MARCH 12, 2013

Hola family. How’s everything going? I’m just doing great, this week for changes I stay with my kid and we will have 6 more weeks together for training At the end of it all I will have been in this area Tacuarembo for 6 months. Pretty crazy.

This week we are hopefully having a baptism with Anthony. He is 11 years old, but he still is not too sure if he wants to get baptized or not. Please pray for him this week. He needs a lot of help.

This week our recent convert, Sandra. Received a ward calling, which is pretty rare for recent converts. She was called to be ithe Young Women’s 2nd councilor. She’ll do great, she always studies before church to prepare for all of the classes. We are also working on helping her family get to church. The stake is willing to pay for a taxi every other week, so her family will be able to get to church, which is great to hear.

Sara still has her baptismal date for the 30th of March . She will be getting baptized with her son Facundo. Still trying to work on their 17-year-old daughter. Her daughter didn’t come to church this week because she slept in.

This week we went to the Patria Goucha, or the Cowboy fair. It was really awesome. They have a parade where more than 5,000 horses and cowboys rode in the streets. It would be compared to shutting down All of River Road for more than 2 hours just to let horses ride in the streets. It was blast really. I decided I want to be cowboy when I get home. haha.

I am happy to hear that we will moving closer to he high school. Too bad we didn’t move over there sooner I spent a lot of time driving to and from the school. I know a lot of young women who live over there. It would’ve been great for high school ha ha ha.  Now we will be in the Desert Hills Stake and not the Pineview Stake. I will definitely miss Pres. Bangeter and the whole Bangeter family. But it will be good for Lauren to be closer to her friends from school.  I`m happy for you guys that we found a house.

I wanted to ask a question if dad is getting paid by the state to run the St. George office. If he is, If he is making more than when he was working with the Road Runners. I just want to know if its a really good job, or no.

Answers. No Nothing came this week. I just have to be patient thats all.

It sounds like everything is going good out there. I continue to pray for you guys and hope that you guys are well. Please pray for these investigators, they need a lot of help.

Love Elder Webster

Elder Webster

Hey Family, how’s everyone doing?  This week we changed P-day from Monday to Wednesday because there is a big festival in town. It’s a cowboy festival and people come from all over Uruguay and Argentina and Paraguay to see it. I guess Tacuarembo is the cowboy capital for South America south. We are going to go today as our pday. 

Last week was a pretty rewarding week. Sandra came back from vacation and went to church and bore her testimony about her conversion during the fast and testimony meeting. It was really moving and a lot of the members were really surprised by the extent of her conversion. Many members went up after her to share their testimonies commenting about Sandra and her faith. A Felt very blessed to have been the missionary that helped her come to her conversion. 

Sara couldn’t attend church this last week, because she was sick in her bed and didn’t have the strength to get out of bed. We went to her house later that day to give her a blessing. When we got to her house she explained that ever since she started going to church things had started going better in her life. She was going through a tough divorce and had fear of losing her children, without having a job she thought the judge would give custody to the Father. But after going to church she received the help she needed in all of these areas, with work, her kids, and with the judges. She said she felt very blessed and that she had gained a great gratitude for the power of prayer and the power of the Book of Mormon. She explained that we had taught her son one evening without her present we taught him about the Book of Mormon and he began to read everyday and to say his prayers everyday. She was very touched that her son would do such a thing since he disliked religion. He is 12 years old, and his name is Facundo.  Sara told us that she wants to be baptized and her son would like to also. We set a baptismal date for the 30th of March. 

Please Pray for Sara and Facundo. We also have another little boy who will be baptized the 16th of March. His Name is Anthony. 

I didn’t receive any packages or mail this week. I`m still waiting for all of those things that you sent, the one Christmas package, debit card, and all of the other packages you said you were going to send. I think sending an envelope package is better for future. 

I was really hoping the debit card was going to come this week because I wanted to buy a souvenir at this cowboy festival. I’m a little discouraged with this whole mail system!

