August 19, 2014 Como Debe Ser

Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey I had to write today due to an occupied ciber yesterday. But anyway...

Last week, I was able to do divisions with the ZLs. I was with Elder Gates from St. George. We're really good friends so it was a dang pleasure working with him. He's a baseball god, as well. We bought a big dinner of sandwiches and empanadas. Dropped some bills, but all in the name of #Divisions2k14. But other than that, we found some people who were soooo down to come to church and they ended up coming on Sunday. It was bitter-sweet because we're having trouble finding prepared people in our area but then we start working in their area and BOOM! make the magic happen. Oh well. My name will be on the teaching record. :)

We had MULTI-ZONE CONFERENCE! It was so boss. I got to see some of my loved ones from Clorinda and Fontana. Elder Vera, my last comp. in Fontana, just baptized four of the kids that we found in the colony. That was suuuper awesome to hear. Apparently they're having a lot of success in the area which I'm stoked about. It's nice to be able to see some of the fruits, you know? Also, at la conferencia multi-zona, they always give awards. I won "El Elder mas fachero" which means stylish, basically. Which is weird because I'm out here just getting pwned left and right by Argentina, but hey. But overall it was just weird, mainly because I made it really awkward. Like tucking the front of my sweater into my suit pants and doing my normal thing.

What else...P. Franco and Hermana Franco gave great trainings. I really do love them so much. Realest President ever. Straight rockin' a Michael Kors suit, man. But yeah, it was a good time. Real good.

Then Sunday rolled around. Everyone got ready, made themselves look nice, popped in their Sunday teeth and off they went. And guess what? WE FINALLY HAD INVESTIGATORS IN THE CHURCH! TWO! Pedro Piedrabuena (Goodrock) and Milagros. And it WAS a milagro! I was so happy. We've been working really hard and trying to improve our obedience...just the basics. Just trying to really focus in on the work and help our brothers and sisters here. Pedro is lookin' at enrollment for Get Dunked So Hard University, so we'll see where that goes. Milagros is 9 and is part of a less-active family. We're helping them come back to the Church and trying to help Milagros get baptized. It'll be waaay sweet. Anyway, we're happy. This is also the last week of the transfer, so we're just going to go wild and do everything we can to get them in the church again.

One other funny thing is that some people wear colored undershirts to church. So you have this nice white shirt giving off a soft neon-orange glow. Or neon-green. It's really funny haha.

But yeah, that's where we're at. Out here, we strugglin', we bumpin', we grindin', 2k14.

Pretty much have to shave every single day and it makes me want to cry. The only good thing is that the mustache game will be SO raw when I get back, holy smokes. #StacheWatch2k15

Anyway, I have to get going here but I just want to tell you all that I love you and pray for you! I know that this Gospel is true and I never thought I'd be in the position that I'm in today. It's really weird being a 20-year-old kid and giving people life-changing advice. But that's the power of the Gospel. This Gospel changes people and I know that through obedience to the Gospel, we will be happier than ever and that we will have eternal families. My testimony is that I know that the Gospel has changed me and will continue to do so. I have seen and experienced the difference between living the Gospel and just completely disregarding it. I know what I need to do to have joy in my life forever and I never want to take a different route. How great is it that if we know the Gospel is true, we never have to look for other ways to find happiness in this life! I love you all and wish you all the best. Those that are going back to school, that's a bummer. Lolz. Just playin'. I love you like a love song. <33333333333

I am Alec Sipple, son of Scott Sipple. Captain of the armies of Formosa, defender of the faith, servant of our Lord.

Godspeed, my bretheren.



Me and Elder Gates going ham sandwich on some food

Me, some Oreos, and the Francos!














My dogs in Formosa. Elders Perez, White, Naumann, Gates, and Sipple














Gettin' serious..except for Elder Gates. Always happy.

August 11, 2014

Well, another week, am I right? Hit the ninth month, so weird. So cute, though.
I can't seem to avoid stepping in poop everywhere I go. Call yaboii "Poop Shoes" because seriously, I ALWAYS have poop on my shoes. Hate it.

