Mom,
What up, girl? How you doin? I think you´ll probably send me a letter the moment I leave this internet cafe, so I´ll get it next week haha. But I hope everything is well. Everything is good here. Here are some notes I put in my agenda during the week of things I wanted to tell you guys:
- Yesterday, we were sitting in sacrament meeting, crazy bummed out because we had called and invited and passed by everyone to help them to come to church. And we were sitting there, and not a single one came. Such. A. Bummer. So we were in really bad moods trying to lighten up, and while we were singing the sacrament hymn, we see through the window of the chapel one of the less active members that we are working with, walking toward the chapel. But he has a limp, so he was walking like super slow motion, and because we were so bummed out, seeing him come all slow motion toward the chapel was like the most heroic, dramatic thing ever, it was so awesome haha. It was a movie. My life is a movie.
- I realized this week, that I´m simply happier in the poorer neighborhoods in our area. Like where we live, its like not so ghetto. But off in the boons, there are adobe houses with like an outhouse, and I seriously love it. It´s easy to get discouraged in the city, but out in the subs, I´m so happy. It looks like Nacho Libre out there. I realized that adobe makes me happy. Like it legit just makes me smile when I see it. I wish we lived in an adobe house. Maybe someday.
- Tess, look up the poem called "Day Old Child", and if you can´t find it, email me personally about it and I can get it to you. It applies perfectly to you and Conrad.
- I´m starting to learn how to give my will to the Lord. And it makes itself manifest when our computers here don´t work, and we only get like a half hour of writing time, instead of an hour and a half. You guys know me, I used to FLIP out, like road rage status. But now I´m like super chill and I say to myself, "God, if you don´t want me to write to my family this week, for whatever reason, that´s okay with me. I want what you want." I have a study journal, and on the front it says "My Doctrine and Covenants", because its full of little revelations that I recieve during personal study time, when I study the scriptures. And every day, when I finish reading, I put a "Application In My Life Today" section, and the other day, I wrote in that little section, "Give it all to the Lord, Ryan. Just give every bit of it to the Lord, and hold nothing back."
- I had been thinking about that a lot this last week, because my companion and I had a really awesome conversation while walking. We were talking about how DANG. HARD. it is to serve a mission, and we were talking about why we would have it no other way. We were talking of the blessings that come and will come, and we realized that there is nothing better than a mission. Nothing requires so much faith, and so it´s such a good environment to develop that faith. And therefore, we talked about putting our trust in the Lord, how we´ve both had to do it. And how you can only serve a mission correctly if the Lord´s will is more important to you than yours. Or rather, if your will becomes the Lord´s will.
- When we two tall gringos get on the bus, its the funniest thing to see all the confused faces. "What the heck are you doing here?" is what they seem to say. - My companion got bit by a dog two weeks ago, and we´ve had to go to the hospital, get shots, painfully clean it out, etc. because of the rabies risk...... And it was my fault the dog bit him... We were walking through a pack of calm dogs when I made a "Tssss" sound, and they all got up and attacked my companion....teehee
That´s all for today, I love you all. Stay classy, San Diego.
Elder Wilkinson
Monday, December 9, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
November 25, 2013
All ye who are loved by me,
How´s it goin, y`alls? Hope it's going well for everyone. So transfers were last week, and I got a call on Monday night from my zone leaders. They said, "Elders, we have good news, especially for you, Elder Wilkinson. Tomorrow, meet us at the airport at 4:00pm. You´re going to Santa Cruz to pick up the Elder you´re going to train." So I did all dat, went to Santa Cruz, had a training for trainers, and now I'm training a new Elder named Elder Bailey, from Ogden, Utah. He´s really awesome, and we're gonna learn a lot together. His weakness is the language, so I think he got paired with me for a reason, because I have a pretty sound understanding of the language, and I can help him a lot with that. It feels really good to know that the Lord trusts me with training another Elder after such a short time being here. And now that I don't have a Latino companion, or even a companion that speaks Spanish, I have no choice but to take the initiative and talk to people. I didn´t know how much Spanish I knew until I HAD to use it haha, and I know a lot! Now, I´m praying a lot for the gift of interpretation of tongues and discernment so that I can understand people and understand their needs. But together, we speak a little bit too much English. The opportunity is such a temptation, and we´re making goals to not speak English so that we can continue learning Spanish. We´re having a great time and working hard. Its so weird to be teaching lessons pretty much all by myself now. Until he learns a little more Spanish, he´ll being giving comments and testimony, but not full principles.
