Retention

Elder Lacey with other Elders in Las Piedras

December 30, 2014

Dear Family,

Changes strike again! I'm staying here but my good friend Elder Havens is leaving. The good thing is that Elder Morris is going to be my comp. We were in the CCM together and have been in the same zone a lot in the mission so I am looking forward to it. He is a really good missionary. It is amazing how fast time goes by. I feel like it was yesterday when I came here to be comps with Elder Havens. I will miss him but he is planning on going to school in Utah so we will be able to stay in contact pretty easy. Some other news is that Elder Leavitt is the new assistant! He is a really good guy. I know that you were going to eat lunch with his grandma again so that is cool.

I love talking to you guys on Skype. I always leave with a lot of desire to go out and preach the gospel. I love my family! Thank you for all of the pictures that you sent. You all have sweet jackets! 

I am excited for this next change because we have a ton of investigators. Elder Havens and I didn't baptize together but we sure set ourselves up. We have some really good investigators but like always they have some problems to overcome first. But I am sick of not baptizing so Elder Morris and I are going to go have some fun out there in the Uruguayan sun. 

The missionary work is changing a lot down here though. We used to be super focused on baptisms as a mission but the retention was kind of stinky. But starting this year in the area of South America they are changing some things up. We are going to start working a lot more with less actives and recent converts. Don't get me wrong, we are still going to baptize but we are going to find those prepared people through the members. I am really excited for this change though. I think it will work really well. 

Well, I only have 3 changes left. Changes go by way to fast. I love the mission and I am going to go out with a bang. There are too many people in this earth that don't know about the plan. So I'm going to go tell them about this plan. 

I love you guys!

Elder Lacey

PS I used those Nerf guns in a demonstration in a zone Conference haha! Thank you! 

Dear Dad,

I loved Skyping with you guys. We have the best family in the world. You all look really good as well. I like your new bike shirt that you got. Even at your age you still do your own stunts!

The other 2 elders that we were with left right after you guys saw them on Skype and we actually didn't have to wait for them to Skype because we got there right when they finished so it wasn't too bad. 

It was crazy to hear about the BYU football game. One of my friends is on his mission in Florida and I guess the entire mission got to go or something like that. Did you see a big group of missionaries on TV?? haha So are there any suspensions? 

I am digging this schedule that you have set up for me. I have been working out decently but I am losing weight because it is so hot and we play a lot of soccer. I feel pretty healthy though.

I love you Dad! The Gospel is true!

Elder Lacey

Ward Family in Las Piedras

Elder Lacey with companions in Las Piedras

December 22, 2014

Dear Family,

¡Christmas! I'm so excited that I am sweating! Or maybe that is just the heat from the sun and all of the fireworks going off haha! It does not even feel like Christmas but it is a good time to be a missionary. There are so many people that are in need of help during this time of year. It makes for a lot of humble hearts for the spirit to touch. We have found some more really good investigators but at the same time some have fallen. The Silvera Family fell :( Their Dad suddenly freaked out and said that he didn't want us coming over anymore. We will see what happens though because Lucia already received her answer that the Book of Mormon is true. I am sure that something will get worked out eventually. But a lot of our investigators are doing super well. We had a ward activity for Christmas on Saturday and some friends of members came so we are going to start working with them. I will send you a picture of the ward activity. 

Elder Lacey's ward in Las Piedras

I think I will call you guys at around 4 Uruguayan time this Thursday. I am pumped to see the whole crew!

I cannot believe that Dwayne received the Priesthood! That is awesome! I bet he has changed a lot. I am really happy for him.

That is also so crazy that Tyler Cahoon is already home! And Sean will be home in a month! Time is going by way too fast. Speaking of talks I gave another talk in church yesterday. haha! The bishop sent us a message an hour before church and asked us if we could talk. It is weird because I actually enjoy giving talks now. 

I got the other package today! Those Eccos are swwwweeeeet. In fact I am wearing them right now. I also enjoy those protein bars a ton. We have been lifting a lot lately because Elder Ellet moved into our house and he has a bunch of weights. So I'm gettin BIG...hopefully. Elder Havens is super awesome. I will try to send a picture of us together.

