The Fence

2-6-12

2012-02-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

sixteen months. still feel young. hey family, how is everyone doing? this week has been great, i sent photos (:i hope you like them!first things first.

we had a great noche de hogar with the family snachez. they are inactive but there kid is not baptized, so we are working with them. they are super nice...but they have some crazy stuff going on in the life, so we are trying to help them. the relief society is amazing here, so we got them in on it too. it is doing good. for the family home evening, we had tons of fun. it was super super normal, but it was worht it. the kid shared a scripture 1 Nephi 3:7 and then we played tic tac toe. that game is super simple, but with the family it was the funnest ever (: idk why, but i just had tons of fun playing tic tac toe with them. we then made them american pancakes and maple syrup. they loved it! they wanted all the recipies. hahaha. but it was definitly a succesfell FHE. pray for them (: if you want. we also had the oppurtiunty to go to a different church sunday in the afternoon. our mission presdient encouraged missionaries to attend to other services to see how other people feel when they go to other churches and how to help them recognize the correct things in the true church. it was super interesting. me and three other missionaries, we went last evening to a church called "Jesucristo es El Señor". It was...weird. I wont´criticize but i will describe. it was like a stadium and the preacher dude was shouting in the microhphone and everyone had their hands up. they "letting go" of their marriage problems...or something. Then they sold roses to everyone....it´s apparently a way to recieve help from Jesus. Then they try to get people to dedicate their possesions. Its called the Iglesia Universal. Anyways....we were there for like ten mintues just watching and we weren´t participating obviously...so the security gaurds (yes, in the church) came and took us out because we weren´t participating we tried to stay for a little longer but they said we made the people and the pastor uncomfortable....interesting. So we left. The spirit wasn´t their, but i for sure recieved a huge testimony the Jesus Christ directs our church through modern revelation. My testimony grew in one way and realized how blessed i was to be where i am (:

angelita is doing great. we watch the restoration movie with her and she loved it. it was good (: she is progressing but she still isn´t sure about baptism. her whole life has been catholic, so it will be a big change. she knows she needs to get baptized...so we are good. my area is a big focus on the mission because there are two areas for this ward...but they are trying to split the ward. in my area we are already ready to be our own ward. but, in the other area they are not. it´s a pretty hot topic in the mission, but i can´t do anything, because the other area is not mine! you know what i mean? someties president asks me how the seperation is coming along...but, it is really out of my hands. so...yeah (: hahaha. anyways. that´s a funky situation.

there is a lot of change going on in the mission. all the zone leaders are super old and all the people training are old too. and know we must have 20 charlas with menos activos. HUGE change. before it was six. we are working super hard...and trying our best to establish the church and baptize(: i hope you all enjoyed the pictures! (: tell the whitings thanks for the package....great people. (:

love,
elder valle

1-30-12

2012-02-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

well, we got transfers and it looks like a staying here another transfer. as long, as i am where the Lord wants me, i am happy (: you know? i just only want to do what the lord expects. this week we had a HUGE hail storm. it hailed golf balls and did damgae to a ton of motorcycles....everyone has motorcycles here instead of cars. anyways....so erveryone is pretty upset and a lot of people don´t get insurance becuase it is super expensive. lukily we were not outside tracting or anything....hahahaha. we were in the house of of a member doing a FHE with our investigator angelita. when angelita heard the hail, she started to cry because all of her plants that she takes care of, were outside as well. so being super sweet young men, we ran out to her house in the middle of the gold ball sized hail and we opened her door and started shuffling all the plants inside.

and then when we tried to close the door we couldn´t because in the short few minutes it was hailing, it had created ice blocks on all the hinges of her doors. so i grabbed the broom and broke all the ice off, and then had to shut it. anyways....that was super interesting. she was crying a little bit, because her plants are like her kids. seriously, even a couple days after the storm she told us she was going through a hard time...hahaha. cutest little old lady ever. anyways, she wants to get baptized, but she thinks she is taking it way to fast. she loves everything and she is just waiting to get baptized when she feels the need to do it. so, it´s interesting. pray that she makes the decision soon though. she needs the gift of the holy ghost. anyways. so, we are feeling pretty good. with the new transfer i hope for a lot of things. so we will see.
we worked a lot with members this week too. we had ten charlas with member, and every charla was with a different member. sick right? anyways, that was preatty cool. one of the guys we took out used to be a preacher but now he is a member. so the way he prays and teaches is a little preacher ish. but its all good...at least he teaches the right doctorine. other members didn´t really know what to do, so it was a little different. hahaha. we had to help them out. my lips are getting SUPER chapped but i bought chap stick so thats ok. anyways (: love you guys! take care.
elder valle.

1-23-12

2012-01-24T18:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

And I finally got your package! Oh man....okay first things first. the GRAVY is heavenly!!!

I already ate a package with my chicken and noodles. OH MAN. suuuper yummy. the pants fit like a glove on my hand. i was a little freaked out about how perfectly that actually fit.

that was amazing. RANCH. oh my word...my comp was jealous, but of course i will share. i havent made it yet though. it has to be the right time. hahaha. the candy of course was pretty amazing. i had a kit kat with a banana for breakfast. thanks for everything seriously. i was super happy to get it. you made a missionary happy this week. I wish i could tell you how greatful i was and am...but it´s hard through email. THANKS (:

this week was great. me and my comp have found lots of new OLD people to teach and bring to church. hahaha.

armando and lidia are an older couple who decided the get baptized on the third charla. they love love love the book of mormon and keep having lots of fun charlaring with us.

i dont really have a lot of time, because i want to send you guys pictures at the same time. anyways, pray for angelita. she could get baptized this week (: we are working super hard. thanks for the prayers. church was special this week. in was in a house and the rain feel super hard...it made me think that maybe thats how it was when the savior died on the cross....with storms and thunder and everything. the spirit was super strong and i almost got amotional. it also made me think of how it would hav been to go the church when it first got restored on earth, in a house with joseph smith and everything. anyways. i love you guys (: thanks for everything.

i bought new shoes, just fyi (: thanks for everything (:

1-16-12

2012-01-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

hey guys!
i will try to send all the photos i have ready, chat with you guys and write an email all at the same time. anyways...our week was good. it felt a lot like last week. i think lately i have really devoloped a talent for pacience. the kinda of things that are happening i think would have normally frustrated me. and i am pretty pacient. i feel like i have learned a lot more of the purpose of life and accepting what happens for a reason. i must have gotten that from dad because he has always been a huge example in reverence and pacience for me. my suepr hero! anyways, this week we found some great new people. i feel like the peoploe we are finding and teaching are so different from the people we had in san juan! it´s like...they understand everything we are teaching to them, but it just doesn´t matter or it´s not a big deal, you know what i mean we found this amazing family who actually had talked to the missioanries before. we explained a lot to them abotu baptism and how it should be done and when...they understood everything. they committed to being baptized the 28th and we did everything to get them to church on sunday and they didn´t come. it is kind of a long story....anyways. so that ruined some things however this little old lady named angelita came to church. and she said she LOVED it and that she felt this peace like she had never felt before. we tried to help her recognize on sunday evening that that was the holy ghost telling her that she shoud be here in the church (and get baptized) hahaha. she is the sweetest old lady. she invited us to her garden which is super big and told us to come get food when we need some (talk about charity!) awesome lady. keep her in your prayers. she lives alone but latley she has become amazing friends of her nieghboors who are members. so, you can imagine she has a lot of contact with the church.

we are starting to make a huge weekly calendar, me and my comp of when the members are available to leave with us (trying to work better with members). we are hoping to have every member tell us when they are normally available during the week to go and visit people. hopefully when we get everyone on board, there will always be someone available. there are like half of our area who is signed for weekday from 6 - 8....haha, no one can go in the morning...one little prbblem we didn´t see coming. haha. anyways, so you can probably imagine how much we are working. the sun itself just makes you tired. you don´t have to do anything, you just lay yourself out under the sun and it sucks all the energy out of you...haha. anyways, . that´s fun (:

this morning me and my comp decided to go to a lake and have an american bbq. it didn´t really turn out as we liked but we made it work and it was super fun.

we roasted hot dogs and used this super weird ketchup we bought in centro san luis. we also skipped rocks and had to make a fire using the wood we had around us. hahaha. super fun.

anyawys. it was pretty good, but now i am just super tired...but i love it. at this time in the mission it is hard to keep up the speed and the energy that you once had being a new missionary. haha. but i am still getting up on time and being obeident. my exercises are becoming more like stretch and meditation routine....that has got to change. haha. this week is zone conference...we shall see what happens (: we are working hard and it seems like we are planting many seeds. so. you know how it goes (: haha. anyways, thanks for everythign family. photos to come (:
un abrazo,
elder jay valle.

Letters from December 5, 2011-January 9, 2012

2012-01-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

My appologies to those who follow this blog for updates on Jay. It was a crazy holiday season and I just kept putting off posting "one more week"-ha! Anyway, here are the letters we got from Jay over the past six weeks. We had a wonderful time being able to Skype with him on Christmas day and he looked great.~Kelly

12-5-11
I got my mission credit card back (: so no worries.
This week has definitly been a good week for the test that God is giving us. Hahaha. I´m district leader of some interesting companionships. I just have been having to deal with serious problems lately. I mean, their probelms are not mine all the time, but sometimes I feel responsable not only to the mission but also the Lord, that these people keep doing missionary work. I worry and pray about them and it´s tough. It just makes me think how heavenly father feels when i disobey or make mistakes. Anyways. Crazy Stuff. Not a lot happened because my comp was actually crazy sick this week. We had to go back to the house a couple time so he could lay down or use the bathroom. He hasn´t eaten much, so we have been in the pench just waiting. haha.
We found some way amazing people this week. we found this lady named nelly who told us at a bus stop that she was looking for the trutgh because she was wayy confused about churches and stuff. anyways...we went to her house and taught her about the la restauracion and she said it made sense. she said she would pray and stuff. she was super nice. anyways...we went back to verify how the prayer went....what she felt and shat she thinks aobut Joseph Smith and stuff. She was like...yeah, i was praying and i got this way cold feeling....like it was dark....and i couldn´t talk anymore and i had to stop praying because i got scared to prayer after i felt so bad. (what?) i was soooo confused...and i had no idea what to say. either did my comp. we talked about the holy ghost and how it should feel, but obviously it wasn´t what she felt. and then i remember thats exactly what happened to jospeh smith when he was praying for the truth....boom. so we read it and she got a little teary and was like...that´s exactly how i felt! like, i couldn´t speak. We explained to her about how her answer will change her life, and doesn´t want her to get an answer. so when she feels like maybe she will have to keep fighting. I felt for sure that the idea of sharing the part of joseph smith history didn´t come from my mind, but from me and my companion just trying to figure out what God really wants her to hear. And thankfully to that we didn´t loose her. At the end of the lesson she gave us a huge plate of empanadas (SCORE!) that same day was actually her birthday so we brought her back a cake. Idk how much she will progress, but she is special so just keep her in your prayers (: anyways, that as a cool experience. I have some picture i will have to send you guys, but other than that itwas kinda a normal week (: hahaha. love you guys (:
Elder Valle

12-12-11
Hey Family.
Wow, when did my family start going to the knitting factory on the weekends? weird (: I´m glad you all had fun (: This week was good. A little frustrating..peoples agency sometimes....to not go to church or no to pray and stuff. ugh! crazy stuff. i never thought i would be so worried that people go to church and crazy stuff like that but i am.
President interviews were this week. It was a good interview, he explained a lot of cool things about how the church will grow in certain areas. He also told me some cool stuff about taking it east. I told him everything that wa s going on and the pressure that we get from getting people to progress and stuff. he told me super simply, just give it your best, god will do the rest....if it´s his will. that made me feel good. knowing that i can give it my best and accept whatever comes, because it must be the will of God. Which is the only thing I am here for really. I am glad you guys had that fireside with the to RM´s. Sounds super fun. if only all the young men knew how fun it is the baptize people...they would be preparing themselves already. it´s jsut the blast.
We had a busy wek inviting people to church. using members to get them to church, in viting in actives to pick up people to go to church (that´s a double hitter....inactives and non members at church...love it). and all sorts of phone calls and stuff. with all that we only had one investigator at church. me and my comp were so confused! someimtes, 9:30 is "early" for the people out here to do. anyways, as you can imagine, i was not really frustrated...it was just hard for me to accept god´s will you know? but i understand there are still things i need to learn. we have a baptism planned this weekend but some crazy health problems are going on with some family members...and so we are still unsure. gah. anyways, this week was really quite the hassle. we have found some new people as well. december is always a crazy month for missions. we all have to reach our end of the year goal and make sure we get it ...si o si. crazy stuff. did i tell you about that one elder that wanted to go home? well...he´s staying!!! yay! (: president is such a boss.
we found this new lady named veronica. she has two daughters and her husband died about a year ago, making her a single mom. she wants to move to the states so her family can have a better life, but obviously it´s too much money..and she doesn´t have a job. she is super receptive and loves me and my comp. way funny. i don´t think she believes in joseph smith, but thats just because she hasn´t read the bom yet...just wait. things will get real spicy when she reads the book of mormon. boom...testimony. beacuse she´s like waiting for a sign...not an answer form the Holy Ghost. man...it´s super fun helping people get a testimony. like a game. that would be a sick video game. anyways...pray for us so we can get people to church christmas eve and new years day...eek! tough stuff. i have an awesome photo this week. you guys will love it (:
love elder valle

12-19-11
Hey, I have permission to write you guys today about something very cool, that should be great. I just got a call from my zone leaders. President Avila was talking with the Area Authorites about Christmas Calling. Looks like he has permission for the Elders in all of South, South America to SKYPE their families for Christmas. Now, there are a couple rules that go along with doing this.
1) It must be the Skype service. So today, I would have to create an account, and so would you guys. I asked them if it would be okay to use the gmail one and they said no ): lame. But beggars can´t be choosers. Hahaha.
2) The call should only be, about an hour.
3) It can´t be in a members house....I will have to find an internet cafe with cameras to do it. So I will be in public instead of a members house.
4) It can´t be done Christmas Day (Sabbath Day...) and so either the 24th (Christmas Eve...I like that idea) or the 26th.

It would be nice that if Erin and Dallan want to do it, that they could sign up as well. This is kinda exciting...as you can imagine all the missionaries are way stoked. I am too. Just a little worried about the audio, just make sure to set it up. If neccisary get speakers and a microphone for the laptop so everything can work (: hahahaha. So get an account and write me back. the thing is, i would have to go download the skype thing on the computer. i really don´t have a ton of time to figure it all out. but just to let you know all this stuff so you can get it started and figured out. if you dont want to, and you just want to call, let me know. haha (:
elder valle

12-26-11
no letter because we Skyped for Christmas the day before

1-2-12
this week has been pretty great! it was a little crazy beacuse there wasn´t too much time to actually work in our area, but we have had a good time. sometimes its frustrating when people are not home...because we seriously have no control over that. so with the holidays and everything, it has been tough finding peoplein the house and actually having time to talk. anyways. we also had a bunch of meetings and little holday parties we went to that cut out so much time. right now, we have people to teach but not enough. we really have to find a lot more people to teach and lots more families if we want to baptize in the month of january. so, it was a good week but we just needed more time.

we started off having the mission christmas party. it was pretty fun. it was the first icecream bar i have had in my mission! it was so good! i forgot all about it. fudge, cookies, m and m´s, ice cream flavors. ag! it was amazing! we had lots of fun. the president dressed up like a wise man and we had santa clause there. it was pretty fun (: anyways....so we played soccer, had some weird skit game things and ate and got to talk with all the elders. i got to see my best missionary friend on the mission, elder rios. we talked forvever. it was great (: they served us cow tounge....it wasn´t that good. it was worth the try though. for the white elephant gift i got a cooking glove....like the ones you put on your hand to take hot stuff out of the oven. those don´t exist down here! someone bought one in downtown mendoza and i got it for my gift. a little exciting. i don´t cook toooo much, but you can imagine i was a little excited (: haha. anyways, i still didn´t get your package. i guess the offices fogot to bring like half of the packages down the party....as you can imagine, there were a few missionaries that were a little dissapointed. hahaha. anyways. BUT, there is acompnaionshiop who is going down the mendoza today and they said they would bring me the pacakge...and so i am not too worried. anyways.
the fiestas was pretty fun. for new years eve, we went to the zone leaders pench and actually cooked a lot and played board games. we cooked asado, pizzas, fruit salad..just lots of yummy stuff. and then we put the matresses together and did wrestling. it was a little fun, but i got dominated because like two of the elders were wrestlers before...so...chau pichu. anyways, we had fun, we had church the next morning and obviously like...hardly anyone was there. people go to bed at like 5 or six in the morning and then they have church at 930, so....it was weird. anyways, and the the actualy new years day, yesterday, we weren´t allowed to work, so we went to my pench to grab some stuff and clean it just a little bit and came back and played more board games. it was fun. it was a good new years. at midnight we got on the roof to watch all the fireworks, and it was fun. i actually ended up reflecting a ton on last year and erverything that i want to achieve this year, and the things i did achieve last year. anyways. it was fun (: i miss you guys but i hope evrythings going good! hope you guys had a blast and i´ll be seeing you this year right? hahaha (:
feliz año!
elder valle.

1-9-12
don´t feel like a rotten mother (: hahaha...whatever. i only sent pictures because we just talked the day before. anyways (:
not a lot to report this week.
me and my comp worked super super hard this week and it was hard to see the fruits. i wish i could blame it on the area and say, well this is a rich area, it´s harder to baptize, but if i think like that i will never baptize. so...talk about trial of our faith. this week will be one to remember becuase we worked so hard for the fruits of our labors and nothing showed up....so as you can imagine. we got frustrated. i feel like i don´t get mad to easily. so this week i kept my cool...but if we don´t get anyone at church next week, i might have a fit. no, just kiding (: but man....we worked super hard. we worked during the siest, we have been extra obedient but i know all of this is for my own benefit. i have been reading a lot in ether 12. it gives a lot of good guidance about going through hard stuff. i have thinking a lot about dedication. i defintily think that dedicating my self will be the best thing i can do right now. im not a bad missionary nor am i disobeident or anything...but, there are lots of little things i can fix. thats for sure. i only have a little bit of time left and i want to come back as my best self. we will see how that goes.
we found some sick families. we have found a family of eight (7 baptizable) who are super nice. they are pretty strong evangelical but they don´t got to church on sundays....which is kinda weird. anyways, so we will have to see how that charla goes...the next one (: it´s vacation time out here in argentina and so all the kids are on vacations and families are always leaving to go swim in the lakes or rivers. they don´t have like publiuc swimming pools but they do have a lake kinda near my are....it´s kinda gross, the water, but its what there is (: every one is doing their vacation thing and it´s hard to find people in house. that has been the biggest problem for us, is finding the people that we have already taught, the second time. it´s tough because a lot of people are gold but we just can´t find them! gah. whatev (: i know if we are obeident that we will be doing god´s will...and that´s all i want to do. i will try to send photos off here in a minute.
my is great (: he is new...has some good ideas. i kinda feel like he is trying to take over and show me how to do things, but you just have to run with it for a little bit and then suggest other ideas how to work. anyways, it´s good. we get along (: the area is fine and the members are amazing. thanks for everything family (: sorry, there is not a ton to write about (: love you guys!
chau,
elder valle

11-28-11

2011-11-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Family.
This week was good (: It was a little crazy because I barely had any time in my area or to talk to my investigators! I felt trapped I wanted so much to teach and talk and pray with them but this week was so hard because we had so many things to do this week (:
First thing. My Mission credit card got eaten in the ATM....i guessi put in the wrong password and they ate it. Ug....it´s going to be a PAIN trying to get this card back. So I have been pulling money off my personal just so you know mom (:
After pday they told me that I had to go to mendoza ASAP so I could get my VISA renewed before i became illegal. Anyways...I had to go on tuesday. I went to mendoza and got there at 12 at night and then i had to get up at six the next day so i coudl go get in line and wait for the fingerprinting place to get me a spot. i finally got in, got my fingerprints done and i was good to go! wow...so then I had to travel to San Luis again (four hour bus ride back) and i had to wait in the terminal for my bus. they dropped me off at eleven and my bus didn´t leave til two. They told me i would have to be alone for a while. WEIRD feeling to be honest. I really got a glimpse of what it might have been like or how hard it would have been to preach the gospel like the apostles who didn´t have companions and had to be perfectly obedient. I could go on an on about the comparison but you guys get he gist. It was a boring experience to be hoenst. I found one guy to talk to who actually spoke english and lived in virgina for like five years....go figure. Anyways, that was nuts. Next day (thanksgiving) President came up to do Leadership trainging for our zone. He spoke a lot about how the church is changing the way of doing missionary work. No longer will we nknock doors. the goal is that the missioanries work with pure references...crazy right? But we know that we can have success. I would challenge you to think of someone (anyone....a neighboor...just and random person that live in the ward boundaires) and tell the missionaries where they live on sunday and ask them to visit them. They will be thrilled!! Even though they might not be baptized, we are planting seeds and working ina new way. Should be great. they evening the zone had thanksgiving.

Rolls, chicken, chorizo, mashed potatoes...and someone had there mom send them gravy packets (MMMMMM) i also made a peach cobbler for the thing. Way yummy. It was a little argentine because we didn´t have any turkey. it kinds doesnt exist here. or it is waaaaaay expensive. So, it was fun. The next day worked a little bit in our area (finally) and the next day i had to do divisions with my district. they are not being disobedient but they just don´t get along (atleast they are baptizing though!). They are not doing to hot as far as companioship unity goes. So it was a little intense trying to fiz the problems. The hermanas in my district are also lossing some investigators...which is super hard for them. So it was a little nuts. We also had to get people to stake conference which was a little tough because it is so far away. Then sunday night....it started rainging and hailing like no other again. It was nuts. Too dangerous to go outside too....it was a little dissapointing not getting much done. But we had thing to take care of. It´s interesting how many things god puts in our way. I am having lots of fun. Me and my comp are at one of the points in the mission where there is no one progressing...no one really wants to get baptized. It´s tough. I am so used to working so much and helping people get to church. It´s weird when you have to look for people...i guess i am supposed to learn something. We will see what it is (: I hope you all enjoyed your thanksgiving (: I might try to get some cool photos to you guys today.

