Well this week the sun beat down way strong like always in this desert of Aruba with beautiful beaches like always. Which would have been fine but unfortunatley it was a little tuff this week because we were on our feet basicly the whole week. Yeah that means that our bikes were out of order with flat tires and broken rims the entire week. Its really a drag to have to fix your bike every day especialy because it just takes to much time away to do! i had to get a new rim and change 4 tires this week to give you an idea of the curse someone put on our bikes, thats not to mention that my companions bikes tire went flat around 3 times also. Yeah annoying right?
Any how on a brighter note we had Victor and Lousia in church this sunday and they both have been able to antend baptism's of other people to see how a baptism is. It was great to see Victor there finaly because he finaly came through and made all his talk about coming to church an action and not just words. He's the type of guy that talks and talks and talks but doesnt do a whole lot. So we have to have a lot of patients with him and help him out a lot. Its a good thing we have a really good Branch here to help him out also. As for Louisa she's doing better also, she's starting to come to church now and she was even able to see a great baptism yesterday which i really think sparked her interest a lot. For some reason or another i think she has been really skeptical about things but is starting to soften up a lot and let the spirit work in here conversion. We just have to take things slow with her also so that she understands things. She's sort of been confused a lot with different churches which makes here confused at times so we just have to take things slow, but its all good. We're looking forward for the best and i'm happy with where were at. so that about sums up the highlights and the investigators we have for this week.
Sorry it was a little short but thats just the way it roles some times. Now its time to wrap up because the golf course here in Aruba is calling our name for this P-day! Yup you read that correct, Elder Lopez and his companion Elder Browning are going to hit the greens.
So until next time, choose the right!
Elder Lopez
Monday, September 21, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
"The work continues here in Aruba" email dated (9/14/2009)
Week 2 in Aruba,
Well this week was a good week lesson wise if i do say myself. We had a pretty interesting experience with a new investigator that we came across this week. It so happens that on of our members works really close to the beautiful beaches here in Aruba and he so some kid that was trying to camp out on the beach getting kicked off so he being the good guy he is went over to see if he could help out i guess. I guess the situation was this, the kid named, Nicolas from Canada, was trying to camp out on the beach because he got all his money stolen while he was staying at some hotel here. But then he was informed that its illgal to camp on the beach during this time of the year, so Miguel, the member, offered the kid that he could stay at his house and find a job so that he could start working to get some money back that he had stolen.... Yeah pretty crazy if you ask me. Anyway the story goes on that we stoped by Miguels house that night to visit him, and we meet this Nicolas guy from Canada who speaks English and French but cant really communicate with miguel because miguel just speaks spanish and papiamento. Yeah pretty funny to watch them communicate but they get along good enough with had signals and broken up sentences. So anyway as we were there we found out more about this Nicolas kid and we found out that he came down here just searching for something in his life... So we happily let him know that running into us is what you were looking for but he wasnt to sure about that. He actualy told us he doesnt really believe in God but believes in some supreme being which was very interesting. So what Elder Browning and i decided to do was take a Ammon missionary angel at it and teach him that this supreme being is God and he has a plan for us here on this earth and after this life also. He actualy took to it very well also and liked the idea of the BOM and was very open to listen to us. So we'll have to wait and see how it goes this upcoming week when we see him again.
In other news Louisa was able to come to church this week which is always a good big step for investigators to take. We were stoked to see her there and she told us after ward that she is going to keep on testing it out which is a good thing.
Other than that we had some really good lunch citas with the members which is always fun and filling! In our Branch this past sunday we had 125 people in church which is awesome! Definately the highest its been on my mission so far. It was great to see the chapel full!
So yeah as you can see the mission in a Aruba is going great!
