Things are Heating up in Texas

So this week, I probably made one of the worst analogies in missionary history. I was on an exchange (luckily), and we were teaching this family about the Plan of Salvation. There is this grandma like 60-70, senile as ever, a Mom around 40ish, two girls like 17 and 14 and then a little 12-13 year old kid. I was talking about agency and consequences, and the family was not really understanding, so I thought hey, just make up an analogy real quick, then they'll understand. So, I proceeded to make up this little gem: "We all have agency, for example, I could take off my shirt right now. But there are always consequences, like you would probably ask me to leave, right?" It was just dead silent, the Grandma and mom were just staring at me expectantly, one of the girls almost left the room, the mom muttered something about how it was really hot in there and she wouldn't mind, it was just bad. Hahaha, it was so bad. 

Other than that, I had a sweet week. We talked to 106 people this week. Haha, we set a goal of how many people to talk to, and we hit 106, it was way cool. We had investigators at church again, and our district was the top district in the mission for this week, we had an awesome week!

Haha, that is great that you went to Dinner with the Udy's mom and dad. I don't really know what I did to make YMAD people remember me, probably just the same Cole things as usual haha. That is way cool about Mom and Dad's anniversary too. 

That is way sad about Brandon's mom. I guess like Dad said, we are really blessed to know what goes down after this life, and that we can see our loved ones once again. It is pretty awesome to know that, and be able to teach other people about it as well.

Whelp, that's it for this week. Love you all.

Love,

Cole

Elder Cook: December Update

12/2/13

Well I hit my 5 month mark tomorrow! It's crazy how fast it is going! It is going by way to fast and I need it to slow down! But last week was Thanksgiving and it was good! Kind of a slow week for teaching because everyone was out of town but we had two really good Thanksgiving dinners! I ate a lot of gluten free pumpkin pie! But now its December and we are going to look for a tree today to put in our apartment! I am excited! Also we have a baptism on December 14 and it should go through so that will be way cool! I am excited! We had another person that was set to be baptized on the 13th of December but she just barely moved so that was a little sad. But she will still probably be baptized by the other Elders so that is okay! Ha it seems like all of our investigators who are really progressing and ready to be baptized move out of our area. But that is okay! Well I dont have too much more to report on. But all of the friends are doing well! Tanner Hale gets to go skiing on p-day! I am so jealous! But anyway I hope that everyone is doing well and I have a couple of pictures to send off! Love you all and have a great week.

 

This is a senior couple that just got done with their mission!

We had to knock down all the apples for service

 Elder Cook


12/9/13

Well another week has gone by! It is crazy to see how fast it goes by! But this last week was pretty slow. Not much happened. But we do have a baptism this Friday so that is way exciting! His name is Roger and he is doing really well! He has his interview tomorrow night! But this last week it has been pretty cold and it snowed a little bit!!!!!!!!!!! I miss the snow! But it is Navajo tradition on the first snowfall of the year to go out and bathe in it so we did that and it was pretty cold! But if you do it then you are promised to not get cold the rest of winter. Well you will still get cold but not as cold as you would! But yeah we did it at like 6:45 on Saturday and it was cold! It got down to 5 degrees this morning and it is suppose to get down to 2 degrees tonight or tomorrow night.... But this also on Saturday we went to a stake Christmas party and they had like over 100 nativity scenes on display and across the street was the Luminaries at the college and that was really cool. I got some good pictures and I will send them. Hopefully the computer will work this time! But all is good! Not too much to report on this week! But hope everyone has a great week!

Love,
Elder Bradley Cook


12/16/13
Well I have no time today! We went to Mesa Verde today and got back like an hour ago!  But I got the packages and also the baptism was great! But it was a good week and we had a lot of fun at Mesa Verde! But also with skype... It will probably be around 10 or 11 in the morning after breakfast with one of our members. So I hope that works out with everyone! But I have a lot of pictures to send next week! But I hope you all have a great week! Oh and I might be a little late with Christmas presents... But love you all! Talk to ya next week.

