April 28, 2014

April 28, 2014 - Hi Family!!

A special shout out to my mother as it was her Birthday yesterday! I hope it all went well and that she got spoiled. I love her tons and she is very near and dear to my heart. I am wishing you a happy late Bday!

Another special shout out to the Lynch family and Karlee Price! Thanks for the awesome package. It was just what I needed and exactly when I needed it too. Thank you so much.

Shout out to Parker Pratt for his awesome letter as well. And since we are doing shout outs, shout out to the ward and especially all of my family! I hope everyone is doing well!

This week was full of ups and downs. There are some problems in my district that I am working on. We will see how it all turns out but there are things I don´t want to have to do but talking with the Zone Leaders they are necessary. We will see what happens.

So the week started as I was getting over my cold and now I still have a little cough but we have been working just the same. Tuesday the parents of the Valdez family got married! Wahoo for the law and Saturday was their activity! It was held in the church and it looked great. It started late so we didn´t get to be there for it but we took some pictures before leaving. But then Sunday morning they weren´t in Church and in the night they weren´t there for the appointment. Ah it was such a let down and I don´t know what we are going to do. Keep working with them of course but they had a date for the 17th of May to get baptized, 6 or 7 of them but now we may have to change it. I hope they are not losing their desire but everyone has their agency!

Samuel is also progressing and was our only investigator in Church. That was another let down as well but such is life. You can´t have it all! We are working with more people but we need them to visit the church to see if this is for them or not. We will see how it goes. There is a lot of work to be done here! The bishop is supportive but super busy. We will keep working hard though! We hope to see the fruit of our labor soon but it all comes with time.

We had our district meeting and that was enjoyable. I loved the talks that were given and we have a good district just with some difficulties. One of which is pretty tough but I am working on it! Happy faces!

Zone conference with 3 zones was awesome. I enjoyed it a ton but it went a little long. I enjoy listening to the APs teach and Pres. Hernandez. He is a great man and super smart. The lesson with him was awesome!

So we have goals for baptism but it all depends on their desire. Pday was good today and I hope all enjoy the pictures I sent. There were a lot. The word of the week is cuate which is Mexican. It means buddy. JJ taught it to me last week. I am using it with my Mexican friend E. Lara. Funny thing is his mom´s bday was yesterday too. We are super good friends and I enjoy hanging with him a lot.

Well this email is a little shorter because I had to write Pres. Hernandez a long one and send photos. Sorry but I love you all. Smile big and keep the faith. Remember don´t worry what the people say about you, worry about what the Lord expects of you!

Love you all!

--

Love,

Elder Chez Green

The DR Temple

April 21, 2014 - Hi Fam!

I hope Easter was great! It was a tough one for me to be honest. And I will tell you why. Friday night we were out visiting and we had some good lessons I thought. We even got to try Habichuelas con dulce which is beans with carnation milk really and some Batta which is sweet potato I think. It sounds weird. Some people love it I think it is interesting but it isn´t bad. So I got to try that. It is a tradition that they only do during this time. But during the lesson I just started feeling weak. I could barely get through it and being the trainer I was teaching it all. My comp wasn´t understanding much so it was tough. We got through it and I was just weak.

So we passed by our appointments and then called and said we couldn´t make it and went back to the house. It was part of our schedule for the holiday any way so it wasn´t too bad but still tough. We got home and turns out I had a fever of 101.2. Not horrible but nothing great. I showered a couple times and luckily it broke really fast. I now have a cough and am congested. We didn´t leave Sat or Sunday except for church. It was tough. I didn´t like it at all. We would have left Saturday but my comp got a boil under his armpit. We went and saw the doctor today and both of us got antibiotics so I hope we will get better soon! I am still happy though and after emailing I am excited that we will actually get to teach some people.

Sunday was tough too. It rained a ton and the Fam. Valdez didn´t make it to church. We will have to change their baptism date. We aren´t sure yet when. We have the wedding this Saturday though! Samuel also didn´t make it for the Holiday and rain and what not. Tough stuff but it is life. We will work with them this week and hope that all goes well and we can get dates set for them again!

The good part was we invited a taxi driver and he came to church. Random but awesome. We also had less actives there in the Church! That was the happy note. So hard not to work though. I was dead bored in the house, you can only sleep so much. I hope to get better and better soon. Get uncongested and keep working!

I got the letter mom with the RSL and a pic of my new mission Pres! Thanks a billion! So awesome and I love getting letters. I need to write Am and Damian but I am working on that still. I was dead tired this weekend and didn´t have any energy to do anything. Wasn´t fun but I will write people soon! Promise!

