Teaching English

Hello Everyone,

Well this week I was told that Braden will be getting engaged and wants to steal my car. Whats next? Is Taylor going to start watching sci fi movies with you as well. I’m going to make a petition and have people sign it, then send it to the president, this must be stopped. Well Taylor taking my sci fi move time has to be stopped, every else is just peachy. I’m excited for Braden and she seems cool but it will be a little bit weird to come home to a new family member but I can roll with it. Congrats Braden!

So my toes are doing a lot better this week. I am using a topical antibiotic twice a day and they are returning to normal. It still hurts when I jam it on stuff, but whose toes don`t? I’ll get you pictures next week so the swelling will be all but gone.

We have found some more new people to teach, its more girls from the hair salon I’ve been talking about. We have to be careful since they are kinda snakey. We are for sure going to have an adult with us every time we go and not just some one who is 18 or older, a real old person thats responsible. Their neighbor also whats to know more. He stopped and talked with us one day when we passed by. We have an appointment for them both Tuesday.

We also got sad news that the lady that had a date for this Saturday is going on vacation, so she will not be able to get baptized this week. She told us that she is for sure getting baptized the week she gets back. She told us “Clear your schedules because when I get back you guys are going to baptize me so be prepared.” I wanted to say I’m an Eagle Scout, I’m always prepared but she wouldn’t get the joke so I restrained my self.

Well for Breakfast this week I think dad is going to be jealous. I have been drinking Milo. I was debating on telling you guys, well mainly Dad that they had Milo down here but ya they have it and its great. I know its one of his favorites from his mission.

Well the best part of my week was on Saturday. I got to the church and the youth tell me that the English teacher had not arrived yet. All of a sudden I get a call from him saying that he will be unable to attend so who taught the eEnglish class? This guy! We just did a recap of the lesson from last week since hardly any were there. I also taught them how to share their testimonies. It was super cool.

Oh and Thanks Dad for designing those soccer jerseys for us. Everyone loved them. The zone leaders were kinda dumb, they said that I needed to have it ASAP but now they tell me they are going to wait until next Monday to get the process started because Tuesday is transfers. Silly people not thinking ahead.

Also I have been having problems with my companion being motivated. I am the senior comp but he only has 2 months to go and is starting to get a bit trunky but I remembered the advice that you gave me when I was in the coast. “Do what he wants to do for part of the day (with in reason), then for the rest of the day we get to work. It seems to be helping me and we are still able to do all the work that is important.

Well that is all of my adventures for this week, until next week.

Toodles

Alec

Here is my haul from last weeks p-day. 

I gave in and finally bought a Dr. Pepper.

P-Day at Parque Explora

Hey Everyone,

Well my toes are doing a lot better. I had a checkup on Tuesday and Friday of last week and I think I will be having the last one tomorrow. These guys are awesome, they didn’t even charge me for my last visit. I was talking with a member about what I paid and they said that it was super over priced but from what I have seen from their service, I am getting what I paid for. I know if i had just gone to the hospital they would of cut the nail and then just sent me home with out any check ups. These guys are super friendly and thorough plus there is a little cart outside the building that sells something called pancerote which is like calzones but deep fried. It is just delicious so I’m being treated well.

I still have not been able to cook again for that sister. We have moved it for the 20th of this month. She is just super busy all the time so on the 20th is when she is supposed to make us lunch but I will be making lunch for her instead. Its kinda lame but I will get over it.

Teaching is going really well right now. We have three scheduled for the 21st and 3 more on the 28th although one on  the 28th is a member that was excommunicated so it doesn’t count for the official mission numbers but I don’t care. We are helping him and his girlfriend to make these covenants with the lord so in my book it still counts.