This moning we went to a lake and played soccer which was in the middle of a huge argentine race track.

it was acually pretty cool! i will try to get those to you (: love you guys (:
Elder Valle

11/21/11

2011-11-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
This week has just been....crazy. Just for the missionary work part of it...nothing has changed with me. Hahaha. La Punta first of all, is an amaaazing place. I really believe San Luis is one of the areas of the church where we are growing the most. I love working in this type of area. The members are all excited about the growth of the idea and the idea that we could get our own chapel someday if we work hard enough in the work of the Lord. Anyways, everything is going great, it was just a crazy week.
We confirmed three people members of the church this week. Javier, Jessica and Facundo. Javier and Jessica are a young married couple looking for a better life. They found that obviously. And Facundo is Jessicas little brother who we baptized last week. Anyways, so one thing that I found out about La Punta this week...is that church is in a house. Hahaha. We go twice a month to church in a house and the other two times we travel about half an hour to go to church closer to centro. So this week we had church in the house of one of these active members. He has a pretty nice garage I guess, so we had church there. Well, he obviously has his garage stuff in the "chapel"....wood, bicycles, his pet birds and stuff. Anyways, so we started to confirm Javier in the Sacrament Meeting and the birds...idk why..just went nuts. They are like these really small super super bright yellow birds. Anyways, they started to sing and make all these crazy loud bird sounds. It was kind of embarassing for our convert Javier....but he was way cool. Anyways, we had to ask the guy to take out his bird cage because the birds were not inviting the spirit. Only in Argentina. Anyways, they all got confirmed. La Punta was also waaay excited because our stake president came to church with us at the house! La Punta is exploding...and the president told us that if we can get enough people baptized and confirmed and remaning active, that we could be our own ward and get a chapel....here in La Punta. Anyways....the members are super excited and we sohuld start recieiving lots of help from the ward. I personally am super excited (:
This week it rained...A TON. Like...this is the most rain I have felt in my life. It almost hurt. And then we had super huge hail that fell down too that also hurt. A couple them hit my ears and i still kinda hurt in my ears. My book and my agenda were completely destroyed and obviously my shoes are almost dry. I obviously couldn´t take any pictures...but luckily we had lunch with the relief society president who heated us up and gave us towels and a wicked lunch too. We were relieved. Oh yeah, and the thunder was just WAY loud. Both me and my comp we like...kind of ducked and almost covered our ears because the thunder just sounded like it was headphone. It was nuts. Lighting was super bright. I will never forget that day. The hermana was mad that we didn´t call a taxi or call her so she could come pick us up....but me and my comp decided this would probably be a super fun experience seeing what happened. And it was.
Hey! I got your package and I love it! Thanks so much. I am addicted to the EFY cd. Seriously. Amazing.
I have to go to mendoza tomorrow because I have to renew my visa. Anyways, It´s kinda crazy because I have to travel four hours...ALONE (freaking weird) get to mendoza...sign like two papers and then go back four hours again. I really don´t want to. There is a lot to do in my area...so...anyways. That will be interesting.
My district is doing pretty good. One thing I am trying really hard to do is love them and their investigadores. I guess I realized it´s hard for me to love people I don´t know and even though I don´t have to know the people in other areas, I still need to pray for them and help them. I was just doing a lot of reflectioning this week. I love how the mission...in it´s distinct ways helps us to realize the things that we need to be doing better. I love being a missionary. My comp got box last week and his parents had sent him maple flavoring...maple syrup!!!! (does not exist here). So i will send you a picture of us eating pancakes with maple syrup. mmmmmmmm. long time. I hope you guys have a great week, i might write more If i get more time here.
Hasta luego,
Chau,
Elder Valle

11-14-11

2011-11-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

La Punta is doing way good. It´s kinda a weird area. it´s actually only like nine years old and missionaries have only been here for like two years almost. we actually are alost our own barrio! we are way excited for that to happen. we just need to baptized like 2 or three more elders and thats it. boom! new ward in the world! anyways...we are working super hard. my comp´s spanish is pretty rough, so i end up talking alot of the time...but that doesn´t bother me. i really don´t know why, but here in san luis, everyone thinks i´m latino. like...from buenos aires or something....? nada que ver. i even have an accent and i look white....but they say i don´t have too bad of an accent. so, idk. pretty weird. but i like it here. it is for sure probably the richest area i have been in on my mission. a lot of poeple have their own computer...some with interenet...and a few have cars of their own. its way nice to escape the heat of san juan for the summer and come down here to san luis. when i was san juan...it was super tought with the weather, but here its super nice and chill.

we baptized a kid named facundo this week. we actually had our trials trying to get him baptized but it was super fun. his whole family was baptized like...two weeks ago. but he always was busy with soccer stuff that he didn´t have "the time" to listen. so we went this week and taught him all the commandments. he had already been to church like 5 times and loved all of it. it was raining a ton sunday morning...so almost no one came to church. but facundo and his family did obviously. me found them at the bus stop waiting

he is way funny and reminds me alot of the humor i had when i was his age. anyways, it was crazy. i feel a little crazy out here because i don´t know the area, but im senior comp and i am supposed to lead the area. so i want to do things right but i don´t know where to go and my comp is still way new. but i know things will work out. anyways, we are having lots of fun. we are teaching this way amazing family whoa are all professional belly dancers. yeah, it´s a little weird but it´s super sick. luckily they havent performed for me or anything...hahaha. i hope not. they also speak arabic and she transleted i am a child of god for us. it´s pretty cool! anyways, pray fro them. the familia quevedo and the familia quiroga. they need a lot of personal revelation to know they need to get baptized. the love church, so that´s not a problem. haha.
my new comp is cool. elder taylor...he is actually a convert of about one year and one month. he decided to get baptized and serve a mission. he is from....Ventura, California. Isn´t that where dad served? that´s way cool right. anyways. he grew up in a place called Ojay. Maybe dad remembers that. Man. i love the people here. i hope everything is going great in nampa. how are dalan and miranda? good?
i love you guys. happy holidays. haha
love elder valle.

11-7-11

2011-11-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

MOM,
glad the reception went MAGNIFICENT. so happy for them (: I am glad that everyone loved the letter i wrote.

Tomorrow I am going to Zone San Luis and my Area is La Punta. I am going to be companions with Elder Taylor. He just barely got here about two transfers ago. I am still district leader. I actually talked with President...and he said it was time for me to be Zone Leader because LIndahl wanted me to be Zone leader about 3 months ago. Hahaha. But, it´s just not working out. But he´s as soon as "positions" open up, we will make things happen. Hahaha. But that doesn´t even matter to me. I only want to go where the lord sends me. I don´t want to go up and have it not be the will of the Lord. If going to La Punta (the tip...haha) is where the Lord needs me....i am over excited and anxious to go there and work a ton and cosechar all of the semillas. hahaha.

I am going to miss Albardon. In testimony, our ward mission leader started like this.....I am a little emotional...forgive me. Elder Valle leaves us this week, and well....he´s been a good Elder". oh man....i started crying and i felt guilty for leaving a little bit. hahaha (: It is going to be way hard to leave Albardón.

The first half...was well...interesting with Elder Williams. But with my son Robles, we have baptized some amazing people. Some have callings and one of them has started personal progress and next sunday one of the converts is getting the priesthood. I can´t believe how the Lord works with us when we work with him. It´s so great (: I have been taking pictures with everyone this week (: We were going to change saturday but instead we are changing tomorrow...so it was really weird when i said goodbye to everyone on friday night and we cried a little bit....and then i came back to church the next Sunday.

The president changed things around at the last minute....we don´t know why. Revelation i guess. haha. But everyone was really confused, but it was good to say good bye to a few people that i could not have said goodbye to last week. Albardon i would say, is the area where i have grown the most sow far in my mission. sometimes, i look back at myself in old areas, and think of how much i didn´t know. haha, i was a baby.and i still have a good 11 months to go. I am so blessed to be here. Sometimes, I don´t even want to think of coming home. Even though air conditioning is nice and i love my home, i´m never going to be able to do this again being so young. I love it. anyways, i´m going to try and get photos off to you guys. we will se what happens. love you,

elder valle

10/31/11

2011-11-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

Wow. Congratulations Dallan. I am SOO happy for them. They are way cute together and I am so glad that he is following God´s Plan of Happiness. I saw the photos and got a little trunky, but I know that i need to be here more than anything (: short letter again this week....the work is crazy hot down here.
elder aidukatis came down here and bajo cañe this week. it was all about planning and how we will baptized a ton of more people if we just plan right. it was amazing. he made us feel bad, but it´s true what he says. he was like...if you dont follow all the steps for planning in preach my gospel, you are not following the prophet....wow. it was nuts. anyways, i´m leaving albardon pretty soon and all the families are saying goodbye and the people are starting to make gifts. hahaha. it´s pretty fun. i never realized how much i love the people until i have to leave. i´m going to miss these people so much....and the only thing i wish that they do, is go to church (: man....missionary work is the best. i´m going to try to get some photos off to you guys. this saturday is transfers....hopefully i get a new area. six months in albardón....long time. 1/4 of the mission. love you guys. congrats dal.
elder valle

10-24-11

2011-10-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Hey! don´t have much time today. We have to go because we have a huge capacitation training thing with elder aidukatis from the seventy and i have a bunch of electronic baptismal forms to fill out.
we had a lot of baptism this week...of three boys! yeah! more priesthood. it´s pretty low here...the amount of preisthood holders is tough here...so they love it when we baptize guys. lol. facundo got baptized. he ahs been to church many times and lvoes the chruch and knows it´s true....but his parents didn´t let him get baptized. his grandparents are members. anyways....we talked to his family and helped them understand what baptism was. and that facundo already has a testimony. and they understood and got baptized! now the parents want us ti visit them all the time and the sisters are going to church....talk about sweet miracles right? we will see what happens (: but i loved the baptism. we also baptized two kids of nine years old whose families forgot to baptize their kids....(weird right?) but it always happens in argentina. they too...were like...already active...so you can imagine that the preparation was waaay easy. sometimes i´m greatful for those baptisms...but i feel bad for the kids! i don´t understand sometime what they parents were thinking...but whatever (:

sorry it´s a short letter today. i might get photos today. love you guys (: good luck dallan and miranda.

elder valle

Jay's letter 10-17-11

2011-10-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

wow...this week to be honest has been pretty uneventful (: i honestly wish i had a lot to write to you guys but i am a little blank.

this week we had the baptism of rocio molina. her whole family are members except her. i really never figured out why she didnt get baptized, but she was gold. she has part of her personal progress done and where the young woman medallion everywhere. haha (: she was actually suipposed to get baptized about a month ago, but her father lives far away and cvould never come. she didn´t want to do it unless her father was there...but her father is a little lazy. she lives with her grandma...but anyways. i soon realized that her father was never going to come and that she still needed to get baptized. so i told her...if you father never comes, does that mean you never get baptized? no! it´s a commandment...so you have to do it. let´s do it this weekend and invite your father...if he doesn´t come we still do it. she liked the plan. and even though her father didn´t show up, she was super happy she did it. so we did it and she was way happy. her young woman friends were there and she was a super addition to the ward. believe it or not, she actually gave a talk in church the same day of her confirmation. and of course, at the end she gave her testimony. like i said...testimony of converts is the best thing ever (: anyways i will send you pictures of that.

i´m excited for my christmas present thanks for sending it (: ...i still have yet to recieve a box package on the mission. my missionary friends were making fun of me...hahaha. but i know you guys love me. haha. anyways...i will try to get those photos off to you guys. i am way excited for dallan to get married. i hope you all know i love you (:
elder valle
pray for ismael, facundo and leandro. three great guys who are listening.

10-10-11

2011-10-11T07:58:00.003-07:00

Hello Family,

First off I wanted to express the hapiness I felt when I heard that James was able to give the baby blessing and the Chelsea went through the temple. I can´t express the hapiness that comes from our Heavenly Father when we follow in his way. That was the highlight of my week (: We too in San Juan are starting to see some miracles.

I thought I would share with you all some of the experiences we are having in San Juan with our investigators. All of these situations I guess seem pretty normal to me...but sometimes I forget that you guys arent missionaries too, and that these stories probably seem a lot more amazing coming from the "member" side.

We are teaching this one lady named Maria, whose testimony is super strong. She read The Book of Mormon and she also goes to church as well. We met her about a month ago, and now finally we are getting her documents ready so she can get married and then baptized...it has been a process but keep her in your prayers. We went to talk with her the other day in her house made of bamboo canes and mud and she gave us her testimony. She told us that..."When I heard I had to get married to get baptized...I wasn´t sad...because if it´s what the prophet says, it must be what god wants. So I just have to do it." She is amazing, so hopefully we can see some progress in that area. We are also teaching another girl, Fabiana...who we have been teaching who told about this crazy sweet dream she had. She had been praying about baptism and then that same night she had a dream that she was walking around and everyone was wearing white tunicas and half of the people had tunicas that were clean and white...and the other had stains and rips and they were tattered. She told us that she was confused until she looked at herself and found out that she too, was in a dirty tunica. She realized that she wasn´t happy and that her friends in clean tunicas were....and she wanted to be like them. It was incredible the dream, and even though she didn´t understand what it meant, we explained to her what it meant. She doesn´t come to church still, but hopefully we can see her testimony grow even bigger this week. Way nice lady. Another lady we are teaching, Patricia (Marias sister) started reading the book of mormon. She talking about one time when she was alone with her three kids and how they were crying and how she was having a bad day, and so she went to her bedroom by herself and found the book of mormon and began to read and she said she read only a few versus and she instantly felt good and so now, she carries her book of mormon everywhere so that whenever she feels bad, she opens toa random page and finds what she needs. I have learned too, so much about the book of mormon on my mission...how it strengthens us in any situation. The stories, tree of life, sons of Mosiah and so much more are so applicable to our lives and now, Patricia says it´s true and told us last week she wants to get baptized....she just now has to get married....oh man. But I still have faith (:
the church is doing something kinda different. they have given all the elders, each companionship a portable dvd player. as part of the new training, we have to watch dvds as part of comp study and so we now have a little dvd player in our apartment. it felt pretty weird to have one in the apartment but it was prettty cool. we don´t have the dvds still...so its just there. lol. i´ll send a picture of us watching the joseph smith movie.
i am a master at making chicken...oh man. i just buy a raw chicken and cook it. it´s amazing. i will have to make some for you guys when i get back. one learns a lot when the members can´t give you lunch and noodles become too common for lunch.

me and my comp went fishing with one of our investigators. he made a promise to get baptized if we went and fished with him for 15 minutes. i´ll send you pictures.
i had consejo this week in mendoza with pres. avila and everyone else. we actually had it, october sixth....the year mark. so all my buddies who came with me who are leaders as well, i got to see on our year mark. it was wicked fun, and we never stop laughing seeing eachother. they are right when they say this is the best time of your mission. pres. avila gave a killer talk about how to start teaching and showed us the goals for the mission. he is amazing.
the vineyards out here are getting super green and wine is soon to be made. it´s incredibly pretty...there are vineyards everywhere. i´m serious. we live next to one, the chapel is next to one...and where i am i can see on right now. it´s gorgeous but i´m starting to get used to it. haha. argentina.

anyways, i hope you all enjoyed the email. the work is going good. working hard like always. and people are reading the book of mormon!!!! best book ever. love you all,
elder valle

One Year Mark tradition in the mission: Burn a tie

10-3-11

2011-10-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Conference was the best thing EVER. Favorite parts (:

L. Whitney Clayton talked about how the church´s growth needed explanation and how it is caused by the message of Jesus Christ...how we are fulfilling prophecies and how only 85 years ago, the first members were baptized in South America. Wow. Look where we are now.

Jose L. Alonso....HUGE BOSS: Do the right thing at the right time without delay. there is no need for lenghty programs...the church has already done the part...just apply your effort and get it done.

Uchtdorf killed it again with his god loves you talks. We sometimes feel small, but in god´s eyes he loves us infinitely.
Bednar chose a very very unique tema...but it was a way cool topic. who would have thought about talking about that! he made family history sound like the most important thing ever...and if we don´t do it...we are sinning. that's how i felt. lol.
Neil L. Andersen...haha, make babies. That´s all.
D. Todd Christofferson...oh man that fuy is just way smart...he said...it is mocking god if we expect to receive the blessing of the atonement and do not put in our effort...SO TRUE. I see people who don´t do much and expect to be saved because they say the believe...that's all. crazy stuff.

My favorite talk of the whole conference was by Jeffery R. Holland in the priesthood session. He compared the gospel and work of the lord like a war. He made me feel the need to dedicate my entire life to God and missionary work. I LOVED IT. He spoke so boldy and so straight up and made me feel like i was in the locker room getting a pep talk from a coach. all the missionaries went nuts...it was the best talk ever. You guys have to look it up and watch it. hahha.
We had a pretty normal week. I am starting to exercise better and eat lots of bananas and milk. Idk why but I keep doing it. lol. This week my and my companion worked upser hard and got seven people to church! another big week for us...we are killing it. hopefully it turns into some baptisms.
I hope you guys have a great week. I don´t have much time to write today but i know that we will begin to see miracles here in my area. we already are fidning some amazing people. I felt the spirit so strong this week and the words of the apostles confirmed my testimony of this church. Thanks mom and dad for always rasing me right...so that when I watch general confrence I can think..."yeah...my parents already do that". hahaha. Love you,
Elder Valle

9-26-11

2011-09-29T06:47:00.001-07:00

well, everyone and everyone is talking about uchtdorfs talk that i didn´t see (: i want to see it, or read it soo bad (: but it´s ok, with general conference this week, i will get my fill of apostle talks right? soudns great. glad to see my cousin had a cute baby. congratulations eryka (: that´s neat. all of us are getting way old. cousins with babies and dallans getting engaged, feels kinda weird but it´s making life more and more exciting (:

this weekend we had the baptisms of three wonderful people. Leonela Palacios, and Solangel (Sun angel) and Roco (Yes, that´s his real name). Haha. Leonela since day one we met her has been super nice and super welcoming when we go to her house. Even though she can´t read, she had such a desire to get baptized and so she hopes that her family will follow. She´s only 26 years old but she has been married since she was 18 and has two kids. It´s been tough, but she´s super nice and laughs at my accent. Haha. Luckily, some of her family are members and so I think that will help her stay strong in the gospel. Me and my compnanion are super proud of the progress she has made in coming to church and sacrificing her time to get to church with her crazy two daughters (: haha.

Solangel and Roco are from the Flia. Gonzalez. They are waay funny and they always make me laugh way hard. Solangel and Roco are from a family who will one day all get baptized. One day me and elder robles were eating lunch and there was the sister of the Hermana who gave us lunch. We asked her if we could come by her house one day...so we went the next day to go talk to this lady, the sister of the hermana. and then when were visiting her, we found her neighbors who were the flia. gonzales. We taught about the Sacrament and how it´s a commandment and stuff. And since that day that have all been progressing and super nice. Aldana (baptism from last week) is from that family and gave a talk in sacrament meeting this week. she was way nervous but she bore her testimony and it was the best ever! when converts give testimonies...it makes you wanna cry. you can´t deny that they have a testimony and it´s the best thing (for me) that can happen on the mission. Way SICK!

we had 40 people at the baptism and 5 investigators. it was way cool! we are getting the whole ward involved and i love to organize such a big event. i kinda get too worried making sure that the refreshments will be ok and that everything goes perfectly (: hahaha. everyone was like...¡elder valle, tranquilizate! i can get worried about the details sometimes. haha (:

I am way way excited for General Conference this week (: Don´t even know what to do with my self. my investigators are way excited too. going to be a great weekend (:

I got one of moms "buzz cuts" this week for the heat. It´s getting hot. So, i decided to take it all off. I don´t look too good, but I do look like a missionary so thats all that matters (: Transfers are today, but hopefully i stay here (: i love it here in Albardon so much...so we will see (: have a great weekend! i will try to get photos off (:

Elder Valle

9-19-11

2011-09-25T16:38:00.001-07:00

so, my week was hot and tiring. but i like it like that sometimes, so it´s really not a big deal (: haha.

this week was crazy. we have a lot of big goals as a companionship, as a zone and as a mission for the month of september. and so needless to say we had our hands full. i love to work, but sometimes i get so worried about my investigadores that i can´t stop thinking about how tto help them and how to help them with their testimony. last night, apparently i was sleep talking in spanish of course about helping a lady we are teaching about the importance of going to church. we have so many goals to reach before september ends, so we will see how even more busy it will get. haha. nuts.
this week we had the baptism of aldana. we found her and her family while knocking doors in a pretty crazy villa. we taught about the sacrament and they never really seemed like gold, but they came to church and aldana even made it to alma 36 before her baptism. she goes to seminary and is stronger than some of the joevenes that have been members for a while. hahaha. it was a good baptism and the ward really helped us out. we are trying to gain the confidence of our bishop. this is the second time that i have had to do it, so it was easier this time. haha. we are doing good and working super hard (: we have a lot of people to work with thsi week and we are having a way hard time finding baptismal clothes for everyone...that part is tough. i love it though.
i worked with the asistants this week because they are traveling and working with every companionship for like two days. it was wicked fun and we got a lot done with four missionaries in our area (:
so i know this might sound greedy and way pre mature. but i figured out what i want for christmas if its possible. i know in the states they sell ctr rings in different colors...pink, black, pruple, some have flowers and some have soccer balls and stuff. mom, i don´t know how complicated or expensive it would be to just send me a bunch of those rings in cool shapes and sizes and a mixed bunch of them idk. like thirty or twenty. converts LOVE them. it´s crazy sweet for them...and it doesn´t matter that it´s in english they love it . also...josh groban...i heard a song of his from the ipod of another missionary and i just looved it. if you could make copies of allll the groban cds you could get a hold of, i would love you guys forver. miss you guys!
elder valle

9-12-11

2011-09-13T06:33:00.001-07:00

hello everyone. another crazy hot week in st. john.
it really doesn´t get that hot, but i does make me sweat a little bit...ug. and then i can´t wear the same shirt the next day...so that kinda stinks. anyways, i don´t want to say that i´m down...but i am suuper tired because we are working super hard in our area. you wouldn´t blieve it. its the biggest and best feeling helping other people become more like christ. it´s kinda crazy thinking about it to, waht i am actually doing but i love it and i am growing to love argentina more every day. i sometimes think about my life in the states and can´t imagine it with out the weird teas the drink all the food and all the crazy poor places we walk too. like...now i am way used to seeing kida play in the mud in the diapers while their parents are at work...but everything just seems so normal now. i kinda dont want to leave and i am glad that i still have one year to do it.
we are teaching an amazing family se llama the flia. gonzalez. there is the mom, maria rosa...the daughters, aldana, solangel (sun-angel...haha, i always make fun of her name) and the boy named roco. they are HUGE bosses...they all read the book of mormon on the bus and stopped drinking cafe. for the girls birthdays i bought them chocolate powder to mix with milk so they could stop drinking cafe. hahaha. they loved it. hahaha....we alse gave solangel a HLJ ring for her birthday and her family almost got mad because now they all want one...ugh. hahaha. love sweet families like this. they will be baptized next week for sure. the mom isn´t married so she cant get married right away, but she told us that on monday (today) they were going to centro to get the paper work done to get married. (getting married down here is a lot more difficult). anyways, they have way strong testimonies.
the church came out with a new program for missionaries with less than twelve weeks and their companions have to study the same thing. so we are trying to new program out as mission mendoza to see how it works. it´s a little different but alteast i don´t have to find stuff stuff to study...like its already there you know? hahaha. anways, that´s cool.
mom would be proud of this one...i bought a raw chicken and cooked it this week. the skin turned out good but the inside was way normal. how are you supposed to make the inside yummy? i put oregano, salt, lemon juice, pepper, and onions....mom, how would you cook a raw chicken? cuentame. anyways, i am learning to cook. thats. fun. pray for the flia. gonzales, and marcos and rosio. (: thanks. i love you all!

elder valle

2011-09-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

MOM!
haha, i had to respond like you say hi to me. oh man, i remember you telling me about the savior of the world program when i was starting the mission....getting close to the year mark baby! sounds like you guys had a fun weekend. oh mom, i know that Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel like the back of my hind. Haha, even though i might not have developed the Humble attribute still...estoy llegando. hahaha. the activity..yes, i have done. good thing. yes it is getting warm down here. i love it. right now its perfect weather.

i got a package this week with a shirt and some birthday cards. thanks! (: it was way funny. marie wrote a weird birthday card and wrote...the hot pigs....yeah, i don´t know. but i love it, because it´s from marie. dallan and mirandas card (i guess they are one now...when it comes to cards) was a little distrubing. but other than that i loved it. am i supposed to be waiting for another package for my birthday? i´m not sure. i just remember when we sen t dallan like a box of jerky and candy and toys and doritios and stuff for his birthday...but, i don´t know (: should i be waiting for another box? if not let me know, so i don´t go looking for it (: loved the yellowstone shirt. thanks (:

me and my comp worked crazy hard this week. normally we don´t work during the siesta because everyone is asleep or drinking tea (yes, that´s an excuse to not listen to missionaries in argentina), but we still left outside during the siesta and kept working. even though we didn´t have the best success, i felt liek we were putting forth our best effort. but the blessings always come because this week we had seven of our investigators at church. i don´t know about veracruz mexico, but in argentina mendoza, that´s a huge number for investigators (: me and my comp were so happy and we are really excited to see the progress we can make. missionary work is...the bomb! well i promise i sent you a letter a long time ago, and then when i went to go get my mail, the letter i had sent came back because it had the wrong adress....weird right? yeah, i don´t know (: anyways, i am sending you a photo for proof. so don´t be mad at me that you havent gotten a letter...it´s not my fault! the adress is correct. i sent it july first...soo...it might be outdated when you get it.
2101 E. Massachusetts, Nampa ID 83686...thats still the adress right? i hope so (: (: hahaha
i had to go to mendoza this week for consejo. it was super fun! i learned alot from pres. Avila...that guy is a complete boss. he speaks like an apostle and his family is super neat. they have something that the lindahls didn´t..(surprise!). they feel more like a family and hermana Avila is more like a mom. way cool people. wish you guys could meet them (: our baptismal goal for the mission this month is 125. HUGE goal but i think we can do it because everyone is getting a ton of people to church.

remember when i told you about the flia. monataña who we were teaching and then how they rejected us and i had to write my testimony on the libro de mormon and give it back? i dont remember if i told you guys about them . they were gold and then one day , all the sudden they rejected us. well, anyways, the other day, me and my comp felt that we should go back to the house friday night, so we went and we knocked and the dad of the home answered (never saw him before). his name was orlando and he was way cool. we talked aobhut the plan of salvation and all that fun stuff. anyways, we had a way good lesson! we than talked to him about coming to church and he came the next day! i´m glad me and my comp did what we knew we needed to do (: that alone made it a succesfull week (: anyways, i hope you guys all are having fun in nampa. thanks for the shirt! have a great week!
elder Valle

8-29-11

2011-09-01T07:52:00.001-07:00

family!
oh wow (: it has been quite the week. we are working way way hard and i get to the pench way tired, but my comp told me that that´s when we feel the happiest and it´s true (: so anyways, things are going good. we have a lot of good people that we can baptize but they all have their little htings that keep them from getting baptized. we have a lot of young kids who want to and can´t because their dad wont give them permission. ah! it´s killing us,but we are praying a lot so that they can progress and be baptized, if not now, in the future. me and my chilean son are having lots of fun. he talks WAY too fast and simple frases like...what are you going to eat for breakfast, i can ´t understand because he talks like a machine. haha, its a little funny, but i think he forgets that all the gringos are learning a second language. i took a lot of photos this week. today for p day we went to a catholic church (irony) and took an elevator to the top of one of the towers and took pictures. nothing like the empire state building obviously, but it was still pretty fun.
there was also a holidy here in san juan called chocolataza...which is like a festival or chocolate and all was free. so obviously, the town went to the plaza to get their free chocolate and we were left sunday evening without anyone to visit. it was tough. then we found this one guy who wanted to talk about joseph smith, so we watched the video the restoration, and he wanted to see it really bad but he couldnt change the language because his remote was broken. so we watched in english (hace mucho que veo eso en ingles) and i had to tell him what was going on. i would like to say that it went great but, it was weird during the first vision trying to speak over the television. anyways, it was a good lesson. i felt the spirit even though it was in english...hahaha. we also started teaching a family with a bunch of kids who say they read the book of mormon and they said it was true! whoo! but they have an uncle who is the pastor of the church "espiritu santo" and they have to go to that church because its family first. ugh...tried to explain that family first means being an eternal family and so you have to go where you know is right...but they still don´t get it. we also found a way sweet investigator named marcos who is looking for the right church. he thew us some super tought questions about the bible and the book of mormon and how they contradict and stuff...but he was nice about it. and the same morning me and my comp had had a big study about how the bible and book of mormon support eachother from capitulo 5 of preach my gospel. it was sweet, feeling prepared for the charlas that we had.
we are all working super hard and have fun doing it. i have never been so hungry and tired in the mission, but it´s all worth it (: this week i get to go to mendoza for leadership training. should be fun! hope you recieve and enjoy the photos i am sending (: love you all (:
elder valle

8/22/11

2011-08-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

HI!

