YEA! Finally, some pictures!

So I am only writing one letter this week so I can send some pictures :) So Happy Halloween, it is weird to not see anybody with decorations or getting ready to go Trick-or-treating... They dont do anything. Their day is Day of the Dead. They apparently go and have parties in the graveyard and from what I have heard some kinda really strange iffy stuff... hahaha I love this day because it is one of the only days that is a for sure homemade chicken noodle soup day :) So dont get too used to not making it with nobody home mom... hahaha That was awesome to see the picture of BJ he looks the same hahaha Holy cow sounds like you guys will be pretty busy doing all that stuff... I am glad you are doing it while I am gone too... The only thing is is that I cant kick the soccer ball against the vinyl fence :/ hehehe Love you dad ;)




1.  How are you feeling?
 I am feeling good :) Thats all I am going to say so that I dont jynx myself.....

2.  Did you get a house yet?  What is it like?
No we havent gotten a house yet, They said that they couldnt do it under a contract and thats the only way that we can do it as missionaries because it is part of the law. So we are going back tonight to figure out what we can do.

3.  Did you get your birthday packages?  I hope you liked them.
I didnt get my packages because there was a mixup that the assistents and the President had, I didnt really understand why they didnt bring them but I should get them soon if my zone leaders are good.

4.  How is the work going?
The work is going good, we didnt have any baptisms this last Saturday but we had around 6 investigators in the church. For the month of November we set a pretty high goal of 12 baptisms, it would be awesome if we did it and I really do think that we can :) So I will let you know how that goes. Other than that we are doing good and everything is how it should be. We are maybe starting and English class tomorrow, I am not too excited about that because I dont know how patient I will be with it... hahaha

5.  How do they celebrate the "Day of the Dead"?
I have heard lots of things. One is that they go and have a party or something in the cemeteries or graveyards. Another is that they do something with the bones of the people that have died. There are a lot of weird things I have heard too but it really isnt as big as I thought it would be, It hasnt happened yet but they havent done anything to set up for it though so I dont know.

6.  How was District Conference?  What did you do?  Where was it?
It was good, We just listened to our Zone leaders give a talk about contacts and a couple of other things. We got a cell phone and Elder Hartvigsen got a package... haha I was kinda frustrated about that because I didnt get one but they will come. I did also get a letter from Tally and J.D. I am still working on the letter to Tally by the way so it should be done next week.

7.  How are you getting along with your companion? His mom emailed me his last letter.  Sounds like you saw some pretty cool things at the Ruins.
We are doing good,  he turns on the light in the early morning, but he is starting to give me a warning now so I can pull the covers over my head, but still. . . . But everything else is good.

8.  How does Raccoon taste?  I can't believe you ate that!
 Racoon doesnt really taste that bad, it was kinda hard to get the meat off the bone so I ended it up eating it off the bone because it was the only way I could get the meat off... :) hahaha It was awesome :)
9.  Do you need anything sent?
I dont need anything sent, I will let you know if I do after the packages that I should get this week.
10.  When are the people coming to visit that know your companion?
 They are coming in December. Not exactly when but in December.

My Spanish is doing good :) I definitely learn more with a native companion but I definitely like the gringo companions better... hahaha So I will send some pics now, have fun love you guys :) Have a good night and a good week.

 

Love Buddy

Bud & his companion were able to go to the city of Palenque last week.  It is a Mayan city that dates back to 100 B.C.  I looked it up on Google. Sounds pretty cool. He said he took about 150 pictures but we only get to see 2.  They take a long time to download and send!

Espero que estos fotos sirven, porque tomaron mucho tiempo para enviarlos. Send them to Elder Hartvigsens parents.  (It basically says that he hopes the pictures worked because they took too long to send.)

Sorry It's Late...It's been a crazy week. Here is this weeks letter!

