July 5, 2011

~ Familia,
So I just ate a bocadillo (a sandwich with spanish bread) with horse meat, and it was way good. I heard that they sold Jamon de Caballo, and I had to try it. The taste is way unique and way strong, but in a sandwich with some good spanish cheese it´s amazing.
My comp isn´t new, he´s been here in this area for four months now. he´s called Elder Carey, and he´s from Bountiful and he´s awesome. It´s really a privilege to be here with him in Ponferrada, the mision is one big adventure, just like real life.
The other night we happened to be here for the annual night of the templar knights, and we live right next to the castle, and a huge parade of knights went right in front of our piso and they carried the arc of the covenant, and the holy grail into the castle and they lit fire works and it was cool. We took that as our 4th of July celebracion.
So in the mission I´ve gotten to like cutting my own hair, so if you see hair clippers in sam´s club or costco it would be cool to have one up at byu. We should come back here next year or in a couple of years so I can show you guys around Spain. I would love to see everyone again. I´m excited to see the lights of Vegas again. I think the first thing I wanna eat is a double double from "in n out" haha. But until then elder Carey and I are gunna work like crazy here in Ponferrada, thanks for everything. have a good day and a great week.
elder ross

June 29, 2011

~ The mission is one giant adventure. So I was sure that I would end my mission in Madrid, but friday the a.p´s called us and said that the transfers would be in our email by the end of the day, but I was so anxious I went right after the call to see if the changes were already in my email, to see who was going where. When I looked the changes weren´t there yet, but there was a train ticket to Leon with my name on it. so I couldn´t believe it, and later when we saw all the changes it was true, and i´m writing you guys from a locutorio in a city called Ponferrada. Which is to the west of Leon, which is to the north. so yeah... it was funny cause I was doing splits with elder Mateer who had been in the Canary Islands with me earlier, and we were talking about what might happen with the changes and everything, and in his mission he´s went from Malaga to the Canaries then to Leon and then to Madrid, and I said that´s crazy you got to know all the places, and then I said it would have been cool to serve in the north, but it didn´t even cross my mind at all that I would actually be sent up here.
It was so sad saying good by to everyone. Our district in Madrid is the best, and out of everyone I was the newest one, so before the changes I was trying to scare everyone else saying that for sure they would be transfered, and al final I was the only one that got transfered.
They were already talking about how bad they were going to get me in our last district meeting, but the president saved me from them all.
It´s weird cause two of the sisters both end at the end of this transfer too, and they are together, so we figured one of them would be transfered, but they both gunna end together. I made sure when I left that the district would still give them a hard time.
The ward I left is so awesome. I was there for only three months, but it was so sad to leave them. The night before all the single adults got together and we brought the lady that just got baptised, and one of her friends, and they gave me a going away party and it was awesome. They called one of the young men from Fuertevenura on a phone that had video, and I was able to see him and talk to him. It was a big surprise. I was going to see him cause he enters into the mtc this next month, and I was so excited but then I got transfered, so they called him and I talked to him and it was awesome. I´ve been surrounded by the best people all my life. My new comp is awesome just like every other comp I´ve had. We have to move pisos so we are moving everything over tomorrow. I was so sad to leave but i´m excited to work here. The mission is the best.
I´ll buy you olive oil, I was just wondering how much it costs you to buy olive oil in the store in the united states cause everyone says it´s expensive but I don´t think it will be too bad. I´m just thinking about cooking up at school wondering if it will be expensive to cook with olive oil, just cause I will wan´t to use if for everything now.
thanks for the recipes! we have vanilla extract in the piso, and I can find brown sugar in the latino stores. Right before I left madrid a bolivian family taught me how to make some cheese bread rolls that are amazing. I´ll have to see if I can find the stuff in the states. It calls for yucca flour. Anyways todo esta bien, estoy mas feliz i animado que nunca, a ver si podemos bautizar a uno mas porahi.
gracias por todo.
elder ross

