November 17, 2014

Hey hey!! how are you all doing?? That is no fun about the computer being broken! :( haha but that is soooo crazy that Hurricane is going to state!!!! Josh Parker is a total boss!!! Hurricane is quite the place :) haha 

I am doing great! We sure did work our butt off this week!! haha We set all of our goals super high and it shows! it was a great week. :) We have 4 new investigators!

wow that's crazy that it is sadies!! haha I was just barley going to sadies!! wow thank you for reminding me of how I got asked to sadies this last year.... haha just kidding!! that was quite the experience.... haha!

Kamrie has a boyfriend?¿? what the... that is weird haha. His name is Jonas? whats his last name? would I approve of him? haha that's so weird Kamrie has a boyfriend. I guess that is just life in the fast lane!! haha :)

Well to answer some of your questions... Everything is going good with me and Elder Connolly! haha We definitely don't get along 24/7 but everything is good at the end of the day! He is pretty excited to be going home! He isn't trunky though. 

No Natali didn't go to church this past week... Marcus mom is sick in the hospital and she was spending the day with her yesterday in the hospital... but hey hopefully she goes this next week! We had 1 other investigator go this past week! so that's always good. :)

That's crazy its already almost Thanksgiving! Some of the missionaries here were talking about us all getting together and doing a Thanksgiving dinner! that would be way cool! :)

Yes I am writing in my journal!! haha definitely not every night but at least once or twice a week! 

Something else good happened this week! So one of my best friends in the mission, his name is Elder Olsen, asked me if I wanted to room with him up in Provo when we get home! He did a semester of college before the mission at BYU and he says he knows like the best places to live in Provo haha! He is going to BYU after too, but yeah I told him I for sure want to room with him after words! He is a stud! I know its early to talk about that, but yeah just thought I would let you know. :)

Well everything is good here! not too much new! man I definitely know my area now, I have all the street names memorized! haha that's what I get for walking up and down the same streets all day every day!

I love you guys soo much and I am so grateful for such an awesome family! You guys should try to read the Book of Mormon all the way through as a family! I try to read 5 chapters a day (in Spanish and English) and I love it! well, Thanks for all you guys do for me! "CTR all day erry day" -Bryson Lawrence 

Love, Elder Lawrence

Oh P.S! Some Hermanas that are in our district were in Mendoza Centro this past week, and they said that there is a package for me in holding right now! The Zone leaders are going to give me a paper to sign today so they can get it out of holding... but yeah its in Mendoza!!! I cant wait to get it! :)

Love you guys so much! :)

 Our scarfs finally got put to use!  Our fridge broke a couple weeks ago and we had to deep clean the inside of it because it was way gross. Yeah it smelt bad so we had to wear our scarfs as filters! haha :)

 Check out the hotel we stayed in when D. Todd Christofferson came to Mendoza!! 

 The sunsets are always the best after it rains here!! 

 Hey quick question... where is Fadwa from? Is she from Colombia? Because this past P-day we had some Colombian food! It's called Arepas Colombianas! No joke it was like the best food I have ever had! Also Elder Connolly had a comp. from Colombia so he wanted to get a picture with the workers that were all from Colombia! 

 We got to see some classical Argentine dancing this past P-day at this little fair thing! It was so awesome! I filmed some of it so I guess you can see that in 2 years haha. :)

November 10, 2014

Hola! How are you all doing?? Sounds like you guys are doing good, so that's good!! I am doing wayyyyyyyyy good! definitely one of the best weeks in the mission!!! I got to shake Elder D. Todd Christofferson's hand!!! and he said my name!!! haha it was soo awesome and what he talked about was wayy good!!! He talked about when he served his mission here in Argentina! back when it was just called The Argentina North mission! haha he talked about how bad his spanish was when he first got here!! haha he was way funny! But he also talked about how we all need to just be instruments in the Lords hands! He also talked a lot about the importance of the Book of Mormon! It was soo good and I really don't think I have ever felt the spirit sooo strong! it was amazing!!

So the Zone leaders just handed out some mail and I totally just got 3 letters from you guys!! wow you guys sure spoil me! I haven't opened them yet but thanks for all the letters! I love them so much!!! :)

Our investigators are doing sooooo good! We had 3 attend church this past week! Natali has gone to church twice, so if she goes this next week, she can be baptized!!! Also we have this family of investigators that want to be baptized now, but the parents aren't married, so we cant put a date until they are married, but how cool would it be to baptize a family?!? 