Couple stories. We found a guy who maaaaaay have been a prophet in disguise. The following quote from this man will blow your mind. He was this old guy who had glasses that appeared to be made out of bullet-proof glass. SO thick. So we were trying to talk to him and he just kept interrupting us with his mind-blowing wisdom. He dropped the followed knowledge bomb on us: "I know a lot of things about the Bible. Almost everything. Jesus Christ said, 'I mistook myself...I am going to kill everyone who doesn't observe my prayer.'" WHAT?! Did NOT know that that was in the Bible. Haha it was a good time with our prophet friend.

Then there is this lady. This woman is the friend of some of the converts of Elder Delgado. We go by to teach their mom and get her to come to church and what not and every single dang time that we are getting somewhere with her, this woman comes in and just DESTROYS the lesson. Holy smokes. One time, she interrupted a lesson to tell us that she doesn't read the Bible, but she reads a lot of books. Also, one Christmas, she saw an angel fall out of the sky, sit down and take a rest, then fly away. Then she later clarified that it was one of Santa Claus' angels and that she saw him fly away and join the rest of the angels supposedly "pulling Santa's sleigh." After that clarification it made a lot more sense to me...she had been tripping on acid during Christmas. Anyway, it really is like every single time that we have a baller lesson, she comes in and just starts talking and talking and talking. It's incredible. It's like clock-work. This time she interrupted a lesson about the Book of Mormon and its importance to tell us she believes in reincarnation. We were really happy to hear it! Haha gotta love the people, am I right?

We arrived to one lesson and this guy who had been drinking a bit started telling me the history of my country and how we are all evil. He is a little bitter about the Falklands War with the British. He said that everyone in the US is British and that we are all "chorros" or thiefs, basically. He later added "not to offend you," which made it alright haha. But needless to say, I told him I loved his country and we hit 'em with a little Leviticus 19:18.

There is this lady of about 55 years who really likes me. She's married and has a little quiosco where she sells churros and other postres. Anyway, she always thinks that we don't have anything in the US haha. Like with everything she gives me she asks, "But you guys don't have this in your country, right?" She even did it with pancakes and I was like, "If only you even KNEW what we do with pancakes back in the US of A. GBA." She was technically making crepes, but oh well. She gave me a really difficult glass of water the other day. I arrived and asked if she could do me a favor and give me a cup of water because we were out of water in the pension. She told me that I shouldn't ask for a favor when it's just a cup of water. She said it is her duty as my sister in the Gospel of Christ and then went on to give me tons of examples in order to help me understand the difference between a favor and just asking for something because it's someone's duty. A lot of them were related to women and asking my friends to lend me their wife. Then a girl who was very scantily-clad came up to the store and became involved in the examples. SOOOO uncomfortable because I had this 55-year-old-desert-making-married woman and some other girls flirting with me and calling me a desert. Ahhhhh I just wanted a glass of water. Most difficult glass of water in my life. Her husband just eyed me down with his triangular mustache the whole time. It was bad.

We had zone meeting after the ZLs had their meeting with P. Franco. He changed a lot of things that have to do with our numbers and goals of excellence and what not. We are REALLY working with members now. Still can't play soccer, so I might cry. But that's okay. The people that live below us have a sweet guitar so I play it sometimes. I'm happy. But yeah, P. Franco comin' in and doin' work! I'm way stoked about the changes. It's a little harder now (a lot harder) but I think that we are going to see a lot of improvement.

We found this lady who was straight up PREPARED. Which was nice because we see a lot of rejection here. She is our only hope right now haha. She was Catholic, but she told us that worshipping all of the Saints and the Virgin just didn't seem right because they aren't God or Jesus. That was boss. She just understood everything which is really rare here haha. I was soooo stoked. We were throwing inspired questions at her left and right and she was just shooting them with such accuracy. Didn't come to church hahaha buuuuuuuut we found her on Saturday so it's okay. We're going to get her this week.

Gosh, I just can't get over the singing here. In the Priesthood class, we were singing a hymn and we just had a straight up unintentional round going on haha. It was sooooo bad.

But yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, lost of fun this week. Just have to make the best of the hard times and smile. Look for the good in everything, you know? We still really don't have anyone progressing, but were bringing less-active and inactive members to church so that's awesome. I'm just happy to be here and I know that blessings come after trials, so we just have to keep working and putting our faith in the Lord. Anyway, I love you all to dang death and I hope that you all accomplish your dreams this week. "Si no me pica, NO ME GUSTA!" - Member of the ward who served her mission in Tijuana. She was talking about spicy food, but that has become our motto here in Lujan. Love you. Paz, bendiciones, y una buena torta frita.

Love,
Poop Shoes

Sipple, Chuy, Delgado, Ulloa

Getting really Asian with some bamboo

Teaching some sweet, sweet Plan de Salvación

Riding to church in the truck! I've got Patrocinio next to me and the dude is a real life Oompa Loompa. Seriously. He's like a little ball with legs. His wife, too! So awesome. 

August 4, 2014

Couldn't think of a decent title. Just a lot of weird things this week haha.

Some funny things that have happened...one time, in our district meeting, we were doing a practice. I was trying to refer to Jesus as "el hijo unigenito de Dios," which would be the only-begotten Son of God, but I accidentally said "el primo unigenito," which would be the only-begotten cousin of God...so...False Doctrines with Elder Sipple.

We did't have power for three days. :):) My meat went bad, everything melted and the apartment was covered with water. :) Luckily, it was cold outside during those three days and we didn't have power to heat the freezing cold water that comes out of the shower, so I REALLY woke up in the mornings. :) Also, I think I set a personal record for "the least amount of breathing during a ten-minute shower." So, neat-o! Without power, we whipped out the candles that people gifted us and rolled around 1800's style...felt like ol' Bobby Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Just minus the handsome-ness and accuracy with a gun. But I did shoot a feather in half with a black powder rifle at scount camp once. For questions of my credibility, I refer you to my dad and the other members of Troop 1441 (I think).

Oooooo this one is good. So us four Elders who live together, Ulloa, Chuy, Delgado, and Sipple, were returning from a meeting in the church. We were on one of the city buses that was full of kids coming back from school. Anyway, a bunch of them were getting off and suddenly these two girls just THREW DOWN! And I mean THREW. DOWN. Pulling hair, punching...it was nuts. They went to the floor and were scrappin' around pretty wildly. We just stared...we're probably on YouTube or something. I think YouTube came to film it. I'm sure of it. Anyway, the driver came to break it up but one of the girls tried to keep going so he pushed her and she went to Smack City against the window! Classic! Got a dang Masters degree from Smack So Hard University. So he kicked them off and then we just marveled at what we had seen. THEN we proceeded to cook the best fried chicken that you will ever find on this half of the earth. It was almost KFC. All that was missing was Colonel Slanders (shout out to Kyle, HMU, you feel me).

Last highlight. It was a dark Friday night and Elder Delgadito and Elder Sipple were walking on a dark, dirt road. Delgadito told me that something was biting him. We thought that it was just the usual cloud of mosquitos that is typical of Formosa. Then I started to feel the bite and I was thinking...dang, these mosquitos REALLY want some of my liquids. They're penetrating two layers of moving clothes. Then it spread to my whole body...and right when we arrived at a members house, I pulled a big dang black ant out of my shirt! As many of you know, I hate bugs. HATE them. This was one of my nightmares. So we entered the house, keeping our cool, and asked for the bathroom. Of course, the bathroom didn't have light. So I left the bathroom and told Elder Delgado that we had to leave and go next door to another member's house. So we ran out and just started clapping wildly at the other member's gate until one of their sons left. I told him that I had ants all over my body and needed to use his bathroom. Thank goodness he let me in. I ran in and just started ripping off my clothes in their muddy bathroom. Also, the humidity was at a low 100% and it was daaaang hot. So yaboii was just sweaty and yelling as he pulled off ants from his entire body. So yeah, another neat experience. I love Argentina. :)

But other than that, not much more has been going on. Little dry spell in the area, but that's okay. We're working through it and we're still excited to find those people who are waiting for the Gospel to arrive at their door, dripping with sweat and exhausted from walking but still smiling because we have the knowledge of God's perfect plan for us. :) 

Wanna drop some scriptural reading on you right now. Doctrince and Covenants sections 121 and 122. I was reading them recently and they are sooo powerful. I'm going to paste the first couple verses of section 122 here. I love you all sooo much!