June 22, 2011

~ Familia mía,
today for p´day we went to the mision home, and played a bunch of sports. two of the hermanas challenge elder mateer (the other british elder in our apartment) and I to a tennis match, and they played good but we defended our honor and beat them. Then we played american football for a little bit and then we played fútbol sala with everyone. We made up four teams and we played king of the court. The first team to score two goals stayed on to keep playing. My comp and I were the best ones, we scored quite a few goals. Even though we ended feeling tired it was a great way to release stress.
There´s some awesome missionaries in Madrid. Our district is especially awesome. We´re all worried that someone from our district is going to be transfered this next week and we hope it doesn´t happen. Every week after district meeting we eat lunch, and everyone brings food. This last week my comp and I made tortilla de papas which is one of the most common spanish dishes and the two, we made turned out amazing. Everyone was impressed. One of the sisters made Sal Morejo which is a cold soup like gazpacho, and then we made this watermelon drink that a colombian member showed us how to make and it was amazing. One of the elders is going home in a week and this was his last district meeting, so we gave him a hard time the whole time. I spoke in district meeting on the importance to get married after the mission, and it was funny cause I said it wasn´t my council but actually the council of the apostels and prophets, and read from the conference talks and Dallin H. oaks talks about it in his talk desire and Richard G. Scott talks about it in his talk about eternal marriage, and the prophet talks about it in his talk to the preisthood, and it was hilarios. They basically all said that anyone who´s in the age of getting married should put it as his number one priority find a wife and get married. It was hilarious. Then the sisters made a cake, and on top of the cake put a wedding cake ornament of a man and a women getting married and that also was way funny. The mission is the best.
Trevor McDonough wrote me a letter in spanish and it was hilarious, I´ll have to talk to him in spanish when I get back.
I´m excited to start this next transfer, and I hope I can consecrate myself to the lord and give everything I have to the work. Thanks for everything. the picture of the dogs is great, I hope the little one isn´t too big when by the time I get back.
elder ross

June, 15, 2011

~ The baptism was amazing. The whole week we were kinda stressed getting it all ready, and there was quite a bit of opposicion, and the day of the baptism we were running around like crazy getting everything set up and the food taken care of, but when the time came everything fell into place, just perfectly. The spirit was strong, and Koritza was so happy. Right after our baptism the elders that live with us had a baptism too, and we had a bunch of food left over so we used it for their baptism and it was great. The two ladies that got baptised are awesome. They were confirmed on sunday and they were both so happy.
You gotta ask the Johnsons what´s the name of the professor because if it´s professor Lopez I know his brothers and his dad who's an area seventy here in spain. I know one of them teaches spanish at byu and they´re from spain so he´ld speak Spain Spanish. I hope I can pass that test then cause that would be awesome. I love spanish and I´ve always tried to do my best to speak it. I really don´t want to go home and speak english. I don´t know why but english feels so different now. Everyone here tells me they want to learn english and I always tell them that spanish is better and they tell me I´m crazy. Everything is going good. We are just now starting to teach quite a few people. We´ve found some less actives in the street and some other investigators and we´re teaching some friends from members so I hope we can set some more baptism dates before I go or at least prepare some more people.
I can´t wait to see this new little dog, and the garden and the fruit trees and the cactuses.
I gotta warn you guys I´m out of money this month so I may have to use my other card a few times. I have all the food I need for the month, and I spent a lot on the food for the baptism and now I don´t have anything, I hope I don´t have to use it at all and I´ll try not too. sorry for wasting your money all the time, I hope I can pay you guys back some day.
Thanks for everything, your time, your strength and your examples. we´ll see you later.
elder ross

June 8, 2011

~ I was wondering how many stakes there are in Las Vegas, I know there´s a lot but I don´t know how many. I feel crazy saying there´s 15 cause here there´s two in all of Madrid. Anyways the family from Ecuador is doing good, ´we taught them this last monday and we were able to explain to the dad about the Book of Mormon really well cause he wasn´t sure if it was a bad thing to read it or what but we had a member with us who shared a really good example. He said that as a parent you give the same general council to all your children fitted around their own personal needs right? And he said yes and then the member explain that the Book of Mormon is God´s council to his other children. We´re excited for them. On Saturday Koritza from Venezuela is going to get baptized, and the last two weeks have been amazing. She has been prepared to receive the gospel for so long. she is awesome. We bought here a triple and a bible and the magazine with the conference talks and she wrote us a letter. She´s a journalist and a teacher so she´s crazy smart and way good at expressing herself. She told us that this saturday she would be saying yes to God´s love. She´s awesome. yesterday we went through the temple and it was fun, we learned a lot like always. But yeah everything´s going great, i´ll let you know how the baptism goes.
elder ross