So that´s my week. I´m also a lot more stressed now because I have to make sure we don´t fail haha, maybe that´s the senior companions job. But its daaaaang stressful haha. But at the same time, I love it a lot because I feel like I´m actually getting a lot done and helping a lot of people. When I went to pick up my new companion, we were all at a stake center in Santa Cruz, and my old companion walked in, because he had to come to Santa Cruz in order to go to his new area by plane. So I saw him one last time there, and HIS trainer was there, so he and his trainer, and my new companion and I took a picture or four generations of mission "fathers". That´s what we call trainers haha.
- There are dog skulls and cow spines all over the place here
- Dad, there are a ton of old Toyota Land Cruisers that look like FJs here, you'd love it. It´s like the Icon factory
This is such an awesome time in the world. Have you all realized that one year ago, the Lord lowered the missionary age? And now, He´s changing the way we do the work, and its so awesome to see this all happening! He is hastening His work with programs, councils, and inspiration through Bishops, Mission Presidents, and Stake Presidents. We had a training last night where all the Ward Councils in the Stake went (Tarija is only one stake), and so I sat with our ward council as we learned more about how we can effectively work together. I think only a missionary would be thrilled to watch a ward council training, and oooohhhhh was I thrilled haha.
That´s all the time I have. Dad, I wish I could work in your ward council with you. That would be unreal haha. So awesome! I love you!
Elder Wilkinson
How´s it goin, y`alls? Hope it's going well for everyone. So transfers were last week, and I got a call on Monday night from my zone leaders. They said, "Elders, we have good news, especially for you, Elder Wilkinson. Tomorrow, meet us at the airport at 4:00pm. You´re going to Santa Cruz to pick up the Elder you´re going to train." So I did all dat, went to Santa Cruz, had a training for trainers, and now I'm training a new Elder named Elder Bailey, from Ogden, Utah. He´s really awesome, and we're gonna learn a lot together. His weakness is the language, so I think he got paired with me for a reason, because I have a pretty sound understanding of the language, and I can help him a lot with that. It feels really good to know that the Lord trusts me with training another Elder after such a short time being here. And now that I don't have a Latino companion, or even a companion that speaks Spanish, I have no choice but to take the initiative and talk to people. I didn´t know how much Spanish I knew until I HAD to use it haha, and I know a lot! Now, I´m praying a lot for the gift of interpretation of tongues and discernment so that I can understand people and understand their needs. But together, we speak a little bit too much English. The opportunity is such a temptation, and we´re making goals to not speak English so that we can continue learning Spanish. We´re having a great time and working hard. Its so weird to be teaching lessons pretty much all by myself now. Until he learns a little more Spanish, he´ll being giving comments and testimony, but not full principles.
So that´s my week. I´m also a lot more stressed now because I have to make sure we don´t fail haha, maybe that´s the senior companions job. But its daaaaang stressful haha. But at the same time, I love it a lot because I feel like I´m actually getting a lot done and helping a lot of people. When I went to pick up my new companion, we were all at a stake center in Santa Cruz, and my old companion walked in, because he had to come to Santa Cruz in order to go to his new area by plane. So I saw him one last time there, and HIS trainer was there, so he and his trainer, and my new companion and I took a picture or four generations of mission "fathers". That´s what we call trainers haha.
- There are dog skulls and cow spines all over the place here
- Dad, there are a ton of old Toyota Land Cruisers that look like FJs here, you'd love it. It´s like the Icon factory
This is such an awesome time in the world. Have you all realized that one year ago, the Lord lowered the missionary age? And now, He´s changing the way we do the work, and its so awesome to see this all happening! He is hastening His work with programs, councils, and inspiration through Bishops, Mission Presidents, and Stake Presidents. We had a training last night where all the Ward Councils in the Stake went (Tarija is only one stake), and so I sat with our ward council as we learned more about how we can effectively work together. I think only a missionary would be thrilled to watch a ward council training, and oooohhhhh was I thrilled haha.