We’re moving!!! Where are we going to live? What part of town?

I didn’t finish my letter from last week so I’m sending it next Monday. Sorry.

Training is fine, just stressful. We are getting a little more used to each other. At first it was a little odd, I’ve been with Latinos for so long. But we are having great experiences together and I think we are going to have a great Change together. 

Transfers are next week, so I’ll talk to you guys on Tuesday. 

Love you Guys and thanks for everything

Love Elder Webster

02-27-13

Hey Lauren, How’s it going? Mom sent me a video of your volleyball tournament and I was pretty impressed. You did two pretty awesome spikes. You’ve sure grown a lot since I’ve been gone. You are a lot more athletic now. WOW! I’m doing good Lauren, sometimes I get really stressed about the work and how I’m going to help all of these people. I’ve seen Heavenly Father help guide the way time after time. I know Heavenly Father will answer our prayers. We just need to ask. Ask him about volleyball or cheer. He’ll help you make the right decision. Hey, love you Lauren. You’re not so little now, but your still my favorite little sister in the world.

Besos Lauren. Love Chase

Hey Family, How’s it been going? This week has been pretty good. It rained a lot here, which stunk because my laundry basket kept on piling up as the sun refused to come out. We had some pretty cool experiences this week.

Sara: Sara is now our main investigator. She’s already been to church 4 times now. We only have had 2 lessons with her. Sara is 50 years old with 2 kids and is going through a divorce right now. She also lost her job and needed help. She landed a job with Direct TV were 3 members of the Church also work. They became friends at work and told her that she needed to go to church to receive the help she needed in this time of difficulty. So she went and she loved it. She is still very hesitant with the whole baptism deal because she’s been Catholic her whole life. We are working on her. The 1st lesson we had with her we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it is a book of deliverance. 2nd lesson we talked about the plan of salvation and why bad things happen to us and what is the purpose of this life. She really accepted our message and is praying and reading every day. She even has her 12 year old son saying prayers with her now. He still has not come to church but this is a big step prayer. The 17 year old daughter still doesn’t want anything to do with the church. Like all typical teenagers. I think she’ll come around with time.

At the baptism of Sandra there was another ward there who also had people getting baptized. So we did the baptisms together. After the baptism, one of the ladies from the other ward came up to me to shake my hand and she told me that when I was dressed in all white she thought I was an Angel. Or she thought that’s what angels look like. Very interesting hearing that. I’ll always remember when Grandma showed me the photo with Christ and the little children with the angels around about them telling me that I looked like one of those angels.

Well family I’m doing good. I just get a little stressed sometimes. Now more than ever. It’s tough training because at the beginning you have to do everything. You don’t have that balance when teaching or when working. So the load is all on you. But I know that I can handle it for a little bit longer.

I’m happy that I’m having new experiences that I can tell you guys about. I feel like my mission is just now starting and I’m trying to make up for lost time. I know I’ve grown a lot in my time here in Tacuarembo.

I need: 1. A new memory card for my camera. I’m almost out of space.

2. Peanut butter. I need a little bit more protein in my diet now that I’ve started my exercises again.

3. Some new ties. I’ve given away a few of mine to some of the converts.

There was something else but I forgot. Darn.

Anything I can do for you guys. I’m going to write a letter today; sorry it’s been so long.

I was super impressed with the video of Lauren. She really has gotten a lot more athletic. That’s my little Sister.

02-18-13

Hey Family. It was a pretty interesting week. Every week seems to be getting more challenging. I continue to see Heavenly Fathers help with all of the burdens. I had to do a lot of things this week and I felt very humbled, but I’ll explain those things later.

This week I was called to be a trainer. I went down to Montevideo Tuesday night and arrived Wednesday morning. I spent the morning and lunch at the missionary home. It was good seeing old friends, Elders in the offices and the assistants. It was surprising to see how many friends I’ve made in the mission. In the mission home we received some brief training and some things to help inspire us. One thing I liked was that they showed us the video when Susan Boyle sang for Brittan’s Got Talent. You’ll have to see it. It helped us as trainers understand that we need to be very positive and not to judge these knew missionaries and to help them fulfill their potential.