May 25, 2011

~ Hey, I really liked the story you sent me last week about the mound of gold flakes that the wise man had collected over time. It is something that I´ve been thinking of these past months. Ever since I started practicing golf it´s been a topic that´s fascinated me, and these past months I´ve been realizing just how powerful is diligence, and just how powerful are the good habits that we create. If we do a little bit everyday it´s amazing what we can accomplish. The mission has made me love reading and studying the gospel. It is such an interesting topic. I wan´t to study the gospel everyday of my life. I´m starting to understand what Nephi meant when he said that his heart pondereth continualy upon the things of the Lord. The scriptures are awesome. One of my old MTC teachers teaches sunday school and sometimes preisthood on sundays, and this sunday he said that the spirit is like the refiners fire, that purifies us, and as we search diligently to have him in our lives more often he will purify us and will take away our impurities. The spirit will take away our desire to sin, and purify us from all wrong tendencies. I know that´s true, and I know that when i´m striving everyday and every minute to have the Holy Ghost in my heart I want nothing more than to do good, and to help those around me. Being diligent and constant is hard but you just got to make up your mind and do it. Like two weeks ago I found a scripture that basically explains this and I thought it was cool, it´s in alma 13: 26-28 or something like that, it´s towards the end of the chapter. It talks about praying always and then it says that the more that we have the spirit, the more it will make us humble and meek and submissive The same teacher at the very end of sunday school recited to us the first vision, I can honestly say that I know that God the Father and Jesus, the creators of the universe appeared to Joseph Smith and talk with him.
We found a family of five from Ecuador that are golden. We think they all might be baptized besides the baby. Everything´s going great, it´s been lame cause we´ve had bad allergies the last month and a half, but I think they´re almost over. I have Zyrtech and claritin that someone left here, and I take them but they don´t help as much as they did when I used to take them in the states but it´s all good, I´m feeling way better than I did two weeks ago. Thanks for giving me this oportunity to escape from the world to know the One True God.
elder ross

May 11 - 18, 2011

~ Thanks for everything. Zone conference was awesome, I hadn´t seen so many missionerys since the mtc in provo. We taught good, and our demostracion was cool. It was good to hear from you on the phone. We have some good investigators that are progressing quite a bit. Everything is going good, and today we had a great p´day we went to a huge park and rented bikes for free and rode everywhere, and then we played ultimate frisbee and that was awesome after so much time without playing. Everything is going great thanks for everything and the shirts and ties and the singing card, and for raising me in the gospel.
elder ross

~¡Familia mía!
so seeing my trainer with his fiance was amazing. One of the coolest lunches I´ve ever had. It was so crazy seeing his face again we just kept looking at each other and laughing, there were sooooo many stories that we talked about it was awesome, he´s such a great kid. So I gotta go, we´re going to make arepas with a venezuelan guy. and then we have some lesson we´re going to teach. The ham is definitely not all gone yet, I don´t even think it´s close to half way, and it´s so good. So our best investigator asked us if she could talk to us after sacrament meeting, and we were kinda scared, but then she asked us if she could get baptised in June, and we were speechless. It was so awesome to hear someone want to follow Christ. She is going to be a member really strong in the church and we´re stoked to be in the service of the Lord.
elder ross
I love you guys!

April 13 - 20, 2011

~ Eveything thing is great. I can´t believe i´ll be 23 in a couple semanas, I still feel 15. Last week they baptized a girl, that I started teaching and that I taught for a while in Las Palmas. So that´s cool. Anyways my companion is awesome and the other two elders that we live with are awesome too. We played soccer this morning and we beat all the young men in the ward many times, my comp and the other are from england so they play really good, and so we scored a bunch. Sorry I can´t write more one of the elders lost his wallet in the metro and we had to run around trying to fix everything the last couple of hours, everything is good, I´m excited about BYU in the fall with elder solari, it´s gunna be awesome, thanks for everything.

