11/14/16 The Last Stretch

Well... what does one say? I really don't know how to start this letter. Two years of my life is coming to an end. It's bizarre. It honestly hasn't really hit me though, I'm not sure when it will, maybe on the airplane. 

A mission is the best two years for your eternity. A mission is kinda just like a boot camp that makes sure you are worthy enough for the big prize after this life. It kicks your butt, but at the same time you are content because you can see the progress you are making and how much you can really handle in life. You see how much potential you have when you really put your shoulder to the wheel, and you see how much you can help other people. I remember writing an email earlier this year, talking about how the mission isn't all sunshine and rainbows, it still isn't haha I've had the stomach flu for the last two weeks of my mission! There ain't nothing sunny or rainbowy about that haha. But, just because the sun isn't shining doesn't mean you can't be happy. A lot of life is about perspective, and the gospel puts everything into perspective for you, so let's just say the gospel makes life a lot easier. Sure you could be sad, you get rejected or something like that, or you could be happy that you tried and now you know that that person has had some sort of contact with the church and Christ... Planting seeds, I've done a lot of that. Might as well call me Johnny Appleseed. Believe me I wasn't great with the whole perspective thing all the time out here... a lot of the time I was just frustrated that I was in a predominantly catholic country full of old stubborn people and  rambunctious young teenagers. And there I was, somewhere in between. But I loved them. And I learned that a negative attitude gets you nowhere... if anything, you go backwards. So I tried my best to be positive and be the funny guy out here, to help myself mainly, but I hope along the way I was able to help some of my companions as well. If you ask the missionaries who know me well what my most used Spanish word is they probably would tell you, "Tranquiloooo" which you could translate to calm, relaxed or along those lines. I just used it to say "calm down" pretty much. That was me, and if you ask my parents they would say one of my signature catch phrases from before the mission is "Everyone just needs to calm down". I would say it if there were some rowdy arguments happening or something that just escalated emotions. I've tried to use that personality trait out here to help others and I honestly think I have, whether they actually relaxed because I told them to or they relaxed because they would laugh because it's typical Elder Rex telling everyone to calm down. Haha I'm not sure how I got to this topic but let's jump topics. 

The gospel, well, what can I say.. live the gospel and your life will be better. Easier said than done, I know. We aren't perfect. We mess up daily, and that's life. Try not to obsess over perfection... you'll never achieve it in this life. Sorry but it's true! I have so many faults I probably couldn't name them all. I haven't been a perfect missionary, I make mistakes. But what I think matters most is trying. Just keep on trying. Every day is a new day, so if yesterday you were a screw up and you did things you shouldn't have or made mistakes, you have tomorrow to try again and to be the best you can be that day. Hopefully you'll be better, and if you mess up again, which happens, that's okay. God knows we aren't perfect, but as long as we are REALLY trying our best he will continue to forgive us. Every time we sincerely repent we will be forgiven. The key is being sincere though, I don't wanna make it sound like I'm promoting sin and then just repenting or something along those lines. Sincerely repenting and sincerely trying. 

God loves you and me. He loves everyone, that is still something I'm trying to comprehend. The love God has for us. Imagine whatever thing or whoever in the world you love the most and pretty much multiply by the highest number you can create and that's Gods love for you. Hard for me to understand still... but I have begun to feel and get glimpses of that love on my mission. Two ways specifically; the first being attempting to see people as God sees them. Opening my heart to loving people I don't really know, you would be surprised how easy it is to care deeply about someone. Try it. The second was feeling his love for me during hardships. Feeling that he was there for me and knowing his hand was in my life everyday. That everyday he did something special just for Elder Rex. I truly believe he did. 