2 day stay was super fun with the zonies. one of those days was p day and the other one was working like normal...just a fun two days (: pretty normal

I am still District Leader. hahaha, it´s ok. don´t worry about it (: the elders in my district are a little lazy...but thats ok...haha (:

Allright. maybe a long letter today...we will see (: my comp is already done writing the family (like...5 minutes) and i don´t want to make him wait forever soo...i will try to go fast. So i said goodbye to elder williams (good moment) but it was excited to see who would be my next companion. When they called, they told me that i had to be in the offices at 10 in the morning on Wednesday because I was going to train! Hooray! I was super super excited to get an Elder who was fresh on the mission and (hopefully) had the ganas to work. So i went down to Mendoza on a bus for a couple hours and with a bunch of elders we talked until our ¨sons¨arrived. It was sooo fun talking with other elders who have been comps with Elder Williams. I didn´t feel like I was the only one...but there were elders who were comps with im too, and well...we didn´t say bad things...but we definitly related better. hahaha (: It was a good feeling (: we finally got our hijos and as they announced them, i was not nervous but just anxious to see which elder i would. then they said Elder Valle will train...Elder Robles! (¿Latino?) We were all a little surprised that a gringo got put with a latin and there is also another companionship where there is a latin training a gringo...so...I was super excited, but a little surprised at the same time...as was everyone else. I was really looking foraward to being like..."Elder this is called an Alfajor...they are way good! Like a mini cake almost"...but...being from Chile, he eats alfajores every day of his life. Sooo...that sucks a little bit of fun out of the training...but its ok (: he and his brother are the only members of his familty. he got baptized when he had 11 years and his parents still need to get baptized. strong spirit, and has a lot of ganas to work (: that was way excited. he is just a big clump of clay right now, and i have to mold him into a good elder. hahahaha. we started woroking ont hrusday and we got a lot done. we are being super obedient and working good and finding way good people here in Albardon. I had to play a trick on him of course. he is new. hahaha. there were two members walking on the street this week...and i told my comp to do a street contact with them and he was too nervous. haha, so i told him that i would do it for him. so i went up and presented my self and my comp as missionaries and asked them ¨i´m sure you have heard of the mormones before...what have you heard about them?¨ the hermana started saying that they were a cult and that they do weird things in their churches and that they have lots of wives. then her daughter was like...ÿeah, i heard the pray to joseph smith and use a different bible¨ ( they were so perfect for the job) i looked at my comp and he started to explain profetas and how we need them. and after about a minute my comp started to bear his testimony and right when he started doing that, i had to stop him and tell him they were members. oh, they laughed so hard (: totally unplanned but it was gold!!! (: it wasway funny (:we are working super hard. please pray for melina and her dad and paula montaña. they need lots of prayers (: thanks for everything. miss you guys!
elder valle

8/15/11

2011-08-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

It´s true when you say this week has been a long one. I have been counting days and hours, but I knew I could do it. Out of all my transfers with companions, I can honestly say I have learned more about myself and about life in those three months than I have learned in any other time in my mission. As surprising as it may seem, I guess I even had a hard time saying goodbye. We laughed our heads off together and even have yelled at eachother but all in all, we made it, and I learned unvaluable lessons with him. We got up at 3:00 this morning so he could get back to Mendoza on time, and now I am hanging out with my Zone Leaders from P day and for tomorrow. We still don´t know who will be my companion, but I am sure staying in my area, which I am totally cool with (: Way excited to show the members what I am like with another animated missionary.

Birthday was pretty...missionary like (go figure). We did missionary work and my comp was still packing and getting stuff ready so it wasn´t anything crazy. As you know, I just hate the birthday like attention, so I didn´t tell anyone. I figured the best way to celebrate was to wait for your packages and buy myself icecream the same day I get them, so I am still waiting to get them. However, my way way sick Bishop, Bishop Alvarez did send me a text message to wish my Happy Birthday. That was enough Birthday attention for one day. Then, on Sunday, days after my birthday, we had lunch at the Bishops house and before we left, the bishops wife (waaaay awesome strong mormon down here) pulled out a cake from her freezer that she made from scratch for my birthday and their family sang me happy birthday...in english! It was so nice. They only had two little kids...but It was nice and she let me put candles on it and enjoy it. I love strong members (: Pray that the Alvarez family gets lots of blessings. They deserve them. hahaha.

Oh man...I was reading Hebrews 12 this week. SICK chapter (: Read it when you have time. D&C 6 was another hot chapter this week in my personal study. Hit it up.

I did some way sweet divisions this week and did a ton of Baptismal Interviews, where I met some cool People. First of all, Ester de Valle (first Valle that I have met in the mission) and I also did an interview for Selena Gomez. Ha! Go crazy. The people over in that area baptized six people this weekend! Sweet right? And so with all the interviews to do, I have never felt so trusted in the eyes of God. I guess doing regular missionary work is one thing, but I was depending so heavily on the Spirit that day, that I had to make sure I was focused and on top of my "spiritual game". Good day (: I enjoyed it.

San Jaun is starting to heat up! I actually started sporting my short sleeves this week and maybe even might turn on a fan during the siesta. We will have to see right? Anyways, I am sleeping with less blankets and more windows open. Winter just went by way fast here. Glad I had my warm clothing (:

I would have to say that my favorite experience this week was during exercise time on Saturday. E´ Williams loves to run, and I do to a little, but not as much as this guy. We run about a 5K in the mornings, and after that I am dead. Of course he goes way faster and he is skinnier and all that stuff...haha, but after doing the 5K he came to my side and said that he wanted to do it the whole route...again. (I was beat. So dead.) I told him how dead I felt and that it was time to go...he said "I know you got this Valle...you can do this. One last run". I gave in to the peer pressure and maybe more than anything because it was his last exercise day, I decided to do it. We started going around the second time and this time, he remained by my side, instead of trying to run off 100 meters in front of me like normally...I felt supported this second time, and even though my legs hurt quite a bit, I was doing it and I was going to finish the 10 k. I felt like sometimes, this is how Heavenly Father acts with his children. He gives us a trial, and squeezes us to our last drop of faith. Not for fun, but because he knows we can do it and that it will be for our benifit. Sometimes we think that all we can do is a 5K, but if we take seriously the confidence he has in us, he shows us our potential and helps us along the way. It was a great lesson I learned, and I was feeling the spirit as I ran through San Juan and thought about how similiar that situation was.

hope you all have a great week! thanks for the letters. sounds like dallan is just getting ready for the big haloween part...i mean, wedding. HAHAHA. big joke. Ana...if you are not doing band, you better find some club, and be way good at it. Like debate. That makes high school the best. Whatever you choose to do, focus on it and be the best and win state and yeah. You get the point. It´s sad, but I don´t blame you. Flute players are weird sometimes(no offense to erin or miranda). Love you guys!

Elder Valle

8/8/11

2011-08-08T12:34:00.000-07:00

oh boy, this week hasn´t been too spectacular. my companion has one week left on the mission! you can imagaine how crazy things get on the last week! my brithday is tomorrow, but i don´t know if i will do anything (: you know me...birthday parties? mmm....no tanto. so we will mission it up like normal and i will celebrate when i get your birthday boxes in the mail! yay! so excited but i have to put my patience in practice because i live so far away from the offices, the mail man doesn´t run up to san juan too often, you know? but that´s ok (: more suspense...or soemthing like that. thanks for all the birthday wishes. i hope i act like a twenty year old...if not, well i am sorry (:

this week hasn´t been anything special, but i will let you in on a sweet lesson we had this week!
we found this cute little familye...ofelisa, eduardo, and their daugher caterina. we found them because i was talking to lady on the bus and she told us to pass by. anyways, they were doing what a lot of argentines do...drink tea, when we artrived. they were getting to know us and we were getting to know them and all the sudden they asked us...why are there so many churches?...(BOOM! perfect perfect question that just makes a perfect invatation for the restoration. being the smart people we are we started to explain and my comp and i started to relate the apostasy to the argentine soccer team. jesus christ was the coach and james was messi and paul was tevez and etc. without the football team, we would never have a team right? it´s the same with jesus christ. it was neccesary for argentina to "call" another coach..or prophet...and that´s where joseph smith comes in. haha, it was a way sweet analogy and it honestly feel like it made more sense to them because of the analogy. it was a great lesson and it definitly fulfulled their doubts. they didn´t come to church but i pray that they can make some progress. cute family in a cute house. i hope we can see more progress with them. they say they are catholic and actually the daughter is studying right now to be confirmed in her catholic church. not really sure, what she has to study and everything...but that poses wuite the challenge right? pray for them if you can. with my comps crazy schedule for this week, we might not have time to pass by too many people. i hope so though!
all our lunches are falling through! ug. sometimes the members are too afraid to tell us no for lunch, so they just don´t answer the door. i guess the economy is tough here in san juan...but i have atleast learned to increase my cooking skills (: thats a plus. i think, mom, you would be proud of me.
looks liek dallans plans for being a married man are coming along! i am so excited to hear about the wedding colors, and to recieve an invitation in the mail! crazy!
i just got done with 10 months and now completing 20 in life. time is going by fast, but it´s getting to be funner as i go.
i hope you all had fun on your SLC trip and that you didn´t get too tired...lol. thanks for the birthday wishes and everything! i love you all!
love,
elder valle

8/1/11

2011-08-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

hey! i had zone conference yesterday and so my pday is today! sorry if you all freaked out about that.

holy schmoly...looks like my brother is totally getting married! im so excited for him and especially miranda. i have lived in the same room with dallan for a lot of my life...and so, miranda could use a lot of advice from the professional himself (me). it´s going to be a crazy ride, but i think miranda is going to be such a fun addition to family get togethers. haha, oh man, way excited. saw a picture of them kissing....that was weird. but thats just because we are brothers. great news! sounds like everyone is having fun, and i also recieved pictures of erin´s super cute family. wow! talk about good photography and cute ideas! totally worth it. i´m going to see what i can do to try and print out copies to show to the people and missionaries here so i can brag about penny.

to say its been cold down here is an understatment. i guess central heating really makes a big difference in things out here. my blankets were cold when i woke up and my socks too...it´s a little snowy but all has melted. no one does too much when it gets cold around here so we only had 6 people at church this week. waaay low. it was sad, but it was good because we now realize what we need to mejorar over here in albardon. i have some pictures of my bundled up self for you guys.
i made a waay good salsa this week! mom you would be so proud (: the other elders liked it and said it was yummy. it has been a while, but i don´t think any of the members like spicy stuff at all...so, it doesn´t hit off to well with the argentines. haha, oh well.

we had a waaay sweet zone conference. we had a nice lunch which gave every elder horrible gas...oh man. the bathrooms were destroyed! and presidente avila gave a way sweet talk. i love that guy. i played the musical number and it seemed like the people liked it. it took up the whole day from 9:30 til 8:15....nuts. but it was way fun to see other elders and just have a good time (: thats what we did yesterday.
i came to a realization today...that camp rainbow gold has begun. so...i have my relay for life surivivor shirt and my CRG sweater on every day when i go to bed, including this week and who knows, maybe i will sing the "camp prayer" before my meals this week. trunky moment...haha. but it´s all good! way funny...but, i do miss my cancer camp. its kinda weird having to explain to elders why my sweater says camp "rainbow gold". not the coolest name, but whatev. no one in argentina understands it...lol (:
i heard some rumors in the mission about a temple being planned out for Paris, France...Dad, you should get on Google and investagte to see if thats true! Would be super sweet.
We are still making it through here in the mission and getting used to Presidente Avila. He likes us to have our investigadores listo, but he also likes lots of baptism...so the work is tough! Salt Lake has asked us to increase our baptisms by 33%...so...in three years thats like...100%. WOW. Nuts, but I believe it can happen. and thats what Pres. Avila said...is that we have to believe it will happen instead of work hard and see what happens. Its way true too.
Miss you guys and hope you are having fun in Nampa!
Elder Valle.

Jay's letter 7/25/11

2011-08-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends

Oh my, this week has been a good/better week and I have had lot´s of good things learned. From experience, scriptures, prayer. I love how God knows how we feel and what we are in, and he knows how to help us. It has been a great week, in that sense (:

Nothing crazy happened this week, but some stuff did happen, and so I hope you enjoy!

-there is a family we are reactivating that is really sweet, and they really have the desire to do the right thing. the hermana subiere (last name) is the strongest one and makes her sons go to church so that they can all go to the temple this december. i have loved helping re activate them and help them get more blessings! it was especially rewarding this sunday, when hermana subiere was assigned to give a talk in sacrament meeting (big deal for less active people). she killed it! she did such a good job and i was crazy proud of her. she told me how nervous she was and how much better she could have done, but she looked like a way strong member. these are the best moments in the mission. she is funny though...she still refuses to wear a skirt to chruch. at least she find the nicest slacks she can. hahaha. good lady. always makes us malta.

-well i have run up with a terrible cough this week, but i found some way sweet cough drops that are actually hardened squares of honey. hard to explain, but they are amazing. might bring some home from argentina. but don´t worry, i don´t feel sick at all, just a nasty cough from san juan weather.

-there is an ice cream place here, way good, called GRIDO. about a week ago i went in their to buy ice cream for one of the new elders in my district. that was a week ago, the other day elder burns called me and he went over there the other day to buy ice cream. the guy working there asked him if he had a "church friend" that had two colored eyes. he laughed and said yes, and th guy told burns he was too shy to say anything to me but thought it was super cool. hahahaha. another thing on the mission, is, i´m getting tired about people talking about my eyes. i am pretty sure my companions have tired of hearing it too. but, i won´t complain too much...sometimes it helps us get in doors or make people laugh. que se yo.

-i´m still loving the missionary work and we are still working with ana and her daughter. great people, but they don´t understand many things....i am thinking with time that we will be able to see miracles with them. the work here is slow, but i know that god will bless us and that sometimes he tries us til our last drop of faith (:

-looks like my brother is getting taken away! that happened fast! wow (: but i´m proud of him. i still hasn´t told me if i´m his best man or not....we will see. hahaha. man....and then when he gets married, i guess i´m next in line....scary thought! not ready! still a missionary. haha, oh well. hope you guys have a great week! i´m super hungry today...thinking i might make a chicken sandwich or SALSA. MMMMM. see how it goes.

-oh and yes mom, we have a hand blender. (:

love you guys,

elder valle

Jay's Letter 7-18-11

2011-07-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

with Elder Menoncal

Hey guys,
Well, to be hoenst, not too many exciting things happened this week in Argentina. I am going to attempt to write my best here to make things exciting and fun to read (:
Can´t believe Ana turned 14. Holy freak, I was just talking to Erin about our grown up family. Haha, and Ana is going to stake dances. Tell her to write me if she ever gets asked to dance. Hahahaha, just kidding. So mean. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ana and Erin. Sorry i could not send you guys anything way sweet.
It´s getting pretty weird weather wise down here. We wake up freezing cold and I just want to put on two sweaters and thick socks and sit next to a heater. Then, as the sun comes out, I feel like I could easily pull off a short sleeve shirt and do the missionary work like that. So, needless to say, mother nature is bi-polar down here in San Juan. The best way to do things is to go out with a short sleeve shirt with a sweater over it (: That´s the best way I have found to keep up with the weather here.
Hahaha, so thanks for the package. Everything was great and I had a fun time looking at the graduation announcments. Made me laugh looking at Lexi´s. It was so her. It also reminded of working at copies plus, and making grad announcments for Jose. Remember that? Those looked sooo good. We did a great job (: Anyways, thanks for that. Way fun stuff to read and look at. The garments fit like a charm.
I remember Mom always trying to get us to drink powdered milk, and we never did. I don´t know why, because now in the mission it´s like the best thing ever! I don´t know if it´s super cheap out the states, but down here it´s a pretty good deal and mixed with cereal it does pretty good. I think I will try to convert my self to powdered milk when I get back.
Well, we had lunch with the Bishop yesterday, and the Bishops wife made a waaaayyy good soup thing. The coolest thing is that she used hardly any meat, but it was so delicious. Reminded me of Mom´s cooking. Mmmm. Anyways, they were talking about how their son, Marcos ws misbehaving. How the more he mis behaved the less things he could have. He is coming up on his sixth birthday and they told him that if he was misbehaving in church they would take away his brithday party. He supposivley didn´t do to good and they are not letting him have his birthday party, but will make a cake. Okay, so why would I be telling you this story? It made me think alot about our Heavenly Father and us, here on earth. The parents, obviously hurt that they couldn´t give his son the birthday party, if anything, they really wanted to. But, they knew that he would learn/recieve something better, by taking away the party and that it would serve him in the long run. Sometimes, when we don´t repent or disobey, Heavenly Father takes away blessing. In reality, he wants those blessing (or "birthday parties") for us sooo bad, but he knows better and won´t because he knows that we will learn something from it. Interesting thought I had yesterday while eating with the Familia Alvarez. Good family.
Me and my comp, we saw a robbery the other day. We were on the bus coming back from Centro, and when the bus stopped I just heard all these screams and saw a kid out the windows of the bus running full speed with a purse. It was so surreal, it was like I had been caught in a movie and didn´t know what they heck to do. Couldn´t really do much.
We found some sweet people this week, but we are working on other things first so we can get along with the work (: Thanks for all your prayers and everything. I love you all. Happy Brithday Ana and Erin! You guys are way old (: hahaha.
Love,Elder Valle

with Zone Leader, Elder Burns

Jay's Letter 7/11/11

2011-07-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Family,

Not tooo much happened here in Albardon this week. The biggest news is that they changed the prices of the buses to 4 pesos! So that´s killing our budget a little but, we are survivng and becoming good friends with the mission accountant getting some reembolsos here and there. OH and we did have....INDEPENDANCE DAY here in Argentina. Needless to say that everyone takes holidays as a day to not work, and they don´t celebrate too much to be quite frank. So I woke up and I was heading near the back of our apartment to go take my shower after I had a very sweet, low key work out. And when you head to the shower you have to pass by the back door that has a glass window. I was walking past the door and saw this huge flash as if an UFO had just landed in our backyard, curious as could be I opened it up and BOOM! something exploded because the sound was so loud...wasn´t quite sure what it was but I swear someone had just shot a gun....that made flashes...or something. Well, it happened again and then I saw a firework two, and then I got it. Our neighboors were doing huge fireworks at seven in the morning and it was 9 de Julio, and so of course, fireworks were a must. I felt it was a pretty fitting introduction to the all the fireworks that we saw the following day. Nothing like the 4th of July, really. But good enough.
We met a new investigator who came to church this week. Her name is Ana. She got in this huge motorcycle accident and it kinda damaged her head, and so she doesn´t have a ton of hair. She wears all kinds of funny hats to cover her head and she is a way nice lady. The only thing is that when we talk to her, its way hard because she talks about the most random thing and talks about it forever (common thing in San Juan, the people here are like that). For example, when we went to go pick her up for church, she wanted to sit down and talk about her chickens and how they were fighting with the neighboors dogs, and we were already pretty late for church. Luckily, we had one of the high council members with us who is a San Juanero himself, and cut her off and said "We have to go....now". OH man. Sometimes, as missionaries, it´s hard to be firm with people, but to cut people off, it´s just a tough situation. So, pray for Ana because she doesn´t have a testimony yet and needs to hear the truth. We hope and pray for her progression.
Well, this morning all us missionaries in San Juan went to Centro to meet.......Presidente Avila. Oh MAN! He is just a BOSS! He is waay cool. We also met his wife. Okay, just one cool cosita. A couple days ago was my companions birthday, Elder Williams. She just got a her a couple weeks ago, and this is the first time we have ever met the Hermana. We were all in a line doing the hand shake, mucho gusto, big smile, chest out, clean cut missionary thing. She came to Elder Williams, Shook his hand, and right as she was moving on, she short stopped her self put her eyes back on williams, and said "oh yeah, happy late birthday elder williams". Oh man! What a sweet hermana right? We were a little freaked out about how she remembers all that but it was way cool. He talked about some waaay cool things, and knowing that was an ex area seventy just makes him way cool. Him and Lindahl are both big bosses, but in their different ways. Lindahl just makes money and gets work done and complete. Avila just smiles and gets whatever he wants and explains spiritual truths and doctorine so simply, it almost blows your mind.
Me and my comp are starting to run 3 miles for our exersices. Man...you could tell it had been a while since I slipped in my Nikes. We have to get out pretty early, and so we are just freezing. My left side that doesn´t sweat was just searing cold. My blood in my fingers might have had to been defrosted, but we will see how it goes! i am trying to get back in shape...have a little stomach going on. I bought Brocolli and carrots. Should be good.
The mcdonalds probably didn´t help. OH MOM! I also found Cilantro here!!!!! PLEASE SEND me your salsa recipe, but make it easy to understand. I am dying to eat salsa. biggest food i am missing right now. I wanna make it. so, your homeade fresh salse recipie please (:

I love being a missionary to be honest. This is not only such an enriching exprience, but it is wicked fun. Me and my comp talk to the weirdest people and we have bad tiem and good times, and every day you learn something new. i was talking with my comp last night, that how before the mission,I probably didn´t have too many ganas (what is ganas in english?) to read church books or much of the old testament or read the bible dictionary for fun. now, I am just dying to read hinkcley biography and talmage stuff. it´s great what the lord blesses you with being his missionary.

I got your package, but I have not opened it (: Just got it like an hour ago. When the president came and they brought mail to all of us. Way nice (: (: well, I hope you all are having great summer days in Nampa. I thank you guys for everything.
Love, Elder Valle

Jay's Letter- 7/4/11

2011-07-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Well, needless to say, crazy stuff has happened and is happening here in San Juan. Transfers is today and we found out that me and Elder Williams are staying together in the same area. We were both shocked because President Lindahl promised to move us...I guess, we really need a change. To be honest, me and my comp talked and we really don´t see how things are going to work out with us and six more weeks. We have respected each other for the last transfer, but being together for the next six weeks could cause some problems...so, we will see if we actually stay together. Pray for me and for him, so that if we do, we can get things done. I don´t want to write anything bad or mean, because we both struggle in different areas, and so we are hoping God can help us in his work.

