March 14, 2015

Hello family! Its been awesome here in the offices!!!! Such a different type of missionary work!! but hey I have been loving it so that's good. :)

Wow that is a million questions mom haha but here it goes...

So my responsibilities as Secretary are that I am over all of Trámites (paperwork) and travels. We send all the missionaries home from the mission and we bring all the new missionaries in. We also make sure everyone has a ticket to their new area and everyone gets on their bus... That is basically what I have been doing all this week! and I have liked it a lot. :) its not too overwhelming but Elder Willard said this was a pretty chill week of transfers.

So there is 8 office elders in our mission and we all have different callings... There is a 1 pensionista (over our housing),1 historiador (over baptisimal records), 2 assistants to the President, 2 financieros (which is Elder Trelease, who happens to be sitting right behind me right now, and his companion who he is training right now is Elder Mortensen who is from my group too!) so 8 months is a pretty common amount of time to go into the offices, I think. And then there is me and my companion and we are just specifically the Secretary! 

Yes we work pretty close to President Goates... I have seen him everyday this week but it might be a little different now that transfers and stuff are over.

Elder Willard is awesome! He is from the group right before me (so he has 10 months in the mission right now) I actually knew him before the mission from instagram! haha! but yeah he is a way good guy and I have already learned a ton from him.

So we probably have the coolest pench in the mission... It can sleep like a million extra missionaries haha but yeah its really nice and all 8 of us sleep in it! there are three bathrooms in it and its 3 stories tall! 

We have been eating really good here recently because of the new missionaries coming and things like that, they feed them and we get everything left over.

Yes we still go tracting and stuff like that. We always try to leave the office by 4:00 and then anything after that is for investigators and normal missionary work.

That's funny that you ask if I will use my spanish much here in the offices and if I might forget it.... I answer sooooooooooo many calls from all the Zone Leaders and tons of missionaries and people with buses and things like that and all of it is in Spanish... if anything, I feel like I will learn so much more here in the Offices!

Yes I will be in the offices for the next 6 months! I will be trained for the next month and a half, and then be alone for 3 months, and then train someone new for my last month and a half!

And for your final question... Yes I will be driving now! And yes I will need and international driving permit and some things to do that... Elder Willard will call you sometime this week and will help you get that all figured out!

Its great to see that you guys had a awesome time in Las Vegas!!! That sure does look like fun! :) That's crazy that Jeff Last is married now. 

I wonder where Jayden will go on his mission?!?! probably somewhere crazy! 

Well family, everything is great here!!! I have been loving it here in the offices!!! It has been pretty intense but hey it really is great! If I missed anything just let me know! I will definitely have more time to write you next Saturday! We are going to get some peruvian food and go bowling! It's great to see that you are all doing so well! I love you guys soo much! :) 

Love, 

Elder Lawrence

Secretario

 One of my last days in San Juan! I learned to make empanadas with some members! 

Only got to say bye to half of the family Flores but I sure do miss them a lot! I really think someday soon they will be baptized. :)

Chau chau Elder Perez take care of Albardon!!! haha

 Something cool that happened! everyone and their trainer in the offices (except the assistant's to the President) happened to be in the offices all at the same time!  

  

We played some soccer this morning! and also I got a new Jersey!

So part of my job is making sure all the old missionaries get on the plane... so here is me and my companion with Elder Wengert right before he went home!

Wayyyy good Peruvian food we had for lunch today! 

Some exciting News!!!!!!

Hey Family!!!

How are you all doing?? I am doing really good! sorry I am writing so late but I have some way big news to tell you guys!!!!  So Saturday night me and Elder Perez are just getting ready for bed around 10:30 and then we get a call from the office Elders, and Elder Perez answers it and then they asked if they could speak to me..... well he asked me if I was sitting, and if I wasn't that I should go sit down, so I go sit down and I am kinda freaking out because I didn't know what was going on... Well then he says "....Elder Lawrence...... CONGRATULATIONS you are the new Secretary of the Argentina Mendoza Mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

....CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!... as of today, I am the Secretary of the mission!!! I am an office Elder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They told me that I had to pack Sunday and leave Monday morning! So here I am right now, sitting in my new office, writing you guys on my own computer! haha isn't that crazy??

