Week 17

Hellllooooo everryybooodyyyyy!!

I hope y'all had another good week stuck inside. Speaking of which, I'd love to hear all of your predictions as to when we might be able to go outside and start up our normal lives again. I optimistically think that we should be able to do so at about mid-June, and everything will go back to normal - no masks, no disinfecting, normal gatherings - probably in August or something. But that's just a guess on my part.

What has been swaying my prediction to possibly be later than June, however, was some MORE restrictions that were placed on us earlier this week. Just when the fore-placed restrictions were beginning to be alleviated, and the light at the end of the tunnel drew near, the tunnel's doors slammed shut on our faces. We received an email stating that, once again, we cannot gather in numbers greater than 6. We cannot play any sports that lead to physical contact or touching anything that other participants touch as well... in other words we can't play any sports at all. 

Also we can't have 5 people in a car at once, because I guess there's too much elbow and shoulder contact with the passengers in the back seats. This proves problematic for us, since I'm in a trio now, so we can't give any companionship a ride anywhere. But because these restrictions were inspired by the authorities of the Church for our safety and protection, I mustn't argue against their revelation.

Also yea... I'M IN A TRIO NOW...... again! We adopted the newly reassigned missionary, Elder Sutton, into our companionship. He's from Arizona, and had served for 17 months in Paraguay before he was sent home, and was reassigned here. Our job these next few weeks is helping him adapt to the mission life here, with technology, cars, and having the only contact limited to phone calls. It's nice to have more human contact in person with Elder Sutton around, and hes such a stud so it won't be a problem at all for him.

This past Friday, I had one of the best lessons I've had on the mission so far. We had received a person to contact that was interested in the teachings of the Church. We called him, and before we even started the lesson, he told us that he had already read a lot in the Book of Mormon, and when we asked if he believed it to be true, he couldn't deny the feeling that every time he reads it, he knows that it's the word of God and helps us to grow closer to Him. And he believed everything that we had taught him afterwards, because his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was already so strong.

Y yo solo quiero añadir mi propio testimonio también, que El Libro de Mormón es verdadero. Y gracias a este libro, mi familia y yo hemos tenido el gozo que Dios quiere dar a nosotros. Yo estaría muy confundido sin este Libro en mi vida, con la sabiduría que la contiene, y muchas de mis preguntas de mi alma han sido preguntados porque de las palabras de este Libro. Yo tengo una firme esperanza y confianza que todas las cosas que están pasando ahorita están debajo del control de Dios, y espero que vaya a pasar muy pronto también. Dios conoce a ustedes por sus propios nombres, y él ama a ustedes, porqué ustedes son hijos e hijas de Dios.

Gracias a cada uno de ustedes por leer mis experiencias y cuentas cada semana. Nos vemos la próxima semana!

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1-3) Woooo we went on another hike last Monday. It was super fun and SUPER windy. Sorry for only hike pics, nothing else interesting really happens during the week. And another sorry for not getting any pics with Elder Sutton this week either - you'll get some next week for sure! 

4-6) Just some cool pics of the scenery from the hike, including Salt Lake City and some nice mountains + houses

Week 16

¡Buenos días a todos!

I hope this past week has been as awesome for you as it has for me! Well actually it felt the same as every other week... but that means that every week has been awesome!! So let's just jump into it. 

One of the cool things that started back up this week was the Salt Lake City West Mission Choir! I had only been to one practice before we got socially distanced, so it was definitely nice to see some familiar faces and ya know... actually do music stuff in person. We each had to sit a couple of feet apart from each other, and sanitize our hands and chairs every time we entered the room, but still it was a blast. ALSO, I have been asked to be the part-time piano accompanist since the current one will be finishing her mission soon. I definitely have some big shoes to fill, but I'm super excited and honored to do so.

Earlier in the week, we get a call from the assistants to the president saying that they were outside our house. We open the door, and they barge in with a mattress and a bed frame, which could only mean one thing... I'm getting a third companion... AGAIN!

So all of the foreign-serving missionaries that got sent home due to the Corona Virus are finally getting reassigned to state-side missions, and we will be getting about 90 new missionaries within the next month or two in my mission alone! We got a call from our mission president on Friday confirming that'd we'd be getting a third companion as well. His name is Elder Sutton (we really wished that his name started with a T, so that it could be Elders Turner, Terry, and T-something... but so much for dreaming), and he has already served for 17 months in Paraguay. It should help us stay a little bit more sane as well having another person to actually talk to in person. WOOO I'M SO EXCITED! 