The most interesting part of my week this time around was on Thursday when we taught a group of girls. We contacted one of them in a hair salon of a member and when we got there she had three of her friends over. One of them I had talked to before in the same hair salon. They seemed a little bit more interested at first in the me then the message but when I asked them if they knew why we were called the ``Mormons``they had no idea and became interested in what I had to say about the church. They had always thought that that was just the name of the church. We explained the Book of Mormon and every thing changed. They started asking questions about why did Mormons son Moroni burry the plates. We then read in the part of the introduction about when Moroni visited Joseph to tell them where they were hidden. Something seemed to click in their minds. They decided he hid the plates so we could have the Book of Mormon today and I told them that was right. It was as if the heavens opened up and poured understanding upon them. We wrapped up quickly and left them with the challenge to read the Book of Mormon. We only had one copy on us, so we said that they would have to share. Two of them asked if the next time we came by we could bring copies so that they could read it with out having to share. It was great. We have an appointment with them tomorrow so we will bring the extra books. I’m for sure bringing the member that was with us before. I don’t want to be any where near that house without another priesthood holder with us. They are just a little to friendly toward me.

Something fun that we did this week was got to go to the Parque Explora. It was just full of science goodness. They had a physics room, mind room and a cinematography room. It was super cool. They also have a planetarium next door but we did not have time to go in. I’m so going to go one of these days. Sadly my companion hated every minute of it. I guess science just isn’t his thing which is sadness.

I did in fact this week get my money back from the zone leaders from all our remodel and repair stuff we had to pay for out of pocket. I am also very happy that I have my own shower now. Me and my comp were sharing a tiny little shower with the other elders. Now we have a normal sized shower and hot water. I also place a mirror in the shower so I can shave. I hate shaving outside of the shower. It just takes so long and leaves my skin really raw but now I wont have that problem. : )

Well tata for now,

Alec

Elder Rucker has taught me how to make a house of cards so now I’m kind of addicted.

The rest of these pictures are from our trip to the Parque Explora. 

Here is a link to my video I made playing there:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alecmeyers/14383488415/in/photostream/

This is where we live and the blue building on the top center is the chapel.

Neon Fish.

When I saw the arch at first it was disassembled and my first thought was challenge accepted.

I love these mirrors.

Sadly no one tried to save me…

6 Good Things

Hola Everyone,

So first off, thanks for helping me out the middle of last week with money to go to the doctor. Elder Rucker really helped me out on this one, he showed a photo of my toes to Sister Pitarch (our mission presidents wife) and she was just so sad about my still messed up feet that she approved for me to go that very day. I was hoping that these new people would use pain meds or an injection because last time having someone dig out your toe nail without was a new level of pain I didn’t know existed. I am excited to report it was much better this time around. I got there and said I had two ingrown nails and they took me back to a room. When the doctor came in he looked at them and said they were really deep and asked if i wanted anesthetic. Um yeah, who doesn’t want to have anesthetic? So he gave me two shots, one in each toe, then cut the nail to the follicle so it will regrow right this time. Next a nurse came in and gave me a pedicure so that was a nice bonus. Now they are super smooth so it was a win win. I had a second appointment with them today, but I think they forgot that it was a holiday so they were not open. I will be calling them to get a appointment tomorrow in the morning and if I have any more problems Sister Pitarch said I can call her at any time to get permission to get any attention I need, she is awesome. I’m staying on top of it this time. All this walking and never having a car or bike is killing my feet. My feet feel so much better. Lesson learned, don’t be stupid and cut your toe nails wrong.

Other good news, I will be getting the money back today for all the house repairs I had to pay for several weeks ago. The problem was that it was near the end of the month so we were not prepared to be shelling out that kind of money so late in the month. We got more money from the mission on the 31st so we are good now. We have a meeting with our zone today so I will talk to them. We are going to do a zone activity too so I will have pictures of that as well next week and I will make sure to have me in them. I need to try harder at getting myself in some of the pictures, its just that I don’t like having pictures of my self, selfies just aren’t my thing. I feel vain taking them but I will just ask a elder to take the photo for me.

Sad news is that we were not able to cook with the sister on Friday. Some thing came up so she changed they day to this friday which is fine. We will just have to wait to eat more southern soul food again.

We had some fun things happen this week. First is we got to go to immigration office again. I have to change my address every time I am transferred. That wasn’t so fun, but the fun part is that Elder Cutler was there so I got to talk to him for a bit. He is just a great guy. Him and Elder Cox have become two of my best friends in the mission. I always look forward to the times we get to be together.