My companion is Elder Willard from Las Vegas! He has 10 months in the mission right now! He is a way cool dude and I am pretty sure I have played him in baseball before!  He will be training me for the next 6 weeks here in the offices and then after that I am on my own!

Today has been pretty awesome here in the offices! Its so crazy to me, because all these Elder's I have looked up to so much (like assistants to the president and the other office elders) I now just hang out with them all day! It is way cool. :)

They had me leave today from my area instead of Thursday because a lot of my job is helping the missionaries during transfers and getting on the right buses and everything!

Next week I will explain a little better all of my duties as Secretary but today I don't really have too much time too write!

Also I got some letters from you guys today!!! They come straight to us so I get them right away. Thank you so much for those. :)

Sorry I am just talking all about me but I really hope you guys have fun in Las Vegas!!! It probably wont be as fun without me there but hey that's alright. ;)

If you had any questions for me today just ask again next week! 

Well I am really excited for this next point of my mission. I am excited for the different mission work I am going to have now, because I know this mission work is just as important as the other mission work.

I love you guys with all of my heart and I am so grateful for such an awesome family! Be safe in Vegas! Don't have too much fun without me! :)

Love, The Secretary, Elder Lawrence

PS... Office Elders have a different P-day than the other Elders... So now I will be emailing every Saturday! Saturdays are my p-days now... so hey just email before this Saturday because that's my next p-day! Love you guys!!! :)

8 Months!!!!!!

Hello family!!!
I am doing really good! We had another really awesome week and we got 14 lessons with member again!! It really is crazy to me how fast the time is flying! I cant believe its almost the 4th semester for Kamrie and them! Because I left in the summer before school even started! Yeah the mission life sure is flying by!

That's good you got your Relief Society lesson over with! haha It stresses me out sometimes when I have to teach in the gospel principals class! but yesterday we had a cool experience teaching the class! at the very end of class we asked everyone if any of them would like to share their testimony of prayer and we had this sister share an experience of this time when her and her son were driving on her moped (her son was like 8) and she was going to fast on a turn and she slid out on the moped and crashed really hard... right after it happened she felt fine and only had some scratches on her but when she looked over at her son, he was unconscious laying on the ground, and she freaked out and didn't know what to do! but then she thought to pray. so she said she knelt down and put her face to the road right next to her son and prayed that everything would be alright and that her son would be alright, and right after she ended her prayer, she heard the ambulances coming and when they got to the hospital the son gained consciousness and everything was alright with him! It was such a spiritual class and we had 4 investigators in the class and 2 of them cried! it was amazing for our investigators to be there! (we had 5 investigators come to church this week! 3 from the family Flores!)

I am glad Hurricane finally got some rain and snow! I have been praying that you guys would get some! and wow Krushurz didn't do too good this week! haha that's funny but hey they just need to practice a lot more!

Bryson got a new car?!? that is a wayyy sick car! it looks way nice so I hope it last a long time! Bryson is throwing out the big bucks! 

To answer some of your questions... Yes we are still working with the young men! this past Saturday we played tennis and ping-pong with them but that means this Saturday we are going to do service probably. 

So yep 3 of the sisters in the family Flores have attended church twice! we are going to start talking more about baptism with them this week and see what they think! We also had lunch again with them yesterday! sooo good!!!

I think on my mission I have been doing alot of the planting of seeds! Baptisms would be awesome but I am way happy when I find new people to teach and find people who are actually really interested in the gospel! This mission has changed a lot, we are focused a lot on reactivating, baptizing, and retaining!

We aren't doing anything today for P-day!  We just got payed today so I think we are going to go do a lot of shopping! This past week I have lived off of noodles with no butter haha because I cant afford it! but hey now I can. :)

I can't tell the weather is starting to change here! The trees aren't really changing colors yet, but the mornings are colder now and at night its getting cold! I am really looking forward to winter! Its easier for me to get warm when its cold than it is for me to get cold when I am hot!

We just know that everything is going great here! I am loving this area and all the people here! I think I might get transferred this Sunday just because I love the area so much! haha but thank you guys for all of the love and support always! I always look forward to your emails first. :) I love you all sooooo much!!!! Chau!

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Last picture of the District before Elder Wengert (top left) and Elder Rivera (far right) go home!

 Chau 1 year for Elder Perez!