Talking about crazy stuff...right now is the Copa De America! Everyone in South America and Mexico (and Japan got invited) are playing in this huge cup...and guess what...it´s in Argentina!!! Crazy! So, what happens is all the teams play but the play on soccer fields that are all throughout Argentina. It started on Saturday with Argentina and Bolivia and Messi didn´t do a good job apparently. Hahaha, and that took place in Mar de Plata in Buenos Aires. The second game is Chile vs. Mexico...and you won´t believe where it takes place! San Juan! I know right? We are not going down today because we have lots of stuff to do, but the other elders called us and told us that there were just a ton of Chileans and Mexicans in Centro today and that everyone was going crazy. I guess we will see who wins, but it´s like a mini world cup and it´s actually way fun having it around. And people don´t lie when they say that Argentina goes crazy when they are playing. Like...don´t you dare knock a door, because who knows when Messi is going to make a goal right? I wish the states were playing. That´s ok (:

Me and my comp did some research via members and figured out that Messi is a little bit taller than I am. We were hoping super bad that I would be the same heights...but, that´s ok. He has a couple inches on top of me, but whatever.
We realized that in every part of the world, there are different callings that Bishops can give. For example...In Idaho, Orchard Organizer and Girl Camp Organizer, while in the Philipines...there is probably the bamboo safety leader and mens spear hunting ward specializer. We realized that while us in the states share gardens that in Argentina people share Animals. For example, in our ward a while ago, they got everyone chickens so that people could be self sufficient. They had the choice to kill it and make food or let it make eggs. Then they designated one of the ward members to have the male chicken or rooster or whatever and he would go around getting the hens pregnant so that they could make eggs or something. We realized that this is how the sacrament meeting would go...
"It is proposed that we sustain Hermano. Juan Flores as the Ward Poultry Fertility Specialist...all in favor. Any oppose?" And then the ward would have something to talk about before church starts. Just a thought.
OH man....President Lindahl is gone. WEIRD. I didn´t even know what to do with myself. President Avila is now in place and it´s weird having a President you don´t know. So we don´t really know what to expect or when we will meet him, because we live rather far from the offices. If anything crazy changes I will let you know.
So now that the Boise, ID Temple is closed...Dallan, can´t get married any time soon right? Thought so. Perfect (:
Sorry I don´t have anything way sick to talk about today, I guess I am just pretty weirded out about transfers and stuff. I hope you are all doign well in the 28606 (that´s still our zip code right?) Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Valle
p.s. having dreams where we eat mexican food. oh, it´s just so lovely.

Jay's letter 6-27-11

2011-06-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!
I feel quite flattered that you compare me to the big JB. What an honor, considering is is the newest teen sensation right? hahahaha. I can´t wait to watch this Justin Bieber movie, sounds like quite the thriller.

Wow, you guys had a cool week, and that totally stinks that the Idaho Temple is closing...ugh. Oh, another thing I need to clarify...I called the Mission nurse and I am officialy diagnosed deaf in my right ear. Crazy right? Oh well.
This week is the last week of Pres. Lindahl! Oh my...us missionaries, don´t even know what to think. What we are going to do with ourselves, we don´t know. He is just such a boss and getting used to a new President might be tough. We will see I guess. This week was pretty exciting! We did service in this town called Angaco. Way out in the middle of no where. We helped a member build her roof out of bamboo canes. It´s actually way way easy and way sturdy! Don´t know why we don´t do it in the states. Then we went over to her mini farm thing and milked a goat. The udders were way weird feeling and I was a little scared at first but then I got the hang of it. Not to mention, it ws rather warm when it came out of the body, so that was kinda cool. I drank it after I milked it and it was a little sour, but I think with some sugar it would have been super super good...and maybe more healthy than cow milk...who knows?

I had a fun adventure in the collective this week. The collectivo is the public bus. As I was going down to get off of the bus I jumped off too soon and I thought the bus would have stopped by then or something, but the doors opened and I thought that meant it was done moving or something but, I jumped off the bus with the collectivo still going pretty brisk pace, and biffed it on my but. My pants got little rips (nothing big at all) and I had gravel going into my pants. Way weird. it didn´t hurt to bad but my companion was laughing waaay hard.

We had this terribly nasty lunch this week where she made yellow rice and then cooked in like all of the parts of the chicken that no one eats. The lungs, the neck, the galbladder, the weirdest parts of the chicken. Anyways, that was a tough lunch, but I made it through.

This week I went on divisions with people in my district, where I was in the same apartment as Elder Burns. We talked about Nampa and life and just all about Idaho. It was way fun...forgot to take a picture. Sorry. hahaha.

It is getting WAAY cold up here in San Juan. I had to pull out my big huge black winter coat, hop into my thermals and throw on a cute plaid scarf. Me and my comp have a way cold apartment, and so we fill up old coke bottle with boiled water and sleep with it and that gives us some good heat. and we do the hot rice bag thing. Hahaha.

Everyone in my ward calls me elder "valley" because they think my last name is from the states, and so they try to pronounce it as if it wasn´t a latin last name. Pretty funny, but I don´t correct them. Makes me feel at home I guess. hahaha.

Well I gave a way sweet talk about Matrimonio in church last week. Awkward but everyone loved it. I talked about how marriage will be hard, but the blessing are uncountable, so just stick with it. Haha.

We had the baptism of Emlise this week. Everything was falling out of place at the last minute but we pulled it off, and better yet...i think our zone won the cup!!! I will find out next week. If we did, I get a DL trophy....way way excited!

Hope you all have a great week! I love you guys and miss you. Enjoy the heat!
Love, Elder Valle

Jay's letter 6-20-11

2011-06-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends,

This week was just a little crazy up here in Saint Johns! It´s getting super cold and I had to wip out the Thermal G´s to keep my self from freezing over. In the morning it´s pretty cold and at like one until five, it´s gets pretty warm and then from six on, it gets way cold again. So, It´s been fun to turn on the heaters and wear socks to bed once again. In the mission they make these things called bolsitas de arroz. Some ladies made the cloth bags full of rice. like mini pillows. And, when you microwave them they get way hot and them you put them near your feet or your head or whereever when you go to sleep. So I have using the rice bags quite a bit. I was thinking how funny it would be to make a fake rice bag, and actually fill it up with pop corn kernels, so that the next missionary just has this exploding bag of "rice". Hahaha, not going to do it, but it was way funny in my head.

We had interviews with the President and training by the Hermana this week. Man, so like...you guys have seen the blindside right? Sandra Bullock does a great job and all....but, I think Hermana Lindahl would have done even better. She is exactly like that lady in real life, except with the gospel. She trained us on keeping our apartments clean and that Gods greatest gift is health.Hahaha. Everytime we get with the Hermana, we have a quiz. It´quizzes you on mission rules and cleanliness and just whatever she wants to quiz you on. If you get it right, she makes you a brownie. So, we all took the last quiz by Hermana Lindahl this week. It was way easy and the brownie was way way good. Also, me and my comp won.....BOOM! Cleanest Apartment Award! (second time, thank you). We got some way good expensive chocolate from Mendoza and bragging rights. Way sweet right? Needless to say sometimes we do get intimidated by the Hermana, but she definitly puts those lazy missionaries in to shape. Good Work.
My interview with Presidente was WAAAY sweet. He talked half the time about my style and my tie and how like, to go into job interviews that i should never try to look to good and told me never to bleach my teeth. He said..."your shirt was probably twenty bucks...and mine was 175 bucks, but can you tell the difference? no." hahahaha, and told me about how i need to let my personality shine more than my shoes and it was waay good. And after him telling me how much he makes, i think that´s the richest man I might ever know personally. TONS of money, and he told me..."some millionaires celebrate by spending half a million and putting the other half in the bank. but when i get a million, like when i sell a hopsital, i put it ALL in the bank and maybe buy like a 3000 dollar watch. that´s what you have to do elder valle. you make a lot of money and you forget about it and keep working. but buy something small to celebrate so that you have an incentive to keep working".

The Malla family is doing way better about the death of the son. The dad of the son who is anti missionaries and like anti church, came to church this week and it was a huge surprise to erveryone. i think he saaw the support that came from the ward and just really felt love and the spirit in such a hard time. we will see what we can do with him.

we were working way hard with the familia martines (yes, with s). they are a family of 4 girls who want to get baptized and love the book of mormon. they were GOLD. we went to the house sunday morning to pick them up in a remis (which is like a taxi, but waay crapy and old) and they wouldnt come because their father was going to come pick them up. oh man, it was SUCH a downer. it totally killed my week and i was soo down on sunday, because they would have been baptized this week and yeah....it was just tough. so, that was the bad news i guess i was just way excited for this weekend.

so Ana, i got your letters. oh man...they are JUICY! It was way fun to read and thanks for revealing that HOT information. Hahaha. Man, like...when did you start having amazing hand writing. you are just getting way teenager ish it seems. I read the letters and had to double check they were from you because it´s grown up how you speak and write. keep it up!

so this week, we were just walking to a members home, to give them blessing, and then all the sudden we see this white family there. turns out they were visiting argetina with their son, who served there a while back. and ever crazier is that they were from BOISE! We were out in the middle of no where, seriously and way far away and we found this boise family who is building a house in Kuna and the kids are going to Boise State. So, it was a little weird, but waaay fun. and mom and dad, like, just so you know, i would have no problem if you came down to pick me up. i saw how fun it was for his parents who didn´t even speak spanish and how fun it would be for you guys and me. so anwyays, if you happen to win the lottery and want to come pick me up and if the new president is ok with it, you totally should. i would love it!

this week me and elder burns did divisions in my area to go teach the martinez family. there was a girl there was a little crazy and told us that she was catholic and she was already baptized. we explained a lot of things and then we finally looked at her and told us..."actually, yeah, i think i would like the get baptized too!" hahahaha, way crazy right? but she still, le falta algunas enseñanzas. anyways, it was a fun division with another fellow nampa friend. we surprisingly didn´t talk to much about home, more about the investigadors. way fun though! we also talked about all the people that never went on missions...crazy.

well, i hope you all have a way fun week and all working way hard in the church! get some way sweet blessing, ok? ok.
love you guys,
Elder Valle

Jay's Letter 6-6-11

2011-06-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

Man! This is so weird seeing Dallan home. I really am just going to pretend that he is still serving just because it feels weird that he is home. it sounds like a great time you guys had exploring the yellowstones. i don´t even no where that is....montana? that´s cool. man, this ward is way huge and like, nobody comes to church. it´s way annoying. this week we have worked with just a ton of people trying to get them to church so we can get more priesthood holders in the capilla every sunday. it´s a fun work, but i also want to baptize. my and my comp have a hard time getting a long 24/7 but i am learning the importance of talking about things and learning about patience and stuff like that.

we have this crazy dog we named rufus that stands in front of our aprtment door and doesnt let us in...like he wont move. and so we threw rocks at it to get it away and then we realized that if we opened the door it would probably go in. way annoying....so it peed on our door to get mad at us and then ran away. i am going to try to take a photo of rufus for you guys.

i had a family tell me while i was in lunch....they said..."you know elder....you are too correct" and i was like..." what the heck does that mean?" and they said that i act really good and am just way nice, but sometimes it can be too much...and i was way confused. so i will have to ask them the next time i am there.

man, how´s dallan? is it way weird to see him home? i bet he doesnt know what to do with himself.

well, its getting way cold up here in San Juan. like...one time i went out with just a long sleeve shirt and the hermanas from the ward gave me like a ten minute talk about how i was going to die if i didn´t wear a sweater and how that is being really prideful thinking i don´t need a sweater. it was way weird but me and my comp got a good laugh out of it.
we are teaching this girl named emilse. she is like a perfect little angel girl....(don´t worry she is only nine years old). but she learns fast and is way perfect. we are kinda hoping to baptize her soon. my area hasn´t baptized too much...soo, i am hoping to change that. my comp is "burning". he really can´t wait to get home, and it´s really hard on me because i feel so strongly to work and talk with everyone and he just looks forward to lunch all day. it´s a little hard but i pray. i don´t want to make it sound like i am better than him or anything, because i am not.

today i complete 8 months. crazy right? I hope you all have an awesome week! just cause dallans home doesnt give you an excuse to not have family home evening!!! be a strong family in the gospel!!
love you all,
Jay

Dallan's Last Letter 5-23-11

2011-05-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

I`m not going to write a lot this week. Sorry but I`m going to send the letter I sent my President and my mom or dad will translate it for you. I cant believe this is the last letter I^m sending home but it is. It`s going to be a fun week. I^m going on divisions with the president this week and if all goes right, and I mean all goes right, I`ll be going to a sealing of Carlos and Aleida this week. I baptized a year and a half ago. Pray that it will happen because nothing will make me happier. I love you all. I`ll SEE you all next week.

Love Elder DallanValle

Hola Presidente,

No creo que tenga mucho que decirle más que gracias por todo de lo que me ha enseñado. Doy gracias a Dios por todo lo que he aprendido en mi misión. Amo mi misión con todo mi corazón. No me arrepiento por nada de lo que he hecho porque sé que lo he hecho bien. Sé que lo hice como el Señor quería que lo hiciera y para mí no hay nada que me da más gozo que eso. Sé que Dios vive y también Su hijo Jesucristo, me he dado cuenta que real es lo que yo hago. He disfrutado tanto sirviendo el Señor, es un privilegio servirle y claro que sí Presidente que entregaré todo a Él como me lo pidió. Lo haré para siempre. Gracias por todo. Nos vemos pronto

Con amor,
Elder Valle

TRANSLATION:
Hello President,
I don't think I have much to tell you other than thank you for all that you have taught me. I thank God for all that I have learned on my mission. I love my mission with all my heart. I don't regret anything I've done here because I know that I have done good. I know that I've done it the way the Lord wanted me to do it and for me there is nothing that gives me more joy than that. I know that God lives and also His son, Jesus Christ and I've realized that what I have done is real. I have enjoyed serving the Lord so much, it is a priveledge to serve Him and of course, President, I will give to Him all that he has asked of me. I will do it forever. Thank you for everything. I'll see you soon.

With Love,
Elder Valle

Jay's Letter 5-23-11

2011-05-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. I might be leaving Municipal soon, and I am hating the idea because I love this area so much. We really started from nothing, beginning with a bad relationship with the bishop and no baptisms and it has really been a huge growing place for me. I remember at the beginning that i couldn´t understand everyone and now, it´s not a problem. I remember finding all my converts at the doorstep and having to leave a lot of people who didn´t want to progress. I never liked being the seed planter, but everyones got to do it one time or another right?
Well this week we had the baptism of two really cool boys named Leonel and Francisco Stember. Leo is 14 and Fran is 19. Their family is really humble. About a year ago they won the lottery (100,000 pesos) and the whole neighborhood knows. They didn´t buy anything silly and invested in a buisness and made their sons work in a internet cafe that they bought. Smart people, but really receptive. They were really fun to teach and hard to get animated at first, but we did it!

Also, we baptized Fredi Cabrera. I am pretty sure I already explained his situation before, but needless to say, after 11 years of missionaries passing by, he did it. He did it on his own. I would be lying if I said that me and elder rios got him to be baptized. Something I am learning is that these people are not my converts, but that they are their own converts. I just presented the truth, and on their own, they prayed and felt the spirit. I am having too much fun atlking to people and trying to get into houses. But, I really feel like I had fun this week and me and elder rios have done so much together. We dont get a long like best friends, but we did everything possible to make it work. fun stuff. Well, I have a ton of photos to send, so just wait and that will be better than the letter (: dallan gets home soooo soon!!!! ag. Beck leaves today. YOu really really should go to his homecoming talk. Ask his mom when it is. I love you guys!
Elder Valle

just found out! I am going to Chimbas in San Juan to be a district leader.

Dallan's Letter 5-16-11

2011-05-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Can you believe it! This is the second to last letter that I`m going to write you guys…. I feel so weird right now. I never really thought that I`d get to this point. Can`t really explain how I feel. Nervous, excited, sad, happy, scared… hahaha but truth be told I know that I have served well my mission. I know that I have done all that I could and that I can still do so much in the 2 weeks that I have left.

This week we had interviews with the President and by far this was the best interview that I`ve had with him. Because I`m the Zone leader I`m always always last and I don`t get much time to talk with him because he has such a tight schedule but this time I loved it and got to talk to him a little bit longer than normal. This week is going to be fun. That`s all I`m going to say =) my last letter to you guys should be the bomb. But you`ll have to wait a week to see what`s going to happen.

Me and my companion are getting along better but I`m not going to lie the heat is killer right now. It`s gotten up to like 110 or 115 degrees here… I drink like a gallon of water a day, but it doesn`t keep us from doing the work. This truly is one of the hardest areas I´ve had and I´ve needed to have a lot of patience. It`s weird how different people are when they`re only from a different state, but all of them are children of God and they all deserve the same right to hear the Gospel.

This week we had a ward activity and we brought all the missionaries to our ward and had a choir in the sacrament meeting, stressful to put all together but worth it. It helped us out a lot in our ward as well in the Zone. This week it looks like we`ll break the Zone record here so we are very excited for what´s to come.

Well I`ll see you all soon. I know that the Lord lives. That He loves me. And knowing that has made these two years the best years of my life. I love you all.

Elder Dallan J Valle

Jay's Letter 5-16-11

2011-05-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

well this could be my last week here in municipal and time went by fast!

i learned a lot this week with Elder Rios.

1) how to make manillas (braclets). they are amazing and actually not that hard. we are going to centro today to look for more thread and i will try to make come for you guys. columbians are super fun to live with.
2) humility, love and charity. hahaha. we have not been too happy with eachother this week, but i defnitly learned a lot. he is a lot bigger than me and to make someone mad like him is not really the best thing to do. haha, but don´t worry. it´s not as bad as it seems. the main thing is that, sometimes you have to humble yourself first. if you think that they have the problem, and they think you have the problem, you are never going to change. i had to ask my self sometimes..."elder, what can i do for you so that we can get a long better?" its a process and it´s totally better to learn it now, than later right?

we are preparing the stember boys to get baptized. at least two of them this weekend. if we see a mircale we will also baptize the dad of the flia. cabrera. and when i say miracle, i really mean it. the flia. cabrera has a son on the mission. the mom is the stake primary president in mendoza (stakes are way bigger here in south america) and her daughers are all real good girls who have callings too. the only thing left is the father who has probably talked with more than 100 missionaries about baptism. i have been here four months and still cant read his emotions or find his need. he has always been a friend of the missionaries and nothing more, so me and elder rios really tried to just be serious with him. his missionary son called him on mothers day and really gave it to him. i think that is why he is planning to baptize this saturday more than anything. this family can be eternal and they are all amazing people. so pray for alfredo cabrera and we will see how things go this week (: but the work is good and i am really trying to leave this are strong. i will miss it if i get transfered.

also, president is leaving. NOOOOOOO!!!! he is one of the most amazing men i have ever met. he uses his priesthood all the time and tries so hard to be obedient and is an example of faith and success. gonna miss that guy. well, i hope that nampa is doing well. i miss you guys. pictures to come hopefully!

love, elder valle

Jay's letter 5-9-11

2011-05-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

hey! happy mothers day mom! i love you!
it was great to get to talk to everyone on the phone and i hope that it was fun for everyone. ana still sounds like her self and marie too. i forgot how much marie doesnt care for emotions. hahaha. well this week we have been working with the family stember. they are from germany kind of...haha. their grandparents are but they are morrochitos, and so i don´t know how they ended up looking like latins. anyways, they are good kids, but we got them to church and they liked it. if you could pray for the stember kids that would be great! they are humble kids and don´t really like to participate in the things of the world. good kids. we are also teaching to crazy kida named ezekiel y jorge. they are best friends which is really weird because j one is crazy and the other is really really tranquilo. but they are best friends...hahaha. they want to be free of sin and thats why they want to get baptized.

hey so i don´t know why dad didn´t talk in english but i guess it was pretty fun! i can tell that everyone is getting ready for dallan to come back home and get MARRIED. hahahaha, jk. slow down there. I had a dream last night that dallan bought a huge house when he got home and that he was just super rich. hahaha, when we all know he is going to be dirt poor.

this week i also ate a lot of empandas and they were so good. the bad thing about empenadas is i cant stop eating them...so i get really fat. but its the noodles that i don´t eat a lot of. this week should be good, i´m getting really really used to the area that i am in and so, it is hard to look for new people and get pumped you know? but it´s all good, it´s not like im slacking off. haha. ex missionaries totally understand.

oh, erin, happy mothers day to you. you are doing a fantastic job with penny. not that i have mother experience but, yeah. keep it up i guess (: hahaha. i saw another girl about the same age as penny when i went to go buy potatoes at a kiosco....a kiosco is, well, make harrison explain it to you. but she was a girl that really looked like a latin penny. it was so funny...and her name was amy. they gave her an american name. hahaha, so keep it up with the whole mother thing and have fun i guess. im bad at giving advice to mothers....so...just, yeah. happy mothers day. hope you had fun in portland without me (: hahahaha. kidding.
well, family i might get working on sending some photos, i think only have like two to send this week, but we will see. but thats all i can think about to write today. miss you guys!
elder valle

Dallan's Letter 5-9-11

2011-05-10T08:46:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

It`s kind of weird knowing that I`ll be sending only three more letters home to you guys… Kind of get all teary eyed thinking about it, but I`m happy to see everyone soon. This week we had the baptism of Cristobal!!! What an awesome guy, it was so fun teaching him. He had to overcome a lot of things to get baptized but he did it!!! Actually he decided on Thursday that he wanted to get baptized so we had to pull together a baptismal service super fast but it was super fun and super special. He actually speaks really good English so it was fun practicing my English with him.

It rained this week and then it got super hot and then it rained and then it got super hot… man it was like being in a steam pot this week. But the good thing is that we got to be in an air conditioned room for a couple days while we had the zone council. It was a neat experience and very uplifting. Just what I needed. Last zone council…. Crazy. It`s kind of weird thinking that I won`t go to another one. But oh well.

Well I wish that I could write a super big letter but I got to take care of some stuff for the zone as always. Don`t worry. I`ll tell everyone in person soon.

Oh…. I forgot something…. HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY!!!!!!! To all my aunt`s to my sister, to all the sister in the ward and stake and every other person that`s a mom and of course to my own personal mom who I love dearly. It was so much fun talking to you ma.

Hope everyone has a good day. Hope you like the photos.

Love Elder Dallan Valle

Dallan's Letter 5-2-11

2011-05-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!!!!Things going good here in tabasco. Man it is getting pretty darn hot!!!!! It´s an oven here but I´m loving it to death. Man I about cried Reading all my letters today because all of them reminded me that i´m coming home this month… crazy how fast this all is going but i´m going to enjoy the Little that i can.

This area is a lot different from my other areas in almost every aspect. I guess i´m just used to Veracruz. Hahaha. But it really is cool down here. The people aren´t as open as the veracuzanos but the people that we do have in teaching keep their promises so that´s a nice thing. I was so happy to here that my Ward back home baptized!!!!!!! Made me so happy to see that when my dad wrote me that letter. Hopefully i´ll be able to get to know the missionaries who beat the baptizing drought.

Me and my comp are getting a long. We´ve been talking a lot and doing all we can to improve. His style of teaching and my style are completely different and it took some time for us to get used to it but now we´re getting into the hang of things. If all goes right we should have a baptism this week or the next. I´m excited. I love baptizing. This week we´ll have zone council and i´m soooooo happy because I don´t have to travel bus! Just a taxi and I´ll be there. Well I don´t got time to write today so i´m sorry. But I´m sending a pic of a fish i ate.

Hahaha hope the girls like it. Love you all.

Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 5-2-11

2011-05-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

oh man they killed bin laden?!? crazy. well, here was my killer week (:

we started this week with a good old zone conference. it was fun! the president gave a powerful talk and so did hermana lindahl! i sent a copy to you guys! it was fun and powerful, the conference. We won the zone cup for the month of April

hey the day of the mother is coming up! are you excited!? i dont have to much to talk about and so be prepared with a list of questions because it´s going to be great! (:

i have my first argentine jersey. it´s hot. i feel more like a missionary now. i have a picture. it´s not a messi, but its just a classic argentine jersy.

oh man, it´s starting to get cold here in mendoza! frozen hands, but oh how i love it. i love fall, it´s fun and cold and the members give you really yummy sweet milk stuff. i don´t know how they make it (: but its wonderful. i think i might start wearing gloves, it´s that cold. i remember that box in the front closet of the house full of totally random gloves and old scarves that were collected over years. hahaha. but its all good. i slept with thermals on last night.

i am beginning to read the book of mormon. dang it, that book is just killer good! it´s a good read man! i don´t know why the people don´t read it. because there is no way it was not written through the power of god and his profetas (: freak.

hey, can i talk to "cousin" jose on mothers day? that would be fun. just cause he speaks spanish you know. well this last sunday was freaking sweet! three of my converts got up and gave testimony of Joseph smith and baptism and how it changes lives. it was great because we had investigators there and they felt the spirit of the testimony of our investigators. ahhhh. one of the best days of the mission. i almost cried (: it was sweet! i can´t wait to talk sunday! i am starting to work on photos to send you guys (: take it east out there in the idaho (:

love, elder valle (:

Jay's letter 4-25-11

2011-04-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-11T15:34:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

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

Jay's letter 3-28-11

2011-03-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

well, this week has some pretty good stories. ok, maybe just one. but here we go (:

hey, so i threw up a lot this week. it was...lovely (: hahaha. no, me and my companion drank something like mate, (which we shouldnt drink) and we didn´t really know, and so when I got back to the apartment, I didn´t feel too good. I took a little water and put my self to sleep hoping that I could just sleep it off. Well, around 12 or so, I woke up, leaped off the bunk bed and stumbled my way in the dark to the toilet to vomit. it was alot and i saw some lovely pieces of the fried chicken we had for lunch earlier that day. i felt way better, took a mint to feel better and went back to bed. (1 hour later) same thing happens all over again...uhm...so yeah and then it happened again, but a ton! so yeah...that night was miserable. I didn´t wake up on time because I felt sick and everyone thought it was just because I just didnt get up. I told them...did you not hear me throwing up last night? It turns out that they had all slept through it. So, interesting night. My comp is okay (: We went and worked the next morning because we had people to visit and souls to save baby!

Well, I would like to thank you for your wonderful prayers to the Flia. Adasme. Here´s the story of the week.
Baptism planned and everything. We had speakers, members coming, a cake cooked (mom, you would be so proud!), soda bought, font filled, white clothes listo, and there we were. We went the night before to ask them how they would get there and make sure everything was ok. I asked them how they would wake up and what time they would leave the house. Everything seemed like a green light and I was excited (: We get the to church early to prepare everything, the members are there, talking, we had some fake flowers to make things look nice, and some bishopric represented too. eleven o clock passes and they are not there. i worry. eleven fifteen...elven thirty...finaly twelve arrives and members start leaving. I say thanks to everyone there for coming, but the family isn´t here. It was a little heart breaking to be honest. I couldnt imagine what happened and why they werent at the capilla. confused would be the best way to describe it. empty chapel, full font, clean white clothes, baked cake and me and elder rios. i said a prayer and as soon as i finished i knew that it was not their fault that they didnt come. the spirit told me that they wanted to come and they werent able to for some reason. i felt better, but still a little empty. i went to the apartment to eat some rice with elder rios and i decided to go visit the house right away. we walked all the way to their house and found them with the whole family, extended family and everything too. i remained super positive and try to just keep everyone in a good mood (: they said sorry, but the police would be kicking them out of their house and they had to pack. the person who owned the house was kicking them out. i said, "its ok, lets go to your baptism right now! lets go!" and they said ok, got ready, and the extended family decided to come see the baptism with us. they were really excited because they thought we would be mad. I realized how hard satan tries sometimes to interfere with the work of the lord, and I didnt want to let my gaurd down. So, we went to the chapel, got at least the secratry of the bishopric there and had a crazy baptism. After the bapstism the rest of the family said they wanted to do the same thing. I knew that God at the moment was showing miracles. That only through, faith, super hard work and complete obedience can he make the "impossible" possible. And thanks to your amazing prayers, we did it (: I love this work. That´s kinda brief, but I hope you enjoy. Time is passing too fast. Soooo much to do and only two years! ah!

I got a hold of some drum things...haha, at a members house. Oh, it was so much fun. (: Been so long.

Elder Jay Valle

Dallan's Letter 3-28-11

2011-03-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well hello there everyone,
hahaha I sound like Barney. Well things going well down here in Puente. Another week without baptizing. My comp and I have learned a lot. It`s been a trial for us because we have set our goals so high but it`ll come soon. Patience is a virtue as they say. We´ll be ok. The good thing is that this week we have GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wahoo! So we are pretty darn excited for that.. The only thing is that it`s my last one in the mission... how sad )=. Everyone is reminding me and my companion that we are going home. It`s actually brutal what they do to us. But we`re trying to turn it into a positive experience but it`s still a work in the process.
Well this week we found Bro. Santana. And funny thing is he plays the guitar just like Santana!!!!!! You should hear him... To bad he doesn`t know how to play the guitar. hahaha gocha mom didn`t I. I`m so good. But we really did find and brother named Santana and he`s so excited to get to know the church. I think that he`s even more excited to go to general conference. But you would be surprised to see where we found him. No me diga... He was in the aparment house that looks like it was designed by Jim Burton. We almost didn`t find him but we decided to just shout out his name in the middle of the hallway and a door down the hallway opened up and he poked out his head. Lucky us =). We`ve been doing a best to get out of falling into a routine because it´s very easy to do as a missionary. We`ve been working like crazy people and the blessings are beginning to fall in.
Well It`s getting pretty hot... correction... very hot down here. But the good things that I`ll come home skinny as skeleton and looking like a steamed lobster. Haha. Don`t worry mom I do put on my sun screen. But we are drinking water like crazy. It´s kind of funny. The sisters don´t even make much food for us anymore. But they always give us a huge old pitcher of water which is the absolute best. It´s fun. I like the heat a lot more than the cold.
Well I have officially completed 22 Months in the mission. 2 to go. Gotta go. I love you all
Elder Dallan Valle

Dallan's Letter 3-21-11

2011-03-22T13:43:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!Man it`s starting to get crazy hot down here. We`re supposed to be drinking an average of 4 liters a day. That`s a whole freaking gallon!!!! I`ve never drinken so much water in my life like I have in Mexico. Thing is that if you don`t drink you get kidney stones... what a drag hahahaha. Good thing I don`t know how those feel.Well this week was crazy week. We started off with Zone Leader Council which went great. We always lose a lot of time proselyting but we always learn so much. Our Zone this month was the 2nd highest baptizing zone so we were very happy for them and are planning to do many things in the month of April. It`s kind of sad working so hard and leaving investigators to get baptized but it doesn`t matter. The important thing is that they`re going to get baptized. I`ll probably be transfered out in this exchange that`s coming but who knows. The President has been known to do far more than the unexpected hahaha. The goal is to leave to the very strong and all the district leaders we have are doing a great job so we are very excited.

After ZL council we came home and had interviews and that took up all of Thursday and half of Friday. Saturday was the only day that we really got to work. This week we didn`t have a baptism. That was really hard for me and my comp. We`ve been working pretty hard and having success and then to hit nothing made us reflect a lot. The Lord always tries us and sometimes makes us wait for the blessings. The good thing is that we have not gotten discouraged and we are more than happy. We`ll be baptizing here soon again. One thing that I have come to learn on the mission is that you`re success does not depend on you. It depends on the Lord. Those who are faithful and obedient will always be blessed. The Lord can give and the Lord can take away. So we must always be grateful for what the Lord has given us.

Not a whole lot more to say. I got a letter from Miranda this week and I`m guessing the other letters are backed up. Who knows where they are. But they`re coming little by little hahaha. Well I hope everyone is ok. I love you all. Take Care.

Love Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 3-21-11

2011-03-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wow. Well, crazy week (: Let´s start off with a good, happy and interesting change here in the mission. Well this week, we had interviews with the President and his wife the offices. I was excited because me and Elder Orduna have been working super hard and trying to be super obedient to get more blessings (things such as working out, and going to bed on time). So, It was´nt quite my turn to be interviewed. Then he called in my Zone leaders and Elder Orduna to talk to all three of them together. Then, five minutes later the President called me in to join them. I was curious, but not at all nervous. I figured that If I was nervous, it would because I wasnt working, and I for sure was working (: The Pres. said " Hey, Elder Valle we called you in to do a couple thing. First off, Elder Orduna wont be your copmanion anymore...and you are now senior companion. Elder Orduna is now the Zone leader and you will be training. I talked to your zone leader and Orduna and they said you are beyond prepared to start as a leader, so you will start by traning Elder Rios, from Columbia. Just so you know, this is the first time in the mission that someone as young as you as been comp mayor, training, and gringo trainer of a latin missionary. You are the youngest missionary to ever touch the turf of training. Your name is already famous in the mission and people like you and like being around you. He then said to me, Orduna and Garcia...I couldnt be more pleased with this set of missionaries in my office than I am with another set of missionaries." SO, that was the big change for this week (: SO, I am a "father" and Elder Rios is a son. Thats how it works with training, the person you train is your son. So, there you have it. Crazy huh? It´s a little overwhelming training already, but I am thankful for every oppurtunity to serve the Lord in anyway possible. (: Well, that´s your birthday present MOM (: Your son being obedient and super hard working in the mission. Sometimes I can´t beleive how the Elders work here. It´s like they are here to vacation and just kinda walk around. Thanks for teaching know. Mami, sepa que me enseño bien. You creo que, mediante sus enseñanzas, he aprendido muchos cosas lo que you puedo aplicar en mi vida, y mas de nada, ahora en la misíon. Entoces, gracias por eso, and feliz cumpleaño, de su hijo (:Oh other Mom Birthday present. Hna. Lindahl gave me and Elder Orduña the Cleanest Apartment in Mendoza award at interviews. We won it and a big bag of granola for it. (: My pants are crazy big. I am definitly lossing weight walking up hill really fast every day. My new companion walks a little slow, but I am slowly trying to get him up to speed...literally. hahahaha. But, don´t worry a belt works perfectly keeping the pants up and everything. I don´t really care how I look anymore. Ok, well sorta, but you get the point. I can see mom dying right now just wanting to fiz all my pants and fixing the rip I got the other day playing futbol for 10 seconds en the street with the kids. bad idea. but thats ok, we went back and played a real game the next day in regular clothes and taught them not to say bad words and treat girls with respect. Hahahaha. It was good (:

Crazy what you guys are doing with my room! Sounds like the business is really going good. What is the office going to be now? interesting. Hahaha. Sounds fun. Wish I could be there to help you guys out! (not). (: Well, the flia. Adasme came to church this week, so please say a prayer for a miracle this week that we might be able to have a baptism. they are tough but they need this really bad in their lives (: please pray for miracles. I love you guys (: be safe.

Elder valle

Jay's letter 3-14-11

2011-03-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Wow. Pretty Good Week, here in the mission (: I hope everything is ok In Japan. We heard a ton about it in the news over here. How´s it looking?

Well, We are teaching this 16 year old kid who acts like Spider Man. He is a...special kid but he really does want to get baptized (: He is really funny. But yeah, really innocent kid. So, one time we went to go teach him the Word of Wisdom and asked him if he is living the Word. He said..uhm...no, yo fumo, como 20 cigarillos cada DIA! Yo estaba como....QUE?!? Usted es freakin joven con un monton de vida para vivir. I was dissapointed because we had to post pone his baptismal fecha.But thats ok. I realized that I was doing it for him and not for me to have a baptism this week.
We are also teaching this other girl named Joana who is having the hardest time not smoking. We made this huge goal chart that she can use. She is crazy! We made all these plans and we almost dropped her because she was not progressing. So, we went to go give her the charla. Then, I finally asked her...como se siente de nosotros pasando por la casa y ayundole dejar de fumar? Por fin, ella empezo a llorar y nos dijo...Me siento muy muy impressionada and tampoco no tengo la apoyo de mi familia. It was like a stab in the heart for me. i realized and learned a great lesson. that I need to ask people how the feel, really get to their heart and take care of their probelms and help them out. not just to teach and hope. i learned a ton this week about teaching and caring about the people. also, i learned how much smoking suck. don´t do it! its horrible (:

I gave a talk yesterday. I talked about teaching the gospel in the home. Alot of the member families here in Argentina live the gospel mas o menos. They are really pirdeful of themembership in the church but don´t live it all the way. I asked the bishop if it would be ok to talk about this and he said, por favor. I said really strongly that you have to have family scripture study, family prayer, noche de hogar, and your kids have to go to activities. I said, if you don´t do this, your family is just another family, and that is not what you want. I said, wake your kids up, prepare them to go on their mission and don´t be afraid to get strict about the church but as always, use love. I gave the example of us getting up at six to study scriptures and marie giving familyt home evening and dad staying out late visiting people. its true, you have to live the gospel. I was really firm and the people loved it. Good Sunday (:

HEY! I got the music package! Thanks. Mom, that song, brightly beams our fathers mercy is BRILLIANT. So gooood (: i love the girly speakers and the dolphin cd case. hahahaa, thanks mother. Everything came safe, and in one month too! Good timing. ç

I figured out the 8 dollar purchase. it bought shoes which were 30 pesos, wich comes out to be around 8 american dollars. so yeah, (: Card is safe.

Hope You have a great week you all! (:

Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 3-14-11

2011-03-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone things going good down here =)
Man it´s been a tough week. We are working off our little behinds and it´s been a test of out pacience, but it looks like we´ll be having more success here soon. This week went very well we had the baptism of the Hna. Patricia. She´s the mom of 8 children, funny thing is though that all of her children that are 8 and up work... and they are never in the house but she was baptized nonetheless and was very happy. However she did not get confirmed due to an emergency stake meeting. We had a special guest speaker and you´ll never guess who it was…. President Monson!!!!! Wow bad part was that I could only see him on the big screen because it was a transmission to all of the south of Mexico. But we listened to him and to Elder Nelson. It was very cool.

This week we had interviews and were running as usual from place to place and this week we´ll be going to Villahermosa to have our Zone Leader Council. Ya se va todo mi moni….. hahaha It´s all good. We´re excited to also receive three new gringos this week in the Zone. Should be fun. To bad they don´t live with us so I could give them chile… hahaha.

Well just so everyone knows since they´ve all been asking me. Yes I don´t have a lot of time left, Yes I´m happy to go home, No i´m not happy to leave, No I´m not becoming lazy and Yes i´m going to eat everything with tortillas and chile still hahaha. I can´t believe the time is flying by! Wow! My mom just sent me my travel plans and it seems like everything is good to go. It´s kind of weird. But just so everyone knows. My bishop sent me out a letter telling me that in the new Rule book of the church only immediate family members can be there. So I´ll be excited to see the family soon. As for everyone else I´ll see them like an hour later. Hahahaha. It´s basically the same.

Well I´m doing all I can. Got to make the best of what I got left. I know I´m doing what the Lord wants me to do =) take care. I love you all!

Love, Elder Dallan J Valle

Dallan's Letter 3-7-11

2011-03-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

12 week countdown…. Que feo. Ya ni modos

Well I officially only have to exchanges left in the mission. This Exchange I`ll be with my comp Elder Gonzalez in puente. But I`m taking a wild guess and saying that in the next Exchange I`ll be going to a new área. Hahaha It should be fun . This week was kind of a long week for us. The people in the área are starting to get to know us and so they start crossing the street when we`re walking in their direction so that we don`t talk to them. I never want to hear the word “no” when I come home because I`ve Heard it a billion times here hahahaha. The good thing is that me and my comp know that there are still people here that want to hear the góspel and that are looking for the truth so we`ll continue being more than happy to do what the Lord wants of us.

Hahaha my mom sent me an email with all the Jobs that you guys are starting to find me. Makes me kind of sad to know i`m really am going. But thanks for all your support for what you have done for me and what you still keep on doing for me. And thanks for the letters. Those always make your day.

Well this week we had the baptism of Rita Scarlet. She`s the cousin of Hna. Noemi who got baptized 2 weeks ago. She was a fun one to teach. She had a hard time quiting coffee but she did it. Actually her mom who isn`t member got mad at us because she had just bought a new jar of coffee and now nobody drinks it. I don`t know why you`d want to here. It`s so freaking hot. We can cook eggs on our porch. But that`s just how coffee people are.

Well I hope you all like the fotos. We had empanada night and I made them. You should be proud of me mom. We also play uno every night to se who has to sweep the floor. It gets pretty intense but it`s way fun. I won last night just to brag. And of course the district photo. I hope it is to your pleasing. Hahaha take care.

Love Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 3-7-11

2011-03-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

hahahahha. wow. ana sounds like an adult in the letter she wrote. i though it was from mom the whole time until i read the last line, from ana. ha! ana, you are so grown up! loved the letter. how´s the boyfriend? oh...wait, i´m not supposed to let mom and dad know about that right? ok. woops.

well new comp this week! elder orduña is from new york! and guess what?!? his dad is peruvian. like me. his mom is from ecuador, but he was born and raised in new york. together we make one peruvian. cool (: he has a really strong personality and we are working working working. most work i have done in the mission so far. he his serious about getting this all done, but at the same time, he is hilarious and has a very different sense of humor. it´s weird changing from a disobedient un motivated companion to a leader in the mission who is always working and never takes breaks. i love it. i love getting lost in the work and just dedicating work to the lord. the best. we actually, only in the first week, our area is the best area in mendoza. as far as numbers and stuff, but we are just running every where we go and talking to EVERYONE and getting into tons of houses. we are always using my eyes as a manner to start a conversation. it´s awkard but, hey! if it means sharing the gospel than why not? i am learning to ask really personal questions to get peoples trust and to be a pshycologist of their spirituality and give them the medicine. it´s the best.

the biggest challenge this week, was getting the family adasme to church. they are POOR. i thought i new what poor was until, i met these guys. i mean, steel sheet walls, dirt everywhere, no fridge, no nothing. just chickens dogs and a house...kinda. when we came they were still al asleep. we had to pay for all of us to get to church by bus, we were super late. it was very very very hard. it was definitly a trial of faith, but we did it! we got them to church and they we be baptized on the 19th of March if everything goes right. Can you please pary for the Flia. Adasme. thanks guys!

OH erin, we had a neice competition. whose niece was the cutest, and mine definitly won.

the vendimia was this week. it´s maybe the biggest wine festival in the world. it´s called the vendimia and people come from all over the world to drink wine and there is a HUGE cultural celebration and this huge Miss Argentina kinda competition at the same event. Hna. Lindahl gave us permission to go, but guess what. we didnt. we worked worked worked! we got sutff done and although we kinda wished we went to vendimia, we feel good. plus, it would have taken up like all day and yeah. we are hitting the ground running. i love you guys! have a great week!

Elder Valle

Jay's letter 2-28-11

2011-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

(On Splits with Elder Beck, an Elder from our Stake here at home)

__________________________________
Well. This week was CRAZY WEEK. not really for the best reason either. i will write the feo stuff first and the the good stuff (: que dice? bueno.

well, let me be blunt on this part. my comp got sent home this week. heres the low down. i was not really supposed to say anything until it was all said and done, but yeah. this whole transfer he has been crazy with the rules. he is definitly a disobedient elder and this transfer has been frustrating. the main problem was him and another hermana. the have been exchanging pictures, lettters, calling and all sorts of crap. i was tricked to be quite frank. i called the pres. and he told me to wip him into shape, which i did. (: i just got face to face with him when we saw the hermanas on p day and said, ¨Vamos, ahora.¨ I just didn´t let anything happen. then, he kept trying to use interenet on members phones without me knowing, but i always confronted him on the spot and said, ¨dude, porque esta siguiendo rompiendo las reglas!¨he even tried to do it in a secret and yeah. so, when we went to the offices he got sent home. then it was my turn to talk to the president and he said this to me. ¨Elder, I can´t be more pleased with any other missionary, than I am with you right now.¨ that´s all he said and then he sent him to go pack. it was really sad that he chose to do those kind of things and go that way, but thats his choice. I learned a lot about me, and how to handle crazy situations. I also learned how much obedience pays off. CRAZY week. but, yeah....want good news?!?!? (:

We found some GREAT people to teach this last week. The Familia Adasme (who live in this crazy poor hosue, it´s awesome) and Maria CasaNova. Great people (: I love teaching. It´s the best. I wish I could just teach all day...but someones got to knock the door to get the people to teach. hahaha.

We had a CRAZY rainstorm! I was soaked all over and almost destroyed my docker shoes, but i think everythings ok now. I love being a missionary. i really do, I can´t believe I am already coming up on 5 months. It actually is kinda crazy. but yeah. I love doing this! My next comp is latin...soo....6 more weeks of solo spanish! wow. I hope everything is going great in the land of papas. Hahahahaha. don´t worry about my experience with my last comp. we took care of it, and i am ready to BAPTIZE. (: hahaha.
love you all! oh yeah... i finished the book of mormon this week. ITS AMAZING! no one ever told me the story of Moroni sneaking in and giving the prisoners weapon. thats like a james bond movie or something. sweet.

Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 2-28-11

2011-03-02T07:32:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone,
Well I would lie if I told you that I have a lot of time to write cause I don´t. But i am happy and very hot. Man weather sure is kicking in. I think we got in to the 100 degrees this week but we all know what that means. Weight loss program! Hahaha. Its fun. I love it and I´m so glad I didn´t go to Alaska! Hahaha

Well this week we had them baptism of Rodolfo. What a cool kid. His friends were making fun of him and about the fact that he was going to baptize with the mormons but it didn´t bother him and he went ahead and did it. When we found him he was quite the wild thing and it´s amazing now to go and visit him and see that he is sweeping the porch for his mom or helping her to wash the clothes. He´s a killer soccer player and has even given up his life´s passion to go to church.

Well my comp got an ingrown toenail and I got a fun picture of that and one of the missionaries sprained my pinky so it was naturally crooked for 3 days but now it´s all good. The best thing is that it didn´t keep us from working and we were able to find more people to baptize for these coming weeks. Good news is that I should be going to the sealing of Carlos and aleda here in like 2 or 3 weeks. We´ll see.

I got packages and letters this week. The packages from Miranda and Sister Hulet and like 13 letters. I was definetly the envied Elder this week. I felt special. Letters are like christmas presents here. You just love them! Hahaha so thanks for all that you have sent me.

I know the Lord lives and that this is his work. Hope all are doing great. Take care everyone.

Love, Elder Dallan J Valle

Dallan's Letter 2-21-11

2011-02-23T19:12:00.001-08:00

Hey y´all!
Things going good down here in Mexico. Kind of stressing but everything is going good. This week we had the baptism of la Hna. Noemi. She has been I think one of the funnest people to teach in my mission. She´s had quite the life and is a single mom with 4 kids. One of them ran away and the other three are somewhat crazy. We´ve been teaching her for 2 weeks now and it´s amazing how big of a change she had. When she was baptized you could automatically tell the difference in her and she could to. We always seemed to find her just in the right moment. I don´t think there was a visit that we made that didn´t save her from changing her mind about her baptism, actually she told us several times she didn´t want us to visit her anymore and we´d tell it was ok but that we just wanted to share a quick message with her before we left and always after the visit she´d be happy as ever to get baptize. The Lord helped us quite a bit this week. Things seemed to be going down hill but in the end everthing came together.
This week we had divisionmania. I have so many reimburstments it´s not even funny. My zone is an island zone. All the areas are like an hour apart. So we went to check on the missionaries and help them out. And even though we really didn´t spend time in our area we were able to find someone to baptize for the next two weeks. I can´t believe that this week I will be completing 21 months in my mission and I´m still learning how to follow the spirit and how to have more faith in Christ. You come in the mission thinking you´re going to learn all there is to the Gospel and the longer you´re here the more you realize that really you haven´t even touched the tip of the iceburg. But I love it. I love learning more and I´m glad that God has given me opportunities to learn. It was funny, this week we asked in a prayer that we could have more patience, and in return we recieved so many trials that tested our patience. Not exactly what we were hoping was going to happen but it sure helped us to learn patience hahaha. On saturday we forgot my camera in the house and we needed it for the baptism. So we left the baptismal font filling up and we went to go get my camera. When we came back the church was flooded! We didn´t think it was going to fill up so fast. But we just grabbed the mops and started mopping away. At the end we realized that we didn´t even complain or whine. We had learned to be patient. It was a funny experience but a fun one for us . Well i love you all and hope that everything is going good down there. I´m so glad I´m not cold like you guys are. =)hahaha Love you all!
Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 2-21-11

2011-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hey!

Tell Dad i loved the pictures he sent this week. very cool (: hahaha.
ok, i have a list of things to write here. lets see how it goes (:

This week we had divisions for one day with Elder Conti frm Paraguay. It was one of the funnest days of my mission! He was such a fun Elder. We would try to knock doors and set fechas in less than five minutes. Of course, we were reverent and spiritual, but it was really fun (: we just had so much fun (: it rained alot that day. i love it when it rains here.

