughts are so scattered it is hard to write everything so this is just a itty bitty preview. I get pretty lonely not being able to communicate well with anyone so its been a bit rough but i know that I am never alone. I was reading in Matthew:5 about the Sermon on the mount and this chapter always really helps me to endure through the hard times, please give it a read, I know that this has been such strength to me when i stand in need of comfort. I know that everything we endure through in this life is for our good and in preparation for us to be with our Heavenly Father. I am so greatful to have the knowledge the gospel of Christ in my life and am so eager to see it change the lives of those it touches. I have already seen so many families here that have been touched by its message and the comfort it brings. Anyway i gotta run. I love you so so so so so so much and miss you. Love you, think about you, and pray for you always- Jess
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
July 18, 2010
hey-
its me again.... how goes it?? anyway ready for the real breakdown?? well here it goes, i am supposed to tell you the good and the bad so get ready for it, this has been quite the adventure in only one week. the bad isnt bad it is all a wonderful experience, just very very very different than i ever expected, i guess that is the point though because i really didnt know what to expect haha. my first impression walking into my house was, wow i have no idea how this is going to work. our house is about the size of our old living room and it is supposably the nicest of all the missionaries houses in this zone. its hard to describe other than what you would presume as an abandoned house back home, that would be about it. i will definitely take plenty of pictures. there is no such thing as heating or air conditioning so many people have fire places, we dont but its all good. the zone leaders brought me extra blankets the first night luckily, and even with them it is freezing. i wear two pairs of pants, socks, slippers, a long sleeve shirt, two sweaters and gloves to bed and completely cover my body and would curl up in a ball like a baby. my companion and i were at a members house the other night and saw that he had a bolsa or a hot water bottle in the kitchen and frantically searched for them the rest of the night before we went in. we found them, bought four, and i dont think i have ever been so greatful for a two dollar hot water bottle before, i sleep like a baby now. so anyway wow i just have to laugh every morning becasue this is such an amazing crazy experience. i wake up to a rooster every morning at about 5 and think of poppy, im guessing you used to do the same in your farm days. My first couple times showering was with buckets because our shower didnt work which was really interesting. i got my first real shower yesterday..... yummmm never did i ever think i would appreciate a shower so much either. my shampoo is frozen in the bottles and in between washing my hair and such i have to turn off the water so i dont use all the water at once, i am so greatful to have just enough hot water to take a nice shower every few days hahaha oh boy what an awesome adventure. we have to hand wash our clothes as well which will be interesting, havent done it yet because i had to go to Montevideo today with the rest of the new missionaries for a dr appt for my temporary Uruguay residency, it was wonderful to see my old comp and all the elders from my old district, i miss them a ton. anyway i want to fill you with some more fun facts to give you a visual. the people are wonderful here, i love them so much, Heavenly Father couldnt have put me in a more loving atmosphere. thats not to say that some people arent totally raunchy, but the wonderful people that we encounter makes up for the not so nice ones. i know i am totally skipping around but i am just spilling my thoughts as they come to me. Most people just walk everywhere like us, but some have motorcycles and it is crazy, it is reallly common to see a family of five on a motorcycle at once, dad driving, mom on back and three kids in the middle. scary. the food here is awesome thus far, good news, i havent gained any weight haha. we dont really eat dinner because we are out working through dinner. usually members will feed us lunch at their houses or bring it to our house. the members of the church here are wonderful too. everyone greets eachother and says goodbye with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, we can only do this with the women but it is so fun and really makes me feel so loved even when i dont understand a thing that is going on.
