Last E-mail! What???

Connor first sent this scripture reference:  3 John 1:13-14.  I looked it up and here it is.

  13 I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:

 14 But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

Ha ha!

Here's the rest he sent:
     Okay so this week was a good week.  Hermana Carmelina couldnt get baptized again but what ever, I don't have to worry about that anymore. Mom, Hermana Caffaro wants you to take me to an Infections Disease Doctor when I get home just to make sure everything has been cleaned out of my stomach. I have to go and see Hna Ana Ruth because I promised her I would, she a great member and she took really good care of me when I was in Brigada. There's nothing special i want at the ariport but I do have a question do you know if they're going to release me Wednesday or am I going to have to wait until Thursday morning to be released? Love you all a ton and see you on Wednesday. Love Connor
(Con didn't tell me who any of these people are)

                                                 Elder Austin Elder Ludwig Elder Ferraro

                                                                  Elder Romero Elder Alegria

                                                                           Elder Hightower

                                                                          Papi Ronald

July 4, 2016

     This week was  a pretty crazy week and a really full one. Monday we went to the border again because there were lots of new missionaries that wanted to go. We got back pretty early and just messed around here in our area. Tuesday I had my last interview with President. I went into the capital with another missionary that is finishing his mission with me. The interviews were pretty long but really good. President gave me lots of advise on what I have to do after the mission to keep my self on the right path and to continue progressing without problems. We got back pretty late that day and it was kind of hard for me to focus because it finally hit me that its all coming to an end and there's only one week left. Wednesday was the first normal day of the week and we took the opportunity to head to an aldea we had never gone to. Thursday was pretty normal. We did have to go to Barbe in the morning to get another parasite test because my boo doesn't want to go away and it turns out I have another parasite. Its really bugging me because I don't know why, I eat good and I'm careful but it doesn't matter too much. Friday was an absolutely crazy day. First off we saw and touched a raccoon, which an investigator has as a pet and then we saw/heard this guy try to kill himself. We were just walking down the street and I saw this guy up on his roof and some people talking to him underneath. We turned up a street when we heard this huge thump and a bunch of people started screaming. Turns out he didn't die but hes in serious condition. Saturday was another normal day and Sunday was really slow. There was this super annoying kid sitting next to us at church that kept saying terrible things during the testimonies. Please keep praying for Carmelina. We're going to try to baptize her again this week end and we hope that this time everything goes over smoothly.  Love You all a ton. Love Connor

I forgot to tell you that on Saturday we had a grill with the Elders Quorum. We ate a ton of food. They bought 10 pounds of meat and there were only 9 people that showed up so we had to eat a pound of meat each. It was really good!

June 27, 2016

     Okay so first off this week was pretty amazing and went by super fast. I didn't get to go to the temple with my converts. They called me on Tuesday and said they weren't able to have all their interviews to be able to go and they'll have to wait until like July 23 to go and get sealed so that's a real bummer but the important thing is that they're going to do it. Apart from that we had divisions twice this week and so that was really fun. I stayed in my area once and left once, they will probably be the last times I do divisions. It's been really hot this week and it hasn't rained at all so I'm dying every day from the heat and sweat. We were able to get a baptism in and that is quite the story. So we were going to baptize this old man and his wife right. Timoteo and Carmelina. The baptism of Timoteo went over well. The member were there my comp preformed the baptism perfectly and everything. Then we got his wife in the water and when my comp tried to dunk her she freaked out and wouldn't go under. We tried like 15 times but every time we tried she freaked out and we coulndn't do it. She says she still wants to get baptized but that she'Okay so first off this week was pretty amazing and went by super fast. I didnt get to go to the temple with my converts they called me on Tuesday and said they werent able to have all their interviews to be able to go and theyll have to wait until like the 23 of July to go and get sealed so thats a real bummer but the important thing is that theyre going to do it. Apart from that we had divisions twice this week and so that was really fun. I stayed in my area once and left once, they will probably be the last times I do divisions. its been really hot this week and it hasnt rained at all so Im dying every day from the heat and sweat. We were able to get a baptism in and that is quite the story. So we were going to baptise this old man and his wife right. Timoteo and Carmelina. The baptism of Timoteo went over well the member were there my comp preformed the baptism perfectly and everythig. Then we got his wife in the water and when my comp tried to dunk her she freaked out and wouldnt go under. We tried like 15 times but everytime we tried she freaked out and we coulndnt do it. She says she still wants to get baptised but that shes afraid of the water so we're going to try again in a couple of weeks to see what happens. . Love you all and hope you guys have the best week ever. Love Connor

                                                                      Marriage of Timoteo and Carmelina

. 

