November 18, 2013

Dear Dad,

May I present the best week of my mission. I don't quite know what brought it on, it all started with a scripture. 1 Chronicles 28:20, it's kinda different in spanish. In english it says Be strong and of good courage. In spanish it says anímate y esfuérzate, which translates to something like, get happy and put forth an effort. So we did that. We had a lot of faith, worked hard all week, and then on saturday we found a sweet old lady named Brenda who was just sitting in her house with a broken ankle waiting to be baptized. She had already been taught everything but could never get baptized because her husband didn't want to get married. Her husband passed away, she stopped going to church, and eventually everyone forgot about her. She fell and broke her ankle, bought a little dog for companionship ( a chihuahua named willie) and sat back for a year. Then we showed up and slapped a baptismal date all over the situation. This was the very first day of my mission that I got all the daily goals, took long enough, but it's finally been done, haha. Also we found a mother and daughter that same day who were very interested. I was stunned, it was so miraculous. I didn't believe there could be a repeat. Sunday we found a family of four, also had been taught everything, all very intelligent, they have some girls about ellie and bekah's age, we hit it off super well. All complete miracles. My testimony about personally living the gospel grows yet again. When your personal commitment to follow the Savior is high, you will accomplish His purposes, whether that means baptize a bunch of people or become a convert yourself. I am too happy this week. I learned so much, and so much of it came from having a good attitude. We're gonna try to get a little more miraculous in the week to come.

How awesome about the activity. It's so weird to think that Ellie is in young women.

I am really excited for Christmas haha, hopefully it's better this time around. Have a good time, my dear family, I am so grateful for all your prayers and support. Hasta la vista, baby.

Andy

November 11, 2013

Thanks for the email mom, it is very exciting. I am a very big fan of what President Gardner said, it really is true. I really learned about learning on my mission. We had a super exciting week too, a lot of miracles that I think are the result of a good attitude and feeling the urgency of this work. Walked a bit faster, talked a bit differently to people, and we get two golden families referred to us by people, a recent convert gives us 8 referrals, it's the best. Really gave me a refresher. I kind of needed it, like I told you, I've only had two companions in the last 9 months, sometimes things start to feel kind of dead because there is not any change. Whatever, I know it's for a reason, God's plan is perfect, I've realized how much he took care of me while I was growing up. It's really quite astounding.  Thanks for the part you had in my crianza! Love you mom, see you at christmas!

Elder Pyper 

Nov. 5, 2013

Dear Everyone,

We had an interesting week. A couple trials. I had my heart broken by a couple investigators. Also the changes came, and for the second time in a row, I am going to have a companion for three transfers. That is hard, no matter who your companion is. It's kind of interesting, I trust a lot in the lord, but sometimes I have no clue what he's thinking, haha.

I am starting to miss a lot of stuff. The top three however, are food, company, and music. Really no one can sing down here. Me and Elder Zuñiga did a musical number at our baptism last week, butchered it hard, and we made like half the congregation cry, haha. It's good and bad at the same time. I would enjoy chili right now as well.

So basically, the challenge of having a companion for so long is you get to know each other too well. It is a little difficult to see your companion as a representative of Jesus Christ when you know all his imperfections. So I'm gonna have to work extra hard to focus up. 

Something that might be interesting for you to know, dad, is that I used to hate numbers when I got here. I swore I would never count my baptisms, have a personal baptismal goal or anything like that. I've now seen that man grows only with his higher goals. I counseled with the Lord and together we set a goal for the amount of souls that I want to bring to his kingdom, and I know this is going to help me to grow to my maximum potential. If I want anything in my mission, I want to become a man who can set a goal, make a plan, and execute it, excercising faith, making adjustments to the plan, and accepting the will of the Lord. Honestly the part I need to work on is the diligence in planning. I like winging it too much. But there's something interesting I've learned out here.

Love you all, have a great week, I will talk to you again on Monday!

