12-7-15 (Week 15)

Family,

This week was kind of shorter because Tuesday we went to Santa Rosa for Zone meeting and that was normal, just talk about Book of Mormon, our goals as a zone, preach my gospel, and then split off into districts for district meeting.

Wednesday was zone conference so President was there and he talked about preach my gospel and talked about the mission and how our zone is doing. Talked a little about Christmas and then at the end talked about finances and money of the mission for a little. Then we had lunch and afterwards his wife talked about exercising and not drinking water from the tap and she talked about eating balanced diet and eating right and what foods and stuff like that health concerning food and exercise. So now we know what to buy next month when the members can’t cook for us anymore we have to make balanced meals.

Thursday we came back here to Pico and was a normal day; taught like one lesson and found like 2 new investigators pretty normal day.

Then Friday was exchanges the district leader came here and I went to his area Castex. So I was with his companion Elder Rickeberg in Castex and we went to like 5 appointments but only taught like 2 lessons the other 3 we had to reschedule for another day. We made hamburgers and had ice cream and I just got to know the little city of Castex it is nice small quiet not many people there so the missionaries know like everyone in the whole city because it is just small and everyone knows each other. Saturday came back to my area taught one lesson in the morning right when I returned and then contacted the rest of the day. Pretty normal uneventful day.

Yesterday Sunday went to church fasting; didn’t get a chance to bear my testimony because all the members and old ladies went up and told stories and talked for like 10 minutes a piece and told the whole branch about their life and their year this year because it was the last testimony meeting of this year. Then we went back home and had lunch and went to our four investigators but only 2 of them were home so we got appointments for later this week. Then we came back to the house in the night and I hung out with the other missionaries in the apartment. I don’t know if I ever introduced everybody so I’m from Estados Unidos, Elder Riveros is from Paraguay then the other missionaries are Elder Diaz from Chile and Elder Sandoval from Peru.

We all just talked and chilled in the house last night and Elder Sandoval has a Rubiks cube and he was teaching me how to do it and how to solve it and I tried over and over and practiced like all night long until I could solve it. And this morning today is Pday I solved the whole cube this morning in 5:30 and I was proud of myself because I have the whole formula and moves memorized. Elder Sandoval then took it from me and solved it in 1:20 . He is so fast because he has like everything memorized and it is muscle memory so his hands just move and remember all the steps. He told me in the mission there is an Elder Hansen who did it 38 seconds wow. So yeah this was probably one of a highlight of my week learning and being able to solve a Rubiks cube now.

And okay today is Pday and some holiday because I think it is the changing of the President today so it is a holiday to make the change in presidency they call it here Feriado. Tomorrow is also a holiday or feriado because it is like virgen somebody day one of the saints or virgin days. Also we will be going to Santa Rosa tomorrow because they said they want to start having the zone meeting every Tuesday. So all Tuesdays we will be traveling to Santa Rosa. So this week may be very similar to last week. I think that is about all and everything for this week. So talk to you all next week and start preparing for Christmas. Put a Santa in the bathroom or something Haha

Love,

Elder Frampton

11-30-15

Dear Family,

Tuesday was a pretty normal day just tracking and finding people, looking for less actives and inactives and new people because we have no appointments right now and no lessons this day. So we just went searching for people.

Wednesday we ate lunch in the house because the member who makes us lunch was busy so we said that was alright we have stuff in the house we can make our own. Then we had district meeting. That was good I had to give the spiritual thought so I just talked about diligence and perseverance. Then the district leader showed some videos and that was it. Came back to the house afterwards and studied and then went contacting at night once again.

Thursday did nothing for Thanksgiving. Went to find where some investigators live and no one answered the door so it seemed pointless because this investigator we went to find lived far away and we went all the way out there for them to not be home or not answer the door but actually we ran into another one of our investigators on the street just in the road going for a walk with her kids and she asked if we could come over tomorrow and teach her a lesson so she has the desire and wanted to set up an appointment we didn’t have to ask to set up a day. Then later that night we were supposed to have a lesson with a family that we always teach, Thursday nights at, 7 and when I called to confirm I called the woman because she was the only number we had for this family and when a man picked up I assumed it was the husband so I said Hola Lionel (the husbands name) can I talk with your wife Valeria. And he says no this isn’t the number you were looking for. I said are you Lionel and he responds no so I said okay sorry I have the wrong number then and so I give my companion the phone he calls the same number asks is this Lionel and the man says yes and my companion asks can we come over, is 7 still good and he says could be, come we will see if we are home. So we go over there at 7 and he is leaving his house going somewhere and we are like where is going and we couldn’t catch up to him obviously but we saw him leave his house like 10 minutes to 7 so we have no clue what happened. 

Then Friday was normal but we had our one lesson with the lady we saw on the street on Thursday. So we went to her house taught her and asked her to come to church and she said she is worried her two boys will be too rowdy and disruptive during church and we say no it is okay there are other small kids and babies that are the same way. Moral of the story she didn’t come to church on Sunday.