That´s all the time I have. Dad, I wish I could work in your ward council with you. That would be unreal haha. So awesome! I love you!
Elder Wilkinson
Thursday, November 14, 2013
November 11, 2013
Hey mom!
I don´t have much time to write this week, and the computer won´t send pictures today, but I have a list of the pictures I wanna send, so be expecting those in about the next year or so.
This was a good week. You know, I've always been an arguer. You know that. In fact, you know that more than anyone else in the world haha. And I like to think I´m pretty good at it. But in Spanish, lemme tell ya, I do not win haha. I've learned that no one wins in an argument, because afterward, both parties are afflicted. I've been working on becoming more Christlike in that, when someone has a "suggestion" for me, or criticism, I actually listen. That wasn't the case before haha, I HATED criticism or being told what to do, but I´m working on accepting criticism and suggestions, even when they are very rudely given. This week, my lifelong gratefulness for my trials began. I realized that I would be a boring rock if I didn't have to endure trials. We all would be. It's the same principle that we wouldn't feel joy if we didn't feel pain. That´s why we have pain in life. In the same way, we can´t grow and learn if we don´t have opposition. We are so lucky to have trials, because without them, we would be nothing. The trick is to gain the Lord´s help in dealing with those trials. And that is done through a simple, fervent prayer. And continual prayer. I know that the hard things I have to face here will greatly bless the lives of many others through the course of my life. My friends, you guys, my future family, random people I meet, people I serve in the Church, etc. Many people will benefit because I've suffered a little, and that makes it so worth it.
Mom, can you give me some healthy eating ideas. I don´t really wanna get diabetes while I´m here. Dad, some exercise ideas please. Again, diabetes = sorta bad. If you haven't sent my packages yet, I also want a picture book of church paintings to use during lessons, and the book of church administration. Or send them for my birthday. Or have someone else send them. Or don´t send them at all. Whatever happens, its all good haha, not vitally important, but it would be nice. Thanks for everything, especially bearing the burden of having to know me! haha no that´s a joke. You guys love me. Can you tell me how other missionaries in our ward are doing?? I wanna know how my fellow servants are handling their responsibilities.
There´s a popsicle here that this lady makes, its just frozen milk and sugar, but I think there might be a little bit of eternal joy in there too. There is a drink called "jugo de sesamo" made out of sesame seeds. It tastes like liquid peanut butter, which gives me exceedingly great joy. I was listening to a song this morning, and its about José Smith (oh yeah, we say José Smith instead of Joseph Smith) and it talked about how the truth will fill the Earth, and I felt the Spirit so strongly when I heard that, because that line, along with many verses and prophecies in scripture, describes what I do every day here. I am sounding the Gospel in every ear, taking it to every kindred, tongue, and people. I am helping to fill the Earth with truth. The word awesome, even in the true sense of the word, greatly fails to describe how I really feel about my calling. We are so lucky to live in this time, in which the Gospel rolls forward, unstoppable, with increasing speed.
Quiero testificar en mí nuevo idioma, y quiero que ustedes sepan, que yo sé que este Evangelio es verdadero. Mí testimonio crece cada dia, más y más, y yo estoy llegando a conocer Jesucristo. Esta obra es la obra de Dios, que nosotros llevemos a cabo "la inmortalidad y la vida eterna del hombre." Les amo más que puedo expresarme, en inglés o castellano, y estoy más que feliz que ustedes son bendecidos gracias al servicio que estoy haciendo cada dia. Nos vemos!
Elder Wilkinson
I don´t have much time to write this week, and the computer won´t send pictures today, but I have a list of the pictures I wanna send, so be expecting those in about the next year or so.
