Email: alec.sipple@myldsmail.net

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

January 13, 2014

Flip, y'all. Heck of a semana. Alright. Hee wee go.
So, we had a pretty good week. We taught, we saved souls. We are meeting with an inactive family which is sweet because they have a grandson who is 8 and they want him to get baptized! They all still have super awesome testimonies, but I think they just got lazy...who knows. But it is a perfect situation. Reactivation and baptism! La Familia Perez. I love them. My main news - WE BAPTIZED LA FAMILIA BENITEZ! Hooooly smokes, it was a real chore. Romona has these neighbors that just hate the church and they keep telling her not to be baptized. So every time we showed up, we had to remind her of her testimony and that she knows this will bless her family. It was a little sketchy for a bit, but everything worked out. So on Saturday, their baptismal date, we spent the morning cleaning and preparing the font for the baptism. Later on, we walked to her house to make sure they were ready to go. We got there and they were kinda ready, but just hanging out. Romona came out and kept saying it's a little difficult because her family doesn't like the church and neither does her neighbor. After a BUNCH of coaxing and reminding, we were on our way. I think her family has a couple Olympic medals for walking slowly, because for real, slowest walkers ever. So we're trying to get to the chapel, but it's like a half hour walk. Anyway, we get there with minutes to spare. From that point, everything went super well and we dunked them SO HARD. Gosh dang it was so cool to be a part of their baptism and see them enter into the sweet sweet waters. So stoked about it. One part I forgot to mention is that Romona has been a real snake the last couple of visits. By snake, I mean that she is real flirty with us elders. During the baptismal interviews of her daughters, she was asking Elder Murphy and me if we had girlfriends and if we were allowed to have them. We both immediately said we had girlfriends back home hahaha. Then she was telling us that a lot of women here think we're really handsome and beautiful. She kept using the word "conquistar" soooo...real awkward for us. ANYWAY, after the baptism, she didn't want to walk home without us, so she told us she needed money for a cab because they couldn't walk. Eventually I paid for a cab and they left. The next day was even crazier haha. I went on divisions with Elder Morrin, Elder Naumann, and Elder Yaicate to help Morrin and Naumann round up investigators for church. Meanwhile, Elder Murphy and Sotelo were going to go by Romona's house to get them for their confirmation. When the tried to leave, the door wouldn't open. I guess when we left and locked the door, it broke haha. So they were yelling (from our third floor apartment) for help hahaha. Some 70 year old came but they couldn't do anything. So they unscrewed the metal grate in front of the window and craweled out that way. We are still using the window to get in and out of our apartment. It's sooo annoying haha. So after that, they were WAY late. They were running to Romona's house, but ended up taking a cab. When they got there, Romona wouldn't answer the door. Elder Sotelo wen't and knocked on every door and then slid open a window and was like "Romona! We need to go!" hahaha she was sitting in a chair and said she didn't hear them. Long story short, we got them confirmed. She weaseled her way into getting the other missionaries to pay for her cab home again. Oh well. I baptised Romona and her daughter Myra. Super awesome, super real.
We are in the process of getting new beds. We got new bunk beds, but they are pretty much meant for children under 6 hahaha. They are yellow, green, and red and I already broke off a piece of wood just from laying on it. Sketchy. We need new mattresses but we can't do that until we can use our door. So I still have bed bugs. We got the new stove, so that's baller. There are a ton of other funny things that happened, but here are a couple others.
Elder Murphy and I love to mess with Elder Sotelo. So when we are walking home, we pick up pomelos, which are grapefruits, and put them in his stuff. We make sure they are green and totally unripe haha. We just hide them all over. It's classic. It's the small things. Today, Elder Murphy owed Elder Sotelo 40 pesos. He wouldn't pay him and Elder Sotelo was getting super mad. So we went to a thrift store and bought a womens shirt for 40 pesos hahaha. He gave it to him and he threw it on the ground and argued with him for like 15 minutes about it. It's this button up shirt with no collar, yellow, red, and green stripes, and 3/4 sleeves. SO FUNNY. We fight about some small thing every night. It's a really good way for me to learn Spanish and have fun. I love arguing in Castellano. The greatest ever. There are so many other things and I always forget them right when I sit down to write. Hmmm. Anyway, that's all I can think of.
Kyle, I want you to send me some of your pictures that you have been taking. Ally, FETCHING WRITE ME. Mom and Dad, I loves you and remember the whole package thing. And money thing. I can get 10 pesos to every
1 dollar here, so if you send money, just be careful! I will try to send pixx of the baptism later because I am out of time. I have other good pictures, too. Say hi to the whole family and all the friends. The Church is true and I love serving. God bless you and God bless the USA.
Love for eternity,
Elder Sipple
(Later that day)
Our branch isn´t terribly big. We don´t have a very big congregation on Sundays. It´s like maybe 40 people or less. Mostly less haha. The people are awesome! I seriously love them. They are friendly and patient with the two gringos. The food is really good! Today we helped the family of one of the counselors in the branch put up their pool. They have a nice house for the area and seem to have money. Like their house would be a pretty decent house in our area. Not like suuuper nice, but pretty nice. Terrible description haha. But it´s clean and the nicest house I have been in so far! After we put up their pool, they gave us sopa de something...it was like squash, carrot, and onion. Super good! Then we had like four different pizzas! Best pizza I´ve had here. One with ground sausage, one with pollo, and the others were cheese. Suuuper delicious and the closest to American pizza I´ve had here. Also, down here they have a Fanta apple soda and it is seriously insanely good. Anyway, that family is super cool. La Familia Rodas. Yo creo that´s how you spell it. I´m excited for the new president because we will most likely be able to play sports! So stoked. Also, I think I´m just going to buy a nicer backpack here. The ZLs were saying that if I don´t, the lesser quality ones will fall apart. So I don´t know. I still have personal money that I changed in the airport. But dang, that´s sad to hear about that elder. That would definitely be tough. Good advice, though! Thank you! I had other stuff to tell you and ask you about, but I ALWAYS

