My Feet Hate Me Every Night!

Please check on the mini-SD card.  Do you have another one?  If so, send your used one home.

I have another and I am going to try to take everything off of the card and put it on the terabyte hard drive. I am going to send the other one home, but I cannot send videos home. I can send photos, but I have a video for the presentation that is about 3 minutes long, but I cannot send it. So if I send the card you will get it in a month and it will be late getting to the ward. I do not know what to do about it for certain. I am doing what I can and trying, but I have been really busy and my birthday was really good. I will write more about it in a little.

We eat with the members, less actives, or investigators. We eat all sorts of food, hot dogs with spaghetti, soups with beans, all kinds, a lot of them. I don´t remember what they are called in English, but they are all good. The food doesn´t bother me at all. I am doing really well and we had lunch with a family of 3 for my birthday named Carlos, Maria, and Isabela. Carlos is an investigator, Maria is less active and Isabela is their 2 year old. They knew it was my birthday so there was cake and everything. It was really nice. The day before we helped clean up the school of Isabela so that it was cleaner and nicer for them to play in. We painted a room in the house of an active member the morning of my birthday. We also helped level out the ground for a less active member who is working on their house and prepared it for them to rebuild that part of the house bigger and better.

The people are really poor here and they are really great, but it isn´t easy to have them in church. The farthest parts of my sector are 20 minutes walking really quickly and the people are a little lazy. We do all that we can. Sometimes we go and find them and walk all the way with them. My feet hate me every night and are more sore than they have ever been. I am doing really well and loving the work, but we didn´t have our baptism because Isabel didn´t pass the interview. We went over the questions and everything with her and she said she was doing all the correct things, but when she had her interview it turns out that she is smoking. We don´t know how much or how long just that she smoked 3 cigarettes the day before the interview. We were shocked, but we are doing what we can.... I am enjoying the work and there are many great people who are close to being prepared, but we are doing all that we can now. Thanks for everything and Becca is writing me a little.... I only get like 3 lines a week, but it is better than nothing. She remembered to write for my birthday, but it doesn´t seem like she wants to write more like she just is because I write each week...... I don´t know honestly.....

This is the photo of the baptism of Juan and he is on the right and his brother Jaime is on the left. Hope this helps a little for you.

Is Ivan also a brother of Juan and Jaime?

No. He is from a different family and his mom is working on preparing more. We are going to visit them today.

Okay. I just wanted to clarify that. 

We didn´t have nearly the attendance we wanted this week.... I was a little let down because we only had 53 people at church, 3 less actives and one for the first time and we didn´t have any investigators...... It was one of the worst attendances in my time here. I am a little let down about it and just trying to keep working hard and doing what I can, but I get frustrated easily when I can´t change how things are or do my part to change anything. Thanks for writing. I am working on my photos and everything to have them put on the terrabyte so it will be a little before another message.

Can you get more members involved with the less actives and investigators?   

We have been trying and so has the branch, but they are really slow and forgetful about it. The home teachers and visiting teachers aren´t functioning and there is a lot that we can´t change. We are working with our Branch mission leader and doing what we can, but there is only so much that the missionaries can do. We are doing the best that we can right now and there is a lot that I personally can´t change, but I have seen many changes that are starting to help the Branch to grow. When I got here there was a Branch President and a counselor who was also the Elder´s Quorum President and now there are many more callings. Growth comes with time and I can´t rush things. The branch is doing what it can, but it is struggling a lot.

Change takes time. What you do will help them in the future, even if you don't get to see the end results. It all makes a difference. 

We are having a lock down and evacuation drill done by the local police and fire departments.  I'm outside right now. It is going to be slow. They are evacuating them one room at a time. I was glad I was in my office so I could grab my jacket. It is chilly out here. 

I´m sorry! Enjoy your cold! I would prefer the cold.... I have a lot of hot...... Oh well thanks for everything and I am doing what I can right now on photos. They are all on the terrabyte now because I have a good computer today. I will send a few and I can´t send videos, but I don´t think I will be able to send the card this week. I don´t think I will pass for a post office.... I am really sorry.... I don´t know what to do. I have a card ready and the card ready to send, but not the post office. I am also going to start sending photos from the church because my companion right now said that I can as long as it isn´t giving me internet access. I feel like I shouldn´t have a problem so I will send new photos when we are in the church on occasions. Love you and I am going to do a little of Family History and things.

We are working with families from Haiti that are progressing slowly and have attended before, but we are doing a lot to help many people progress and the next 4 weeks will be harder to have success. We have Stake Conference this next weekend which is really far away for the members and investigators so it will be really hard. We also have a conference with Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the 12 this week as the Santiago missions in Mission Sur (South). We are going to be really busy and I am really exhausted lately and things are a little frustrating, but good overall. Thanks for everything! 