~ mucha gracias por todo, I talked to elder sanchez and he said that they got the package for Maria and that they gave it all to her, and that she was amazed and grateful that you sent it all to her. Thanks. I miss the islands a lot, I hope that it won´t be too long before I get to go back. We don´t travel as much, and we just use the metro and the buses to get around. We have an awesome zone, and a great district. We´re teaching some awesome people as well. I´m so glad I´m with elder Tyndale. He´s awesome I hope I can end with him just cause we have so much fun working together and talking to the people. For my birthday and to comemorate and end my time here in spain I want to buy a ham leg, so today I´m going to buy one if it´s alright. Thanks for everything it´s so great to be in the service of the lord.
elder ross

April 6, 2011

~ ¡que bueno! what type of dog is it?? I hope it doesn´t get too big before I get home. So I´m in the Madrid 6 ward which is the area of the temple. I´m still a zone leader, and my comp has only 7 months in the mission and has been zone leader for one transfer already, and he´s awesome! I don´t know why I´ve only had good comps my whole mission. I hope I get to stay here with him for these last three transfers cause he´s great. His name is Elder Tyndale- Biscoe, and he´s lived the last 9 years in Málaga, but his dad is from Zimbabwe and his mom´s from Scotland. He´s english, but he speaks perfect spanish with a really strong southern Spain accent, it´s soo good to be with someone who has an Andaluz accent as well. When we talk with the people they say we sound like we´re from the south or the Canary Islands. He´s an awesome kid, who plays the piano like no other, and who loves futbol so we´re gunna have fun playing futbol. This ward we´re in is amazing. The members come with us to a lot of the lessons we have, and they´re a lot of activities in the stake center next to the temple, and in the MTC building. It´s soooo good to see some of the teachers that I had when I was here a year and a half ago. It really is such an amazing place. I´m definitely gunna have to come back sometime soon. I wouldn´t ever have to pay to stay or eat, I would just have to pay for the trip. It´s sad I´m not in the Canary Islands anymore. It was so much fun being a missionary there. The people are great in every part of spain. I´m in an apartment with two other misionaries, one is from California who is from the mission of Bilbao who has been to the north part of Spain, and his comp. is elder Mateer who started in the island of Lanzarote the same time that the kid I trained started in Fuerteventura. he´s from england too, and he´s awesome, and I was sooo happy when I heard we were going to live in the same piso. Our zone is awesome, the kid I trained came up with me from the Islands, he was in Tenerife and I was in Gran Canaria, and we both came up from the islands the same day, and he´s in my zone, as a district leader. There´s a kid who I met in Jerez when I started the mission who was preparing to go on a mission, and he got called to the Madrid mission, and with these changes he got put in our zone too! I talked to him on the phone, and it was awesome to here the jerez accent and to hear how he was doing. There´s another elder who was in the Islands a while ago who´s now in our zone too, so everything awesome. This zone baptizes a ton, and we have quite a few real good investigators who we hope get baptized. I´m sorry for using the credit card so much. We had to rush to the airport cause I was saying good bye to people up till the very end, and when we got there the lady said the flight was closed and we had to beg her to let us through, but then she made me put my hand bag together with my other suitcase cause she said that my backpack already counted as my hand bag, and for the excess weight she charged me 120 € and I had no choice but to pay it cause the flight was leaving, but we made it... we were the last ones to get on the plane but we made it. And today for p-day we went to look for white shirts, but we didn´t find any, but I found a blue national spain jersey for 40 euros, and it was a real good price so I bought it. Sorry for wasting so much money. I got my other suitcase, and there were a couple of short sleeve shirts, but all the other shirts we´re long sleeve, and it´s too hot already to use long sleeve shirts so I could use like three more white short sleeve shirts if it´s possible size 14 1/2. Really don´t buy me anything else for my birthday, everything is just perfect. I do have one more favor to ask of you, I wanted to get the girl that just got baptized a scripture marking pen, and I figured that I could find one here in the distribucion center next to the temple, but it´s so small that they only have red colored pencil, so I was wondering if you guys could buy her a pink scripture marking pen/pencil and then send it to my old address in the islands, and the elders there will get it to her.
My new address here in madrid is: calle Luis de Hoyos Sainz 168, 9d
28030 Moratalaz, Madrid
España

March 30, 2011

~ That´s awesome that Jimmer Ferdett did so well, we´re in Tenerife right now, and it´s been a good couple of days. It´s weird being a little bit older in the mission. The other misionaries look to us a lot, and it´s kinda funny cause I don´t feel any different. I´ve met so many great people here. The members in the Canary Islands are great. I´ve laughed so hard with everyone of them.
I didn´t get the pants yet but thank you so much for sending me pants. It´s what I needed. Yesterday I bought a super sweet blue european suit for 30 euros and i´m so stoked! I got the last jacket and it fits so nice. I really don´t need anything for my birthday, you might as well just wait until later. Maybe another white shirt but that´s it really. Everything going great, it´s all so true, and we can all change if we trust in the Lord. Thanks for raising me right!
elder ross