Elder Cook

 

 

12/23/13

Well sorry about last week! I didn't have much time to email because we went to Mesa Verde and we were gone all day so we had like 10 minutes to email President Batt and also you everyone else! But anyway I feel like a lot has happened this past two weeks! I don't even remember it all already because a lot has been going on! But I will try to get some of it in here! Anyway we had a Baptism! That went great! It was a really good program and he is doing really well! His name is Roger and he had his boss baptize him so that is sweet! He is getting married to a member and one of their goals is to get to the temple and get married! We told him that that is a really good goal! Ha but he is doing really well! Also we were able to go to Mesa Verde last week! That was awesome! They wouldn't let us climb on anything so that was kind of a bummer! But I heard at Choco Mountain that they have ruins there that you can climb all over! So if I ever get transferred over there I can go climb all over those ruins! Ha but I got some good pictures! Anyway I will send those after this email! But also transfers are coming up! On New Years eve is when transfers are and we find out this Saturday! I will probably leave Farmington because this will be my 4th transfer here in Farmington and they usually try to keep you in an area around 6 months! But I might get transferred out to the Reservation! That would be really cool! President brought it up in our interviews and so it might happen! I am excited! But if not this transfer then maybe in a couple of transfers! Also I hit my 6 month mark next week! It is crazy! I am kind of mad though because it is going by way to quick! I had a dream I was home and I was happy to be home but I was kind of sad because I felt like I didn't serve long enough! But then I found out in my dream that I was going back for a year and I was so excited! Ha I am still loving it out here! The work is slow a lot of the time! But it is okay! Also about Skyping, I will probably be skyping around 10 or 11 in the Morning! I will probably give Mom or Dad a call right before I do so I can let you guys know when to get one! I am excited to talk to everyone! Ha it is going to be weird talking to you guys but I am excited! But yeah this last week was good! We had a missionary Christmas party and that was way fun! Also we went to a members home last night for another Christmas party and I got some candles! I am going to miss this area but I am also excited at the same time to go to a new area and experience something new! Anyway I guess that is all for now! I will talk to you guys this Wednesday Morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a Merry Christmas and also I am sending gifts out today. Hopefully they will be able to get there by Christmas! If not I am sorry.... But love you all and talk to you real soon!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and if I forgot any questions to answer, just ask Wednesday!

Roger's baptism, he is the one next to me!

 Elder Cook

 

12/30/13

 

Well I have no time today! My time on my computer just cheated me a couple of minutes so I have no time! But anyway this last week was great! I hope you all got your presents! But I am being transferred out on the Reservation! I leave tomorrow and I am serving in Round Rock in Arizona! It is really close to Chinle! I am in the Chinle zone so on P-days I might go to Chinle! But anyway sorry I have no time! It was really good to talk to all of you and I hope everything is going well! I will send more next week! And also pictures too! Well I love you all and I have to send this before it shuts down on me!

Love,

Elder Cook

 

 

Surprises and Firesides

Editor's Note:  Last week Coleman sent me a letter for my Birthday and surprised me with a BAPTISM that he and his companion had!  The baptism was the Saturday before, and was from someone he placed a Book of Mormon with the very first day of his mission.  What an awesome Birthday present!!

I never know how to start these letters and it always looks way stupid when I do. Haha, but whatever. Haha, I hope you liked the birthday present Mom. Haha, the real story is that I never really knew what Maria was up to at all, until like a week before she was baptized. More about her later. 

Anywiggle, this week was pretty weird. Haha, Elder Long went home, I got a new companion, and some other cool stuff. Haha, it was way weird to send Elder Long home, because I am about as far away from going home as it could be. I barely hit 4 months haha. My new Comp. is named Elder Henderson, he is from Lehi, Utah, he loves poetry, long walks on the beach, a nice glass of scotch, and of course his dog Baxter. He goes home after this transfer. He spent the last few transfers as an AP, so he knows what's up with all this missionary witchcraft. He is a cool guy, and I'm excited to work with him. 