ahhhhhhh i have so much to tell you but dont have a ton of time!! well i will tell you a little something from tonight at a lesson we were just barely at. we dont have a ton of people to teach right now so we are looking for them but there is a sweet woman named andrea and her three kids that we teach. their kids remind me of my murdock girlies, all about the same age and i just soak up the time i have with them. they love playing with all of my stuff and always say " usted tiene muchas lindas cosas de Estados Unidos!!" they think all of my things are so cool like my electronic dictionary and my striped umbrella. thier house is like all others, cement and completely run down, i really had no idea people could live like this but they are the most wonderful humble people ever. they never complain of what they lack or about money. they appreciate every little thing. i gave them each a quarter from the states and they were in awe. anyway so Andrea was baptised a bit ago and had a chance a few days ago to go to the temple with the ward for a temple visit. there is no way to describe the change in her countenance from when we taught her last a few days ago to now. she was talking about how much new peace and happiness she felt in her life from this visit and was so excited to go again. she was 100 times more excited and attentive in our lesson tonight than she has ever been. her oldest daughter alexandra is 9 and wants to follow the example of the Savior and be baptised but is afraid of water... cute huh... so we taught her the story of David and Galliath and how she can overcome her own personal Galliath´s through Christ. Man oh man i love them. anyway i could talk for hours and have so much more to tell but it is my comps turn to write. i love you to the moon and back a million times!! look forward to hearing from you soon! Love- Jess
its me again.... how goes it?? anyway ready for the real breakdown?? well here it goes, i am supposed to tell you the good and the bad so get ready for it, this has been quite the adventure in only one week. the bad isnt bad it is all a wonderful experience, just very very very different than i ever expected, i guess that is the point though because i really didnt know what to expect haha. my first impression walking into my house was, wow i have no idea how this is going to work. our house is about the size of our old living room and it is supposably the nicest of all the missionaries houses in this zone. its hard to describe other than what you would presume as an abandoned house back home, that would be about it. i will definitely take plenty of pictures. there is no such thing as heating or air conditioning so many people have fire places, we dont but its all good. the zone leaders brought me extra blankets the first night luckily, and even with them it is freezing. i wear two pairs of pants, socks, slippers, a long sleeve shirt, two sweaters and gloves to bed and completely cover my body and would curl up in a ball like a baby. my companion and i were at a members house the other night and saw that he had a bolsa or a hot water bottle in the kitchen and frantically searched for them the rest of the night before we went in. we found them, bought four, and i dont think i have ever been so greatful for a two dollar hot water bottle before, i sleep like a baby now. so anyway wow i just have to laugh every morning becasue this is such an amazing crazy experience. i wake up to a rooster every morning at about 5 and think of poppy, im guessing you used to do the same in your farm days. My first couple times showering was with buckets because our shower didnt work which was really interesting. i got my first real shower yesterday..... yummmm never did i ever think i would appreciate a shower so much either. my shampoo is frozen in the bottles and in between washing my hair and such i have to turn off the water so i dont use all the water at once, i am so greatful to have just enough hot water to take a nice shower every few days hahaha oh boy what an awesome adventure. we have to hand wash our clothes as well which will be interesting, havent done it yet because i had to go to Montevideo today with the rest of the new missionaries for a dr appt for my temporary Uruguay residency, it was wonderful to see my old comp and all the elders from my old district, i miss them a ton. anyway i want to fill you with some more fun facts to give you a visual. the people are wonderful here, i love them so much, Heavenly Father couldnt have put me in a more loving atmosphere. thats not to say that some people arent totally raunchy, but the wonderful people that we encounter makes up for the not so nice ones. i know i am totally skipping around but i am just spilling my thoughts as they come to me. Most people just walk everywhere like us, but some have motorcycles and it is crazy, it is reallly common to see a family of five on a motorcycle at once, dad driving, mom on back and three kids in the middle. scary. the food here is awesome thus far, good news, i havent gained any weight haha. we dont really eat dinner because we are out working through dinner. usually members will feed us lunch at their houses or bring it to our house. the members of the church here are wonderful too. everyone greets eachother and says goodbye with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, we can only do this with the women but it is so fun and really makes me feel so loved even when i dont understand a thing that is going on.