March 23, 2011

~ ¡que fotos mas buenas! I can´t believe the cactuses have grown so big so fast, they´ve almost grown as much as Chloe. mi goodness I can´t believe how much she´s grown. I tell everyone about the story when I did a cartwheel a broke the wall and she told me that if I told dad earlier he wouldn´t hit me so hard, haha what a funny story. Thanks for the pictures and for making that place for the cactuses I can´t wait till they have fruit!
elder ross

~Familia mía, les quiero mucho les echo un monton de menos. I´m sorry for not being able to write very often. I didn´t see that last email until today. everything´s going great. María goings to get baptized if not this weekend the next. I don´t know if I told you about her, her family had the lessons when she was younger, and her mom and brother and sister got baptized but then they went in active. Her dad died 5 months ago, and she remembered the discussions of the missonaries. We were in the chapel one morning which very rarely happens and she knocked on the door and asked us if this was the mormon temple. We´ve been teaching her for two months and she wants to get baptized. She´s awesome. She lives way far away, and she traveled to las palmas in the GuaGua (a.k.a. bus) to find the missionaries, and that day we happened to be in the chapel, when she passed by. Miracles everywhere. When we go to Lanzarote we fly, but to Tenerife we go in the boat and it takes about 3 hours. We are going to Tenerife next week so that´ll be fun. I hope I stay another transfer. My companion still doesn´t know the area very well and he doesn´t drive so it wouldn´t surprise me if I stayed another 6 weeks. Everythings going great we´re teaching a lot of great people. I´m so stoked for BYU, I hope they do good. I can´t wait to get back and watch sports again. Keep praying and reading the scriptures and going to church. I believe my church attendance is what kept me in the church. The good influence of the good people and friends there kept me on the right path and led me back to it I guess. Thanks for everything have a great week.
elder ross
and don´t water the cactus too much.

March 9, 2011

~ We went to Lanzarote this week and set a baptism date with a guy that Elder Sanchez taught in Lanzarote and that I started to teach in Fuerteventura, so it´s great to see the changes he´s made to get where´s he´s at now. I don ´t have much time we have been pretty busy but I wouldn´t have it anyother way. Thanks for the article I liked it a lot, let me know what happens with basketball. It is an amazing school. Thanks for everything stay happy!
elder ross

March 2, 2011

~ Happy Birthday dad thanks for everything, go BYU! I´m in Fuerteventura right now with one of the families of the branch. They have taught a lady and she´s getting baptized this Saturday so we came to give her the interview of the baptism. I came on the first, exactly one year after I arrived here for the first time. It´s been so good to see everyone again, I love this island. I gotta go but i´ll catch you later.

elder ross

February 23, 2011

~ Bendita y amada Familia mia,
entonces me quedo en Las Palmas, so i stay in Las Palmas, and my new comp is my good old friend Elder Sanchez. We were roommated in the mtc in Madrid, and he basically taught me Spanish, he´s from Barcelona and I would ask him so many cuestions about spanish. He´s been in Lanzarote " one of the desert islands" next to mine for 4 transfers now, and now he´s Zone leader with me, and I couldn´t be happier. Whenever we did splits together it was always the best. He was called to the mission of Bilboa, and so when he left from the MTC I didn´t think I would see him ever again, but then Bilboa got taken out and he got put in the mission of Madrid like me and then he got sent down here to the islands. I´m so happy to be with him. he´s such a good teacher and i´m excited to be with a native spanish speaker. His first language is actually Catalan, which is the language they speak in Cataluña which is the province of Barcelona the city, but they speak spanish just like a normal spaniard as well. He says it´s funny because when I was in the MTC I spoke like a mexican but now he says my accent is a mix between Andalucía and Canario. He´s a great kid, and I hope we can do work this transfer. We have a baptismal date for the 27 of March with a girl who is amazing. We are teaching mucho less actives and we´ve seen a lot of progress with them, and we´re asking them for references and they are helping us a lot. It´s great to see people get active again.
I´m so glad that everything´s good. I have a really strong testimony about the spirit world, so I have no doubts that Steve and everyone else are there, or here I should say living as spirits. I put so many C.D.´s on my ipod out of your library, mom, that have to do with death and the spirit world, and they are my favorite. I´ll give you one of my favorite scriptures, it gives the answer to every problem that someone can have in this life. It´s Alma 7:11-13 another really good one is 2 nefi 31:20-21, and another 2 nefi 25:26 and another one 2 nefi 33:10. I love the scriptures. They give us the spiritual strength to overcome the fisical temptations of mortality. Pray and Read the scriptures, by praying you open your heart and humble yourself. When we are humble we are prepared to receive divine inspiracion. When you read, you don´t have to read fast, it´s way better to read relaxed. And after reading a thought, it is so important to ponder what it says. And when we are pondering upon the Words of Christ the spirit will come and your mind will be opened, and you´ll feel better, and you´ll want to help and do good to everyone. When I read the scriptures I want to be a better person and for that I know that they are true(eter 4:11), and that the prophets who write them have been sent from God to help us find the true happiness in this fallen world(mosiah 3:13). Don´t worry, be happy! Christ lives! He did it! and we can be saved if we so desire. I feel really blessed to have such a great family. Rachel you are my most favorite little sister, but seriously!!! haha!!! I don´t know what I would do with out ya. Stay cool and i´ll catch you on the flip side.
elder ross

