Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Crazy couple of weeks!

December 13th Letter:

Hey fam,
Well sounds like you guys have had a pretty emotional week.. It sounds like putting Rosco down was super hard. Mom those stories you told me were horrible what are you trying to do kill me?! haha jk it´s ok. Well I´m pretty glad I wasn't there for it to tell you the truth, sorry you guys had to go through with it.

Well this week hasn't really been the best for me either, that family that I had that was going to get baptized ended up moving to Usulutan all of the sudden on Tuesday... so all five of them had to back out. Hopefully they get baptized over there but it´s pretty tough when stuff like that happens because they get used to the ward and the missionary's, and when they go somewhere else it´s just not the same and they go kind of cold, but I´m hoping for the best. Things with my companion are not the greatest either still haha laugh all you want! I really do hope I have changes or I might go out of my mind! Well this Wednesday we have kind of a mission Christmas party so that will be fun. It´s just with all of the zones in the city so the whole mission won´t be there, but it´ll still be a good time I´m sure. I´m hoping that I get the packages today!! I thought that I would get them last week but I didn´t so that was kind of disappointing, but I´m almost positive that they will be here today.

So it´s been super cold here lately! Well in the day it´s pretty hot but at night and in the morning I'm dying. It´s like high 60s! It´s pretty funny though, everybody here when it's that cold is wearing coats and sweaters and stuff and I know that if it was that temperature in Utah everybody would just be wearing jeans and a t-shirt haha. I´m seriously going to die coming back to Utah in November! So it hasn't really be snowing much lately? From what the boys told me it sounds like the weather has been pretty weird. Hey when does Nate Naegle come back? Isn´t it like next month? Man that´s so weird...

Well there have been some pretty crazy things happening in the mission lately.. there are a lot of REALLY disobedient elders and well one of them finally went to president and just told him EVERYTHING that he knew and that elders have done including himself. There are going to be some crazy changes in the next couple weeks and so I'm hoping it results in my being in a new area haha! But yeah its way sad what´s going on, I'm pretty sure some elders will be going home soon for things that they have done here in the mission. I was pretty shocked when I heard some of things that have been going on. Well what´s going on in the ward, anything new? Tell everybody hi for me. Ss the family Christmas party going to be on Christmas Eve like always? You´ll have to take some video for me. Well love you all soak up the holidays!!!! Talk to ya next week!

December 20th Letter:

Hey fam!
Well in just a few days we will be talking on the phone, I can´t believe it has already been 7 months since the last time that we talked! I remember us saying, "wow the next time we talk I will have more than a year in the mission.. pretty much home!" haha time is so weird because I feel the exact same as a did then, like not much has changed and not that much time has past. But then I look back on all the stuff that has happened and some differences in myself and it definitely seems like seven months if not longer! Anyways, I probably didn't make too much sense. I´m pretty sure I'm just going to buy a phone card (with plenty of time) and try and get a cell phone from a member to use because it´s cheaper that way. I´m way excited!!!

Well sounds like everybody is excited for Christmas, do you guys have any fun plans or are you just going to go to the family party? I'm sure that´s been fun to plan... haha I´m glad that you are doing it at the church though and not the house... it would be destroyed! Well I got the two packages!! I love them, the Feliz Navidad thing was a way good idea and it was soooo good to see all of those people! I have the wrapped presents sitting on my desk ready to go with my tree all made up and everything haha. I ´ll send you a pic of it it looks pretty good I won´t lie. Anyways loved it all thanks a lot!! Getting packages are the best. I´ve already pretty much downed all the food that was in there, haha the corn nuts tastes so good.