I know I cant believe I am 20 either!!! That is hilarious, I loved when dad did that. Is it another weird pill that he is taking... Because that was the thing that happened last time. Oh... How is he doing? hahahahaha That is so funny!!!! I have been trying to send pictures I promise. I have some awesome ones that I want to send, I am going to put all my photos on a USB and send it back with the friends of Elder Hartvigsen that are going to be dropping a suitcase to him, I am also sending some other things home too :) They are awesome, I will send you pictures of them when I can.
When you see Kim give her a hug for me. Tell her that I am trying to find a place where I can send my letters too... I havent been able to find one for three weeks... hahaha :/ Tell BJ hi for me too :)

1.Every time I say something about my stomach it ends up jnyxing it. So I am not going to say anything about it... hahaha just know that it is not the same as before... hahaha

2. I will get all my packages tomorrow when we have a conference. :) I am excited!

3.I did get to see the ruins today, and they were freaking awesome!!! I took around 150 pictures and they are awesome, it was soo cool!!! To imagine some of the things that happened in the Book of Mormon, even though they probably werent there.

4.I did switch out my memory card.

5. We found a house but the President needs to come and check it out, we will probably be able to move into it this next week because he is coming to the conference.

6.The work is going great, our baptism that we had planned for this Saturday wont happen because they didnt come to church but We did have two others last saturday.

7. I havent talked to anyone from my last area, Is Julio still talking to Jessica, if so tell him I say hi :)

8.I havent because she got in an accident but she is going back this week and I will get them then :)

9.They work good, it is only my nicer shoes that bother my feet because the sole has kinda collapsed but they are still good.

10.There are always stray dogs in the street and everyonce in a while a chicken and turkey. THe dogs dont usually bother us but when they do all you have to do is pretend to pick a rock up and they run away with their tail inbetween their legs.

11. We walk everywhere.

12.I really have no idea, because the things they told me I couldnt eat I wasnt eatingmuch of before... hahaha So I have no clue.

13. I think it is called the Day of Death not Halloween. I am kinda excited to see what happens.

14. There were a lot of bests. We baptized two people!!! We ate some racoon!!! We went to the Ruins!!! and the worst is that...... our baptism for this week fell through.

So my memory stick doesnt work in this computer so I am going to have to do it next week... :/ I am sorry, I hope you dont think that I am just not tryihng... because I am .
Well I gotta hurry so thats about it for right now. Stay safe have fun and I love you

Love Buddy

The stress for mom never ends...

Here is this weeks letter.  I always ask him several questions and he answers them by number.


1.  How is the new area?


The area is awesome :) It really isn't that big and all the people want to listen, it is hard finding the people that we can baptize for sure. The members are awesome too :) They all want to work with us and we are starting to really work with them.
2.  Have you found somewhere to live?  It would freak me out to live in the church, but hopefully you are keeping your room clean!  :)  Where were/are you sleeping & showering?  Do they have showers for the baptismal font & I am assuming that you used the kitchen for food.

We have not found another place to live in yet, we think we have found a house but the zone leaders need to come and make sure it is o.k. I am sleeping on a two cushion couch and it is really getting hard to sleep good.  There is are two showers that are in the church, and apparently the other room once had beds and everything that they needed. But I hope we get the house this week.


3.  How are the members?  Are they feeding you and doing your laundry again?

The members are feeding us and they are really good, But the only thing is, is that they are all part member families. Not one member has a complete family as members. They are also doing half of our laundry, we still have to wash our garments.


4.  Why was the area closed down and then reopened only 6 months later?


I have no idea why they shut the area down.
5.  Are you still getting along with your new companion?  If you have both been out the same amount of time, who is the Senior Comp?  Did you know him from the MTC or the flight to Mexico?

I am still getting along good with my companion. He is the Senior Comp. We are working really hard together and we work really well together. I only knew him when we got to the offices in the mission.


6.  How often do you see your Mission President?  Do you have interviews in person or over the phone?


We usually don't see him very often, and I am pretty sure all his interviews are in person.

7.  How is the grocery store situation? Are you able to buy enough food?


 There really isnt a grocery store... hahaha It is called Super Sanchez and it isnt very big and doesnt have a lot of choices. So really all we have are the basics like cereal, bread, and milk. We get enough food but it is just the same stuff over and over again.
8.  Are you still feeling O.K.?