forget! Anyway. Hope all is well and I love you sooooo much, Mom! Thank you for the way you raised me. I am more and more grateful for that with every day that passes! You and Dad have both instilled some awesome things in your children. You and Dad are the greatest. :) Let Dad read this too haha. Seriously, I´m so grateful for my parents. I´m so proud to be your son! I can´t wait to show you up with my Castellano! It´ll be so tight haha. Loveeeee you both forever. I´m going to send pictures
tomorrow! Love you!
Love,
Elder Sipple

(I asked Alec about a picture that his mission president posted on Instagram.) 
Yeah, I´m online again. Elder Murphy needed to send something. And when we get on in the cyber by our pension, I spend like 25 minutes just trying to load the website. It´s awful. And pictures take forever. So I´ve got some time haha. But I think we´re just about to leave. Gosh it makes me happy to hear that you guys love my letters so much! And also,   I'm totally joking about the head thing haha. I´m comfortable with my body, Mom. Anywaaaaaay. I really want a new bed. I´m sick of bed bugs haha. Can you get diseases from them? Shoot. Once we get our door fixed, we´ll be able to get beds. And hey, I do have patience! That´s like one of the only things I´ve got haha. I definitely do need to work on it, but I feel like that´s one of my strengths. But one thing is for sure - I´m super grateful for our country, our house, our area, our church, our ward, our beds, our water, our AC, our showers, our washers and dryers, our dishwashers, our carpet, our roads, our cars...everything haha. Super humbling experience and I´m grateful for it! Also, I haven´t really mentioned it, but my companion and I are great friends. We have similar personalities and can joke around with each other. We both want to work hard. I believe we are going to do some great things here in Clorinda! Anyway, gotta go. Love you! 

Yep, that´s me! Haha my head has never looked bigger. Why couldn´t you have let me lay on my back as a baby?! My head would´ve flattened out!! That lunch was good! Lomito pizza thing and some little empanadas and other things. It was great! -- 

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