Elder Lacey with his companion Elder Havens
 (I think Elder Havens is on the right)

I am so grateful for a family that is centered in the Gospel. I love the mission and I know that I am where I am supposed to be. There is nothing better then watching people come unto Christ and change their lives. I know that Christ lives.

Love , 

Elder Lacey

Dear Dad,

You are completely right. I love that I don't have to worry about anything other then missionary work right now. Being a missionary during Christmas is the best. It is interesting that you talked about people being depressed during Christmas because yesterday we found a new investigator that was really sad because she doesn't really get along with her family and her daughter is on drugs so we were able to help her out and now she is really interested in the church. At the start of the conversation she only accepted to listen to us because she has a friend in the States that told her a while ago that the church has changed her life (the life of her friend). The friend told her that whenever she sees the missionaries she should talk to them. So she did! It is amazing how saying something so simple can have such a huge effect on someone.

I have never been so happy in my life. I love the mission!

Talk to you soon!

Love

Elder Lacey

I am so grateful for a family that is centered in the Gospel. I love the mission and I know that I am where I am supposed to be. There is nothing better then watching people come unto Christ and change their lives. I know that Christ lives.

Love

Elder Lacey

El e la Dadiva

Making Asado

"P" Day Candy Bar

December 15, 2014

Dear Family,

You guys are always so busy doing awesome things. We have the best family ever. Thanks for sending all of those pictures. I also got the book of testimonies that you sent and all the other stuff. Thank you so much. I loved reading all of your testimonies. They definitely gave me strength to keep giving it my all. It is now one of my treasured possessions that I have. 

I thought you guys knew Elder Craig Christensen but I wasn't sure. I loved the conference that we had with him. I felt the spirit really strongly. 

It is interesting that you talked about the sacrament in your email because as a mission we are focusing a lot more on church attendance. Pres. Cook has been talking a lot about it and so I loved the quote that you sent me. As I read what you were saying about the importance of the sacrament meeting it hit me that the atonement of Christ is so important that we HAVE to remember it every week through the sacrament. We only celebrate Christmas once a year, but every week we have the opportunity to receive the biggest gift we have ever received. If we don't go to church every Sunday then we are showing that we don't care too much about this gift that God has given us. The problem is that many people  don't know how to use this gift so that is why they don't care too much. I can just imagine a cave man receiving a microwave as a present... He has no clue what to do with a microwave. Our job is to help everyone understand first, what the atonement is and second, how to use the atonement in our lives. 

This week was stake conference here in Las Piedras. Elder Havens and I spoke in the Priesthood session of the conference.  There was a good attendance at the main session but only one of our investigators showed up. His name is Deyvid and he is progressing super well. At the beginning he questioned if God existed and now he is at the point where he knows God lives and he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He committed to live the word of wisdom yesterday. He is super smart so sometimes it is hard to teach him because he goes off talking about the stars and stuff haha The cool thing is that the Gospel connects to just about anything so he really likes it all. He has a 17 year old daughter that we are teaching as well. She didn't believe in God either but now she believes and she has a really good understanding of the atonement. We also are teaching Antonella who is awesome! The first 2 charlas that we had with her she didn't understand a thing but now she is reading and she is memorizing everything. She didn't go to church because she had family problems but she really wants to get baptized. The only problem is that she lives with her boyfriend. Dang Uruguay. The Silvera Family is doing well. (They are Lucia and Diego) The only problem is that the mom started to work on Sundays but she will only work for 3 more weeks so hopefully they will be able to get baptized here pretty soon. Juan Carlos moved :( so we lost contact with him. But we have some good things happening here in Las Piedras.These people are my mission! I love all of them and they are all progressing so well. I love missionary work.

As far as Skype goes. I am not sure what we are going to do. I will let you know next P day at what time we will call. It honestly doesn't feel like Christmas at all haha! Because all of the children in the street are  always lighting off fireworks and such. It is definitely a different atmosphere but I am glad for what the church has done with Èl e la Dàdiva. It definitely helps us to remember what this time of season is all about. Christ Lives.

