Week 101 - THE END!

Well this is my last week in Uruguay. I have been trying not to think about it too much for several reasons. One is that I am going to miss the culture and people here a lot! It has also been a dream of mine or a long time to be a missionary and I can´t believe it´s ending. But I also have a lot of work to do here in Melo until Thursday when I head to Montevideo. However it doesn´t matter how much I try its always in the back of my mind that in just a few days the life that I have known for the last 2 years will end. I am excited to see what the future holds and to continue growing as the Lord wants for me.

My mission has not been easy and I feel like it is impossible to describe the mission in an adequate way, but I have loved every moment of it! I have truly come to know more about the Savior and about His gospel. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ! My mission has meant everything to me. It has forever changed my life and I am thankful that my mission has been the means of changing the lives of others as well.

I have been trying to think of what I could write in my last email to really just wrap up my mission, but words can´t really describe what the mission has done for me. So my testimony is simple. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Church of God. I have no doubt. I have felt the love and goodness of God for all His children, even those who are a little "lost" in this life. He loves them and He has a plan for them and for each of us. We truly do have a Father in Heaven and each of us are His Children. He has great things planned for us! We just need the faith to see it!

See y'all in 5 days!

Love,

Elder Cole

Week 100!!!!

This week was a good week! I really love the mission! It`s been a great time! The things that I have learned and then people I have come to love are truly unforgettable! 

This week we had a little miracle! Sofia got baptized! She is the daughter of active members of the church and she turned 9 last week. She was never baptized when she was 8 because she never felt like she had a testimony, but we were visiting her family this week and they asked us for help. It was pretty fast and crazy, but we taught her everything and Sofia decided that now was the time to get baptized! 

This week I had the chance to work on some Christlike attributes. I started the week off asking the Lord to help me be a little more patient, humble and charitable. The Lord responded to my prayers haha! There were little things throughout the week that gave me the chance to better develop these qualities. Since this was one of my last weeks I really just wanted to dig down and work, just leave everything I have... But my companion had some tooth pain this week and we spent some time visiting dentists and resting.  Sometimes the pain was so bad he didn`t speak and i had to do all the teaching haha!  One day the pain was just Too much and Elder Sarango laid down to rest for a little while. I guess I am a little selfish and wanted to wake Elder Sarango up and go out to work. I decided to ask the Lord what He would have us do. As I prayed, I felt that Elder Sarango needed to rest and that this was a chance for me to work on some of the attributes I want to develop. So I started reading a talk about charity and after reading for a few minutes the clear impression came to me to stop reading about charity and start being charitable. I spent the next hour and a half looking for little things to do to help the other guys in the house. I can`t say that I am the most humble, patient or charitable person, but the mission (and the Lord) have made me a lot more than I used to be!

I know that the Lord loves us and is interested in each of our lives! He wants to help us and make us better, we just need to be willing to follow Him. I hope ya`ll had a great week! Love ya!

Elder Cole

Week 99

This week was good! We worked really hard this week and I definitely felt the Lord`s help as we taught the people! This week we had a conference in Montevideo and so we had a long day of traveling. But it was super nice to be able to see some of my friends, from other parts of the mission, for probably the last time here in Uruguay. It was also really special because it was my birthday and since I will be going home soon I had the opportunity to share my testimony with them! 

I learned a lot this week about leadership and about my own personal development. Normally I have the chance to see the Lord make deep changes in the lives of other people, but this week it seemed that happened was to mold me rather than others.  We saw a lot of people make changes in their lives this week, but I also really felt the Lord was teaching me a lot. It was not an easy week, but it was a good week and I really saw some changes that the Lord wants me to make. It reminds me of the scripture,

 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." . Ether 12:27

I am thankful for the changes that the Lord has made in my life and for the opportunity that I have to help others make these changes in their lives! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about change. If the Church or our calling in the Church doesn`t make us change, we aren`t truly applying the gospel to our lives. I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know that it is the Lord`s church and that only through His church can we be made the men and women that He wants us to be. I have seen these things touch the lives of countless people!

I love you all and I hope you have seen a change in your lives as you have sincerely sought the Lord`s will. See you soon! ;)

Love,

Elder Cole

1. On the bus at 1 Am headed to Montevideo

2,3. We went to Aceguà today. It`s half Brazil and half Uruguay. 

Week 98

This week was a good week! It was a really weird week and to be honest I don´t have any super good stories haha! It was just a good week working in the Lord´s vineyard and helping some people come unto Christ. My companion, Elder Sarango is super great and I am really glad to be working with him! We had some little problems with some other missionaries and I was really grateful to have a companion to help me out haha!

I know that our Heavenly Father loves you. I know it because I can feel it as a pray for you.  I have really come to love a scripture in Moroni 8:3,

 "I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end."  

There are a lot of times when someone rejects us or shuts the door in our faces and it makes me sad. Not because they rejected us, but because they have chosen to postpone or deny the great blessings that their Heavenly Father has for them. I know that there are so many blessings that the Lord has reserved for us, but we do not receive them because we choose not to do what we need to in order to receive the blessing.  I have seen the loss of blessings, as a result of disobedience, in the lives of hundreds of people and I have felt it in my own life.  I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He loves us and He is willing to help us in everything that we go through. But we must we willing to endure, survive and enjoy that which He wants us to go through. Christ suffered and died for the sins, pains, afflictions, weaknesses, sicknesses and temptations, that we will all experience. Some days I feel a little beat down, tired and pretty sick of missionary work. And then I feel Him help me, strengthen me, and love me so that I can go a little further. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." - Luke 1:37 

Love y'all! I hope you all can feel Heavenly Father´s love this week! We all need it. We are all children of God.

