Happy 19th Birthday, Elder Goode!!!

Elder Vasquez is on the far left.  He is Braxton's companion.  Next to him is Elder Decker.  In the middle are Juan and his brother, Jaime.  Jaime is on the left and Juan on the right.  Jaime is the Elder's Quorum President in the Branch.  Next to Braxton is Elder Fernandez who got transferred last week.  Our handsome Elder Braxton Goode is on the far right sporting a huge smile, both dimples and wearing contacts.  He hasn't worn them much in the past few years and didn't expect that he would wear them much on his mission.  We are so happy to have a new photo of him.

Happy Birthday Elder Goode on Saturday, November 1, 2014.  19 Years Old!!!

Can you try to prepare something for the Ward Christmas Party this week and then try to go to a different cyber café next week where you can send it to me? 

I´ll see what I can do. I might be able to send something today but we will have to see.

Do you want me to order more contacts for you?

I think that I will be okay for now. I use them on occasions but I have a few if I need them I will ask you for them when I am close to running out. Thanks for everything that you do.

Your package was just delivered to the mission.  You should get it the next time you have pouch mail.  Happy Birthday Son!

I have it already. I had to go to Maipu with Elder Vasquez and they gave it too me early because I was there. If they can give things away early they do because they don´t want to load everything up and send it all and everything. I am waiting to open it until this Saturday. Thanks!

I don´t know if I have any more requests right now. I haven´t thought of anything recently. I am doing really good and Juan is doing great. He came to church and was ordained a priest yesterday. He is preparing to serve a mission in a year. He is really awesome. We have a baptism planned for this Saturday for Isabel the mother of Juan who was baptized about 4 months ago. It was a little before I got to Lo Espejo.

I am doing all that I can and we are preparing a lot of people for baptism. We had 8 investigators, 7 of our 11 retention, and 9 less active members at church this week with 74 people there this week. We are really excited and are doing all that we can to find and help the people. We are working a lot with people, but Elizabeth and Victor the parents of the family of 5 haven´t gotten married yet, but we are working on it. The 2 older kids could get baptized in a week if they come to church. Francisco and Alfonso.

We are doing a lot to help people. We are also working with a family from Haiti that speaks French and we managed to get 3 Book of Mormons in French for them. They are progressing but we are hoping for success with them. There are at least 6 people who could get baptized in this house. We are doing a lot and I am really tired a lot because it has been really warm and tiring but really great. 

That is awesome that things are going so well for you.  I am a little confused, you said, “We have a baptism planned for this Saturday for Isabel the mother of Juan who was baptized about 4 months ago.”  Why are you having a baptism for her if she was baptized 4 months ago? 

That is really cool that Juan wants to go and serve a mission.  Who baptized him and confirmed him?  Are there any other siblings in the family.  What about his dad?

I am sorry the heat is making you tired.  Are you wearing short sleeve shirts now and no suit coat?  Are you sleeping in shorts and with just the sheet at night?

Yes I am using the least amount of clothing possible. I am doing good. Ivan was baptized 4 months ago his mom is going to get baptized. We have it planned so that he can baptize her. Juan has a brother named Jaime who is our Elder´s quorum president. I have met his mom but not his dad his parents don´t live in my sector. 

I´m working on finding people and I can´t be certain if these are right. The people are correct but I don´t know if they are deceased or not but I put deceased. Can you look into the kids of this code? 9JR9-6ND

It is for the 4 children because of the year of birth I don´t know if they are living or dead.

I can do some research on them and try to find death information.  If I have the parent’s information, I can go forward from there.  Thanks for all you are doing to help with Family History.  I really appreciate it and I know your ancestors will, too.

Okay.  If they were born less than 110 years ago and you don’t know if they are deceased, put living.  It usually won’t let you attach the source after that, but it will let you create a user.  If they were born more than 110 years ago, then go ahead and put deceased.  It is a lot easier to change them from living to dead than the other way around.  So, if you find one that you have to add as living, send me the name and number.  I will have to login to your account to look at them, because any living people you create only show up on your screen until we prove that they are dead.  Does that make sense?  I will check into the one you just sent. 

