Jay's letter 4-25-11

this week was a good week!
i am a little jealous you guys visited portland. but what can i say, i mean, heck i am in argentina. who wouldn´t love to come and visit here? but sounds fun! holy crap, penny is getting big! she will know dallan better cause he is getting home sooner. i dig the easter dress. cute girl. how´s portland? hoppin place? i hope so (:
oh my room! looks so different. hardwood floors and those cabinets got to me. good job whoever thought of doing that with the cabinets. sounds like an eventfull week. jealous of your stake conference 100%. i like the part that says, "give up your rvs and trucks" hahahaha. ucthdorf, what a stud.

this week we had a noche de hogar. we talked about how the family needs to work together to have a happy family with the spirit in the home. how everyone needs to have the same goal, and if we don´t then there is contention. so we talked about how every person has a responsibilty in the family, to invite the spirit in every moment in the home. it was a good spirit. it made me want to go camping but it was pretty fun (:

i went to a funeral service this week and saw a dead lady. it was kinda weird. me and three other elders went to sing a musical number. we all got off key and it sounded horrible to be honest but people were crying, so i figred that it was the words that got to them. i love the spirit and how it makes connections with people. then, when you have that connection, you preach to them and tell them to be baptized and they will know what you are saying is true. it´s and art and you have to be obedient or it doesn´t function. but that was a good service and it made me reflect alot on the plan of salvation and how much we really need to prepare now to be able to meet god again and live with our families for eternity. a lot to think about. it was a good experience to have in the mission.

i bought easter eggs. they were expensive and hollow. kinds dissapointing, but nonetheless, un huevito de pascua.

this week we had the bapstim of antonio. he doesn´t know how to write his name, so we had to teach him this week to write his name so that he could sign the registro. i believe the thing that got to him was when we explained that a baby doesn´t have sins. and we baptize so we can be free of sin. and so, we have to do it in the right way or else we are just taking a bath. good guy with lots of faith. he has 20 years (:

me and my companion also had 5 menos activos at church! oh man, our bishop loves us! he tried to call the mission pres. to see if me and my son, elder rios could stay here more. hahaha. he also invited us to lunch, which he has never done with us before. our relationship with the ward is superb. they like it when you baptize. we have had a baptism for the past 4 saturdays. crazy huh?!? i love bombing areas.

do you know what i made for the apartment for easter dinner?!? yes, that´s right. fajitas. it was oh so delicious. well, that´s my week. sounds like it was pretty fun (: i still have more time on the computer. so i might write more. have a fun week!


elder jay valle

p.s. sorry about the burshing teeth pictures. hahaha, it was just so funny and so we took a picture. better picture are coming. sorry to scar your minds.

Dallan's Letter 4-25-11

Hey everyone!

Things are very VERY hot here in Villahermosa. Holy cow. I thought Coatza was hot but this is a whole other story. I have my fan like inches away from my head a night on full blast and I still think that it´s hot but what can you do? You just got tol ove every minute that God has given you and work the hardest that you can.

This week has been slow. I forgot it was easter. I should of realized because it´s holy week for the Catholic church but you kind of forget about holidays on your mission just because you´re thinking about other stuff. Hahaha I forget it was my birthday until like 1:00pm on the actual day of my birthday. I felt like a loser but what can you do.

This week we worked as hard as we could but working here is a different ball game. There were hardly any people to contact and when we contacted them they all lived in different areas that weren´t ours but you still got to keep on contacting.

My new comp is pretty cool. He doesn´t talk much which is different for me because with Elder Gonzalez and Elder Munson we talked ALWAYS so I´ve had fun getting used to that. But we are working hard and doing all we can. This area is considered another tough area. Last year they baptized 7… When I Heard that I seriously about cried. But the Lord knows why I´m here. This week we did have a baptism though and it was a beautiful baptismal service and we helped Cristobol come to church as well. We found him this week and he´s really exicted and into the góspel. We found other prospects that are looking great and I´m so excited to see that the area is starting to have success. My comp has been working a lot on cleaning up the place and now it´s time to baptize.

Hope you like the pics. Here they like toe at… as you´ll be able to see. Love you all. I´ll see you soon.

Love Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 4-18-11

Hey everyone!