I love you guys!

Elder Lacey

Dear Dad,

We will have to go golfing when I get back so I can show you who is the real boss here. Haha! I am glad that you were able to put a good game together to beat Andrew. Maybe if you keep beating him every time you will humble him enough to get him baptized!  

I love that talk that Pres. Uchtdorf gave! I am still waiting to get it in the Liahona. I think it comes out in January or something here. Pres. Cook taught us a little bit  about that a little while ago. Many times we look at the faults of others but what we really need to do is look at what we can do better. If we do that then we will be more humble and more open to correction which will lead to progression.

I hope you had a Happy Birthday!

Love

Elder Lacey

He is the Gift

December 9, 2014

Dear Family,

Las Piedras is the best! I am loving the mission and Elder Havens and I are finding a ton of miracles. We are working with a couple of different families that are really awesome. Some of them need to get married though so we will see how that works out. Also, the other day we found a guy in the street that Elder Havens had met a year and a half ago! I guess he really wanted to get baptized and everything but he wasn't married and Elder Havens ended up losing contact with him. His name is Juan Carlos. He recently broke up with his girlfriend so he won't need to get married now. He is awesome though! I also really like the ward here. The other day we put on an activity for the mission work and it turned out really well. We made french toast and watched Èl es la Dàdiva. Have you guys seen that yet. In english it is, “He is the Gift.” It is amazing what the church is doing to get this message out. We are showing the video to all of our investigators and ward members and it is having a really positive effect on all of them.

My family is famous now! I wish I could have broken a world record! It sounds like it should be a huge video though. I remember that StudioC was starting when I was there at BYU but it wasn't super big. I'm glad that it is a lot bigger now. The pictures that you sent me are sweet. I don't know if we will be able to watch the Christmas devotional though. I am not sure if they broadcast it in spanish.

I feel like I have been learning so much recently. I finally feel like I am learning the gospel and what it really means to live it. When you are really living the gospel you see how different things are. You no longer look for excuses but look for ways to become more like Christ. It is amazing to see the difference between a new missionary and a missionary that is about to go home. The missionaries that are coming in now were sophomores in High school when I was a Senior! They are all really new and they have never been away from their home for more then a week but they are all so willing to give it their best. And after 2 years they will have completely changed from being timid teenagers to being strong representatives of Jesus Christ. The mission is the best. 

Recently we have started working with the members a ton and now all of the members are pumped to do some missionary work. 

I invite you guys to go and share, “He is the Gift” with everyone you know if you haven't already done it. It is awesome because you can do it through Facebook super easy or even email it! Do it! :)

I love all of you!

Elder Lacey

Dear Dad,

I feel like I have finally learned how to sing on the mission as well. Our zone has to sing for the Mission Christmas Conference so we will see how it turns out. 

I really like what you said about having a plan to communicate and to testify. I love making plans and it is something that I have learned to do here on the mission. I am going to make some plans now to better communicate this message to the whole world! Or maybe just Las Piedras for now. The mission has really helped me develop better social skills.

I love you Dad!

Elder Lacey

Diego

Elder Lacey on P-day

 (I don't know why Uruguayos don't smile. They are actually really happy people) haha
Elder Leavitt and Elder Lacey at baptism of Lucas in Melo

Elder Leavitt and Elder Lacey

Elder Lacey with his Christmas Packages.
Wow! that was fast. Maybe it's because he lives in Montevideo now.

Elder Lacey and Elder Leavitt in Brazil

December 1, 2014

Dear Family,

I received my christmas packages! I got 3 from Mom and then 1 from Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. Thank you guys so much! The problem is that I could not wait until Christmas to open the electric dog whistle. That is the best thing ever made! It was crazy that you guys sent that because a week ago I found out that electric dog whistles existed and I thought it would be sweet to have one. It has already helped us a ton. I don't even have to take it out of the pocket in my bag to use it. I just press it and the dogs go paralyzed! They can't do a thing. It makes it really nice when we are trying to talk to someone but we can't here them over the barking dogs. Thank you! 

