Just one year, that's all (email dated 7/28/2009)

Hello from the Enchanted Island of Puerto Rico! I hope all is going well back home in the Beehive State of Utah. This past week was another transfer meeting and yes i did receive a new companion... He's another foreigner but not a native Spanish speaker. His native tongue is Dutch and he's from South America.Yeah your probably asking yourself where in the world could that be...The answer is Suriname which is located above Brazil and in the middle of French Giana and Giana. His name is Elder Roseval and has about 6 months on the mission and is still pretty green with the language and all but he's work ethic makes up for it all! We've been having a great time together here in Toa Baja our first week together. So this transfer we're starting to do work outs again in the morning because my companion now is willing to get up at six and go hit the streets with a nice little jog. Elder Parodi wasn't all for running but I'm not going to have problem with getting Elder Roseval up to go excursive because I'm pretty sure that excursive is his middle name. He was a trainer back when he was at home i guess and it shows because this guy is chiseled like a rock. Its pretty fun because now i have my own personal trainer basically. Oh yeah and in case you were worried that we couldn't communicate he speaks English too other than his Dutch. He actually was in one of the resent Liahona's (Ensigns) on one of the specials on the Mission work over there in Suriname. He's fun guy and i think we'll have a good time together.

Now was for the work goes all is well also and we're working hard to get some new blood to teach. We found a lady who was taught by the missionaries a year ago but she ended up moving to the states and things just didn't work out with the Elders i guess. But when we past by she was more than happy to see us and invited us right in to teach her. She's really interested and concerned about her well being which is great because she really is sincerely interested and keeps her commitments. Other than that we had a good lesson with Carlos Lopez this week also and he is willing to get back on track and work to be baptized! We have a way's to go and a lot of work to do with him on helping him gain a testimony of Joseph Smith and all but he wants to do what is right and feels good with us. He calls me part of his family now after all we've been through together which is really humbling to say the least. Also our baptism we had last Saturday is staying active which is great and she just keeps being an example for all to follow. So there's no complaints here from the mission field and all keeps on moving forward!

Until next time much Love and keep your head up and Testimony growing.
Love,
Elder Lopez

PS: I almost forgot to tell you the other thing that happened this week that is something important i guess you could say but not really. Well this sunday i was doing my district leader duties and taking in all the numbers from the members of my district and it was a little late and we were riding our bikes home. So there i am riding my bike talking on the phone and trying to put the numbers down at the same time as i start to go down a little hill... Yeah i know what your thinking, to much things to do and ride a bike at the same time right?... Well anyway i thought i was doing a great job of it all and i was going just fine up until there was a little speed bump as i was going down the hill... Yup i hit that little mound of cement and my one finger tapped the front brake and there went elder Lopez over the handle bares... No worries though i wasn't going all that fast and i left with no major injuries just scraps. The thing to note though is that I've been on my mission for almost year and then 4 days before i hit my year mark i have to go down on my bike for the 1st time ever. Yeah pretty sad right? i was hoping to go my whole mission with out one crash but i cant even make a year... ha i guess that's just the way the ball roles some times. Well until next week!
Love,
Elder Lopez

Just another transfer (email dated 7/21/2009)

Well this past week started out really slow because my companion got hit with a bad flew and was basicaly laid out on the bed for 2 day's... yeah it was tough to say the least. Pretty much he was sick and i played "mom" and had to take him to the hospital and bring him his pills and water while he laid down and everything. Yeah you know the drill... It was a little frustrating not to be able to go out and work! I felt so unproductive sitting in the same place during the middle of the day and not doing something. I almost went crazy just sitting there. I'm so used to always being on the go and looking for people to talk to that if i'm not doing it i feel bad, or like i'm lossing time to work for the Lord. But when your companion is sick you got to do what you got to do i guess... Towards the end of the week we started to get going again and on saturday we had the highlight of the week... Yup you guessed it! Baptisim! Lyar Perez is now officialy a "Moromona" as she puts it. She was really excited to finaly have the opportunity to be baptized after having waited for basicaly 2 years. She finaly got permision from her Mother to be baptized when she turned 18 years old so we went through the lessons with her and got her all ready and dunked her into the forgiving waters of baptisim this past saturday! The Baptisimal service was really nice and her best friend who's a member spoke on the Holy Ghost and it was very powerful. The talk was really simple but the spirit that she brought with her sincerity was the key factor! Everything went perfect and i was able to be a witness for the baptisim! Then the next day we had the confirmation in church in sacrament meeting and then we signed the papers and now everything is official. It was a great experience to have a baptisim this transfer and we hope to be able to repeat it again this transfere thats coming! But now with the Transfer thats coming we're going to be having a little change her in Toa Baja... Elder Parodi is leaving and i'm staying which means tomorrow i'll be getting a new companion once again... Also this transfer thats coming up i believe Elder Jonny Oviatte is coming in who i went to HIgh School with which will be pretty cool to see. Its always good to see my graduate budies from good old THS. Its crazy how fast a year can fly by and its even crazier to think that really its only a year and a few days that seperates be and you all back home. I think its time to strap in tight for another roller coaster ride of another year.