Okay.  That makes sense about Ivan and his mom.  Please make sure to stay hydrated.  That will help you prevent headaches and will keep you healthier overall.  Take every opportunity you can to drink water or juice or milk.  You haven’t told us much about the food.  Are you able to get milk for a reasonable price?  What are you buying to eat?  Not Ramen Noodles every meal, I hope.

I did it the wrong way.... I put dead and they are probably living. Do you think that you can change them for me? I am still working on resources right now but sorry....

I eat Ramen Noodles in the evenings I like soup..... I eat cereal with milk or yogurt for breakfast as well as sandwiches that are ham and cheese melted and toasted which I like. I buy other things on occasions but I really don´t like buying a ton because I have to carry it all. Things aren´t that bad on prices and things are pretty good. I broke my belt this week so I bought a new one during the week. 

It is okay.  If I find out they are still alive, I will send a request to SLC to have it changed.  Just do it the other way in the future or just add the parents and send me the number for the parents and I will look them up.  Thanks.

Sorry.... It is the 4 kids of the number sorry.

Did I tell you I am getting a new laptop tomorrow morning.  I just reimaged mine.  It looks pretty bare and sad with no photo of you on the desktop.  Any luck sending me some new photos today?

I haven´t had any but my companion sent me one of the baptism of Juan because I asked if he could and when it finally shows up I will forward it to you. I don´t know if it will before I run out of time though.

Okay.  Just try to eat healthy.  Get a variety of fruits and vegetables.  How far do you have to carry your groceries?  I guess that Walmart belt wasn’t that great of quality if it only lasted four months. 

It was because it could change sides that made it weaker but at the same time more easier to change. It´s fine I found another for 2000 pesos or 2 lucas which is about 4 dollars so not bad.

Also can you look into the one record hint for this person? It is a little crazy and I don´t want to mess it up LZRX-5NH

Sure.  I will work on those this week.  Thanks.

Can you try a different cyber one of these weeks, soon, and send us some photos and the video for the ward?  I would certainly be happy if you could.  I hope you are taking lots of photos even if you are not able to get them sent to us.  Eventually, you will have to be in a place with newer computers.

Do you know how to send me a letter home?  Do you have to send it through the pouch or can you just send it through regular mail?  If so, I could send you a new mini-SD card for your camera and you could mail the old one home to us.  We probably can’t make that happen before they will need the video.  Did I send you two mini-SD cards?  I think I did.  Check on that and if so, send us the one you have been using by mail.  Purchase a padded envelope from the post office so that the card is protected. 

I´ll see what I can do. I know where a post office is but I don´t know yet about videos and all I haven´t done anything yet. I really don´t have time to be honest. I am doing what I can and we are having a hard time with cybers they are really awful but we are trying.

Do you have anything special planned for your Birthday on Saturday?  Please have your companion take some photos of you that day and whatever you are doing, and when you open your package.  I probably should have wrapped the stuff inside.  Sorry.  I didn’t think of that.

Don´t worry about it. I will try. Thanks for everything I don´t know about numbers of photos and everything or if there will be all the ones that you want but I will do what I can. I haven´t taken a ton of photos but I have of the things that matter.

What things matter to you?  I am sure a lot more would matter to me!  I just miss seeing your happy face.  I would not have been a good missionary mom back when they went off to England for three years and you got a couple of letters a year.  Our ancestors who did that were amazing.

Please take a few minutes now and tell us more about what you have been doing and what miracles are happening in your life.  I think you are spending way more than fifteen minutes on Family History and not writing enough information home.  Please write a little more and remember to say goodbye before you quit for the day.  I love you lots.  I just want to know more about what you are doing. 