This was a good week. You know, I've always been an arguer. You know that. In fact, you know that more than anyone else in the world haha. And I like to think I´m pretty good at it. But in Spanish, lemme tell ya, I do not win haha. I've learned that no one wins in an argument, because afterward, both parties are afflicted. I've been working on becoming more Christlike in that, when someone has a "suggestion" for me, or criticism, I actually listen. That wasn't the case before haha, I HATED criticism or being told what to do, but I´m working on accepting criticism and suggestions, even when they are very rudely given. This week, my lifelong gratefulness for my trials began. I realized that I would be a boring rock if I didn't have to endure trials. We all would be. It's the same principle that we wouldn't feel joy if we didn't feel pain. That´s why we have pain in life. In the same way, we can´t grow and learn if we don´t have opposition. We are so lucky to have trials, because without them, we would be nothing. The trick is to gain the Lord´s help in dealing with those trials. And that is done through a simple, fervent prayer. And continual prayer. I know that the hard things I have to face here will greatly bless the lives of many others through the course of my life. My friends, you guys, my future family, random people I meet, people I serve in the Church, etc. Many people will benefit because I've suffered a little, and that makes it so worth it.
Mom, can you give me some healthy eating ideas. I don´t really wanna get diabetes while I´m here. Dad, some exercise ideas please. Again, diabetes = sorta bad. If you haven't sent my packages yet, I also want a picture book of church paintings to use during lessons, and the book of church administration. Or send them for my birthday. Or have someone else send them. Or don´t send them at all. Whatever happens, its all good haha, not vitally important, but it would be nice. Thanks for everything, especially bearing the burden of having to know me! haha no that´s a joke. You guys love me. Can you tell me how other missionaries in our ward are doing?? I wanna know how my fellow servants are handling their responsibilities.
There´s a popsicle here that this lady makes, its just frozen milk and sugar, but I think there might be a little bit of eternal joy in there too. There is a drink called "jugo de sesamo" made out of sesame seeds. It tastes like liquid peanut butter, which gives me exceedingly great joy. I was listening to a song this morning, and its about José Smith (oh yeah, we say José Smith instead of Joseph Smith) and it talked about how the truth will fill the Earth, and I felt the Spirit so strongly when I heard that, because that line, along with many verses and prophecies in scripture, describes what I do every day here. I am sounding the Gospel in every ear, taking it to every kindred, tongue, and people. I am helping to fill the Earth with truth. The word awesome, even in the true sense of the word, greatly fails to describe how I really feel about my calling. We are so lucky to live in this time, in which the Gospel rolls forward, unstoppable, with increasing speed.
Quiero testificar en mí nuevo idioma, y quiero que ustedes sepan, que yo sé que este Evangelio es verdadero. Mí testimonio crece cada dia, más y más, y yo estoy llegando a conocer Jesucristo. Esta obra es la obra de Dios, que nosotros llevemos a cabo "la inmortalidad y la vida eterna del hombre." Les amo más que puedo expresarme, en inglés o castellano, y estoy más que feliz que ustedes son bendecidos gracias al servicio que estoy haciendo cada dia. Nos vemos!
Elder Wilkinson
Monday, November 4, 2013
November 4, 2013
Mom (and everyone),
I'll send a picture of my little yellow room so you guys can see. The Lord humbles missionaries the moment they arrive so they won't be stupid haha, so that they realize that they can't serve their mission without Him. I'm glad He does that, and did that for me. Thank you for your letter mom, I'm glad to hear you're all doing well with everything.
The address I gave you is wrong. The mailing address for packages is:
Misión Bolivia - Santa Cruz
C. Saavedra esq. Cochabamba
Torres CAINCO Piso 7 Of. 1 y 2
Telef. 333-7072 Fax. 222-7074
Casilla de Correo: 2024
Santa Cruz - Bolivia
I hope you didn't send anything already haha. On Saturday, we baptized Jorge Aramayo (Serrano) and yesterday he was confirmed. It was all a very special experience. It's so cool to see people change so drastically. We have an investigator named Edmundo. His family is Jehovah´s Witness, and we have been teaching only him, but his parents are totally okay with it. We taught him about the Restoration, and I honestly thought he was really uninterested for a few reasons that aren't important to say, but when we invited him to church, he said yes, like everyone does. But the weird thing is that he actually came! So he has been assisting the church for like a month, and Mutuals too! We don't even have to remind him to go, he goes on his own. Well we were talking to a teenager in the ward, and he told us that during church one Sunday, he asked Edmundo, "So when is your baptismal date?" Well we hadn't invited him to be baptized yet, so his response was, "I don't have one. But what do I need to do to be baptized?" When we heard that, we were super excited, but we didn't know exactly what to think of it. A couple days later, we stopped by his house to visit him. He answered the door and told us that he didn't have time right then, but we chatted for a few minutes at his door. We asked him if he had any questions about the Book of Mormon, the lesson we taught, or anything he had seen at church. He said, "Yeah, I have a question. What do I have to do to get baptized?" You can imagine our faces at that moment haha, well we told him that its a very important promise we make with God, and that really, all he has to do is learn more about the Church. He said, "Oh ok sounds good, because I wanna get baptized." Imagine the moment!! We were so happy! We hadn't even invited him! (Which we should have, but don't judge me, I´m still being trained) And even more, we have permission from his parents! That is the part we worried about most, but they said it's okay, and we're gonna ask them to sign the permission slip on Tuesday. How great though! During our lessons, you can so tell that he believes. It's amazing to see people accept the Gospel.
