Letter from Uruguay

Dear Everyone,



Well last week was better. I realized I just have to keep working hard and leave the rest up to the Lord. Elder Haslam and I met some interesting people last week. Yesterday, we chatted with a guy for about 20 minutes. He straight up told us that he doesn`t like our church. He had an interesting reason for not liking our church; a reason I had not heard yet. He said he went to our one Sunday about four years ago. After that, he never wanted to go back again. He thinks we spend too much money on our church buildings. He thinks we should be using that money to help the needy. We didn`t really say much. He didn`t want to listen so we left. If he only knew about the Church`s humanitarian services. As we walking away, I told Elder Haslam that that man better not go to Temple Square because he would have a heart attack haha. We meet a lot of interesting people who have some pretty crazy ideas, but I love them. Uruguay is a great place. The people are great. I`m still getting used to the country. Siesta drives me crazy. Nathan knows how siesta is. It kills the work. All the dogs also drive me crazy. Almost everyone has a dog. Everyone time we clap at sometimes house, the dogs start barking which makes it hard to hear people. I`m glad I`m here though. This is where I`m supposed to be.



The weather hasn`t been too cold the last few days. It`s been raining since Saturday morning. It`s still raining right now. We were out contacting on Saturday for a few hours. We were soaked from our knees down. We weren`t really having any success so we finally decided to go home. We got back around six and left at eight to go to a lesson. The rain makes the work hard here, but not impossible. We`ll probably be out in the rain tonight again. Rock on.



We have changes again next Tuesday. This change flew by. I think my Spanish improved quite a bit this change. I started studying harder which helped. I`m catching on to this language. I still can`t understand everything, but I`m getting there. I feel pretty good about the language right now. In fact, I have to repeat the things that my comp says sometimes because the people can`t understand him. That makes me feel pretty good.



The World Cup started last Friday. In terms of missionary work, that is bad for two reasons. First, everyone here loves soccer so, of course, they are going to watch it. Second, Uruguay is in the World Cup this year. The World Cup lasts for a few weeks. We`re not expecting to get into a lot of houses over the next couple of weeks, but we`ll try.



A lot is happening back home. The Jamboree is in a month. Philmont is soon. Westom has an Eagle Project. I guess everyone is staying busy. Preston gets home this week also. It looks like me and Tyler are the only two full-time missionaries right now in Solomon Ward. Is anything new in the ward? Is anything crazy happening in Mesa ? Has construction started on the Gilbert and Phoenix temples yet? I guess that`s all the questions I have.



Can you send me a conference issue of the Ensign? I have a Spanish one, but I want an English one. Normally the Church sends English ones as well, but I don`t know what happened this time.



I guess that`s about it for this week. Thanks for everything. I hope you all have a good week.



Les quiero,

Elder Ethan Jones