July 23, 2012

Hey Guys  
So this week has been a week to remember so hang on to your seats.  I got on the bus to Deo a las 2:15 in the morning when I got to Deo at 6:40 I found Elder Larson which was nice to see him again and as we talked I saw Elder Navarro remember him my 2nd comp. Well I went over to him and gave him a hug then he says hey my new companion. I started to laugh but then he said it again and then added are you excited to go to Cerro. I was like what? I asked around to the like 50 other missionaries there in the terminal and they all knew. President did special changes the night before and instead of going to Oeste Barrio 18 with Elder Montes I was going to Cerro Las Torres with Elder Navarro again. Apparently someone forgot to tell me. I wouldn´t have really cared except for the fact that I was with Elder Navarro again which I am happy about we are good friends and he is doing a lot better but I was really concerned about going to Cerro. I don´t know if I have already told you about Cerro but it is the most dangerous zone in the mission. They usually only send Latinos and Really big gringos there. I am neither and to top it off I am super Blond. I don´t tell you this to scare you but I think it is kind of cool. But every member I met was like "why are you here you are going to die!" I also talked to Elder Garcia because this was his old area and he was scared for me I think. But in my last 5 days here it has been really good. The area is just really ugly full of garbage and the people are really poor. If you look for it on a map it will be under Cerro Norte. But anyway it is way different from T-bo instead of horses and cow it is freeway and cars, we will see.   


My short time in Cerro has been good the people are different from the interior but there are very amazing people here. Our week was really hard and I felt really bad because Friday and Saturday 3 or 4 investigators dropped us and I couldn't help but feel like it was my fault. But on Sunday we were truly blessed one investigator brought her aunt to church in our lesson, a few hours later she excepted fecha (date) and said she has been looking for the true church for awhile and she felt the spirit as we taught. Also while looking for our investigators Sunday morning a man stopped us in the street and said so what is the idea behind the church. After a few minutes of talking he began to cry and said he wants to change his life. We invited him to wait a few minutes and then go to church with us. He came, then later that day we had a lesson with him.  He said he has never felt like this before and that he is going to stop drinking. It was an amazing day! 


Elder Navarro is doing great he seemed very happy to be my comp again and we hope to have a lot of success this change. Elder Garcia is doing well but he still needs to be pushed harder. A lot of times I felt like if I held back he wouldn´t try as hard but he has improved. I hope his new comp continues to help.  What else oh yeah something that comes from only sending Latinos to a zone usually means there will be a lot of truchos. I know that is a huge stereo type but a lot of time it is true and it show big time in my area. First when I got to the house it was a dump, I don´t think it had been cleaned in like a year. It was full of paper there was not one clean plate or dish, garbage from floor to my waist in the kitchen, like 50 pop bottles under the sink. I found movies under the bed not like church movies but things like music videos and Disney movies, just things that made me really sad to see. Anyway I almost have the house clean. Also when we go to lunches into houses the members put you right in front of the TV with the remote and then give you your food and leave. It has happened at least twice. I almost want to give every member a mission manual, it is just so sad. Anyway we will see what happens there are now at least 2 obedient missionaries in the area so I hope things improve. Anyway that's about it.   I am not really to worried, I feel save but it has only been 5 days but you know it is dangerous when every house has huge gates and wall with broken glass on the top and like six locks.  Love you, good luck on working on the house.  

Love Elder Wray 


P.S. 1st Picture of road inT-Bo, 2nd Pic Ketchup Chips, really happy to find them!

July 17, 2012

Hey Guys,

You guys jumped the gun, we do changes tonight so I haven´t seen my new comp or area but it is Elder Montes. Maybe you remember him from Salto.  We shared a ward there anyway I was not to excited. Elder Montes is a good guy and a friend but he is also trucho and I am so tired, I don´t want to have to fight with him over crap, but  we will see, it is quit possible that it is only a one change thing. But I think mom is right.  It is obvious that I have not learned what I need to learn. Something that dawned on me the other day is that these companions are really changing or at least showing me who I am and will probably have a big impact on the rest of my life. This change I need to work hard.  Who knows Elder Montes could have changed but we will see.  At least I have people from my group down there, I think I share a ward with Elder Tyree which will be sweet. I guess I should tell you where I am going. I am going to Montevideo, that is the other reason why I wasn't to excited the work is really hard there but I heard the city is nice so I will have to send pics.  We will see how it goes.

In other news I read in the ensign that you have a new Mission President in Spokane kind of cool, also I think Ben has one to.  I finished Jesus the Christ a little bit ago it was an awesome book and also I don´t need the conference in English we got them last week. Today I am going to buy a poncho made of wool as a recuerdo and for the mornings when I study it should be pretty sweet. The gauchos use them.

So I don´t have a lot of time but yesterday was an adventure. My face was destroyed. I have a cut from my Eye to my mouth. I wasn´t going to send a pic but what the heck. Mom I am fine!  Anyway, the story, so we were walking down the street in the country and 4 guys came out of the woods asking for money, they were pretty mad when we didn´t have much. They started punching my comp then one with a knife..... Haha just kidding they would have called you if that happened. No we were in the house of familia Motta, in there back yard. This family has six girls so I feel right at home there.  We were talking to the dad when one of them says lets race back to the house so we went off. His back yard is full of gardens I saw that I was coming up on one when I turned I saw a fence but it was about knee high next to a tree "I was like ha I can jump that easy". So I jumped as it turns out the fence was about a foot taller then me and the top wire was barbed wire which hit me in my mouth and face. I made it over or through I guess the fence but I lost the race. Luckily they are from the country and the dad came over cut up this plant and put it on my face, it was aloe I think. Anyway good times in the mission and that family will never forget me now. But I am alright and luck I didn´t get it in the eye. 

