I Can't Wait A Whole Week

Elder Brown and me :)

Hey Guys! 

Happy B Day Soph dog!!! I seriously was going to say that last week, but being the horrible person that I am I forgot. However, I hope you had an awesome day. I think I told about everyone yesterday that it was your birthday. Soph you seriously make me so happy, and I can't not laugh when I think about you or look at a picture cause you are just so funny. But mom said that you have grown up the most out of anyone, and I totally agree. It scares me to see my little sister getting so big, but I just want you to know Soph that I love you.

The Europe trip looked amazing!! You two love birds. I like the green pants dad... ¨You look good dude... What?¨ Darn the Utes lost to Washington State. I had actually heard that they beat Michigan so I was all stoked to see how they did this week. It's okay though, UCLA here we come. About college I'm not sure. I definitely need to look for more spiritual guidance. But I was thinking about going to the U and then if I wanted to go to BYU I could maybe try and transfer. But I'm going to be thinking. I'll let you know what I'm thinking. 

Holy cow Macy's emails are so long! How does she have time to write so much. I think she is just better at putting her thoughts into words. But Mace I am really grateful for the blessing that we have had to serve together, it's always a strength to me to know that my sister is out there working hard too.

On Monday Andres sent us a message saying that he couldn't have the lesson and that he was sorry. He then said that they could do it next Monday, and I was like noooooooooooo! I can't wait a whole week! So we called him and set up a charla for the next day (Tuesday). We went by and it turned out that he was the only one home, but we had an awesome charla with Andres. We taught the restoration, and seriously he understood everything perfectly. Elder Brown and I have realized that if we really try and focus on explaining the cycle of God calling a prophet to start a dispensation but that with time the people reject the prophet's and the people fall into a state of apostasy thus forming a need for a restoration or the need for God to call another prophet, it's a lot easier to teach the part about the first vision and the last restoration through Joseph Smith. Anyways it was a killer lesson, and we have another lesson tonight. He said on Tuesday that the only day that the whole family is together is Monday... justo family home evening night:) Unfortunatley he told us that he was not gong to be able to go to church yesterday, but hopefully he will be able to come to conference. Speaking of conference... I'M SO EXCITED! But yeah Andres is really awesome and we went by during the week after Tuesday and he said that he had been praying and that he felt good about what we had taught. Great miracle!!!

Other than Andres and his family there hasn't been much progression with investigators. And as far as Elder Brown's progression I feel it has slowed down. He has been kind of discouraged lately... especially yesterday because it was raining all day and we were drenched. But I was loving it. Like all the streets here flooded and so we were walking in water up to our shins on some streets. But I'm really going to try to help him this week to try and have a more positive attitude. He really is an awesome guy, I just want him to be more awesome. I feel that he is living below his potential. But it's going to be a good week!

Oh the temple was absolutely amazing! Tuesday was a wonderful day, one of the best I've had in the mission. Elder Brown, Elder Ochoa, and I listened to the session in English... so much more powerful. My interview with President Cook went really well. He is such a loving guy. He asked how I was doing with regards to Dean's death, and I told him all about the funeral. He said he would like to read dad's talk. I also invited him to read "Ti Voglio Bene", and he gladly accepted. When we were eating lunch he actually ran and scanned every single page onto his computer so that he could give me my copy back. But he told me that he could see how much our family supports mission service. He said "I can feel the love that a father has for his son when I receive a call from a father asking me to check on his son". (Thanks Dad!) Thanks for all the love and support. I constantly feel that I am the person most blessed in the world... because I am!

I love you more than you will ever know. Have an awesome week!

Elder England

Things Are Going Good Here

We did some service!  This missionary is from guatemala, He said he

lives by Tikal, the city with all the old Mayan ruins.

And he told me that there is a way cool song called

"Soy De Zacapa". You guys should look it up.

Hey happy campers!!!

How are things? The trip sounds awesome!!! You have to send some pictures next week. I'm super jealous about the Porche plant and the Mercedes museum, but I still remember the Ferrari tour museum. Homecoming week? Mag's what's going on with that? Have you been asked? Soph how's middle school going? Bo how's soccer? Kenna Dalt when are you going to have a baby? I mean you've already been married for like 4 years, and hey I've got like 9 months left so...;) 

Things are going good here. We started focusing more on less active members and incomplete families this week rather than former investigators, and we have been seeing a little more success. We actually found a family!!! We haven't had much contact with them. Okay, here is what happened... We had found this one guy named Andres and he was really cool and told us that his mom was a member and that she lives behind his house. Anyways we went by last monday after p day and he said yeah we aren't going to be home much until next Monday... ugh. So we are going to pass by today. Also we really want to help Yonny and Florencia progress, and help them to get married. The problem with them is that Yonny is working even more than he usually was cause he is helping his sister with her work, and this week is vacations here and Florencia says that she is not going to be home all week. But hey there are two families that we are looking to help. In addition, we are trying to work with the families of the recent converts in our ward because almost all of them have family members who are not members. But that is the plan there. We haven't been having too much success in helping our investigators get to church, but it's all going to change. 

