WOW! Ryan story was SOOOOOOOO flipping hilarious, and especially their fishing pole stories. I can just see how that turned out.
The presents were great I only found the two fives, but I´ll look inside the med kit when I get home.
So this week was interesting. I feel like I don´t know anything. I´ve never had office experience before and I´m so used to being a missionary that it’s been a rough transfer. I know that I wouldn´t be here unless God wants me here. It´s hard to accept His will sometimes, and He always seems to find something that would be hard. It´s ok though, by these things I know I´ll grow in ways that He needs me to grow. Something that was rough to accept was that last night I called Elder Shannon to see if I left some stuff in the other house, and of course I asked him if how the sector was doing. The sector really is doing well. Almost all of the investigators I was teaching are going to be baptized, and people that I´ve been trying to get into the program for a very long time are now in and progressing. That sector is probably going to have 10 baptisms this month. I know it´s selfish to want those baptisms, but besides the statistic those were people that I really wanted to see get baptized, and to be there with them to get them there. I know that the Lord only asks us to give something up so that we may have something better, so I´m working to find that something else that is better. There aren´t accidents in the mission. God wouldn´t take that risk. So now I´m just working to find that purpose. I really feel a lot of potential coming from this ward though. They´re so incredible. It´s such a structured and matured ward. Something I haven´t seen in a very long time. Not to mention their desires for mission work are incredible. We get references like nothing else. The only problem the sector has is a lack of organization on the missionaries’ part. The office staff sadly doesn´t have all day to give to the sector. So they find a bunch of people but they baptize the people that don´t require a bunch of work. That´s something I´m working to change. This place has potential for double digit baptisms with frequency. I really hope to be able to coordinate well with the ward to get more people coming to church, because we´ve also found a lot of people and we’re going to need a lot of help teaching and visiting these people with the little time we have.
Change of pace story: Thursday night there was going to be a baptism. Elder Guerrero and I show up to the chapel to get things ready. We see the font and it is FULL of crickets. Like “cricket community pool” status. So Elder Guerrero and I had to take off our shoes and roll up our pants to go get out all these crickets. We finish and the water smells disgusting and is still dirty. You can´t have a baptism like that even though it´s going to be filled with sins afterwards. (haha) Problem: The valve was broken. So what do we do? We empty it out bucket by bucket (seriously, what´s my problem with baptismal fonts?!) We´re almost done when someone tells us that the girl who was getting baptized is not coming because something went down with the dad and permission. So we were all sweaty with wet pants and we didn´t even get the baptism. Bust.
Well that´s about it for the week. I love you guys a lot and you are in my prayers. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Elder Vuinovic
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Letter 36 - 12/20/10
This is going to be a quickie but get this. I think it´s the best baptism story ever.
It was a good week, but I´m only going to share our day Saturday because that will take plenty of time as it is.
First of all I found out Wednesday night that I was District leader and that the next day I had to do an interview.... with two mentally handicapped people. That was interesting, but they were both ok. So Saturday rolls around and the same Elders call me and tell me that they need another interview because the sister of that same family is going to be baptized... that same day. (great timing). The whole world stops for a baptismal interview, so instead of filling up the baptismal font we went to do the interview. This interview was INSANE. I seriously felt like I was about to get punked. Who has to interview 3 handicapped people for their first interviews? What made it so rough was that she said she had a problem with one of the questions, but I couldn´t figure out if it really happened or not. I had to ask the missionaries several times if they knew about this stuff beforehand. I had to make sure she was telling the truth and not just making something up. I was SO confused. She would say things that sounded like they could be true with awkward detail, but then there would be facts that were messed up. Finally after 300 questions we finished the interview. The missionaries went to go verify with the mom the validity of the story. Later on…
