Día del Camba

This past Thursday was the day of recognition of Santa Cruz. It would appear that Santa Cruz became a department on the 24 of September. In a little celebration, the ward had a little fiesta in the chapel, which we made sure to attend. Of course we brought some investigators, so we wernt free-loading on the food, for the most part. It was a few simple and traditional foods, including masaco de plátano verde, masaco de yucca, and pan de arroz. Very tastey.

 

The rest of the week went fairly well. Monday we tried to visit some members for a small FHE, but the father was called in to work longer, so we had to reschedule for Tuesday. When we passed by Tuesday, our FHE plans turned into only eating dinner. Not that Im complaining, but not exactly what we had planned. Since it turned into a dinner, it made us pretty late to get to our last visit, leaving us only one option: flag down a mototaxi. We made it to the other side of our area very quickly to visit with the other family.

 

When we went to visit the family of recient converts, the Flia Montaño, on Wednesday, we found that the young couple had left to pick up their paychecks, leaving us to speak with their mother. As we were talking with her, she commented to us her desire to be baptized as well, and we put the plan to do so the 17 of October.

 

On Thursday we had the little celebration in the chapel, and afterwards we went to visit and party with another family of investigators. There we had good ol American hamburgers cooked on a grill. It seems that our style of burgers is the better one.

 

The weather up till Thursday was consistantly hot, and even in the morning the sun was pretty strong. However, it cooled down a whole bunch in the afternoon, and rained pretty hard for a few minutes. We had received warnings all week however, so we were prepared, at least for the rain. I didnt fair so well in the cold, but somehow I survived. We visited a few people and returned home to warm up a bit.

 

Saturday in the morning was also pretty cold, but warmed up really fast. What made it even worse was the added humidity after the rain. We spent most of Saturday in meetings and waiting for people to show up for the meetings, but we did visit a family in the morning. Theyre pretty alright for the most part, but focus a little too much in Apocalipsis methinks. Sunday we had many good visits with new investigators, with many people attending with us in church.

 

All in all, this week went well with many crazy changes in the weather.

 

With love,

Elder Yates

21-9-15

This week went a bit better for us than the last week, especially for me as it was hot all week without any sign of rain or cold. We visited a few more people but still spent a good amount of time walking around. Sometimes it seems like all we do is walk and talk.

 

As a little break of the same boring rutine, we were asked to help out a family move a bunch of wood. So, we went and moved a whole bunch of wood from one spot to another. To better understand why, the family are carpenters and wanted to install a new machine to work more better (or something, didn't ask about the machine honestly). However, the spot they wanted to use was already occupied by other things, mostly wood. So we hauled it away. And no, we didn't burn any of it. It did cross my mind, but it appears they still wanted their wood.

 

At long last I finally got a little more time to use a machete, this time in our own backyard. It seems that, as we help other people, we tend to forget our own house. Such is the life of a missionary.

 

Something very small and almost insignificant is that peanut butter is almost unheard of here. When we talk to someone and start to mention 'mantequilla de maní' they don't know how to respond, and ask what it is. And, especally after eating so many PB&J sandwiches before, didn't think that it would make much of a difference. However, this past week I found some Bolivian peanut butter, so I leaped at the opportunity and made my own PB&J. Granted it wasn't the same as good ol' American peanut butter, it was a nice change from eating constant rice with everything.

 

It seems like the rapid progress we had early has slowed down a bit, as many of the people we visit with arn't married or play futbol Sundays and don't have time to come to Church with us. We did, at long last, find a family that is married, but it seems like the Hno only wants to talk about how the world will end and how to understand the book of Revelations. 

 

With Love,

Elder Yates

Nuevo Cambio

Well, this past week was the week of  cambios. (transfers) First off, I'm still in El Dorado, partnered with E' Quispe, serving as District Leader. The other Elders in our house also stayed the same. The rest of the zone did change, dramatically, including the closure of an area, and changing to 2 new Zone Leaders.