ahhhhhhh i have so much to tell you but dont have a ton of time!! well i will tell you a little something from tonight at a lesson we were just barely at. we dont have a ton of people to teach right now so we are looking for them but there is a sweet woman named andrea and her three kids that we teach. their kids remind me of my murdock girlies, all about the same age and i just soak up the time i have with them. they love playing with all of my stuff and always say " usted tiene muchas lindas cosas de Estados Unidos!!" they think all of my things are so cool like my electronic dictionary and my striped umbrella. thier house is like all others, cement and completely run down, i really had no idea people could live like this but they are the most wonderful humble people ever. they never complain of what they lack or about money. they appreciate every little thing. i gave them each a quarter from the states and they were in awe. anyway so Andrea was baptised a bit ago and had a chance a few days ago to go to the temple with the ward for a temple visit. there is no way to describe the change in her countenance from when we taught her last a few days ago to now. she was talking about how much new peace and happiness she felt in her life from this visit and was so excited to go again. she was 100 times more excited and attentive in our lesson tonight than she has ever been. her oldest daughter alexandra is 9 and wants to follow the example of the Savior and be baptised but is afraid of water... cute huh... so we taught her the story of David and Galliath and how she can overcome her own personal Galliath´s through Christ. Man oh man i love them. anyway i could talk for hours and have so much more to tell but it is my comps turn to write. i love you to the moon and back a million times!! look forward to hearing from you soon! Love- Jess
July 13, 2010
hello-
I am now in Uruguay and oh my oh my, am I in for a huge change. Many different shocks at once but i will give you a run down so you can see just how the day went but first I have some new information for you. This is a bit of a change but the rules are actually a bit more tight here. I am only able to email my immediate family, meaning Jared I would really love it if you would continue to send out these emails to the list I gave you and please include Lori. I AM ONLY ALLOWED TO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM MY FAMILY AT THIS EMAIL ADDRESS... ALL OTHERS HAVE TO BE SENT TO: urumontemision@gmail.com and it needs to say HERMANA KUBLY in the subject line ( and yes that is only one s in mision) from here they will print them off and deliver them to me.... my companion just told me i need to type softer because the woman here at the tienda will get mad at me... oops. anyway so i guess this rule on mail is to help equality within the missionaries so those who get less mail and email do not feel bad, it will all work out, just a bit of a change, i will get to writing everyone back, it will take longer to get to you but i promise i will write you back. so please please pass on this email so that i can continue to abide by the rules, thank you tons for your love and help. i know it may seem a bit odd but it is all there for a reason. Oh and i get to write on Mondays, they are my preparation days so that will be your day to look forward to.
Anyways so we started our day at 4:40 this morning and got everything packed up and ready to go. It turns out they didnt allow enough time for all of us to check in and get to our gate so we were positive we were going to miss our flight, so one of the other hermanas and i ran ahead to the gate as soon as we got through customs and were amazed that they had delayed our flight 30 mins, just enough time to get the rest to the gate and take off. It was about a 40 minute flight and i had a nice little nap. we were picked up at the airport by the president and his wife and all of the missionaries that work in the presidents office. We all got on a big bus and headed for the mission home. When we got there we met with several other missionaries that we were to be assigned to later as our trainers. There was only 1 english speaking sister there out of the four so we knew one of the two of us that only speaks english was in for a big change. We went in and had interviews with the president after lunch, very short and sweet but i was able to tell him a little bit about you. Anyways a bit later after we filled out some paperwork and a letter that we wrote to ourselves to read after our missions we were assigned to our trainers. my companion went first and was assigned to the english speaking hermana so i knew i was in for a big change. my new companion is hermana alvarez and she is from quito, ecuador. i was thrilled to hear this because Beth was in this part of Ecuador working in orphanges for a while so i immediately felt a bond to her. she is amazingly sweet... and doesnt speak any english, but this will be so amazing for me to learn the language. every missionary that talked to me about her said that she is awesome and i can tell. anyways shortly after this we all got on a bus and headed to the big bus station where all the busses leave from and we all took off to our different areas from there. My area is call Maldonado and it is very close to Punta Del Este, but this is not in our area. It was about a two hour bus ride and our two zone leaders were with us on the bus, they were both awesome and so so happy to be here which made me hopeful since i have never been so overwhelmed in my life haha. Well we threw my bags in our room and are off to work after i send this off. It is freezing cold, and unfortunately we dont have heat and they gave me a very thin blanket... so i am hoping that and the little one i brought will do. looks like i will be bundling for bed, mittens and all. We are right close to the coast so there is a ton of humidity and it is raining right now.