There is a bunch of protesting this week in my area. Its crazy, they stand in the middle of the busy streets and cause crazy traffic and light stuff on fire. Then they put their kids out in front of them and make them chant things. como....Queremos Comer! and it´s ridiculous (: but yeah, it´s kinda creepy actually. so, that´s like happening right outside of our pench. i think the people can´t pay for housing and they are protesting the expense or something like that. algo asi.

well we did service this week (with elder conti) and we went and painted this ladies floor and her wall...with rags. it´s kinda hard to explain. it was more like we were staining her floor. anyways, it was crazy and it made my legs really sore actually. but anyways, she tried to pay us, and we couldnt accept it. she was heart broken and really nice, so she gave us bolsas of food. a bunch. we took it back to the apt. and thought about eating it, and then me and my comp decided to give it to people who actually needed food. so we went to this house with this family who was living off of tang and bread. pretty crazy situation. so we dropped off the food and rang the door bell and left and it was so fun. i love doing service! haha. so that was kinda one of the highlights of the week.

I have given many school blessings this week. It´s really sad to see some of these homes with out priesthood holders. and so, yeah, we gave a bunch and it was really a neat experience (: priesthood holders in the home is a huge blessing, and that is definitly something i learned this week (:

funny part of this week. we were in sacrament meeting and we were singing the sacrament. there is no piano or anything, and so, the bishop had to sing the example melody first so we knew how it went. anyways, he started singing the song, but the wrong melody. and so the whole time, the ward was singing, and it was to the tune of a different horrible. it was messed up! it was crazy. haha, but that´s ok (:

We are praying for miracles this transfer. We have a lot of fechas and no one is coming to church, and so it was kinda dissapointing. like mom said in her letter, yes, the people can be very cold, but every now and then, you get the gold people who are really nice (: so, we are working. i love you all! Have a great day! I´ll send photos.

Love,
Elder Valle

Jay's letter 2-14-11

2011-02-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

Week was...quality (: We worked really hard this work to get people to church and no one attended. It killed me! But thats ok (: We will get people there this week. Happy Valentines Day everyone and more importantly....Happy One Year Birthday to Penny! I will bring something home from Argentina later. I miss that girl. hahaha. We worked hard this week and we were teaching this really cool family that we found by doing service. They were really nice and we went to go pick them up from church and then they did´nt want to go. I was like...what happened between yesterday and today?? It killed me but we can get them next Sunday. I don´t know how much time I will have this week but nothing too exciting happened. Today for P-day we made tin foil dinners, it was really fun (: Well, I am going to see what I can do about the picutres. hey, why did dallan get a new camera? Hahaha. Good Week. It was my comps birthday. we went to a members house and this happened. (: hahaha. I made this cake for my cmops birthday. mom, i made the frosting from scratch. are you proud of me? (:
Sorry for short letter (: I kinda miss the spanish candy hearts and funny poems that grandma would write. hahaha, but its all good. I am blessed with such a good family (: Thanks guys.
Love you guys,
Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 2-14-11

2011-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
Guess what!?! two weeks in a row that I can write a good letter! Miracle! hahaha. First off let me start by saying HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha truth is my comp and I forgot it was valentines day until we went out to go shopping today go figure. And of course second thing to say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY PENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This thursday she is turning 1! wow how fast does time go by. I remember being in the MTC when Erin told me that she was pregnant. I pretty proud of my niece though.

This week was a hetic week and me and my comp were talking about it. I told him that I was going to write you guys the life in a week of a zone leader. So that`s just what I`m going to do starting of with last tuesday....
Tuesday- we started of the day going to district class. Elder Quiñones taught a stunning class but we left early because we had to go and see the President. We had to travel to my first church I started off in to hand off letters and what not. It cut us back like an hour but we didn`t mind. We worked normally. Nothing extraordinary that day. We had to go and take money out for my comp because we`ve been having so many interviews hahaha.
Wednesday- um.... oh ya the gringos had to go and renew their passports or something like that. We stayed with the mexicans and did divisions. They ate all of our food in the house and stole my comps badge clip thing for his name tag. hahaha it was crazy but we sure did have fun.
Thursday. The gringos got back and the good news is they told me I got two packages (one from mom and the other from miranda I`m guessing) bad news is they forgot to bring it to me.... so I still got to wait. We sent them off and we tried to work but we ended up having to do an emergency interview an hour away... so we went and stayed over the night. There were`nt any beds hahaha so i slept on the floor but it hurt my back too much so i slept sitting up.... They thought it be fun to take pics. Man that was a cold night
Friday- We wake up and go home but to our lovely surprise we accidently stole the keys of the other missionaries. They called us and we had to go running back so they could open up the chappel for the mission. We worked the rest of the day. It rained a lot.
Saturday- Rain still didn`t stop and we didn`t either. We had a baptism of la hna. Susana. A family of 8 completed! finally! We`re pretty happy.
Sunday- Church and calling in all the numbers. phew..
Today- I had the grand privilege to go and visit my converts from my first area. What a neat experience! Here`s all the pictures of them. Our neighbor gave us teddy bears for valentines day. She`s only 5 yrs old mom no worries hahahaha.
Well Love you all. Hope this letter is acceptable. g2g.
Con Amor, Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 2-7-11

2011-02-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

FECHAS. Thats what this week was all about. We found a ton of new people to teach and we got a ton of people comitted to baptism. It´s awesome. They said they will only do it if God gives them an answer that this church has the right authority and that Joseph Smith was an actual profeta. So, I am praying hardcore that they will say the prayer and ask God. It kills me to see these people get so close to baptism and tell us they are too busy to prayer. If they would just pray and be sincere, there are a ton of blessing. All I can do is prayer and be the best teacher I can be. We set 12 fechas in one week. WHAT?!? Ah, so bomb! I saw this lady and her daugher carrying Wal Mart bags uphill to her house one day. I ran up to her and asked her to carry her bags to her house. She lived kinda far. We carried them up and talked. She invited us into her house. They are SOOO cool and I know the Lord helped us run into them at that moment. I know for sure, that it was not a coincidence. We came back another day un announced and taught about baptism. They all have fechas and want to come to church. I have so much faith in them right now. I love this work (:

I was on the news this week in Argenitina. We were in downtown Mendoza. There are two HUGE soccer teams here named River and Boca. Please ask Harisson and ask him if he has heard of them and tell me what he says. But yeah, they were selling tickets down town and we happened to be in the middle of it all. The news ran up to me and started interviewing me asking me how I think the game will turn out. They talked really fast. I am going to send you a picture my comp took. It was crazy.

Things are going good down here. We made the horchata. It was alright. It tasted funny and it was missing algo. Pero, no pude everiguar que paso. Asi que, lo bebimos. Era...uhm...medio rico. Hahaha. We had to use the cloth bag that hold my sheets to strain it. Hahaha.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 2-7-11

2011-02-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone things going great down here and guess what I have like 10 min to write you guys today!! wow it`s a record isn`t it. What happens is that we have to use our own time to update the referances of the zone and well.... my zone always gets a lot of references because it`s a big city. But this week went fairly well. Now you`re all probably wondering how the sealing went. Bad news is that it didn`t happen... The stake pres. didn`t find time to interview the brother so they`ll be going next month. The good part is that they are still going and I now got a camera hahaha. But sorry about the false alarm. It`s sad when those things happen though.
The good news is that we had another baptism this week. Her name is Cynthia. She was cold and didn`t want to take of her coat so she`s the one in the black coat just so you all know. We found her in the area binder, that`s never happened to me before, so it`s a pretty neat story. Be nice if I could find elder kowousky who found her ( that really was his name, poor mexicans trying to say that hahaha) But it looks like we have another for the week that`s coming and another two for the following week. We`ve have seen a waterfall of blessings for our obedience and diligence.
Well I must be going. I love you all and miss you. Take care and enjoy the pics!
Love Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 1-31-11

2011-02-01T08:22:00.002-08:00

Editor's note: oh, dear. I'm beginning to worry about Dallan's grammar, spelling and English in general. ~Kelly

Hey everyone!
things going good but I´m going to have to apolagize because this is going to be a 3 minute letter! I don´t got money and it´s coming tommorow. That´s what you get for being a Zone leader. People don´t have money and you got to end up buying their tickets. Fun hahahaha. Na i dón´t mind too much. It´s all reumburstable (who knows if i spelt that word right) Anyways, my new comp is way fun he reminds me a lot of my first comp but it´s different now that I understand spanish. We´re having success but no baptisms last week. This week for sure though. and A SEALING!!!!!!!!!!!! there is nothing better. Well love you all. Take care.
Love elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 1-31-11

2011-02-01T08:22:00.001-08:00

HEY!

Todo esta bien, aca en Municipal. Tuvimos una semena buena, un poco pesado, pero si. Tuvimos una meta para encontrar a lo menos, 14 nuevos. Era dificil. Pero, with much obedience and work, the lord blessed us with 15 new people to teach! Yeah!!! So yeah. I have a list here of things to talk about and I will just go in that order (:

We had divisions and I went to this place called La Favorita. Hahaha. You have to take a 35 minute bus ride to get to your area from the pench, and then come back for the siesta and study a little and then go back teach, and take the bus back again. Its crazy (: But it was fun for one day. We we walking in the dirt roads, like always, and this kid came running up to us and said, Elderes Elderes! My Abuela te neccesita! So we went over to her house really fast because we thought it was emergency. She said, Elders, Yo tengo un tentacion muy grande ahora para fumar. We were like wow....okay. She has a fecha and wants to get baptized but we taught her more of why the word of wsidom is so important. We asked her to get on her knees and start parying for help and that we would kneel down with her too. She refused to say the prayer aloud in front of us because she was embarrased. We kept offering and she kept refusing. So me and the other elder, we got down on our kneews with out saying anything and folded our arms and just kneeled there while she kneeled there. My comp said, Padre Celestial....and then he went quiet. We didnt say anything, and then like 30 seconds later, she started praying. She just let it all out and started crying. The spirit was really strong after that. I asked her when she was done, how she felt. She said, she felt waay better. It was like a miracle she started praying, but it was amazing. Good little experience in La Favorita. (:
We have WalMart. And so we also had TACO NIGHT. They have tabasco sauce, and tortillas!!! It was awesome. So we had taco night and it was super super great and super yummy. I forgot how much I missed hot mexican stuff.
We got someone to do our laundry in my area!!!! It was awesome!!! I love these clean clothes (: (:
We are teaching this giy named Diego who is really cool and we have a lot of faith with him. He really doesnt have much time to talk (like every other person here), because they are always busy. So yeah. We set him up with a fecha and everything. I hope we get some good baptisms this transfer.
Last night we were walking and we saw this guy pulling weeds. We went up and offered to help and he said, no its ok but thanks! (: but I pointed to my muscles and said. Hay que aprovechar de eso. Hahaha. So we rolled up our sleeves and started pulling weeds. When we got done he made us these amazing smoothies, showed us his garden and we sat and talked in his backyard and he invited to play ping pong. it was great. we didnt really teach him anything, but sometimes, I think the best thing a missionary can do, is just set a good example and give service with a smile. I think that, sometimes, we just gotta show them that we are normal. (: It is great (:
I am going to try and send pictures now. But yeah (: good week. I love you all!

Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 1-24-11

2011-01-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!!!!
Things going great down here in Coatza. Elder Munson is going home this week and my new comp will be Elder Gonzales. He`s a good missionary, I already know him and Ive heard that he`s had quite a bit of success so we`ll see how things go.
The sad thing about this week though is that my camera broke.... I don`t know what happened... I was pretty sad but what can you do. You just got to keep on working. I`ll find what to do. I hope.. hahaha So sorry if there are no fotos for a while.
This week was pretty hard. We had the rain and a few dead days. I swear there was one day that we got rejected by like every person in the street. NOBODY wanted to hear us. It was hard on my comp and me. So and 8 at night we went to our last appointment, we knocked on the door... nada, nothing. So we turned around and started walking away. We both immediatly felt the impression to pray so we did so. As soon as we finished the prayer the girl who we were going to teach opened the door. She was there but had not heard us knock. I still have no clue why she opened the door but she did. I was a neat experience for my comp and for me. The power of prayer is sometimes stronger than you think.
Despite the fact that we had no one listening to us in the week we some how got a lot of investigators to the church. My comp and I have seen numerous blessing of the diligence and the obedience. Where the people come from we have no clue but the Lord has blessed us immensly.
It`s getting pretty hot down here and I`m guessing it`s pretty cold up there.... I`m glad I`m here hahahaha! I can`t even bear to stay in an air condicioned room now. It`s weird.
Well we have a sealing coming up soon and we have as well a few more baptisms. Should be fun with the new comp. I`m going to miss Elder Munson like crazy. He`s probably my favorite comp of the mission. We just had so much fun and a ton of success. But it`s how the mission goes. Only 3 changes left.... What happened to time..... 18 weeks is way to short. I`m going to make the best of it though. Love you all.
Take care!!! Love Elder Valle

Jay's letter 1-25-11

2011-01-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

things going good down here in.....MUNICIPAL MENDOZA. not maipu. haha. Transfer baby!!!!!! I am in Municipal in the city of Mendoza right now. So, I still have yet to hit a camp area. But yeah, I also have a new companion. He is a latin from El Salvador. Elder Guevara. We are working really hard to get some people to church. The Rama is really tiny. I think we have 20 people, which actually is not too bad. Another great perk about my area, is it is one of the only two areas with a Wal Mart. Which means....PEANUT BUTTER. Yes. Entonces, estoy aprovechando de eso cada dia. NOM NOM NOM. We had sone conference this week. It got me so PUMPED. This is the lords work. Mission Pres and I have a great relationship. I have to official nick names in the mission. The first one is Vallecito. I hear that more that Valle. The other one is Baptism blue...or azul bauptismal. My comp had to go to the offices to do paper work (this was in the old area) and i was talking and playing with the APs and they saw my eye. We couldnt really come up with the right color of my left eye. First it was celestial blue. as in, terrestial and telestial. and then one of the APs said Baptism Blue. And we all laughed and I was like YES! So baptism blue is atleast my name in the offices. But I hear Vallecito. All the time. De hecho, hay un calle en my area se llama Vallecito. ¿Chistoso no cierto? Jajaja. Pero, so. Asi que, We are working super hard. Zone Conference yesterday, thats why I didnt write yesterday. But zone confernce was amazing. Hna Lindahl gave a really cool talk. She said a lot of people think the Lindahls never had to work for what they had and they everything was given to them. (fyi, they have a multi million dollar company and he owns like 30 hospitals...yeah). But they told us, they started off poor, and they had to work a ton to be able to serve the lord like this. She said that, marriage will be hard, and it should be, but you gotta work hard and be grateful for what you have. Then President said something very interesting. he said: I hope this mission is the hardest thing you will ever do in your life. And then he paused for a while, it was powerful and got you pumped. Estamos empexando, LOCURO DE MARZO. Like, march in this mission, is like huge and everyone works like extra hard in march and it is a huge competition. Hahaha. We are getting excited.
I got a package from the whitings with socks, gum, chapstick and a really really cool Christmas letter. Tell them thanks for me please.
The williams from Amity Ave wrote me, because I was their home teacher forever. The old lady wrote me ahand writter letter. So sweet. Please tell them i recieved it and I loved it, tell them hi, good luck with all the health and stuff and that I will try to write them if I have time. Good week. We worked suuper hard.

Elder Valle

Jay's letter 1-17-11

2011-01-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hey Family

Last week of the transfer! My Week. Highlight of the week. I met the prophet! Ok, here is the story. We were walking down in central at like 9. We saw this guy smoking on the back of his truck and we decided to go talk to him. We tried to talk and he would always stop us and say..Espere, voy a enseñarles algo nuevo....and we were like, ok sweet! And he was just saying all this weird doctirine sutff but he seemed to know a ton about the Bible! So we finally asked him if he was a pastor or something, and he said Oh, no. Ahora, soy un profeta! So then it all clicked. Then he gave me a book mark (: So yeah, we met the prohpet. Hahaha. Ok.
We went to go celebrate two baptisms we had and we went to this expensive ice cream place. we took our ice cream home and we realized that about halfway through eating it that it had alcohol. Both our tounges had this weird numbish feeling and we were not really tasting what we usually taste in ice cream. So yeah. I love accidentaly breaking La Palabra De Sabiduria on the mission. Hahaha. NOT.

We got in this battle with a Testigo de Jehova on the corner. He wouldnt let us talk, kinda like when we talked with the prophet guy. It wasnt really a battle, but lets just say he knows the Bible like the back of his hands! Whew! It was crazy. Im going to go study the Biblia a little mejor now.

We had geneology night at the church the other night.
We had to dress up like our ancestors. And we found out like 20 minutes before. So I put my costume together super fast. I have pictures of me as a Peruvian to come (: And my comp as an English Soldier.

I was going to have my first baptism this week, but the dad came to the moms house and took the kids shopping in Mendoza. AH! Freaking father. He is not a member but the mom is. The kids know the gospel soooo well too. The boy of like 12 years was explaning to jospeh smith story in crazy good detail and even went on about the hill cumorah and how Jose Smith would go back every year to talk with the angel and everything. I might leave the area this transfer and never get to see their baptism but I am trying to learn what God would have me learn from this experience (:

Mosiah 3:16. Beautiful Scripture that I just barely found.

The trantula. Maybe it was real, maybe it was fake (: Love you Mom.

And thanks for teaching me to work hard. Thanks for being a good Mom and always making me do the thngs that were right even if was a snobby teenager. You are a good Mom. (: I love you.
And the rest of the Family, you too!

Haha, Chow Chow.
Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 1-17-11

2011-01-19T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
I don´t got a lot of time today due to all the references that I had to distribute out to the Zone so sorry about that. You got to do what you gotta do right =) things going great down here. This week we had the baptisms of Hno. Alvaro and his daughter Valeria. We are very grateful for all of the blessing and the success that we have had down here. Elder Munson and I have learned so much and have witnessed miracle after miracle in our lives. I´m sad that he is going home this next week but I love the work and I still got a lil bit of time to give it all I got.
This week was pretty normal. We had a Zone conference which lifted our spirits and we worked hard. There is nothing like a good ol day of hard work, coming home to the house and just crashing. You feel like you rest five minutes and then there again is the alarm clock waking up. I love it! ´Some elders hate it but I love it! I´ve never found such happines and satisfaction in my life.
This week during church we got a call. I answered it and it happened to be Hno. Carlos. Elder Llanos and I had baptized them the year before on new years. He told me that the 5th of Feb they are going to go and get sealed in the temple!!!!!!!! Another temple trip! I´m so excited! There really is nothing better than going to a sealing on your mission. We´ll be going in two weeks my new comp and I.
Today I also got another call from a good mission friend Elder Haro He finished his mission a while ago but came down to see converts and called me so we could meet up. It was fun to talk to him. He actually was left in the mission Mexico Veracruz. He told me that my son Elder Williams just barely got a son!!!!! how cool is that! that means I´m a grandpa!!!!!! hahahahahahahahaha°!!!! I got a hoot out of that. Hard work does bring it´s fruits. I´ve seen it quite a bit this week. Love you all and wish you all the best.
Love, Elder Dallan J Valle

Dallan's Letter 1-10-11

2011-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

Alright... Let`s see how fast I can do this...
Well this week was another great week in Cosole... I mean Coatza. We had two more baptisms this week of La Hna. Gloria and La Hna Charito. This week we actually didn`t have anybody to baptize!!! But my comp and I decided to be 100 % obedient and we were going to trust in the Lord that He would do his part and he did! They were investigators that we had dropped a while ago but they came back telling us that they wanted to get baptized! what a blessing. My comp and I have seen the Lord`s hand in this work and we have found the faith necessary to bless this area. We`re happy because it`s growing and becoming everything that it was meant to be.
This week we went to zone leader conference. It was another spiritual experience and we all loved it. Our President has so much power behind his voice and he`s always so excited to do the work. For a new mission we are doing great actually. But they are pushing us to be more. To do even better. It`s a month of 5 weeks so we`re expecting great things. Half the Zone leaders are going home this month... including my comp =( but the mission will get a lot of new leadership. It should be interesting to see what happens. It`s sad to see all my friends go and just as sad to think that I`m getting to that stage... I really don`t want to because i love this work so much. But I`m giving it my all. Striving to be the best I can be for the Lord.
This week we had our Zone activity and it was soooo fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I`m so glad I was a boy scout. We did a dinky old relay race but it was one of the funnest activities ever! and we only spent $3... mom you should be proud me. Wheel barrow race, egg toss, missionary dress up race, Scripture chase, you name it. We had a blast and we got really close as a Zone. The Zone has had a lot of problems as far as disobedience but we`re getting out of it. We baptized the second highest in the mission and we`re going up on all are lessons and baptisms so we our happy.
Well I love you all Take care and be safe. Don`t forget to eat your king cake this week!!! hahaha
Love Elder Dallan J Valle

Jay's Letter 1-10-11

2011-01-13T11:22:00.001-08:00

Hey Family!
Things going good down here in Maipu. Hahahaha.
My week.
Well, it is suppppppper hot and it rained a lot! Humid and hot. Mmmmm. Perfect. NOT. But I still love the work and sometimes it is fun to be miserable in the rain like that. I don´t know why. Anyways. It rained and I got to use my rain jacket baby! First time. I also got my first hair cut in the field. It was really expensive and it took like five minutes. It kinda sucks and I look like a dweençb but thats all. Haha.

We did a service project at a wood shop this week. It was super fun and I have never seen so much saw dust in my life. Thanks mom and dad for making me work hard so I knew how to clean that shop up super fast.

On wednesday morning I found a cat on my desk.

I made this really yummy pastry thing for a Noche De Hogar que tuvimos con la Familia Castro. It was como, a sweet bread with Oreo Pudding in the middle, rolled up with dulce de leche on top. Ooh, que rico. Yo se it sounds kinda gross probably to you guys, but it was soo good. Definitly doing that again!
I got the Christmas card! Hahaha. Thanks for telling the world I struggled with Spanish Mom. lol, jk. I loved it! I look fat in the picture...or maybe I am fat. I also got a Christmas package from this misterious person from nampa named gretude hutel or something. It was super nice of her, but...I have no idea who she is. THANKS GRETUDE (: (the chocolate was awesome!)
We found these two kids who are way way ready for baptism. When we asked the 13 year old boy (menos activa family), if he wanted to be baptized, he said... Well, Of course, I have been preparing since I was 7! Hahaha, and the girl asked if she had to be baptized to serve a mission. We were like....what!? It was awesome. Baptism soon.
We had the baptism of Ricardo and Alexandria this week. I didn´t baptize any. Ricardos was done by a younger man in the ward and Alexandria by her Father. Good Baptism (: (:

We have been teaching Viviana who is more than ready for baptism. Every investiagador has questions or things they don´t like about the church. She said she had only one thing about going to church she didn´t like. So, we braced our selves and we of course, willing to help her out. She then started to tell us that she didnt like the Hymns of the church. Hahahaha. It was so minor I wanted to laugh. I hope hymns doesnt keep anyone from getting baptized, Haha. But we explained, the Church and the Gospel Teachings are perfect, but the people are not. They hymns arent all the catchy ( I think so though), but no one is perfefct and we like to reverent. Haha, it was kinda funny.

We cleaned the baptismal font. That was the last we are leaving the font full for over three weeks without draining it. (not my fault though).

Has anyone seen the show Topo Gigio. Hahaha, funnies show I have ever seen! So funny.

With love from Argentina,
Elder Valle

(look on his shoulder-taratula!)