February 16, 2011

~ Everything´s good over here. I think I might be staying for another transfer, but we don´t know yet. I´ll let you know next week. For our district meeting we tried to prepare elder kap for finding a wife and getting married, it was hilarious. Thanks for everything. Let me know if there´s anything i can do.
elder ross

February 9, 2011

~ Thanks everything went great in the baptism, another investigator came and everything went good and now it looks like she might get baptized, the spirit was super strong. I can´t wait to see some of the clips of Jimmer going crazy. This march madness is gunna be insane. I´ll start praying for BYU to have a good tournament. Right now we´re on Tenerife doing splits with elder Slack and Scott and it´s great to be here to visit them and the people here. Elder kap goes this next week so I´m not sure what´s going to happen after that, I hope I stay here for another transfer but either way it´s all good.
Everything is going good, let me know if there´s anything I need to do. I sent a letter with my last S.D. card that I filled up and I hope it makes it ok because it has a lot of pictures from Fuerteventura. Thanks for everything I´ll see you later.
elder ross

February 2, 2011

~ My major is exercise science. That´s good that i´ll have time to sign up for classes and everything. I still don´t know what i´ll do about finding a place to live cause there´s a lot guys I would like to room with but I don´t know how I could coordinate all that so I could be with them. Maybe I could just sign a contract for only the fall semester and then for the winter I could move.
So the baptism of Pablo went great. All the missionaries were there and there were a lot of members and the talks that two of the members gave were really good. Pablo gave a great testimony, and kept saying that he feels an overwhelming peace but at the same time a strong sense of responsibility, so basically we couldn´t have asked for anything more. Then we had zone conference and it was amazing also, it always gets everyone so excited about the work. President and his wife are great people. We did exchanges with the elders from Lanzarote and I was with one of my roomates from the madrid mtc who´s a native of Barcelona and it was awesome. Yesterday we had exchanges with the elders from vecindario, and this morning we all took Pablo to the airport to send him off to paraguay. He´s going to be a strong member. the young single adults gave him a present which was his own triple, small hymn book, principles of the gospel, and true to the faith, and then we gave him some liahonas as well so he´s got some reading material in his more than a day long trip to paraguay.
So this Sunday Mirzza who also is from paraguay is going to get baptized, and they want me to baptize her, so i´m stoked about that. So many awesome missionaries have taught her and we get to see her get baptized. She also is amazing. The next goal after baptism for her and her husband is to get sealed in the temple.
Everything is going great, I hope byu does good in their game, and I hope the Steelers do good too. let me know if I can do anything.
elder ross