Also ... HAPPY 2 MONTHS OF QUARANTINE!!! 🎂🍰🎉🎊 Man, hasn't this just been the BEST past two months ever!! WOOoooo.... yea. 

One of the challenges we've been having recently is getting in contact with people through phone calls. I would say less than half of the people we call don't answer us, and when they do answer and we set up a lesson time to teach, more than half of them flake on us or reschedule it, which is funnn. But it's really made me appreciate more all of the opportunities that we do get to teach and share the joy that we have because of our beliefs in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That about does it for this week! And as always... thanks for watching :) 

Elder Terry 

Fotos:

1 & 2. We went on another hike last Monday to Lisa Falls. It was only like a 5 min hike, but the falls and nature were beautiful, and so were Elders Keh and Merkley pictured below 😘

3 & 4. The drive to the hike was super nice was beautiful too. We drove along a cliff, between two mountains and followed some white-water rapids all the way to the trail head. 

5. Okayyy so this one has a story 😅. During one of our breaks to get outside and not go crazy, we went to a nearby park and played some home-run derby. Bordering the park was a fence, and on the other side was a poorly managed field with tumbleweeds and tall, dead grass. Sooo... one thing led to another, and the tennis ball sOmEhOw ended up on the other side of the fence (which is the tiny green speck in the middle of pic). So, Elder Turner, being the runner, ran ALL the way to an opening in the fence, and through the rough field to go get it, which made for a great video. We also found a Frisbee back there, so that was a big ol' W 😤👌

Week 15

Hello everybody! I hope you've all had another great week inside all day, cause I sure did!

For starters, I hope all of the moms out there had a fantabulous Mother's Day, because you all deserve it. If anything, everyday should be celebrated as if it were Mother's Day because they should always be praised for the work they do and the happiness they bring. Because I know for sure I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for the support and love my mom shows me on a daily basis.

I also had the coolest opportunity to drive around to some of the houses in my area and drop off flowers and notes to all of the moms whom we love and appreciate every so much. We'd basically ding dong ditch the houses with the flowers and notes on their doormat, but it was super weird cause this was the first time I've knocked on a door in almost two months, which is unheard of for a missionary. 

Secondly, thank you for all making my birthday this past week one of my favorites, which is odd considering I'm on a mission and I was indoors for most of the day. I saw a whole bunch of miracles and blessings throughout the day, such as gifts from my family, district, and the mission, food and a cake from the Gutierrez family, the member family that we live with, and not to mention (once again) the Roper family locking in their spot as the #1 coolest family in my area. They came in clutch last time giving sushi to Elder Clark on his birthday, and for my bday they hooked us up with some Café Rio as well as a red velvet cake 🍰🎂😫!! That's right, I got two cakes, and both of them HAD MY NAME ON IT like whaaaaa I am getting so spoiled here. 

It was also super nice to see all of the wonderful bday wishes that you all sent me, cause it's nice to see that you're all alive and well, and also all of the support that you've given me. Thanks for always helping me remember why I'm out here.

Other than that missionary work has been the same ol' same ol', just calling and teaching people by sharing uplifting scriptures and messages. And with that I'll leave you with one as well:

"...I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out... but that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions."

(Alma 34:40-41) 

Thank you all for everything! 

Elder Terry

Fotos :

1. My Mother's Day present to the best mom ever (mine) 

2. The cake the Ropers got me, which has to be the most beautiful looking cake ever, and not just cause they got my name put in frosting (sorry I didn't get a picture of the Café Río, cause we ate it before I even had time to take out my camera😂)

3. The cake the Gutierrez family got me, which was definitely one of the tastiest cakes I've ever had. It was a five-layer neopolitan cake 😋

4. Dropping off some flowers and cards to the awesome moms in my area

5. Ya boi did another puzzle 💪😤👌

Week 14

Hola todos!

I hope all of you are still prospering in the land even though it's been like two months since we had normal lives. Congrats to all of you for living in these rough times.

