E-Mail 10.18.2010

Sorry it took so long to post, no new e-mail this week. Elder Elrey loves you all!

Subject: pero SIGO SIENDO EL REY (but I'm still the KING)

hey every one. this week was an interesting one for me because i didnt get anything done in my area but i worked super hard...
haha.
Monday was P-day and so we didn't get much done and Tuesday we started normal with district calls and then bam-o zone leaders tell me i have to go to Paraiso Oaxaca on divisions because my companion had to go to a conference of leaders. paraiso is like 2 hours away. haha. so i hopped on a bus with the elders from there and started the week. we got there just in time to go to the food appointment and it was ridiculous. tiniest little town ever. haha. the good thing is that the missionaries dont live there. i stayed in the small town of Jesus Carranza, Veracruz and worked most of the time there. with a couple trips to Oaxaca. it was interesting to work there because Carranza was badly flood damaged and everything seemed disorganized. but we worked hard and got a lot done. by the end of my 4 days there i felt comfortable with the tiny branch and i didnt really want to come back to Acayucan. haha. the branch of Paraiso consists of just 30 people. and some of them are less actives. haha it was an interesting look at the small town life here in mexico. was there from tuesday all the was to saturday and then my companion went to go get me. he had to do some baptismal interviews over there so we didnt get back until like 1 o clock saturday. we showered and went to lunch and them spent the rest of the day celebrating his birthday with various families of the ward. ... ugh. a whole week workless in my area and right now we are seeing the effects of it. this week will be interesting and we will have to see what we can work up here. most of the week i think will be spent contacting.

aside form that i gave a talk on sunday about service and it wa fun. also today was the Zone activity here and the ZLs decided it would be fun to learn how to cook. which wasnt very fun. so me and elder Robinson played Canasta all day and now i am here writing. i am pretty sure today is pretty much the most unfun p-day so far in the mission. bleh. haha.

statement not a complaint. i am excited about the upcoming transfers because me and my comp and quite the dynamic duo here in acayucan. i new one would be nice to get reenergized and excited about the work. my comp is ending in january and it feels like he is starting to fade a little bit. but i will see what i can to to get things back on track.

GO CATS,

Elder Elrey

email 10.11.10

I love him bunches. :)

what a week.

started out normal with a side of stomach problems. we worked noramally bouncing back and forth from the church to lessons for bathroom necesities but when wednesday hit we couldnt leave the house. we were takning turns going from the bad to the bathroom practically all day. i cought up on some sleep but the pain hardly let me live. my companion contracted salmanila and i had an un identified stomach infection that left us crippled in the house for two whole days. i lost like 7 kilos. which is like 15 pounds. i just drank water and gatorade the whole time. haha. we almost didnt work because of it but we were blessed to have a baptism. it was monday night of last week and our Bishojp called us and told us that we had a set baptism for this saturday and were didnt even have to teach her. haha. it was a teenager that had heard everything before and had been to church a lot. all we had to do was reapass the lessons all at once and have her interview. haha. so we did that in good spirits and got her baptised on Saturday. it was a major blessing. we were suffering but the Lord like always was watching out for us and Blessed us for our patience. in the index behind the Book of Mormon it describes Patience as a calm to suffer. well in spanish it translates to that. we are grateful for the great gift that was given us. we are now preparing for another interesting week because we will not be in the area for 3 whole days. my comp is heading to a leadershi´p conference in Coatzacoalcos and i get to go be in a trio somewhere. :( another trial of patience. but i am excited for anything that comes. juust hoping to make it through this week with a normal stomach. i am not really eating much. but i think i am past the worst of it.

acayucan has really not been such a great place to me so far but i will see what i can do with the good ol Elrey Charm.

,)

i would really like it if you all coul email me or send me by snail mail pictures. i havent recieved any since before the anniversary party of Grandma and Grandpa and i would love to see how the family is. and what has been happening.

as far as p-day has gone it was nothing compared to the way p-days were in San Andres. we dont do anything here.
but i did find a buddy to play Canasta.

but i am really just trying to get back to a normal work schedule. missing the succes a lot.

i have no real connections with any investigators and i feel really out of it because of the sickness.


but i and hopping back into it.

i am happy.

i am a missionary.