After the interview I was a little fried, but we went to go check out our appointments in the morning, and there wasn´t anything. So we just went to the chapel to fill up the font. We start the water and get cleaning. Elder Shannon realized that the water stopped filling up. Dang! So we see that there´s a water spigot in the cleaning closet and we go bucket by bucket filling this font up. I realized that it´s time for our lunch appointment, and we really couldn´t be late to their house. So we left and afterwards taught a lesson to the Cedeño family, the one with the inactive dad. It was awesome because the dad was there this time and we had a great lesson. Afterwards we get back to filling the font bucket style, but I realized that there´s no way that we can fill it up in that much time. I remembered that the ex-bishop is a gardener for the church so we went over there and got a hose. Awesome! Hose in the font and its filling up. We go to teach a lesson. Great lesson and we go around making sure that everyone´s coming to the baptism. We go back to the chapel and the hose had been pulled out and there was NO water in the font. Well, enough to maybe roll her around in it, or maybe baptize her catholic style. Not to mention NO ONE from the bishopric came. Even worse was that there were FIVE investigators that came to the baptism, but we had to send them home because there was nothing. I felt so terrible. Shirley Rodriguez, the girl who was going to get baptized, got really sad because she wanted to get baptized that night, and she was really excited beforehand. Not to mention she got all dressed up for it. Elder Shannon felt sad because it was his first baptism, and I felt like junk because I´m supposed to know what to do to fix it, and I couldn´t do a thing. Finally, an hour later, a counselor showed up and I remembered that another ward had a baptism and we could go over there to have it there. He shrugged and said let´s go. So what do we do? We walk, in the rain, all dressed up to the other chapel, and we have the baptism. It was so awesome! Elder Shannon did it, and I felt so proud! It was the closest to Father-Son pride it could be. He was SO excited afterward and Shirley was crying before and after because she was so happy. It was a nightmare that turned out AWESOME! It was a really spiritual baptism and Shirley really showed how much she wanted to be baptized. It was a great experience.
Love, Elder Vuinovic
It was a good week, but I´m only going to share our day Saturday because that will take plenty of time as it is.
First of all I found out Wednesday night that I was District leader and that the next day I had to do an interview.... with two mentally handicapped people. That was interesting, but they were both ok. So Saturday rolls around and the same Elders call me and tell me that they need another interview because the sister of that same family is going to be baptized... that same day. (great timing). The whole world stops for a baptismal interview, so instead of filling up the baptismal font we went to do the interview. This interview was INSANE. I seriously felt like I was about to get punked. Who has to interview 3 handicapped people for their first interviews? What made it so rough was that she said she had a problem with one of the questions, but I couldn´t figure out if it really happened or not. I had to ask the missionaries several times if they knew about this stuff beforehand. I had to make sure she was telling the truth and not just making something up. I was SO confused. She would say things that sounded like they could be true with awkward detail, but then there would be facts that were messed up. Finally after 300 questions we finished the interview. The missionaries went to go verify with the mom the validity of the story. Later on…
After the interview I was a little fried, but we went to go check out our appointments in the morning, and there wasn´t anything. So we just went to the chapel to fill up the font. We start the water and get cleaning. Elder Shannon realized that the water stopped filling up. Dang! So we see that there´s a water spigot in the cleaning closet and we go bucket by bucket filling this font up. I realized that it´s time for our lunch appointment, and we really couldn´t be late to their house. So we left and afterwards taught a lesson to the Cedeño family, the one with the inactive dad. It was awesome because the dad was there this time and we had a great lesson. Afterwards we get back to filling the font bucket style, but I realized that there´s no way that we can fill it up in that much time. I remembered that the ex-bishop is a gardener for the church so we went over there and got a hose. Awesome! Hose in the font and its filling up. We go to teach a lesson. Great lesson and we go around making sure that everyone´s coming to the baptism. We go back to the chapel and the hose had been pulled out and there was NO water in the font. Well, enough to maybe roll her around in it, or maybe baptize her catholic style. Not to mention NO ONE from the bishopric came. Even worse was that there were FIVE investigators that came to the baptism, but we had to send them home because there was nothing. I felt so terrible. Shirley Rodriguez, the girl who was going to get baptized, got really sad because she wanted to get baptized that night, and she was really excited beforehand. Not to mention she got all dressed up for it. Elder Shannon felt sad because it was his first baptism, and I felt like junk because I´m supposed to know what to do to fix it, and I couldn´t do a thing. Finally, an hour later, a counselor showed up and I remembered that another ward had a baptism and we could go over there to have it there. He shrugged and said let´s go. So what do we do? We walk, in the rain, all dressed up to the other chapel, and we have the baptism. It was so awesome! Elder Shannon did it, and I felt so proud! It was the closest to Father-Son pride it could be. He was SO excited afterward and Shirley was crying before and after because she was so happy. It was a nightmare that turned out AWESOME! It was a really spiritual baptism and Shirley really showed how much she wanted to be baptized. It was a great experience.