Well it`s officially has begun… the final Exchange… I really can`t believe it at all. It`s all gone by so Fast but they say that`s just how the misión is. Well just so that you all know that I won`t be finishing here under the blazing hot sun of Coatza… It gets better. I`ll be finishing my mission in Villahermosa!!! It´s like 3 times hotter!!! I`m going to come home like a melted popsicle. All that`s going to be left is a stick hahahaha. But it should be really fun. My new comps name is Elder Atenco. Shortest missionary in the field but he`s seems to be pretty hard working so i`m all good.

This week we had the baptisms of Micheal, Bryan and Junion. 3 brothers. Man… just saying that there Brothers shows how crazy and fun it was to teach them. Actually it gets better because Bryan and Junior are twins… Man they almost didn`t come to church just because one of them didn`t want to wear the same shorts as his other brother but they came hahahaha. We actually found them a long time ago but it just wasn`t their time until now.

This week went a lot better for us. It`s getting pretty tough down here though. The people hide in there houses and the streets are baren. The only thing out in this heat are dogs and the mormon missionaries… hahahaha! Sad but true. But the Coatza Zone is doing great we`ve been pushing it pretty hard lately and we truly have seen the Lord`s hand in our work. This week we were able to baptize more than what we did some of the past months. I`m sad to go but glad to see that the area is progressing.Well I hope you enjoy the pics.

Racoon head I found in the street. I laughed so hard. Only in Mexico. I`ll be writing you next week. Oh ya. I turn 21 tomorrow. I`m old now. Sigh. That cupcake they made for me. Hahaha. It was fun.
Love you all


Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 4-18-11

Baptism of Monica. Sweet lady

good week this week. because.....BOOM! WE WON! that´s right. yours truly and his son, elder rios won the competition. i think we are getting the jersy´s tonight should be good. well im staying here in municpal for six more week. where i like it. so yeah, should be my last six weeks here, but we will see. i still have elder rios and we are still working with him. has a little bit of pride, but with time he will learn (: haha

this week we had the baptism of fabian.
he is a really cool kid 17 years and he is so so so interested in the book of mormon. he always asks me who is who. and i think he might read the whole thing if he has time. he is the only one in his family that knows how to read. he is having a great time being a member of the church. real stud. he had long hair and so we took him to get his hair cut the morning of his baptism by a member who cuts hair and she did it for free. it was super fun.

i made chicken fajiats again. sounds like you guys had fun this week! with holly! wow. i got a good letter from her a while back. sounds like you guys are keeping busy with the office. some things happened this week. oh my gosh, the members love us. we are starting to baptize people and the members are giving us so much. what we have recieved fro members.

lots of pizza.
a cake.
like...50 pounds of vegetable to eat. no joke.
paps fritas.
popcorn.
dinners! (it´s like inviting the missionaries over for two meals) we try to avoid this one.
more food to eat.
free haircuts.

i don´t know what happened but me and elder rios are working our butts off and i think the rama is recognizing it. and we have a sweeeeet relationship with the presidente de rama ahora. and so, we are really bombing this place. the relief society is amazing. they are giving our converts clothes and giving them more oppurtunities to work. it´s super fun. i wish you guys could meet my rama. they are a fun group.

this week we ran into this crazy guy who told us that joseph smith was crazy and that all we want was his money. it´s was pretty funny actually. i told him thank you. and he started to walk off and then he came running back in did it all over again. and then i said, gracias, again. he walked away and came back. he did it liek 15 times. oh it was so funny (: he pounded his chest like tarzan. poor guy. i feel bad, but he was drinking a ton.

i´m hoping that we can find more new people to teach. i am kinda sad that pred. lindahl is leaving that guy is so powerful and so strong. probably the richest guy i have met in my life too. but way humble and powerful. good week out here in argentina. i hope everything is going alright with you guys. i am going to work with pictures. my new camera is really quite nice. i enjoy it. thanks (: i love you guys. read your scriptures. you will recieve personal revelation and all the rules to win in this life if you open up the words of the prophets. also, say your prayers. your relationship with god will make you so much more confident and happier. have a great week. (:
Elder Valle

Jay's letter 4-11-11

hello my dear family
this week was good (: fast but good (: i am pretty sure me and my comp won the big competition this week! we find out tonight. wow, i get really competitive here in the mission (: a lot (: but it´s a good thing.

