Going the Distance (Week 11)

My dearest family and friends,

Wow! Wasnt conference the best or what?? And I got to watch most of it in English! On to that in a few paragraphs...

So this week was a week of miracles. First off, I got a stomach infection which was super fun. I was put on bed rest and slept more. But I felt like my dad and I enjoyed every minute going to get meds and such. I was in my shirt, mesh shorts, and loafers! I am my father´s son! 

Amidst the trials of not having families in our area, or having progressing investigators, our shining light came this week! Selene is a young adult we contacted a few weeks ago then disappeared off the face of the Earth. Well, we found her and we are trying to get her to see the blessings of changing her work schedule so she can make it to church! She wants to get baptized and she knows the Book of Mormon is true! How awesome is that!

Music classes went well this past week! Only about 4 people came, but they are now SUPERB directors of 4/4 time! So great! I loved it! 

Now onto conference... 

God answered so many of my prayers! I just feel so ready to focus on the work! Not only are members SO important to the work, but we need to have faith in each day. I loved Elder Dube´s talk where he spoke of when he was a little boy and he was doing a chore and told his mom, ¨Look how much we´ve done!¨¨ And she responded by saying, ¨No, look how much we have to do!¨ How true that is in missionary work, how true that is in life. 

I was reminded of the great story of Hercules and his journey to find his individual worth:

¨Down an unknown road

To embrace my fate

Though the road may wander,

It will lead me to you.

And a thousand years

Would be worth the wait

It may take a lifetime,

But somehow Ill see it through.

And I wont look back

I can go the distance!

And Ill stay on track

No, I wont accept defeat.

Its an uphill slope, 

But I wont lose hope.

I will go the distance till my journey is complete!¨¨

Family in friends, trust in God. Have patience. Dont look back! Look at all that you can do and will do with God! Dont let your fears stop you from completing your dreams. 

I have faith in you. The Lord does as well. 

Have a great week, and go the distance.

Con muchisimo amor,

Èlder Risueño

Reasons Why Bolivia is the Best (Week 10)

Family and Friends!

Where the heck did September go?! I have no idea, but Im ready for October!

I got my first package this past week! Thank you Bremmer family for the package of Starbursts, the notebook, and your letters!

Aunt Janet asked me if I would share some stuff on the daily life of a Bolivian so I decided this email will do just that.

So why is Bolivia the best place to live??

If you want to go on a ward activity, just drive to random deserted place and take a ton of plucked chickens with you! While youre there, cut up the chickens, and eat them for lunch! Want to eat a chicken heart? Theyre good! A little chewy but good.

Roasting marshmallows is SO old school. A great father son activity is raosting chicken heads!

If your little boy needs to pee, he doesnt need to use a restroom! He can just whip it out and pee outside! So much easier. Totally happened in a lesson.

Mothers, if you need to breastfeed, just breastfeed in public! Its so much easier and even if you do it during a lesson its fine too. Definitely happened.

For lunch, in this hot weather, we eat soup. Its so hard, but its good! and pasta is SO old school. For lunch, we have rice, meat and potatoes!

Toilet paper should not go in the toilet! It needs to go in the trash next to the toilet! Not the nicest, but still works!

Tiendas are miracles! The best way to describe it is its like someone created a shop for people to buy stuff out of their garage. The market is dangerous for us, so tiendas are so awesome.

Washers are way too expensive! Just wash everything by hand and dry outside. Im so grateful for a pensionista that does everything!

And showers have 2 options: Super hot or supèr cold. Choose whichever!

Honestly, this past week, Ive thought of more but something totally crazy happened: I tried to fast only without food, I still drank water, because our investigators arent coming to church and Im just losing patience, and I got super sick. It was super hot and I shouldnt have fasted. So from 2pm yesterday to 7am this morning I slept. And if I wasnt sleeping, I was having diarrhea. It was nasty and yes, I pooped in my pants. Twice. It was so glamorous.

Anyway, in all honesty, I live in a super poor part of Bolivia. Its rough. But I choose to have fun! I choose to laugh at the porn all over and other really bad stuff. I love it here and wouldnt ask for anything else.

Piano lessons, music lessons, and english lessons are all going well. This is my home.

This weekend is General Conference for my church. Its a time to hear a prophets voice and be spiritually uplifted with great counsel on how to better our lives. I hope you all with take a some time to watch this conference. I promise you the great choral music and counsel will change your live.

I love this gospel. I love you.

Con Amor,

Élder Risueño