                                                                Baptism of Timoteo 

June 20, 2016

This week was amazing and full of huge miracles. Monday we went to the cap and I already told you all about that.Tuesday I went and bought a bunch of medicine, Most of this week I was taking 10 pills everyday but I'm feeling much better which is the important thing, right?  Wednesday we had our multi zone conference, which was really weird because I had to start saying good bye to lots of people because its probable I won't ever see them again which is super sad but thats mission life I guess. The conference went really well and Presidente gave me time at the end to share my testimony with the missionaries. It was a really cool experience. The other days were pretty normal but we finally found our investigator that had disappeared on us. Turns out that he had gone up to an aldea to work all week but we were able to talk to him and this Sunday they came to church with the papers they needed to bring so that they can get married this weekend and baptized. We had planned to baptize them  Saturday but I just got a letter from some recent converts from Mita saying that this Saturday they're going to be sealed in the temple and invited me to be there. I'm super excited to be able to go and see them again and more that they're going to make these sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father. I can't believe that Andrew has already come home. It's super weird to think that the time is so short now.  Love you all, Love Connor

Pictures from the Multi zone conference.

                                                    Elder Williams Elder Gee Elder Ferraro

                                                                   Elder Infante Elder Wright

                                                             Elder De Leon Elder Neal

                                                                              Fish

June 13, 2016

     Ok Mom you got me and I'm not sure how you can always tell this kind of stuff. Its kind of creepy. (In my email to Con, I told him I'd had a feeling this last week that he'd been sick and was praying for him) But its not anything serious. I had some parasites again but I've got them all taken care of and I was suffering from a sinus infection because you know that they love to get me. On top of that I got a cold because its been raining a lot and I got wet one day. Today I went to and Ear Nose and Throat doctor and they shoved this nasty camera up my nose and I got to see the inside of my nose, which was pretty cool. They gave me a ton of medicine and I promise I'm doing good now. But apart from that we didn't really have anything fun happen. Its been raining a lot like every day and I didn't want to get wet again so we didn't really get a ton done some days because of that but we were able to visit some of our most important fechas and they're doing really well. Please pray for Timoteo, Carmelina and Juan Carlos and Carla. They are our investigators that will probably be baptized in June. We had district conference this week which was a lot of fun because I got to see President and Hermana Caffaro and because I got to see a bunch of members from Barberena. Sunday night it rained super hard for like an hour and all the rivers in my area were huge and we saw a giant crab in the street that had snuck into some guys house. We had a family that gave us like 50 mangoes so these last couple days I've been eating a ton of mangoes but that's ok with me.  Hope you guys have a great week and love you!! Love Connor

So I know I haven't sent pictures for like 2 weeks so I made sure to take some this week. The first one is all the mangoes and the second is the crab we saw and the third is a giant onsie that I found in a paca for Q10.

June 7 2016

Well its been a pretty normal week really, nothing special happened. Monday we had to stay in our area all day because they came to put a new smoke detector in our house so we couldn't leave the area. We did get our hair cut and then my comp cleaned the house while I slept and then we bought lunch and then went back home and slept some more. I've found that as the time continues to pass I just get more and more tired but its all good because I'm still working super hard. This week we lost contact with one of our investigators because he lost his phone and every time that we went to look for him he wasn't home so we couldn't find him until Saturday. He's doing good. We made plans to go with him and his wife this week to get all the papers they need to be married and baptized. They're this older couple, like 60 years old and they love the church and they're just awesome. We also found our other investigator that's progressing really well, He's a cop so its hard to teach him but he's been reading the material we give him and he's learning a lot. Unfortunately none of them could come to church Sunday and the chapel was really empty which was sad but that's what happens some times. Next week is District Conference and we're hoping that lots of people will come to that. Love you all. Love Connor 

