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