we are helping out the ward missionaries alot and helping them to actually fulfill their calling. it´s kind of a weird calling so we thought we would hold a training of sort in the chapel. it was so so fun! we did practices and even went to do contacts in the street with them. they were so nervous and really stumped but it was super fun. we are working on getting the ward missionaries really excited about the work here. telling them that even if they think it´s weird they can totally bring up religion with their co workers and friends. it´s fun to do missionary work. for me it´s an art and it´s sometimes a game too. a game against satan and to figure out what to say to enter their hearts and souls. ah, so fun (:

mom! i made chicken fajitas with your recipe. oh my goodness, it was beautiful what i ate (: you would have been so proud of me. (: i can´t wait to make more. i still have half a boneless chicken left and luckily, at the nearby walmart they have tortillas too. i am a blessed man. but yeah, it was really sweet (: they were beautiful.

well it´s transfers tomorrow and i keep telling people it´s a possibilty that i am leaving. they get kinda sad, and it makes me know that i di d pretty good job. at least to make them somewhat sad. (i am so humble huh?) but i really do like it here.

yes mom, the flia. adasme has a mom. shesactually a member....way inactive, and the dad died. tough situation. but they are good people. this week we had the baptism of monica. i can´t really send photos this week, but, yeah, she is really cool. she was way way nervous antes the baptism but she is so excited now. she was bragging to us elders that she was going to clean houses with the relief society two times a week. hahaha. good adittion to the church.
this week we are working with more young kids to get them to the waters of baptism. i don´t know why, but i love working with the youth and talking with stuff about god with them. they are really receptive and they just know what is good and bad, even if they are doing them (: hopefully i can keep this rythm up.

well, sorry to be so brief, i don´t really know what to write. i hope everythings going great in nampa idaho (:
elder jay valle

p.s. i think we won the competition. (!)

Dallan's Letter 4-11-11

Hey everyone,

So I`m going to be quite honest. This has been one of the hardest weeks in my entire mission… Not that anything really bad happened but it required a lot of patience. I got a Dear Elder from Miranda this week telling me that my letters hadn`t gotten through in months. So I went to the post office and asked them what was going on. They told me that beginning this year they changed the system of The Mexican post office. They told me that sending letters with normal stamps doesn`t guarantee that it will actually get there…. (Basically it was like paying to throw away the letters). They said that they had a bomb scare and for that reason it changed but any letter that is thick or has photos in it they usually open to check it and then throw it away! I felt so jipped… And the best part is that it`s happening both ways. Actually I started to wonder why I didn`t get as many letters as I used too but I didn`t want to say anything. So just so you all know if you`ve been sending letters they`re not getting to me and let`s hope that they get here before I go. I`m going to say that it`s just best to send Dear Elders from here on out because there is no guarantee… I wasn`t too happy about all that but it`s all good. I feel bad for all the elders that are barely beginning their mission though.

This week we worked and worked and worked but we just couldn`t find the results, my comp is really sick right now and the sun is beating hot. This week we had two baptisms and one got canceled because he was put in the hospital for an infection and the other one was let out of work late at a night and had some other problems he had to take care of. That night I think I about just wanted to cry.

Yesterday I was thinking about the week. What had happened and why this was all happening at once and I remembered the talk about the gardener and the plant that was given in general conference. I remembered the words of the plant as the gardener trimmed him. ¨Why? Why do you cut me down if I was meant to be a big plant with beautiful flowers?¨ and that in time the gardener knew why but after time the plan could see why. I`m guess i`m in the cutting stage but I know the Lord will bless me. I love being a missionary. You learn so much. Well I gotta go. I love you all.

Elder Dallan Valle

Dallan's Letter 4-4-11

Hey everyone!!!!

Things going very hot down here. We are for sure over the 100 degree mark and I thought I couldn`t lose any more wait but I do... hahaha. General Conference was great and we`re getting a new temple!!!!!! wahoo!!!! I was so excited to hear that. We were making fun of the Utah boys even though there are like 14 temples in utah but it`s all good. We`re getting a new temple!!!!! I`m so excited and it`s even better that it`s close by.