Prayer... madre mía. This is something so small but I have come to realize it is so crucial. Prayer opens the doors of heaven, it unlocks the powers of heaven. Prayer saves the day pretty much. At least it saved a lot of mine. Yet, it can be something so easy to push aside or take for granted. What a blessing it is, we literally have the chance to talk to the most powerful loving being and the creator of worlds and ask for help, tell him our concerns, thank him. That's crazy! And he listens! God wants to hear you, he is just waiting for you to "call" him... just do it. It will bless your life, your year, your month, your week and your day. This is a good quote I like about prayer from Richard G. Scott: 

“He is our perfect Father. He loves us beyond our capacity to understand. He knows what is best for us. He sees the end from the beginning. He wants us to act to gain needed experience:

When He answers yes, it is to give us confidence.

When He answers no, it is to prevent error.

When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth” 

Well, again I'm struggling to find words or know what to say. A mission is something you just have to experience to get a full understanding of it. I'm extremely grateful for these last two years of my life. I wouldn't trade them away for anything. I have made memories and friends that will last a lifetime. For that I am grateful. I have grown in my testimony of Jesus Christ and his mission which was to save us from a fallen state. He suffered every single pain and ache that we feel in this life, every single one. He knows how to succor us and all we have to do is open the door. He is there waiting. I was far from perfect before I came out here, I am far from perfect now, and I will be far from perfect 30 years from now when I look back and read this. But, I know I have a savior who has paid a price for me and if I do all that I can, and I never give up, one day I will be perfect alongside him. I testify of him and his love. I testify of this church and it's teachings, this is how you find happiness. Or at least that's how I did...

Elder Rex out ✌🏼

9/26/16

Sorry I'm so terrible at keeping up with my weekly letters. Sometimes I just don't know what to write, but I'll try to make this one a decent one. I've never been a man of many words. 

So Elder Alexander will finish his mission next Wednesday, meaning I'll be getting a new, and my last, companion in just over a week. Should be interesting. Doesn't really feel real though... not gunna lie. Maybe I'll be home one day haha we've been trying to teach over here but it's hard. It's a tiny little branch full of interesting people to say the least. But I love it. I bless the sacrament every week and sometimes I bless the bread and water while my companion passes. We have even led the meeting before. We don't have a branch president but we do have a counselor... so we got something going for us! Haha he's a good guy and keeps the branch afloat. There is a really nice Finnish family who attends church here so that's fun. My companion and I are the primary/nursery "teachers" so pretty much we teach two four years olds hahaha they are more interested in stealing our name tags or lying on the floor than learning. It's interesting. 

Our number one investigator is named Ana. She's a nice lady from Ecuador. She loves the Book of Mormon and the church but can't find the motivation to come to church on Sundays. She's lives in a different town than the building and she would have to take the bus but she's not really down for that. Plus, her kids say that they are "Catholics"... so she won't come alone but the kids won't come with her. It's a pickle. I guess we will see what happens. We also have been helping a less active member, his name is Geronimo. Good guy but a lifetime of drugs and alcohol have fried him a little. He came to church last Sunday for the first time in a year and hasn't consumed alcohol or drugs in 4 weeks. That's so good!! The first time I saw him I also saw cocaine and heroine for the first time is my life. Haha 

This area is probably the hardest of my mission teaching wise... few members, we mainly have to find people to teach outside of the town we live in which requires 45 minutes of bus time there and then again back. Haha anyways, idk what else to say, I'm excited for conference! Glad we have a prophet and apostles to guide us through our lives! Love you all.

Hermana Gentry!! The Carter's cousin and friend of Courtney

8/28/16

Welp, I'm in Nerja, the most touristy place in our entire mission! Like holy cow...I don't think anyone actually lives here, everyone is from various countries in Europe... it's crazy. You walk down the street and you hear English, German, Finnish, and a whole bunch of other languages. Half of the time I don't even know what country I am in. As you can imagine this all makes the work very difficult, for multiple reasons:
1. Language barrier
2. They don't live here so they wont be here for a long period of time
3. They are on vacation and don't want us bothering them

It really is beautiful place though! It's somewhere I hope to return to when I'm not a missionary so I can take advantage of the beaches. Haha It's really a crazy place to be. We do have a few other cities that we take a bus to, and they aren't as touristy. 