Twas just your average awesome week in the mission, except today we did something even more super awesomer - we went on a HIKE 😲woop woop! The Zone Leaders, the Sister Training Leaders, the sister missionaries in our district, and Elder Turner and I drove up to some Utah mountains and did a hike... well sorta, the road was closed off a couple miles from the start of the trail, but that didn't stop us from walking on a road for a couple miles before finding a dirt trail and hiking that for another mile before calling it quits 😅 But still it was a blast, we got to actually socialize in person for once, and we got some nice pictures as well!

There is some good news from the mission as well. So some of the restrictions that we're placed for the safety of the missionaries are starting to be relieved! We are now allowed to meet in groups of 20 rather than just groups of 6. Also, exchanges were reimplemented so we're now able to work with missionaries other than just our companions. And all of the foreign missionaries that we're sent back to their home countries are finally beginning to be reassigned! This means we're gonna receive a whole bunch of new/reassigned missionaries in our mission in about a week or two, meaning things are about to be even more crazy here. 

But what this all really means is that things are lookin' good for the future. I would say it might be alright to start heading outside and having normal lives by the end of May, but that's just me having hope.

Speaking of hope, one of the scriptures that we shared with a lot of the people we taught this week can be found in the Book of Mormon, in Ether 12:4, which states...

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

I love the line "hope cometh of faith", because without faith, there's nothing to hope for. Without faith in Christ and His Atonement, we can't hope that we'll be forgiven and cleansed from our wrongdoings. Without faith in God and His plan for us, we can't hope that after death, we'll have the opportunity to live with Him and our families forever. 

So have hope. Believe in God to hope for a better world, cause we could sure use one right about now. See you all next week 😁

Elder Terry 

Fotos (all are from the hike 😅) : 

1. A bunch of guapos on a wall

2. Yo y mi compañero guapísimo

3. I'm just now seeing that the Elders were the only ones that remembered about social distancing 😂

4. A bunch of guapos on a tree

5. Hike squaaad

Week 13

Hola guapos!

So this past week was transfer week, and boy were there some changes. First of all, I got my new companion, Elder Turner, who is an absolute stud and I'm super excited to be with him this transfer. He's from Texas, he's single (hopefully 🙊), and he's a gosh darn good missionary. He's been on his mission for 16 months, and like I mentioned last week, he was my trainer's trainer, so he's basically the CEO of missionary work.

I also got relocated to a different living area, which is in the basement of a members home. It's a super nice place with plenty of room to fit 4 missionaries. It has been super fun to have another companionship living with us, Elder Olachea and Elder Hernandez, cause it's a fiesta every day having people to actually socialize with.

But just when we all finally settled in and got comfortable, a couple days later, Elders Olachea and Hernandez got a call that they're getting relocated to an apartment in their actual area, so we're lone wolves now. Hopefully our sanity doesn't go out the window with it just being the two of us now, but we'll manage.

So one of the goals that the mission has set is for all companionships to teach at least 20 lessons every week to keep us working hard and to see our progress each week. Last transfer, we were dishing out 40+ lessons each week (it was a bit easier cause we were a trio and covered two areas) and had never ended up with less than 20 lessons by the end of the week.

But this past week with all of the changes and transferring and people cancelling on us, we had only taught 2 lessons by the start of Thursday, so we'd have to go  B E A S T  M O D E 💪😤 if we were gonna get 20 lessons. So we pulled out all the stops 😧, working day and night 😩, and managed to get 21 lessons by Sunday 🏆🏅 The streak lives on!

While it felt good to meet the goal, the number of people that we contact or teach every week really don't matter, since these "numbers" are real people, and not just a statistic. There are many variables that can lead to a high amount of lessons, or even a low amount. What really matters if the efforts that we put in, because the Lord loves effort, and that's all we can really do on our part. Whether or not other people accept or reject you, that's their choice. Or whether or not you get the outcome you were expecting, sometimes you dont have control over it. But the best you can do is try with everything you got.

Thank you all for all of your support. Feel free to email me anytime; I love hearing from my fans 😉 See y'all next week!

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1. Elders Turner and Terry, in the flesh

2. So the Ward Missionary Leader in our area just randomly sent us this picture of him, so we returned the favor, which is where foto #1 comes from. Happy every day 😎😎💪

3. Ya boi did a big boy puzzle (in my free time of course 🤧)

4. Meal of the week: sum tacos yum