Love, Elder Vuinovic
Letter 35 - 12/13/10
Wow. It´s really good to hear about Randy. Especially how that little message from the gospel helped him out. Props on getting that kid talking. He just needs to talk. If he can just talk it´s really easy to help him out. PS- I had a random urge to eat something from a Galt restaurant and go for a walk around downtown..... moving on.
Had a great week. We did a great job keeping up on the investigators from the week before and we had several people come to church this week. It felt really good. One of our older investigators showed up today. He finally got time off of work and it looks like he´ll be able to start coming more regularly. It was funny because I told him he might have to be baptized by other missionaries because he was living in another sector. I found out later that he has the same house, but during the week sleeps at his work for convenience. Before finding this out he was in the hall and he told me, "I´m going to be baptized here, and I´m going to be baptized the 25th." He´s so awesome. He was prepared more than two months ago. It´ll be a pleasure to baptize him. Also the sister of Angel Rodriguez is going to be baptized for sure this week. I´m really excited. Slowly and surely we´re going to complete that family. The cousins want to get baptized, but the grandma they´re living with doesn´t want anything to do with us. So we´re going to have to go talk to her this week. It´s not looking that good, but if you could keep them in your prayers that would be great. They´re named Katherine, Michael, and Paula Tisalema. Also if you could pray that Shirley Rodriguez and Freddy Olvera can keep up their efforts to give up coffee I would really appreciate that too. So, by the looks of it we´re going to get our goal of 3 for the month with a good amount of prospects for January.
Something happened with the ward and I’ts great. We had ward council and the counselor to the bishop was talking firmly about getting support in the mission work, by getting us references. What totally helped was that we walked in there with a progress report full of people. The bishop even said, ‘yeah that´s a lot of people’. They were talking about their monthly goals for baptisms. After that I showed them the progress report. I straight up told them that it was cool that their goal was three for January, but we right now have the potential 10 baptisms realistically speaking, but there are problems that we as missionaries can´t help with. If they have a true friend things will be resolved. I told them that if they want these baptisms that they are available, but we need their help. I´m going to start to carry a progress report with me at all times to be able to talk about investigators. I really think that things are going to get a lot better with the ward, and that I´ve been able to get a little more confidence from the members.
Cool story. We were at a baptism because we stopped by for some investigators and they said they were coming. Afterwards we were going to go by an investigator´s house, Joffrey Chele, to see if he was going to come to church and to wish him happy birthday. As we were leaving Elder Shannon mentioned something about bringing everyone over to Joffrey´s house, but was joking around. I don´t know if it was because I was thinking the same thing or what, but I almost instinctively went around collecting all the young single adults to come with us. He turned 18 so it was perfect for him to get to know them. We bought some bread and a soda so we didn´t look like mooches and we totally surprised them. It went great. Elder Shannon and I came up with a couple games so we weren´t awkwardly sitting around. The mom was probably the most thankful. She came out and told us that Joffrey didn´t have friends around there because he goes to a high school in another part of the city and all he does is study. I felt so good that he had that on his birthday because pretty much nothing else happened. Some other family members came by I think, but that was it. So before we left I asked him if he was going to church the next day, knowing darn well what the answer would be. haha. We got a very warm yes.
There´s an awesome family that we found the week before last, the Cedeño family. The dad is a doctor and travels a lot. He´s inactive, but tells everyone he´s a member still. The family is great. They have really good standards. The mom is the only one I worry for. She expresses many of the things we hear from Catholics, but I know it´s only from a fear of change. She’ll be ok once she comes to church. I´m really excited for them. They´re such great people that would be so much happier as members of the church. Keep them in your prayers too! Their names are Rosario (mom), Ginger and Donna (daughters), and Borys and Arrón (sons).