Saturday we went to go find a referral that we got who lives far away and she was there. The lady was nice and said we could come back again sometime next week. Then we went to a less active guy’s house who is 88; that is the only reason he is less active. He talked with us told us he has been having pain in his stomach and some stomach problems, asked for a blessing and in the past I would do the anointing with the oil and say like it was consecrated for healing the sick and afflicted the stuff before the blessing. And my companion would do the actual blessing because he is better in Spanish than me. But this time Elder Riveros being new said he hadn’t ever done a blessing before so I had to do both parts and I go to do the blessing and the Spirit was just flowing through my veins saying stuff in Spanish in this blessing and I don’t even remember half of the stuff I said like my mind has been wiped and I used words I didn’t even know I knew. Then went and had lunch with a member and it was good like mash potatoes and then it was asado but had ham and cheese on top. Very delicious.

Then afterwards we were walking through the plaza back to our house and to do study and this guy calls us over sitting in the plaza and just starts saying stuff and I started to stop paying attention after a while because he was just saying stuff from the bible and saying bad stuff and said he has tried to hang himself twice by using one of the trees in the plaza/park. And said he has no family and no friends, his son came at him with a knife, he left their house has been walking around, slept in a cave a few days, has been homeless, said he hasn’t eaten something in 60 days. Said he tried to burn that house to the ground. Said he had to walk 50 kilometers on his knees. Yet I saw he had with him keys, a phone, he didn’t smell for someone he hasn’t showered in 60 days. Then he said he wanted to talk to who was in charge of us so we had to call the branch president and he started yelling at me and like are you mute or something why don’t you talk and I said because I can’t understand you your words are slurred and I don’t speak a ton of Spanish yet. He had a thick accent and talked fast and jumbled and slurred his words. It was even hard for my companion to understand. So he is like call the branch president and tells him to come here I want to talk to him. Then started yelling at me again did you hear me, are you mute, are you scared afraid or something whatever tiene miedo means. And I said no I’m not but I am scared for my branch president to come here he doesn’t need to come here. And then he started talking about the Bible again and Moses and Daniel and Plan of Salvation and we just were like we have to go and we left. Then we went into our pension and just sat there and just pondered about this loco guy in the plaza.

Sunday went to church then ate lunch with the branch president and his family then went to find another referral and found this guy named Juan who is really nice and said we can come back next week for a lesson then went to another house and talked with Monica another referral and she said we can come back next week too so it seems this week we will have 3 lessons with referral people. Then we went back to the house and studied and cooked a small dinner. This morning we went to a store called Chango Mas which was like the size of a Walmart but the layout or style of a Costco so just a really big super market store. That is it for the week other than this week I started and took up the habit of jumping rope every morning for exercise and in just this past week I have become really good. And also I do push ups everyday also. 

Other than that sounds like you guys had a good Thanksgiving tell everyone I say Hello and Hi. Talk to you next week hopefully have a less crazy week too.

Love,

Elder Frampton

11-23-15

Family,

We live on 9 and 24 and the church is on 14 in between 15 and 17. So like 3 blocks to get to 15 and then 5 blocks to get to 14. So 8 blocks total like a 15 minute walk.

So I thought the schedule for the first couple days would be with the other Elders Monday and Tuesday, leave for Bahia Tuesday night, arrive Wednesday, and so on. But actually we get a call Monday night that zone meeting is Tuesday afternoon so we got on a bus that night and went to Santa Rosa. We get there and sleep in zone leader’s apartment.

Tuesday wake up and I went proselyting with the other Elders that live in the zone leaders apartment and then that afternoon we went to the church and had the zone meeting. And we were supposed to have district meeting afterwards like split into our different districts but instead they said we will all just stay together and not split which meant I had to give my 5 minute talk on the importance of baptism and confirmation in front of the whole zone rather than my little district. It went okay. So afterwards I went contacting again with the missionaries and then slept again in their apartment woke up in the morning to catch the 3 am bus to Bahia.

Got to Bahia about 8 that morning the assistants came and picked me up went to the Presidents home. Sat around then he taught us how to be good trainers and gave us a little book for entranadores and gave us a little sermon and then we went downstairs and they assigned people a companion. Paired with me is this Elder from Paraguay. My new companion is Elder Riveros. He knows only like knows how to say in English “Hello, Goodbye, How are you”. Those three phrases that’s it. He doesn’t seem to have much intention or interest in learning English and I have asked and offered to teach. I carry a dictionary now. We eat lunch sandwiches that were provided then pack up his stuff go over to the church grab his suitcases and then head to the bus station. Got on a bus about 6 got to Santa Rosa about 11 that night. On the bus saw some movie called Black Sea about submarines and gold and stuff. Got to Santa Rosa slept in the zone leader’s apartment woke up at 5 got on our bus to Pico and got here about 8. Slept a little went and visited the members so I could introduce my new companion and then went out for ice cream and I got mint chocolate chip then came back to the apartment and made some cookies in the oven then went to bed.