Right now we are working with a lady named Anna. She's from Ecuador, and she loves the Book of Mormon and is honestly read to be baptized! It's great. But she hasn't come to church! She says her family needs her on Sundays... so we will work on that.

Our apartment is very small, probably half the size of my last one. We have a kitchen/living room combo, a bedroom, and bathroom. It's really weird. Everything here is just kind of weird. We went to visit someone the other day and he had some cocaine out on his table. He then pulled out a syringe with some heroine. So that was super strange. 

Anyways, I'm doing well. My comp is a good guy, like i said, he's finishing his mission this transfer and I finish the next one so we are old men out here in the mission field. We are tied with the assistants to be the oldest companionship in the mission.

Anyways love you all
Elder Rex

Nerja

8/22/16

Dear family,
This is Elder Rex speaking! I just wanted to let you guys know you guys know that I am being transferred! I will be heading to a little city called Nerja. That's where all the tourists go to go to the beach and have fun during the summertime. It's a branch and not a ward, so it should be pretty small and spread out from what I've heard. Also, we are in charge of all the fast offerings over there. Should be interesting. I'll be with Elder Alexander, he's the old assistant to president. Should be cool, he ends his mission this transfer and me the next. I hear the work is pretty hard there because nobody really lives there, they just go to visit for the summer and all leave in the end of August. Soooo I'll get there just in time for everyone to leave haha. I'll try to send some photos!

7/18/16

So last week after emailing at the church we had a interesting experience with a 50 year old Spanish man. 3 other elders and I were pulling out of the church parking lot in a car, and you have to lock a gate after you leave, so we were kinda on the sidewalk for like 10 seconds as my comp hopped out and locked the gate. So this guy on the sidewalk just starts kicking our car so i hopped out and told him to calm down and asked what his problem was and asked him to stop. Then he started getting mad and said he was going to cut my throat and blah blah blah and then he took all this trash and threw it all over the church property, so I started clapping for him sarcastically (maybe not the best thing to do) and my comp wasn't looking because he was locking the gate. And then this guy just slaps my comp hard on the face so I grabbed him in a bear hug and told him that we will call the police if he doesn't stop. Then he proceded to fall out of my arms on to the floor and yelled "police police help me!" and said HE was going to call the police, so he faked called them and said 4 of us attacked him and his arm was hurt. At this point we think we are waiting for the police, so drove the car back to the church parking lot to wait for them, and I was by this guy and the other elders were like 10 feet away just having parked the car. And the man asked me what I was doing and I said I'm a missionary and then he goes on to tell me very bad things which I cannot write, and the punches me in the chin and I was upset but the other missionaries told me to walk away. So i did because of course it wasn't worth it to continue to argue with him, and as I left he called us more bad things. It was probably the most frustrating experience of my mission because there was nothing I could do...probably a good thing. 

Anyways  Elder Sant got transferred on Wednesday and I got a new companion, Elder Blasi, he's a good kid. He's from Missouri. Then we were in a trio from Thursday to Saturday because another elder was alone because his companion was traveling to the mission home. I'm back with Elder Harvey in my district so that's sweet! I've been with him pretty much half my mission! Also, thanks to all the people who wished me a happy birthday! You're all the best! I hope you have a great week! You're all in my prayers :) 

Love, 

Elder

6/27/16

Well, what can I tell you about Cartagena... it's hot and I sweat a lot. I have to shower three times a day sometimes. Pretty nasty. We just do a lot of walking as of now..trying to find people to teach. That's pretty much what we have done the last two weeks, knock on doors and knock on some more! That's life for me as of now! We eat Burger King every Monday even though we really don't want to, it's just the closest to the church, so we get forced to pretty much haha. The other day we were contacting and some guy told us he has 4 toes and took his shoe off to show us! That was interesting, the most exciting thing that has happened in awhile. I wish I could tell you about investigators but we don't really have anything! We are finding...hopefully haha. I hope everyone is doing well. You're in my prayers!