Elder Vuinovic
Had a great week. We did a great job keeping up on the investigators from the week before and we had several people come to church this week. It felt really good. One of our older investigators showed up today. He finally got time off of work and it looks like he´ll be able to start coming more regularly. It was funny because I told him he might have to be baptized by other missionaries because he was living in another sector. I found out later that he has the same house, but during the week sleeps at his work for convenience. Before finding this out he was in the hall and he told me, "I´m going to be baptized here, and I´m going to be baptized the 25th." He´s so awesome. He was prepared more than two months ago. It´ll be a pleasure to baptize him. Also the sister of Angel Rodriguez is going to be baptized for sure this week. I´m really excited. Slowly and surely we´re going to complete that family. The cousins want to get baptized, but the grandma they´re living with doesn´t want anything to do with us. So we´re going to have to go talk to her this week. It´s not looking that good, but if you could keep them in your prayers that would be great. They´re named Katherine, Michael, and Paula Tisalema. Also if you could pray that Shirley Rodriguez and Freddy Olvera can keep up their efforts to give up coffee I would really appreciate that too. So, by the looks of it we´re going to get our goal of 3 for the month with a good amount of prospects for January.
Something happened with the ward and I’ts great. We had ward council and the counselor to the bishop was talking firmly about getting support in the mission work, by getting us references. What totally helped was that we walked in there with a progress report full of people. The bishop even said, ‘yeah that´s a lot of people’. They were talking about their monthly goals for baptisms. After that I showed them the progress report. I straight up told them that it was cool that their goal was three for January, but we right now have the potential 10 baptisms realistically speaking, but there are problems that we as missionaries can´t help with. If they have a true friend things will be resolved. I told them that if they want these baptisms that they are available, but we need their help. I´m going to start to carry a progress report with me at all times to be able to talk about investigators. I really think that things are going to get a lot better with the ward, and that I´ve been able to get a little more confidence from the members.
Cool story. We were at a baptism because we stopped by for some investigators and they said they were coming. Afterwards we were going to go by an investigator´s house, Joffrey Chele, to see if he was going to come to church and to wish him happy birthday. As we were leaving Elder Shannon mentioned something about bringing everyone over to Joffrey´s house, but was joking around. I don´t know if it was because I was thinking the same thing or what, but I almost instinctively went around collecting all the young single adults to come with us. He turned 18 so it was perfect for him to get to know them. We bought some bread and a soda so we didn´t look like mooches and we totally surprised them. It went great. Elder Shannon and I came up with a couple games so we weren´t awkwardly sitting around. The mom was probably the most thankful. She came out and told us that Joffrey didn´t have friends around there because he goes to a high school in another part of the city and all he does is study. I felt so good that he had that on his birthday because pretty much nothing else happened. Some other family members came by I think, but that was it. So before we left I asked him if he was going to church the next day, knowing darn well what the answer would be. haha. We got a very warm yes.
There´s an awesome family that we found the week before last, the Cedeño family. The dad is a doctor and travels a lot. He´s inactive, but tells everyone he´s a member still. The family is great. They have really good standards. The mom is the only one I worry for. She expresses many of the things we hear from Catholics, but I know it´s only from a fear of change. She’ll be ok once she comes to church. I´m really excited for them. They´re such great people that would be so much happier as members of the church. Keep them in your prayers too! Their names are Rosario (mom), Ginger and Donna (daughters), and Borys and Arrón (sons).
Elder Vuinovic
Letter 34 - 12/6/10
Well we had a huge meeting this morning with the President and it took forever so I have no time to do anything today. I have only a little time to throw something your way and shoot off an email to the president.
Cool news....... I`m training!!!! Way cool. I found out last Monday night. So Elder Hernandez left and I got my “kid”. His name is Elder Shannon and his first name is Nefi. Not Nephi, but the Spanish, Nefi. We had a great week. I`m totally loving his geenie fire and it feels good being with someone who has that energy again. I`m really not trying to mold him, but rather focus him. He`s pretty impulsive because of his ADD. I just laugh normally, but sometimes I have to calm him down/correct. There`s really a huge problem with speaking English. Wherever we are he speaks English and at one voice level. So I`m trying to get him in Spanish mode. We put up great numbers, but no one came to church this week. We totally made plans and everything and verified several times throughout the week, but no one was home. It`s still possible to make our goal, but we have to make sure that everyone else comes to church next week.
I wish I had time to fill you all in on more, but training is fun, and things are going well. Much better than in past weeks. I learned a lot in those weeks, and I know that I´m going to be using that experience for a lot of my mission and the rest of my life.
