Monday, October 25, 2010

Jaydan and Elder Bolanos on the border of Uruguay and Brazil.
This week there were changes but Jaydan and his comp are staying put. They also have an Italian Missionary living with, Elder Liccoli. So I guess that makes 1 1/2 Italians (the 1/2 is Jaydan) in their house. Jaydan really likes him and thinks he is super cool. They are already great friends. Jaydan had met him in Paysandu (his first zone).
They had Stake Conference that was broad casted. Jaydan said it was pretty different and he still didn't understand much. He is still struggling with the language. He does have faith however that he really will learn it or why would God send him to a place he would need to know Spanish. He works hard and tries not to worry but admitted to getting impatient at times.
A lot of times when the missionaries go to a house the parents will tell the kids to tell the Elders that the parents aren't home. The Elders are aware of that and so they tell the kids to ask the parents when it would be a good time to come back. They did this to one little girl and pretty soon the dad came out and they were able to have a good lesson with him. It was about the plan of salvation which needed to be heard and turned out really good. The spirit was strong and Jaydan did alright with the language.
Elida, the really good lady that they have been teaching, had another appointment with the Elders. They planned on teaching about the 10 commandments but since she asked them why they didn't drink coffee they had a discussion on the Word of Wisdom instead. Jaydan said he did okay but had a few struggles getting through the lesson. He reminded himself that it is through our trials that we learn. (trying to stay positive and real)
Jaydan mentioned that his comp has been getting discouraged a little lately and so Jaydan said he was trying to pull off a "Dr Phil". He tried to help his comp look at the bright side of things. Even though things are hard they should be happy since the Lord is on their side and as they push through their trial and difficulties they will be blessed for their faith and diligence. Jaydan mentioned he tries to remember that himself since he is has a lot of trials and challenges. He knows he will be blessed if he keeps working hard and enduring to the end and not giving up. Having that attitude has helped him to be happy. His attitude has also helped his comp because Jaydan just won't let things that are not in his control get him down. (like people not wanting to listen) Jaydan just tells his comp that if people don't want to listen it isn't the missionaries fault...they simply aren't ready. Then instead of being down he is just excited to go find someone that they can teach. Jaydan loves helping others out and knows that him and his comp are in their companionship to help each other.
Love to all family and friends (including Hollie)
PS A really good talk to look up about "Becoming a Missionary" is by Elder Bednar. It is found in the November 2005 Ensign. Not just good for those preparing for missions but for everyone!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

all mixed up

Jaydan is staying where he is for awhile. There were changes but Jaydan and his comp, Elder Bates, are staying put. Jaydan is happy about that since he loves the people and the area a lot. Jaydan is still getting bugged by his comp....and thinks that maybe that is why they are still together. (they need to learn to get along)

Jaydan wants really bad to keep the rules so that they can be blessed. However when things don't go exactly as planned he gets frustrated. (that's life...you have to be flexible) He is really trying though and praying a lot for help. Jaydan really does want to do what is right.

Last week they had divisions and Jaydan went out teaching with Elder Acosta, the one who kissed him after general conference from Paraguay. They did pretty good for only having half a day. Since Elder Acosta is the Zone Leader they had other things that they needed to do too. They worked in Jaydan's area and where able to find their way around pretty good.

They did a service project for a lady. They were able to help her paint her house. Jaydan said the wall he painted was cement and in really bad shape but ended up looking pretty good. The lady really complimented him and made him feel good.

There were a few people that showed up for church. Some investigators and some in actives. Jaydan thought it was awesome. He loves seeing people follow through on their commitments. One of the investigators thinks that Jaydan is cute and flirts with him a bit. The missionaries try to take a young women from the ward with them now so that she will have friends. Jaydan and his comp are finding so many good people to teach. They are hoping for some great baptisms this change.

Jaydan is needing some recipes since all the houses have ovens and the missionaries are able to cook. So if anyone has any recipes that you would like to share feel free to do so.