Well this week has been absolutely crazy. I can give you guys some more details in the phone call.. but this is it in a nutshell: I don´t really know if I have told you guys or not, but this mission is extremely disobedient and there are missionaries doing things here that would even get them in trouble if they weren't missionaries.. it´s a joke. Anyways a good friend of mine in the mission did something pretty bad a little bit ago, and felt really horrible about it. Anyways him and another elder were talking about how bad they felt and they knew a tooooon if things about other missionary's and other bad things. They knew by telling president they could literally change the mission. So they decided to go in and confess not only what they had done, but also EVERYTHING that they knew about EVERY elder in the whole mission. I give him a ton of credit for what he did, because he pretty much knew confessing to president meant going home early. But it was the only way if he really wanted to repent. To say the least president was pretty shocked and upset but didn't say much, just found out all the information he could and said he would talk to them later. Well a Monday night I got a call saying that there was a meeting that me and my companion had to be to and a few other people from the zone, in Cuscatlan. Well we got to the meeting the next day and they told us to sit down and study until president came. As I looked around I saw that everybody that was there were just the troubled missionaries and their companions..(so thanks to my companion I had to be there) so I kinda figured what the meeting would be about. So finally after about an hour president came in and said "you can all relax, you aren't going to be hearing a word from me today." what the heck does that mean?! After a little bit they separated us into two different rooms and the assistants were just talking to us and teaching us a little bit, but as they were doing that, the president was calling elders out one by one to be interviewed. So I was just sitting nervously waiting, and my turn finally came. I went out into the hall was greeted by the president, but he just pointed down the other hall. Well I turned the corner at waiting at the door was Elder Clark from the area 70!! He just shook my hand asked my where I was from and took me into an office. We started with a prayer and started talking. He started off by asking me if I would be 100 percent honest with him, so I said yes of course. Well he pretty much just asked me about my companion the whole time, and about the mission. So I told him what I knew and what I though we be of help to him. Turns out my companion had done some pretty serious stuff last change and he might be going home, along with about 10 other elders in the mission. Not only did Elder Clark come, but also elder Falabella and elder Martino from the area 70, the whole presidency!! I have never seen slash heard of anything like it. After all the interviews were done elder Martino came out and talked to everybody about the atonement and how if any change was going to be made it had to be right then. It was really cool and he was super forgiving and relaxed during the whole thing. I´ll never forget it! So pretty much a bunch of elders are just waiting out the transfer to see if they will be sent home or not. I'm just way grateful that I haven´t fallen into any temptation during the mission because there are a lot of elders who hate their lives right now and might be seeing there families a little earlier than expected. The changes are going to be crazy!!! Im almost positive I wont be with my companion again.. but we´ll see!!! Anyways sorry this has been so long, but we are going to talk this weekend!
But thanks for everything love you all, tell everybody Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk to ya Saturday!!!!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

No Comp! November 29th 2010

FAMMMMILY,
hey guys how´s it goin? Happy Thanksgiving! Late.. haha sounds like it was pretty awesome though, I wish I could have been there! I totally forgot it was thanksgiving until one of the Latino elders in the zone came up to me and was like hey man pretty good day for you huh! I just kind of looked at him confused and was like yeah.... great day....what are you talking about? He just laughed and said wow that's sad, I know your countries holidays better than you do! haha pretty funny. But it was actually a pretty interesting day.

Sadly, my companion went home. We were sitting there Wedensday night and he was just mad because he didn´t think anybody was taking him serious about him wanting to leave and that everybody just thought it was a big joke. His stake president still hadn´t called him and it had been a week and a half, and when he called president all he would say is that he had to wait for the call from his stake president. So that night he told me,/.l look they either do something about this and we can do this the right way and they can help me out, or im just going to get on a bus tomorrow morning and im leaving on my own. So I called the assistants and told them what was up and that if they doing figure something out my companion was just going to leave. Well, it worked. President called the zone leaders on thursday (we were having a zone meeting) and asked to talk to my companion. He said Elder Rojas, I hope you´re already packed up, cause you have to be at the bus at one O clock, I hope you´re sure about your decision. Well he had been packed since the Friday before that, so yeah he was ready for some time arleady haha. So me and the zone leaders went and dropped him off at the terminal and off he went to Honduras. It was all pretty horrible to tell you truth. I feel pretty bad that I couldn´t help him and make him stay. But we all have our agency. But then again it is a commandent... ah I dont know haha. Just crappy all around. So the other problem is that the mission pretty much has nobody to send me right now , there are no trio companionships or anything. So I´ve been with the zone leaders in their area the whole week! I talked to the assistant last night and he told me that either I'm just going to have to stick out this change with the zone leaders and we can try to work once and a while in my are and with the people that I have, or they are just going to send me out to another zone and put me into a trio. Stinks being in limbo! But it´s alright... the work is the work. It doesn´t really matter if I'm here or in my area. It´ll be interesting to see how it plays out, I should know by tomorrow.

So for my sweet Thanksgiving dinner we went to a mexican restaurant and had burritos haha so good. Seriously though I love mexican food. Cafe Rio is on the immediate to do list when i get home that´s for sure. So what are you guys thinking you are going to do for christmas? any fun plans? So remember those scripture covers that I ordered..? I still haven´t gotten them! It´s making me nervous. We are going to go to the office today to get a few things so I'm hoping that they are there. Sounds like you guys are enjoying little Sophie. I forgot to ask, how are Rosco and Joey doing with that? Well not much more going on here right now. Thanks for all your support, I miss you guys all the time! Have a good week. love you all.

Nick