I can't believe Hurricane beat Juan Diego!!! that is way cool! I love Josh Parker!!! Remember when I use to play tennis with him?? that kid is way funny.

That's good that Bryson and Kamrie and E dog are all doing good too! I miss all them! 

To answer some of your questions... I am doing great! :) and Elder Cahoon emailed me this morning!!! He said its just way hot and people live in like mud houses! haha I hope he is doing good though! I just emailed him back!! 

It was pretty nice this past week! I can tell its getting way hot though... but its all good I like the heat. :) 

The meeting with D. Todd was great! Yes I felt like I understood everything he said! His spanish is way good! I feel like I had a break through with my spanish this past week! I understand everything so much better and I feel like my sentences are really flowing!!! haha :)

The other great thing about the meeting was I got to see all my old missionary friends and meet a bunch of new ones! I finally talked to Elder Stevens from Hurricane! He is doing way good! and there was a couple other missionaries I met that I am friends with now. :) also we took a picture with D. Todd Christofferson and our entire mission! you will have to look for that picture on the mission blog or something...

Well everything is great here! We are going to go play rugby again today! also we are going to get super panchos today! they are just like hot dogs in the states haha. :) but a weird thing they do here is the put these dried french fries on the hot dogs always here... I will try to snag you a picture of that! haha :)

Last P-day Hermana Tiarado (from Peru) made us ceviche! it is this weird Peruvien fish meal that is super spicy! haha it was soo good!! I wish there was more spicey food here!!! but its all good. :)

Well I love you guys sooo much and I am so grateful for the best family ever! tell Kam-Ham (Kamrie) to email me sometime! haha I want to talk to her! does she have a boyfriend?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿? Well I love you guys keep up the good work in Hurricane. :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

November 3, 2014...Four months in the mission and transfers!!!

Mom!!! I had a crazy good week! Holy cow I love it here! So are you ready for the big news about transfers???......... I am staying in San Rafael and I am killing Elder Connolly!!! haha (that is just missionary talk meaning that I take him to the end of his mission) Yep I will be Elder Connolly's last companion before he goes home!!! I am excited to be staying here because we are so so so close to 2 baptisms!!! I will keep you updated with all that for sure. :)

Wow today is Dads birthday!!! that's awesome he is finally 32 years old!! I love dad soo much and I am so grateful for his awesome example of serving a mission!! I cant imagine how tough it would be in Ireland with the cold and rain always! It rained so much here this past week! I legit thought it was going to snow this past week!! haha definitely the coldest summer I have been in!! the weather changes so fast here!!! But yes I hope dad knows I love him so much and wish him a happy birthday! :)

Halloween is definitely different here in Argentina! haha We had a member come with us Halloween night to the Cemetery, and he didn't even know it was Halloween! haha there was no Halloween colors or anything either, just from me and my companion, I wore a purple tie with black pants, and he wore an orange tie with black pants! haha but yeah we bought some treats and had a way good Halloween!! :)

That's awesome that Hurricane beat Park City! but that is sad about everyone breaking their bones! haha I hope we can still win without them! and I hope they get better soon!

So to answer some of your questions... I am doing way good! I feel super healthy!!! I love the 1 a day pills... I feel like those keep me healthy for sure. Also I gained another kilo!!! haha we weighed ourselves this morning! so heck yeah I am gaining weight! :) I hope Bryson starts feeling better!

I am so excited for Elder D. Todd Christofferson this week!!! I have never meet someone from the 12 apostles! So this will be such an amazing experience!

Well the rain definitely did keep our investigators from coming to church... haha it even kept some members from coming. But yeah  just pray for good weather on Sundays!

Well Elder Cahoon is pretty nervous, because he is getting transferred to a tough area... it's in San Juan which is the very top of the Mendoza mission... it is like 100 degrees there right now! but yeah Jared is an awesome missionary and I know he will do great wherever he goes. :)

Well everything is great here! I am way excited to be staying here! San Rafy is all I know! haha but yeah I love bringing new people to the church and strengthening members testimonies everyday!!! I literally love missionary work! That's awesome you guys went to the temple the other day! I wish there was a temple here so bad! I hope that you guys still have a goal to go every week! The temple is the most amazing place in the world!

Well I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for you all! It looks like you guys had a great Halloween! :) I hope you know that I am always safe and take care of myself! you worry too much. :) thanks for all that you guys do for me! and Dad Happy Birthday!!!! :) Love you all!