So I just realized that I have almost already been here with Elder Brown for a month... wow. Time flies when you're having fun. And I am seeing a lot of progress with Elder Brown's confidence! We had a good talk in our inventario de compañeros in our weekly planning, and since then we have had more unity and are just happier to work hard and give it our all.

Hey guess what we are going to the temple tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited! We are going to have interviews with President as well. It's going to be a good day. 

I love you all more than you will ever know!!! Have fun on the trip Corster and Care bear. Have a great week everybody.

Elder England

Last week we went to the beach and a cool house

shaped like an eagle. It was super fun.

A Lot Of Effort, With Little Results

More UTE signs!

Hola!

I wish I could have been there for the funeral, but it sounds like it was an amazing program. I'm excited to get it and read dad's talk. I've been thinking a lot about Dean and the Coffey's this week. Pres. Cook called me when I was on the bus going back to our house. It was good to get a call from him, and he said that he sent me a email but I have yet to read it. Although I'm sad that I'm not there to help, I hope my prayers do help. Although I frequently think of his passing, those thoughts and feelings make me want to work even harder.

I loved reading Macy's email from last week. I don't understand how she does it. How she is so positive, and how she works so hard. Every single week she has amazing stories of how she is being an instrument in the Lord's hands. Colorado sure is lucky. 

This week has been a little tough. A lot of effort, with little results. Well results when referring to people to teach. I feel I have learned a lot this week personally... a lot about patience. We spent a lot of the week in the street doing contacts. We had a long list of former investigators that we had split up into different groups according to where there live. So we were looking for addresses practically the whole week... and Uruguayan addresses are not the best. Not to mention that a good portion of the names on the list were from over a few years ago. Mace was mentioning that some Elders didn't keep the area book very up to date... that is a big problem here in Uruguay. 

I have been thinking a lot lately. Thinking about how at this time in my mission I feel that I am working harder and more efficiently than I have before, yet we aren't really seeing much success. With the focus of finding families, I have been praying to find a family to teach and help. Well during the week I thought that I had recieved the answer to my prayer multiple times. At the beginning of the week we ate lunch with a really nice family in our ward, and the wife of the family told us that she had a referencia that she wanted to give us. So we decided that she was going to write her testimony in a Book of Mormon and then she was going to send a message to this family saying that she was sending a gift to her with some friends. So we gave her a Book of Mormon to write in and then planned to go by the next day, well when she sent the message the family sent a message back saying, ¨Oh thank you but for now no. We don't want to learn more."  I strongly believe that we are only passing through a small trial of our faith... and patience... before we can recieve or see miracles. I know that there is a family here somewhere, we just have to keep looking for them. I'll tell you guys next week about how we found them;) cause we are going to find a family this week.

I love you all more than you will ever know! Especially you Coffey family!

Have an awesome week. Keep moving forward.

Elder England

I'm Gonna Miss Dean-o

Hey fam!

I opened my email and saw the first part of the email that said Sad News - Important and I didn't like the feeling I got when I read that. My heart is greived that I am not there to help the Coffey family, but I know they are strong. I have always been grateful for the opportunity that I have had to know the Coffey family. They really are my best friends, and every time I think of my childhood the Coffey family comes to my mind. Dean Coffey has been a hero for me for as long as I can remember. He is such a humble happy going man. I say is, because Dean is still with us. He will always be with us. I know that! I share that with people every single day, and there is not a single doubt in my mind that we will see Dean-o again. 

It is hard for me to think that when I go home, Dean won't be there. But lucky for me, I have a large amount of memories with him. I remember Dean would always take us kids to go get slurpies at 7-11 after soccer games. I remember spending Halloween in St. George with the Coffeys and Criddles. A picture of us all with carved pumpkins sitting on the curb comes to my mind every time I think of that. But who can forget the scary face that Dean always did where he raised his upper lip and popped out his eyes. I remember almost peeing my pants multiple times in the Coffeys house because Dean would pin us down and tickle us til we couldn't breathe.