January 26, 2011

~ Hola Familia, I don´t have much time this week because right now we are going to teach the kid named Pablo who´s going to get baptized today at 6, and then I have to go to an interview I have to renew my residency, and then we are going to have p-day with all the missionaries who are on their way here from the other two islands and we´re going to visit the northern part of this island, and then we´re going to have the baptism, so we left early to right emails. You have to thank Jonathan a mountain for sending me his fantasy football winnings, I´ve been out of money since the middle of this month because I didn´t send in my receipts to be reimbursed last month, and the money that he and the Hollyoaks and the Orozcos sent me has saved me haha que buena gente. Pablo is golden, he´s ready to get baptized, we look on the internet at his address in Paraguay where he´s going to live and there were like 40 chapels within his province, so i´m so excited for him to go over there and see how strong the church is. He´s gunna be a strong member. I forgot to tell you guys, last week we went up to one of the pueblos in the mountains to visit a family in the ward, and we ate palomas. Palomas both dove and pidgeon, it´s the same name, and in our case they were pidgeons. And they were so good. One day we visited them and they had one pidgeon in a cage, and I was thinking how strange to keep a pidgeon as a pet (even though I have done that before), and then I asked them why they had it and they told me you eat them, and they said that it was even better than chicken and so from then on I wanted to try them. So he has a friend who does studies on palomas and he gives them palomas every once and awhile and so we planned on going up one day and eating pidgeons and we went up and he showed us how to kill them, clean them, and cook them, and they were amazing. so now when we see pidgeons in the street we get hungry. That´ll be the first canary dish that I make for you guys. have a great week!
elder ross

January 19, 2011

~ Things are great! Something that Elder Caussé taught us was that there is a greater joy that comes when we are instruments in the Lords hands in comparison to the joy we receive when we achieve something on our own or for ourselves. It´s so true. It´s awesome to be with Elder Kap and see him work as a consecrated servant of the Lord and to also see the blessings that come to those who are dedicated and obedient. We are going to baptize a kid from paraguay on Monday, and he´s another amazingly humble and super prepared Lamanite decendent who´s listening to the voice of the Good Sheperd. He´s 27, and it´s been so cool to teach him and watch him grow. He´ll be a great member, when he talked to his mom who is in paraguay she told him not to get mixed up with the mormons, and he told us that he sees that as just one of the trials that comes when we decide to follow the Savior. We´re super excited for his baptism. And then we taught another couple who are from Paraguay. He is a member but she isn´t, but the missionaries have already taught her all the lessons, but she couldn´t get baptised because she worked every sunday but now her schedule has changed, and she wants to get baptized a.s.a.p. and so we set a date for the 6 of February. it´s awesome to see the work of other missionaries, who left not knowing what would come of their labors, bring forth fruits. she is also super humble and super prepared. So everything is going great, I´m trying not to make fun of my comp, too much, about him going home in 33 days but sometimes I just can´t help it haha. That so awesome Jimmer Ferdett is Rippin it hard for the Y. I wish I could see him play, you gotta record some of their games. Anyways everythings good, thanks for everything, I´ll probably get the letter this week, and i´m going to send you a letter with pictures, send me the address of Jake Elison!
elder ross

January 12, 2011

~ Cristian got baptized, and his whole family came and a bunch of the members came, and helped with the baptizm and made a bunch of food, and it was awesome to see everyone working together and everything. We had one of the priests baptize him, and he did really good. The first time he didn´t go all the way under, cause he´s pretty big, but the priest didn´t get nervous, and the second time was good. It was good to see the priest get excited about baptizing someone, and now him and Cristian have a cool bond together I think. I´ve gotten a bunch of christmas letters from everyone, I can´t believe Sarah is gunna have twins, that´s crazy, and asa and Lucy look so big. The pioneer pageant that Debbie and Reid were in looked way fun too. I can´t wait to get home and study more of the history of the church. So we found out about transfers and the thing is that i´m going... to stay and see Elder Kap finish his mision here in Las Palmas. He´s the third person I´ve been with till the end. I´ve only had amazing examples all my mission so I have no other choice but to work hard till the very end. I think I might be here for one more transfer after this one to train the next elder that comes to replace poor elder Kap. I don´t miss a chance to remind elder Kap that he´s going home in a month. There was only one elder that went to the peninsula from the islands and all the others are staying for another transfer and it´s crazy cause a lot have been in the same area for a long time. One of the kids from Fuerteventura got sent to this city to live with his grandma cause he had some bad friends in Fuertevenura, so we´re going to work with him and keep an eye on him over here, and it made me so happy to see him and hear that he was going to live here for a while. Everything is going great, elder Kap and I are going to cut our medio dia in half for this transfer so elder kap can use as much time as possible to be a missionary. We´re teaching a lot and talking to a lot of people everyday. We have another baptism scheduled for the 23rd with a kid from Paraguay that is awesome. And the uncle of the kid who just got baptized might get baptized too we think, so everything is going great. The 25th we have zone conference and everyone´s excited to come over here to Las Palmas for a day or two. Thanks for everything, I hope all is good in Las Vegas, how are the cactuses(i know it´s cacti but it sounds weird)? anyways have a good week and I´ll talk to you later!
elder ross