Another fun thing is we also started english classes in the ward. There is an english teacher in the ward that donates his time every Saturday. I am attending to help him out with questions that he or the members may have, about grammar, or how to say a word. It has been super fun helping out.

We are also going to start movie nights in the church. A member has like 80 videos of the church that we are going to show the members and our investigators. It should be great. We are going to make popcorn and just have a party and since they are movies about the church we can watch them as missionaries. Woooooo!

Last is that we are going to be playing a world cup here in the mission with baptisms being goals. We are also going to start playing against the other zones as well. I volunteered your services to design the jerseys, I hope your cool with that. We will have them made here, I just need the design from ya. I’m going to create a quick mock up and send it to you. I told them you get final creative say.

Well keep calm and carry on.

Toodles,

Alec

P.S. These happy socks you sent me in my last package are like magic foot coverings that bring joy in every step : )

I got my packages for May and June from the office this week. It’s the fastest they 

have ever gotten them to me. My loot is pretty awesome.

Our lunch canceled one day this week so instead of the usual cucumbers, beans and rice

 I got to make us sirloin steaks with mashed potatoes and grilled onions mixed in!

Here are all the badges I have earned so far from my Dad. The represent different stuff like first baptism, transfers and other cool stuff. They are on the inside of my suit jacket that I only wear to meetings. Yep, I’m pretty special.

Fixing The Apartment

Hey Everyone,

So this week has been a bit crazy with our apartment and with money. Its the best looking house that I have been in and feels more like a house then an apartment but we have had some problems with it lately. We are on the second floor and have a balcony over looking the main street. its nice since we can lower a bucket to the guy if we get take out brought to us but the window was broken with a huge crack and dangerous and we had to get that fixed. We have had a bunch of other stuff that needed repairs too. Our shower now has hot water, we had to buy a new water heater. All the showers here have a little water heater just for showering. We also got the toilet in the other bathroom fixed. It would never fill with water so we would have to fill it with a bucket or just not use it. We also got all of the sockets fixed so they are not hanging out of the walls. We also bought a new gas tank so we can cook/heat things up. All of these things are good that they finally got fixed but the 4 of us had to pay for all the repairs out of pocket and are supposed to be getting reimbursed through our Zone Leaders last week but no money yet. We all pooled our money to cover it and since they are being such slackers we have not even had money for food. I had to email my Dad on Thursday and ask for a small loan just so we could eat. This is the second time on my mission I have had to cover house stuff. Its not a very good system. I hope they pay us back soon. At least our place is nice now and I do like being really close to the church.

Teaching is going good lately. We are teaching 3 ladies from the coast so its fun to talk with them since me and my companion were in the coast. They always have questions and are eager to learn. They even invited us to eat lunch with them this up coming Sunday. They also invited the other two missionaries and the ward mission leader. They are just so awesome.

The best thing this week was getting to make chicken and waffles with purple drink. A sister wanted us to cook in her house so Elder Rucker and I made some soul food from the south because we are both from Utah so we are experts in soul food haha. Me and my comp, Elder Marichi are going to make it for a different sister this Friday. It should be good. I like it when I get a chance to cook.

Not much else this week. Well stay class Utah (or other parts of the world in which you way be living).

Toodles,

Alec

P.S. Thanks Dad for sending me those pictures your primary class drew about the plagues in Egypt. Not only were they good but they were funny too.

Graffiti by our house.

The awesome chicken and waffles I made.

View from our apartment.

The office finally released my mail again. My Easter cards were a bit late.

Changing Lives

Hola Amigos,

I’ve been in my new area a full 2 weeks now and I can officially say it is really great! We really feel the support from the members. The food is a little better than my other area but pretty much the same, rice & beans& cucumbers. I did talk with the president of relief society though and told her that I can not eat tuna. I didn’t say I was a allergic, I just told her that my body rejects it and I get really sad if I eat it so she is going to tell all the sisters that I can’t eat it. That will be nice. I’m very tired of getting food poisoning from bad fish. I had an iron stomach back home but here not so much.