May 30, 2016

     Alright well this is it only six emails left and then I'll be home, that's a crazy thought right? But anywho we had a really great week this week. President decided that it was going to be urgency week and set a bunch of high goals for us to achieve. We were able to make most of them but not all of them. Tomorrow are the changes and obviously I don't have changes of my comp but Elder Fisher is leaving which is sad but Elder Galicia is coming to the zone which will be awesome. This week we saw some miracles with some of our investigators. Two of them Timoteo and Carmelina are this cute old couple that have been coming to church for the past  two weeks and they love it. We'll be working to get them married and baptised this 18th of June and then the other family is Jose Carlos and Carla, who are the husband and step daughter of a member. We're going to be working to get them married and baptized the 25th of June. Jose Carlos is a cop which makes it really hard to teach him sometimes because he's only here every other week but his wife has been helping us out by sending him pictures of the folletos so he can read them while he's at work. We had this crazy member leaving with us this week and that has been really interesting but he's the only member that will leave with us so I'll take what I can get. So fun story this week. We had to go into the capital to get my comps visa signed and all taken care of so we had to get up super early and head into the capital. By the time we got off the bus I had to go to the bathroom so bad I could barley keep it in, so we ran straight to a McDonalds and the bathroom was occupied. By this point I was 100% sure I was going to crap my pants. The guy in the bathroom took forever and by this point I was considering just going in one of the urinals but by some miracle I was able to hold it in and make it to the bathroom. Apart from that things were pretty normal this week. We went to Barbe last p-day to say goodbye to a member that is going on his mission tomorrow but he never showed up so I just had to call him to say goodbye.  Love you all. Love Connor

May 23, 2016

     Well this is the last week of this change which means that next week will be the first week of my last change in the mission. I thought that maybe not being a zone leader would help the time go a little bit slower but I was wrong the time just keeps on flying by. This week was a great week and we were able to do a lot of really fun stuff. Monday, we went to El Salvador with Elder Fisher and Elder Alberto. We went to this little aldea and saw this really cool cave that has water come out of it. We couldn't go in because obviously we can't get wet but while we were there, this punk kid jumped off a cliff and got us soaking wet. We went to look at another pool and on our way out we saw the same kid waiting to get us again but this time from the side of the pool.  Right as he started to run, he slipped and fell super hard on his butt. We all laughed pretty hard and knew that God was watching out for us. After that we had this girl hook us up  with some pupusas and then we went to the border and took some pictures. Tuesday we had the district council and we used the mustaches and teeth you sent me for my birthday to take some sweet pictures. Wednesday we had the meeting for new missionaries and trainers, We got to see all the other missionaries that are training and the President and Hermana Caffaro. It was a really awesome meeting and I was able to learn a ton and we got to eat a lot of really good food so that was pretty awesome. Thursday was a pretty normal day but we did get to talk to Timoteo who is an investigator that we found last week. He came to church yesterday and last week and said he loved and that he won't ever miss a Sunday. He and his wife have baptism fechas for the June 18, they're this really awesome old people couple. Friday, I did divisions with Elder Baldwin, an Elder from Preston and we had a lot of fun we talked about some people that we both know like Aiden and just how awesome Cache Valley is. Sunday we had a ton of people at church which is awesome. The members all love us just for the fact that we actually work hard. Love you all a ton and hope you have a great week. Love Connor

                                                                 El Salvador!!

                                                            Elder Fisher Elder Beltran in a tuc

                                                           The best district ever!!

                                                            Ixhuatan District.

May 16, 2016

     We had a really good week this week. It was super hot and it isn't raining anymore which really sucks because I really like it when it rains. I enjoy working in the rain one because its not as hot and two because the people feel bad for us and invite us into their homes.  Monday we had a zone Pday and ate pizza and played soccer all day. It was really fun. Highlight of the week was going on divis in Barbe!! I got to see a ton of people that I worked with like Ronald and got to see some of my converts and talk to a member thats going to leave on a mission in two weeks and it was just a great day and I loved ever minute of it. The rest of the week went really well. We've been trying to work more in an Aldea. It's close to our area but we can only go there with a member because about 2 and a half years ago a missionary got a member pregnant and so we can only go with two members that president has assigned us but we've been seeing miracles there. We have a family of two old people that came to church and already know a ton of members. They're  names are Timoteo and Carmelina and they're really awesome. My comp is doing great. He has a big heart and loves to help the people and learn. He's really progressing as a missionary and its awesome to see him grow. I almost had to speak again in Sacrament meeting but luckily the speaker showed up at the last minute. Sounds like you guys are keeping pretty busy now that school is ending. Love you all a ton. Love Connor

                                               My mango and me and my comp

Mother's Day

May 2, 2016

     This week was pretty normal, but much better than last week. We've finally got a base in the area and we have things to go and do instead of just contact all the time. We went to Barberena Monday to buy some stuff like pillows and food because we didn't have any of that in the house. After that we went and said hi to some of the members that I knew there and that was awesome. I was able to go and say hi to some of the converts I have there and I was so happy to see them again. We played volleyball and soccer after that. We played with a return missionary that had come back to visit which was super fun. I knew him a little but not much. Tuesday we had a zone meeting and it was weird to not be in charge of it but also really nice to just sit there and listen instead of have to worry about setting goals and motivating the zone. Like I said this week we were able to find lots of new investigators and I think that quite a few of them will be able to progress and I'm excited about a lot of references we got. The members love us because the missionaries that were here before didn't do anything and now that the branch has two missionaries that are working super hard, all the members are happy to give us references and help us out. I'm feeling much less stressed than last week and this week I was able to have more fun with my comp, he's a really great comp and is willing to learn and do better always. Last night I had a baggy attack. I was talking to Elder Gudiel and he made me super baggy and it didn't help that I was looking at the pictures I have, but don't worry I'm still working super hard. I got my suit last week and its pretty amazing but you'll have to wait until the 13th of July to see it.