Well that about sums up the week... and a big week it was... full of baptisims,and best friends leaving on missions! Lets be real, what more can you ask for?... really nothing.

Thanks for all the prayers and with much love,
Elder Lopez

Baptism Week (email dated 7/13/2009)

Well this past week was good week and a crucial week to help get things set up for at least one baptisim this saturday. Unfortunately i think its only going to be one because Carlos called us up like one hour ago and said he wasn't going to be baptized this week because he doesnt feel worthy to be baptized yet. When he told me on the phone he felt really bad but i told him that we would be coming over as soon as possible to see him and talk about it. so all that is up to date news. But for sure there will be a baptisim this week with a young lady named Liar Perez who is 18 years old. She was a reference from a member in Levitown and is all ready to be baptized. We basicly just have to go over the lessons with her as a review because she's been going to church over in Levitown for like 2 years but lives here in our area. She just turned 18 and now her parents are going to let here make her own choice and be baptized. The couple of times we had to teach her already have gone great and she is definately ready to be baptized. She's basicly what we like to call a dry member. The only challenge we're going to have with her is keeping her coming here to Toa Baja because she lives in our ward. She came to church with us yesterday and liked it a lot so think that she'll be good here. So we are going to have at least one baptisim this saturday. As for Carlos he'll be waiting for another day. He's been struggling to make the decission because still he has some problems with some of the commandments that are big like the law of Chastity which is a little wierd in his specific situation... ha i'm just going to leave it at that to be honest. He'll be able to over come it though i believe and be baptised if not this month the month thats coming.

To be honest everything is going great here in Toa Baja but right now my comp Elder Parodi doesnt feel to good so were going to a Doctor today to see whats up. He's been having a really bad head ach so were going to see what we can do for him with that.But now worries all will be good i think.
Well thats the update for now , and right now its time to close up because our appointment with the doctor is in a little bit so until next week much love!

Thanks for the prayers
Love,
Elder Lopez

Fecha Bautismal‏ (email dated 7/6/2009)

Well another week has flown by like usual and here it is P-day and i'm looking back to try and remember everything that happened. This last week we had a way sweet p-day that they do once every year i believe. It was what we like to call out here in the mission field a supper P-day. So your probably asking yourself right now what is included in a super P-day, so let me tell you what is. First off we cut our studies a little bit short and all headed to a place in Vega Baja with the entire mission. So then while we were all at this place called Tortuga, which is basicly a huge park, we all just played a bunch of games like with everyone. We had some games of basketball going on, some soccer games going on, some volley ball, some dominos, and even Ping Pong.... Yup your thinking right you found me at the Ping Pong table doing the same thing i used to do to Mark at home in our games of ping pong.... that means whipping up on people... hahah but seriously... Oh yeah, and Elder Wells and I ( He's going home this august to play baseball at BYU) played a little catch. Then i hit him some pop fly's to get hime some practice in before he gets back this 18th of August. That was pretty fun to get the ball going around again. The good news is that i haven't forget everything about how to play ball... I can still catch :)

As for the work now, we had a good experience this week with Carlos. We were able to set a baptisimal date up with him for this 18th of july! He was a little timid at first because he actualy wanted to put the date back a little bit so he could have some drinks at his birthday party this 24th of July. When he told us the reason why he wanted to move his fecha back we were a little worried but luckly we were able to help him realize that what is important is making God happy with obeying his commandments. So with a nice talk about why God has revealed the Word of Wisdom to us and how it will be a blessing for Carlos and not a hinderance he excepted the date of July 18th to enter the water of baptisim. We still have a little ways to go with him but i'm pretty sure that he's going to make the goal of baptisim! We're really excited too to be able to have a good baptisim for this Transfer!

So those are the highlights for this week and until next time take it easy, but not to easy...
Much Love,
Elder Lopez