I am doing what I can. I write a general outline of what has been happening. We are working to have more baptisms and activate people. We are having a lot of lessons. We had 27 this week and are doing a lot to help serve the people. I know that I haven´t been writing a lot but I am trying to do what I can to keep everything going and I really like doing Family History work. I know that I don´t write as much as I could, but I like to think that there are ancestors that need some help and that the more I can do during my time now the more you and the family can accomplish during these two years. Love you I will work on writing more about my week and doing what I can.

We are really focusing a lot on investigators and helping them be baptized. We are trying to have a baptism a week at least from the 3rd week of the change to the end. If we can have more, great! Elder Vasquez and I have a goal to have 15 baptisms in this 6 weeks. We are going to see what we can do. I am more tired than usual because of the heat, but I love the work. Thanks for all that you do and for all of your help always. Thanks for always remembering to write and being on. I really appreciate it, but I get distracted after I write my general outline and to my mission president and everything. Then I go work on cleaning up the histories.

Thanks for everything and I will have a great week and a great birthday! Love you I´m out of time I´ll talk to you next week!

Second Baptism! I enjoy Family History!

We are getting along better but we had changes today and we are still together for 6 more weeks the next change is the end of November. I am doing good. It is getting really warm and that is making me more tired because they don´t have air conditioning and sleeping in warm rooms is hard for me. I am doing what I can and my allergies are starting to act up more but overall I am good. I have used my contacts a few times and they aren´t bothering me so I should be okay.

I have been a little discouraged but I am doing what I can right now to work and have success. We had a baptism for Juan our investigator and if I can I will send a picture. Today Elder Fernandez had changes and now Elder Decker has Elder Villablanca from Argentina. He has the same amount of time in the mission as Elder Vasquez.

I didn´t have changes and Elder Vasquez didn´t either. Elder Fernandez went to Republica and Elder Villablanca is with Elder Decker now. The next changes are the 30th of November.

Do you and Elder Decker get along well? 

Not exactly but we are okay. I got along a lot better with Elder Fernandez but he had changes. I will get through it don´t worry about me it isn´t too hard just annoying because it is all the time and I can´t leave the situation to have a breather. I did have a few divisions that were a bit of a breather last change but I am going to have less this change. Thanks for everything!

I still don´t know about Ancestry if we can use it but I don´t see why not? I don´t know about the other missionaries but I am doing what I can to clean up the records for you to help with everything.

My scriptures aren´t small they are larger probably a normal size I really don´t know. I don´t remember for sure with the AP results but I think you go to my AP profile which I believe uses my normal username and passwords try a few to get in if not look into my student and other numbers from school. I´m sorry but I just want to know how I did and I can´t check it myself.  Thanks for everything let me know about the AP site.

I also need to do this (video and pictures for the Ward Christmas Party) but I am having a hard time getting it ready.... I don´t exactly have a lot of time to do it....

Any luck with the camera today? 

No I haven´t had luck with it in a while. I just don´t have a lot of time or really desires to prepare the video right now. I haven´t really thought about it much. I have a couple baptismal photos that I could send but I don´t have a ton to send. I really will look into it thanks though.

I am good and I think the normal size is the best option. Spanish text for scriptures is a little bigger but I think that normal will look good. I just want them to help me be more organized with my scriptures because I have a lot that I like to use and I am still organizing my scriptures. Thanks for everything and I have my camera and I will see if I can send anything today. Love you!

Okay.  I found a phone number and called the College Board.  They helped me get your account setup so I could get your scores. 

Statistics – Your Score: 4

That is great!  You did well! 

Thanks! I was thinking that I got between a 2 and a 4. I am really happy with a 4! That helps a lot I kept forgetting to ask about it. That´s really good for me. I felt pretty confident about the exam on that day even though it was really long. Thanks for finding my results. I love you!

I just need to know if I need to send the scores to Neumont, USU and Weber.  Did you send it to any when you took the test?

I honestly don´t remember that well. I think that I did but it is probably better if you send them again because I don´t have a clue....