Love you,
Elder Vuinovic
Cool news....... I`m training!!!! Way cool. I found out last Monday night. So Elder Hernandez left and I got my “kid”. His name is Elder Shannon and his first name is Nefi. Not Nephi, but the Spanish, Nefi. We had a great week. I`m totally loving his geenie fire and it feels good being with someone who has that energy again. I`m really not trying to mold him, but rather focus him. He`s pretty impulsive because of his ADD. I just laugh normally, but sometimes I have to calm him down/correct. There`s really a huge problem with speaking English. Wherever we are he speaks English and at one voice level. So I`m trying to get him in Spanish mode. We put up great numbers, but no one came to church this week. We totally made plans and everything and verified several times throughout the week, but no one was home. It`s still possible to make our goal, but we have to make sure that everyone else comes to church next week.
I wish I had time to fill you all in on more, but training is fun, and things are going well. Much better than in past weeks. I learned a lot in those weeks, and I know that I´m going to be using that experience for a lot of my mission and the rest of my life.
Love you,
Elder Vuinovic
Letter 33 - 11/29/10
We had to stay in on Sunday for the Census. So I made the food then. It actually wasn´t that bad. Especially given that I made it in 20 minutes. I cried when I said the Thanksgiving prayer. But felt really good to eat stuffing. Surprisingly it was really good. The potatoes too. I missed the pumpkin and apple pie. There´s no replacing that.
I honestly have no idea how the phone thing works. I´m really sorry, but I don´t have time to be able to look into that. I´ll see what I can do next pday, but I can´t take proselyting time to do that. What I´ve heard of people doing is just calling to their house and then having the family return the call. Phone service is really expensive here especially for a long call. I think it would be better if you guys bought a calling card and returned the call, but I´ll see if I can look into it more next week.
Dad told me about the Polar Express train. Gosh that would have been so awesome!!
It´s really awesome to hear that Tarl´s doing great. I´d imagine so. He did so much to get himself ready. He´ s going to be such a great missionary. Well he was actually already a missionary.
Well I really don´t have more time. It was a good week this week. Things are getting better. We´re moving the program forward and getting some more people. We won´t be going without baptisms this month of December and we´ll also be getting set up for January. Things are looking up. I´ll update you some more next week.
Love,
Elder Vuinovic
I honestly have no idea how the phone thing works. I´m really sorry, but I don´t have time to be able to look into that. I´ll see what I can do next pday, but I can´t take proselyting time to do that. What I´ve heard of people doing is just calling to their house and then having the family return the call. Phone service is really expensive here especially for a long call. I think it would be better if you guys bought a calling card and returned the call, but I´ll see if I can look into it more next week.
Dad told me about the Polar Express train. Gosh that would have been so awesome!!
It´s really awesome to hear that Tarl´s doing great. I´d imagine so. He did so much to get himself ready. He´ s going to be such a great missionary. Well he was actually already a missionary.
Well I really don´t have more time. It was a good week this week. Things are getting better. We´re moving the program forward and getting some more people. We won´t be going without baptisms this month of December and we´ll also be getting set up for January. Things are looking up. I´ll update you some more next week.
Love,
Elder Vuinovic
Letter 32 - 11/22/10
I´m glad you liked the stuff. I really tried hard to get something good for everyone. I think I’m gonna buy a scarf before I leave for me too. Son vacán! Thank you SO much for sending me that package. I´m so stoked. I´m gonna ask if I can take some time that day to be able to cook it and have a little bit of a Thanksgiving dinner. I just want a little something to make me think I´m with you guys.
BEST LEMONADE EVER!!! You really have no idea how good this stuff was. There´s this lemon that doesn´t export of out to the US because it doesn´t last that long. So you´d only find it around here. This stuff was all the things that one could possibly fantasize (spelling?). A lot of lemonades are pulpy or grainy from the sugar. Not this one. wow. pure. smooth. refreshing. sweet. slightly sour. Heaven! The family that made the lemonade, the Castro familia, is a family that we found that sells food. They´re such an awesome family. They accepted a baptismal date on the first lesson. They´re really humble people who really recognized the truth in our message. I´m really excited to see them progress.