That's my story for today. Here are some things I thought of during the week:
- I was thinking that, if I need too much stuff and am asking for too much, you could have other members of our family send it to me for Christmas too....
- On that note, I would love some Abercrombie and Fitch cologne haha
- I have a question for dad that I would really like a response to:
Dad, what can I do as a missionary to work with the ward and the Bishop more effectively? What do you want from the missionaries in our ward at home? Thanks!
- If you could send me a video (or have someone else send me) The Testaments in English, it would help a lot with proselyting and personal study and contacting ideas. Now that I think of it, send me everything in English and in Spanish haha.
- The weather is wacko here. The other day, we were walking in the heat on a cloudy day, and it started to hail, and the hail was the size of large grapes. And they hit me on the head, legit. And it hurt.
- I don´t know if you knew, but in Spanish, the Sacrament at Church is called The Holy Dinner, La Santa Cena. Pretty interesting.
- It is no longer called "Missionary Work", they changed it to "The Work of Salvation", because this work is not just for missionaries, it's for every member. So there are 15,000,000 missionaries!
I´m gonna send some pictures today! I love you all!
Elder Wilkinson
I'll send a picture of my little yellow room so you guys can see. The Lord humbles missionaries the moment they arrive so they won't be stupid haha, so that they realize that they can't serve their mission without Him. I'm glad He does that, and did that for me. Thank you for your letter mom, I'm glad to hear you're all doing well with everything.
The address I gave you is wrong. The mailing address for packages is:
Misión Bolivia - Santa Cruz
C. Saavedra esq. Cochabamba
Torres CAINCO Piso 7 Of. 1 y 2
Telef. 333-7072 Fax. 222-7074
Casilla de Correo: 2024
Santa Cruz - Bolivia
I hope you didn't send anything already haha. On Saturday, we baptized Jorge Aramayo (Serrano) and yesterday he was confirmed. It was all a very special experience. It's so cool to see people change so drastically. We have an investigator named Edmundo. His family is Jehovah´s Witness, and we have been teaching only him, but his parents are totally okay with it. We taught him about the Restoration, and I honestly thought he was really uninterested for a few reasons that aren't important to say, but when we invited him to church, he said yes, like everyone does. But the weird thing is that he actually came! So he has been assisting the church for like a month, and Mutuals too! We don't even have to remind him to go, he goes on his own. Well we were talking to a teenager in the ward, and he told us that during church one Sunday, he asked Edmundo, "So when is your baptismal date?" Well we hadn't invited him to be baptized yet, so his response was, "I don't have one. But what do I need to do to be baptized?" When we heard that, we were super excited, but we didn't know exactly what to think of it. A couple days later, we stopped by his house to visit him. He answered the door and told us that he didn't have time right then, but we chatted for a few minutes at his door. We asked him if he had any questions about the Book of Mormon, the lesson we taught, or anything he had seen at church. He said, "Yeah, I have a question. What do I have to do to get baptized?" You can imagine our faces at that moment haha, well we told him that its a very important promise we make with God, and that really, all he has to do is learn more about the Church. He said, "Oh ok sounds good, because I wanna get baptized." Imagine the moment!! We were so happy! We hadn't even invited him! (Which we should have, but don't judge me, I´m still being trained) And even more, we have permission from his parents! That is the part we worried about most, but they said it's okay, and we're gonna ask them to sign the permission slip on Tuesday. How great though! During our lessons, you can so tell that he believes. It's amazing to see people accept the Gospel.