This week there were elections in Uruguay. It is weird because everyone is obligated to vote and you have to vote in your home town if you didn't do some paperwork. Plus there is only one day to do it and it is Sunday...This Sunday it was raining. It is hard enough to get people in church when it is raining but when there are elections it is almost impossible. But we had a miracle. We are working with the familia Silvera and they are awesome. They were all going to come to church but the day before they found out that family members were coming to stay in their house because of elections so they couldn't go. There 9 year old son is Diego and he decided that he wanted to come anyway. A 13 year old member lives next to them so we planned that he would go by and walk with Diego. On Sunday we went to go pass by for an investigator but she ended up not being able to come. On the way to the church we saw 9 year old Diego outside of the members house with an umbrella clapping (that is how we ring doorbells here) We went over and talked to him and he was like- Hey! I want to go to church but no one passed by for me. He is awesome! We were super surprised that he was so pumped to go to church. He ended up getting to participate in the primary program and he loved it. The good thing is that Diego is usually not interested much in religion even though the rest of his family is so we are using that to help the rest of the family get converted.

This zone is awesome. we are all really athletic so we play a lot of sports. I don't know of many touristic places but I will look into that because it is always fun to do something like that as a zone. We are kind of in the city still though so I don't know if there is much. We have 6 hermanas in our zone and 21 elders.

Thank you guys so much for all of your support! I will be sure to eat healthy. I can't believe you sent me another pair of shoes! haha! I should be good for the rest of my mission. I will just use them for conferences or something. Thank you!

I know this is the work of the Lord.

Love

Elder Lacey

Dear LacePops,

I know Christian Stewart! I was there with him in the off season. that is crazy that he finished off the season for BYU. I would love some more Articles. 

That has always been a big question for a lot of missionaries. Does God know where all of us are going to end up? and is this time on Earth just a time to prove ourselves to ourselves? I liked what you said. If we are obedient we don't need to fear about anything.

You know that my favorite color is green.....haha But I am fine with my truck.

Love you dad!

Elder Lacey

Lucas's Baptism

November 24, 2014

Dear Family, 

Las Piedras is awesome! I am really loving it here and Elder Havens is the best. We get along super well and he is a good worker so everything is going great. We have 0 investigators right now but that is how every other change has been. But I kind of like it like that because then we can just start from the start and find a bunch of new people. We already have found a family that has good potential   so we will see how it goes. I really like it here though. It kind of reminds me of Aeroparque in a way. Here in our zone we have 10 Valientes and 3 Oros which is crazy talk. Valientes are missionaries in their last change and a lot of them are good friends of mine. (Oros are new missionaries) Elder Powell is in my zone and he is a Valiente. He is on the BYU football team as well. Today we were planning on getting a good basketball game going but we ended up playing a game of soccer instead..... BYUs soccer team better watch out. I think Elder Powell and I are going to switch sports cause we played pretty well. It has been to long since I have thrown a football! haha

So I think I completely forgot to tell you about the baptism of Lucas. It was perfect! His whole family came and a lot of the ward was there as well. I will try to send you a picture of it. We will see how well these new computers work down here in Las Piedras. Lucas is a stud though. He is one of those young kids that is going to change the lives of his whole family. He already wants to serve a mission. It was kind of sad because he was really sad that I was leaving. He is a good kid.

I got your package! Thank you so much! The shoes are perfect and the peanut butter and carmel apple suckers and protein bars have saved my life this week. You are the best! 

Recently I have been learning a lot about working with members. Here in Las Piedras there are some really good members so I am looking forward to working with them. Being a missionary has opened my eyes to what role members need to play in the conversion of investigators. It is also interesting because as members help in the missionary work their own testimonies grow. If we truly have testimonies then we will want to share the gospel with everyone that we love, and we should love everyone so we should be sharing this message with everybody! I am so glad that you guys have such a strong desire to share the gospel. I remember that Mom was the first one to really share  a spiritual message with Tyler Hough. I remember you shared a plan of salvation puzzle thing with him and he said that he felt like he had already heard it before. If it wasn't for Mom I don't know if I ever would have talked to him about the church. I was crazy. I love the mission because I have learned so much about the Gospel and how God works with his children. It really is the best 2 years.

