Week 46 - Happy Birthday Trace!!!

This week was great! We had a lot of miracles that just kind of seemed to fall in our way this week! We also had two activities that we helped organize and got the chance to meet some really great people! 

Last Monday when we were in Montevideo we just happened to go to Subway for lunch and when we were waiting in line, I noticed that some sister missionaries walked in and one of them just happened to be Mariah Byington! It was super cool and weird to see an old friend in the mission halfway around the world! 

Then this Sunday we got asked to teach a primary class the last hour, hahahahahaha! It was like herding cats! But it went well... I think.

Also this week my shoes really took a beating and just started falling apart, but I told myself that they would hold together for a few more weeks and that we didn`t have time to look for and buy new ones right now.... So for a few days that`s how it was and I actually didn`t have really any plans to start looking for new shoes. One night we were talking with our recent convert  and at the end of the visit he asked what size of shoe we wear. And it just so happened that he had some new dress shoes that were a size too big for him, but were my size and he gave them to me for free! It was super great, because I really didn`t want to take the time to look for a store in little Treinta y Tres to buy new shoes and now I don`t have to! It reminds me of a scripture: Mathew 6:28-33! I have felt the Lord work miracles in my life this week!  And I know that He works miracles in each of our lives every day! Love y'all! 

Love,

Elder Cole

Jaycie here...Trace's good friend Mariah Byington from Moses Lake was called to serve in the other Uruguay mission. They happened to run into each other in the big city Montevideo which has 1.4 million people there. Trace was there last week for some paper work his companion had to do. I love her take on it and wanted to share...I hope she doesn't mind...

"So to start out this crazy week, right after I walked out of the cyber where we write our emails each week, we walked over to subway to eat lunch. As we walked into subway we saw a few elders standing in line waiting to order, one of them happened to be Trace Cole!! It was so crazy that we`re both here serving in Uruguay 6'000 miles away from Moses Lake, Washington but we found each other in a Subway!! It was super fun to see each other and to only be talking in Spanish! Crazy to see how far we`ve come from sitting next to each other in our Spanish classes at Big Bend CC but not being able to actually speak Spanish. To now where we can hardly talk in English sometimes! The world is so small, and missionary work is so rewarding!"

Week 45

This week was good! We worked really hard, and I am happy with all that we did this week! Right now we are in Montevideo because my companion has to sign some legal papers and it is super cool to have a free day to just get to know Montevideo a little bit!

This last Sunday it was pretty cold and raining, so we knew that not very many people were going to come to church. And just before church started the bishop says to me, "Elder Cole, we don`t have anyone to give talks today because everyone that was supposed to talk didn`t show up. Would you give a talk for us?" I can`t say that it was the best talk that I have ever given, but it wasn`t too bad for my first talk on the spot and in Spanish! Haha! 

 

In church this week too, they asked the man that we baptized a couple of weeks ago to share his testimony because he went to the temple for the first time and was baptized for his father.  It was so great as a missionary to see how much his faith has grown since the first day that we met him. As he spoke about his feelings in the temple he even started to cry a little bit. I am so glad that he had the opportunity to come to know this Gospel for himself, and I am glad that he was also able to share the cleansing power of baptism with his own father. I know that this is God`s work. I know that in the temples we can feel closer to God and those that we love, even if they have passed away. It is an honor for me to be here in Uruguay, to get to know these people, to learn to love these people, and to share the joys and hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Love y'all! Hope all is well at home! Praying for ya! Enjoy the warm weather because we are starting to freeze here haha!

 

Love,

Elder Cole

 

 

Parts from the family email:

 

This week was pretty normal. We  are just working super hard and doing all that we can do. We had interviews with President Eddy this week and it  was great to talk to him one on one.

 

We are in Montevideo right now because my companion has to sign some legal papers so we traveled last night and slept with some other elders here. It was great because one is Elder Fix that came to Uruguay with me and was in Mexico with me and another elder was Elder Ucañan who was my companion a few months ago! I haven`t seen those guys in awhile!

 

We are also organizing an activity with another ward and so I will let you know how that goes this next week. All is well here! Love y'all! 

Elder Cole

 

 

Week 44

This week was good! I am really tired after this week, but it is a good tired haha! I got told this week that I look like I am 30! When people ask us how old we are, we always tell them to guess. Most of the time I get like 24 around there, but this time someone said 30! I hope it is just cause I have a tie so it makes me look older haha! 

