Happy New Year!!! and 6 months!!!!!

Wow! crazy how fast the time is flying!!! I cant believe I already have 6 months in the mission! I am loving the mission and loving the person I am becoming! So much good has happened this past year! 

Sounds like everyone had a great New Years! We had a fun New Years Eve too! We had the Elders of Retiro come over to our pench and spend the night with us! and we stayed up till midnight and got onto the roof of our pench and watched all the fireworks around us!!! it was amazing! we also had an asado! soo good!! :)

So here we have church at 9:30 in the morning! and it never changes because we are the only ward in our chapel... but also we have like a 40 minute walk to our chapel so we have to leave a lot earlier! haha

Wow that is crazy how cheap gas is!!! It is not cheap here!  Well I don't really know... its like 13.00 pesos for a liter of gas... so whatever that means! Mom I know BreAnn's new companion! I used to work with her at the city pool for two years! she is cool! what a small world!!

That's crazy all these peeps are getting married! So Bryson's not going to be a nurse anymore? dang, I am still going to try to major in nursing! I legit know I could do it... 

To answer some of your questions... I am doing good! yes we are working super hard! it was kinda hard to get into houses this last week... just like Christmas week! haha but its all good, now that all the holidays are over! :)

Yes me and Elder Apodaca get along really well!! He says I remind him sooo much of his brother!  He is a way good Elder and I am way lucky to be his companion!

Well I don't have too much else to say! We might have another baptism coming up in a couple of weeks! That would be amazing! :)

Well, I love you guys so much and I hope you guys have some good goals set for this next year! I have some! I want to read the Book of Mormon in English in 3 months and I want to read it in Spanish in 6! Thanks for all you guys do! It's great to hear how good you all are doing! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 We went to Walmart this last p-day and it reminded me a ton of the one in Hurricane!!! Doesn't that look like Pine Valley right behind it???

 Best. day. ever.... there was a McDonalds connected to the Walmart!!!! I love American food! haha :)

 Happy 6 month mark!!! :)

A member here is really good at sewing and she tightened a couple pairs of pants for me! What do you think??

December 29, 2014

Hola mama y familia! 
    It was sooo great to skype with you guys! its crazy how fast the time went!!! but I loved every minute of it! you guys all looked great too! :) I can tell my testimony has grown sooo much too! I love it!! :)

Its great to hear that you guys had a great Christmas! I loved seeing all the Christmas colors and what not! Nothing down here shows that it was Christmas time at all!!! It's sooo crazy to me still that it is summer right now for me and winter for you guys! Every night it is so hot and humid that I go to bed sweaty and I wake up the exact same!! haha its not to fun! but hey I love this new area so its all good. :)

I am jealous that you guys went to the yummy taco place!!! that sounds way good! So I guess it is dangerous for us to leave the pench on new years eve day, but we are doing a big feast with the other elders! we are doing a Mexican new years eve!!! I cant wait! :)

So everything went perfect with the baptism! We were at the church all day preparing for it! I was super happy how it all turned out and the spirit was super strong! My favorite part of it all was that I was able to stand in the circle when she was confirmed a member of the church! the spirit was really strong and I was just so grateful for that opportunity that I had! I will never forget that day! :)

So the last few days have been good! It's definitely harder to get into houses with Christmas happening and New Years Eve too! But we taught a really good lesson last night about faith to this member family and they had a cousin over and we talked to her and she wants us to pass by her house too!

Hey I have a challenge I want you guys to do... and I am dead serious... it can be your new years resolution or something... but I want you guys to start and finish the Book of Mormon before I get home! You have a year and a half! I promise you all that you will see a difference in your lives when you read that you will all be happier and be able to feel the spirit more!

I am super grateful to be in such an amazing area where I can feel the spirit so much! I am grateful for the chance I had to talk to you guys! I love you guys so much! thanks for always being there for me! I hope you guys have a fun New Year! Be safe! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Just preparing the waters of baptism! It was so dirty you would not believe it! 

Silvana and the whole family right before the baptism! :)

 Best day ever! :)

 This means baptism but I also like to think of it like we are putting her onto the right path to the celestial kingdom! :)

 Celebrating our baptism with some Ice cream!!! :)

 This is me and my brother (the other Elder that Elder Connolly trained) just saying goodbye to our dad one last time! 

 Check out that good looking family. :)

December 22, 2014

Hello family!!! :) I am doing great! My new area is amazing!!!! it is HUGE!!! and when I say huge I mean beyond huge! haha We could take a bus for hours and still be in our area! it is called Albardon! it is beautiful and way close to the mountains! this mission is at the very top of the entire mission... it boarders the Cordoba mission and Chiles mountains! haha Everyone tells me that this area is the closest I will ever get to home while on my mission. Our area is split into 2 and we share it with two other elders! there pench is like two houses away from ours! its way sick! 