I ran into Elder Chuquel with my brother Elder Prisbrey in the reunion of new missionaries and wanted to send this to you. Enjoy!

Also we had an activity with desserts to fellowship investigators and less actives with members. We had a few people show up and it was the day of my birthday as well. These are the desserts and Elder Vasquez likes to cook so he made them all while I was working on other projects in the evenings and helping with things. It was really great, but we still didn´t have anyone of them come to church the next day.

We are working with a family of 3 that are relatives of a recent convert from the other sector of Lo Espejo. We are teaching the older sister and her family and the other elders are teaching the younger sister and her family. We are planning on having baptisms for them in the future, but we are working through their doubts and questions to help them accept everything and progress. We have taught them a couple of times and they are doing really well. 

Elder Vasquez and I are working toward a goal of 15 baptisms before the end of the change which is the 30th of November. We have a huge goal and a lot to do and we are working hard, but the progress is slow and there are a lot of doubts and wars with Satan because he throws everything at us to slow things down...... We are making progress very slowly with a lot of our investigators and looking for ways to help them receive the truth, but things are coming along a little at a time. Thanks for everything I am almost out of time today. Love you!

When I send you a package, it takes 10 or 11 days to get from me to the mission office.  It should be about the same going the other way.  So you may still have time to get it to me in time for the program, even if you can’t get to the Post Office this week.  How far away is the post office?  Will you possibly pass one on the way to the Conference or back?

I don´t know. There is one in the mall a little ways from where I live, but we use a bus to get there and we are a little ways from there and we aren´t going there to send anything today. we have a little less than an hour to finish everything and get back to our sector with food we have bought and get our hair cut today for the conference this next weekend. I don´t have time, but I am trying. I sent a few photos today for you. I have others, but they are all on the card and I have the terrabyte with them as well. Thanks for everything and I am doing what I can. I hope that today was more information to help out. I haven´t gotten to family history yet.... and I really don´t have time....

It is okay.  Family History will always be there.  Photos are a big part of Family History so you did your part today by sending me three.  I am a happy mother.  I am glad you enjoyed your birthday.  Don’t cut your hair too short.  It looks good right now in the photos.  I didn’t like it when you had it really short.  Somewhere in between would be great.  J  Don’t stress.  Try to send it next week.  I love you so very much!  Have a super awesome amazing week.

I am doing what I can, but things are really interesting at times.... I am doing my best.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I don´t have a clue what will happen and I am doing all that I can not to think about it, but when I have spare time I think about those kinds of things. I do what I can to keep my mind occupied, but there is only so much that I can do during the day and walking gets boring.... I have a lot of thinking time.... Oh well thanks for everything Mom. Love you!

You make me laugh!  I do understand.  You will be just fine.  It is good to think and ponder.

I’m back inside now.  That was some traffic jam at the doors.  They moved the entire school to the West Parking lot so all 1200 + students were going through one set of doors to get back in the building.  Funny!

I am glad you are able to get on a better computer today and glad that you will be able to send more photos from the church.  I will appreciate that.  Try to send the video today if you can while you are on the good computer.  I can get everything to Brother Schneiter for you. 

The meeting with Elder Nelson will be amazing.  Learn all you can and soak up the spirit while you are there.  I hope you are able to shake his hand.  You are doing an amazing work and this pilot program will help many people if it goes to other missions.  Do you go to the South Mission for the Conference?

Yes we do and Elder Nelson wants to shake hands with every missionary, but he might change his mind. There will be 4 missions there.... So about 1000 missionaries..... That is a lot of time to do that...... I don´t know. We will see and I will try to send the video, but I don´t know if I can send it. I can only send things less than 15 MB.

I am doing what I can. At times we talk. Other times we don´t. It all depends, but I am doing what I can. I have been trying to have a distraction of some sort with me, but I can´t read scriptures and I get a headache if I sing a song, because it gets stuck in my head for hours and I don´t want that, so I think about all sorts of things and the time passes. But I don´t know. There is a lot that goes on and I can´t always avoid all of my thoughts. I am trying. Thanks have a great week. I will see if I can send the video but who knows. I will try.

The video is larger than my 25 MB limit.... Sorry I will have to send the card or figure out something.... I really don´t know the best way to send it to you...

Dropbox  - Read the email I just sent you instructions on how to send it to my Dropbox account.

I´m out of time thanks for everything. Love you talk to you next week! Thanks for everything for my birthday!

You are welcome.  Ask your Mission President or Zone Leader if you can drop the video in my Dropbox account next week. 

I setup a dropitto.me account with my dropbox account so you can easily upload the video file.