 Everytime I say I am feeling ok something happens. Last week I said I was good and then Tuesday it happened again. I went and had my first Ultra sound to check everything out. I have a thing called Colitis, I have no idea what it is so don't ask. They said I have a lot of gasses in my stomach, like a ton, and it just keeps building up, so now I can't drink pop, eat chile, or any irritants. I am on a medication that should take care of it.

9.  I am getting the Christmas package in the mail by the end of this week, is there anything you need or want?


 I think I have told you everything that I want for my packages. Maybe a USB-
10.  How is this area compared with the other 2 in regards to living conditions and wealth of members?


Living conditions and wealth are about the same as the last area but a lot worse than in Mina (first area). When it rains all the streets just turn into rivers and you just have to deal with it. It also rains a ton!!! hahaha
11.  Is there anyone to play soccer with?  What do you do on P-days?


There isnt anywhere to play soccer with and there really isnt a where to play it either. We are planning on going to the Ruins in Palenque this next Monday and also the waterfalls :) dont worry I will take a lot of pictures :)

One of our members went to the temple this week and is bringing back a Bible. The Book of Mormon is still o.k.

This week was good, It ended on Sunday with a baptism of Marisol. :) I ended up baptizing her :) It was really good, she is a member of one of the part member families that we have here. Tuesday I didnt end up doing anything because my stomach was hurting me all day. Wednesday we spent most of the day out of our area in the hospital getting everything I needed. We are busy teaching and have another 2 baptisms scheduled for this Saturday :) Saturday we did a lot of yardwork to our church building because it was way dirty and all the plants were overrunning the sidewalks and the building, so we cleaned that all up and it went good :) Then Sunday we had the baptism. It is going really good here :) I like it, the members are working, my companion is working, the people are doing what we tell them, and we are having a good time.

So thats about it for me. Love you guys, stay safe, and have fun :)

 

Love Buddy.

 

P.S. I think my companions parents are going to contact you to go to dinner, so just a heads up. They had a neighbor do that and they thought it would be a good idea.

Transfered -- Area #3

What a difference a good companion & a good area make!  The tone of his letter is much more positive than the last couple!


Dear Mom & everyone,

I did get Tally´s e-mail and it made me really happy :) I will send him a seperate one that you can print. HAHAHAHAHA Spyke peed in Jessica´s bed!!! hahahahaha That is hilarious. I also got a letter from Bepp this week too :) sounds like they are doing good. :) How is Jenny doing... The last thing I heard about her wasnt too good. Holy cow that is a lot of packages!!! hahahaha How much is all this costing... (the truth)

1. and 2. The bus trip was good, it was about 6ish hours long, and I went all the way with my new companion because he was in the same zone as me in Coatzacoalcos. I didnt see anything cool on the way though because the windows were all closed so that we could sleep. :) hahaha

3. My new companion is Elder ___________ and he is from North Ogden. He went to Weber High School. He plays tennis, cross country skiing, and basketball. He is a little bit taller than me and he has blue eyes.

4. and 5. The area is great! :) So much better than my other one... hahaha So I really dont know the real name of the area... just try Triunfo, Zapata and it should work I think. It isnt really big and we are opening the area. We are the first elders that have been here for 6 months. There is a ton of work here to do :) We are literally right above Guatamala, a town called San Martin, you should see if Kyle has it in his mission or something like that so we can go and wave at each other. . . hahahahaha.  It is also in the middle of nowhere though, doesnt have any big stores or anything like that. But the members here are awesome, usually there is an attendance of like 12 people, this last Sunday we had 20 :) The members have so many people that they want us to teach we barely have time to do anything. We are doing good, we have about 7-10 baptisms that could happen in this month. :)

6. Yes when the kid erased all the pictures I mean ALL of them :´(.. . . .  . . A very sad day :¨( ......... BUT I got them all back this last Saturday :) I think there are about 5 hundred he said that he found. I was sooooo happy afterwards. The only thing is is that he found them all and they are on the memory card but you cant see them with the camera, so you need to plug the memory card into the computer and get them from there. I will try to figure out how to do it...