Jaydan loves everyone so freaking much....in fact more than watermelon and he really loves watermelon.

The weather is hot there so opposite of what we are experiencing!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Harry Potter must be True!

Jaydan and Elder Bolanos. Jaydan doing his fat neck trick! (can you say chubby bunny?)
A treat from home! Jaydan loves waffle crisp cereal. Yummy!
Jaydan was feeling good this week. He addressed us as "fart buckets". (but then reassured us that he liked us) This week went pretty good. The biggest change for Jaydan was that he made a huge promise with God that he would try really hard to be obedient to everything and get out of the house on time and get to appointments on time too. He knows that appointments are made for a reason and it is important to keep them. Since he has made this promise and worked hard at keeping it he is much happier with a better attitude and the days go by so much quicker. Also his Spanish is tons better. It still isn't super great but he does have his moments. He can tell that his Spanish or attitude aren't as good when he isn't trying his hardest to keep all the rules. It's also when he doesn't have as much patience for his companion. So he does realize it is important to keep his promise always. (he thinks he is pathetic for taking so long to realize that)
Another "big" thing right now is.....Jaydan. When he left for the mission he weighed 135 and now he is 160!!! Twenty five pounds in five months......uh oh!!! (I (mom) think he was just wanting to be best at something and eating seemed to be that something) Jaydan has now limited himself to only two plates at most and no more trans fat. He said that is what kills ya here and every meal has tons of grease or oil, mostly oil. Jaydan doesn't think he really looks fat except for maybe his neck.
They had divisions again and Jaydan was with the District Leader, Elder Cespedas, from Paraguay. Jaydan thinks he is way cool. (Elder Cespedas...probably himself too) Jaydan said they walked and they walked. They walked and walked some more. In fact they walked all day. (sounds like the pioneer song) They contacted a few people but really only talked to maybe three. One of which was already set up. The Elder liked the girl where they had the appointment set up for. Jaydan could tell because he kept bringing her up in their conversations throughout the day. Instead of teaching her the other Elder pretty much flirted with her and so after trying a few times to get on track Jaydan gave up. After that they walked some more. Jaydan kept expecting another appointment but there weren't any more set up. It made for a long day and a lot of walking. Jaydan said they kept going from one corner of the mission to the next for like 6 hours. They finally found a lady they could talk with. She only believed in the Bible and so Jaydan asked her how she knew that it was true. When she answered Jaydan would repeat her and then she got to the point where she said "because I read it". Jaydan asked the lady if she believed in Harry Potter and of course she said "no, it is just for entertainment." Jaydan told her that he read Harry Potter books and so they must be true too if you could tell just by reading them. At that point he got her attention and they were able to talk to her. They talked about prayer and how it is through prayer that we can find out if things are true or not. Jaydan felt like the Lord had blessed him in that situation!
There is another guy that lives in Jaydan's area who is a "heavy Evangelist" and knows tons about the Bible. He is a bit like the other lady and doesn't want to accept another book for being true. He already has the truth in his hands so isn't interested in anything else. Jaydan asked him "how do you know? Have you asked God?" The guy said "no....I asked myself". Jaydan used Harry Potter with him too except in a different way. Jaydan asked the guy if he followed what the Bible said and he replied "ya, of course." Jaydan then brought out the point that the Bible says there are to be two books testifying of Christ. The guy thought about it and said "yes". Jaydan then asked the guy if he was going to follow the Bible and believe what it said. That there is another book....another testament of Jesus Christ. (just like it says on the cover of the Book of Mormon) That at least got him thinking.
The worst thing Jaydan did this week was to walk past a drunk guy that had fallen. Jaydan's comp had walked past him and so Jaydan did too and it has been bugging him since. He wishes he would have at least stopped and sat him up against the wall. Jaydan wants to help everyone and feels terrible that he just left the guy on the ground. He's even thinking that people will probably judge the Mormon's and think that we don't help others in need. Lesson learned and he will stop if there is a next time.
Mucho amor de
Thee Elder Ropelato

