Thursday, December 29, 2016

December 29th, 2016 - Photos!

Christmas Eve dinner with the Bishop


Me and Elder Zúniga 


Baptism of Melanie Benitez!!


Opening Christmas gifts!!



Awesome sunset on our road trip!

December 29th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

December 29th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

Feliz Navidad Cheros!!! It was a white Christmas!

Hey everybody!! Greetings and happy holidays from San Salvador! It sure was a white Christmas here! (I'll explain later hehe).

This week was PURE CRAZINESS!!!  We had the Christmas activities this week so we were pretty dang busy. Wednesday we spent the entire day running errands, ran a missionary to the airport and got everything ready for the activities. I also had to get a radiography of my face because I have a serious sinus infection. I have the paper thingy that shows my face and it's pretty congested. Wednesday night we went to bed at 1 AM and woke up Thursday at 4:30. We had to be in Ilopango to get everything set up and that all went well. We got to the area and we had the Ward Christmas Dinner which was great to eat food. (We hadn't eaten for more than 24 hours not by choice.) Also Hermana Ana and Alison and Melanie and Sandra were all there. (All investigators.)

Friday we had to wake up again at 4:30 to go San Miguel which is about 2-2.5 hours in car so we had a fun road trip (;  The activity in San Miguel went a lot better than it did in Centro so that made us super happy. We got back about 8 at night and went straight to bed.

Hermana Melanie went to mini Soy and loved it. She got back Thursday and Friday and Saturday we did her baptismal interview and got everything ready for her baptism.

Saturday was Christmas Eve and we pretty much ate a ton a food. Turkey, chicken, Kola Shanpan and a lot of other foods hehe. I've gained 12 pounds in this area... We also did a gift exchange between all of us 4 missionaries that live in our house. I got a piggy bank that's the poop emoji and a pokeball and a cool fireman tog top thingy that makes lots of lights and a cool song. We stayed up playing games and Uno and other card games until 12 and then watched the fireworks then went to bed.

Sunday we went to the church super early to fill up the pila and we ran out of water...good thing Melanie is small hehe. Elder Arango baptized her and I got to confirm her. She is so awesome. Her mom came to church and also Hermana Ana and Alison came to church. We had 1 hour of church and then left to go skype here in the office then we went home and got everything ready for changes and we ate more yummy food. It was a white Christmas because we had a Baptism!!! Best Christmas ever.

I love you all and hope you all have a great week!!

-Elder Loveless

Best and Worst of the Past Week:
Best-Baptism!
Worst-We didn't sleep a whole lot.

Letters and/or Packages:
Christmas package from Gma Barbara.


Monday, December 26, 2016

Eleven Months Today

December 26th, 2016
Elder Loveless has been serving for 11 months today.
Only 13 more months left.


Monday, December 19, 2016

Photos

Thanks to other missionaries that take tons of pics and then send them to their moms - 
because of them I have pics of my missionary son!!!





December 19th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

December 19th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

FELIZ NAVIDAD CHEROS!!

Hey everyone!!! I hope all is well over there in your fun places. Sorry, but this letter will be super short for lack of time.

This week we had a ton of super good lessons with Melany Benitez and with Ana Ramirez. We were able to put baptismal dates with them and Melany, if everything goes perfectly, will be baptized this Sunday, LA NAVIDAD! Best Christmas present ever, va? She's awesome and is literally dying to be baptized. She went to church yesterday and this week she's going to a camp called mini soy which is like efy for youth 12-15. She's also signing up for semanary. She is so awesome. We're still working super hard with her mom for the month of January.

Hermana Ana is the daughter of a member and she as well, is so good. She went to church yesterday. She also has a daughter named Alison who is 9 and they have the goal to be baptized on the 14th of January. They're reading the BOM and loving it and they are praying and Hermana Ana has felt the Spirit and she knows it too.

This week was full of miracles and also craziness with emergency changes and how there is only 1 pair of Assistants now and yeah. We've been busy. This week on Thursday and Friday we have the Mission Christmas party and next week we have changes so these 2 weeks will be insane, but hey, being a missionary is awesome.

I'll be skyping on Sunday at 4 here which would be 3 there in Utah. We have 1 hour to skype.