Dallan's Letter 1-3-11

2011-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!!!!
Happy new year!!!!
Sorry about last week I had 3 minutes to right. We had to go and by the Zone matresses and fans.... it was a REALLY long day but you got to love being a missionary. Everything about it is absolutely great. This week we had the baptisms of Carmen and Adelina.
It was a fun baptism and the whole ward got involved it was pretty awesome. My comp and I are having so much fun here. We are absolutely tired at the end of each day. In fact on new years we didn`t even wake up. I remember last year that I woke up and 12 exactly because of all the fireworks that went off. this year I woke up to the alarm at 6:30... I was dead beat. The nights go by faster now.. Everything is going by a lot faster now and I`m not very fond of it.
Well I`m going to send a bunch of photos. Christmas, hair cuts, and the baptism. I hope you like it.
Well this week we met Alvaro. He has just come back from work in Tabasco and his wife was baptized the week before he came. He saw such a change in his family that he now has his baptismal date for the 15 of January. The Lord has blessed us immensly down here. This area is hard to baptize in and even harder when you`re a zone leader and have half the time. My comp and I focused on our obedience and we have seen the many blessing that we have recieved. Many missionaries looked as new years as a party pooper. That people would be drunk and would never listen to us. Me and my comp decided that wouldn`t hold us back and we were able to complete our goal of contacts in the street. I love being a missionary. Just lets me know for certain that I^m in the right place. I love you all and take care.
Love Elder Dallan J Valle

Jay's letter 1-3-11

2011-01-06T12:10:00.001-08:00

Wow. 2011 Baby. One more year to live and then the world ends. Hahaha. Crazy. But Awesome. Lets see, I have a list of things to talk about so here we go, it might be a bit random but bear with me on this one.

So, why did´nt I ever listen to Enya? Her music is so amazing. A member was playing her music in her house during lunch one time and it was amazing! I am defintily buying an Enya CD when I return. Oh, and mom, we can listen to music here so I hate to be a beggar but If you could send me my William Joseph CD and maybe Josh Groban one? I would love you forever. Maybe another appropriate MOTAB cd you can think of. A fun one (: That is all I am asking for in this letter. OK. I´m good. But yeah, I just really want music. It gets quiet in the pench.

Happy New Years everyone! It was quite the crazy new years! We went to a member house to have an asado and then it started raining like none other and it was just insane! We could walk home and the streets flooded and we were stuck at a members house until like 12:10 before he could get his car which was still kinda crazy to drive in. And then when we finally got home, these kids were throwing fireworks at our door. Argentine fireworks are like bombs. Soooo illegal in the states. But their are way to loud and definitly too peligroso for ninos. Freaking crazy. But something good to remember. So yeah, it´s 2011 and I´m excited to see what it brings (:

Our investigador Jorge is gone. He was never progressing and yeah, we figured out he had some problems and so, it was cool to teach him, but if you remember him, yeah, he´s gone. But it happens (:

Again I can never really think of what to write. One thing that I am sure that I have said before is that there is always like a ton of food and the members just shove it out in front of us. I think the think I can eat a cow. I can barely eat a plate and it´s so annoying. Because they will ask me if I like the food and I do, but I just can´t eat it. And that´s how you show you like food here. By eating a lot. So, yeah. Hahaha. Speaking of FOOD. My whole zone went to a PERUVIAN resteraunt today. It was great! Of course I got Papas a la HaunCaina or something like that. Holy! They were spicy. I also got a Peruvian Tamale. It was sooo good, but of course they stick green olives in everything. And for some reason they didnt have Inca Kola, but there we pictures and advertisments for it everywhere in the resteraunt. Everyone liked it. A lot of people had arroz con Pollo and I was really close to ordering Lomo but it´s all good. I love Peruvian food.

I´m still translating Justin Bieber songs for people. It´s really weird what he is saying one you actually translate it. Haha.

Anyways. It´s hot down here like always! Pictures are ont working today. ): Oh well. I am doing great! I love you all!!!

Jay

Dallan's Letter 12-27-10

2011-01-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone.
Don´t have a lot of time to tell thing and I´m going to make a million typing errors but oh well. The week went good. I love my comp and my area. Very small gbut way fun. Jay saying that I have a half mission but his gchristmas was the exacvt same as mine... sigh. It actually rained pretty hard on christmas. We´ve been busy with the zone. We´re struggling a lot with them actually but my comp and I are determined to whip them into shape, in a nice3 and loving way of coarse =).
Christmas was way fun. We lit candles and read from the bible. What a neat experience. We but funny 3 peso gifts for everyone that made us cry from laughhing and my comp about peed his pants when he saw thye missionary bib that mom made for us... so funny! thanks mom. I haven+´t gotten letters in like 3 months. The ma}il system is jammied up so write dear elders if you want me to get something hahaha. and last but not least I got new shoes!"!!!! thanks grandma valle for that gift. Well I got to split! I love you all take care.
Love Elder Valle

Jay's letter 12-27-10

2011-01-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

I kinda talked to everyone on the phone about my week but I don´t really have to much to talk about to be honest! But to make up for that I just sent you a butt load of photos! I hope you enjoythem.

Its still freaking hot down here and my christmas was great.
Like I said on the phone call we got the church flooded christmas morning and that was the big story this week. We had lots of fun and I can´t wait to share with you more stories.
Coming up for bauptismos we have Ricardo who is really cool. When he came to church yesterday, he wanted to know how to pay tithing. It was awesome! We can´t wait to baptize him, he will be great addition to the church and he will recieve the Holy Ghost. So excited! Christmas is crazy. Dynamite just goes off all night and lots of music and everyone is drunk. It´s the best. Hahaha. Jk. It suck because we cant really contact anyone and there is no one to contact in the street ever. Everyone is in the house sleeping or partying and recovering from the party. But after new years we are back in gear. This week has just been really uneventfull because of how crazy things are here. I heard that you all got a ton of snow this christmas! That is just super exciting!
I will be honest. I did´nt really miss Christmas. I mean, I miss you guys, thats a given. But it didn´t even feel like Christmas down here so I didnt have to worry. It was awesome. I love it.

I feel like I had so much more to write, but it was all in the phone call...hmmm. I hope everythings going good over in Idaho. I was just thinking that Dallan is still in North America. So his mission is like...half a mission. I am waaay farther away. So...yeah. just saying. hahaha. Don´t know where that came from. Love you guys!
Jay

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

I know, I know....I'm really behind in posting the boys' letters. But below, I have the letters from the last two weeks, so I hope you will like them and they are worth the wait. I will be getting a post up here soon of all of our fun times with grandbaby Penny's visit with us. Merry Christmas~Kelly

Dallan's Letter 12-20-10

2010-12-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

I can`t believe that this will be my last christmas in Mexico but it will be one of the best. This is my christmas letter to you all. I didn`t have time to write out one and send it out like I did last year but I hope you`ll enjoy it.
This week I was moved back to Coatza. Elder Munson and I knew each other like a year ago when I was in Temascal. Him and I are like brothers. We absolutely have a blast together. I was a little afraid that I was going to spend christmas with people I didn`t know but I ended up getting to spend it with my best friend! We had a ton of success this week in the area that is considered the armpit of the mission. We baptized Victor this week, have one for christmas, and three for New year. We`re so excited.
We were walking in the street one day when I got a call. A familiar voice asked if she could speak to me. La Hna. Josefa somehow got ahold of me. I don`t know if you all remember Adrian. The eternal investigator that never wanted to get baptized and we finally did. (we`re talking about a year ago) Well his wife, Hna. Josefa called me. She had asked me if I had gotten her letter and I told her no. She acted dissapointed and told me, "oh... well what happened is that me and my family are getting sealed this saturday and we wanted you to come but I guess it`s too late now" of coarse when you`re a missionary nothing is ever to late. At 1:00 in the morning we got up on saturday and made the trip to villahermosa. There I saw another one of my converts. Her and her husband will be getting sealed here soon. It was such a neat experience. To see the man that made my comp and I so determined to do everything to baptize him was now in the temple of the lord. I was a witness at the sealing. When I saw that little girl walk in white it was seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen. It was the best Christmas present God could give to me. I took a photo with them and I sent it to you. Along with the other couple that will be sealed here soon.
The mission is hard. But when stuff like that happens. There is nothing that makes you regret coming here. My joy is full. How grateful I am for the Lord and having sent me here back to coatza. Who knows if I would have been able to go!! It`s going to be a white christmas here in Mexico. I love you all. Merry Christmas!
Love Elder Dallan J Valle

Jay's letter 12-20-10

2010-12-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

(YES, he really did spell his own last name wrong at the end, I just copied and pasted-haha!)

Merry Christmas from Argentina

HEY! Well crazy week number two from Maipu! This week was packed.
We were walking on the street and saw this man limping and we went and
conctacted him. We asked him if we could come pray for his health at his
house. We was super dispuesto and we had a great lesson one with him and he
totally thinks the Book of Mormon is true. (: We actually asked him if we
wanted to be baptized the first lesson and said YES! It was great. He is so
cool. Then for the next visit we threw at him, word of wisdom, tithing,
sabbath day holy, and chastity. We both felt inspired. We was like...´´Well,
it´s logical that God would give us those commandments¨and we were both like
YES! He is Sooo ready for the gospel it was great (: He didn´t come to
church this week so that kinda puts back his fecha a little bit but, it´s
all good (:

Well, to be honest the first couple weeks are hard. It´s hard to be here and
it´s harder to get up and exercise, study and talk to people who really
don´t like you at all. But it´s good to embrace the ecperience and learn
from it. It´s hard to be here sometimes but when you are obedient and you
pray and have faith, you get this crazy good feeling like you are just way
happy. It´s crazy (: But I love it (:

No crazy foods yet. I have had waaay to much Spaghetti and Lasagna. The
think that because we are walking all day that we could eat a cow. They make
soooo much food for us . Like too much. I can barely eat the first dish in
the first place. And they try to offer me a lot more. Ah, they eat so much
here. But I do LOVE empanadas. Mmmmm

We went to a christmas party in another barillo because my comp was playing
a bunch of piano for them. And there was this little kid that ripped his
pants. He was gordito and so I had to sew his pants and try to talk to him
in Spanish it was so hard but It was a good memory.Hahahaa. So funny.

So one day we came home from something and we couldnt open our door of our
¨pench¨for the life of us. It was crazy and weird. So we had to ask our
neighboors if we could climb over there house into our back porch thing to
try to get in. we were climbing of wires and roofs and our pants got
freaking dirty and then when we finally got in, we went to go check out the
door and it the dead lock would not turn! We were now locked in....ugh.
So we called our lunch appts and other appts and said we were locked in and
it was so crappy. It was tough and tried for like hours to open and free
oursleves but we couldnt. Ugh. So we called some other elders and they told
us some trick with the key and we finally got out. It was an adventure but
totally crazy. And not fun.

I hate doing my laundry by hand. Hahaha, its kinda gross but all this has
helped me realize what I truly have and how blessed I am.

It doesn´t feel like christmas at all down here, so I am just going on like
normal. Hahaha. Well,
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Love, Elder Vale

Dallan's Letter 12-13-10

2010-12-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

12-13-10
Hey everyone,
Things went good down here in Cosoleacaque but the sad news is that I won`t be passing "Navidad" or Christmas here. The six week exchange ended and it turned out I was picked to go. I`m not going to lie. I love this area with all my heart. I`ve experienced my most difficult trials and tests here but it is also where I have felt the most joy and love, some of life`s greatest blessings I recieved here in Cosoleacaque. Some of my greatest friends are here and it`s hard knowing that I won`t see them for a long time. Funny thing is though that I`m only going 30 min away from this area to a place called Coatza! hahaha can you believe it! I`m back where I started! hahaha weird how things work out. I`ll be going with a gringo called Elder Munson and the best part is that he is one of my best friends in the mission!!!!!! I was shocked when they told me he`d be my comp and I`m way excited. Him and I will be the Zone Leaders of the Coatza Mexico Zone.
This week we got the suprise news that we`d be going to the temple. On thursday we went. What a treat. The best christmas gift that a missionary can recieve. I haven´t gone in one year.... one year!!!! that`s way too long. Good thing is I don`t have to wait to long to go again. It was just so peaceful. I could think and escape from all the stress. The cool part is that I understood everything this time. Last time I didn`t quite get it because I didn`t know spanish but this time I was able to enjoy it.

hahaha I hit the send button before I even finished... perdon. Anyways. Things went good this week. A little slow due to the fact that everyone here is Catholic and went to the parade of the virgin mary. You would never see that in Idaho, but here in Mexico it`s the thing to do. We worked hard though and finished well. I`ll miss my comp. He`s a good guy and likes to work. I`m sad to go but excited for what`s to come. Funny thing is that we went to a training conference and I slept in my new house... it`s SO NICE!!!!!!! It`s like a house from the USA. I got cupboards! how cool is that! I`ll send you all photos when I can. I thought I`d be spending christmas with people I don`t know but I get to spend it with friends so I`ll be ok. hahaha I love you all and hope you`re enjoying the christmas season.
Love Elder Dallan Valle

Jay's letter 12-13-10

2010-12-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

12-13-10
Aregentina is freakin crazy! And if I spell anything bad it´s not because I am forgetting English its because they keyboards here are freakin weird. Culture Shocked is how a feel. Well, I am here and I am safe and I left my list of stuff to talk about at the pench, and so I might have to remember alot of stuff. Lets start off with the basics.

My companion is from Utah. Elder Pedersen, he reminds me SOOO much of Uncle Dan. He is kinda famous or something becuase he is like a wizard at the piano. His teacher was David Glenn Hatch (google him), he has already been to Argentina before to play for a touring concert, and he has played for the pope. Soooo...lets just say, he is REALLY good at piano. And of course he plays for the barillo. We are serving in the coolest place ever! There is this little town called Maipu. Google that too. It´s amazing and the memebers are SOOOO coool. So I love my area...like a lot. It´s so great. We live in the most ghetto place ever and so, I can´t really send letters or buy anything cool because there is nothing here to buy or nowhere to send mail...but it´s all good.

Pranks
So the Second day I was here we had lunch with an ex-Catholic Bishop whose family was all mormon. When we got there he was really mad because we were late. His whole family was nice though, they were members. He started talkging to us about tithing and he didn´t believe that the bishop didn´t get anything for it. And then he offered me wine and it was kinda weird. Wine is everywhere just fyi. It was getting kinda heated when my comp finally told me that he was OUR bishop. It was sooo funny. We actually laughed and he is SUCH a cool guy. good prank. Second one, we went to go talk to this family and the kids were so funny...they offered me candy looking stuff and just sso they would be happy I ate it and it was actually dog food. Gross I know.

We had a cool ward party this week. The other we were doing our 20 contacts for the day and we stopped by this weird guy named walter. We invited him to the Party and he was like...sure, yeah. ok. hahaha, but it was funny. We weer at the party which was supposed to start at like 830 but it actually started at like nine. And he showed up! He is kinda weird but I am looking forward to teaching him. Cool guy. They are so funny. We had our ward party and they played Justin Bieber. The kids love Justin Bieber and the ward listens to him all the time. So funny. In English too.

I was going to send pictures but I really didnt have time too and I left the cord at home...but it´s all good.
I love Maipu a lot! This place is awesome. The people are cool but the government sucks. Hahaha. But, It´s all good.

I played soccer with the zones this morning. Freaking nativos are way good a futbol. It was bad. Hahaha.
I have some great pictures, too bad I cant show you guys.
I have a calling the Ward. Me and my comp teach Gospel Principles, and I´m the ward chorister. Not just at church, at everything. It´s so funny. I love the ward tho.
(you don´t have to put the next line in the letter you send out to everyone) but, everyone is like WAY impressed with spanish. or...castellano.

My mission Pres. is WAY cool. And WAY funny. Enough said.
Its freakin HOT over here. Christmas kinda doesnt exist. It´s kinda like Wine, Alcohol and fireworks all the time. Hahaha.
The most ghetto part of Nampa is like the norm here. I havent seen carpet anywhere. Every house I have been in is dirt and concrete. Kinda crazy, but its all good.
I can´t thing of much to say right now and I am kinda kicking myself that I forgot the list but I kinda didnt know we would be coming to Mendoza for our P-day, so it´s all good. I met Elder Beck and it was way fun to talk with him.
We had like 5 people ready for baptisms. We were so excited to get them wet and then they keep dropping out. Agh....next week! We will baptize. I have faith.
I love you all! Have a fantastic week. HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Elder Valle

Jay arrived in Argentina

2010-12-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Email from the mission office:
Dear parents of our wonderful missionaries,
Your son has arrived safe and sound to our great mission here in Mendoza, Argentina. We are so very thankful for him and for your sacrifices on his behalf. We look forward to getting to know him, serving with him, and loving and caring for him as he serves our Savior.

Sincerely,Hermana Nope
Secretary Misión Argentina Mendoza

Dallan's Letter 12-6-10

2010-12-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
It`s been a hetic week. A lot of traveling and doing things but it`s all good. I love being a zone leader. So many blessing that you recieve from the Lord. Well on Monday we went an did the service project and after that we went home packed our stuff and went teaching for 3 hours. On Tuesday we got up early and went to Acayucan (hour long bus ride) for our interviews with the president. What a neat expierience. I love having Pres. Castañeda as president. We talked about the Zone and made some goals for me and the zone. We talked about the atonement of Christ and how it helps us to realize the grand importance of our calling. Very neat experience for me. He gave us a ride to Villahermosa. Funny to see the president on his more relaxed and joking side. Wednesday we had Zone Leader Council and we came home that same day. We worked the rest of the week and had the baptism of Alan. It was a really busy week. I don`t have a lot to say about it though. hahahaha. Sorry. I don`t have a whole lot of time either. I doing great though. Loving every minute. Exchanges are this week. But truth be told I don`t want to go... We`ll see what happens. I love you all. Take care.
Love Elder Valle

Dallan's Letter 11-30-10

2010-11-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

The part he wanted me to translate is on the bottom, but for you who read Spanish, here's a little taste of how Dallan's Spanish is going! The second part describes a Zone Activity that he told me in a separate letter he felt inspired to organize for his zone (he is senior Zone Leader now). He kept thinking about it all week and then went with his prompting. Enjoy. Kelly

Hey everybody!
Sorry that this week I don`t have much time to write. We just got back from our Zone Activity, we went to a catholic orphanage and we did a service. What I`m going to do though is send the letter I sent to my mission president and I`m going to ask my mom or dad to translate it for you guys. Love you all hope you enjoy it!

Esta semana fuimos con Eledin, la fecha que tuvimos por este sábado. Nos había comentado que ya no quería bautizarse. Para mí eso no fue algo que no me sorprendió. Hay muchos investigadores que sienten temor, especialmente antes de su bautismo. Cuando entramos su casa nos sentamos con él y, con amor, empezamos a preguntar porque ya no quería bautizarse. Nos dijo que no sintió preparado para su bautismo. Ya le habíamos enseñado todo, le habíamos dado una bendición. Él nos empezó a contar porque no, pero con El Libro de Mormon sacamos su duda. Leímos con él Alma 32:16. A pesar que era un joven que no sabe mucho, entendió perfectamente el mensaje. Le preguntamos lo que él había aprendido ese día, y me enseñó algo que no creo que pueda olvidar nunca. El nos dijo, “No tiene que saber todo aquí”, señalando a su cabeza, “solo necesitamos saberlo aquí”, señalando a su corazón. Por alguna razón aprendí una lección que nunca había reconocido. Tal vez yo no sé todo, pero sé todo lo que necesito saber. Le invitamos al bautismo y tuvimos un servicio hermoso.

Fuimos con la zona para hacer la actividad de Zona en un lugar se llama la “Ciudad de los Niños”. Prestamos servicio cortando leña, y recogiendo hierbas malas. Recibimos ampollas, el sol nos quemó un pocito, pero salimos felices. Las hermanas estaban llenas de gratitud por el servicio que les prestamos. Para mí, fue una de las mejores actividades que he hecho. Al principio tenía el temor que los elderes se iban a quejar pero mostraron mucha madurez y lo hicieron con tanto amor. Les amo mucho y sé que están aquí en la misión por la razón correcta. Pues le envié fotos de la actividad. Espero que le gusten. Nos veremos mañana.

Con Amor, Elder Valle I sent some photos as well. I got super sweaty. Gross! but work is work! hahaha.

Translation of letter to his president:

This week we went with Eledin, the date that we had for this Saturday. He had commented to us that he didn't want to get baptized anymore. For me, this was not something that surprised me. There are many investigators that feel afraid, especially before their baptism. When we entered his house we sat down with him, and, with much love, we started to ask him why he no longer wanted to be baptized. He told us that he didn't feel prepared for his baptism. We had already taught him everything, already given him a blessing. He began to tell us why not, but with the Book of Mormon, we resolved his doubt. We read Alma 32:16 with him. Despite the fact that he is a young man that doesn’t know much, he understood the message perfectly. We asked him what he had learned that day, and he taught me something that I don't believe I can ever forget. He told us "You don't have to know everything here," pointing to his head, "we only need to know it here", pointing to his heart. For some reason I learned a lesson I had never recognized. Perhaps I don't know everything, but I know all I need to know. We invited him to the baptism and we had a beautiful service.

We went with the zone to do a Zone Activity at a place called "City of Children". We gave service cutting firewood, and picking weeds. We got blisters and got a little sunburned, but we came out happy. The sisters were full of gratitude for the service we gave. For me, it was one of the best activities I've done. At first, I was afraid the elders would complain, but they showed much maturity and did it with so much love. I love them and I know they are here in the mission for the right reason. Well, I'm sending photos of the activity. I hope you like them. We'll see you tomorrow. With Love, Elder Valle

Jay's letters 11-23-10 &11-30-10

2010-11-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

11-30-10
This week was packed full of stuff so I feel like I have a lot to write (:

For last Tuesdays Devo, Per G. Malm from the Seventy came. If you remember he actually spoke in GC and gave a really good talk. Well when he came, he was totally funny. Oh wow, everyone was laughing but we also learned a lot too off course. He had a wicked Swedish accent and poked fun IKEA being a swedish store. Hahaha. He is a very funny and powerful speaker.

I got my travel plans!!! Which for you back home means I get to call you. Here is all the info you should need from me (:

My Flights
December 06: Delta Air Lines Flight #1406 from SLC 12:00 PM to Atlanta, GA and I arrive at 5:33 PM.
Delta Air Lines Flight # 101 from Atlanta, GA 7:45 PM to Buenos Aires, Argentina and I arrive there at 7:50 AM on Dec 07.
Oh yeah, then the 14 hour bus ride from BA ARG to Mendoza...lucky me. Hahaha. I don't know exactly the calling will work with you guys but I think that I will call you at the Atlanta Airport if anything. I also don't know how to convert Georgia time to Idaho time. So you folks will have to figure that out yourself and then you can figure it out that way. I hope that is all the things you need as far as my flight plans. Less than one week!!!

Thanksgiving.
It was great! Wow! Food sucked, but what do you expect? It was still nonetheless terrible fun. Us missionaries get so creative. We all brought different things to the Thanksgiving meal. Like for myself I brought the pepper, someone else brought pie sent from home and so forth. It was pretty cool and we had fun. It wasn't horrible but it was just fun (: Our service porject included making packbacks for kids who don't have some. My job, and my station was to cut out big squares of fabric. When you get a bunch of missionaries together who eagerly do service you get A LOT done. We made 33,400 backpacks on Thanksgiving day. Crazy huh? It was super well organized and we went super fast. It was really satistfying to stop thinking about yourself on Thanksgiving day, and It's the only Thanksgiving where I truly focused the whole day on what I was gratefull for. The devotional was.....bomb. To say the least. Jeffery R. Holland. Enough said. I don't know if you knew, but he is like the Super Star Apostle for missionaries. He gives POWERFUL talks, and the one last Thanksgiving was incredible!!!!!! His whole family came too, and that was super nice of them to donate their time like that. But It was a great experience, and I beyond blessed to have seen 5 Apostles in my time here at the MTC. Elder Holland was incredible!

Mom, thanks for your blog post! That was so sweet, and I wanted to cry but not really at the same time. Hahaha, cute. So thanks Madre.

Has anyone ever read Chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel?? Wow. It's so funny because me and my district always talk about..."Wow, where has this sripture been this whole time?" or "Wow, no one told me that PMG was THIS good!" Hahaha. For some reason, the Old Testamant becomes better than Harry Potter...and best yet, it was TRUE! Ahhhhh. Something about being a missionary that gives you energy and motive to do a lot more. I love it. A lot.

Well it started to snow enormously over here in Provo. My companion from Souther Nevada can't get enough of it. I don't really like and I don't really hate it either but it does get cold, and it makes temple walks hard too, but its all good.

Thanks to Erin for sending back the SD card. I hope that you guys were able to take picture of that. Sorry if I look fat in all of them. It probably because I am. hahaha.

Ahhhhh! Less than one week! Crazy! I'm nervous obviously, like every missionary is, but then again I'm so excited to begin to teach REAL people. It's going to be fantastic. I love being a DL. I have made a lot of new friends and a ton of friends on my floor in the my class building. Right before my mission I can't remember how social I was, but one thing for sure, I'm way more social now. Not that I'm more obnoxious, just more social and what not.

Hey Marie, Ana, want a good laugh? Go read Judges 3:16-22. You are welcome.