Oh so W of W is golodrino which means boil. My comp says it hurts a lot and I don´t want to experience it honestly. I hope I never do! Yuck! We saw the doctor today and that is why we went to the temple. So the pictures of me are as up to date as possible! I am looking skinnier right! And sleek and handsome huh?! hehe just joking.

So this week has been good but it has all jumbled together. I don´t remember much to be honest. Being district leader takes more time and effort and sacrifice but it is good. We are keeping on over here!

I heard RSL won! Boo ya I like to hear that. Not sure what else is going on in the sports world. Some days I really miss Sports Center haha!

Sounds as the Jazz stink but oh well. I hope they get better soon!

So this week we taught the Fam. Valdez with our mission President. That is what I was saying. He taught the lesson with us and his wife. It was super cool. We visited the family Valdez and taught them the Plan of Salvation. The only sad part was the mom wasn´t there, because she forgot. Oh well it was really cool. Then we got a lot of rain and I think that is why I got sick. It was super cool to actually teach a lesson with my mission President. That is what I was explaining.

I also gave a talk for the zone on Integrity this week that went well I think. I was happy with it! I am glad Grandpa is doing much better!!!!!

Well that is all. Be safe out there and smile big. A big shout out to Alex Cheney with all his great talent at soccer! I love you all and keep on keepin´on!

Love,

Elder Chez Green

Playing dominoes . . .

April 14, 2014 - Hey Y'all!

Hi Everyone!

I hope all is well and everyone has a smile on their face! I do because I get to talk and read about my lovely family and friends! Wahoo!

I just wrote my letter to Pres. Hernandez about our whole district and now I have time for all of you my lovelies! I hope all is well. I am super happy here but I am also tired and have a little stress. All part of life! I am reading the Book of Mormon everyday and I love it. I am in Alma 42 in Spanish and I started what was it 3 or 4 months ago. A chapter everyday!

I got the package and pictures from Am with the Book of Mormon map and the cutest pics of Connor. I love that boy! I am so jealous of all you that get to hold him. He is such a cutie! He makes me smile and I am showing him off to everyone. A proud uncle right here!

I also got the package from Mom! Thank you so much for the chocolate. It melted but it was still delicious. I was so happy with the Girl Scout cookies and goldfish! I got my mouth guard and I am now using it. So much more comfortable. I loved the RSL articles the Utah magazine with great pics, the RSL schedule and all of it! Very thoughtful thank you so much!

I also got a letter from Aunt Theo! She is such a great person and a cutie! She sent me a picture of herself which I didn´t have so I was happy to receive it from her! All is well here really.

This week we had all 12 of the Valdez Family in sacrament as well as Samuel! That was so awesome. A great fast Sunday. 2 kids were ordained members and the family loved that. They could feel the spirit strong in that part and that is what they want now. We are still working for 3 May for them. We are hoping that one day Pres. Hernandez is going to meet them. He has a goal to leave with the missionaries right now so we are working on planning that! It would be so cool to leave with my Mission Prez! I would be stoked with that!

I had my 1st district meeting that I lead. We got to know each other, put a name and a scripture for the district and all that good jazz. We will read D and C 4 every Thursday. Our district name is Malaquias because almost all the missionaries are training so we are turning the hearts of the fathers to their sons. ahaha good joke!

I have a lot of responsibility and dedicate more time at night and in the morning to these missionaries but it is worth the sacrifice for them! I enjoy it a lot.

We cleaned the house today. The fridge was super dirty. Dirty in Spanish is sucio. That is W of the W. We didn´t have power for a month so the fridge was bad. Lets say now it is cleaner but the smell is still there. Bleach only went so far. But all is well!

Connor looks so good. I love hearing the updates! I hope all is well. I don´t have a ton to say this week. All is well. I hope grandpa is doing better. I am praying for him. Thanks for all your love and I am still waiting for some quotes from people from conference but I got a lot! Thank you!

We have a new missionary in the house from Guiena which is in South America. It is the one that speaks English, as there are 3. He is a little quiet but likes soccer a lot!

Well that is all, lots of love!

--

Love,

Elder Chez Green

Crazy Pants!

April 7, 2014 - Hey Ya'll Big News!

Hi Family

Some big news for me! I hope you are all sitting down! I am going to be District Leader here in Los Mameyes with my same companion, E. Turketo who I am training! Wow I was not really expecting that. To train and be district leader looks like it will be a lot of work but here we go! Transfers are tomorrow so that is when my responsibility starts! I am not sure I am super ready but I will put it all on the Lord`s shoulders and I know He will help me. I will be in charge of 9 missionaries as well as myself. We will have 3 brand new missionaries in the District so I will need to help them and their trainers in all I can. There are 4 sister missionaries in our District that I will be helping as well!