1 The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee;

 2 While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand.

 3 And thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors.

 4 And although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, and into bars and walls, thou shalt be had in honor; and but for a smallmoment and thy voice shall be more terrible in the midst of thine enemies than the fierce lion, because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever.

 5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;

 6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;

 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

...am I right?

Love,

Elder Sipple

Fried chicken...felt s'dang American. GBA.

20.......July 28, 2014

Feels so good to be twenty. Two decades of wisdom in me.

This week, I made garlic bread.
The dang 'enter' button on this keyboard is broken so every single dang time I hit it, it puts like five million miles between my sentences.
There it goes again, holy SMOKES.

Also, a prostitue threw me a birthday party. However, I didn't know she was a prostitute until later. And still, the prostitute claims aren't 100% confirmed. She's an exotic dancer at the least. But anyway, I met her when I got here. She is the friend of some of the converts of Elder Delgado, my companion who I still haven't introduced haha. Anyway, she told me she'd have us all over for my birthday and so obviously I accepted. NOTHING INAPPROPRIATE HAPPENED, dang, cool DOWN out there. But yeah...we ate some good hamburgers and cake. I'll send some pictures, don't you worry. She doesn't look like a prosty, okay? You wouldn't think that she is if you met her haha. ANYWAY.

We also made empanadas this week (for my birthday on Saturday) and rode home from church in a weird truck. Also, our P-Day was pretty rad. Spent a little time downtown, got taken out to lunch by one of the other elder's investigators, and went to Grido's for some ice cream. Real good stuff.

But yeah, not too much information about investigators because.........not many of them are real right now haha. Kind of arrived and we didn't have anything going on. A lot of rejection this week, but that's how it is. We just have to stay positive and go to work. "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel." -Joseph Smith.
It's true; there are people out there waiting for the Gospel and we have been called to bring it to them. We can't let rejection or other minor things get in the way of our purpose and our duty that we have as missionaries and members of the church. Sometimes it's hard, and God knows that it's hard and that we will struggle, but he has put us where we are for a reason and will never give us trials, difficulties, hardships or burdens that are too difficult to endure, bear, or conquer. I know that this is true and that if we put all of our trust in the Lord, He will take care of the rest. I love you all so much and I wish beautiful blessings upon each and every one of your sweet, oily heads.

Love,
Elder Sipple

Hamburgers (the woman in question is on the left)

 A little burstday crake

 I guess there is a tradition here where you have to take a bite of the cake

 Call me the "Empanada Princess"

FORMOSA LA HERMOSA LA RECIBE..........July 21, 2014

Yeah, yaboii is in Formosa Capital!!!! I am finally in civilization! Transfers did me right, did me reeeeaaaalllllll nice. my area is Barrio Lujan. We live with the district leader and his companion. Our pension used to be where the branch in Lujan met on Sundays, but they combined with another branch to form a ward which is WHERE I'M CURRENTLY STATIONED. YEAH, A WARD. Holy smokes, I was in shock on Sunday. All three meetings, a bunch of members...it was delicious. We actually have lunch with members so that's good news for my health and for my wallet. Members are super downsies to help us out and everything. It's straight up heaven here, y'all. We have a decent shower and weights that are a little too heavy for ol' Elder "Noodle Arms" Sipple, but that's okay. They look way cool on the ground, too. It gives the illusion that we are strong. It's like a symbol of a dream that isn't really reachable right now. But yeah, weights. Also, still haven't gotten used to public breast-feeding. Do NOT know why that's a thing here. God bless the USA for that reason. During lessons people will just start up the feeding frenzy and it's super weird. But, así es la vida de los misioneros.