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Just taking Elder Connolly to the end of his mission! haha 

 I fixed our fan!!! haha I am basically just a handyman for everything in our pench!

 Just some cool graffiti we found! Oh also, 2 new elders are coming into our new area this transfer! So yep we are back to just one area!! They are washing the area, and someone is training there!

¡Happy Halloween! Just me and a member at the cemetery! His name is Gillermo (he is 21 I think), he just received the priesthood a couple weeks ago! Such an awesome guy!

October 27, 2014

Hola familia!!! I love you all soo much. :) man, Hurricane sounds way boring right now!!! haha Thats makes me glad to be in Argentina. :) I am loving it here! I am pretty nervous because we have transfers this next week (November 5th) we will see if I will be staying here in San Rafy or going somewhere else!!! Oh mom I totally forgot to tell you last Sunday... Happy Argentine Mother's Day!!!! :) I love you so much! haha Mothers Day is definitely a bigger deal in the states! haha they have way too many little holidays here so all the shops will randomly be closed once or twice a week... haha but yeah happy 2nd Mothers Day. :)

We also got some amazing news last week... Elder D. Todd Christopherson (from the Quorum of the twelve) is coming and talking to us November 8th!!! I get to shake his hand!!!!! haha I am so excited!!! He will be speaking to us in spanish... so I hope I can understand all of it!!! :)

So as I am sitting here writing, the zone leaders came in and brought me a letter from you guys!!! its from September 17th!! haha and it has Brian Scott's 8 life lessons in it. That is way cool and I am way glad you shared that with me. :) also thanks so much for the letters!!!

Wow there really isn't too much going on with you guys this past week! haha but hey that is way better than having a bad week for sure. :)

So to answer some of your questions... This week was wayyy hot!!! haha holy cow I am just so use to the cold or something... but we also had two giant thunder storms!!! haha I love it so much! The only bad thing about the rain is that it gets super humid afterwards and it is just soo hot and humid!!! haha but its all good! I will probably get use to it. :)

Yeah they celebrate Halloween here! There is a bunch of Halloween stuff for sell and like masks and stuff... My companion told me that they dont trick or treat for Halloween, they just get all dressed up and go to like parties... So yeah it will be my first Argentine Halloween this week!! whoo! :)

Today for P-day we are going to play rugby with all the elders in our zone!! That will be pretty fun. :) Last P-Day we went to this little restaurant place, and it was the first time I have had tacos in Argentina!!! they were like the best tacos I have had in forever!!! you know that little taco place we went to a couple times in st. George before I left?? yeah it was exactly like that! soo dang good!!

So yesterday it was raining before church... and people will use every little excuse to not go to church I swear haha... So yeah we struggled to have investigators come to church yesterday... but its alright! maybe this week. )

But something good happened yesterday! Our ward mission leader had an idea for us... it was just like a little "meet and greet" type thing with our less actives and investigators and active members... it was last night from 7:00 to 8:00 and it turned out way good! a bunch of people were there and our ward mission leader  taught the importance of putting God first! it was soo good! and it was good because our ward struggles to have activities. 

Well, Everything is great here! I am loving the work and loving the people! I love bringing people closer to the gospel and I love teaching about it too! I love you guys so much! Keep having good (boring) weeks! ;) haha I love you all!

Love, Elder Lawrence

Just a cute little puppy we found outside of one of our recent converts house! :)

 Don't ask me why I am smiling weird haha... but yeah we found this giant abandoned factory in our new area this past week! way cool! haha :)

Somos misioneros de la iglesia de JesuCristo de los santos de los Ultimos Dias. :) 

Also this Vineyard companys name is "missionary"...  we always laugh when we pass it because all the grapes are just turned into wine... it's also in our new area. :)

October 20, 2014

Hola!!! How are you all doing? I am doing great here!! :) I had a super solid week and it seems like you guys did too! that is way cool you guys took that little trip up to Midway!!! I am jealous of all the fall colors! Fall is my favorite season!!! haha 

Its great to hear that everyone is doing really good! I am glad Kamrie was able to get her grades up! Yes I remember when I got that 4.0! Best day of my life! haha ;) and thats good that Bryson is liking his job and everything! That sucks that there isn't really any girls at college right now haha! I hope there will be some cuties there for me in 2 years!!!