I love all of you!

Elder Lacey

Dear Dad,

In my other letter I said that if we have testimonies then we will share it with those we love, but it is a commandment to love everyone so we much share our testimonies with everyone. Yep, we need to baptize Obama. It is to bad that Sean Farley didn't baptize him. I guess Obama would need a question 4 interview because he has supported abortions but we could probably arrange one of those interviews with the mission president in Washington DC.

But I would love to see everyone in Skype That would be awesome! 

Also, I think my shoes get better mileage then any car so if you just buy me a new pair of shoes when I get home that will be good enough........haha But I would be grateful with whatever car you decide to give me. I would love to have my old car back but a 2015 Corvette would be ok I guess. haha

I love you Dad!

Elder Lacey

Las Piedras

November 18, 2014

Dear Family,

Changes! I am leaving Melo. I will be a zone leader in Las Piedras (which is basically in Montevideo) and I will be with Elder Havens. I am sad but I am also excited for the new experience. Changes always bring a little bit of sadness but I already know through experience that being changed is always what is best for you. Elder Leavitt and I got along great and we worked well together and so it is too bad that we didn't have more time together but I know Elder Havens and he is a really good missionary as well. All of my comps have been bosses! (Excellent Missionaries) 

The good news is that After 9 changes of being at least 6 hours away from Montevideo I will finally live close to it. NO MORE LONG BUS RIDES AT 1 A.M.! haha! 

Well, I have 4 changes left. I compare the mission to a 400 m race. The strategy is not to save yourself at any point in the race. The strategy is to sprint as fast as you can and give it your all. The only rule I have is that you have to finish faster then you started :) That is right, 110% . I guess it is time to really pick the pace up! Lets go!

I feel great right now. My sickness is completely gone. I have had a little bit of allergies but I still have a bottle and a half of Zyrtec so I am well covered. 

I love receiving emails from you guys because I always feel the spirit really strongly. I can just imagine Luke passing the Sacrament! It is humbling to me how important his job is as a 12 year old deacon. I am proud of him. I am glad that he liked the drawing. It is interesting to me because I wrote him a letter and I wanted to draw him a picture but I ran out of time. It turned out that I wasn't able to send the letter until the next p day and I felt impressed to draw a picture so I did it. It is something super simple but I really feel like God wanted it to turn out that way. If I would have read this story before the mission I probably would have laughed and said that it was just a coincidence but I know that God loves us and that he cares about even the smallest of things. 

I know that God lives and that he loves us. He watches over us and cares for us. This plan is perfect. Death does not have victory. Families can live together forever. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I love this gospel.

Love

Elder Lacey

PS I knew that I had read that scripture recently! (Ezekiel 33:9) I totally forgot about that you had sent that to me! That is really awesome. I actually think that this email was the catlyst that got me thinking about what I read in my personal study. Thanks mom!

The Watchmen

Elder Lacey and Contreras with la familia Acosta

Elder Lacey eating CHIVITO

Elder Lacey leading Zone Conference

Elder Contreras, Veronica, and Elder Lacey

November 10, 2014

Dear Family,

I cannot believe that Luke is already graduating from primary. It is amazing how fast time has gone by. I sent him a letter for his birthday but I don't know if it will get there in time. I am so pumped that he will get to go to the temple to do baptisms!

That is so sweet that you got a big bear hug by Elder Dallin H. Oaks! When I get home you will have to give me a hug so that I can say that I have hugged my mom who hugged Dallin H. Oaks who hugged President Monson! That is a pretty awesome experience. It is amazing how much love they have for everyone.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that Elder Leavitts grandma is Sister McConkie who gave a talk in the last General Conference. Ya.....So I have the hookups now. Front row general conference seats for life!! haha! 