Love,
Elder Rex

6/13/16

Hey there world, well I'm now serving in the city of Cartagena with a former companion so that's kind of weird! I'm with Elder Sant, who I trained. It's hot here, real hot. And humid! Today we hiked to the top of a mountain to this castle and I'm feeling pretty roasted. I didn't wear any sunscreen...whoops. Maybe I'll get a nice tan though! Or my skin will just fall off...anyways. I don't really know much about the area or anything but it's pretty much my first time being in a big city so that's pretty cool! You see lots of missionaries on pdays compared to my last area where it was just me and my companion. I'll probably be able to tell you more next week!

Love Elder Rex

4/18/16

Hey there, well I'm still here! We will find out Saturday if I will be transferred or not... it'll be weird if I do because this will be my first area with just two transfers but it's looking pretty possible. And that means I'll have probably two more areas to go because I have 5 transfers to go so probably a 2 and 3 transfer areas or I could stay here a transfer and just have one 4 transfer area. Who knows... not me. I've come to realize that I can impress people with how much I eat. It's kind how I prove I'm a man. Like today at lunch I out ate a 7 foot tall elder, I out eat a lot of people out here and I gain the respect of people by doing it. In my last area there was a big Ecuadorean man who loved me because I once put down like 30 chicken wings, empenadas and stuff, and I don't even get fat by doing so! The work here is interesting, all the teenagers here try to make fun of us and just laugh at us, but I just think it's funny. They really just don't know who I am. They see me as the guy walking around in the shirt and tie everyday talking about Jesus (partially because that's

who I am...) but I don't think they realize I'm pretty dang normal just like them. It's funny sometimes because they'll try to catch you off guard but then realize I'm just  a normal guy and they get confused. Pretty much we are visiting 3 people a lot as of lately, all three are single fathers in their late thirties. They seem to believe that me and elder Maldonado can find them so nice Mormon women to fix their problems. One is actually progressing pretty well and is interested in the gospel. The other is convinced that if he had a tractor and a woman all his problems would be solved (sounds like a country song to me....) and the other either watches the movie Bugs Life's or sleeps when we teach him and claims that he's listening but just with his eyes closed.... hahaha soooo yeah that's my life as of lately. All seriousness they are all good guys who want to be happy and have a happy family. 

So...Cody got engaged... That's good for him! Super weird for me to think he will be married when I get back...super weird! People are dropping like flies back home...love is in the air apparently. All you women reading this, I'll be home in 7 months...mark your calendars...go ahead and call or text Courtney if you want to set a date in advance because it's possible they will be in high demand ;) hahah just kidding let's be real...I'll probably be afraid of girls when I come home.... I hope all is well back home. You are in my prayers! Love you all! Especially those of you who take your time to read this! I know I'm pretty bad at keeping up but I write this for you guys!!! Mainly for my mom...but the few others too! Haha adios!

4/4/16

Well these last two weeks have been pretty basic. Last week was Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Always interesting here in southern Spain. They walked around with these big Virgin Mary floats and Jesus statues, burning incense while a marching band followed, dressed up as what honestly looks to be a KKK costume (I know it's not, and there is history behind it.) but it looks like one! That week kinda just goes down the gutter. Nobody wants anything. So it was a rough empty week. (even more than usual). One night around 12:30am they came down our street banging drums so loud our windows were shaking... always a good time. I must say that Lorca (my first area) has a more intense Holy Week than Dos Hermanas. It's raining today so we've just kinda hung out in our apartment. Nothing too special. I've been to the doctor a few times this week trying to heal a foot injury... I have to get my blood analyzed and then I should be able to get some medicine to fix me. I spared you details because I really don't believe anyone wants to read about my foot problems. Haha anyways, I guess Spain is at a level 4 of terrorist alert or something like that. I'm not sure what that means but it spicens up life a little I guess. My comp and a member were telling me that some extremist said with in the next 5 years they are going to take Spain. Good thing I'm out of here in 7 months! Everything is pretty calm here, I'm not worried. I haven't heard any reliable sources talking about it.