This week was better. The numbers weren´t great, but I feel like we´re on a road to get better. We have plans to completely revamp the relationship between the ward and the missionaries. It´s been a really rough week to find new investigators, but I think things will be better as we work out this plan. I really have hopes to get the members in a missionary mindset, or at least think about people that we could teach.
So two cool things this week: One night we passed by the Vera family to teach their recent convert lessons. We were waiting outside for the husband, Douglas, just talking. Monica told me that one day there was a bunch of noise and she couldn´t calm down or catch a breath. She started reading the Book of Mormon and finished with a prayer. Afterwards felt an extreme peace. So much so that she fell asleep. She asked me what it was, and I replied as content as could be that it was 100% the Spirit. I then explained that now as a confirmed member of the Church she has the right to have that companionship forever and that she can always have those feelings, in accordance to her obedience. I was so happy when she told me about that. Looking back it feels like an Ammon experience. Such a blessing to be able to be the messenger that brought them this message of true happiness.
Ultimately, I´ve been working a lot on a project I have to collect scriptures following themes and mark them in my Book of Mormon. I´m almost done. It´s such an awesome experience. Lately I´ve been focused on our purpose and time here on earth and the Atonement of Christ as part of the Plan of Salvation. It´s so incredible how clear things are in the Book of Mormon. I feel like I´ve learned so much. Well, it´s things I already knew, but I feel like my testimony has been greatly fortified. I have such a love for studying this way. Instead of thinking of the Plan, and my testimony thereof in its stages, I look at it more fully and I feel like my understanding is much more complete. I truly view this plan completely as a manifestation of the great and incomprehensible love that our Father in Heaven has for us. I know that Christ is our Savior and that a full and true happiness comes from repentance and obedience. I know that God is our Father and loves us intensely. I know that this is the Restored Church of Christ that He placed on the earth to bless us. I pray that we all recognized these great blessings and our Savior in this celebration of Thanks. I love you all very much. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :)
Elder Vuinovic
BEST LEMONADE EVER!!! You really have no idea how good this stuff was. There´s this lemon that doesn´t export of out to the US because it doesn´t last that long. So you´d only find it around here. This stuff was all the things that one could possibly fantasize (spelling?). A lot of lemonades are pulpy or grainy from the sugar. Not this one. wow. pure. smooth. refreshing. sweet. slightly sour. Heaven! The family that made the lemonade, the Castro familia, is a family that we found that sells food. They´re such an awesome family. They accepted a baptismal date on the first lesson. They´re really humble people who really recognized the truth in our message. I´m really excited to see them progress.
This week was better. The numbers weren´t great, but I feel like we´re on a road to get better. We have plans to completely revamp the relationship between the ward and the missionaries. It´s been a really rough week to find new investigators, but I think things will be better as we work out this plan. I really have hopes to get the members in a missionary mindset, or at least think about people that we could teach.
So two cool things this week: One night we passed by the Vera family to teach their recent convert lessons. We were waiting outside for the husband, Douglas, just talking. Monica told me that one day there was a bunch of noise and she couldn´t calm down or catch a breath. She started reading the Book of Mormon and finished with a prayer. Afterwards felt an extreme peace. So much so that she fell asleep. She asked me what it was, and I replied as content as could be that it was 100% the Spirit. I then explained that now as a confirmed member of the Church she has the right to have that companionship forever and that she can always have those feelings, in accordance to her obedience. I was so happy when she told me about that. Looking back it feels like an Ammon experience. Such a blessing to be able to be the messenger that brought them this message of true happiness.