My comp is the bomb!!! He is from Oakland, California but he speaks Tongan and English and now Spanish!!! haha He has 13 kids in his family! his parents adopted a few of the cousins because the parents left their lives... He has had quite the crazy past! He has changed sooo much from his life before the mission its crazy! I will just tell you all about this stuff on Skype!! 

Speaking of Skype... everything is good to go! I logged on and it was working! So heck yeah! We have a family to Skype with! I havent meet them really so I hope it all works out at there house! What time are you guys wanting to skype at? my comp said we can call the night before and verify if we need to.. but I am thinking about skyping about 2:00 or 3:00 here... so it will be a little earlier in the morning for you guys! Just tell me what you are thinking! 

Well I got some good news... We have a baptism this next Saturday!!! whooo my first baptism! :) It is a little girl and her name is Silvana! She is part of a part member family and her brother got home from his mission the same day I got transfered here and He called us and told us that he wanted us to start teaching her the lessons... Well we placed a date with her for this next Saturday! My comp is way excited and so am I! :) Man the people here are super ready for the gospel! We have taught sooo many lessons these past few days! We also have talked to 2 other people about baptism and they both want to be baptized but dont have a fecha (date) yet! But I am just loving it here soo much! :)

Well there is a ton of stuff I could say but I think I am just going to save it all for Skype!!! I am wayyy excited!!! :) I hope it all works out! 

So we actually have the christmas party tomorrow!!! this week is a party week! haha 

Well I could say alot more but yeah I will just save it all! haha I love you guys sooo much and will talk to you soon! I cant wait to see all your cute faces! haha whooo Skype!!! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

                                                           One last picture of the old zone all together! 

Bye bye San Rafael!!!!!

Hello family!!! Sounds like you guys are doing great! I am doing wayyyy good! :)

Yep you heard right! I am getting transferred this Wednesday!!! whoo! :) I am wayy excited! The new area that I am going to is called..... Chimbas, San Juan! its about a 7 hour bus ride away from here! (San Rafy) So our mission covers 3 Providences (like states) and San Rafael is in Mendoza and now I am going to San Juan! its basically like I was serving in Utah but now I am going to be in Idaho! haha I am way excited and I have heard a ton of good stuff about my comp! his name is Elder Apodaca! He is Tongan! one of our Zone Leaders was telling me all about him last night on the phone and how he loves him so much! haha so I am way excited to be his comp! :)

So yeah I don't really know too much about skyping either know that I am going to a new area... I think you need to give me my skype account information and password because I don't know it! haha if you have to make me a new one that's alright... but maybe just try my old email... I sure hope everything works out with it! :)

Wow you guys are sooo lucky to have Sami and Colten in your ward! haha I love them (and Camry) soo much! haha that's crazy she is going to have another baby soon! you will for sure have to tell her I say hi!!!

That's cool Bryson came home for the weekend! he sent me some good pics this week! I like his hair! and I like how he is wearing all of my clothes in every picture! way cool! hahaha :) but hey I will keep him in my prayers for sure with all those finals!

That's great to hear Hurricane won! I am glad Kamrie is still liking cheer alot too!

I am glad I am not the only one missing Christmas at the cabin this year! haha hopefully by the time I get home the new cabin will be getting close to done so we can have Christmas there! :)

So to answer some of your questions... it definitely doesn't feel like Christmas! haha it is way too hot to be! oh and also Elder Connolly isn't going to BYU til after he finishes his generals in Arizona... but hey, lets just say you should be expecting a little package from Arizona pretty soon... :)

We had a way good week in San Rafy! We contacted a family this week that was a open the mouth from some other missionaries... Well we taught them 3 lessons this past week! Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! not one lesson fell through with them! they are super awesome and super animated! I love it! they couldn't make it to church this past week, but that's ok! it will be awesome to see if anything happens with them someday in the future!

Also some other awesome news, you know that family that I told you about that I opened the mouth with in Cerrito a couple weeks ago, yeah well they have a baptismal date for some time in January!! isn't that crazy??? I am wayyy excited for them! :) I hope I get some pictures from the baptism from Elder Holmstead! I will have to ask him.

So yes we have a Christmas party! It is split into 2 Christmas parties (half of the mission at one time and the other half at another time)... my Christmas party was originally supposed to be on the 23rd but now its on the 19th! haha I will take tons of pics at that!

So Elder Connolly leaves the 29th but the last time I see him is this Wednesday! its crazy haha I have been with him for 3 whole transfers! I am way grateful I got to serve with him and learn so much from him! he is an awesome guy!