Then we went to the temple grounds to find our kids. They stand in a row on the temple steps, and we come in behind them so they can’t see us. Then we sang Called To Serve. After we were done, they turn around and meet their trainers. Pretty fun experience. My kid is Named Elder Gudmundson. He’s from Orem Utah. A really tall and skinny kid. He actually reminds me of Trent a lot. He’s a pretty smart kid, He knows Spanish pretty well already. I’m glad I won’t have to spend a lot of time teaching Spanish and we can just start working. He’s pretty cool though. A bit socially awkward and really shy, but nothing that time in the mission field can’t change.

Sandra got Married this last Friday and baptized the following day. Saturday. Woop Woop. I was invited to be one of the Testigos for her marriage. That was pretty cool. Definitely a first. I had to fill out a ton of paper work, and sign my signature a million times also. But it still was a pretty cool experience. I felt bad that there weren’t many people there for her wedding. She said she didn’t care. One of the only reasons why she was getting married was to get baptized. She was happy anyway.

Saturday was her baptism. I baptized her and it was a really good baptismal service. After the meeting she was crying. She was sad that her family couldn’t be there with her. She lives far away from the church. She was sad that she can’t bring her kids to church. A member named Raquel told her that because of her decision that she would bless her family and with time god would give them the blessings of coming to church. That was my favorite moment of the baptism. It was a great day. I was very stressed trying to help plan the wedding and doing the baptismal service alone. That’s what’s been so tough about training so far is that your companion is so new, that you have to do almost everything for the first couple of weeks. I’m Happy it’s a new week.

The office Elders helped me put my money onto my companion’s card. Right now I’m ok with money. They apologized it took so long. They told me that the church is switching banks and that they’ve been having a few difficulties.

We have a few other investigators but we need to start finding again.

Thanks for all of your love and support family.

Her are some more photos. Baptism and marriage of Sandra. Me with my kid at the temple, and me signing for being a testigo

02-12-13

Dear Family. Another great week with a lot of hectic events and a lot of good events. Changes were this week and I’m staying. Elder Alvarez is going. I’m going to be a Trainer. Woopa! Pretty Excited. I leave for Montevideo tonight and get there tomorrow to pick up my kid. (We call the new missionaries kids and the trainers dads) a lot of missionary lingo.

This last week we had a Baptism of the family Gonzalez. It was a good baptism. I really hope we can help these people keep going in the church. To endure till the end. 

This Next Week we have another baptism. Sandra is her Name. We’ve been working on her for 3 months now. This Friday she is going to get married and this Saturday she’s going to get baptized. She is somebody that has changed her whole life around. She rides her bike every Sunday to church. It’s not a quick bike ride either. Great sacrifice. A good sign of repentance. I’m really excited for her. I’ll send the photos.

That’s really quite amazing that president Bangerter mentioned me. I remember that interview, and I still try to do those things that I’m expected to do. I think we all have been greatly blessed by being part of Brennan’s family and that much is required of us. I’m glad I could be an example for Wil. I don’t know how he looked up to me because really it was the other way around. I was blessed with great friends and with great leaders and with a great family. I’m trying to represent the Webster family the best I can.

The packages didn’t come. I really needed them to get here because I need my card. I just hope Heavenly Father will help me get through this week. Christmas packages: I got the cook book, the ties the cook mixes the Book of Mormon cards, 3 cds of music. Thanks so much Family. I love you all.

Here’s a picture of the baptism and my companion Elder Alvarez

02-04-13

Dear Family, This Week was another eventful week. With lots of work, work and more work. We even worked today during our p-day hours. I’ll explain later. But I’m very excited that Steve Got the Job. I was praying a lot for him, and it makes me very happy that Heavenly Father is watching over him and our family.