That's awesome that you guys could go down to Boise. I saw the picture of the family there and I didn't recognize any of them. Olivia is a little clone of Emmy and I can't believe how big she is.  

This week I did a study on charity and I was able to learn a ton. I just looked all the scriptures on charity in the back of the scriptures and studied each verse thinking about what it taught. It really helped me understand that charity is one of the most important things we can have in this life and that if we obtain it all the other things will come more easily. 

Love you all and hope you have a great week. Love Connor. P,S. I only have two fast Sundays left. 

                       Now thats what I call a good lunch! and yes that is a chicken foot in my soup

April 25, 2016

     Well its been a very interesting week. First off, we had the changes. I got to the chapel pretty early, which was good because it meant that I got time to talk to other missionaries and mess around a little bit. After that, they made all the trainers go into a little room and we had to wait there for like 45 minutes without any reason. After that, they introduced us to our kids. My kid's name is Elder Beltran and he's from Mexico. He's a pretty cool guy.  He's a recent convert to the church, got baptized like a year and a half ago and is an old man.  He's 25 years old. We're reopening the area Oratorio, which is in Zone Cuilapa, the zone where Barberena is. I was so happy when they told me that I was going to be reopening an area here in Cuilapa. It's easily been my favorite zone and Barbe my favorite area. We got here and the missionaries that had been here before hadn't done anything and so we're starting from 0 and working or rebuilding the area. We spent a lot of time contacting this week but we've found some promising families and people to teach. We got lucky because I already knew a little bit about the area like where a couple of members live and recent converts so we weren't completely lost. We had interviews with President Saturday and that was an adventure because they told us we were going to have the interviews in our area. This was really weird because we've always had the interviews in Cuilapa. We were all sitting here in the church waiting for him on Saturday when President called the district leader and told him he was in Cuilpa and wondering where we were at. I just laughed and felt happy that I didn't have to deal with any of that anymore. The interviews went really well, President told me what I should to do to have success in my area and I was able to ask him about what I should do for college. He asked me what I was going to study and I told him I was thinking about studying psychology and he told me that it doesn't really matter where I go because getting a job will depend on where I get a PHD so it would be better to go to the school that pays me more. So mom I want you to look and if SUU has a good psychology program and other programs that I would need for occupational therapy. If it does sign me up to go. Today were going to go to Barbe and I'm super happy about that. I can't believe that in just two weeks its mothers day and I'll be talking to you guys. Love you all a ton. Love Connor

 That's my shower and let me tell you the water that comes out of here is far from warm! This is what my area looks like. Its so pretty!

                                                   My comp and a family from my last area

                                              Elder Rodriguez Elder Baldwin Elder Beltran

April 18, 2016

     I've got changes!!! I still don't know where I'm going to go, but I do know that I'll be training which means I'll be reopening an area and that this is how I'll finish my mission. I'm super excited to be able to train again and I know that it will help me finish the mission working super hard. Well this week was pretty normal. It was another Urgency week which means that President gave us goals and things we had to complete. It went really well. We were able to see lots of miracles and a baptism so that was amazing, Um  Tuesday was normal nothing really happened. We had the last district meeting of the change and then Wednesday we did divisions with Elder Santamaria, who is a very strange elder but a great guy. We had some baptismal interviews planned for Wednesday and we went and talked to the Hermana Sandra like an hour before we were going to have the interviews but when the time came she never showed up.  I was super sad because I thought that I wasn't going to have any more baptisms in this area but then Friday she called us and said that her son really wanted to be baptized even though she didn't really fell ready.  We got his interview done Friday night and then he got baptized Saturday which was a great experience. We didn't have very many members that showed up but the important ones were there. I'm sure that his mom will be baptized soon and Alison as well. Alison is just super slow and its really hard for her to understand but mostly she didn't get baptized because her uncle didn't let her because he says she doesn't know enough. Sunday was pretty good. We were running around just trying to finish up with the dats President Caffaro had given us. We were able to win the week again so our name was in the weekly email. This week I was reading in my personal study and I read in 2 Nephi 4. Its an amazing chapter and I was able to learn a lot about how we need to trust in the Lord and he will take care of us. I also decided that I need to read the scriptures in English. One to practice English again and other because I read in the Liahona about how the scriptures are translated and that we should read them in the language of our heart. Well that's about it for me. My shoes will make it the rest of my mission. Love you all a ton and hope you have a great week. Love Connor 