 

As for what we did this past week, we wound up doing a whole bunch of walking as people left town or got sick or too busy to meet with us. We have had the great pleasure of doing many service projects with different families, most of which involved moving bricks from one place to another. It seems like that's all we do anymore; I can't even remember the last time I got to use a  Bolivian lawnmower. It's a little sad, but someday we'll get the opportunity once again.

 

I would like to mention once again the insanity of the weather  down here, as Thursday  was a very warm day, but Friday was so cold I almost busted out the thermals. What made it even more fun is that it rained hard in the morning and there was a constant drizzle  the entire day. Somehow I managed to survive, but only just. Saturday was slighty  better,  as there wasn't rain all day, but it took until Sunday in the afternoon to start warming up again. And this morning started to look pretty gloomy again, but it cleared up, luckily.

 

Saturday we decided to have a little activity in the ward, so we set up things to watch the movie, Meet the Mormons. Oddly enough, no one told us that the same day was campeonatos (championships) in the Stake, so we had to compete a bit with the other activity in the same Chapel. Oh well, it still went pretty well with a good amount of people to watch with us. 

 

Sunday was also a little unique in how we got to Church. Since neither of the 2 Micros were able to give us a  ride once again, we had to make our own ride. Luckily another member drove by with his little moving truck from work, so we managed to get all of us inside the  back storage. Once Church finished, we didn't have to take the same means back as most of us were able to catch a ride with the Micro that went early. The 4 of us missionaries, however, got left behind to fend for ourselves.  

 

Elder Yates

 

ps It seems like I'll be completing a full year in the Stake Paraíso (Paradise Stake) with this cambio; Woohoo for the Mission Bolivia Paraíso!

7-9-15

After the repeated comments of "Your letters sure have improved!" I've decided to back things up a bit to give me more breathing room and so a mob dosn't start a little more down the road. As such, this week got pretty hot and muggy, making it a difficult week for my companion, E' Quispe. There was also a whole bunch of wind and dirt flying around.

 

As a few more notes about my year in the mission, I'd like to say that we wash our own clothes here in Bolivia, for the most part. Some missionaries pay members to wash clothes for them, but we have no such luck here in El Dorado. Also, we don't have washing machines, so everything is washed by hand. As such, I've gained some pretty valuable experience for the future if I ever get left without a machine. 

 

In regards of this past week and all the wonder adventures passed, I'm not exactly too sure of what to write. In part because we didn't really do very many exciting things, and also because it would seem that I lost my agenda, so I don't have my little cheat-sheet to help me. However, we did try to beat the heat this week by getting some ice cream to snack on Monday before returning to normal, everyday missionary tasks. 

 

We got the oportunity to prestar servicio (perform service) twice this week again, one time Tuesday with moving more bricks, and another time Saturday where we helped to take out some trees. Let's say that we had more success with moving bricks. Nothing bad happened, but taking out tree trunks isn't the most fun thing in the world.

 

Wednesday we did another little intercambio with the other Elders in the house, and I got to spend the day with E' Fernandes the brasilero. We had plenty of time to speak and learn both English and Portuguese. Not entirely sure I'll return home falando portugêus, but I'm pretty sure E' Fernandes will quickly learn English well. 

 

We've had some difficulties with our investigators this past week, especially because everyone only has time at 8 o'clock at night. We received some interesting questions, ranging between 'why are all the church leaders white' and 'what happens with gays' and everything inbetween. Not sure what happened so suddenly to bring up such questions, but it's been a different week for sure.

 

Con Amor,

Elder Yates

 

Pictures from the large baptism a few weeks ago

A photo of all the people in white (plus a little kid)

 

 Another photo of all the people in white without the little kid, but a little blurry

All the people getting baptized a few weeks ago

A photo of our makeshift hose (the other Elder isn't really doing anything of value, just wanted to be in the picture)

 

The other end of our makeshift hose (both of these Elders are doing things of importance)

 

Our chapel is a little 'out in the sticks' and more than just humans pass to hear the Word of God