Wow anyway thats pretty much it for now. We are off to work for the rest of the night. Mama i read your bookmark you gave me regularly and it will take on a new meaning everyday.... let faith replace fear.... I know that i now more than ever need to depend on the Lord to get me through. Cant wait to hear from you all and share this with you all, i love you all and am so greatful for your support and letters
I am now in Uruguay and oh my oh my, am I in for a huge change. Many different shocks at once but i will give you a run down so you can see just how the day went but first I have some new information for you. This is a bit of a change but the rules are actually a bit more tight here. I am only able to email my immediate family, meaning Jared I would really love it if you would continue to send out these emails to the list I gave you and please include Lori. I AM ONLY ALLOWED TO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM MY FAMILY AT THIS EMAIL ADDRESS... ALL OTHERS HAVE TO BE SENT TO: urumontemision@gmail.com and it needs to say HERMANA KUBLY in the subject line ( and yes that is only one s in mision) from here they will print them off and deliver them to me.... my companion just told me i need to type softer because the woman here at the tienda will get mad at me... oops. anyway so i guess this rule on mail is to help equality within the missionaries so those who get less mail and email do not feel bad, it will all work out, just a bit of a change, i will get to writing everyone back, it will take longer to get to you but i promise i will write you back. so please please pass on this email so that i can continue to abide by the rules, thank you tons for your love and help. i know it may seem a bit odd but it is all there for a reason. Oh and i get to write on Mondays, they are my preparation days so that will be your day to look forward to.
Anyways so we started our day at 4:40 this morning and got everything packed up and ready to go. It turns out they didnt allow enough time for all of us to check in and get to our gate so we were positive we were going to miss our flight, so one of the other hermanas and i ran ahead to the gate as soon as we got through customs and were amazed that they had delayed our flight 30 mins, just enough time to get the rest to the gate and take off. It was about a 40 minute flight and i had a nice little nap. we were picked up at the airport by the president and his wife and all of the missionaries that work in the presidents office. We all got on a big bus and headed for the mission home. When we got there we met with several other missionaries that we were to be assigned to later as our trainers. There was only 1 english speaking sister there out of the four so we knew one of the two of us that only speaks english was in for a big change. We went in and had interviews with the president after lunch, very short and sweet but i was able to tell him a little bit about you. Anyways a bit later after we filled out some paperwork and a letter that we wrote to ourselves to read after our missions we were assigned to our trainers. my companion went first and was assigned to the english speaking hermana so i knew i was in for a big change. my new companion is hermana alvarez and she is from quito, ecuador. i was thrilled to hear this because Beth was in this part of Ecuador working in orphanges for a while so i immediately felt a bond to her. she is amazingly sweet... and doesnt speak any english, but this will be so amazing for me to learn the language. every missionary that talked to me about her said that she is awesome and i can tell. anyways shortly after this we all got on a bus and headed to the big bus station where all the busses leave from and we all took off to our different areas from there. My area is call Maldonado and it is very close to Punta Del Este, but this is not in our area. It was about a two hour bus ride and our two zone leaders were with us on the bus, they were both awesome and so so happy to be here which made me hopeful since i have never been so overwhelmed in my life haha. Well we threw my bags in our room and are off to work after i send this off. It is freezing cold, and unfortunately we dont have heat and they gave me a very thin blanket... so i am hoping that and the little one i brought will do. looks like i will be bundling for bed, mittens and all. We are right close to the coast so there is a ton of humidity and it is raining right now.