                                              Elder Santamaria 

                                                                         Baptism of Mario

April 11, 2016

      Dang it mom, you're making me think way to much about all this college crap but I promise I'll keep praying about it and let you know soon what choice I'm going to make. Well this week was pretty good. Nothing really crazy happened apart from my birthday which was really fun. Monday was soccer as usual and my comp got really mad while we were playing. I'm not sure why, but he did. I also bought this super cool Avengers shirt on the street that has all the Avengers and Spider man.  Tuesday,  we had the zone council, my last one as a ZL hopefully, and it went over really well. We just tried to animate the zone talking about how they're were all choosen to come forth in this time and that they have a great potencial as missoinaries. Wednesday, I was on divisions with Elder Baloy which was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time contacting and not too much time teaching but some days are like that. Elder Baloy was flashing gang signs at me in the street and I was sure we were going to get killed because that kind of stuff can get you killed here.  Elder Baloy didn't understand that so I had to explain it to him. He bought me pizza for my birthday and it was a party.  Thursday was another really hot day where we did a lot of contacting.  Pretty much every day in our area is like that until like 6 when we actually have lessons. We had a dinner with one family that made us tacos and a cake and then we went to another family that was way better. We came in and they had their house all decorated and everything. Then when I sat down on the couch, they had their son hidden behind it and he hit me in the face with a plate full of whip cream. It was pretty dang funny and they got a good video of it that I'll try to get to you guys. With them we ordered pizza and they had bought Shasta soda. Other than that it was a normal week. I did division with Elder A on  Friday and he's a weird little Peruvian and lets just say it was an interesting day. Right now were working with Familia Robles and they will probably be baptised Saturday along with another girl called Alison that is living with the family that had the birthday party for me. So ya this is the last week of the change and I'm hoping, like I said that I'm going to train after this. Love you all a ton and hope youre enjoying your last months of school. Love Connor

                                     Birthday with Elder Baloy and above is my zone.

Birthday house #1 tacos and cake

                                                Birthday house number 2

                                                                    Ovalle Family

 This is a little girl that lives next door to us that always comes over and talks to us. She's awesome and then the zone did a surprise birthday party for me this morning that was amazing. Love them so much. Love you all a ton. 

                                                              Ashley

April 4, 2016

This week was great!! a little crazy but great. Monday was normal, you know cutting hair, eating lunch, and playing soccer. Tuesday we had the district councils and then I did divisions with Elder Bravo. He's from Guatemala and super funny. He's brand new in the mission and like I said always happy and joking around.We had a really fun day and then that night we drank some caffine free Coke that he had bought.Wednesday we did divisions again. This time I was with Elder M and once again it was a lot of fun. He's suffering with his comp so it was good for him to come with me and be able to have fun and work hard. In our comp study, he spent like an hour complaining about a bunch of different things his comp does and how he can't stand him anymore. We left with a member named Braulio that night who is the member that gives us food and he's super funny and this week he's going to have a baby and it's possible and probable that it will be born on my birthday.  Anyway he spent the entire night telling everyone about how he had seen this huge spider and how bad it had freaked him out. Thursday was pretty chill and then Friday  we had the mission council. It was a pretty good mission council. President wasn't very happy because we were supposed to have an amazing month this month but it didn't go so well for us. After the mission council, we had to go to the sealing of a couple that my comp reactivated and that turned into an adventure. We went with the secretaries because one of them had been comp of my comp and so they took the car. The sealing started two hours late and by the time we left it was already 5 o'clock and there was a ton of traffic. The assistants were super mad at the secrateries for having the car so long and then the assistants had to go drop us off in our area because its too dangerous to ride in the bus so late at night. Conference was amazing and I loved every minute of it. We ordered 8 pizzas for lunch Saturday and ate with the zone which was lots of fun. I was able to see all the conference in English this time which is a huge blessing. Anyway Love you all a ton.

                                                         -caffeine free coke and the assistants.

                                                                        Elder Bravo

                                                         Elder Gee Elder Gudiel Elder Galicia

                                                                           Elder Seriac

                                                              Pizza Party with the Zona Florida . 

                                Elder overcome by the Spirit (sleeping) in the conference Elder Kelson

Love Connor