That's my story for today. Here are some things I thought of during the week:
- I was thinking that, if I need too much stuff and am asking for too much, you could have other members of our family send it to me for Christmas too....
- On that note, I would love some Abercrombie and Fitch cologne haha
- I have a question for dad that I would really like a response to:
Dad, what can I do as a missionary to work with the ward and the Bishop more effectively? What do you want from the missionaries in our ward at home? Thanks!
- If you could send me a video (or have someone else send me) The Testaments in English, it would help a lot with proselyting and personal study and contacting ideas. Now that I think of it, send me everything in English and in Spanish haha.
- The weather is wacko here. The other day, we were walking in the heat on a cloudy day, and it started to hail, and the hail was the size of large grapes. And they hit me on the head, legit. And it hurt.
- I don´t know if you knew, but in Spanish, the Sacrament at Church is called The Holy Dinner, La Santa Cena. Pretty interesting.
- It is no longer called "Missionary Work", they changed it to "The Work of Salvation", because this work is not just for missionaries, it's for every member. So there are 15,000,000 missionaries!
I´m gonna send some pictures today! I love you all!
Elder Wilkinson
Monday, October 28, 2013
October 28, 2013
Mom,
Thank you for your letter. I'm glad that everyone is doing well. I have been praying for you all individually and I'm not surprised to see that, yet again, the Lord has answered my prayers.
I was thinking this week about a question that came into my mind: "Is there anyone in this world that isn't blessed?" Simply, is there anyone who missed the blessing train? Is there anyone with whom I talk that I can´t explain to them the ways that they've been blessed? I was thinking, and I decided that, no. There is no one that isn't blessed. The most persecuted and hated person in the world, the poorest and sickest, is blessed beyond imagination, because we have Christ. Christ is real, and because of that, His Atonement is real. If His Atonement is real, we can overcome all sickness and pain, all depression and heartache, all challenge and sin. We can, throughout the course of our lives, overcome these things, and as we consciously and actively work to do so, in the process we will come to know Christ.
I've been thinking a lot about how we need our challenges to teach us things. That, even though some trails we face may seem unfair, and often times unbearable, they always pass, and we are always stronger afterward. For the last two months, I've been pretending in my letters that this is easy hahaha, I'm blowing my cover today to tell you that that is not the case. Every missionary goes into his mission knowing it will be hard, but before you arrive, you don't have the slightest idea. It's something you can really only understand if you have or are serving a mission. But it has to be hard! We, as missionaries will only learn superficial things if it were easy the whole two years. And we can't bear sincere, honest testimony of the Atonement of Christ, we cannot honestly tell people that we believe that He overcame everything for us, if we are not broken. We need to need the Atonement in order to preach of its reality. And if it´s hard, you know you´re doing something right.
I'm learning so much! I wish I could explain every detail of it to you, but much of what I'm learning, you guys will have to hear about throughout the course of our lives together, after my mission. Dad, in three years, you need to be friends with my mission president. Nuff said. I learned the other day that the service I'm giving right now will bless millions. I am blessing millions of people. That is why they call being a part of the work of salvation a privilege. I am blessing you all, all the people I love, all the people I have left for this amount of time, I'm blessing the people I teach directly, but I'm also blessing their families, the people we baptize, we bless them, but we also bless their future spouses, because they will be so happy with that person thanks to the fact that they are a member of the Church. We are blessing other missionaries and many members here, we are blessing our future wives and our kids, because we are learning things that will be invaluable to them and their kids, and we are blessing ourselves. Our service here echoes in the eternities, that is why it is a blessing to be here.
Okay, gotta finish up soon. Here are some things I thought of during the week:
- There is a drink here called Karpil, its a brand, its just fruit juice with milk, but it is in a little bag and you bite the corner and drink out of the hole you bit. Its fun, and its delicious. 