So this week I gave my first blessings in English! There were two sisters that asked for blessings but wanted them in English so they asked me to give them. It was a great experience and it was so nice to feel worthy and let the Spirit flow through me and tell me what to say. It was a super spiritual experience for me and something I always want to be ready to do. Bless others that need the love and support of the Lord. It was really different to do it in English but it all turned out well!

So as for transfers I am still with my comp because I am training but almost the whole district is changing and a ton of my friends are leaving. But I will make new ones I know! It will be a test this transfer.

So the other big news is this afternoon we got power! It isn´t totally working but part of it at least so we will have it at night. That will be awesome! We can sleep with a fan again and I can start to wash my clothes. We didn´t have water this morning so I couldn´t even hand wash but all is well! I am happy.

Our Pday was awesome and I enjoyed it a lot. Check out the pictures of the shirts that we made. They are awesome. I made mine in honor of RSL and my zone that I am in Ozama!

Sounds like grandpa had a rough go but I hope he keeps getting better. I am praying for him and I know I will see him again, this side or the other! I am grateful for that but I know he will be around when I get back. I have no doubt the Lord will protect my family if I put my trust in him!

General conference was amazing! I loved Bednar´s talk where he said ¨"It was the load" and told the great story! My favorite. I want to know what your favorite sentence was from conference. I expect an email from each one of you to let me know please! Thanks a billion. I want to learn from you all! I just need one sentence each or quote that you liked!

So my old comp E. Valencia is now going to be Zone Leader. Time went by fast for him that was way cool! I am happy for him!

The foreign exchange student looks like she is ready to go! That will be fun for the family to have more people at home again!

The tourney sounds crazy! A 7 verse and 8 is awesome. I hope Uconn beats Kentucky but who knows! I would love to see the new RSL uniforms if someone can send a pic please! Sound awesome!

Well that is all now. Time is running out! I love you all and be safe. Talk to you next week when I am officially District Leader and I might have a little or a lot more stress! Advice is welcome!

Love,

Elder Chez Green

Cachon de la Rubia

March 31, 2014 - A little R and R!

Hi Family!

I hope all is well and that we are all happy campers! I know I am because I get to read all your emails! That makes me happy! I love learning about your weeks and that I can tell you about mine as well! This week was an adventure as it usually is!

Today we went to the Cachon de la Rubia. It is a park that is natural where there are swimming spots that feed into the river. It is super beautiful and I relaxed a lot. I enjoyed the time to walk around in nature and I felt like I was back at home! It was a forest and we walked around in peace. It truly was enjoyable for me! I felt like I was back in Utah hiking with Jamie Pruden, or Parker or any other of my friends. A nice little taste of home. It was fun hanging out with a small group of missionaries and it was free to get in! Boo ya!

I hand washed my clothes again because we are still waiting to get power. We will see how it goes but they are working on it. This company is not very good but part of living in a third world country. My comp is doing well, still adjusting but I think good!

So W of the W is delantal which means apron. We have a Charismas one to use when I cook. We can`t cook much now with out power to keep our food fresh. We are eating out a lot which I don`t love but it is all part of it! Just keep swimming like in Nemo!

So we have a family we are working with to get married on April 26 and then get baptized or at least some of them on May 3rd. Going to be so awesome if we can keep it up. The Family Valdez! We hope they can keep progressing. The mom is who really has a lot of interest but they all do. Only some daughters came to church on Sunday which was hard but we will keep working hard!

We also are working with Samuel. an 11 yr old who is doing super well. His neighbor is Relief Society pres and he is always at church. He is super smart and always remembers what we teach. He is one of our good friends. We have a date for him which is 24th of May. It is far away because kids under age have to go to church consecutive for 3 months but we will keep working with him and try to do it with his family as well! Yesterday we found some new investigators which seem to have potential. We can see hope and will keep working hard!

RSL won! Wahoo they are doing work! I am happy to hear that with the new coach and all! Keep it up my boys. I am cheering loud as always! Dang march madness to the final 4! Kentucky Florida U Conn and Wisc. all big teams!

It is always hot here but I am not sure on humidity. I think around 85 percent. I can live without power but water is super necessary! The ward has plans to host the wedding in the chapel for the Valdez fam. It cost about 3000 pesos to get married but that is a lot for people here!

I hope everyone is prepared for conference. I am way excited for it! We get to listen to our Prophet today! I invite you all to pay attention and hear what he has to say or specifically what our Heavenly Father has for us! It will be special!

I hope all the trips are going well Dad! Be safe please! There are some pretty big families but they usually don`t all have the same mom and dad. It usually changes. That is an interesting fact about restaurants dad! So cool! Ill send the crazy pants picture next week when we use them! Gotta wait a little longer!

Well I love you all! Take care in your respective states and places!

Love,

Elder Chez Green