Today I was doing an activity in Preach my Gospel (It is a challenge for the whole mission to finish all of the personal study activities) But I was studying in Ezekiel 3:17-21 and it was interesting what I learned. As we preach the gospel we save our own souls. In a later chapter in Ezekiel it talks about a watchmen, and how if he blows the trumpet it is not his fault if the people choose not to heed the warning of the trumpet. The watchmen did his part. I studied a little bit more about that but it just gave me even more of a desire to go out and make sure that everyone is warned. Sometimes it is sad because the people don't listen but as we warn everyone we will save our own souls as well. Here in Melo it has been pretty rough. I don't know if you guys remember Rebecca but she was as golden of an investigator as you can get. It was amazing how fast she progressed. She completed with every commitment we gave her. She was living with her boyfriend and she even committed to live the law of chastity. But She still couldn't get baptized because she was living in the same house of her boyfriend still. In the end her boyfriend told her that she shouldn't go to church anymore so she stopped because she was scared of losing him........Super sad story but hopefully one day she will get baptized. It is amazing how many people are prepared here but they just haven't been able to pass there last challenge! But Lucas is going to get baptized this saturday! He is so awesome.

I love you guys so much! I hope Luke has the best Birthday ever! Hopefully he gets my letter soon!

Love

Elder Lacey

The Window to Revelation

November 3, 2014

Dear Family,

Sorry, I don't have a poem for you guys this week. haha! But nevertheless it was another successful and good week here in Uruguay. I feel like this was one of the fastest weeks in my mission. Time just keeps speeding up. And these next 2 weeks will probably go by even faster because we have concilio, zone conference and then next week we have a multi mission conference. So we are going to have a couple of spiritual feasts coming up. I really like what you were saying about decisions. Time goes by so fast that if we do not decide to do what is right it will be too late. we will end up like those Direct TV commercials where the guy didn't get Direct TV and he ended up on the side of the road in a ditch.....we need to choose the right or we will end up in a ditch on the side of the road.

I have come to realize that people named Lucas are chosen! Lucas in 33 is awesome, and the Lucas in Melo is awesome and the "Lucas" (Luke) in Utah is awesome! They are all chosen young men that have some huge roles to play here on this earth. It is amazing how fast the Lucas here is progressing. 

The weather is getting weird down here. We have had some super hot days but recently it has been raining a ton and a little bit cold. It reminds me of Chuy! Being so hot that you are swimming in your sweat and then the next day swimming in the streets in the rain. Good thing I got my Ecco Boots! Anyway, I will try to keep this email short so I will be able to send you guys pictures.

Recently I have been studying a lot about revelation. It is interesting how big of a role that revelation plays in our lives. Joseph Smith says that without revelation we cannot reach salvation. He also said that if we have the spirit then we will receive revelation. The only way to have the spirit with us is through keeping our covenants. In the sacrament prayer it says, "so that they may always have his spirit to be with them" If we want to receive salvation then we must receive revelation. To receive revelation we need to have the spirit and to have the spirit we need to keep our covenants. I love what Elder Eyring says in the talk that you sent me. “The words ‘Thy will be done’ written on our hearts are the window to revelation.” 

I am so grateful for our loving heavenly Father who loves us so much that he is willing to give us revelation everyday so help us along the path. The mission is the best!

Love

Elder Lacey

Dear Dad,

Here on the mission I have learned a ton about promises. the scriptures are filled with promises! And sí o sí they will be fulfilled if we do our part. I was studying about humility the other day and there were blessings that I found that I never even thought of. I can't remember all of them right now but maybe later I will send it to you. 

So, are you going to go be the next coach of BYU? That would be sweet! haha resurrect the old play book! 

It will be interesting what happens with BYU in the future. Quick questions. what has been happening with the Power 5? and What are they going to do about paying players? does everyone get paid?

Anyway, I am doing well. thank you for your support. I have the best dad in the World!

Love 

Elder Lacey

PS I can't get any pictures to send :( 

Roses are Red......

October 30, 2014

Dear Family,

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

There is no point in hiding

Cause the missionaries are comin’ for YOU!