Anyways, love you all! Follow Jesus and you'll be a much happier person!

We should stay off play equipment... it doesn't end well

My food creations

Some sweet bikes

3/14/16- the pellet gun incident

So I had a interesting experience this week. About two weeks ago my old comp and I were knocking doors. At one of the apartments, a girl who is about 20 answered, and we explained who we are and asked if we could share a message. She said she couldn't today but she wanted us to come back a different day. The next few days I was in Malaga, so my old comp and another missionary passed by, and she couldn't at that moment but they set a meeting for that night at 7:30. Well, that's when I got back
from Malaga, so we missed that meeting. 

So finally this Thursday we went by to see if we could meet with her (with my new companion) oh and also this is the worst part of town. Two or three more blocks up the road is an area where police won't go to help you... the part we were in was bad but wasn't the worst. Anyways we knocked on the door and a guy opens it, and I ask "is Maria home?" and he just shuts the door. And I thought he was going to go get her or something so we waited another few seconds. He didn't come back so we knocked again and this time a lady answered, and I asked again "Is Maria home?" and she began to yell and scream and said something like "why do you guys keep coming here! Leave her alone! She's Muslim! Stop with the Christ crap!" But she said it in meaner ways... So we said that we were sorry and she slammed the door. So we crossed the street and we were standing across from their house. I was looking at my planner trying to see where we were going next, and my comp said "look" and we could see one of the guys from Maria's house out on the balcony just staring at us. Super creepy. I just ignored it and kept looking at my planner, then all of the sudden I hear something hit the wall next to me, and the another. Then my comp yells "RUN!" and we start sprinting down the sidewalk as the man is trying to pick us off like scared rabbits with his pellet gun... it was crazy. I was just sprinting and heard little pellets bouncing off the wall next to me (luckily he didn't have good aim). We sprinted for a good 20 seconds until we got out of range and just looked at each other. Then a police car turned the corner and we flagged them down and explained what went down. And they went and talked to the lady who slammed the door on us. We went with them and we said "good afternoon" to her, and she said "oh now you say good afternoon? What was all that you said at my door about how Christ is the only way and we are dammed!?" (We didn't say that) but anyways they took our info and theirs and we can file a complaint or whatever. President was supposed to tell me what to do but he had to call someone in Germany first to ask them but he never called me back... So yeah. It was just a freaky sprint down the street with some man trying to pump us full of lead! So I'm don't really wanna go back to that part of town...but yeah. 

Plaza de Espana in Sevilla

Shoutout to my sisters city!

3/7/16

Well we got transfers calls Saturday and my companion is being transferred and I'll be receiving Elder Maldonado. Another native speaker for Elder Rex. I think he's Brazilian, or that's what I've hear at least. So maybe Spanish isn't his native language... Should be interesting! He's pretty new to the mission. Hopefully he doesn't mind that he isn't coming to much...it will be nice to hopefully intensely work on my Spanish again. I haven't had a native since last August!  Well I guess we will see how it goes... 

Sevilla

2/29/16

Haha I really don't know what to write about! I've knocked more doors here than all my other areas combined...hundreds of doors...and how many have I entered? Zero. Hahaha that's okay though! Such is the life of a European Missionary! I once heard a quote that some of you may take offense to, so I apologize beforehand. It said "The Lord sends boys to South America to become men, he sends men to Europe to become leaders." Hahah I mean just look how may prophets came to Europe on their missions ;) haha no, I was just talking with my companion yesterday about this. I believe every mission has it own difficulties. Some are harder than others but no mission is easy. Every mission has the good and the bad. I hope nobody comes on a mission thinking it will be all sunshine and rainbows...because it's not. You'll have those days, but you'll also have those days where you just keep stepping one foot in front of the other because that's all you can do. You got find the little moments, save them, and remember them. When things get tough, if you handle the situation well, you will become a better person.. So really in either situation you are being blessed. Whether it be the days with rainbows and sunshine or the dark days... you're being blessed.
Anyways, love you guys!