7. I am feeling good :) it hasnt returned at all, I really have no idea what was causing it but I am hoping that it was only in that area (cursed area) hahahahaha.

This week has been crazy full of work that we have been doing! We have a lesson almost every hour from 11-8 except 2 for food and another one to try to contact more people. I really like this transfer so far, We both got in the MTC on January 5 and between the both of us we know enough Spanish to get us along. I am starting to really get it now. :) Oh, I remembered one more thing that you should send me ;) The Ensign for October, I saw it at another Elders house and it looks really cool :) We are looking for a house right now so we are living in the house of prayer (church) There have been some good times so far. :) This Sunday we were teaching about the Restoration and out of nowhere this old lady asks if she has the gift of tongues because when she prays she randomly starts talking in another language... We sat there for like 20 minutes trying to tell her it wasnt the gift of tongues and then she just started talking in some made up language and we told her to stop and that it wasnt of God and not to pretend to do it anymore. The lady is kinda crazy but she is doing everything we tell her to do including going to the church and everytime we have passed her store she was reading the Book of Mormon... So we just need to fix some things and it will be good :) hahaha  So I think that is about it... I am doing good.
Have a good week, be safe, have fun, and know I love you guys. :)

Love Buddy :P

Another Week Down...

Glad you are doing a bit better now :) hahahaha Dad did great!!! That is awesome!!! TYCE IS GOING TO BE TWELVE!!! Sounds like you guys had fun down in St. George:) Thats good :) I am a bit jealous that dad got to run the marathon and I didnt hahahaha When you go down to see Kim and BJ, tell them both hi for me :) That Stinks that you couldnt get my pictures... I dont know why they didnt work...

1. General Conference was awesome :) I watched it all but the Priesthood session in Spanish, I didnt watch the priesthood session in Spanish because I didnt get to see it at all. But of what I got from it was really good :) I am looking forward for the Ensign :) I swear I saw my choir teacer from Indian Hills singing in the choir... See if Jessica recognizes him too... ahahaaha it was kinda weird

2.The investigators are o.k., I am not going to really talk about them though.

3. The family is still going to go to the temple, we are just waiting for their inteviews and to set a date :) They are going to request that we go to the Temple with them when they end up going.

4. I am feeling fine, I really dont know what it is. It hurts really bad but goes away, it is like if I eat something bad or something, I have no idea ahahahaha.

5. I am getting a new companion.... and a new area. We both are being transferred. I am going to Juarez Triunfo, Zapata. The complete opposite side of the mission, it is a good 5 or 6 hour bus ride... hahaha :/ I am getting a companion from my same generation of missionaries (the other missionaries that came here with me).

6. We did baptize Edgar this last Saturday :) Elder _______ baptized and I confimed him. I was so nervous hahahaha The rest of his family is doing good :) They need to go to the church one more time and then the new Elders that are coming in can baptize them :)

7. I am pretty sure that I am good with the packages. Thanks :) If I think of anything else I will let you know :)

8. No Julie didnt send me anything but that is pretty crazy... hahahaha

9. I think there are about 4 or 5 or 6 sister missionaries in this mission.

10. The best part of this week was the baptism of Edgar and Conference and hearing that I am being transferred... hahahaha They are all really good things :) The worst part of my week is that I gave my camera to Edgar to look at my pictures and somehow he managed to delete all the pictures that I had on my camera... :´( Apparently there is a guy here that can recover them and we are going to see him tonight :) So hopefully it works ......

Well thats about it, hopefully this area will be a bit better than this one :) I am kinda nervous though hahahaha. Hope you guys all have a good week :) Especially dad with his legs ;) haahahahaha

 LOVE YOU GUYS :)

Love Buddy :)

p.s. sorry no pics today, We still have a lot to do.