All of the memories that I have of Dean-o are all happy. I don't remember seeing Dean mad once in my whole life... Okay maybe one time... I always remember a fishing trip to Lake Powell with the Coffey family. It was the first time I had been fishing in my whole life, and I think I hooked more people than fish. I remember Drew got a hook in his eyebrow, not sure if it was me... probably. Sorry Andrew ;) I think Matthew got hooked in like the nipple or something like that. But Dean took care of the whole situation very patiently.

I loved playing golf with Matthew, Drew, and the old farts. Dean would always make it fun. He was kind of a crazy driver, which reminds me of when Dean would drop me off from basketball or something and then peel out in the snow in his truck. Along with Deans desire to live life to the fullest, he always showed his compassion and care for everyone. I remember a basketball game when Dean was our coach... The other team had stolen the ball and had a fast break to the basket, but Matthew stood to take a charge. As the kid with the ball went up, he gave Mamoo a good knee to the stomach. Even though Dean was a big guy, I was never afraid of him... except for in that moment. He ran onto the floor and made sure that Matthew was okay and also was saying something like "What was that ref?" But during all that he always respected others.

Dean was like another father to me. I will always cherish the memories that we made together, and the example that he has set for me. I LOVE YOU COFFEY FAMILY! Just know that I am praying for you all. The memories that we have are only few, compared to the ones we will make in the eternities. You guys will always be my best friends and biggest examples. Stay strong!!! I heard a quote at the beginning of my mission that also applies to life in general. It says, ¨Start strong, but finish stronger!¨ Dean has run the race, but we have to keep running. Let the Lord point us toward the tape, and then we need to give it all we have. ¨Don't do anything that would embarasse my team, my family, or myself¨ -Forever Strong 

As for things here in Uruguay they are going good. We are still looking for families to teach. The mission is focusing on finding families, and the goal is that they can get to the temple to get sealed. Families can be together forever. I had the opportunity to do 6 baptismal interviews this past week. I love doing interviews. 5 of the interveiws were from the same family. It was a really special experience to be able to see their baptism as well. So Elder Brown and I are going to go find some families this week.

I love you all more than you will ever know!!! I hope this week will be better than the last. ¨Keep moving forward!¨

Elder England

The Mission Has Helped Me In So Many Ways

Hello Family!!!

Things are going great with Elder Brown in Lomas de Solymar, La Costa. La Costa is the zone and Lomas de Solyma`pher is the area. To tell you a little more about Elder Brown, he is from Pheonix, Arizona and has a couple more months in the mission that me. He is a really nice guy. We kind of have different personalities, but we get along great. He is kind of a timid guy when talking to people on the street, but I hope that I can help him have a little more self confidence. I don't remember if I mentioned this before but Elder Lizaraso was a little like that, probably not as extreme but I really noticed that Elder Lizaraso had changed by the end of the transfer. So that's the goal with Elder Brown.

As far as investigators go... it's not looking so bright as of now. But this week we are going to find miracles! With Natalia we kept passing by but couldn't get in contact with her. Then on Friday I think it was, we went by and they have a lot of dogs out in front that always bark as we walk up to the door. And by their front door there is a big window. Well as we were walking up to the door, I think I saw Natalia stand up and walk into another room of the house... and no one came out when we knocked the door. I liked what Mace was saying and sharing from that Elder Holland talk. I remember hearing that talk in Florida when I was training. I just remember being totally stressed and frustrated about almost everything, and then in a zone conference the zone leaders showed us a video of that talk. I am glad for the opportinuty that I have had to feel some of what the Savior felt and suffer some of the pains that He suffered. The mission has helped me in so many ways, more that I thought was possible. 

On a brighter note I feel like I am really starting to get to know a lot of the members better. I feel a need to work more with the members this change. If only everyone were as good of a member missionary as Mama D. Mama D sent me an amazing story about how she was an amazing member missionary. Anyways Lomas de Solymar better be scared because Elder Brown and I are going to tear it up this transfer. 

In the midst of a difficult week, the UTES pulled out the first win of the season!!! Oh the UTE posts here are for the water. The company that works with and installs water in peoples house is called UTE. I think it stands for something but I don't know what. But yeah I am going to continue looking for the posts to take pictures and send them to you guys...  have to show my Utah pride somehow. Let's go UTES!

I love you guys more than you will ever know!! Have an awesome week.

Elder Inglaterra