Friday woke up contacted a little went to pick up our lunch from a member who lives really far away and then came back ate quickly and then went over to the mission leader’s house at 1 to help him move because he is going to Catex. We loaded up a whole truck of things; not a moving truck but like a big pickup truck, then when I thought we would stop we kept on going stacking stuff on top of each other and it was just like a mountain really high like more than 10 feet and I was thinking how will they drive and stuff not tumble or fall so then they tied a huge rope and tied all the stuff down and drove off with a huge mountain of junk. Then had Noche Hogar that night and no body showed up so we just left after the first hour we weren’t going to stay form 7 to 9 so we left at 8.

Then Saturday woke up went to lunch had this casserole thing us pastel de papas. And then went contacting got 2 appointments lined up for next week so that was good we could schedule 2 appointments.

Sunday or yesterday went to church then came home and had to stay in the house all the day because it was like voting or the president was going to broadcast or talk to all the people here so there may have been riots or crazies or weird stuff because the President talked to the people so were got a call and were told we didn’t have to go out so we stayed in the house all day.

Today woke up did my laundry, a little shopping at the Super or La Anonima. Then had lunch - hot dogs too. I enjoyed them and then came here to write. Hope you guys are enjoying all the family and their company. Have a good thanksgiving because here there is nothing. No Thanksgiving whatsoever. Have a good week and stay cool in Vegas because here lately it is hot then the next day it is cold then the next it rains and the next is hot and then the night is cold. It is all over the place the weather. 

Love,

Elder Frampton

11-16-15

Hello family,

This week I probably don’t have a large quantity of stuff to write about but I have good quality.

So Tuesday we contacted and didn’t find or talk to anyone. Later that night we went for ice cream and I got a kilo of these four flavors: crema de oreo, limon, americana, y frutos del bosque. Took it back to the house that night and have been eating it throughout the week.

Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning and I had to give an impromptu spiritual thought in Spanish so I just made up some story about shepherds and sheep and we need to look to Jesus the ultimate shepherd. Then that afternoon we had lunch at a member’s house and we had chancho which is pig and with it was potatoes including batata which is sweet potatoes or yams. And for dessert it was duraznos peaches with crema whipped cream. That night we had a meeting at the church with the branch presidency and stuff to plan to visit less actives and stuff. The branch mission leader found a new job and his family and he are now moving to Castex this Friday. So we are going to need a new mission leader very soon.

Thursday was another very bland day we didn’t find anyone and contacting didn’t work super well but I did find a quote when studying that I really liked. "Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death" Very similar to Uchtdorf´s doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Friday we downloaded a video to watch for noche hogar The Work and the Glory. Then that night two families showed up and we watched it at the church on the TV screen and we made and had popcorn with it too. 

Saturday they called us in the morning with transfer calls. They said Elder Searcy is leaving and is going to Olavarria and that I am staying here. So my companion leaves and I will stay in Pico and I will be training a new missionary straight out of the MTC. They said they don’t know his name yet or what country he is from, but I have a good feeling I will be training a native Spanish Elder from one of the Spanish MTC´s. So I will be teaching him missionary stuff and mission work and he will be helping me with Spanish stuff. So that is the exciting thing. But yet I am also nervous to train a brand new missionary. I get to go to Bahia this Wednesday to pick him up. So I have another long trip of bus rides ahead of me this week. I will tell you probably next P day all about him and where he is from so be prepared next Monday.

So then the rest of Saturday Elder Searcy spent packing and getting ready to leave for Olavarria and he gave me all his training stuff.

Then Sunday went to church and there was a guy visiting from the stake in Santa Rosa and he said he was a returned missionary. He was friendly with my companion and I and asked where we are from and he told him Pennsylvania and he said hey there was an Elder in my mission from Pennsylvania do you know Elder Anderson and I said where did you serve he said Brazil I said Brian or Jason Anderson. He told me he was the trainer of Jason Anderson. So you guys should tell Sister Anderson or Heather to tell Jason that I met his trainer from his mission because he is in my stake.

Then we had lunch with the branch president and it was meat and some pasta stuff. Then later on Sunday we took my companion Elder Searcy to the bus terminal and he left yesterday.

So now today I am with the other elders in Pico that work the Ward side. Then tomorrow I will probably leave and travel through the night to get to Bahia Blanca on Wednesday morning. So until next week. I will probably talk next Monday all about my new companion and my travels to Bahia Blanca. Because that will probably take up the majority of my week leaving Tuesday night being in Bahia on Wednesday and then traveling back to Pico on Thursday. So I will be gone for like half a day, a whole day and then another half a day. Talk to all of you next week!!!!

Love,

Elder Frampton