Week 54

This week was great! We were just running everywhere like crazy, but we saw so many little miracles! On Wednesday we had to head to Montevideo to work with the Assistants to the President for a day. It was great to work with them and I actually got to work with Elder Mecham, who I got to know when he was my Zone Leader in Treinta y Tres! At the end of the day we were walking back to the house and as we crossed a parking lot a car pulled up and the guy yelled something at us. At first we weren`t sure what he said, but I figured he was mad because we cut him off on accident. And then this big guy gets out of the car and starts talking to us in English, but an English that I really didn`t recognize. It turns out that the guys is from Georgia and was visiting Uruguay because he served here 40 years ago! I guess hearing Spanish everyday didn`t really prepare me to hear the Georgian accent.  He was also MTC companions with a bishop in Moses Lake and so he knew all about central Washington! 

The next day we headed to the big bus station so that we could get on a bus to head home. The trip from the Assistant`s house to the station is about 30 minutes by car and just as we arrived we realized that we forgot our phone in the house so we had to go back and get it. We ended up losing an hour and had to take a later bus. We were kinda frustrated with ourselves that we had wasted so much time, but as we sat on the bus a guy from Germany (named Jan) sat in the seat in front of us.  He spoke English and so for the 2 1/2 hour bus ride we talked to him and taught him about the church. That day we had gotten a Book of Mormon in English for a sister missionary who is learning English, but we ended up giving the Book of Mormon to Jan! He was super excited to read it and we were able to write down his address so that the missionaries can visit him! He lives in Santigo Chile right now and teaches English and seemed really excited to read the Book of Mormon and learn more! It is just super incredible that we were able to met this guy and bring him the gospel, all because we left our phone! I guess God does work in mysterious ways!

We also have changes this week and sadly Elder Lockhart will no longer be my companion. But My new companion is Elder Guañuna from California!  I met him in Treinta y Tres and we are pretty good friends so I am super excited to be his companion! 

Love y'all! Hope all is well! Good luck with North Korea hahahaha! 

Love,

Elder Cole

Week 53

This week was good! This last Monday we went to a beach called Punta Ballena and visited some caves that are over there. It was super cool! Then we visited a place called Casapueblo, that is a big hotel that is sculpted into the side of the cliff over-looking the ocean. It was pretty cool to be able to visit one of Uruguay`s most famous places!

This last week we were just running. We had a ton of things to do to help other missionaries in our zone and it was pretty crazy. My companion also had to go to Montevideo this week so that he could sign some papers and getting his Uruguayan ID. We also had to do a few interviews for a baptism so we ended up switching companions for a few hours so that he could go do that and I could stay behind to take care of the interviews. I am really grateful for Mondays haha! I love missionary work and the life here in Uruguay, but by the time Sunday rolls around I am just dead. 

We also had the chance to teach a really cool 19 year old girl this week. Her 20 year old brother is a drug addict  and she has been in charge of taking care of him. It sounds like she has been having a tough time, but we know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can/will help anyone with any problem, and so we are really excited to see the changes and blessings that come into her life as she chooses to learn more! 

Love y'all! Hope all is well! 

Love,

Elder Cole

Some pics from Casapueblo:

One Year!!!!!!

Hey guys! Hope all is well at home! The people here talk a lot about the big storms and earthquakes that are all over the US! 

This week was good! It just dumped rain on us all day, everyday, but we really saw a lot of little miracles in the rain! I am just really enjoying Uruguay and the mission!  We had an awesome conference with President Eddy! I really learned a lot and we have already seen the difference that his council has made in the way we study, teach and serve!

Since today is 9/11 I wanted to share a thought that I had when I was reading the Book of Mormon. In Alma 29:12&14 it says,

"12. While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness. 14. And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life"

I feel like on a day like today, when we remember the attacks on the Twin Towers we can also remember the hope and joy that we have knowing that we are sons and daughters of God, that death is not the end, and that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we will all live again and be with those we love! 

Love ya`ll! You are always in my prayers! Enjoy your week, and God bless America! 