We don't mess around. We are a highly trained, fully armed (with the spirit) group of 88,000 missionaries that will come and drag you to eternal life. It does not matter where you live, who you are, or what you do. We will find you and we will baptize you and your entire family. The whole world just needs to give up. They can't win! 

Anyway, that’s how I feel. haha! The mission is the best. This week was another week full of miracles. We have some really awesome investigators that surprise us every week. This 11 year old named Lucas came to us the other week and started asking us questions. He is amazing! There are questions in the back of the pamphlets that we hand out and no one ever does them but he did them all. It is interesting because his dad is super Catholic so Lucas has a lot of little Catholic things that he has picked up. For example every time he prays he starts off with "Father, forgive us of our sins" which is actually really cool to hear from an 11 year old. The good thing is that his parents are totally fine with him having the lessons and such. Before long we will sneak the message into their house and baptize the whole family. You can't stop it from happening! haha

Elder Leavitt is super awesome. He is always looking for ways to work better and harder and we get along really well. He also likes making movies so who knows. Maybe Dad is right, maybe I might just have to go into film making.

As far as my trunky call goes, they didn't tell me my return date (thankfully) but I told them that I would be flying into the Salt Lake airport and I gave them your emails. I also told them that you would be picking me up so I hope that is the case.

What kind of shoes did you send me? Some Echoes??? Thank you!!!! My shoes are pretty gasted. (So Daniel totally made a  “Spanglish” word meaning totally used up or spent) We might have to get them bronzed or whatever you call it when I get home like that one talk.jk

I am glad that Luke is doing well. I still remember how powerful that blessing was that the Stake President gave me.

You are so lucky! You get to go to the temple every week! I am jealous. keep it up!

As far as BYU football goes who even cares about football? I only care about Rugby (or whatever sport that we are doing well in) No one even watches football anyway. But GO GIANTS!

I am having a blast! Send my love to everyone. This is the true church and this is the work of the Lord. Let’s go Share this message with someone today!

Love

Elder Lacey

Let us go work in his vineyard

Elder Lacey with new companion Elder Leavitt

October 20, 2014

Dear Family,

So you guys are turning Jewish on me? Jk It sounds like a really good experience! I am glad that Luke isn't afraid to participate. That is a really important part of learning. (a note of explanation from Diana: I have a world religion class at BYU and so I visited a Jewish Shabbat  (their sabbath service). I took Luke and Mike with me. Luke raised his hand several times when the Rabbi asked questions. It was pretty interesting and Luke gave some great comments)

Also, I think I have been to that Lake where you went horseback riding. Mom, you are the best. You are the only mom that I know that has gone skydiving, horseback riding and has taken perfect care of all of her children. I love you!

I love General Conference too! Too bad it takes a little while for us to be able to read the talks. But I think that we will get them pretty soon. Thanks for the things that you share with me. It always lifts me up and gets me ready for the week.

So, sad day. Today I got my "trunky call" but I actually got it through the email. It is when the secretaries ask you what airport you are flying into and who will pick you up and stuff like that. Ain't nobody got time to respond to those types of questions! I got to baptize! I don't care where I am flying into haha Anyways, normally people get it when they are 6 months away but they sent it a little bit early so it surprised me.

The work is going well. we have found some really solid people but we have lost a couple on the way. Clause dropped us a week before her baptismal date. Everything was going well but then her daughter said that if she got baptized she wouldn't talk to her anymore or something like that so she doesn't want anything to do with the church. It is super sad but maybe she will come around someday. We should have a couple baptisms coming up soon because we have some really amazing investigators.

As far as Uruguayan life goes, I am living it up. I saw 6 people on 1 motorcycle the other day. I thought it was hard to fit 6 people in my truck. Also thanks to the bidet (buday, I don't know how you spell it) I haven't had to buy toilet paper in 8 months. Life is good.

I have been kind of sick for the past 2 weeks but I feel like I am getting over it. You know what that means. This is the week! Today is the day! Now is the Time! We are going to get to work. I love this gospel and I am glad for the chance that I have to help others receive this message. Thank you for your support and all of your prayers. Christ Lives and he directs this church! Now let us go work in his vineyard.

Love   

Elder Lacey