 We performed surgery on Elder Perez foot last night! haha he has a way hard core ingrown toenail. He doesn't think we got it all so we might call the nurse (Hermana Ashby) tonight and have to go to Mendoza Centro tomorrow or somethin for surgery!

Getting a ride home last night from some members! This is Milagros. I always tell her that Ethan is her boyfriend haha they all think E-dog is way cute from the picture book I have! (also check out how the car is falling apart)

February 23, 2015

Hello family!!! how are you all doing?? I am doing really good again!!! we are working soo dang much! It's so nice to have a second to sit down and write you all!! Don't worry your emails aren't too boring! haha I think it's better to have a boring week instead of a bad week!!

Hey quick question before I forget... when is everyones birthdays?? I don't want to miss saying happy birthday to anyone!

That's funny Kamrie had to give a talk this week in church! She is brave to do what she did! Oh I think I forgot to tell you guys this... But every other week me and Elder Perez teach the Principles of the Gospel class! I did that with Elder Apodaca too... its pretty easy now, but at first it freaked me out! haha

That's awesome Ethan went to the Klondike! I remember the good ole' days of going and sleeping in the ice caves! That is cool that Krusherz is starting up!

It sounds like Bryson is doing good too! He needs to figure out what he wants to be when he is older! haha and that would be crazy if he was married before I got home!  I would be sad to miss the wedding but I would understand! 

That is crazy I got my mission call over a year ago! I cant believe that! The time is going wayyy fast! and Tyson Spendlove got his mission call! That is way awesome! Texas will be the bomb!

To answer your questions... our investigators are doing really good! also, we found a HUGE new family of investigators! They are soo awesome! Their name is the family Flores and they remind me of the Long family! There is 7 girls and 2 boys and 2 parents (almost the opposite as the long family) haha but they are so cool! we met them last Tuesday and taught them twice last week, and then 2 of the daughters came to church yesterday! after church we had plans to eat with them, and it was soooo good! they feed us asado!!! we also got to teach them again yesterday, so they are progressing a ton!

Chirstian and his family didn't come to church yesterday because he got called to go to work like last minute (which is lame, because he prayed for work but also that was a sign for him to go to church... haha) but he told us it was a one time thing and that he is for sure going to church this next week!

So we went by Rosa and taught her again this week, and she prayed for the first time ever in her life, and it was one of the most sincere prayers I had ever heard! She prayed so much for her family and friends before she even thought to pray for herself. She is progressing a lot and we plan on having her come to church this week!

This week we have been working so hard to get lessons with member, and we got 14 lessons with a member! Our zone leaders told us that our district had the highest numbers in the mission this week! it was way exciting to hear that!!

But yeah everything is way good here! I am super happy and I am healthy! I feel like I eat so much so I think I might be gaining weight!  Every night I make 3 eggs before I go to bed! oh something new I like (which I use to hate before the mission) Apodaca would always make me eat eggs sunny side up... and now that's what I eat every time! It's so good!

Its good to hear your Book of Mormon reading is coming good! Mine is coming good too in Spanish!! The mission seems to be getting easier for me and that makes me happy. :) Well thanks you guys so much for the prayers and support! I love you guys so much and I hope you have a great week! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Don't really know how to explain this haha... we found some cool flowers so we were messing around with them! haha :)

 So everything that you can see behind me is still my area and on the other side of those mountains is Chili!!!

 Elder Perez is about to hit his year mark this week, so he is burning a shirt! haha he had me wear it so he could get some pictures of it before its toasted

 I bought myself a new tie (Christmas present) it reminds me of a picnic blanket!

You cant really tell, but this horse that our investigators have is sooo skinny! 

February 16, 2015

Hey Hey family! I am doing great! I cant believe that this was Valentines week??  I don't even know when holidays are happening anymore!!! Today is actually a really big holiday here in South America called "Carnival" and yeah its just like a giant party with tons of booths selling stuff! haha I heard its more crazy in Brazil but yeah its pretty chill here!

Wow it sounds like you guys had an awesome week with tons of eating out and stuff!  I am jealous! We will have to go to Kneaders sometime after I come home! It's good to hear that everything is good with Bryson's thyroid stuff!

Its nice to hear that Joe is doing good too and he gave a really good talk! It's good to hear that you guys all had a great week and had a Happy Valentines Day!