Andy

Oct. 28, 2013

Dear Family,

So we baptized the greatest convert ever last week. She overcame more opposition than anyone I've ever seen to get baptized. She is a wonderful old lady, she's almost blind, but can kind of see. It's a crazy story, which I don't even come close to having time to write. But I will write the whole story on paper and send a picture of it or something. But it was my first person that I baptized personally in more than six months, a really special experience for me. I'm trying to send a pic, we'll see if I can get it to work.

It was true, the last week was a little crazy. But we saw a bunch of miracles this week, including the coveted investigator that finds the missionaries. So we invited him to be baptized. He accepted.

I was totally thinking about that halibut the other day. I would love to go fishing, but dang Dad, I have a decision to make. I will get home on the 29th of august, i think. BYU starts the 2nd or 3rd of september. I'm not sure if I'm willing to make that turnaround so quick. Also, within the next three months, you guys need to decide if you want to come get me or not. They're gonna give me the trunky call soon. Well, not soon, but in three months. Just a heads up. 

I learned so much this week about the holy ghost. It is the power through which we are sanctified, and the power through which we keep our covenants. We can keep our covenants through no other power. Not even willpower. Ain't gonna do it. It kinda changed my perspective on keeping the spirit around. Sometimes I'm too funny for my own good and drive the spirit away. But perhaps I have to trade a good thing for a better thing.

Love you all, try to be like Jesus!

Elder Pyper

Oct. 14, 2013

Dear Dad, 

My week was good. It was a really interesting week, actually, and I learned a lot. I think I figured out that I'm a natural optimist this week, because I went on an intercambio(haha I'm about halfway done with the letter right now, and I just looked back and realized I accidentally put a spanish word in there. It's a companion exchange) with an Elder in my district and we absolutely worked our minds off. It was great because we both realized we had actually been a little discouraged before we had that day together. It's very hard to work here in the city unless you have good companion support. This Elder is training, and I have somewhat of a timid comp, so we both suddenly realized how awesome it is to have two guys boldly declaring repentance. I later realized that I have been neglecting part of my responsibility. I got so caught up worrying about the areas in the district and the other elders that I forgot about my own companion. I went kind of panic mode and tried to save the whole district and my own area by myself, and the Lord made me realize what I should be doing is trusting my companion and helping him grow so he can run the area and I can worry about the district. Kinda complicated, but I'm gonna do it. You really gotta listen to the Lord on this kind of stuff.

My mind is continually blown by how awesome our stake is functioning, especially when I have to sit through two hours of ward council where not one assignment is given. Many assignments are talked about, hinted at, suggested, but the Ward is not gonna catch the wave until they commit to serve the Lord first. I am kinda pondering what to do about that, and I'm not sure.

Thanks for the pic, it's not too distracting, haha. I still am never coming home. I have too much left to do and become, and not enough time. 

I was memorizing scriptures too. It's really awesome, it helps keep your mind focused on the right things.

Everyone be good. Try asking a random stranger this week if they would be willing to listen to a message about your religion. That works. If they say yes get their name, number, address, and give it to the missionaries! I expect four emails from Mom, Dad, Ellie, and Bekah telling me how it went. Personal challenge from Elder Pyper.

Love you guys, have the best week!

October 7, 2013

Dear the rest of everybody,

Conference was amazing. I was a little disappointed at first because it wasn't set up in english when we got there, so we went and dropped cane on the stake president and set it up in english. So I missed the first session in english. The original language is always better. The talks by Giff Nielsen, M. Russell Ballard, Richard G. Scott, L. Tom Perry and of course President Monson were amazing. Those ones really got to me. The most recurring themes, it seemed to me, were patience in trial, member missionary work, and laboring for a personal conversion to draw spiritual strength. All things that we're going to need, and are already needing in these times when "men´s heart's shall fail them." Richard G. Scott's five steps to protect against satan's buffetings were truly inspired words. 