Monday, October 4, 2010

This week went super quick!
Monday: they cleaned all day long because they were going to have interviews with the President. (told us that last week)

Tuesday: Had there district meeting and got his PACKAGE!!! It was perfect timing for Jaydan since it was the week of conference. He loved his new slippers, cereal and treats. It was just nice to get some "love" from home. Jaydan ran into some Elders from Brazil but they didn't know Elder Arrant. Jaydan would have loved running into someone he knew...but it didn't happen.

Wednesday: They had interviews with the President and Jaydan was the last out of the four in his house. By the time it was his turn the President was in a hurry and this is how Jaydan's interview went: Hey Elder how is your ward? Jaydan: "Oh, it's good the members are way strong and helpful....at that point he is stopped so the President could tell him a story. Then the President asks: how Rivera is and before Jaydan could respond or even open his mouth he was told another story. The last question was: Do you have anything you would want to talk about? Just as Jaydan's mouth opened the President said: "okay...I gotta go." So really Jaydan didn't have an interview at all. Jaydan was hoping to get some advice concerning his comp and what he could do to make things better. He was cheated!

Thursday: They had a service project and Jaydan felt like it was pretty worthless. The moved little pieces of wood (Jaydan's comp just played while they were suppose to be cleaning). They took some bikes to the bike shop. When they got back to the house the lady that they were helping needed to leave for work and so that project was over. Jaydan was frustrated with his comp and I think he might have even let him know.

Friday: Jaydan and his comp had planning day which Jaydan hates. His comp goes so slow and gets distracted with other things and so it takes a lot longer than it should. Jaydan was use to his last comp planning in the morning and then working in the afternoon and night. Now they only have the night to work and Jaydan thinks it stinks. They had inventory where they talk about what they need to work on and what they can do better. Also any problems that they might have with each other. When Jaydan's comp asked if there was anything he does that bothers Jaydan....Jaydan instantly answered "yes". His comps eyes got big like he was so surprised. Jaydan told him he despised him touching him all the time, and patting his head, and poking him. He let him know that he couldn't stand it and didn't want it to continue. (Jaydan said he would leave his hypocriticalness for next week to see how much Jaydan lets it's bug him)

The Conferences were awesome! Jaydan did stay awake through it all and was happy to let his brothers all know that! (EAT IT BROS!!!!YA) Now there are only three left during his mission. He even thought that the conferences went by like "lightening" and wishes that it hadn't come by so quickly.

There is a little 4 year old "lady" who is one of the cutest little girls ever. She just talks and talks and talks since her mom is never there when the missionaries stop by. One time the door was locked and she just talked through it saying that her mom just escapes the house and leaves her there. She always escapes this little girl and her little sister all day.....all day she escapes. Jaydan thought it was funny and cute.

After they had talked to another lady, when they were going to leave, another cute little girl was saying "beso beso" which means kiss. They do the "kiss thing" there. They told her that they couldn't and she started crying. On the 2nd visit she asked to shake their hands then and on the 3rd visit she started doing the "beso" (kiss) thing. She really wanted a kiss but the Elders told her no. She started crying when they left since she really liked Jaydan because he would play with her. She told her mom that she wanted to go with Jaydan and almost jumped off their wall down to him which was 10-11 feet. Jaydan promised that they would come back. It really touched Jaydan's heart. (he loves little kids like his parents do)

Jaydan really does not like being touched or hugged or kissed by any guy. On Sunday night there was an Elder that hugged him tight and even kissed his shoulder. Jaydan about flipped out and really wanted to hit the kid. He was the Zone leader in his other area too and bugged him then as well. ("time to drop the cane on my comp for being on the computer for more than an hour....j/k)

Mucho amor de
Thee Elder Ropelato