But dang, what else? Went into downtown Formosa today and it blew my dang MIND to be in an actual big city. I'm telling you, I thought I was at home or something. The only Argentina I knew was...way different haha. Now all were missing is the fast-food game, but hey, that's alright. It's really beautiful downtown. The river, el Rio Paraguay, I believe, is in the downtown area as well. Pictures to CRUMB! So that was righteous. I want to spend my whole mission here in Formosa Capital haha. We actually have decent stores. There is a store called Chango Mas which is owned by Wal-Mart so it has all of the Great Value brand stuff. They always have killer deals so we go to Shop So Hard University there. They also have a lot of the same clothes that Wal-Mart sells back home, which is nice. Might buy some corderoy pants for 20 bones, who knows. But, long story short, yaboii is in straight PARADISE right now.

Something cool is that we had a "Mini MTC" here on Saturday. Youth from all over Formosa came to do a little mini MTC and leave to work with the missionaries for a bit. President and Hermana Franco came so we got to hear from them and talk to them a bit. It was an awesome experience. It's awesome to see the love of the Gospel and the Church in the youth here. I have been thinking a lot about the youth and I'm excited to be able to work with a lot of them here in this ward. I know how important it is to start early; to develop an understanding of the Gospel and God's plan for us, the importance of our baptism and the potential that we are all capable of achieving. I wish that I had developed a love for the Gospel earlier in my life, but for that reason I am here sharing my experiences and the things that I have learned with the people in Argentina. I know that God has a plan for all of us and that we truly can become like Him. But anyway, I love you all and I hope that everything is going swimmingly out there in North America. And wherever else my loved ones might be. I love you!

Love,
Elder Sipple

P.S. My birthday is on the 23rd...

Yaboii in Formosa

A picture of me saying goodbye to Ezequiel and Julieta

Our cool second-story pension (look how cool the weights are)

                                              

A cool panoramic of the Paraguay River    

Elder "Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball" Sipple over here

Hotel Formosa...an actual nice building

The church here in my area

Mojados.........July 14, 2013

Julieta's baptism went through! It was fantastic. We pretty much spent two days figuring out all of the stuff for the baptism. We ran into all sorts of problems, as usual, but powered on through - Elder Vera and Elder Sipple vs. the world. We filled up the font with the rain water and what not and when it was full, it was a really gross yellow color. We thought it was because of the drain in the font, so we drained it and filled it again. Just the same color. So we just went with it. Then we had to try to heat up the water. It was dang cold and we don't really have a decent way to heat the water, so we spent a morning/afternoon boiling water and pouring it into the font. It ended up not making a difference haha. But the good part is is that Julieta showed up and she got dunked REAL good. We are really excited for her and for her friend, Ezequiel, who is going to be baptized on the 26th. It's a great situation for them. Her dad is an inactive member, so she is a baller example right now.

Anyway, this last week we had interviews with P. Franco and Hermana Franco! They are soooooo righteous. They still have pretty strong accents when they speak English. Something I didn't know is that Presidente Franco is one of the owners of those watch stores "Precision Time." So that's neat. But anyway, they are both super frinedly and you can just feel their love for the Gospel and for us as missionaries. We are all way stoked to work with them.

And yes, World Cup. Sadly/luckily, none of the craziness really goes down here in Fontana. The people party and stuff, but it's pretty much just for one night. Or less. But from what I heard, in the other more populated places in the mission, the people were going buck WILD during their game against Belgium and then during the game on Sunday. They all just ended up celebrating second place. Glass half-full type of people here. Buuuuuuuut yes, that happened. I'm just glad that we can continue working and that we don't have to hang out in the pension for hours now.

That's pretty much it for this week, though. I didn't have some super weird/gross experience this last week, unfortunately. Just posted up here in Fontana. Transfers are tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Oh yeah, I hit my 8 monther. That's kind of weird.

Spiritual thought real quick. Just be like Christ. In everything you do, just think about what Jesus would do in that situation. Obviously we aren't going to be perfect and make the right choice every single time, but I know that if we strive to live more like our Savior and give it our best effort, we will be blessed and we will be able to develop Christ-like attributes. Always seek to help others and lift them up. It is so easy to judge people and place ourselves above others. But the truth is is that we don't know or understand anyone like our Heavenly Father does and for that reason, we should always seek to lift another. Christ didn't only go to the people that accepted him and treated him well. He preached to all; He always sought to help and to bless the lives of all of His brothers and sisters.