That is way cool that G. Ma & G. Pa are done/going to Antarctica haha, pretty crazy. But awesome as usual haha. Hahah Mom, always talking about me/ things having to do with me. It sounds like you had a good Birthday month this year Mom! Haha, sounds like a real busy week for everyone as well.

It was way cool, last night they had a little fireside dealy-do where they asked some recent converts to talk, and Maria was one of the 3. She talked last, and she stood up and said "They didn't tell me I was gonna talk in English, so I wrote everything in Spanish." Hahaha, whoops my bad. But she stood up and told everyone her story and it was way cool haha. President Ames was there and he talked a little bit too, it was pretty cool. It was a pretty sweet week for sure haha. 

Anywhey, haha I hope you have a good week and whatnot!

Love, Cole

**See http://called2swerve.blogspot.com/ for photos**

Halloween Random

I was going through old photos on my computer, and I feel I have an obligation to randomly post this here.  Cheers.

H@PPY B!RTHD@Y M0M!!!1!11!!1!

Hey guise, sorry about not emailing yesterday. We couldn't because of the whole MLK celebrating diversity and whatnot. But sorry if I scared you or something haha. Haha Mom, I would love to work aka ski all day, I miss that a ton sometimes. It sucks about D-Train though, I bet he is not super happy about that at all.. I never liked ice skating because it hurt my ankles and my straight pride, but mostly my ankles. Speaking of homosexuals, I heard Utah allowed gay marriage or something? Weird. I don't really wanna go home that much anymore haha. I didn't have my camera for the bunny farm ,but if we can we'll go back and take pictures one day. David got engaged? Haha, that is so weird, he is the 1st engagement of my mission... 

So whenever you go into a new area, there is always something going on, but not always people progressing, so you pretty much almost start over like every monthish from what i've seen. I don't know if that answers your question.. We get a monthly limit for miles so it is something to budget, but we usually do pretty well. 

Elder Long is going home on Thursday, haha so my new comp comes Wednesday. His name is Elder Henderson, and I've heard he is a really cool guy and a great missionary, so I'm excited. He goes home after next transfer. 

Happy Birthday mom, this week was pretty cool. I wrote mom a letter and sent it to her on Monday, so I hope she gets it by Saturday!

Love, Cole

Fried Pig Skin and Habaneros

Hey guys, Happy New Year!

Haha, so firsties, I thought Mom would like to know that I haven't bitten my nails since last Wednesday, which is a record by far. She always got on me for that so I decided to stop for a week. But on Wednesday I'm goin to town on those bad boys. 

Anyway, this week is a normal week, I never have anything to say anymore except the non-missionary stuff because that is the only thing that ever changes. It was a really good week, and we are finding new investigators and I guess we do spend a lot of time trying to reactivate. It is pretty cold here, and the cold in Texas is way different from the cold in Utah, but I don't really need a coat or anything, I should be fine.

 Elder Long and I have a few more weeks together until he goes homesies. That is really cool about G-ma and G-pa, haha they did that forever it seems like.

Anyweigh, this week was pretty normal, except for Saturday. I went on exchange to a bike area that morning. We went to Jack in the Box, then did service with some English elders. On the way back, one of the elders pulled out 2 boxes of Kool-Aid, and asked if I was down to do the Kool-Aid challenge. You think I wasn't down? Course I was, 6:29. Then I threw it all up. After that, we were riding around on our bikes, and the Elder I was with was a super fast guy on his bike, so I was following him, and he popped up onto a curb. I was comin in hot and clipped my pedal on this telephone pole so I took a little tumble... After a short ride in the ambulance to the ER, they said I was fine. Just kidding haha, no ambulance, no ER. Anywhey, I broke the pedal on impact, and took it into a bike shop, where they checked it out and said that the central crank was broken, or something. The thingy that goes in between the pedals, and it should be about $40 to fix. I feel so bad, and I don't really know what to do? It isn't that bad and I can still ride it around, but I don't really know what to do about the bike... Sorry again, I feel way bad. 

