Transfers - Off To Montevideo

Saying goodbye to the Oyarzabol Family - 

They are awesome!

Hola Fam!!!!!!!!!!

Dang I love reading all your emails! I get so focused and really feel like I am actually talking to each one of you personally. I didn't realize how funny you guys were. Haha I especially liked what dad said when Maggie asked him to tell her date that her curfew is 12:30, ¨I gladly abliged.¨ haha yeah I totally wish I could have seen Macy´s hick tooth, but when I was reading I was kinda hoping that she was going to say that she had to go a whole week or something without her tooth. Sounds like everything is going awesome at home with drill, young womens, high council, school, work, and boys (notice how I put drill first;)) 

Anyways things here have been kind of... oh wait transfers!!!!!!! Okay so after 6 months here I am leaving to...... Montevideo!!!!!!!!!! My area is called Carasco. My new companion will be Elder Ochoa, who is gringo apparently when I first heard his name I thought he was latino. Anyways we are white washing in, which means that we are both going to be new in our area. I am sooooo excited!! I really am sad to leave here, we have been saying goodbye to a lot of the members and after six months I have gotten to know some of them pretty well. But I am ready for a change.

It's been actually really hard and stressful the past week. Elder Cruz has been bugging me so bad!!! I don't know why, but we just can't get along. Also we haven't had much success. Ana Laura (the lady that came to church) - we couldnt ever get a hold of her and on Sunday her friend said that she was going to bring her to church with her but turned out that she had to work. Also with Evangelina and Fabian, we set up some lessons with them but they ended up not being able to. Overall it was just a really hard week. I have realized that if I am angry and fighting with my comp, Heavenly Father isn't going to bless me with people to teach. I really love Elder Cruz and have learned so many things while training him, but I'm just ready for a change.

So apparently I will be mas o menos close to the temple and the mission home. I think that I'm in the same zone as the offices and the assistants. But anyways I have heard that the people there are more closed and have more money so they don't listen to the missionaries. But I don't care about any of that!!!!!!!! I am just wanting to get out there and work. I really am confident that a missionary can change a whole area, and that's what I'm aiming to do.

Well another week without pictures sorry, this computer is dumb but I think that we will be able to find some good computers in Montevideo and yes I have been taking pictures of Florida don't worry.

I love you more than you will ever know!

Elder England

Saying goodbye to Alejandra - It was actually pretty sad -

I hope and pray they can stay active!

Members in our ward!  Florida has been an amazing

place to serve!

New President

Picture of typical streets in Florida Uruguay!

Family!!!

Dang I really wish I could have seen this awesome birthday party, and I really want a bowling shirt! Oh hey I don't think I told you but you asked me what I want for my b day and I want more pictures of you guys. You should send memory cards with pictures and videos of you guys. Anyways sounds like a ¨groovy¨ week;) Especially with the Eagles concert. I'm pretty jealous, super jealous that I didnt get to sit by a big fat drunk lady. But are you sure that she ¨spilled¨ beer on you, or were you getting a little taken away with the flash to the past? I didn't hear much about the St. George trip with the Wallaces but I imagine you're having a blast. And Maggie... Ugh... yeah I don't have anything to say... other than who is this kid? And where does he live? haha but seriously:)

Anyways there is actually some big news here in the mission. So on Saturday we all got a call from the assistants saying that we have to go to Montevideo on Monday, but no one knew why. So we went there on Sunday with the whole mission and it turns out that President Newsome and his family have to go home. Apparently there are legal issues with his company that he has to go back and figure out. It was really sad, I had really been starting to get to know President and now he is leaving. And for now we don't know who is going to be the next president, I have heard that they haven't even extended the calling yet. I have a feeling that the new President is going to be really awesome like President Newsome! 

Well along with all that, the mission is really focusing on our goals for the year and especially for this month. It turned out that we baptized less people in the year 2013 than we did in 2012. So for this year we have the goal to double the number of baptisms from last year. And to start the year we put the goal for 130 baptisms this month. I really think that we can get it, we have 65 already which is more than they had in the whole month of January last year. Elder Cruz and I put our goal one baptism for this month. And when we had our weekly planning session last Thursday our goal was looking very achievable. But by Saturday night our anticipated excitement died. Mirtha on Friday told us that she did not want to get baptised. After explaining and asking a lot of questions she then told us that she wanted to make her descision and didn't want to feel pressured. So we shared our testimonies and expressed our great desire to help her get baptized but explained that if she is looking for an answer she still has to look for it meaning that she has to read and keep coming to church and pray. And she said that she understood that. Also we had some other investigators named Evangelina and Fabian who were looking very bright and we had a lesson with them on Saturday but weren't there when we went. So by Saturday night we were a little down, but I was just praying for a miracle. Because in order for someone to be baptised they have to come to church at least twice so if we want to meet our goal we needed someone to be in the church Sunday to baptize them this month. Well we went to church and turns out that there are two young women in our ward that always come, well their mom came yesterday and the mom brought a friend. Well turns out the friend lives in our area, and really liked the meetings on Sunday. We have a lesson with her tomorrow, and she looks really nice. I am still hoping that this could be our miracle to help us meet the goal we have been working for.