Well I love you guys sooo much and I am so grateful for such an amazing family!!! Next time I email you I will be in a completely different place! its crazy because the only place I really know is San Rafy! haha but I am way excited to be in Chimbas. :) Elder Cahoon is in San Juan, but in a different Zone... but everyone tells me that I will still see him every P-day at the same cyber! haha I am way excited! I love you guys so much! I hope you all have a great week! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

PS. we have a filtered water jug thing and water bottles with filters so that's what we drink. Sorry I didn't have time to send pictures this week...I will send a bunch next week:)

PSS. nope still no package! but hey I also signed for a second package this past week! so maybe that is the Christmas package?!? that would be awesome! love you guys! :)

December 8, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! how are you all doing?? I am doing pretty good! it was a little tough of a week this week! I don't know why but we just couldn't get into many houses this week! :( but hey its ok, I am doing really good still :)

Mom go check out lds.org I totally made it on the main page!!! its in an article about D Todd Christofferson coming to Argentina!!! haha its way cool! :) That's cool you guys got to hear from him at the Christmas devotional! they didn't let us go to the Christmas Devotional last night because it was at 9:00! But I hope it was good. :)

I am glad your lesson in relief society went well!! that's great to hear! :) and it sounds like Bryson, Kamrie and Ethan are all doing good! I love and miss them all and I hope I can have an awesome close relationship with them all when I get home!!! :)

Mom I will put some sun block on my nose this week! It has been wayyy hot this past week! and our house is like a little oven I swear! haha it absorbs all the heat!!!

Cool little story about what we are doing this P-day! So a couple weeks ago I was on intercombios (exchanges) with Elder Holmstead in Cerrito (which is the area we use to cover with our original area too)... Well Elder Holmstead was having me open the mouth and just talking to some random people about the church, well I opened the mouth with this young young family with two little kids and they seemed super interested... Well now they have gone to church once and to another different activity! and they invited the elders of cerrito and us over to there house today for there daughters birthday party! We are going to have an asado and birthday cake! haha I am way excited! how cool would it be if they got baptized someday??? just from me talking to them about the church for the very first time! 

We had a couple investigators go to church this past week! There is this girl, her name is Damares (I don't know how to spell it sorry) but she is an investigator that always goes to church with this awesome family in our ward! she has gone 5 Sundays in a row now, but the only thing is, is she is only 10 years old... so the only way we could baptize her is if we baptized the parents first... which is a little tough with her parents lets just say... but hey maybe someday! :)

Well today is a holiday here so the cyber closes in like 20 minutes and I haven't wrote anyone else back! So I hope you guys know how much I love you and think about you! I hope you guys all have a great week! I will try to send a couple pictures so hopefully they work! love you guys!

Love, Elder Lawrence

Sooo much wine!!!! haha

Just the gang of us Elders out front of the Bianchi winery and vineyard!!!

Los Reyunos was gorgeous!!!!!

 I sent this to all my best buds and said "hope you guys enjoy the view" hahaha 

The whole gang at Los Reyunos!

5 Months already?!?

Hey hey family! how are you guys doing?? I am doing great! It looks like you guys had a great Thanksgiving! I loved all the pictures and seeing the family all together! Thanksgiving is definitely different here haha... just a lot of sitting around and drinking mate... Have I told you about mate yet? haha its the weirdest drink ever and everyone just drinks it all day, every day, hot outside, or cold! I don't even know how to explain it haha just look up mate on google images or something. It use to taste way gross to me, but now its way good haha. :)

Wow I miss going Black Friday shopping! I remember how we would always go see a movie as a family after Thanksgiving! How was Mockingjay?? I have only seen one poster for it! haha so I don't know if its good or anything!

Wow I hope Makaylee and Brooke don't quit cheer! geez that's crazy and Gonnie is crazy! haha I'm glad Kamrie tries to cheer Makaylee up. :)

Well to answer some of your questions... San Rafy is doing good!! Some Hermana's had a baptism this past week! This was the first baptism in San Rafy since before I got here in August! We took a recent convert to the baptism and we also tried to take Natali, but something came up and she couldn't go. :(

Yeah I had a good week this past week! at the end of the week, it feels like it went fast, but during the week, it has been going pretty slow!! haha i think its just going slow because Elder Connolly is going home, so the time seems to be dragging on for him, which is making it drag on for me! haha

We had our missionary activity again last night and it went wayyy good! We had two less active families go and 2 investigators! sometimes I feel like less actives are harder to get to church then investigators sometimes,So its always great to see them come to activities and what not! :)

Mom don't worry about me not getting the Christmas package! haha its totally not a big deal. :) I still haven't got this last package out of holding, but hey when I do, I will just open it like its my Christmas present! haha :) 

I am way excited to skype on Christmas too!!! I have my doubts about staying here as well, I cant see them keeping me and Elder Connolly together for almost 4 whole transfers haha... but hey, we will see what happens!!