Can you look into the record hints for this person? William Dillingham LZF5-LLP There are a couple record hints and I am not sure of what to do with them. I am working through the lines of people to find and fix what I can to help people. Thanks for everything I am out of time. I didn´t get pictures sent and I didn´t really tell you a whole lot. The baptism was really great and we had a white night last week with 4 baptisms for our zone. I am doing what I can but I am really focused a lot in getting family history work done. I am working through all of the lines here to do record hints. There are tons of hints and they are really easy to work with just a few little issues every now and then but generally I can find and fix a lot. There are a lot of new people that I have found through record hints. I really enjoy doing the fixes and attaching. Love you! Sorry that I didn´t say more or get more done. I am trying thanks for everything. Love you!

I can´t get photos to work my camera doesn´t like these computers and they can´t read the photos... I will figure it out eventually. I just don´t know what I am going to do to get the photos sent for the baptisms and the ward. I love you sorry I don´t think you will have photos today. Love you and I am doing just fine. I really don´t hear much from Becca anymore but I figured that would happen. Oh well I am just going to keep working doing what I can now. Thanks for everything. I am working my way through the names and lines and I am getting through them little by little and when I finish I will go up one person and work my way down again like I have been doing and each line has more and more people. I have been on the descendants of John Daniel Goode for over a month. I enjoy it though. I will do a lot more work on the lines after the mission because I really enjoy it.

2 Nephi 25:26 And We Preach of Christ

 

 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ,

we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ,

and we write according to our prophecies,

that our children may know to what source

they may look for a remission of their sins.

2 Nephi 25:26

 

We usually speak in Spanish in the pention with a little English.

That´s a lot that has gone by in a little time. I want you to put 2 Nephi 25:26. I have always loved that scripture and it has meant a lot to me. I have seen it a lot in the front room and I have it memorized. I really enjoy the testimony it bears simply and truthfully.

Okay. I don´t have a lot to write about this week. We didn´t have a lot of people at church this week and 6 of our 9 baptismal dates fell through. We have a baptism planned for Juan Cerna this Saturday. He is the brother of our Elder´s Quorum president. He was a miracle for us. We are still working hard to help the other 6 progress and attend church and fulfill all of the commandments so that they can be baptized. There is a lot to do and little time.

I wanted to ask you if you could look up my AP Statistics results and tell me how I did. Also if you could send me the Scripture Mastery Markers with images that I have in my small scriptures in English. I would like to put them in my nice set of scriptures in Spanish to make using scripture masteries easier. I have a lot of great scriptures that I can share but it would be much easier to use them when they are easier to find.

It doesn´t have to be right away just when you send another package that you have ready or a letter that you could fit them in. I love you and thanks for the last package that came. I don´t remember if I told you thanks before so I am making sure that I mention it now. I hope that this is enough of a start for now.

I found a two people who are 1 year apart one is a girl the other is a boy and they are listed as children of the same parents, but they don´t show up on the same record together. Their parents are MXDJ-VCN and LDHB-S3L in family search. Hopefully you can find out what is wrong here. I don´t know for certain but other than this I think this is good to here.

I can´t get the cables to work with the computer that I am using today. I will work on finding a better computer to use if I can but I can´t send anything this week. I´m sorry. I´m doing all that I can to keep you informed. I know that you don´t get a lot from me, but I am doing all that I can right now to help you know what is going on. Thanks for everything that you do for me and the love and support. Love you and thanks for all that you do for me.

Thanks for everything and have a great week. Let me know what you can when you find out about my AP Statistics results. I have been forgetting to ask you for a long time so if you could find out and let me know that would be great. Love you and thanks for all that you do and for helping me in every way that you do. I´ll talk to you next week. Love you!

General Conference

We walk in our sector to get around but we use buses when we have to leave our sector for meetings or exchanges. We also leave our sector to go shopping for Preparation day and other things. We all meet together for our reunions of changes and I love that the whole mission can come together for the changes and get to know the other missionaries. We have a smaller mission so it is possible. I really enjoy having that ability in the mission. I teach classes on occasion and we talk about English classes with Investigators and invite them to the Church for classes and to get to know the church and we invite less actives if they are interested. We do not always have a lot of people that come to our classes, but overall things are really great. The buses cost around a dollar to use each time so it is interesting.