Costco in Sevilla!!!!!!! 

2/15/16

Well this week has been interesting. I'm starting to feel better finally, I still have a runny nose but that's about it. The work here is kinda like a stagnant puddle of water full of mosquitos... never the less we are trying to get some fresh water circulating in here. We've spent most of the week knocking doors... it's been rough. We supposedly have 2 pretty good investigators in the area, but since I've been here they won't answer the door or their phones. We were going to go to Costco last Monday but my comp couldn't remember how to get there so we saved it for today! I'm looking forward to that, hopefully it won't make me too trunky! They still have hot dogs for 1.50 and everything. So I'm excited for that. 

There are 4 elders in this small town; me, my companion elder Morgan, elder burton and elder reader, who is like 7 feet tall and 280lbs. He's a big man. Anyways, our piso has a roof so I'm going to find a cheap bbq to put up there so I can do some grilling. That would be sweet. Oh and I've gotten two engagement photos this week.... everyone needs to calm down or at this rate I'll have no friends when I get home! Haha congratulations to Shane and Dylan! Crazy! Anyways, I hope all is well back at home. You're are all in my prayers! Even you people who think your not! Sometimes I just pray for certain people randomly... sometimes it's not even people I really know that well or have ever met. I'll just be praying and this person will pop into my head and I pray for them. I'm kinda weird like that. But it can't hurt. Love you all!
Elder Rex

2/8/16

Well hello family and friends. So I got transferred to Dos Hermanas. I'm here with an Elder Morgan from Utah, he seems to be a good guy. This area doesn't have too much to work with but we will see if we can change that around. There is an Air Force base close to here so there are some English speakers who come to church so that's always cool to see/hear. I've been pretty dang sick since I've been here. Like the sickest I've been on my mission... I pretty much have to lay in bed all day. I did for three days so that sucked for everyone. I made myself some homemade chicken noodle soup which was pretty good if I do say so myself. But yeah so the week has been kinda hard. But that's life sometimes. You just gotta keep swimming. Anyways I really don't have much to say since I've been inside sick. We are close to Sevilla, and there is a Costco there, so we are going there next pday and that's going to be sweet! I'll try to have more to say next week. 
Love you all and you are in my prayers. 
Elder Rex

Saying bye to my old comp

Well this week was another week in Almeria. It was good but honestly I don't have much to say. The work here is slow, we have been trying to get it going again since I opened it but it's been hard, I love my area and the few people in it. The few people. That's the problem, our area isn't the best geographically. But that's okay! I just gotta work and know the lord will do the rest. Time flies out here, it's a strange thing. It's kind of like I'm on a different planet and my 13 months have been like 5 years for you guys or something. If you have ever seen the movie interstellar you'll understand me, or if you're an astrophysicist. If you're an astrophysicist and you are reading my blog, write me. I'm sure we could talk about Star Wars and stuff ;) haha love all you guys back at home! Thanks for your love and support!

Elder Rex

I bought some cool boots

12/28/15-- this is a long one!!

Well Christmas was conquered!!

Last Monday we went to an all you can eat Asian food Buffett, and I probably ate too much bad Chinese food. But you gotta do that as a missionary when you pay 10 euros. I cant afford not to eat a lot at that price. They have a bunch of uncooked sea food that they will cook up for you and some elders were freaking out about some of this stuff. There was some nasty squid though, not gunna lie.