Wow anyway thats pretty much it for now. We are off to work for the rest of the night. Mama i read your bookmark you gave me regularly and it will take on a new meaning everyday.... let faith replace fear.... I know that i now more than ever need to depend on the Lord to get me through. Cant wait to hear from you all and share this with you all, i love you all and am so greatful for your support and letters
Monday, July 12, 2010
July 8, 2010
hey hey famy-
guess what... you are probably getting sick of me doing the countdown but here it is... four days and i am off to the real deal. man am i excited. we leave on tuesday morning around 5 am... i am pumped. yesterday was our last full day of classes, today we have only one class left. tomorrow we have our ip´s or investigators all day, saturday proselyting, sunday church, monday packing and tests, and tuesday we are off off off!! so yes yes... here is my uruguay address for my mission home. you can send anything there, and i will also give you my address once i know where i am living.
Sister Jessica Lin Kubly
Uruguay Montevideo Mission
Horacio Quiroga 6350
Carrasco
11500 Montevideo Uruguay
Well i really dont have much to tell you this week. We went proselyting last Friday since Argentina was playing Germany in the world cup on Saturday (they lost by the way... no bueno... our teachers were not happy and we got the wrath... haha jk.) Its really crazy when they play in the games because we will be sitting in class studying and it is dead silent (all the teachers get to go into the president and his wife´s room and watch the game while we study haha) and all of a sudden you will just hear a roar of screaming and horns go off, not even in the building but in all of the neighborhoods that surround the building. you can literally count the score this way. we could tell that they lost because we didn´t hear much the entire time whereas with other games there would be guns and horns going off every so often. anyway so ya... back on topic. we went out friday and had a new area. it was quite different from our last area.
Love you Love you Love you! Ciao-Jess
guess what... you are probably getting sick of me doing the countdown but here it is... four days and i am off to the real deal. man am i excited. we leave on tuesday morning around 5 am... i am pumped. yesterday was our last full day of classes, today we have only one class left. tomorrow we have our ip´s or investigators all day, saturday proselyting, sunday church, monday packing and tests, and tuesday we are off off off!! so yes yes... here is my uruguay address for my mission home. you can send anything there, and i will also give you my address once i know where i am living.
Sister Jessica Lin Kubly
Uruguay Montevideo Mission
Horacio Quiroga 6350
Carrasco
11500 Montevideo Uruguay
Well i really dont have much to tell you this week. We went proselyting last Friday since Argentina was playing Germany in the world cup on Saturday (they lost by the way... no bueno... our teachers were not happy and we got the wrath... haha jk.) Its really crazy when they play in the games because we will be sitting in class studying and it is dead silent (all the teachers get to go into the president and his wife´s room and watch the game while we study haha) and all of a sudden you will just hear a roar of screaming and horns go off, not even in the building but in all of the neighborhoods that surround the building. you can literally count the score this way. we could tell that they lost because we didn´t hear much the entire time whereas with other games there would be guns and horns going off every so often. anyway so ya... back on topic. we went out friday and had a new area. it was quite different from our last area.
Love you Love you Love you! Ciao-Jess
July 1, 2010
I am sorry these are coming late, I have been out of town! Enjoy!-Beth
Helloooo!!!
Wowowo we only have 11 days left here!!! So I would give my address but i guess i have to wait to see exactly where my first area is. I will give you the address of my mission home next week when i actually remember to bring my mission packet downstairs with me when i write, i always seem to forget.
Anyways it has been a great week so far, well at least last Saturday really made my week for me. We went out into Buenos Aires as we usually do on Saturdays and were really excited to have our appointments that we had made the other week. One of the women wasn´t home so we headed onto Nora´s house, that is the woman that has a ton of health problems with arthritis and such. We were expecting to just help her with work that she had at home. As we walked up to her gate she was just barely scooting along down the street. It was amazing that we caught her because it turns out the buzzer outside her gate actually goes to her neighbors house... weird... but anyway it all worked out for a reason. She invited us into her house, and we all sat around her table. We started asking her what we could help with and with as many things as she could have give us to do she said all she wanted us to do was to bring comfort to her life through the word of God. She went on to tell us more about her health problems that she has. Turns out she has been hit by a bus twice and has many problems from the accidents. She could barely get up and down from her chair. The thoughts and lesson we were able to share with her went so well, I didnt even know that i had some of the spanish vocabulary that was coming from my mouth. It was such a strong experience and she was so happy with what we were able to share with her. As we were leaving she wrote down her address and told us to write her during our missions. we are really sad we wont be able to go back to that area but there are other missionaries that will be able to take care of her. i cant really put it in words but this experience was nothing short of a blessing for all of us.