Until next time,
Elder Lopez
Well this week was a good week lesson wise if i do say myself. We had a pretty interesting experience with a new investigator that we came across this week. It so happens that on of our members works really close to the beautiful beaches here in Aruba and he so some kid that was trying to camp out on the beach getting kicked off so he being the good guy he is went over to see if he could help out i guess. I guess the situation was this, the kid named, Nicolas from Canada, was trying to camp out on the beach because he got all his money stolen while he was staying at some hotel here. But then he was informed that its illgal to camp on the beach during this time of the year, so Miguel, the member, offered the kid that he could stay at his house and find a job so that he could start working to get some money back that he had stolen.... Yeah pretty crazy if you ask me. Anyway the story goes on that we stoped by Miguels house that night to visit him, and we meet this Nicolas guy from Canada who speaks English and French but cant really communicate with miguel because miguel just speaks spanish and papiamento. Yeah pretty funny to watch them communicate but they get along good enough with had signals and broken up sentences. So anyway as we were there we found out more about this Nicolas kid and we found out that he came down here just searching for something in his life... So we happily let him know that running into us is what you were looking for but he wasnt to sure about that. He actualy told us he doesnt really believe in God but believes in some supreme being which was very interesting. So what Elder Browning and i decided to do was take a Ammon missionary angel at it and teach him that this supreme being is God and he has a plan for us here on this earth and after this life also. He actualy took to it very well also and liked the idea of the BOM and was very open to listen to us. So we'll have to wait and see how it goes this upcoming week when we see him again.
In other news Louisa was able to come to church this week which is always a good big step for investigators to take. We were stoked to see her there and she told us after ward that she is going to keep on testing it out which is a good thing.
Other than that we had some really good lunch citas with the members which is always fun and filling! In our Branch this past sunday we had 125 people in church which is awesome! Definately the highest its been on my mission so far. It was great to see the chapel full!
So yeah as you can see the mission in a Aruba is going great!
Until next time,
Elder Lopez
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunny Aruba (email dated 9/7/2009)
Hey from sunny Aruba,
Well getting here in a Aruba was really nice but unfortunately i left some things up in Puerto Rico that i should have brought down with me but i forgot... The one thing most important was that i forgot my little thought book that i always take with me that has all the birthdays of everyone in the family too. Yeah i cant believe i left it up there but some times i think i might lose my head if it wasnt screwed on... Also some really sad news for my is that my camera's screen broke and you cant see anything on it at all anymore. I had it in its camera case and it was stowed away in my bag when we were off working and it must have banged against something because when i took it out to use it today the screen was all broke but the camera still takes pictures, you just cant see them after. I was so sad and mad at the same time that it happened but i guess thats just how the ball roles some times... at least the camera still works and i still have all my pictures on my card and when i want to see them or take more pictures on my card i can just use my comps camera and put my card in his camera. Still i'm a little bumbed but the mission work can change that!
This week was really cool i thought! I really like this island of Aruba! To be honest its really just a big desert with a whole bunch of cactus, but the beaches are amazing. But being a missionary we really dont get over to the beach to much... Sometimes we get to ride our bikes along the beach though which is way beautiful especialy when the sun is setting and its a full moon! Yeah i know its pretty rough with some of the nicest beaches in all the world here on my little island!...
This week i got to know all of our investigators and to be honest we could have a lot of potential! Our best investigator right now would have to be Louisa who is from the Dominican Republic and is great and really looking for the truth. The only problem is that her car is broken down and that she feels uncomfortable having a member come and pick her up who she doesnt know. But i think this next week for sure we'll be getting her to church! i feel like if we can get her there to the chapel she'll be getting a fecha soon... but we'll just have to wait pray and see! She is a great person though and is searching for the truth which the Church of Jesus Christ has!
Then our next best investigator would have to be a kid who's 20 years old who we came across yesterday night! He's from Columbia and was the coolest kid i've ever met on my mission so far. We go up and knock this door as we were finishing up our day at 830 on sunday night when Mario opens the door and tells us he's really interested in our message and wants to know more about this Joseph smith guy. Pretty much Elder Brownings jaw droped and we were like well you've run into the right people to answer those questions you have and learn more about the true church also... we then started into the first lesson and he was just inganged in the lesson and understood everything, and as i testifed to him of the 1'st vision i could see in his eyes that he was touched by the spirit! All of it just went like that and he loved every part of our lesson and was more then happy to read the Book of Mormon and have us over again tonight to share the first lesson with his whole family! So you could say we're stoked for tonights lesson and praying that Mario is one of Gods son's who's ready for the gospel in his life right now!