Tuesday not much happened from what I remember. Oh we stayed home all day waiting for my companions packages which never came. So We decided to call DHL and get their address so we could go pick them up so he could have them before Christmas. We walked 20 minutes before we realized we were walking in the correct direction but the road we were on didn't take us there. So we back tracked 20 minutes to a different road which led us to a dirt road and by this time it's dark outside and we are in a sketchy area. So we walk this dirt road for ten minutes in the general direction  that we want to go and we can see the industrial park we need to be in but it's surround by a barbed wire fence. So I told my comp we would walk the perimeter until we found a weak spot to infiltrate. We walked probably 5 minutes and we
found a decent place to hop the fence. It was weird, it was like somebody just cut out the mid section of this fence so we had to hop this little fence but we had to be careful because there was barbed wire above us. It wasn't too bad for me because I have long legs so I kinda just stepped over the shorter fence. My comp had to balance himself on top of a chain link fence to get over it... it didn't look comfy. Anyways we got the packages and started back but a new way, as we were walking a man stopped us and said "elders what are you doing here? It's not safe, where are you going, to the chapel?" I knew we weren't in a good area I just didn't know another way to go. We were right by a neighbor hood called El Puche, I call it little Afghanistan. Apparently and elder got stabbed there not too long ago. So needless to say we don't got there anymore. So this guy saved us and gave us a shortcut to take. Super nice of him to save our lives like that. We made it home safe after that!

Wednesday we went to Murcia for a Christmas conference, we had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning which sucked because we had a 5:30 bus to catch. And it's not a nice bus ride...it is a 4 and a half hour bus ride. Luckily I was tired enough I slept the whole way pretty much. We had a talent show there and it was pretty good. Elder Black, my Scottish friend killed it on the guitar and singing. I think all the girls there fell in love with him. After the talent show we heard from a few people and then we ate a ton of pallea. Then we had to make our bus ride back to Almeria...we were supposed to leave at 6:30 but out bus driver didn't show up till a little after 7 so that's was lame. The we started out long ride back, with 26 stops on the way. Whoooo....and I'm getting sick at this point. So we get back pretty late and slept in the other elders piso because we live a good 50 minute walk from the bus station.

Thursday I woke up feeling pretty crappy, my throat, nose and head were all broken. Good way to start of Christmas Eve. We didn't do much this day, I laid around in the morning not feeling good. Later Elder Layton and I went and bought some gifts for a missionary who's package didn't arrive. We bought a whole pig leg for him and a pull up bar. After that we went to a members house to eat Christmas Eve dinner and
a little Christmas program. We had the Christmas program first and sang some songs and then ate the food. It was pretty funny elder Layton and Elder Hammond ate a ton of food the first round because they thought we weren't going to have anymore food. So pretty much they were stuffed before the main course....greenies... And we had dessert after that! It was pretty good. We had potatoes and pork loin or something like that. By the end of that night I think I went through 20 tissues. I was sneezing and just dying. I just went home and slept.

Friday! I was supposed to wake up early and make banana bread but I was still sick so I wasn't really feeling it. We had a district breakfast party where the sister missionaries made pancakes, bacon and fruit salad. That's was super nice of them. And they gave us all a stocking which had some cool socks in them! After that we came back to piso to open presents. Shout out to all the lovely people who included stuff in my package! I really appreciate it :) after that we went back to the church to skype the family. Pretty much we were there all day because me and my companion skyped at different times.

Saturday we played soccer, well I wasn't planning on it because I'm sick  but I was forced to play because there wasn't enough people. So I kinda tried to take it easy. Afterwards we went to a members house to eat food, they made us Colombian food. It's called papa rellena. Pretty much it's a mashed potato ball that's stuffed with rice, meat and a hard boiled egg and then dipped in batter and fried. They are super good...I ate three of them and they are pretty big. I was the only one who ate three.

Sunday was Sunday, we ate at the bishops house. He has a son who is studying at byu home for break but he didn't talk to us much. I always pictured the bishop as pretty strict tight man but he was pretty
relaxed, cracking jokes and what not. Pretty funny guy, after dinner we go into some interesting conversation about pretty non important "profound" doctrine hahaha my comp asked why dinosaurs came to the earth and the bishop said "I have a book for you" he came back with a 500 page book he had read called "the palaces of kolob"........so yeah..... We also drank a bunch of peach drinks that were super good. You could say it was a good day.

This long letter is a Christmas present for you guys!

Love elder Rex