Are you serious that Ben got a Tattoo?? That's crazy! I wonder if it is real or not!! If you see that kid you need to tell him to email me! Also that is awesome to hear that Kody might be going back out on his mission soon! I would die of happiness! haha I love that kid!!

This week was probably one of the fastest and best weeks of my mission again!!! So you know that family that I told you about with the big 6"2 dad and stuff...Well the dad (his name is Christian) he has been out of work for a long time now and their family has been struggling a lot because they don't have food to feed the kids and it is just really sad for them right now... but we taught them the power of prayer and how God answers our prayers... That night they prayed as a family and he prayed that he could get a job soon so he could feed his kids, well right after he finished the prayer they hear someone clapping outside there house, and its one of his old friends that he hasn't talked to in a while... Well his friend comes up to him and tells him that he has a job for him where he will have solid hours of work everyday and he will get payed well!!!... He was soo happy when he told us this and he couldn't stop thanking us! but we just told him to thank God through prayer! We also invited them to church yesterday and.....  They all came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yep all five of them came to church! it was like the best day of my life!!! they stayed for all three hours and really loved it! Also we went by there house last night with our bishop and just kinda explained church a little better to them... and then we started talking about baptism... and now they have a date to be baptized March 14th!!!!!!!!!!!! they were all really excited when we talked about baptism!!! it made me sooo happy! they still have a couple little things they need to work out before there baptism, but I am soo happy for them! I have such a strong testimony that God answers our prayers and that he really has a plan for all of us!!!!

So to answer some of your questions... Everything is really good with me and Elder Perez! We stayed busy! We had 9 lessons with member this week, but something else cool this week, at church, our bishop read a note to everyone in sacrament meeting and it was from the stake president congratulating me and Elder Perez and the other 2 missionaries here in Albardon for reaching the goal of getting 10 lessons with member! it was really cool! I didn't really know he saw those numbers but yeah it is way cool that he is happy with us!!!

I will share one last thing! We have a new investigator (her name is Rosa) and she lives alone with her 5 kids, and she only can see 10% in her left eye and nothing more... well her kids are basically all under 10 years old, but they are sooo helpful to her and they listen sooo well to us! they all just sit quietly around us as we teach the mom. The mom is super nice and she follows all of our commitments! She has prayed a lot recently and it is just really great! We haven't invited her to church yet, but this week we are going to!

We that is about it for this week! It was a way good week! Thank you guys for your prayers always and all the support! I sure do see the blessings that come through prayer!!! I love you guys soooo much!!! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

Just eating some lomos for lunch!!!

  I cut out Elder Perez face on accident...but we went and got a BIG thing of ice-cream last P-day! and yes I did wear my church pants! haha

This little girl in our wards name is Milagros but we translated her name for her (miracles)

February 9, 2015

Hey fam bam!!! This was legit probably the fastest week in my entire mission!  I can't believe it has already been a week since I wrote! I am doing really good this week and me and Perez had an awesome week!! this week we had 10 lessons with a member present! and that is like wayyy hard to do here!! the average is like 2 or 3! I have never got 10 with member in my mission so that was way awesome!!! 

We did only have one investigator go to church though... but hey its totally fine! This past week we worked a ton on finding new families to teach! and I found this family that I love!! the mom and kids are way nice, and on Saturday we meet the dad and I was pretty nervous because the dad usually makes decisions for the family here, so this guy comes out and he is just a monster! haha he is like 6"2 and 240 pounds and he is like way riped! he works out a ton! haha but we sat down and started talking with him and I guess like 5 years ago he was the Champion in some giant boxing tournament with all of Argentina, and he is a way nice guy! he is like a giant teddy bear! haha We have taught them twice and I have an awesome feeling about them!!

That's good to hear that you had a good/boring week! It sounds like Bryson had a fun weekend too! and Joe sounds like he is doing really good too! its awesome hearing about everyone and how they are doing!

hmm I never heard of the movie "Project Almanac"... geez you should start making a list for all the good movies I am missing for reals!

Mom Hermana Flavia is awesome!!! That's awesome she posts pictures of me and my companions!  She is way nice and feeds us every Saturday! 

It sounds like E and Kamrie are doing good! Tell Ethan he does need to follow in my footsteps and get a 4.0 like me! but also tell him to not follow in my footsteps of my grades the next quarter after that! 