Yeah I read that email that Marcia Cahoon got... but I don't really get it... because Elder Cahoon actually received a package a week or two ago! haha I feel like its just a gamble whenever sending packages... haha well its up to you! its not a big deal if I don't get a package or not, I totally understand. :)

To answer some of your questions... Me and Elder Connolly are doing way good!!! Church was way good! it was actually fast sunday for us! was it for you guys?? 

We had a bunch of investigators come to church yesterday!!!!!! I am so happy! :D We had 3 of our investigators come and then 3 more that we have been working with from our new area!! yes we did go to both of our churches! haha

I will just tell you about a couple of our progressing investigators... So Marcus and Natili are the two that we want to get baptized by the end of this month! They are both 19 years old and they just got married a month ago and are expecting a baby! Natali was born Catholic (basically everyone here is born catholic haha) but she doesn't like the Catholic church anymore... she is super amazing! we asked her to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon, and she went and read to chapter 10 or something! she is way awesome and came to church yesterday! But her husband Marcus has never had any religion before. We asked him to pray the other day and he was wayyy nervous because he had never prayed before! it was way cool though! such an amazing young family that is the same age as me! haha. I swear I am older than 19! I am like 30 or something.

The people are pretty poor here... We have a family of investigators that struggles to find work so they dont have too much money... its sad but the families are always super humble and are sooo nice!

Oh something funny happened this week... We were eating at a members house the other day and they had the TV on and it was playing a movie, and it was that movie that was filmed on our street in Hurricane!!! Its called the Fly Boys or something?? Yeah well I totally saw the Snowdens house!!! haha I just wanted to tell everyone that that was the street I lived on back home! But they probably would've thought I was crazy or something... Because what are the odds of me seeing my street back home, in a movie, on a tiny TV screen in the middle of Argentina!!! haha :)

Oh one last thing... Our Grandma (that lady who does our laundry) had us over for lunch yesterday, and her son was there and he served a mission in Buenos Aires... Well he asked where we were from and everything, Well come to find out, that he was companions with the person who started "Dixie Dental" in St. George! haha I don't know if you have ever heard of him, his name was Elder Henderson... haha yeah he showed us some pictures of him and stuff... I just thought that was pretty cool! :)

Well Everything is great here! I hope that you guys have a great week back home!!! I pray for you all on the daily:)  I love you guys soo much!!! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Here is where we study everyday!! 

We made some homemade onion rings last night!! Soo good!!! :)

October 13, 2014

Hey family!!! you guys sound like you are doing great!! You all sound super busy but super good!! Its about the same here! We are super busy but I am doing super good! :)

This past week was soo good! We had interviews with President on Thursday (we have them every 3 months) and it went wayyy good! I love president Goates! He is super knowledgeable about the gospel and shared some awesome stories with me! We also had stake conference this past week!!! It was way good too! And one of our progressing investigator families came with us!!! I was soo happy! haha I just love when people go to church. :)

Wow mom I think you have super powers... You sound like you were super busy with those funerals and everything! I don't know how you do it all! Way to be awesome in you calling though. :)

That's awesome Bryson got that job at Blendtec and he likes it!!! I hope I can get hooked up with a cool job in two years! haha :)

I hope Ethan gets way good at golf and tennis!! that would be way cool! There is a sweet golf coarse that is just outside of San Rafael and Elder Connolly said he knows a member who might take us in a few weeks! How sick would that be!!!

Kamrie reminds me so much of me its not even funny! haha wow I am so glad I dont have to worry about grades!! Kamrie sure is turning into a cutie! tell her to stay away from boys!!! haha

So to answer some of your questions... Our investigators are doing good! Something sad happened this last week... So I sent you a picture of me and Elder Connolly with Elder Castillo and Elder Scott a couple weeks ago... Well Elder Scott (from Arizona) was having some issues with depression and way bad head aches... So he went home this past week... So Elder Castillo was transferred to a different area, and our zone leaders left us in charge of their area! haha our area is sooo HUGE now! We also now have like double the amount of progressing investigators! haha alot alot alot of teaching... we also go to church for twice as long now! haha we go to our ward and their ward. :) We are also shooting for 2 baptisms by the end of October!!! So we will see! :)

If you are above 18 years old, you have to go to church 3 times before you can be baptized... but if you are under 18, its like 10 times, just if no one is a member in your family. but yeah, people just need to understand the importance of church attendance!! We teach that wayyy often.