The new neighborhood is about the same. There are areas that are poorer but others that are nicer. One of the things is that in the nicer areas, the houses still look old and beat down but the inside they are all redone and look nice. The people are very much the same. Its been a nice change.

Today we have big plans for p-day. We are going to play pool with 2 or 3 zones here in Medellin. I also have plans to buy an umbrella, the rain jacket is just not cutting it but its hard to find a nice one that isn’t going to cost a huge amount. Almost all of the umbrellas here are from the street vendors and will brake in a month. I think I’m going to have to shell out and buy a nice umbrella. It will be worth it in the end to survive all this rain lately.

The best part of this week was getting to teach a sister that before she met the missionaries was a prostitute and I mean like for real. The missionaries found her like a month and a half ago and she wanted to change her life. Since then she has left her old life and is now studying to be an orthodontist. She just loves the gospel and says it has made a huge change in her life. She is uneasy about baptism since she has the fear that she will go back to her past life. We are going to help her see that if she has faith and the desire she will be able to over come all of that.

It was nice to hear the news from home. I can’t believe that Braden’s Spirit is finally running again. The color is awesome and I like Braden’s new helmet. It was also good to hear that Dad caved and that he is buying shoes now. I knew that Mom’s influence would overpower him some time.

Love, 

Alec

Last week I finally found the soccer jersey I had been searching for.

It’s taken months but this is the team from the coast.

I bought a really thick leather belt this week. The special

one we bought for my mission was lost, stolen or borrowed

right before I left for my last transfer. Gotta keep my pants up.

Transferred Across The Valley

Hola Everyone,

So since this weekend was Mother’s Day I got to Skype with my family on Saturday from the internet cafe. The members here do not have very good connections if they have one at all and usually have to pay for every minute they use so  thats why we are always emailing from a cafe. Also since we have to pay, doing it on Sunday couldn’t happen but it was nice to do before going the the two stake conferences we had. I’m sorry to say that once again I did not cry when you skyped with me. Although I think that it will be a different story for my last call on christmas this December. I don’t think I will cry but I think I might get really homesick (aka Trunky). It was really nice to see my family and Fargo. I know the connection was a little blurry but it was awesome just the same. It was good to be able to wish my Mom a happy mother’s day. It was a sweet idea of my Dad to give my Mom a spa certificate to get a massage. After all the stupid stuff that happens in the mission I would love to have a massage. Basically in my neck and shoulders. I know that I have huge knots that are never going to be taken care of in the mission. Sometimes stuff here just can stress ya.

The big news this week is that I did get transferred and moved to the opposite side of the valley that I was already in. It took about 1 1/2 hours by bus but not too bad compared to my other transfers before that took days. Our mission is pretty big. My new comp is Elder Marichi. He is from Peru. He lives in a city near the Amazon so he looks like one of the Inca so that is different. He seems to be normal although he has tried to sell me a lot of his stuff. He only has 3 months left in the mission so he is trying to get rid of the stuff he doesn’t want to take home and get some funds for souvenirs. Even though he has been out longer I am the senior companion for the first time. It does not seem that different than be ing jr. although I am the one that has to make sure that we are always doing something productive. Its kinda nice, but it means I have to be proactive.

I share my flat with another companionship which I really like. Its the best war to do it. The other companionship is great. They are Elder Rucker and Elder Roa, Elder Rucker was with me in Bogota at the MTC so its cool to be able to spend time with him again. He is a huge goof ball so its always fun in the house. Its also the first time I’ve been around someone who uses English as their main language so it cool and different to not always be speaking Spanish like I have for the past year. The view from the other side of the valley looks pretty much the same. Its just that I’m looking at my old area and seeing how huge it was. However sadly, the closest store is like two blocks away so its close but not like what we had before with it being basically as we walked out the door. This side of the valley dose have its perks though. Its still a huge mountain but its not as steep so its easier to walk around. 