So my luck finally ran out... I had to give a talk yesterday in church!! haha dang it! it was a 10 minute talk about The Restoration. It was pretty easy to write, because the first lesson we always teach people is the restoration! I felt good after because the bishops wife came up to me and said she could understand everything I said and it was a good talk! 

all in all, it was a way good week! I am glad to hear that you are all doing good! Thanks for all the support and everything that you guys do for me! I love you guys sooo MUCH!

Love, Elder Lawrence

oh PS! We got a email this morning that is telling us we can receive packages now! The only thing is that we have to use personal money to pull them out of holding. So yeah keep that in mind! you can check the email I got about it. Chau love you guys! :)

 Just the front of the little town I have been living in for the past couple months!

 Chilling in front of some cool graffiti after Zona Meeting.

Waiting outside a members window because she was going to give us some coca cola!!! haha 

February 2, 2015

Hey Hey!!! :) wow I didn't really even know it was Superbowl weekend!!! haha I hope you guys ate a lot of good snacks for me!!!

Everything is great with me and Elder Perez! He is such a stud missionary!! you wont believe where he is from... yep... Chandler, Arizona!! That is the same city that Elder Connolly is from!!! They didn't know each other before the mission either,  they went to different schools but in the same city! He is a way cool kid though... He has 11 months in the mission and we were like the same person before the mission! haha like he is a hipster too. yeah I still carry the phone though!

I am glad you guys got my package!!! whooo! sorry I kinda made you guys my little mail-men for all the letters haha! but yeah it sure is easier to get packages there then it is to get them from over there to here! haha :)

Mom it was sooo cool getting to hang out with Elder Fullmer's parents! They were soo nice and they gave us a ton of American candy!!! And they bought us Grido too! I thought you guys were going to flip out when you got the email from them haha! We went by some members with his parents, and his parents knew zero Spanish!!! It was soooo weird to me because I just felt like we could all understand what the people where saying in Spanish, but his parents had no idea!! It's just crazy to see how far I have come with my Spanish!

Wow Kamrie's friends are super weird... like that is way weird they think its ok to go into our house when no one is home... like I could see Tyson and Lincoln and those guys doing that but not with like girls and stuff?? that is way weird! haha

Really everything is great with my new companion! He is super awesome with trying to get people to church! We sent out a bunch of text last night to investigators and less actives saying that we look forward to seeing them at church! We have worked wayyy hard this week! I don't really know all the times for when buses drive by in our area, so we have walked a lot!!  I feel kinda bad because he isn't used to walking because he just left an area that has bikes and he was there for the last six months... but he is ready to walk again and dang he works way hard! I love it!

So I have a crazy story for you guys! So last night at like 10:00 we were sitting on our roof (because our house becomes a little brick oven at night) and it feels really nice outside... well we see this storm coming in really fast and there is tons of lightning and wind... and then all the power goes out and it is just pitch black but with tons of lightning... well we are just sitting in our house sweating wayyy bad because it is so hot... but the power finally comes on at 2:30 and then we go to sleep... Well this morning we are getting ready around 7:30 and I am putting my clothes on, and then everything starts shaking hard core! and I could hear stuff falling in the kitchen really loud! well my comp is also getting ready and we just kinda look at each other confused.... and after 7 or 8 seconds it stops. and we didn't really know what happened! haha but yeah it was totally a Earthquake!!! I have never felt one before and either has my comp, so it was really weird for the both of us!!! Just a couple of our books and stuff fell and hit the ground so that was the loud noises we heard... but yeah that was quite the experience!! haha :)

That is so awesome that Joe is home!!! Does he have an accent??? How was his mission?? Did he love it?

Well I am glad you guys liked the package! I am super grateful for all the letters and everything Ï get, so I just wanted to do something little in return! :) Thank you guys for all that you do!! you guys are my #1 fans in the mission field! haha so thanks for always rooting me on! :) I love you guys so much! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Last picture me and Elder Apodaca took... if we look super tired, its because we are!!!  Elder Apodaca had to be at the terminal at 5:00 am and my comp didn't get to San Juan til 3:00 pm!!! So I was basically there all day waiting!!! Nooo fun!

 These grapes are huge!  

Just me and Elder Perez chilling on our neighbors car this morning! (I need a hair cut i know!) haha