We probably visit 8 to 12 people or families a day! Always some investigators, always some less actives, and always an active member or two! :)

Right now our apartment is way clean! Because my companion told me that usually when we have interviews, Hermana Goates will come check the penches to make sure they are clean and everything! So we cleaned it wayyy good last P-day, but then she never came by to check our pench! haha but its alright because now we just have a way clean house. :)

I haven't had to give a talk in church yet! But I feel like I might soon! haha we are running out of active members that have already gave talks while I have been here! So my turn is probably coming up! 

I still love the food!!! It is all sooo good!! Nothing is too spicy here though... Which makes me a little sad!!! haha like families will tell us to be careful when we put pepper on our food, because they think its way hot!!! haha soo weird!!

My pants still fit pretty good! They are a little tight around the waist!!! haha Me and my companion weigh ourselves once a week at these little pharmacy stores! and its all in Kilos! haha but this past week I weighed 64 Kilograms which is like 142 pounds! So I have gained a little!!

Hmmm something I want in the Christmas package... The only thing I really want is a step counter!!! I want to see how many miles I walk every day!!! haha they don't sell step counters anywhere here!!! But yeah one of those would be awesome. :) Thanks in advance for sending a package!! I hope it makes it all in one piece!! haha ;)

Well I love you guys soo much and I am so grateful for such an amazing family!! Its always great hearing how every one is doing!! and yes I am still taking those vitamins! haha don't worry. :) I love you guys so much and I will talk to you guys soon!!! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 We got some sick hair cuts this past P-day!!! This hair cut turned out alot better than my last one! haha (oops someone forgot to open their eyes too.)

 Haha check out this cool little thing we found in Centro!! We both wanted to be the girl one, but I beat him to it. 

This is the old lady who does our laundry every week! She is soo nice and we always just call her our Grandma! This is also her daughter and her grand-daughter! We are giants here I swear!!! haha :)

In the "Gringo" room waiting for General Conference to start

P-day!!!!!

October 6, 2014 (3 Months in the Mission!)

Hey hey! :) another great week! how are you all doing?? I am doing great! I loved General Conference soo MUCH!!! All the talks were soo good! I dont know why I never really appreciated Conference before the mission... We literally get to hear from living prophets!! how cool is that?! :)

It sounds like you guys had a great weekend! Thats way cool Bryson came down for the weekend and got to spend it with you guys! :) 

So I went back to Mendoza Centro this past week and finished my paper work for my Visa! Its funny because I am getting really familiar with Mendoza Centro! haha I road the 3 hour bus by myself to Centro and then I got off and got a taxi for myself and then walked to the office pench after that! haha I could have never done that 8 weeks ago when I got here!!! My spanish is definitely getting better and its alot easier for me to talk to anyone now!

That is super scary about the Mission President in Buenos Aires... I hope nothing like that happens to me! haha I hope he is all better now from that experience! 

So did you guys have a favorite talk from Conference?? I loved David A. Bednars talk at the very end! I felt like he was talking to all our investigators out here in San Rafael! and he talked a lot about "going forth and teaching all nations" and that is exactly what we are doing! I loved it so much!

Something that wasn't too cool about Conference for us out here in San Rafy... So the stake president made us watch the first two sessions of Conference (on Saturday) in Spanish!!! yeah no gringo room! Everyone of the missionaries was way mad at him haha... it sucked for us new guys, because it went from understanding 100% to understanding about 50%... But yeah we talked it over with him and then he finally let us go in a different room and watch it in english!! so thats good. :)

Well nothing too new happened this week. But I am doing really good. :) We are playing football americana today so I will hit you up with some pictures of that next week! oh did I ever tell you about the bowling place?? It isnt even open on Mondays! and it doesn't open till like 8:00pm any other day of the week! soo lame! haha but its whatever.

Well I love you guys soo much and I am so grateful for everything you have done for me and continue to do for me! I hope you guys have a great week!! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Just chilling on some swings we found way far into our area the other day! 

 I took this picture on the way to Centro! There really isnt a way to explain how huge these mountains are... Just imagine that the little mountains that you see in the very front are about the size of Pine Valley... like these mountains are HUGE!

 So I had quite the cool view on my way to Mendoza Centro this past week! I was the very front seat on the top floor of this way nice two story bus!! And yes this street was lined with sycamore trees!!! Reminded me a little of our street! :)

Just chilling in the gringo room waiting for Conference to start!!!!