I haven’t met all the members yet since we had stake conference. I have met the bishop and his family but they are not as awesome as the last family, but still are pretty great. I probably will like them just as much once I get to know them better. There is also a less active sister that is coming back to the church and her family is super cool. She has invited us to eat a steak dinner this Saturday. That should be awesome, because I miss steak. She has also given us a lot of contacts of her friends and family as referrals. She has given us so many its kind of crazy. The two different families seem  really interested in what we are teaching. Its pretty awesome.

I’m excited to get the packages you told me you just sent out and the new fun badges you have made for me. Its kind of sad I get a badge for getting stolen from though. Sheets, ties, sunglasses, socks, backpack, umbrella, maglight, just to name a few. The once was they stuck their arms through the bars on our windows and the other was that guy stealing our stuff from the clerks office at the church but most of the time its other missionaries, which I can’t understand. You are in the service of God and are stealing. No man can serve two masters. Its just sad. If they just would talk to me I might have just shared. The baptism pins are for happy things. I looked today and I have had 9 baptisms and we have a few more dates set for this month. We will see if they have the desire. I sure hope they do. I love seeing people get baptized after coming to a knowledge of the truth.

Love you guys lots, 

Alec

Here is my new flat. This is our kitchen. The ironing board is here because we didn’t

have any power and we were heating up the iron on the gas stove to fix our shirts.

This is the bathroom my comp and I share. The other companionship

has their own bathroom and own bedroom.

My Bedroom. I’m on the bottom this time.

Teaching the Haka, Again

Hello Everyone,

First things first, I’m getting transferred tomorrow. I am still going to be in Medellin but just on the other side of the valley. I am sad and happy at the same time. Speaking of this, I do not know how I will be doing the Skype call. I will plan for 9 am on Saturday, Utah time and I will make sure I call you guys no matter what. Wishing Mom Happy Mother’s Day is important. The transfers will take 3 day because some times it takes a long time to travel from different areas that are far away. My transfer will only take like 3-4 hours tops so I’m lucky this time.

Well today is 5 de mayo, so I will in fact be buying some sort of taco to celebrate that holiday that they don’t even celebrate in Mexico (shocker right). 5 de mayo is not a holiday other then in the USA because Americans know that eating tacos at least once a year is important and you can take that to the bank. Actually it will just be a fun thing to do for p-day today other than pack up my stuff.

Some thing awesome that happened this week is that we taught our ward the haka. We came up with one and taught it to them for an activity on saturday. I am uploading a video but is is really heavy so I don’t know if it will make it. It was super fun to show them all the moves and the shouts. I got to be the leader and shout the loudest. I almost lost my voice the next day. It was like the guy from the Moulin Rouge after he sang the song Roxanne. I felt manly. I’m going to have to teach the young men when I get back how to do the Haka. because its awesome. If you don’t remember from my last mention of the Haka, they do it here for soccer teams to be intimidating. I must admit, I’m awesome at it!

Here is the link to see the video a member recorded:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alecmeyers/13930357310/in/photostream/

We also had a baptism this week of Marlon Muñoz. He is the son of a recent convert named Liliana. I am super happy that I got to see him be baptized before I Ieft. I also got to be the one to confirm the aaronic priesthood on him. It was an amazing feeling that he chose me to be the one to give him the priesthood. Now we just need to work on his Dad so that the entire family can be members, and reap the blessings that comes from the church.

Just so all of you know, my origami skills are great and have improved a lot since coming on my mission. I had a paper plane building contest with the other Elders in our house the other day. Since we are on the second floor and on a hill we could throw the planes really far. Things get pretty heated when paper folding goes on in our house. It got pretty intense at the end.

Oh and a funny thing, on wednesday morning we went to get money from the ATM but the normal ATM didn’t work. so we had to walk like 20 min to the Exito, which is a super market like Walmart or Target. Afterwards we left for lunch, but it started to downpour so we had to take a cab. We got soaked any ways so the cab was unnecessary.

Well I look forward to talking to you guys on Saturday via Skype.

Toodles,

Alec 

Our Baptism this week. His friend got to baptize him.