Thanks for everything. I sure Love you!

Love Elder Wray

PS. This is the family some of them are not members of the family just friends and a cousin and some of them are asleep I think they are nine or ten in total.

July 9, 2012

Hey Guys,

This week has been long, but we have moved into our new house today. We had divisions with the Zone Leaders this week which was really good. I went with Elder Nygarrd. He is an awesome guy and a great missionary. He has given me a lot of advise about how I can help Elder Garcia and it has worked. But I am kind of worried about Elder Garcia again this last week he was really homesick and told me he almost called President to go home when I was in the shower. He has also been struggling sickness. With all of these things sometimes I feel like we are leveling off instead of improving and some days I feel like we go backwards. He loves to spend time with members. There are a lot of times when I feel like we could be more productive doing something else but when I share that idea sometimes he doesn´t like it. This week I set a goal with him to reach the normas and we almost made it but Saturday he had a fever of 102 so we didn´t get very much work done the next few days. I am really going to try hard to reach the norms this week, seeing as it will probably be my last week here. 


This week I have been so stressed and I let my comp know it. I have been exhausted, my comp is not helping in this moving process and I have had bed bugs for a month. I think I am turning into mom on the mission. Everything is planed and needs to work. My comp is like dad, sorry dad, but worse he likes to wing it. I packed my stuff, everything from the house and cleaned the whole house. When the mover showed up my comp hadn´t even touched his suitcase. We had other missionaries help and one said why didn´t you help your comp. I almost killed him. At this point my comp was sitting outside watch the sun rise. He didn´t pack his own thing the other Elders did it for him. I finally told him to get moving and he did sometimes, I wonder what he's thinking. My comps favorite phrase is "No me importa" or "I don´t care". But it is all over and we are in.  I finally bought a new bed and changes are in a week so my replacement will have a new bed and new house he should be happy. 


This week has been really cold I heard it hit -1 one night, I have been fine but my comp hates it. I attached a pick of familia Gonzalez. The girl on the left will get baptized the 28th. I am still in my suit because they left on Sunday for vacations and my comp didn´t want to walk to there house so we took a taxi from lunch. Last week I sent a letter to Ben Clark and Ben Thompson from USU, I hope they get them, we will see how the mail is here. The second pick is from Zaydas baptism I don´t think I ever sent it. I have some sweet news. Elder Nygarrd told me in November Elder Bednar or Oaks will be visiting the mission we are going to have a huge meeting with this mission and the other in Montevideo it is going to be sweet. Could you should send me a conference addition in English I can read it in Spanish but I don´t like it as much. So if you can that would be sweet. Anyway that is about, it take care. ç

Love you 

Elder Wray

 

July 2, 2012

Hey Guys,

This week has been pretty good. Not much has happened. We had our interviews with President which seemed really short but it was good. I like interviews with President. The work is going kind of slow though our investigator the sister of Miciela and Zayda doesn´t want to come to church which is sad we just can't get her to want to go. My convert Miguel doesn´t want to go to church anymore either. I think he doesn´t like some one at church because when we pass by he asked is someone was there and then said no "I can´t go and then I don´t want to go". He won't tell us why. It's sad! Yesterday I sat at home all day after church because a of a missionary. He was special changed from his ward to the area of my District Leaders because he was sending texts to a girl or something like that. Two days after the change he cut open his shin with a machete doing service and the doctor said he couldn´t walk. And they had 3 lessons yesterday and my comp hates this missionary and refused to stay home with him so yesterday I stayed and I wrote 4 letters. 

The other day we had an interesting lesson with a man. It started out good, he is Evangelica and we learned a little bit about his church and believes. He kept saying all churches are of God and that God excepts them all and the whole time I was thinking to myself it is going to be so hard to try and tell this guy that we don't believe that and that there is only one true church, it is something I find very hard to do. But anyway we didn´t even get the chance because he just kept going, then it got weird he started talking about the Masons and how they were a Satanic Cult that tries really hard to put there members in high places in government and when two countries have a war and both leaders are masons it is their sacrifice to the devil. Then said that's why they killed Kennedy because he wasn´t a mason. Then he turned to me and said just ask him he knows, he is American. I was like I have no idea what you are talking about so he change the theme of the conversation to his war tour in Africa and how it is a country of the devil and everyone worships the devil. After all of this we were like alright well we have to go. He talked to us for like 45 minutes. We couldn´t get a word in but it was just super weird. 


You said you were going to send a package if you could send a couple of socks not a lot but a few, Peanut butter, and can you get more contacts I only have 3 left.  I guess I should only have 2 but I went a month with out contacts with Elder Navarro. Also Pen Fillers for Zebra pens, I think it is like Zebra 501 or 301 something like that. They are the most common, black and blue would be cool but I would also like red and green.

We move next Monday which is kind of exciting but changes are in 2 weeks so I will probably live there for 1 week no mas. But that's alright. We will see what happens. We should be doing Divisions with the Zone leaders this week, which will be good, I could use a break from my comp things are better now he is more obedient but now he just like to bug me and it got really old really fast. But anyway not much else to say Things are alright. But I hate it when they play English music in the cyber cafe, it makes me trunky. Anyway I have to go.  Have a good week! 
Love 
Elder Wray