We had two investigators come to conference, one that wasn't a baptismal date, but now he is. He has 3 attendances and went to every session of conference. I watched conference in English, but the Spanish talks we watched in Spanish. I understood everything in the talks. I really enjoyed conference, but I was in another room, so I was not with my investigators, but my companion was. We have 9 baptismal dates now. We have Juan who went to everything and is the brother of our Elder's Quorum President. We also have Ivon and Kasandra who we are going to wait longer before baptism, but their date is for the 12th of November. We are doing a lot to help people progress. I may be able to have a few baptisms in this change if things work out right.

Things will work out however they happen. I am fine with my companion. We have worked a lot and I will be fine, but I honestly feel like he will train the next change. I listened really carefully to the Portuguese talk to hear it, because I want to learn Portuguese. I like hearing both. We didn't have subtitles just voices. I wanted subtitles and just them speaking. I like hearing the other languages. I have learned a lot of Spanish and understand quite a bit of Portuguese because I have a mission president and my trainer who speak with Portuguese accents. I understood conversations Elder Chuquel had with Hermana Barreiros in Portuguese.

Our mission president loves his Brazilians because they are Brazilians. I do not mind. I like hearing and learning both Spanish and Portuguese. I know a lot of Spanish now and I have been half tempted to write in Spanish before. Elder Chuquel loved your letter even though Google Translate does not translate everything correctly. We were laughing about it and I was correcting the incorrect parts for him. I can translate Spanish to English and Elder Chuquel learned a lot of English with me. Elder Vasquez does not speak English, but he understands it generally. He is learning a bit, but we speak Spanish in the pention and everywhere, but English feels weird now and awkwardly slow.... That´s okay I accidently was speaking English to Elder Vasquez after conference, because I had heard so much English. He listened to one conference in English and so did Elder Fernandez who knows English, because he was born in Utah, but grew up in Argentina and went back to Utah for 4 months before the mission. He is amazing and finished his training and began training Elder Decker who is from Minnesota. That is more information about my pention. Elder Vasquez is from Lima, Peru and he lives close to the coast. I don´t know much more than that, but we are doing well. We have had a lot of divisions, because he is District leader and we aren´t together a lot because of that. He has a year in the mission. I don´t know if I told you that, but he is pretty great. It is just that our personalities clash a little and being together a lot is stressful at times, but we are doing a lot to work things out.

I had not seen Dallas, but I saw 5 other people that I know in the Priesthood Choir. We can do activities like Soccer, and leaving our mission if we have permission. We play soccer on occasions. We cannot go to the Temple. The only way I will be able to go is if I train. The trainers go to the Temple the Day they receive their new greenies. They go in the morning.

I am doing really well and I saw Kelsey Riding's mom in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I am doing really well, but I am really tired. We were given permission to watch the Priesthood session on Saturday, but it started at 9 pm which is when we normally go back to our house, so it was midnight when I went to bed and I am still really exhausted from this last week. We have our reunion for changes in two weeks. I do not know about Christmas. I honestly do not think that I will be in Lo Espejo for Christmas. I feel like I am going to have a change before then. I may leave in the next change, but I do not know anything for certain.

We had a reunion of new missionaries 3 days ago and I saw Elder Chuquel and Elder Prisbey and we had lunch together. There are 30 missionaries in my zone. We play soccer on basketball courts and they are small, so it is like footsal. We have 6 elders in our district and no hermanas. We have had interviews with President last change. We have a zone conference this week and we have district meeting every Wednesday with pouch every other week and I got your package, but I sadly forgot my camera today.... Sorry... I am really tired from the weekend and I answered a lot of your other questions in my last email.

Kind of, but it is just for fun. 

I am out of time but I did what I could in the time that I had. I worked on a little of the lines. I think that I did everything correctly today and I only did a little, but I am using simple knowledge of years and the names to verify the truth of the situations. Hopefully you can find and verify everything. Love you! I have to go. Thanks for everything.