January 5, 2011

~ Hey, we made the root beer and used it to make rootbeer floats and they were way good. I just eye balled it cause I didn´t have anything to measure the ingredients, but it turned out good. We still are planning on baptizing Cristian this saturday, so my first three baptisms are three boys under 18 yrs old. I always thought earlier on in the mission that it would be awesome to baptize younger people cause it would have the greatest impact on their lives and on the lives of those around them, for a long time. I´m pretty sure I´m staying here at least one more transfer but we don´t know yet. I hope I stay. The people here are awesome, Elder Kap is teaching me a lot and it would be awesome to be with him for his last transfer. We are going to work like crazy this transfer. I got the packages and they were awesome, the Horitos sent me crunch berries and fruit roll-ups and pringles and they are so good. Thanks for the christmas tree and the beef jerky and the sun flower seeds, and the books. I´ve always loved teaching lessons with visual aids but the only ones I´ve know have been ones that other missionaries have taught me, but now with the missionary aid book I´m set for some awesome lessons. I love the book by Elder Holland, it is soooooo good seriously. Thanks for the package. Today is Kings Day so everything is closed and we are using the computer in the church and we both have to use the same computer and we don´t have much times so I gotta go but thanks for everything you guys are the best.
elder ross

December 29, 2010

~ haha! no I don´t need a new suit, we only wear it on sundays and I´m going to take it to get drycleaned some day in the near/distant future, I might buy a pair of pants if we ever have time, but up until now everything has been going great. We are teaching alot and talking to a lot of people. We flew into Las Palmas las night after doing splits with the elders in Lanzarote. I got to see a less active member who we taught in fuerteventura who now lives in Lanzarote, and it was so good to see her. We taught her husband a lot but we coudn´t baptize him because he was waiting for a trial, but now everything is almost over with. He´s going to get baptized in Lanzarote and I´m so happy for them, they have three kids and when we taught them in Fuerteventura it always made me sad cause their situacion was so bad. But now everything has turned out good, they endured some hard trials for years, but it was all worth it, and it was awesome to see them again. When we got back we saw in the mailbox the paper for the package you sent me and when we opened the mail box there was another from the Horitos, we haven´t gotten them yet, but we´re going to pick them up right now so thanks!!!!! i´m super excited, tell the horitos thanks too.
Also I was wondering if you could look online for homeade rootbeer recipes, I need two, one with dry ice and one with just carbonated water (in case we can´t find dry ice) we´re going to make rootbeer floats for New Years Eve with the less active family that we´ve reactivate. also I want you to send me in just a word document drawings of the sun, without faces if you can find any, I want to use one for a lesson, send me a bunch and i´ll use the one I like. thanks for everything, don´t worry everything is going great I´m happy.
elder ross

December 22, 2010

~ MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! This is the warmest christmas I´ve ever had, it´s so nice outside. I got the package from the young men and young women, it was super heavy. Tell them that the beef jerky and peanut butter and gatorade and chewy bars are amazing. The pictures and notes me dieron mucho animo. I got a letter from the Shoendorfers, and when I opened the letter I ripped off a corner and the first thing I saw was Dan´s big bearded and smilin face and it made me so happy. It did me good to see them all. It looks like everyones growing up. Tell the Perry's and the Truman's thanks for the letters. I´m sure your package will get here today or tomorrow. Thanks for everything, I´m excited for the New Year. I can´t believe 2010 is already over. The time goes by super fast. We had a big christmas party here in the church and it was really good. There are two families whose dad isn´t a memeber, but we´re teaching one of them and his nephew is going to get baptized in two weeks and he is progressing a lot, and the other dad's family just had another baby girl, and his oldest daughter is going to get baptized in a year, and she wants him to baptize her so we´re going to start teaching him little by little. It would be so awesome if they both got baptized, I know their wives and kids would be super happy. I found a little book that explains chinese and i´m studying it a little bit. If I learn another language it´ll be chinese. We are going to eat with one family for lunch and another for dinner and then for New Years Eve we´ll be with a family that´s less active that has started to come back in the last month. It´s gunna be a great Christmas. Thanks for everything, I can only be grateful.
elder ross