All is well and I still haven't crashed the car so that's good (;

I know this Gospel is true and love my Savior and King. The Atonement is real and he has a plan for each and every one of us. He knows us by name and loves us. This is the best and most rewarding work in all of the world and I love it and I'm glad that I am in El Salvador. I love this country and the people. I'm glad I can serve the Lord with all of my heart, might, mind and strength.

Les amo a todos ustedes con todo mi corazón y gracias por todo que han hecho para mi. ¡Feliz Navidad!!!!!

-Elder Loveless

Best and Worst of the Past Week:
Best - Melany and Ana went to church!
Worst - I'm tired!

Letters and/or Packages:
None

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

December 13th, 2106 - Weekly Letter

December 13th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

¡VIVA EL SALVADOR! 

Hey friends and family! This week was another successful one. Sorry I couldn't write yesterday. We were super busy.

This week we ran lots of errands. We did emergency changes, had to take a missionary to the hospital to have a surgery and go to Ilopango to have a cool activity. We've been everywhere this week. Also there were some big changes in the mission and there are now only 2 assistants instead of 4, which normally there should only be 2, but we had 4. So that means lots more responsibilities, but I'm ready to give 100% to the Lord and also Presidente and my companion.

This week we had some really great lessons with Milagro. She went to chuch again with her grandma and that was awesome! Really she just needs a stronger testimony of the BOM and Joseph Smith. She's so good! She has a date for the 31st of December. Fam Benitez is awesome as well. Luis stopped listening to us so that's a bummer, but Sandra and Melany haven't drank coffee or tea and they're reading the BOM. They didn't go to church, so that's where we need to put our focus with them. Melany is soooo excited to get baptized on the 31st as well, but we're hoping she can on the 24th. They went to a FHE yesterday with a super awesome member family and that was so good.

We found a lot of new people that are awesome. I've been literally so exhausted this week that I haven't wanted to work a whole lot, but God is good and for our efforts, we were blessed and I was humbled and I know that I need to work 100% even when I'm exhausted. We've been super busy, but always working hard.

Also driving in this country is like a really good game of Need for Speed...it's crazy, but a lot of fun (:

I love the mission, being a missionary and I absolutely love El Salvador. I have a testimony of this Gospel, church and this great work. It really does bring so much joy.

I hope you all are great and I wish you all the best this week! I love you all!

Jaluuuuuu Pues!

-Elder Loveless


Best and Worst of the Past Week:
Best-We had some really awesome lessons with Milagro and Fam Benitez.
Worst- Cambios de Emergencia (emergency changes).

Letters and/or Packages:
None

Monday, December 5, 2016

Fotos!!!


Making Pupusas!


Encontré su gemelo Salvadoreño Papi!
(I found your Salvadoran twin Papa.)


Elder Arango and I for the Christmas Card Pic (:


December 5th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

December 5th, 2016 - Weekly Letter

Déjelo nevar, déjelo nevar, déjelo nevar!!! (Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!)

Hello everyone! This was another very successful week here in the mero mero San Salvador!  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (JK, it looks the same hehe). 

This week we had a lot of time to work in our area again which is always nice. We had some really great lessons with Familia Benitez and they also went to the mutual activity this Thursday which was awesome! We taught them the WOW and they gave us their coffee and said they'd stop drinking it and stop drinking tea as well. They couldn't go to church because the mom, Hna Sandra had to work, but next week they're gonna go!

We met a partial family where the grandma is a member in-active and her daughter and grand- daughter aren't members and the grandma and her grand-daughter went to church yesterday which is really awesome. The grandma is Milagro Lola and her grand-daughter is Milagro as well. She's 12. 

We are working so hard contacting and finding new investigators and we're seeing miracles every day. 

We had leadership council on Friday and that went well. We'll be doing lots of interchanges and trainings with the ZL's which will be fun. Also yesterday, the Christmas Devotional was awesome. I loved the talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Read 3 Nephi 19:9. It's really good and talks about that. 

Today I passed my driver's exam finally and I got my driver's license so I can finally drive legally. Now I just need the truck haha. It's been getting fixed and Saturday it gets done. Awesome. We also had interviews with Presidente and Hermana Vásquez and that went well!

Everything here is so good and we're working hard and loving the mission more and more each day.

I love you all and hope you all have a great week! Que Dios les bendigas y pórtense bien! Hasta luego!

Saluuu Pues!

-Elder Loveless


Best and Worst of the Past Week:
Best-Passed my driver's exam!
Worst-Almost everyone bailed on us for church.

Letters and/or Packages:  None