So as you can see the work here in Aruba is going forward and i'm happy to be a part of it! As for the language its going little by little right now but i use my spanish a lot because the people here all almost speak at least 4 languages! but still i'm going to learn this Papiamento before i leave these Islands! People here come from every where though, in our ward we have Columbians, Venezuelans, Chilieans, Argintinans, Ecuadoreans,and much much more! I'm basicly learning something about every culture which i love and the branch is the strongest i've ever been in.
Go Aruba!!!!!
Elder Lopez
PS. by the way its hotter here than it is in Puerto rico and it never rains...
Well getting here in a Aruba was really nice but unfortunately i left some things up in Puerto Rico that i should have brought down with me but i forgot... The one thing most important was that i forgot my little thought book that i always take with me that has all the birthdays of everyone in the family too. Yeah i cant believe i left it up there but some times i think i might lose my head if it wasnt screwed on... Also some really sad news for my is that my camera's screen broke and you cant see anything on it at all anymore. I had it in its camera case and it was stowed away in my bag when we were off working and it must have banged against something because when i took it out to use it today the screen was all broke but the camera still takes pictures, you just cant see them after. I was so sad and mad at the same time that it happened but i guess thats just how the ball roles some times... at least the camera still works and i still have all my pictures on my card and when i want to see them or take more pictures on my card i can just use my comps camera and put my card in his camera. Still i'm a little bumbed but the mission work can change that!
This week was really cool i thought! I really like this island of Aruba! To be honest its really just a big desert with a whole bunch of cactus, but the beaches are amazing. But being a missionary we really dont get over to the beach to much... Sometimes we get to ride our bikes along the beach though which is way beautiful especialy when the sun is setting and its a full moon! Yeah i know its pretty rough with some of the nicest beaches in all the world here on my little island!...
This week i got to know all of our investigators and to be honest we could have a lot of potential! Our best investigator right now would have to be Louisa who is from the Dominican Republic and is great and really looking for the truth. The only problem is that her car is broken down and that she feels uncomfortable having a member come and pick her up who she doesnt know. But i think this next week for sure we'll be getting her to church! i feel like if we can get her there to the chapel she'll be getting a fecha soon... but we'll just have to wait pray and see! She is a great person though and is searching for the truth which the Church of Jesus Christ has!
Then our next best investigator would have to be a kid who's 20 years old who we came across yesterday night! He's from Columbia and was the coolest kid i've ever met on my mission so far. We go up and knock this door as we were finishing up our day at 830 on sunday night when Mario opens the door and tells us he's really interested in our message and wants to know more about this Joseph smith guy. Pretty much Elder Brownings jaw droped and we were like well you've run into the right people to answer those questions you have and learn more about the true church also... we then started into the first lesson and he was just inganged in the lesson and understood everything, and as i testifed to him of the 1'st vision i could see in his eyes that he was touched by the spirit! All of it just went like that and he loved every part of our lesson and was more then happy to read the Book of Mormon and have us over again tonight to share the first lesson with his whole family! So you could say we're stoked for tonights lesson and praying that Mario is one of Gods son's who's ready for the gospel in his life right now!
So as you can see the work here in Aruba is going forward and i'm happy to be a part of it! As for the language its going little by little right now but i use my spanish a lot because the people here all almost speak at least 4 languages! but still i'm going to learn this Papiamento before i leave these Islands! People here come from every where though, in our ward we have Columbians, Venezuelans, Chilieans, Argintinans, Ecuadoreans,and much much more! I'm basicly learning something about every culture which i love and the branch is the strongest i've ever been in.
Go Aruba!!!!!