- Elder Cole

1. The famous "La Mano" here in Maldonado

2. I finally made it to the beach 

Week 51

This week was full of ups and downs! This last P-day I had the chance to get to know a part of Maldonado called Punta del Este, which is like the richest part of all Maldonado! I got to go see the famous fingers in the sand and eat McDonald's (it is a pretty rare thing here in Uruguay)! We also walked down to the port and looked for a guy from Switzerland that sells waffles on the beach... but we never ended up finding him haha! 

I also got to work with two other missionaries this week, so that we could learn from each other! Both times we had a hard time because we met a lot of closed doors, even for lessons that we had set up. But we worked hard and at the end of one night we ended up teaching a cool family and they must have felt the Spirit because they agreed to come to church on Sunday! I feel like this always happens on my mission; we work really hard all day and don`t have much luck until the last hour of the day and we end up seeing some great miracle and we go home feeling satisfied with the success we had that day! 

Life is good here in Maldonado! Hope all is well at home! I always pray for y'all! Hope everyone enjoys going back to school! ;P 

Love,

Elder Cole

Parts from the family email:

Hey Ma! The mission work is going good! I am doing alright with everything don`t worry.... I guess if you could send me some new soles for my shoes that would be great, my other ones are starting to look rough. 

They didn`t really celebrate Independence Day here... people in the big cities in Uruguay aren`t very patriotic, not like the states. The night before their Independence Day they had "nostalgic night" where everyone listens to old music from like the 80`s. That was cool, but they didn`t start partying til like 9:30 so we didn`t get to see anything. 

I have some cool pictures, but the computer I am at now is broken and can`t send pics so maybe next week... 

This week was good! I got to work with two other missionaries in exchanges for a couple of days so that we can learn from each other. One was...  but the other worked really hard and was great! It is super cool to be on the mission and meet all sorts of different people and different cultures! 

We also went to "La Mano" here in Maldonado which was super cool and is pretty well known throughout the world!  I have also eaten more McDonald's in the last two weeks than the other ten months of my mission haha! 

We have been having some good luck finding people to teach, but it is super hard to talk to anyone a second time, but we are working on it haha! Hope everything is good at home! Also if you can I need more Spanish CTR rings! Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Cole

Week 50

This week was great... and wet. It rained a ton here! It rained for like 3-4 days straight and everything we had was super moist and things started getting moldy haha! I can now honestly say that humidity is not for me. The day that was actually raining the hardest, we should have been doing our weekly planning, but someone in our ward called and asked for a priesthood blessing and so we took off in the downpour for a little neighborhood way out in the middle of no where! It was a great opportunity to serve a little old lady that has some tough illnesses.  The mission is an awesome experience to get to serve at all times and to just help people, putting aside anything else!

This Sunday we also had a special broadcast for Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. We got to hear a few members of the Seventy and Elder Rasband of the Twelve! It was super cool because almost every speaker has visited Uruguay and told personal stories about the faith and testimonies of the people in these three South American countries!  I really love the mission and all that the Lord has called for me to do!

Love you all! I am praying for you! If you can please pray that our investigators can quit smoking Marijuana!

Love,

Elder Cole

Parts from the family email:

Hey Ma! Maldonado is super cool! It is pretty modern, but our area is in just some neighborhoods so it is pretty similar to my other areas, but is definitely a better standard of living. The people here are wealthier than most of Uruguay, but in the part called Punta del Este there are people that are SUPER rich! They have like huge mansions. But Punta del Este isn`t in our area either.

Our ward is pretty big, there are about 110 people that are active. They feed us pretty well. We have a few investigators, but everyone works a ton here so that they can support their lifestyle so it is super hard to talk to someone more than once. So we are looking for some new people to teach and we are excited to see what we can do! 

My comp is pretty cool! We get along well. He is from California so he is super chill and has some Californian slang haha!   

I have been wearing my boots because it dumps sometimes and those boots save my life! Haha!

This week was pretty relaxed. We did a ton of looking for new investigators and we found a few really good people! We also had a guy that we met this week come to church, which was super cool because my companion said that it has been a while since an investigator has come to church!

Hope all is well with you guys! When does school start? Love y'all!

Elder Cole



Photo credit to Bro Wankier @ https://gordon-renee-in-uruguay.blogspot.com