Thanks for all of the prayers and love. I love you all REAL good and I hope that everyone is just balling their way through life.

""Don't be afraid to shoot the outside 'J'." - Troy Bolton" - ALEC SIPPLE

Peace and Blessings. :)

#RT #1RTequals1Pray 

Oh yeah, I made some chili with one of my chili packets. It was sooooo dang good and I felt so American.

Elder Sipple stirring up the hot water

E'Sipple and E'Vera straight slaying it on boiling duty

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Maple Syrup and Sweet, Sweet Success.....July 7, 2014

This week was interesting. We went on divisions with our zone leaders on Wednesday. I went to Ibarreta to work with Elder Taylor from Provo and Elder Vera stayed in our area to work with Elder Mudrovich from Chile. Elder Taylor is a fantastic missionary. He is about to finish up his mission in October. Anyway, I stayed there with him until Friday morning. It was a real trip haha. First of all, in their pension, their shower is broken so you have to boil water, mix it with some of the rain water that we have to collect and then shower with a cup. But the good part is that no one can really take a long "shower." I love experiences like that haha. A good reminder of Clorinda. Then, Elder Taylor doesn't have a bed frame or anything, just an old foam mattress on the ground. His companion has the bed frame. E'Taylor's back was killing him from sleeping on it for months on end so I took one for the team and made it my home for the division. Another highlight is that he has some maple extract so y'already KNOW that we made pancakes and syrup. The syrup turned out to be more of a sugary water-dip, but it still tasted a little like syrup haha. Then, he GIFTED me his other maple extract so y'all don't even have to ax me...FRYNNA BE COOKIN'. So juiced on that. But now to the cooler part of divisions. They also have a colony of natives in their area. Their colony is within walking distance, so they work a lot there. Also, they are having a ton of success there. They have totally transformed the colony. You can literally feel the Spirit being poured out on the people. The missionaries have the confidence of all the people. Everyone is always saying "hega" to the Mormons. They literally have people finding THEM and telling them that they want to be baptized haha. It's so nuts! We found like nine new investigators and they all have baptismal dates. It was righteous and I learned a lot from Elder Taylor. We taught some sweet, simple Gospel and I had the time of my life. Now to the best part of the division. We were visiting a member family in the colony to help some of the daughters with their English homework. While Elder Taylor was helping them, a bunch of the little kids were climbing all over me and wanted me to take pictures with them. This little girl who is about 3 or 4 (I think her name is Julie) climbed up and sat on my leg. She was just having a great time and I was loving playing with the little kids. Then, I caught a whiff of a really strong, pungent odor. I looked Julie right in the eyes and she looked back, seemingly reading my mind. She knew exactly what had happened. All I could think was, "No, no no no no...NO!" But as she slid off of my leg and scampered away, the nightmare became all too real. Julie dang PEED HER PANTS ON MY LEG! Straight up peed her pants on MY pants! Julie peed MY pants. I sat there and stared and the big wet spot and felt the moisture seep into my clothing. With a big smile on my face, I told Elder Taylor, in English, what had happened. We laughed and laughed because we couldn't believe what had happened haha. We took a little video of us telling the family what had happened and how they felt about it, but they couldn't understand us because we were talking in English hahaha. They just laughed and laughed like the natives always do. We didn't tell them what happened, just left a sweet blessing on the family and their home and went on our way. So yeah, that was neat.

Couple other random things. The lider of the group in our colony, Presidente Ernesto Flores, is such a funny guy. He was in an Evangelical church (I have forgotten how to say 'Evangelical' in English...is it the same?) before he joing our church. So, when he is up there bearing his testimony, he gets a little wild! Also, every single time he refers to the Book of Mormon, he says, "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ." I love it.

