Email: alec.sipple@myldsmail.net

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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

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

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