Monday, October 21, 2013
October 21, 2013
Mom (and everyone),
If you want me to buy a llama skin toward the end of my mission, I will gladly bring it home haha. Llama fur is insanely soft, I felt it in the airport in Lima two months ago. I only have one month left of training! I'm kinda bummed that they stole the nametag, because it was in Spanish. I´ll tell you about my home. It is a small apartment in the backyard of another home, owned by a baptist preacher, which is hilariously ironic. But we get along well, he´s very friendly. Almost everyone is. There are three rooms. A bedroom, where we have our beds and our ironing board. There´s another room for everything else, our books and desks, closets and all our clothes and suitcases, and little electric stove and little fridge. Then there is a bathroom. Its all insanely tiny, but its nicer than a lot of other missionary apartments here. Especially our bathroom. We have an electric showerhead, so luckily, we have hot water for showers. But not the sink. We have to boil all of our water. The bedroom and other room are probably 12 feet by 12 feet, and the bathroom must be 5 by 5. Its really small haha. The floors are tile, but many floors in houses here are cement. House layouts are totally different here. There aren't front yards, the door touches the street. But when you go inside, there is like a courtyard, and the house is based around the courtyard. There aren't inside halls. Oh, and our three rooms aren't connected. There isn´t a hall. Its only me and my companion in our apartment, but others are different. The zone leaders have a house, they´re so lucky haha. Like an actual house with two stories. I don't know how that happened. Some people have tiny little yards, but its no garden. Its a bunch of weedy grass with mounds of dog poop.
I don´t know if I sent the picture of the Satan dog yet, but if not, I´ll send it today. I'm glad that everything is going well with the family, with the ward, and with the Elders there. I´ll be taking pictures of everything to send to you all! Thank you for your encouragement and advice. I print off your letters and read them throughout the week, every week.
I found out yesterday that I´m serving in the area that Ryan Garrett served in awhile ago! We eat lunch at the same house everyday, and we pay the lady who lives there to cook for us. And so I mentioned Elder Garrett to that family, and they said, “How do you know Elder Garrett?” And in that moment, I realized that the area Im in right now was part of the Bolivia Cochabamba mission when he served. So they know him. But even more than that, he used to sit in the same chair that I sit in every day to eat lunch. I seriously flipped out haha. The people here write in books of recuerdos. These books are like scrap books but you give it to someone else that you want to remember, and they make a page about themselves. Well they showed me his entry in their book, and there is a picture of him, so there´s no question haha. I thought that was so awesome. He probably knows a bunch of people in my ward. That was one of the highlights of my week. A few things that I thought of during the week that I wanna say:
- Here, it isn´t rude to point out acne. So everyone says, “Elder Gringo, you have a lot of acne.” And it drives me up a wall, but then they say that despite my acne I´m still guapo, so its okay.
- Tell Lane to start learning Spanish to get a headstart. There are a lot of goals that I have, that can´t be met until I am able to sufficiently express myself, so tell him to nip that bad boy in the bud.
- I was thinking this week about a letter that dad sent me, and I realized it would be the coolest thing in the world if dad and I could be mission companions. We´d take it by storm, nothin huge.
I´ll send some pictures today! I love you all, and I´m so glad everything is going well!
Ryan Wilkinson
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Write Ryan a Letter!
Hello to all of Ryan's loved ones!
I wanted to remind you to write Ryan a letter! You can write him a letter using DearElder.com (there's a tutorial here that explains how to do it) or write him a tangible letter (his mailing information can be found here).
Just a quick reminder, he is not the one who updates this blog. He does not have access to it, so if you comment on the posts, he does not get it. The best way to contact him is to send him a letter.
If you have a letter from Ryan that you feel you might like to share, send it to tesiahwilk@yahoo.com and I can post it to the blog (especially personal letters should remain personal).
I wanted to remind you to write Ryan a letter! You can write him a letter using DearElder.com (there's a tutorial here that explains how to do it) or write him a tangible letter (his mailing information can be found here).
Just a quick reminder, he is not the one who updates this blog. He does not have access to it, so if you comment on the posts, he does not get it. The best way to contact him is to send him a letter.
If you have a letter from Ryan that you feel you might like to share, send it to tesiahwilk@yahoo.com and I can post it to the blog (especially personal letters should remain personal).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)