After that, I ate some fried pig skin and a habanero pepper. So that was a pretty eventful day. Hope you Had a Fun Week! Happy Birthday Month Mom!

Love, Colembre

Who Ate My Fruitcake??

12/30/13

Well, this week was pretty dang eventful.  My companion is sometimes strict and was saying stuff like "You can only talk to your family for 40 minutes for Christmas." When I told him “Okay but I’m gonna make two 40 minute calls cause my family is split up,” he told me I am going to have to make 20 minute calls. When he called his mom he talked for 10 minutes, then for 20 then for 30 and 40 and 50 and then finally at 1 hour until he ran out of money and couldn’t talk any longer.  Haha 20 minutes my eye. The next day we went to the house of Alex and Skyped on their computer. I got to see my whole family and the changes in their lives. 
That night we went home and talked to the other Elders of Numancia.  We made empanadas with them and at 12 there were a butt load of fireworks going off and it was so dang hot that we all got up and watched them. Argentines are looking for any chance to light fireworks so in the last 3 weeks we have had 3 or 4 firework displays right outside of our window. As soon as the firework show ends, without fail the fire truck alarm goes off for the next 30 minutes and just wails and wails in the dark of the night. Haha kinda annoying but a little funny that something always ends up catching fire.
The next morning we woke up and Elder Gomez was asking us "Who ate all of my fruit cake?" He asked us like 3 times and we never found the culprit.  He shared the rest of it with me and we ate a good chunk of that bad boy.  That night after working all day we came into the pension and while walking in the door we heard something at the window. Then it made a bunch of noise and saw a cat booking out of there. We looked down and that sneaky kitty had eaten the rest of the fruitcake. We found our man.
A couple of weeks ago I was walking past a fruit store and the guys carrying a crate dropped all of these fruits so I stopped to help them out while my companion kept on walking.  After they thanked me but I was in such a rush catching up to my companion so I just said " ITS NOTHING. CONGRATULATIONS! BYE!" I don’t know why I said congratulations, I just did ok?
The next day things were getting pretty slim, first because it was the end of the month and second because I used 250 of my 1000 pesos for the month on Christmas presents for the members so I had no money.  (I think that I bought 15 ties and made a good 200 cookies for all of them haha.) We were walking past the people I helped and were talking about what we should do because we don’t have any money for food. And the guys started saying, "Hey look! Its congratulations!" Haha I felt a little bit stupid because I knew what they were talking about. We talked to them and they found out we had no money so they just gave us a bunch of bananas! Haha what great guys. I guess what goes around comes around, right?
Thursday we didn’t have bikes because my comp`s bike tire popped so we had to fix it.  While we were walking to our lunch we passed over the train tracks and we could see the train far off in the distance.  My comp stopped and asked if I had any money. Then we put the money on the tracks and ran around for 10 minutes giggling like little girls waiting for the train.  Finally the train came and ran over our money and we booked it over to find them and we couldn’t.  We spent a good 10 more minutes looking for the money when the people who invited us to lunch saw us running around on the tracks and the husband ran over and joined us giggling like girls.  With his hawk eyes he found them both in 2 minutes and now I have my first money run over by a train! Woo!On Saturday there is a faria where you can buy fruit for super cheap. So Elder Delgado and I went over and bought ourselves a good watermelon and rode our bikes back.  There is a tent that sells clothes and I always say hi to the people that work there.  So we rode by them and as I was waving to them and I wasn’t paying attention, little by little I drove straight onto the curb and turfed it super hard. And then when I tried getting up my leg was caught so I fell again right in front of them and looked like a complete idiot haha.Anyways after that we went to Alex’s to make some lunch.  There is a stronger type of jalapenos here and it was my job to cut them and deseed them.  As I was cutting them, I found it was a lot faster and easier to deseed with my hands.  After I finished all 20 I washed my face and talked.  About 20 minutes later I started to feel the burn.  Ask me if my face and hands burned for the next 20 hours.  Ask me…Well, I gotta head out but I hope everything is going well.  I love you all and will write again next week.

Love,
Andy