Ultimately, I´ve been working a lot on a project I have to collect scriptures following themes and mark them in my Book of Mormon. I´m almost done. It´s such an awesome experience. Lately I´ve been focused on our purpose and time here on earth and the Atonement of Christ as part of the Plan of Salvation. It´s so incredible how clear things are in the Book of Mormon. I feel like I´ve learned so much. Well, it´s things I already knew, but I feel like my testimony has been greatly fortified. I have such a love for studying this way. Instead of thinking of the Plan, and my testimony thereof in its stages, I look at it more fully and I feel like my understanding is much more complete. I truly view this plan completely as a manifestation of the great and incomprehensible love that our Father in Heaven has for us. I know that Christ is our Savior and that a full and true happiness comes from repentance and obedience. I know that God is our Father and loves us intensely. I know that this is the Restored Church of Christ that He placed on the earth to bless us. I pray that we all recognized these great blessings and our Savior in this celebration of Thanks. I love you all very much. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :)
Elder Vuinovic
Letter 31 - 11/15/10
As far as Christmas goes, I do need more sole inserts. And I would like some pictures of dad and me with the whole family. Could you send me a recipe for pumpkin pie and apple butter? The patriarch lives in our ward and he´s an ag freak. I wish he could see Sacramento around harvest time. He asked me to take him to the US. I would love to give him the chance to go to Slough House and Apple Hill and all the ag markets in Sacramento, but for now if you could send me those recipes that´d rock. He made something like it out of guava which really made me miss the Sacramento fall. Oh btw I want a mini US flag. That´s all.
Things have been rough again. I´m ready to not plan any more and go just contacting all day long. Any missionary would call me crazy, but I´m losing it. We barely teach. It doesn´t bother Elder Hernandez, because he comes from an area that doesn´t teach. I know the potential of this area and I want to max it out. I feel really stressed because I know I need to help him and I also know that I have to be the one that pushes us to get lessons, but I feel like we can´t move fast enough. I feel stressed because I don´t know what to do. If I knew what I had to do to get things right I would just do it, but I´m having a hard time figuring out what that thing is. I really can´t complain too much. We had six baptisms this week. It was really awesome. An entire family, except the youngest, and two other brothers got baptized, as well as another from Independencia. It was really cool. The family is totally prepared and Douglas has a lot of interest in the priesthood and really wants to understand it. So we taught him about it in depth. It was really awesome. He understood it all and they´re already wanting to go to the temple to be sealed. So things have been slow lately, but now we´re going out full speed to try and find some more people and get them ready for December.
Ecuador moment: So we´re in the bus going to this pier on the Guayas River. We´re stopped at a red light and I see there´s smoke coming in the window. I thought, "How odd." I looked out the window, and what did I see? (not popcorn popping on an apricot tree) A semi´s exhaust pipe pouring toxic fumes into the bus and them when it accelerated it shot a bunch of black dust into the bus. It really stunk. How I didn´t get cancer and die right there I don´t know. It was one of those precious moments.
Well family, that´s all for this week. I love you all SOOOOO much. I´m gonna miss Turkey Bowl and Thanksgiving, and Christmas lights a lot. But just know that I think about you all the time. Especially when I see those fake Christmas trees and hear this retarded Flea Market quality music. Haha!
Love you all have a great week.
Things have been rough again. I´m ready to not plan any more and go just contacting all day long. Any missionary would call me crazy, but I´m losing it. We barely teach. It doesn´t bother Elder Hernandez, because he comes from an area that doesn´t teach. I know the potential of this area and I want to max it out. I feel really stressed because I know I need to help him and I also know that I have to be the one that pushes us to get lessons, but I feel like we can´t move fast enough. I feel stressed because I don´t know what to do. If I knew what I had to do to get things right I would just do it, but I´m having a hard time figuring out what that thing is. I really can´t complain too much. We had six baptisms this week. It was really awesome. An entire family, except the youngest, and two other brothers got baptized, as well as another from Independencia. It was really cool. The family is totally prepared and Douglas has a lot of interest in the priesthood and really wants to understand it. So we taught him about it in depth. It was really awesome. He understood it all and they´re already wanting to go to the temple to be sealed. So things have been slow lately, but now we´re going out full speed to try and find some more people and get them ready for December.
Ecuador moment: So we´re in the bus going to this pier on the Guayas River. We´re stopped at a red light and I see there´s smoke coming in the window. I thought, "How odd." I looked out the window, and what did I see? (not popcorn popping on an apricot tree) A semi´s exhaust pipe pouring toxic fumes into the bus and them when it accelerated it shot a bunch of black dust into the bus. It really stunk. How I didn´t get cancer and die right there I don´t know. It was one of those precious moments.
Well family, that´s all for this week. I love you all SOOOOO much. I´m gonna miss Turkey Bowl and Thanksgiving, and Christmas lights a lot. But just know that I think about you all the time. Especially when I see those fake Christmas trees and hear this retarded Flea Market quality music. Haha!
Love you all have a great week.
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