The ward is doing ok, I'm always kind of frustrated because they're a bunch of workoholics, and that honestly deadens the spirit. I'm in one of the few wealthy parts of Uruguay, it looks kind of like the east side of Enid. Just imagine that all the houses have flat roofs, are stuck together, and have bars on the windows and doors. The other month I was really upset with the ward leaders because they told me in my first ward council that they had had a wonderful idea. The idea was that the missionaries would plan and execute a ward activity. Maybe one of the only times in my life when strangers could visibly tell I was irritated with them, haha. We tried to go big and make an awesome activity, but we didn't succeed in that. We wanted the ward to do most of it, because if you have your missionaries doing everything, the church will never grow, but they kinda shirked. The people that came still had fun though, I love that about uruguayos, they're fun loving. We tried to make the olympic games, with a bunch of events and everything, but all the members just failed in their assignments haha, so we just played pingpong and futbol. I tactfully waited for one of the bishopric members to beat all the members at pingpong, and right at the moment when he was puffed up in his pride, I stepped up, took off my jacket, and won the heart of the ward, haha. Took him down. A straight year of not playing made me really rusty, but not rusty enough. And I got really good at that game where you put a cookie on your forehead and try to eat it without using your hands. Fun time.

I do feel like I've been a missionary my whole life, but I haven't been good enough still. Pray for me, friends. I know you do, and I appreciate it and love you all. 

1 peter 1

Love, Andy

Sept. 30, 2013

Dear Family,

That sounds like a crazy week! It makes me miss byu a lot. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEKAH! Eat lots of cake for me. And eat some all three ice cream. And a few bite sized bekahs in the morning.

 

The work is pretty dang awesome here. I'm feeling super optimistic and full of faith facing the upcoming week. I had a really good talk with my comp, he's an awesome guy, and he wants to become a leader really bad. I told him that he already is the senior comp in our area. That's not just some cliché thing that they tell the district leader comps, it really is a big responsibility to be the district leader's companion. Because there is just way too much going on in my head to run a district and my own area. Stuff was slipping between the cracks in my head, and our own area was suffering. He's feeling ready to go. Elder Francis is also a boss. He stepped into an area that was dying and found like twice as many new investigators as they ever did the last transfer. His comp is a really young kid from Ecuador, and they're getting along awesome as well. So I'm happy. It seems that we're getting a lot of blessings from the Lord here. Oh and another thing... Did you guys already buy shoes, because if you did that's fine, but if not hold off, cause elder francis just showed up selling a pair of shoes that are my size that should last me a good while. Let me know.

 

Seriously sounds like-holy gosh they just started playing sunglasses at night, haha-a really awesome weekend! Except for your truck. That's kinda sad. That story also made me realize how bad my english is, haha. What the heck do those words mean? I really don't speak english anymore, just spanglish. It's super hard to omit spanish words from my prose (viste esas palabras lujosas?)

 

Lately I've been learning a lot about how the very presence of the holy ghost in the life of a person literally changes his character. That person has mainly been me, haha. I'm really starting to rejoice in having the spirit with me all the time and do everything i can to not drive him away. I am super pumped for conference. Emilie said it's like super bowl weekend for missionaries, and I think that's the most apt comparison that can be made, haha. We get to hang out with all the missionaries in the stake, we kick out all the latinos and watch conference in english in a little room by ourselves. It is a blast, haha. Of the three general conferences i've seen in my mission, I've watched three of them with Elder Francis. It's fate. This guy is such an inspiration to me. He has turned from a lost kid seeking for approval into a driven servant of the most high God right before my eyes in one short year. I don't know what happened to him, but I hope something like that happened to me too.

I also am really liking listening to Byu devotional talks, I got a ton from some missionary buddies, and they are mind blowing. I think it is actually making my english a little more elegant. It's what happens when you listen to Hugh Nibley for at least an hour every day haha.

 

Have a wonderful week friends. Jacob 6:5-8

Elder "Sueño de la cañería" Pyper