We had an interesting experience this week... We swung by for an investigator that we have been working with these last few weeks for an appointment that we had set up. When we showed up to his house we found him getting another tattoo on his arm. The funny part was that his 14 year old little sister was giving it to him while she was smoking some kind of drug and drinking mate! We tried sticking around for a few minutes to see if we could teach a little, but we ended up leaving because the Spirit just wasn`t there in that moment. That is the great thing about the mission, I never know what I am going to find when we walk into a house! 

I really love this place and the people here, sometimes they are crazy, but it keeps life interesting haha! Hope all is well! Love y'all!

Elder Cole

Parts from the family email:

I already have like four friends that will be married before I even hit a year in the mission! Tell Brooklyn that she isn`t allowed to get married until I come home haha! 

The weather lately has been cold! It has a good cold wind too, but we are surviving alright haha!  

This week has been alright. It was a good week and we worked really hard. We got home almost every night at the latest possible time. I am super tired. I really like feeling physically tired and even mentally tired because it is satisfying to feel like we have been working, but this week I feel kinda emotionally tired. I am just kind of sick of people lying to me and we just put a ton of work in and don`t see results (I guess nothing describes missionary work better than that haha!) 

But we are doing good! I enjoy every second and the days are flying by! I have had experiences here that I will never have again. And not just experiences of Uruguay, but spiritual experiences and really I can`t describe, but I will always remember. 

I will let you know when I get the package.... Can you send me the recipe for Potato soup again i lost it haha. I am also going to have to buy new shoes pretty soon because my Doc Martins are almost worn through and the soles are starting to separate from the shoe haha! I will send pictures next week.

Love y'all

Elder Cole

Week 43

This week was pretty great! We had some good success, and we are really seeing little miracles here in Treinta y Tres! This email is going to be short because I left my agenda, that helps me remember what happened this week, at home and I don`t remember much. But I really saw the Lord working in our area this week! 

 

We have an investigator that has been receiving the missionaries for about 11 years and he wants to be baptized, but he has some things that he needs to set straight in his life before he can take that step and be baptized in the church of Christ. We have been working with him since I first got here in Treinta y Tres, and he hasn`t been progressing very well. But this week he passed us in the street and he came back to share with us that he hasn`t smoked a single cigarette in 24 hours! It was great news and we were super excited for him. Then we went by his house two nights later to talk and he told us that he hasn`t smoked a cigarette in over three days! This is a guy that was smoking 30-40 cigarettes everyday and now he isn`t smoking at all! We also found out that two members of the church have passed by his house in this last week and have encouraged him! I don`t know how, but the Lord has sent several people this week to this investigator's home to help him break his addiction to cigarettes!

 

I am just super grateful for the blessings that we have in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that the Lord will always send us the help we need to overcome life's challenges and come to Him!  

Love yall! Hope all is well at home! 

Love,

Elder Cole

 

 

Parts from the family email:

 

Hey Ma, The investigators are doing well. If you can pray for Juan, Enzo, Fabiana, Davis, Mauro, and Sabrina that would be great! It is all good here. We are working hard and doing some good things, just counting down the days every week til the next P-day haha, because by Sunday I am just super worn out! 

 

We just run around all the time doing different things and it's great because we are always busy. This week was normal... We did end up with two investigators in church so that was super cool and we are looking forward to some baptisms in the next couple weeks!

 

Not much happened this week.  But I love y'all! I am always praying for ya! I am super shocked at how big Madison is now! Love ya!

Love,

Elder Cole

 

 

 

Haha I taught my district what s`mores are!

 

Week 42

Wow this week has been crazy. Not too much has been happening, but we are just working like dogs and actually I can`t tell you what I did half this week haha! But today I put together a zone activity and it ended up pretty well! We ate hamburgers and french fries, mac & cheese and ice cream! I think everyone enjoyed themselves! 

I found out last night that I will be in 33 for at least 6 more weeks! I really love it here and am loving the mission. Like everything it has its tough moments, but really I just give it all I have and if I don`t have much success, I just try again because there`s not much more I can do! Haha! 

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July! It was different, but still great down here in Uruguay! Love y'all! 

Love,

Elder Cole​

Parts from the family email:

Everyone says that this winter will start late and end early, but will be super cold, so we will see. Right now it hasn`t been too bad. But my poor companion is from a place where it is always hot, so he is freezing even when it is a little chilly. 

The work is going. I learned a lot about patience this week and we are still working as hard as ever. I really learned that sometimes it doesn`t matter how hard I work, things won`t end up like I want. But I am doing good and look forward to this next week! Love y'all!