Then, we had to walk back from church in the colony yesterday. I made some videos, sang some songs, etc. Can't wait to show you all my videos from the mish haha...so embarrassing. But anyway, we tried to hitch-hike our way back but only caught a ride in the back of a pick-up when we got to the outskirts of Fontana. It was great, though, and we got some sweet, salty exercise.

Also, last night, this guy found us outside of our pension and started speaking in English to me. He told me that he is an English teacher here and that he wants me to come in and speak to his class. Present myself, talk about my country, etc. Not sure if we are allowed to do it, but I'm going to ask for permission! I think it would be super sweet and a great way to meet new people.

But yeah, that was my week. We have transfers coming up this next Tuesday/Wednesday. Also, we have interviews with President and Hermana Franco on Thursday! So stooookkkeeeeeddd to meet them.

Anyway, the Lord is bound when we do what He says. He will always, ALWAYS make good on His promises. All we have to do is keep the comandments that he has given us. :) I know that this Gospel changes lives and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes possible the great plan of salvation. I love you all and I hope you all enjoyed the 4th of July in our blessed, wonderful country! GBA, baby, GBA. Luvzz.

Love,

Elder Sipple

Elder Sipple gets chopped......June 30, 2014

I'm not sure what my problem is...I just keep putting my trust and my hair in the hands of these people who are nowhere near qualified to handle it haha. It's a real joy. This time, I went to "Papatto," a 65 year-old "hair veteran." He's a bit rounder than most. As he sat me down in his chair of doom, I saw his sign that listed the many different types of cuts that he could perform..."The American" and the "Kind-of American." Without any questions asked or suggestions taken, he just started to cut me down to a fragment of what I used to be. I think I ended up with the "Kind-of American," but there's no way of knowing. I have an appointment to fix the left side of my noggin, as it appears that I recently fought head-to-head with a powerful Black&Decker weed whacker. 7 horse power. So yeah, look good, preach good!

Well, things here are pretty rockin', to say the least. We lost about two days of work in our area due to the mission conference and other travels, but we TOTALLY made up for it. Elder Vera and I straight tore it up this week. We were crankin' out the lessons and finding new investigators like never before. It rained a bunch, the weather got really cold, and the entire town turned to mud, but we plowed through. Elder Vera was bragging about how he had never fallen in the mud in his year and a half in the mission...and then totally ate it in the mud haha. This week was so wild...running in the mud with our big boots on (when Elder Vera fell) to catch buses and pretty much just giving it our all. That's how I want it to be every single week! My feet are killing me, but I'm so happy about it! We had seven investigators in the church, which is above the number of excellence for the mission. We are really starting to see a lot of the tasty, beautiful fruits of our labors. It was a straight up miracle and I know that we couldn't have done it without a lot of sincere prayer and blessings from Heavenly Father. We're looking at a pretty milky month of July. Which reminds me, happy dang 4th of July this week! Can't believe it haha. It's soooo weird, I feel like it should be Christmas.

Let's see, other highlights...YABOII BOUGHT HANDSOAP! First time in the mission that I've had some handsoap in the bathroom. :) Funny Mango scent, too. It's a beautiful thing. Oh, we found some cool parasites in our water, but luckily it's just the water that we use to shower, wash dishes, wash clothes and our hands...but now I can't stop thinking about the times when the shower water entered into my nose, mouth and eyes...what I've decided is that I'm si o si (for sure) coming back with parasites. I'm going to come home just a complete mess haha. But it'll be s'dang worth it!

Elder Vera and I are trying to learn a little Tova while we are in the colony working. I can say a couple phrases and greetings, so I feel pretty cool. We kept saying "hello" to people in Tova and they looked like they had just seen a white boy speak their native tongue...oh wait...THEY DID SEE A WHITE BOY SPEAK THEIR NATIVE TONGUE. SUP! I'm excited about it.

The other cool thing is that the US hasn't been eliminated yet and I'm really banking on a win against Belgium because I REALLY want to play against Argentina. Then when we win, I'll be the only person out partying in the streets and they'll probably capture me and end my life. :) No, not really...but maybe...