Last night I had the oppurtunity to give my "first" blessing. An Hermana came up to me after class and wanted me to give her a blessing for comfort and what not. I of course said yes and it went super well. I loved being directed by the Spirit. I loved being able to give the blessing and being able to help someone out. That's what missionary service is about.

I kinda missed everyone at Thanksgiving, but mostly just for the newspaper tradition. But I have the rest of my life to be with you, so no worries. I'm out here to help other peoples families be together for eternity. I already have that. So, I'm not worried. (:

Well I still have time left today, so, If there is a question or two I left out, I might be able to get back on later today answer them.

Love you guys, Hope you had a great week!!!! This will be my last e-mail I think from the MTC. Next week we will replace it with a phone call.

With Love,
Elder Valle.

11-23-10
Hey Everybody! Last week went by unbelievably fast. I don't know how much I have to write about this week but here we go (:
So last Tuesday ended the streak of our record of consequitive Apostle setting devotional streak. :( I'm too selfish I guess. Hahaha. But Kevin Pearson of the Seventy came and his talk was upmost fantastic! He said some superpowerful stuff and it was great!
District leader is keeping me busy! Meetings, interviews, meetings, mail. Ag. It's all for the district but its all for the Lord too. I love it.
I was able to "Host" Earlier this week at the MTC. Which means you take missionaries out of the car and from their family. No one told me you could say goodbyes for 20 minutes outside of the car and take pictures! But it's ok. The Elder I hosted was from Boise ID, loves marching band and went to Centennial. Go figure. What's even more crazy is the next Hermana I Hosted was Hermana. Danes from Nampa, in our Stake! Crazy huh. It's good to see familiar faces and what not.
I am still reading about the life of Christ. Especially Matthew Chapter 7. WOW. It's better in Spanish to.....and I don't really know why to be honest.
So I can't remember if I told you about this or not. But on the columns of cereal, there is obviouslu the name of the cereal and so there is Cheerios etc. On top of the column of Life, someone wrote with a piece of paper, "ETERNAL". Eternal Life. It was so funny....hahaha. I love the snese of humor and how msisionaries entertain themselves in the mtc with they have. Hahaha.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
In the MTC we don't really have Thanksgiving. Just Sack dinners but it's all good. We get to do service projects and I am actually really excited. We are also have a fireside....who's going to come?!?!?!? Haha. For my "Thanksgiving" present, here are some fantastic scriptures.
Mosiah 24:21-22
Mosiah 25:1-11 (Wow.)
DyC 46: 7

You should all go check out the LDS website. LDS.org or new. LDS.org. It's so so gorgeous. It's way cool!
So This week in sacrament meeteing I had the oppurtunity to play a musical number. I can't remember if I told you this, that I was preparing one. Well, I was and I performed for the Sacrament Meeting. It's a version on the piano of "A Poor Wayfarying Man of Grief" (Mom, you can delete this next little part before sending it out to everyone, because I brag here...haha). I think I recieved the most compliments I ever have in my life that Sunday. Everyone liked it. Zone leaders wanted to hear it two more times and then once the next day. I had 4 people ask me for the arrangment of that piece, and almost everyone asked "Who wrote that??" Yours truly. Haha, jk. It was really good, and My companion was annoyed because we kept getting stopped by people asking me to play it or say good job. That was a highlight this week in the MTC (: I wish I could record it for you!

I can finally now use the voice with my district. I remember joking about that with Melissa and the Family about using the voice on this mission....Hahahaha. But I actually did and they actually thought it was funny...sooo....hahaha. yeah. Like I said, we do a lot of silly things to try to entertain our selves in the MTC. Like my branch President said. "The MTC is like a prison, except in the MTC, you don't get visitors." hahaha.

We taught a TRC appt. this week to a guy who didn't believe in God. We went in there planning on just teaching all about God and Jesus Christ and this purpose. But when we were in there, we followed the Spirit and just talked about Joseph Smith and testified of the Restoration the whole time. By the end of the lesson he thought the figure of God and the Restoration was "logical". We taught him to pray and told him to pray. The Spirit was so strong! It was amazing. I hope we have simliar experiences like we had with Brad, in Argentina.

Ha, so, I found a scripture about American Idol. In the book of 1 John Chapter 5:21 it talks about how American Idol is bad. Haha. Sorry I'm all joking around in this letter today.

OK. So mom, about the Christmas Picture. There is No way possible to send pictures electornically. The computers are so locked down on, here. Ha. So, I took some pictures on my card and I am sending the card to Erin where she can upload to Costco.com. And you can choose (: Hopefully that works. Send the card back as soon as possible! Thanks!

So it looks like the church is making a new video or movie or something because I came out of class and there were lights and camera people in the hallways going into classroom. I probably wont be in the video but it's all good, it was a pretty cool thing to see the works of it all though.

So TWO WEEKS my friends. So send all you packag....I mean...hahaha. No but seriously, this is probably my second to last tiem e-mailing you in the MTC and I'm off. I'm pretty sure I get to call you for five mintues in the MTC before I go, and unlimited when I get to the air port. So have your phone on at all times and don't get anywhere where you can't answer it. Hahaha. I'm excited and nervous. As everything I say. Hahaha.

Well I got Dallans letter and it sounds like he is doing great. Whats funny is that I have Backstreet Boys songs stuck in my head too. Which leads me to my next item of business.

My District is starting a mormon boy band when we all get back. We we will be all cheesy and where cool but casual clothes, sing about the truth and do cheesy dance moves and tight harmonies. We will be..."The Tract-Street Boys". We will be the biggest (Mormon) Pop sensation of 2012. Watch out. hahaha.

Well Happy Thanks giving to all. I'm thankful for the oppurtunity god has given me to serve this mission and to be blessed into such a wonderful strong family who supports me the whole way. I love you guys!

Elder Valle

Jay's letter 11-16-10

2010-11-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

"Wow. One more week down. Me and everyone else in my dsitrict agrees that this week has been the fastest one yet. I learned A LOT this week and, well, lets go in chronological order here (:

Tuesday Night Devotional. Gah, you are not going to believe me but I will say it anyways. Yes, David A. Bednar himself came. It was amazing to say the least. It was one of the bst talks I think I have ever heard in my life. Seriously! Mind Blowing! My fourth Apostle in a row! My teachers are saying that has to be a new MTC record. But most importantly I got to see and here David A. Bednar! My favorite Apostle. He talked about Doctorine, Prinicples, and Applications. How sometimes as missionaries or even members of the church we spend to much time doing the applications. Like making cookies for our home teaching families. Thats great and all but in reality, the best feast is the feast on the words of Christ. He talked about how too often we just do the application, just to operate the church. BUT, if we understood the doctorine behind it (home teaching) and we truly understood it in our hearts, then it would change our life. Enough with the cookies. Hahahaha. But anyways, if you know me well wnough, you know that he is my favorite, so I was more excited I think to hear from him than seeing any concert.

SO, here is an example.

Doctorine (is a truth): Our bodies are gifts from God.
Principle (a guideline from the doctorine): The Word of Wisdom
Application (the action from the Principle): Follow the The Word of Wisdom

So If I had an investigador who had a hard time quitting the smoke, me and my comp could come over every day and pray with him to help him and all we would be doing was an application. No matter what we do, he will probably never understand why and maybe even go back to smoking. BUT, if he understands that Our bodies are temples and gifts, he will understand in his heart and the Holy Ghost will testify of it. It willl change his life and his habits.

Dad, as the bishop I would totally reccomend teaching this to the ward. It makes a huge difference in why we do things in the Church and helps us to change our lives too. The talk was amazing. I have never realized how many times we just do the applications and never take time to point out the doctirine. Dad, I challenge you to look for the doctorine and everything you do. It's amazing. And remember, Docotrine is a simple truth.

Me and my companion have been reading under the Topical Guide all the scriptures under the Life of Christ. It's a long list, but it's amazing. We are reading it in Spanish and it has been quite the adventure. This week I have learned so much about him and his earthly ministry. I still in Jesus the Christ. Let me just say, James E. Talmage is the BOSS. It's soooo good. OH man. And it's true. Even better. Hahaha.

Wow so, thanks for the beautiful package family! I love the shirt, your funny letters and the caramel. I got it just fine and it is so wonderful. Ricola has helped a lot too. Thank You x 100. The pants are great, mom. THanks!

Oh Mom, I got a shot here at the MTC. So, I had to pay 126 Dollars. No Biggie but I sent you an insurance form, and you should be getting that in the mail soon.

I get all you dear elders. Even if you send them to the wrong box, I still get them because they figure it all out. So yeah, the best thing to do is to write questions in a dear elder and I will answer them in my e-mail like I am donig know. (:

SO. The big question about my box number. I told you guys it was box 135 now right? I swear I did. Well, I better say it now. It's now 135. (: Hope that clears everything up.

Dallan wrote me a freaking long letter and sent me a sock with the Argentine Flag on it. Its amazing.

I met a missionary from Villahermosa going to Boise. We talked and it was great!

Alma 5:15-19.

My teacher Hno. Ackerson told us a pretty cool story this week. So, the CIA came to meet with the MTC Presidency. I guess they wanted to know and were willing to probably pay to find out how we get missionaries to speak a different language so fast. They are trying to impliment a new Language Traning Program over there and know how we do it, and wanted our advice. So they told them about how we submerge our missionaries in the language all day and then they ended up giving them a copy of Preach My Gospel Chapter 7, and told them that the real reason that we learn so fast is because the Spirit helps us. Through the guidance of the Spirit and with trust and Faith in the Lord, We can all learn languages super fast. They were really impressed and now I am too with the answer they gave them. Neat story huh? I thought so.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIE. Oh I miss you! I just wanna go hang out with you. Did I hear that you are 16 now??? What? Did someone say HOT DATES? Ow Ow. Go Marie. Make sure to turn down all the weird boys....I know you will. Marie is all grown up now. Tear. Hahahahaha. Just kidding Marie, I'm your older brother and I would not be fulfilling my purpose and duty as a brother had I not made fun of you. And well, you are 16. Ana's going to get it worse when she turns that age. (:

I am loving the MTC. I love this gospel and I know that this church is the church of Christ. I can't believe I have about only three weeks left here, but it is getting really exciting.
Love you all
Elder Valle"

Payoff

2010-11-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking a lot lately about how grateful I am for my kids and all the joy they bring to my life. I remember about 19 years ago after my second son was born, thinking "hey, these two boys will be on missions at the same time." I was so excited for that day to come someday in the future. I have always been excited for my boys to serve missions. I knew from my own mission that they would have joy in serving. Not just fun. Not just a good time. But joy. I could not wait for them to be out together and write each other. The only thing that has brought me more joy than my own mission is raising my kids. I think that is because in both cases, selfless full-time service for other people is the main job. And the wages are joy. So, naturally I couldn't wait for them to be out feeling the joy! And they are! And their letters make me cry. Only a little because I miss them. Mostly, though, because I am so happy for them and they are feeling the joy. Now the holidays are coming soon and my boys won't be here, but I told them they are not allowed to feel homesick during the holidays. I told them they will only have 2 Christmases in their entire life with the beautiful people they serve as missionaries and they have to cherish it now. They can always have Christmas with me. So I am grateful for this time that I always dreamed of. I am so glad they are out together making me cry with their letters. I love you, boys!

I am grateful for my girls. I am grateful that Erin made me a grandma this year and I am having a blast watching her fall so gracefully into motherhood. She is a pro. I'm so proud of her for putting Penny first and beginning that service-joy cycle I talked about. Now, at home, the two "little girls" and I have a non-stop girl party. The boys are gone, Jose is always at a meeting and we have so much fun being best friends. I love the decisions they are making, even when they are hard-- and for being my buddies. I love you, girls!

When all of my kids were very little and I was perpetually sleep-deprived and peanut-butter smeared, I kept telling myself there would be a payoff someday even if the monotony and constant correcting and guiding were hard at the time. Well, payoff keeps happening now and I feel so rich. I am having so much fun in this stage of motherhood! Not just fun. Joy.

MS Walk 2010

2010-04-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

The dress isn't done yet, but this deserves a post. Yesterday my family and I did the MS walk in Boise for my sister Kerry's team and we had so much fun! So here's some pics:

Kerry, Heidi, Mom and Jake

Mom (grandma) and Jay

Jake made his own shirt tag

Jay and Jake

grandma got warm and tried to take her 2nd layer off, but she got stuck! haha!

and we made a picture birthday card for Elder Dallan
I had fun with my family!

Did I write that?

2010-04-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why, but I took a look at my blog to see my picture with Penny and scrolled down to look at my other posts. Hey, they are pretty fun! I had forgotten about Jay on Drugs-- and it made me laugh out loud all over again. And I totally agreed with myself about the whole affluenza piece and it was almost like seeing the performance all over again in my post about the Special Olympics. Ok, maybe I need to blog more. Even just so I can go back and entertain myself later. I'll try, although I really have no exciting news or pictures to post right at this minute. But I am making a new Jalisco dress for one of the girls in our dance group and they are a monstrosity of a sewing project, taking 20 yards of fabric and over 200 yards of ribbon and a bottle of tylenol. So, when I'm done, I'll post a picture and you can see what I've been up to.

I'm a Grandma

2010-03-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

I have been called a grandma for years. I think its my hair. Maybe not even my hair, but my head. I think my head shape mixed with my curly hair mixed with my impatience for primping makes my hair stick out like old-fashioned-grandma poof hair. Anyway, I've been accused of being my kids' grandma and my sisters' mom for about 13 years now. It has never really bugged me too bad, but I was always a bit annoyed, especially when I was still in my 30's and I wanted people to know I was my children's mother.

On February 17th Penelope Wren Dougal was born and turned me into an official grandma and all of a sudden I'd like everyone to call me grandma now and I'll gladly show you all her pictures to prove it. I was lucky enough to see the miracle of her birth and when she came home I tried to give the new mom and dad a little extra rest by snuggling with Penny for the good part of two nights. Of course, it was all selfishness more than helping them, really. I knew I'd have to leave in a few days, so I held on to that heaven-gift all I could.

She likes me I think, and even the poof hair hasn't phased her. How's that for this year's post?

This is Jay on drugs

2009-03-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Jay had his wisdom teeth out yesterday and I was very excited because I love watching my children come off anesthesia. It is so entertaining. Dallan tends to flirt with nurses and Erin gets chatty and friendly with strangers. I had never seen Jay this way, however, except when he was a baby with his many cancer surgeries. But for babies they just cry. So, I was interested to see him all grown up on drugs. You know, temporary drugs, not really on drugs---right.

Ok, so we went in and 45 min. later the nurse called me back. Jay was immediately entertaining. He was shooting off funnies left and right and the nurse and I were laughing so hard. The trip home was dangerous because I started writing down what he was saying while driving on the freeway all while laughing so hard the tears were blurring my vision. I almost pulled off on the Meridian exit because I was worried.

He went on like this for about an hour or so. I am going to try to encapsulate some of the funniest highlights here if I can. And we got one small video clip too that I'll post.

*When the nurse was telling me how to make ice packs with zip-lock bags: (loudly) "I love zip-lock bags! They're the best. (Long pause) No other bags are like zip-lock bags!"

*"I'm like a dinosaur. I'm like a dinosaur. (Long pause) Like a big mouth. Not anymore. They took my teeth"

*When the nurse was telling him not to suck, use a straw or spit: "Like don't spit on the floor?" (Nurse: "No, like no spitting at all") (loudly) "NO spitting on the floor!!"

*When the nurse started wheeling him out of the office: "Whoa! this is like lagoon!" (Nurse: what is?) "This ride!" (Nurse: what is the ride called?) "WHEELCHAIR ride!)

*In the car, he puts on his hoodie with difficulty, asking why the jacket does't work anymore because he couldn't get it zipped. He yelled at the jacket "AW, come ooooonnnn..!" Then he put the hood on his head and pulled the strings of the hood so tight that only his nose was sticking out and told me "these are my levers" as he pulled the strings back and forth. I asked what the levers were for and he cinched the strings tight and said "like when you pull them like this- No Worries!" He kept the "levers" tight like that the whole ride home with his nose sticking out.

*"There's a watermelon in my mouth. How did they get a watermelon in my mouth?"

*The nurse told me that when kids are just coming out of anesthesia is the best time to get them to divulge secrets. So I asked Jay if he'd been kissing Melissa---"No way! That's gross. You get spit all over you. We kissed once upon a time but that was NOT good. We talked about it and said that was not good. Now I can't kiss because I have a watermelon in my mouth."

*What happened next became a predominant theme for Jay all the way home. I started to barely back out of the parking stall and he yelled at me: "WHOA! mom! why are you going so fast?!" Every time I came to a stop and then started again (going normal speed, mind you) he said things like: "Take it easy cowboy!" "Mom, I didn't think you had it in you!" You're breaking the speed limit-you think you're so fast!!" "This is nothing like lagoon!!! Whoa!" And while taking a turn: "Hey, easy, easy!!" "what's gotten into you, mom?", "here we go!!!", "look at you go!" (laughing) and, (laughing crazily like he was on a rollercoaster) "MOooooooM!!! You are SO fast-OH MY GOD!!!!" And my favorite: (still laughing uncontrollably) "What are you doing? Its like we're in a wind tunnel!!-we're Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang! I need some knee pads so I don't get hurt!"

*"My arms aren't working (as he pulls the "levers" quickly)

*"Guess what? (pause) The.....the......the.....the.....the..... (longer pause) the brown lady said she would make me cookies. (Me: "what brown lady?") "that lady Shenanigan... (there was a nurse named Shenanda) she said she will make me cookies (pause)....and I trust her, I do"

*Stopped at a stoplight: "yeah, take it easy, slow like that"

*"I don't remember them taking my teeth out, but they definitely did. They're good at that. Good customer service. They know how to treat their customers. (Pause) My grandpa told me Customers First!! and the business will take care of itself." (I asked him which grandpa) "You know, the business one".

*(laughing hard) "I got gummy worms on my lips!" (I notice he is biting his lips pretty hard and tell him to stop eating his lips) "I can't-the gummy worms are attached to my lips."

*You know what they should make? A building where the sun comes in. Like a building where the top is off, like a Sun Building. (pause-this is when I almost pulled off) Like you walk in and instead of having windows there is just a hole in the top and they bring the sun in. No lights, just sun. You could tan there. (I ask what shape the building is) "Its like a pepsi can. But on top its like----you know when a dog breaks his neck and they put that thing on his neck? That's on top of the building--like a big honkin' funnel!! (laughs)

*Now just off the Nampa exit we pass a KFC restaurant: "Hey stop!! Aw, too late. Man, I wanted mashed potatoes." (I tell him I will make him some at home) "Naw-you don't even know." (I tell him I've made mashed potatoes before) "HA! WhatEVER!"

*Now at home I call Jose to come help me take noodle-legs into the house and he keeps laughing and saying "DAD-you're so funny!" (Jose asks why) "Exactly!"

*We get Jay settled into his reclining chair and I ask Ana how she's doing (she was sick) and if she had thrown up. Jay: "You want me to throw up?! I threw up a couple of days ago--freakin' Shari's! (he had gone to eat at Shari's for a cast party) "I can't take it anymore-I've got to go to bed."

Stuff

2009-03-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

So, Garity said I needed to update my blog. I guess I do.

Actually, I have tried to enjoy being a mega-blogger, but I'm just not. I tried to be a tole-painter and a scrap-booker too, and I just couldn't. I think blogging and face-booking is like electronic scrap-booking. I know it is great relaxation for some folks, but it sorta makes me feel ADD. But in an effort to connect to all who like it, I will try every now and then.

So, for now I'll just tell you what is on my mind. I've been thinking a lot about STUFF. Like the kind people acquire. I just think there is too much. Here. In this country. I like some of it, but not the "too much" of it, which has always lead me to try to not have that much-- on purpose --(contrary to what some people think). I just think that our disposable, instant gratification, keep up with the Joneses attitudes are basically what has lead to our national crisis. I read a book a few years ago called "Affluenza", which talks about overconsuming, over-needing and wasting STUFF. It compares affluence and consumerism to a disease (hence, Affluenza). I loved it. I agreed with it and found an author who agreed with what I had thought all along. Maybe I should have explained to people earlier on in my life that the reason I get most of my clothes at thrift stores and cook from scratch and avoid buying gadgets and "toys" when they first come out is because I like to win. I win if I can buy nice things on clearance or second-hand or later when the popularity factor has worn off. I win if I can make food cheaper (and better, by the way) than restaurants. I don't do it because it is my only option or I just don't know how to be on the cutting edge of consumerism. I just don't like the cutting edge, because that is where the losers are. They are getting suckered into the traps of the marketers and are losing a lot. Anyway, read "Affluenza" then take a look at this SNL clip. It's just what's been on my mind.

UPDATE: Harrison's post reminded me of another favorite book, "The Millionaire Next Door"-great book. I always laughed that this author calls STUFF "Status Artifacts" HA ha!!! So funny.

Leave it to mom

2009-03-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

I noticed that mom is my first and only "follower" on the blog. I guess that seems to be true in life about moms. You always can count on them to be interested in their kids even if they are the only ones. Thanks mom! The real reason I am posting is because Ana noticed I hadn't posted and said I should and I asked what I should post about and she said her castanets. So I tried to post but realized I didn't know my own password so I had to get it from Erin. So here I am to tell you that Ana is getting new castanets because she is learning flamenco now. It is pretty cool if I must say so myself. Lets see, not to leave the other kids out, Jay is in the last two weeks of rehearsal for the play he is in and the music teacher tells me he is pretty hilarious in it, so that will be fun to see-he's supposed to be a terrible little troublemaker, so you can see why he got the part. Marie left her MP3 player in her laundry and found out that it really doesn't do too good after it goes through the wash cycle. Dallan is busy getting VISA papers off and just got done with a little bout of Typhoid after taking the live vaccine-how fun!

And me, well you know, I don't really have anything to do at all according to the IRS who sends that cute little summary every year before your birthday that tells you how much you have worked in your adult life. Mine says I haven't worked since I started having babies. Mind you, it doesn't say that you haven't had income or brought in actual money, it just says you haven't worked. Well, that didn't settle well with me because I do remember working just a LITTLE BIT raising FIVE people!!!!!! So I wrote them a letter telling them that they needed to change the wording because semantics mean everything to me in this case. I haven't heard back.

Oh well, that's ok. I'm pretty sure the people who love me know that I didn't quit working 21 years ago. Neither did my mom 45 years ago. She's still a mom. She follows my blog.

Baile

2009-02-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all of the encouragement about my blogging! You'd think I was learning to ride a bike-Ha! Ok, Garity. Now you shouldn't have mentioned (tempted me) about going to see Ballet Folklorico there. I've only seen videos of the group that Amalia Hernandez started there but our director has been and she said she cried through the whole thing too. I've always wanted to....hmmmm.........What a dream that would be! I'm taking an adult class from her and have always respected how hard it was, but when you feel the pain yourself...you know. The skirtwork you asked about is called "faldeo" and it is wicked harder than it looks--owie arms!! My camera didn't capture it as good as others. One of my friends from the group emailed all of us about a link she found about one of the athletes we danced with yesterday. It says he likes music and dancing....well yes indeed he does!

More about the boy who stole the show yesterday...I am still giddy thinking about how cool it was!

Here is a link to the boy who joined the troupe yesterday. Thought you'd like to see it.

http://live.specialolympics.org/index.php?c=athlete&athlete_id=0DO8HALZWIK4UBKB&

Explaining

2009-02-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

So what happened is I sent the first post you see below as an email to a bunch of my friends. Half or more of them came back as "undeliverable" because of all the pictures I think. Meanwhile, my daughter Erin actually received the email, read it and took pity on me and set up this new blog for me as a surprise-with the "clog" below now converted to my first "blog" post. Because she knows I have no time or driving desire to set it up. THANKS, Erin!! So much for my clogging career. Ha! Imagine me, a clogger......ok, just kidding. Don't imagine that.

So that said, I need to explain my new blog title. The Fence. You see I am young enough to enjoy, understand and use technology just fine. However, I also grew up knowing the generation who communicated with each other over the fence while they were watering the lawn or hanging up laundry. And the thing is--I have quite the admiration for it and somehow I am sad that form of communication is gone. Don't get me wrong. I love the whole quick, efficient and multi-tasky email, blog, texting thing going on.... But I miss the fence. I think you knew more about the real person that way. I'm not saying we need to never progress. But we need to remember that we gave something up when we all got automatic sprinklers and computers. So perhaps I'm being nostalgic. I guess this is the new fence.