Love, 

Elder Cole

Week 97

This week was good! My new companion, Elder Sarango, is a really good missionary and just a great guy! We saw a lot of little miracles this week and have really felt blessed! 

This week we had the baptism of Yelsi! Yelsi is the Grandma of our Ward Mission Leader and one week she called him and told him to go pick her up and take her to church. She is a really funny lady and we have really come to love her! Over the last 4 weeks as we have taught Yelsi, we have had to yell to teach her because she is a little deaf, but last week her grandson gave her a blessing and blessed her with the ability to hear better. Yelsi is still kind of deaf, but has been able to hear, understand and enjoy more of what we are teaching. It brought a light into her life. I look forward to the day, in the next life, when I will be able to talk to Yelsi without having to yell at her haha! I look forward to really getting to know her better later in the eternities. 

Several times we taught Yelsi and asked, Michael, her grandson to come with us and help us. One night he came with his wife and their 2 small children. It was a really special experience for me to see the way that Michael lovingly talked with his grandmother and the way that his 7 year old daughter, Shazmin, also participated in the discussions. As I sat there it brought back memories from when I was younger and I would go with my dad to visit his grandmothers. It took me away from the lesson for a second as I thought about the way that my dad had spent time with his grandmothers and took me along with him too. It was truly a special moment on Saturday to see Michael baptize Yelsi. I am glad that I am able to be a part of such a great experience now that more of this family will be together in the eternities!  

Love yall!

Elder Cole

1.Yelsi´s baptism

2. A traditional Peruvian food, Arroz Chaúfa (Living with 2 Peruvians isn´t all bad haha!)

Week 96

This week was rough, but I learned a lot. My companion was super sick all week and it really took its toll on both of us. We worked hard all week and most days had very little success.  But what really changed this week was the silent confirmation of the Spirit that we were doing all we could and the Lord was doing His will, even if that meant us struggling for a while. With that small assurance we worked with determination for the rest of the week and saw several small miracles! 

Sunday night there was a HUGE storm preparing to hit Melo and we were out contacting because every plan we had had fallen through. At 8 o´clock we decided to go visit a 9 year old recent convert and his family. He lives with his mom and his 13 year old sister.  Luckily we convinced a member guy that lives in the neighborhood to come with us and we were able to visit with the family for a few minutes. That´s where we found Eliane. Eliane told us that she loves to learn about Jesus Christ, but there are so many churches she doesn´t know what to join. She said she was listening to some other missionaries a few months ago, but she was living with someone without being married and was never able to be baptized. She recently split up from her boyfriend and is looking for God.  She had come to church about 4 months ago as well and listened to General Conference with this member family. We invited Eliane to be baptized on the 4th of August and she loved the idea! Then we lost complete control because all three of the Uruguayos; Eliane, the mom of the recent convert and the member we brought, all started talking excitedly at once about her baptism! Haha! It is such a huge miracle for us and for Eliane! We are excited to see what we can do to help her prepare to be baptized!  

There were a lot of rough days this week, but I learned to rely completely on prayer and the Lord. I truly felt His help throughout the week and saw miracles as we diligently pressed forward!  

We also got changes last night and I will be staying here in Melo to finish my mission! I am super excited and I can´t wait to see what happens this change! My new companion is from Peru, his name is Elder Sarango. I met him back in Rocha when we were in the same zone.  

Love y'all!

Elder Cole

Week 95

This week was a long week! We had a lot to do and a lot happened. We started the week with a lot of good investigators that we were teaching, but by the end of Monday night four people or families had dropped us because they weren´t ready to make the changes in their lives that the Lord asks them to. The rest of the week was pretty similar. Everyday we were either dropped by or we dropped investigators who weren´t ready for baptism yet. Letting go of investigators used to be hard for me, but I have really learned that it is needed if we are going to find the people who truly are ready to come unto God. This week we are going to be doing a lot more knocking on doors and I am excited to see who the Lord has been preparing for us to find!

We had a funny experience this week! We are teaching our Ward Mission Leader´s grandma right now. Her name is Yelsi and she is a little bit of an older lady and can hardly hear. We have already taught several lessons and we have to shout at her so she can hear us. I have never had to yell to teach someone about prayer until now! This last week we taught tithing, but she was just having a hard time understanding, so I thought maybe using a visual aid would help. I showed her a 10 peso coin and yelled that if she made 100 pesos she needed to give 10 to the church. She looked at me for a second, nodded her head and then left. When she came back she tried to give me 10 pesos and said, "It´s not much, but I needed the rest for medicine. This is most of what I have."  Looking back now, I am very impressed and humbled by her willingness to pay tithing, but in the moment I felt extremely uncomfortable as an old women was trying to pay me for being a missionary! My companion and the 18 year old young man that came with us, burst out laughing! Sadly, there are a lot of churches here that exist only to get money out of people and we explained to her that we would not take her money. 

I am very thankful to be a member of the true and sure Church of Jesus Christ! We can be confident in our leaders and in the commandments we strive to keep when we truly know that it is the Church of Jesus Christ. Our testimonies of the church get challenged everyday, but mine cannot be broken. I have come to know the Lord and His church through the Book of Mormon. It is such a powerful tool in the Lord´s hands and it is the foundation of my testimony! I love the Book of Mormon! Even though some days are long and cold, it is all worth it when I can sit with someone and share the Book that has changed my life forever, and will continue to change my life forever. 

Love y'all! Hope you have a great week and are enjoying the sun, it´s pretty freezing down here haha! 

Love,

Elder Cole