The Church is true and there are no others. that is why it is called the RESTORED Gospel of Jesu Christ. its is the one He established.

i love you,


Elder Elrey

e-mail 10.4.2010

Here's last weeks. I promise I'll have this next weeks up the day of! :)

Subject: U of A is number 9???!!!! conference was rad.
conference was pure power like always and it has really inspired me to get myself back on track and get some work done. it always helps us to find areas to improve... even if it is just in our faith. it was also nice to spend the whole day in the Stake Center in the AC listening in English. :) we had our own room to enjoy ourselves. i think conference on the mission is better than all of a school summer vacation. just days of pure spiritual upliftment and instructions. i loved it. as always the Prophet conveyed very well his love for us and it confirmed in me my testimony of him as our earthly guide and pastor. he recieves the words of GOd for OUR benefit and teaches us with charity and kindess. we must always follow the prophet if we want to find happiness in this life. i know that my redeemer lives and that he works and guides us through Thomas S Monson.

THis last week was way slow because of rain, sickness, and conference. we didnt get hardly anything done. last weekend and uo to tuesday it rained 4 days straight. quite gloomy. wednesday we worked really good but thursday and friday i was sick to the stomach and we could hardlyleave the casa de oracion in Oluta. then i took a ton of Pepto Bismol and now i cant get anyhting going. haha. quite the predicament. i still dont feel good. i hardly slept those days because i was running the three steps from my bed to the bathroom. our house here is a one room apartment with the corner sectioned off for the bathroom. super small.

it was an almost miserable week but conference made it better and i am a happy camper.

sunday when i pulled my suit out of the abyss to wear to the sunday sessions it was covered in mold... and half way through the day elder Robinson my buddy in the zone from the MTC found out the i was covered in ants. haha. my suit jacket was colonized by Ants. there were probably a thousand of them in total... rediculous. i was dancing around trying to shake myself out of that thing as fast as possible. there were in every pocket nook and cranny and i didnt even notice. haha. it is now in the drycleaners.

the week was good and our Bishop called us last night and told us he put 3 baptismal dates for this saturday which was a miracle beyond miracles because we didnt have a single thing this last week going for us. so right now we are going to find these three people to see whats up.

Acayucan is not so bad after a couple of weeks and time to get to know it. what is a little tough is the fact that we are so spread out. we have the Ward and the branch and it seems we are always traveling around aimlessly but we are dialing it in now.


God loves you with a powerful and pure love.


and i am working on the same,

Elder ELrey

e-mail 9.27.2010

Sorry! Been busy.

Subject: blllaaaaaACAYUCAN

so the new area is a tuffy. its big and we have a ward and a branch to get together and organize. working in 2 areas is like starting a race without air in your lungs. my companion had 2 weeks in the area so its practically white washed. of course when i got here there are no investigators and no baptisms planned and nothing going. so we are starting fresh and we are gonna work hard this week. my ward is Centro and the branch is of a little town called Oluta we are working hard to get things going because asistance is really down right now and there are a lot of inactive members. we have some good leaders who are really ready to help us so we just have to get organized and get going. my companion is Elder Steffen and he is white. he is from kentucky and is very strange. but he knows that so its ok to say. we get along alright but he takes every little thing i say literally and laughs when it frustrates me. you all know that i am not the most literal guy. it is stange to talk in english and i am afraind to forget my spanish. Acayucan is an ugly place with big roads and a lot of Garbage. i miss San Andres a lot. haha. i feel like a new missionary all over again. aways being lost and not know what to do or say. i know that with time we will get it figured out. my comp is the district leader here so we are always here and there doing interviews and this next week he has to go to take some special training in Villahermosa so we are not going to have a lot of time to work this week. oh the challenges of missionary work. i know it is my calling to be here but there were moments this last week that i wanted to be anywhere but here. :)

i know that it will work out and with my efforts and obedience i will be blessed with success. its been raining for three days straight and it seems like everywhere except here is flooded. veracruz is getting destroyed by hurricanes.

its usually hot here but being wet all day everyday has taken the edge off.

aside from that nothing has really happened. this week felt long but it is still flying by. next sunday is 8 months. 1/3rd of the way through the adventure,. nervous am i...


be good and be faithful. represent yourselves like you know who is watching....


love you.


Elder ELrey