I have been learning so much, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to train. I know that I still have a week left with Elder Cruz here in Florida, and I am determined to work until the transfers. Thanks for the inspired suggestions dad, you always help. I am really excited for transfers but sad to leave the area that I have been in for 6 months. 

Anyways have an awesome week. I love you all more than you will ever know!

Elder England

Doing some yoga on the roof with

Elder Cruz, Elder Gallacher

and Elder Canete

Courage Is The Little Voice That Says I'll Try Again Tomorrow

Picture of houses here in Florida Uruguay!

Hola Familia!!!

Sounds like everyone is back into school mode and the usual schedule. I have also heard that it is flippin cold there, haha suckas. I love reading about home. Sounds like all of you are doing so awesome with your new callings! Haha I can't believe that about Brandon, I just love the way he describes stuff. I really do have such an awesome group of friends, they are such great examples to me! And I have a fam that is pretty darn cool.

So I have just been realizing that I probably only have like two weeks left here in Florida. It's so weird cause I have been here my whole mission, but I'm excited for what is going to happen. I really have been realizing what a blessing it has been to train. I'm not going to lie, it has been harder than I thought. But definitely worth it. I just hope that Elder Cruz can learn and progress. I have actually seen a lot of progress in him, and we are getting along a million times better than we were. 

Something that I have realized about success in the mission... (well it's something that I have always known but I have felt the truth of it!) I've realized that if we do all we can, then at the end, whatever we have are extra blessings. I was talking to Elder Canete last night just about training and everything cause he is probably going to leave Florida too. I told him you know we haven't had many baptisms or many investigators that are progressing, and something that I have realized is that if I feel that I have done everything I can I am more than content with the outcomes no matter what they are. Obviously I am going to be sad if people don't progress or get baptized, but it really just comes down to if we did all we can. However, I think to myself a lot when I look back on the day that I could have done things different or we could have worked harder. But there was one night when I was thinking that, and a quote came to my head that says, ¨Courage is the little voice that says I'll try again tomorrow¨ I've realized that thinking to much about the past and what has or hasn't happened doesn't help me. What does help is learning what I could have done better and then doing it. As a zone we have plans to study about praying with faith in Preach My Gospel, and I acknowledged pretty much the same thing that we should pray with faith and believe in what we ask for but then get out there and do all we can. I really have grown to love the mission, it's the best.

Anyways about investigators, Mirtha came to church for sacrament meeting and said she really liked it and it seems to me that her interest is gradually growing which is so awesome. We are hoping that we can help her to get baptized on the 25th this month, I know we can do it. Other than her there is not much, oh actually one of the new investigators that we found last week may be interested!  We talked with her husband and they are awesome people and seem really interested in what we have to say, we have a charla with them this Saturday so we will see and I'll let you know about them.

Well I can't figure out how to download photos on this comp. sorry next week:)

I love you more than you will ever know!!!

Elder England

Out tracking with Elder Cruz!

Drenched In Sweat

So Hot!

Happy Birthday Dad - ya old fart!!!!!

Hey sorry I didn't write yesterday it was so hot that we couldn't leave our apartment without getting like a first degree burn... crazy - sounds like Marsh but opposite!

Haha just kidding the computer lab was closed yesterday cause it was El Dia De Los Reyes. It's pretty much like a second Christmas because latinos just love Christmas so much they celebrate it twice. But yeah that's why we didn't write yesterday.

But hey everything is so awesome here!!!! Really hot but awesome, actually today there is a crazy rainstorm. There have been a handfull of nights when we all wake up because the thunder is so darn loud. But I'm sure that tomorrow we will be burnin our buns off again. But I don't really mind how hot it is other than I am always drenched in sweat. It's actually pretty funny when it's really hot; when we are knocking doors or talking to people on the street when we first come up to them and talk about religion usually they just don't want anything to do with us, but if we ask them for a cup of water, they always give us water and cookies or something I find it quite sweet.

We really have not seen much progress in anyone this week. None of our investigators have been coming through with the commitments that we extend and none of them came to church this Sunday, a lot of them are actually never home. This week was pretty tough to be honest. We didn't have a lot of success, and just haven't been able to find very many people that are interested. But yesterday was so awesome!!! It was really hot and all of our plans fell through in like the first hour. But we kept working and talking to everyone that we could find, and we found two awesome new investigators, one of whom we set a baptismal date with. I pray that we can help them to progress, along with all the other investigators we have.

Oh yea hey, happy new year to all! New years was pretty dang fun we got to stay out until 10:30 and then didn't have to go to sleep until like 12 so we watched a bunch of fireworks!!! The fireworks are crazy here, it's kind of like the Guatemalan experience that we had. It was really fun.

Well I love you all more than you will ever know and I hope you had an awesome big 5 0 Cor. Just wanted you to know that I think about you so much, and am so grateful to have a Dad like you. You are my biggest example and all I have ever wanted was to be just like you. 

¨So I'm here now. I found you, Daddy, And guess what? I love you! I love you! I looove yoooouuuu!¨ -Elf

Elder Cruz found a beanie in the house and put it on my 

head and then took a picture

We had a fun activity on P Day with a bunch of youth