This week was just a busy week. I swear we have no other time to do anything else but work work work... I love it =) I would`nt have it any other way. We come home drink and good to liters of water and just hit the bed. In the morning we have to drink another liter of wáter because of how much wáter you lose just from sweating while you sleep. It`s kind of ridiculous but we love it.

I loved general conference. Everything about it was awesome. The music the speakers definetly one I`ll never forget. Any one know why Elder hales didn`t talk though? I loved Pres. Uchtdorf`s talk. He`s always been a favorite of mine. Priesthood session as well was so powerful. All the missionaries and the members were giving us a hard time though about all the conference talks on getting married. Man it was brutal, but me and my comp just had to smile and laugh. What can you do? You can`t avoid it =) . They say when a missionary almost is going home all he hears is about marriage. But come on…. There we`re three talks about it this year. I`m pretty sure it wasn`t just me. I loved all the talks though. It was a bitter sweet thing to know it`s my last general conference. I`ve learned so much from everyone on my mission.

This week I got semi bit by a dog…. Haha it was so funny. The Lord protects his missionaries though. The teeth didn`t penétrate my pants and I only got a bruise. I thought it was going to be ok. The dog started barking at us as we walked by and it couldn`t reach us because of the chain. But who would of thunk that the dog would of broke his chain and thus the dog bite. After I checked it to make sure I was ok… another dog tried to bite me… man. My legs were shaking so bad. Mexican dogs aren`t on the list of things I love. Hahaha

What else to tell you but that I`m doing good. Working hard and enjoying my mission to the max. I know God lives and he loves me. That`s enough knowlege to motivate me as hard as I can for the next two months. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Take care

Love Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 4-4-11

It was a good week this week. I think the good week came from many small good parts of the week. I thouroughly (sp) enjoyed the General Conference. I guess, one could say that Christmas and Thanksgiving make you want to go home, but not for me. For me, I kinda missed sitting in the family room taking notes and eating easter candy and trying to get the lawn mowed in between the saturday sessions. I did miss my family, but I am more excited now to apply the words we heard as a missionary. Favorite Talks? Yes. the one talk about the to do and to be. hahaha. i would have hated to translate that! imagine trying to translate and say, hacer, and a ser. they sounds exactly the same and they guy said it a million times. hahaha, but nonetheless, great talk. dallin h. oaks, gave a BOMB talk about desires. he said some really cool things that made me think and made me want to be a better person. there was a lot of energy from his talk about i can´t wait to read his talk in the ensign (hopefully in english).

i love what eyering said about spiritually preparing for service projects and how gratifying that could be. and then, i thought about it, and i realized that thats exactly what the mission is. before, we try to prepare spirtually to give two years of service, and he is right, it´s amazing how gratifying this work is. i am tired every night, but it feels good.

Meridian, Idaho Temple!!! I freaked out. I was so excited! That will be closer and that´s just one more sign of how strong the church is where we live.

Hey Dad, in priesthood session, Eyering was hilarious wasnt he??? At the begining of his talk. oh man. hahaha. Monson talked with such power. No doubt he is a profeta de Dios. Things I learned. Get Married. Have a good Marriage. Repent and be clean. Give service! Donate to the missionary fund. Hahahaha. Welfare and Relief Society and Bishop duties. More about marriage. Oh yeah, D. Todd Christpherson had a cool talk.

I feel better now. I am not sick. Sorry for not telling you guys!

I received your recipes!!! Thanks so much. Anas hand writing is getting a little girly and dads, is a little hard to read.
Elder, does this recipe say 2 cups of flour or 7 cups?!?!?
I don´t know,
Yeah, my Dad wrote it, neither can I.
Thanks so much. Chicken Alfredo to be made soon.
Did you all see Melissa in the choir?! I got a bunch of teasing from the other Elders and it was really fun. Hahaha (: Good to see a familiar face. I miss you guys a little bit! But its all good!

We had a competition this week in mendoza and me and my comp won....again. pray for us (: I didn´t think it was going to be this hard, but it sure is worth it. I feel physically drained and my obedience level has increased so much in the past 6 months. not that i was a criminal killing people, but I just feel the presence of the lord in my life so strongly. I love it. I´m still a little bitter about the conference thing, aggg. I´m glad you guys went (: (:

Have a great week!
Elder Jay Valle