Elder Lopez
PS. by the way its hotter here than it is in Puerto rico and it never rains...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
"Aruba, Jamaica..." (email dated 9/1/2009)
Hey,
Well if your still asking yourself where could Elder Lopez be right now with transfers coming the answer can be found in a very famous song sung by the beach boys... Yup it starts with Aruba... Yup president decided it was time to send me down to Aruba and preach the gospel while learning a different language with it.... Yeah i feel like a greenie all over again but luckly a lot of people here speak english and spanish to! But the language i'm going to be learning is Papiomento... Yeah your probably asking your self what in the world type of language is that, no worries though i had those same thoughts... anyway technicaly its not a complete language of its self so its dialect combinding Spanish, English, and Dutch all into one... It sounds pretty cool though when your hear the people speak it though. Basicly all of the people here speak one of those languages fluent though if not all of them. I'm sure as i spend more time down here i'll have more to tell your about it but as for right now i've only been here for about 3 hours. Our plane got in today from curacoa where we stayed last night before we finished the flight over here to the island of Aruba! Basicly here it is all desert and beach, and a lot of heat! I'm really excited though to be here because its going to be a great experience!
To make this experience even cooler my companion, Elder Browning loves to play baseball also! He's actualy ending his mission after this transfer and going back to Play ball at a Jr. college and then wants to go to play at BYU!... how sweet would that be! that would make 3 Elders from the exact same mission playing on the same team because Elder WElls will still be there at BYU when i get back next year.. we'll just have to wait and see how it goes and works out a year from now!
Anyway as for the work all is going well and I left a great Area behind but i'm excited to get a new one! Carlos Lopez one of our investigators with his fecha for this up coming 12 of september was sad to see me go but it was alright. He really is a good man with a big heart and i think he'll progress toward baptism for sure! THe members were all pretty sad that i was headed out also. I made a lot of good friends there in that ward but now is the time to meet new people and learn new languages... so as you can see here in the mission field things are just doing crazy things, but i love it!
Any how i'm going to go ahead and wrap up now so until next week keep on keepin on!
Elder Lopez
Well if your still asking yourself where could Elder Lopez be right now with transfers coming the answer can be found in a very famous song sung by the beach boys... Yup it starts with Aruba... Yup president decided it was time to send me down to Aruba and preach the gospel while learning a different language with it.... Yeah i feel like a greenie all over again but luckly a lot of people here speak english and spanish to! But the language i'm going to be learning is Papiomento... Yeah your probably asking your self what in the world type of language is that, no worries though i had those same thoughts... anyway technicaly its not a complete language of its self so its dialect combinding Spanish, English, and Dutch all into one... It sounds pretty cool though when your hear the people speak it though. Basicly all of the people here speak one of those languages fluent though if not all of them. I'm sure as i spend more time down here i'll have more to tell your about it but as for right now i've only been here for about 3 hours. Our plane got in today from curacoa where we stayed last night before we finished the flight over here to the island of Aruba! Basicly here it is all desert and beach, and a lot of heat! I'm really excited though to be here because its going to be a great experience!
To make this experience even cooler my companion, Elder Browning loves to play baseball also! He's actualy ending his mission after this transfer and going back to Play ball at a Jr. college and then wants to go to play at BYU!... how sweet would that be! that would make 3 Elders from the exact same mission playing on the same team because Elder WElls will still be there at BYU when i get back next year.. we'll just have to wait and see how it goes and works out a year from now!
Anyway as for the work all is going well and I left a great Area behind but i'm excited to get a new one! Carlos Lopez one of our investigators with his fecha for this up coming 12 of september was sad to see me go but it was alright. He really is a good man with a big heart and i think he'll progress toward baptism for sure! THe members were all pretty sad that i was headed out also. I made a lot of good friends there in that ward but now is the time to meet new people and learn new languages... so as you can see here in the mission field things are just doing crazy things, but i love it!
Any how i'm going to go ahead and wrap up now so until next week keep on keepin on!
Elder Lopez
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