So we are going somewhere sweet today for P-day!!! We are going to this place called Los Reyunos! it is sooo pretty rumor has it, you should look up some pics of it or something! yeah, we are also going on a tour of a Bodega! its going to be sweet to tour one of these big wine companies and walk through the vineyards! all the grapes are starting to come to life now! :)

Thank you for sending me a Ranch packet!!! hahaha I am soo stoked for it!!

I feel like there is something I am forgetting to tell you guys! haha if I remember I will just tell you later I guess! 

Well, I'm grateful you keep me in your prayers! I am super happy I haven't got sick or anything yet! That is super sad about that kid in Snow Canyon! :( I will keep him in my prayers for sure!! I am very grateful for my health! You guys are in my prayers always too! I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for everything you guys do for me! :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Love, Elder Lawrence

 Just a throw-back picture... I miss seeing Elder Cahoon in cyber every week!!! We took this pic in the cyber one of his last weeks here!

The mountains looked sweet because they were covered with clouds!!! ...... Just kidding its just clouds, but I thought it looked sweet. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! We were super poor on Thanksgiving Day because it was the last week of the month, so we made some "arroz chaufa" instead! Its peruvian food! One of Elder Connolly's old companions taught him, and then he taught me! Sooo good!

November 24, 2014

Hey Hey Familia! como andan! Things were great this week! Man I swear the harder I work, the faster the week goes! and this week was wayyy fast! haha I love being in San Rafael! the weather has been super nice this week! super hot sometimes but we got some good storms! oh and I'm glad the computer is fixed now! haha :)

So I talked to my companion and yeah we do skype on Christmas!!! whoo! :) I cant wait to skype! Also something good, remember when I told you about my ward mission leader? how he speaks English, yeah well he does a lot of translating for people over skype that are in the states, and he has a really really nice computer and camera and good wifi for his work, So we want to skype at his house on Christmas day! We will see though if I get transferred though, Transfers are on the 16th of December and Elder Connolly leaves the 29th, because he is going home early for school, but we will see what happens!

No I haven't got the package yet... the holding is in Mendoza Centro so I will probably get the package next Zone Meeting... which is the first week in December! Oh! another thing I was thinking about, So you know how you put the airhead candies in the letters, I love it sooo much!!! haha and everyone is jealous... But I have a request for in your next letter... So there is no such thing as ranch here... NO WHERE!!! haha They only put olive oil on salads... well do you think you could put one of those ranch packets in a letter?? haha I am craving ranch! maybe one of the fiesta ranches too! haha I would love that!!! :) but I really do love the airheads they are appreciated. :)

That's good to hear about Darian!! I hope she is doing good! and I miss dinner at Grandma and Grandpas! Does Grady still have the awesome beard??

That's too bad about Hurricane losing at state! :( Man I wish Ammon would've just stayed and played for Hurricane! We would've been soo good!! Yeah we will have to see how basketball season goes!!

Man I cant believe its already Thanksgiving! They have Thanksgiving here they just don't celebrate it, they just close all the shops for the day (like every weird holiday here) yeah here its called "el dia de la acción de gracias" There is also no such thing as turkey here haha... we are going to try and buy a whole chick and make it look like a Thanksgiving turkey. :) Don't worry I will send some pics!

We did something fun this morning, we woke up early (like 6:00) so we could go on a jog! it was so nice outside! we jogged past two huge Bodegas! (its like a huge vineyard and winery) it reminded me of how cold it was whenever we would walk past the church farm by our house! haha except these were grapevines and not peach trees. :)

So this week we worked a ton with less active members!!! We have a huge list and we have been visiting them all! We had a pretty cool experience with a less active lady (its a sad story though, be ready), So 14 years ago this old lady was really really active and loved the church and her family was active too... well her Grand-daughter got very sick and was in the hospital, So she called her bishop and asked him if he could or someone else could go to the hospital and give her grand daughter a blessing... well the bishop said something about how she wasn't in his ward or something so he couldn't go give the baby a blessing... and the next day the baby died. :( and she was sooo sad and so mad at the bishop, that she hasn't gone back to church in 14 years... Well we gave her a blessing of comfort and taught her about the Atonement and she felt the spirit, she said she will start reading in the Book of Mormon again, but she doesn't want to go to church yet. I feel so sad for her, so I hope we can help her become active again and just have her know that families are forever!!!

Well I hope you guys know that I love you sooo much and that I KNOW that families are forever, because of the Atonement! we can barley start to comprehend all the the Atonement has done for us, but I am just sooo grateful for it in my life. :) its great hearing from all of you! (Kam's finally wrote me haha that lil punk) your guys emails are definitely my favorite ones every week. It's great to hear you all doing so good. :) I love you all soo much!

Love, Elder Lawrence

 You are looking at the worlds best district!! (plus our zone leaders haha)