This week we had interviews with our mission president. I felt very happy to talk with him. Although we didn’t talk about anything special, I knew Heavenly Father knew of the things that I was doing and that he is pleased about my work. Later on, The President asked my zone leader what has been going on in Elder Webster’s area. And why it has been seeing so much success when it has been down for years. He responded they’ve simply been working. My zone leader told me that he has seen a great change in me since this transfer and last transfer. I’m happy to hear that I’ve actually changed and that others can see it.

Two weeks ago a lady named Sarah went to church by herself. She is good friends with a recent convert family and they invited her to go to church. She went, even though her good friends were out of town. We had no idea who she was until this last week. She has been having lots of problems in her life. Her Husband recently left her to raise her 4 kids alone after he and she lost work. She was looking for help when her friend told her that she needed to go to church. She’s gone 2 times now. We talked to her today during our p-time hours because she is very busy with work and raising her kids. But today we taught about the Book of Mormon and about the stories of deliverance. We gave her the story of Alma the Elder and his people when they were in bondage and how God freed them from their burdens. The member we brought shared her experience about her life and she also had the similar things happen to her. Divorced and raising 7 kids. But with the help of the Gospel and the Atonement of Christ it’s all possible. Please pray for her. She needs a lot of help.

I have been having problems sleeping still and I have been having back problems again…really bad. But I’m determined that it will not stop me from playing missionary like it did playing basketball. I’m doing all I can: stretching, ab exercises, sleeping with legs elevated to reduce the pressure. Hopefully it’ll go away soon. I think I’m just a little stressed out.

This next week we are going to have a baptism for Rosa, Angel and Juan Miguel. Please pray for them that they can be prepared for this day. Especially Rosa, she is having trouble quitting smoking.

Answers. Still no with the package and debit card. This last week the bank machine ate my missionary debit card. So right now I don’t have any money. I have to go to the bank tomorrow to go and try to get it back. I really hope my package comes tomorrow, or I might have to go another week without money.

Family I love you, Thank you for everything

Love Elder Webster

01-27-13

Hey family how’s it going. I’m doing well in sunny Uruguay. I got sun burnt pretty bad this week. I went on divisions with some elders in my district and I forgot my hat and my sun block. We ended up walking for a long time in the sun. Ugh, I hate getting sun burnt.

This week was pretty good. I’m enjoying the work and we are witnessing a lot of help from the Lord. I realize that I need to become better as a missionary, with handling responsibility and learning to plan better. My Spanish can always get a little better, but right now we are working with a family to get baptized. The Gonzalez Family. We were afraid of asking the mom (Elizabeth) to get baptized because we did not think that she was married. She is very poor, and many Uruguayans choose to forgo marriage.  I finally asked at the end of a lesson. And she said yes she is married. A great weight was lifted from our shoulders learning that. We are now helping them get more involved with the ward. We are receiving a lot of help from the ward. We are excited to see a family investigating the church. Please pray for them, they still need a lot of help.

I’ll be praying a lot for Stephen this week; I really hope he will get this job. I know he’s been through a lot. It’ll be great if he can get this job. I remember watching videos with him about this mascot. I love how the mascot looks. 

Questions:

I need a few things.

I need a new IPod cord. The white one that has a usb connecter.

With Lauren, I was wondering if you can send some more photos with her playing volleyball. More action shots if that’s possible.

Try to get an update on Elder Scott from Hurricane

Answers:

1. I’m ok, I’m a little tired. Finding it hard to sleep at night. Just thinking about all of the things I have to do the next day.

Transfers are the 12^th of Feb. Coming up pretty quick.

One thing I’m learning is trying to help people with the work, when they know a lot more than me. I’m learning how to deal with pressure, stress management, all that jazz. I’m also learning how to let myself have more fun.

Ok family I love you, and thanks so much for all of your love and support.

Elder Webster