Anyway, I know I wrote less than a week ago so not much has happened. But I love you all so much and I want to thank you for the emails, thoughts and prayers. We out here strugglin', bumpin', grindin' and preachin' the fiery Gospel. I love it and I love y'all. I know Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of you and that he has so many special things waiting for you. Peace and blessings!

Love,
Elder Sipple

#GodBlessTheUSA #GBA #GodBlessAmerica #GameBoyAdvance #SmallTownGirl

E'Sipple knockin' some sweet mahogany

 A cool dome house in the colony

We Out Here .........June 25, 2014

Hey, how's it goin', Elder Sipple here again. Not too much action this week, but I have a couple of gems.

We saw two tucans in Fontana which was SO real. Second time in my mission! They were in a tree fighting. I will include a picture, but it's not very good. Also, one night, a friend of the Sire family brought them a little armadillo that they found in campo. So that was neat. But I was super sick so I didn't take a picture...which leads me into my next story. I got sick again!

CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING STORY MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC MATERIAL ONLY SUITABLE FOR ADULTS

There I was, Friday morning. Uneasy feeling in my stomach. I wasn't feeling too well, but I thought it would go away by the time we had to go to the colony. Totally didn't! When we got to the taxi to take us to the colony, I stood there for like five minutes trying to decide if I should go or not. I decided to sacrifice for la obra misional, for the sweet, fiery gospel. So we get to the colony and I'm already sweating, feeling like I'm on the brink of death. We walked for a bit and contacted a woman who really didn't understand Castellano. We started to talk with her and introduce the message. While I was explaining part of it, I felt like I was going to throw up, so I told Elder Vera that he had to talk haha. Shortly after, I excused myself, went to the bushes surrounding the house, and just let it all it. Multiple times. All while Elder Vera carried on the lesson haha. I didn't make it too far from them, maybe like 50 feet or so. The worst part is that all of the starving colony dogs instantly swarmed me and started eating like it was 1999. :/ SOOOO gross. But, I immediately felt better, went back and finished up the lesson with some sweet testimony and a "Mas vale." Then like an hour later I started to feel worse and got a fever. But I made it through the whole day, even though I probably shouldn't have decided to work haha. But the good news is that it passed and I was better the next day. But now all of my dog friends are going to be expecting tasty snacks whenever I show up, so that's a real pain in the buns.

The other highlight is that we had our mission conference to say goodbye to President and Hermana Heyman! It was fantastic. I spent most of my time with Elder Murphy and some other buddies. OH! Also, P. Hey ordered SUBWAY for the whole mission! There is a Subway in Corrientes and he had them bring sandwiches for everyone! I wasn't a huge Subway fan before, but after being here I'm just a fan of food in general so I was stoked. But yeah, we had a really neat program with some righteous musical numbers and testimonies from President, Hermana Heyman, their son who came from his mission in Chile (Jake Siaosi's mission) to go home with his parents, and one of the counselors from the mission and his wife. Then we took a mission picture, ate our dang Subway, then waited in a huge line to say goodbye to the Heyman's and take pictures with them. They brought all of the leftover food from their house and gave it away. I won some passionfruit jam. ;) But anyway, that was neat. Did a lot of traveling, had to leave at two in the morning on Monday to get there and then we got back to Pirané at 3 in the morning yesterday. We stayed there for the district meeting and finally got back to Fontana yesterday at 7:30 pm.

Anyway, that about sums up my week. I hope the States are just as fertile and blessed as ever and that wars and rumors of wars haven't begun yet. Things are wonderful here, just dirt and smiles. Keep it real out there and I am praying for you!

Love,
Elder Sipple

P. Hey and Hermana Heyman

 Elder Murphy, Sotelo, Sipple

 

The entire family of Papa Sufia from New Zealand! 

La gran zona Ibarreta!

 Tucans!

 Elder Sipple and Elder Vera, steady balling in the colony

 Wearing some Argentina gear after their "super cool" victory over the incredible Iran

 Me with Randy Curtis on an old pass along card!

 The old Clorinda gang!

 Some handsome Yankees.

 A little Parsons, Trotter, Naumann, Murphy and Sipple