Aug. 26, 2013

Dear Family in general,

I honestly can't believe how things are going lately. It was a challenging week, and this district is especially challenging my leadership skills. But this week will be incredible. The Lord has been preparing me through inspirational thoughts from friends and family. Honestly what I've learned about personal revelation on my mission has changed the way I think about everything. I've wanted to be a chiropractor forever, but I've learned that when you are giving all your attention to the Lord, he directs you. I've been feeling a lot of attraction towards helping people find healing and relief from their pain mentally in my mission. I've honestly been kind of puzzled lately because of this. My bendicion patriarcal talks about success in my mission. I have time and again found all the people that are steeped in drugs, alcohol and other serious sins. Very rarely have I baptized anyone that I have found myself. But I feel the spirit work through me to help these people break their addictions. I feel him work through me to comfort broken hearted spouses and give them hope. I watch families come together again. I think I've found a new love in life. I love just listening to people and helping them ease their pain. Obviously the way to do that is coming unto the Savior. The Lord has given me sooooooo many opportunities to do this. The other day I received a super strong impression as I was reading about a woman whose life was destroyed by her husbands addiction. Sooo is the Lord directing me? Probably. Not sure if it's like a career thing or not, but I feel like it is. So I wrote it down and decided to at least check it out after my mission.

<obviously this week I'm also having my midlife crisis. I've been evaluating who I was and who I am. I think there's a little difference. But one day the reality of how much my father in heaven knows me came crashing down on my head, and I realized he knew exactly where I was gonna be right now, and he's ready for me to speed up my progress. There are new challenges. But there is always a solution. It's called the atonement of Jesus Christ. I can't begin to describe the reality of it. It's a sweet relief, an enabling power. It gets me through every day and helps me to have the energy to keep going. It's real.

I love you guys, try to stay strong with all the changes. Heavenly father has a plan for us. I'm proud of you all in my dear Enid Ward!

Love 

Andy

August 19, 2013

Dear Family,

My area is awesome, also my companion is too. Elder Zuñiga is my third companion from california. I'm still surviving without a single companion from utah. He's a good hard worker and he's ready to see some success in this area. That's good, cause so am I. This is a really different area because it's a bunch of rich uruguayos. That is soooo different from what I'm used to. We get a lot of really hateful rejections in between the good people we've found. So I've had to change my strategy. I proposed an idea to my comp, and we ran with it. It looks promising so far. We're trying to make the members do the missionary work, and it feels miraculous. It feels like they've all just been waiting for a missionary to come ask them to do the Lord's work. We've had some tremendous bonding moments with the members, and they all have their assignments to share the gospel with their friends. The Lord is blessing us in this path, and I know this is the way he wants his missionary work to go. It's been awesome.

In other news, the Elders in my district are really awesome. We're half latino, half american. My trainer came to this zone with me again, haha I really can't get away from that guy. There is a rampaging bishop that keeps shutting down baptisms even though he's not allowed to though... but he's in another ward, so yeah.

I am stunned to hear that Rachel is leaving home. That's some nonsense. But she'll have a lot of fun, and I can honestly say that the Lord prepared me for the rest of my life at BYU. He's got big plans for rachel. It is so inspiring to be a part of this historical period in the church's history. Also, I can clearly see the blessings of the Lord on our little Enid Ward. How many missionaries are in the field? Five with one freshly returned, right? 306 is a ridiculous number. I am going to tell that to my new bishop here to inspire him. More than ever, in this ward, I feel that the Lord placed me exactly where he wants me. 

The work is true. Share the gospel, friends!

Elder Pyper

August 12, 2013

Dear Mom,

Thanks for the email. I like your emails, they're totally inspirational, and they don't worry about things that really aren't important. I found out where I'm going this week! I'm headed farther in to Montevideo. I was on the very outskirts in a suuuuuper poor area. Now I'm headed to downtown. We're gonna see what it's like, because I have never worked in an area even slightly like that before. I already know my companion, his name is Elder Zuñiga. He's about my age in the mission, a little younger, and we are going to tear it up. I feel very strengthened by your prayers and stuff. Thanks a lot for the package! I'm almost out of room on my camera, so I think I might just send you guys one of my flash drives and then you can keep it and I'll just take the new one from the smaller package that's coming. I really don't know what to expect yet, but I'm excited to work. My Korean informant in the offices told me where I was going like almost a week before I was supposed to know, and that really affected me. Moral of the story, I never want to know early again. Haha, I'll send off the package with the pictures and stuff in about two weeks, I'm gonna wait till I get to the new area so I don't have to lug so much stuff around.

Love, Andy

August 5, 2013

Dear Family,

Well...

Turns out you were right. My toe and my elbow injuries were really just some opposition to overcome before THE BEST WEEK EVER...

We started off the week with a goal to set a baptismal date every day. We did it 5 out of seven days. We found a ridiculous amount of new investigators. We found a couple that's already married (never happens). It's a wonderful thing. I now fear that I will leave the area and not get to see all these wonderful people make covenants with God. But I'll let you know next monday. I'm definitely getting a new companion, at least, and probably a new area. But we'll see.

The Scotts are back! How crazy! I cannot believe how fast time goes.

Well, another couple that I taught is getting baptized by the other missionaries in our ward this week. I am super excited to go to a wedding. I get to be a witness in an uruguayo wedding. It's gonna be awesome.

Uruguay is warming up as well. Yesterday there was a little period of time where you couldn't see your breath inside our house!

I am way excited to be a part of this exciting time in the period of the church. And our new president gets here tomorrow. I have a feeling this man is gonna change my life. 

Love you all! 

Elder Pyper

July 29, 2013

Dear family,

I had a super weird week. I was at the doctor a bunch. But I'm almost all cured up  now, just various elbow slash toe injuries... I got to keep my xray though, so that's really cool. I have a picture of my elbow bones just sitting at home.

I really hate the fact that people have agency. Maybe a rough thing to say... Cause we were gonna baptize this lady, and she didn't come to church. And now elder ve'e and I will not have another baptism together. That's sad. It's time for him to go spread his wings though. In two weeks that is. Somebody actually has to leave this time, I'm pretty sure companionships are not allowed to go six months together, haha.

We totally just got a new missionary named elder walkenhorst in our mission. I wonder if he's related. President Newsome is coming to uruguay like next week or something. I don't know who's running the mission right now, cause President Armstrong is gone. We're being ruled by secrecy.

So is my buddy Elder Cutler actually assigned to the ward, or was he just randomly there one day? And who is getting baptized so much?

I'm having weird experiences trying to do this DL thing. One companionship is really struggling, they do not have too much animo. (I'm sorry, I literally didn't have any clue how to translate that word.) Another way agency is frustrating me.

I'm proud of everyone, I miss you all a lot!

Love 

Andy