So ya other than that we have had a bunch of classes as usual... haha. Oh my birthday was on tuesday as ya know and it was great. i went into the kitchen in the morning and everyone starts yelling happy birthday and the cook had made me another postre and had everyone sing again. then even better yet i went up to the classroom and the elders in my district had made a big drawing on the whiteboard that said happy birthday and they all made me cards and gave me a present of a pack of gum.... a beach ball... and a yo yo...so funny. the cards were all so cute and hillerious, ill have to show you some day. anyways everyone was so good to me and i enjoyed my birthday at the mtc... then today at mail time i got this huge package and it turned out to be from one of the elders moms, it was so sweet, tons of stuff that will be handy, including a spanish hymnal which i was desperately in need of.
Anyway its been a good week as usual, im gettin a bit of cabin fever and am really really really excited for uruguay! Here is my favorite scripture of the week, I hope you love it as much as I do, ´¨Yea, I know that I am nothing, as to my strength I am weak, therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strenght I can do all things, yea behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. ¨ Alma 26:12
So thats it for the week folks. I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!!! Ciao- Jess
Helloooo!!!
Wowowo we only have 11 days left here!!! So I would give my address but i guess i have to wait to see exactly where my first area is. I will give you the address of my mission home next week when i actually remember to bring my mission packet downstairs with me when i write, i always seem to forget.
Anyways it has been a great week so far, well at least last Saturday really made my week for me. We went out into Buenos Aires as we usually do on Saturdays and were really excited to have our appointments that we had made the other week. One of the women wasn´t home so we headed onto Nora´s house, that is the woman that has a ton of health problems with arthritis and such. We were expecting to just help her with work that she had at home. As we walked up to her gate she was just barely scooting along down the street. It was amazing that we caught her because it turns out the buzzer outside her gate actually goes to her neighbors house... weird... but anyway it all worked out for a reason. She invited us into her house, and we all sat around her table. We started asking her what we could help with and with as many things as she could have give us to do she said all she wanted us to do was to bring comfort to her life through the word of God. She went on to tell us more about her health problems that she has. Turns out she has been hit by a bus twice and has many problems from the accidents. She could barely get up and down from her chair. The thoughts and lesson we were able to share with her went so well, I didnt even know that i had some of the spanish vocabulary that was coming from my mouth. It was such a strong experience and she was so happy with what we were able to share with her. As we were leaving she wrote down her address and told us to write her during our missions. we are really sad we wont be able to go back to that area but there are other missionaries that will be able to take care of her. i cant really put it in words but this experience was nothing short of a blessing for all of us.
So ya other than that we have had a bunch of classes as usual... haha. Oh my birthday was on tuesday as ya know and it was great. i went into the kitchen in the morning and everyone starts yelling happy birthday and the cook had made me another postre and had everyone sing again. then even better yet i went up to the classroom and the elders in my district had made a big drawing on the whiteboard that said happy birthday and they all made me cards and gave me a present of a pack of gum.... a beach ball... and a yo yo...so funny. the cards were all so cute and hillerious, ill have to show you some day. anyways everyone was so good to me and i enjoyed my birthday at the mtc... then today at mail time i got this huge package and it turned out to be from one of the elders moms, it was so sweet, tons of stuff that will be handy, including a spanish hymnal which i was desperately in need of.
Anyway its been a good week as usual, im gettin a bit of cabin fever and am really really really excited for uruguay! Here is my favorite scripture of the week, I hope you love it as much as I do, ´¨Yea, I know that I am nothing, as to my strength I am weak, therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strenght I can do all things, yea behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. ¨ Alma 26:12
So thats it for the week folks. I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!!! Ciao- Jess
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