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

January 27, 2015

Buenos Noches from Argentina!
     My wife and I were sitting outside an ice cream shop tonight eating cones with your son. He looks very healthy, happy and well. He has such a great spirit about him and you can tell he is an excellent missionary! Thought you would enjoy a picture of him and Elder Apodaca. :) Our son is next to my wife. We are here to pick up our son at the end of his mission. It has been a sweet experience.
 Chau,
 Dan & Suzanne Fullmer

Transfers and 7 months!!!

Hey family! I am doing way good! :) I cant believe how fast this week went and I CANNOT believe how fast this whole transfer went! this past 6 weeks in Albardon with Elder Apodaca sure did fly bye!!! So yep, we got transfer calls last night! and Elder Apodaca is out of here!! and guess where he is going...yep... San Rafael!!!!!  It's not my old area but it is pretty close to it!

My new companion is Elder Perez! He came in the same group as Elder Apodaca so I kinda know a little about him! He is from the states but his dad is from Chile so I think he already spoke Spanish! I am way stoked to be staying here because we have been working with some super awesome families of investigators! I am feeling another baptism this transfer! :)

Dang I wish Kyle was going back out on the mission! and that is crazy about Addi getting her mission call!!! what language is she speaking?? that's also crazy Bryson and Tails are dating! 

I am doing really good! We got 7 new investigators this week! its 2 families! they are super friendly and super accepting too! Its a lot better to teach a family than just one person in a family, well that's what I think!  

No I didn't get sick after eating the pizza! No we never told the mom that there was bugs in her pizza haha! We usually do have pretty good luck with most of our meals with members! I usually love everything we have! I cant wait to come home and make Argentine food for you guys! 

The Young Men's are doing good! this past week we just played soccer with them, but this week coming up, it's our turn to think of an activity for us to do! haha we haven't thought of one yet but we will think of something! haha

Our investigators are good! This family we just started teaching, they asked me what my name was (like people usually do haha) and so I told them my name was Elder Lawrence and they were like "noooooo what's your name!" and so I told them and I think they thought I said "Lake" because all of them just call me Lake now haha!

We haven't been teaching Noelia because she wont be able to progress but she is coming to church still!

I think I might have an experience I could share for your relief society thing... I don't have alot of time right now to write but remind me next week and I will write it down for you. :)

Well, I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for such a supportive family! I am sad to see Elder Apodaca leaving, but I am excited to have Elder Perez too! I hope you guys have a great week! Chau! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

oh PS that is kinda a bummer about the package haha! But hey its alright just eat all that candy for me. :)

 Chau chau Elder Apodaca!!!

 Me and Elder Apodaca right after church ended.

Probably one of the biggest vineyards in our area! You can't tell but it goes on foreverrrrrr!

January 19, 2015

Hey hey family :)

Wow this week sure did fly by! wow it sounds like you had a jam packed week with work and all that church stuff! That's fun that Bryson came down for the weekend and was hanging with Taylee! I love Taylee she is like the funniest girl I know! haha

That's awesome about Johnny Payne getting his call! and that's crazy that Addi is going on a mission too! how cool is that!

That's good Kamrie and Jonas aren't too serious anymore, I emailed her last week and said something about it haha!

So to answer your questions... Me and Elder Apodaca are doing really good! Yes we are allowed to take siesta during the day, but we have been realizing how bad it throws off our day... so we don't really do it! Its hard because it makes us not tired at night!

So whats going on with Noelia is.... No we didn't get to baptize her this week :(

We went and talked to the parents last Monday, and the mom was wayyy cool! she was totally fine with Noelia being baptized! But then the Dad came home and was like in a way bad mood and he said that we couldn't baptize her... but the mom said it was fine if she still went to church every week.. so that's cool still! I hope she will just go to church till she turns 18 and then she can sign the papers for herself and be baptized!

Its way fun being called as the Young Men's counselors because we get to go to their activity things every Saturday! They either just play Soccer or sometimes we do a service project! But yeah its awesome!

Oh something else I wanted to tell you, so the other day we wanted to go weigh ourselves, because I haven't weighed myself since I had been in San Juan... and guess what... I weigh 150 pounds!! that's crazy huh!? I finally can gain a little weight! haha! :)

So I got a gross little story for you... So yesterday we were eating lunch with a family, and the food they give us is always a little gross... not to be rude or anything! haha... but yesterday it was all four of us Elders eating with this family, and they made this HUGE pizza for us! and we were all way hungry because we didn't eat breakfast, so we were eating a ton of it and way fast, and I look up at Elder White while we are eating this pizza, and his eyes go really big and he is looking at the pizza and he goes white like a ghost! and he doesn't take another bite after that... well he writes down a note on a piece of paper and passes it under the table to me, and I open it up, and it says "tons of bugs in the pizza" ...and I look down at the pizza, and there were TONS of these baby cockroaches dead in the pizza!!! we think that they must have just got into the spices and when she put the spices on the pizza she couldn't see them! So yeah I probably wont be eating pizza for a long time! haha it was quite the experience!

Mom I totally forgot to tell you last week! I got all those cards from you guys! I got the ranch packets and the Hershey bar and the Andes mints! Thank you sooo much I loved it a ton! :) I also got a card from Grandma Ligtermoet and Rob and Lacey and Grandpa Sinclair! He sent me an awesome picture of you guys when you and Dad were just newlyweds!! I loved all the letters! Thanks a ton! :) 

But no luck on the packages!

That's awesome that Ben and Amberlee came over! I miss them tons! That does bring back memories of us all hanging at our house!

Well I love you guys tons and I love seeing pictures and everything! :) I hope you guys don't get cockroaches in your pizza this week! haha love you all! :)

Love, Elder Lawrence

 So Silvana's mom got married this past week! Her husband isn't a member so we are going to start teaching him too and see if we can baptize him!!!

 So this past week me and Elder Apodaca both had headaches when we went to bed, and we were freaking out because we thought it was like carbon-monoxide or something (even though we have a detector thing) So we just moved our beds outside for the night and changed our sheets so our good ones wouldn't get dirty!  But hey we are fine now, no carbon-monoxide in our house. :)

 We saw a way legit sunset the other night! This is what the clouds looked like! I zoomed in way close!

I forgot to tell you, our backyard is a vineyard!!!! its way nice! oh yeah I also got myself a Christmas present! I bought this shirt and another one that looks the same but with different colors! It was like $15 for the two of them!