9 months!!

Farley's sent Daniel a Kilt Towel Haha

Many, Many bus trips

February 23, 2014

Dear Family,

Time flies when you are having fun! It doesn't even feel like I have been out for 9 months. I have loved every part of these past months and it is sad to see them go by so fast. This week was such another great week though.

We got to go to the temple! We left Tuesday at 6 pm and we got back Thursday at 9 am. When we were leaving it was kind of rough because we knew that we were going to lose even more time working in our areas and we were scared that some of our baptisms would fall through if we weren't here to teach them more. But when we were in the temple all of our worries were thrown away. What a sweet experience. I LOVE THE TEMPLE! This time was especially awesome because there is the new video. I received a lot of revelation for our area and for our district while I was in there so it was definitely worth the little bit of time that we lost. Right after the temple we had a district meeting and our whole district got really pumped up to get out and WORK. Even though everyone in our district lost a couple days of work, everyone had one of the best weeks ever. We were really blessed with the spirit and we know that the Lord watched over our investigators.

This week Jaimí and Juan got baptized. They were both miracles and we didn't think that they would get baptized this week because we still had to teach them a lot of things. But everything worked out perfectly and they were able to get baptized on Sunday along with 2 other people from the other missionaries in our ward. So in total we had 4 baptisms in the ward! It was a really good experience. Sadly I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures of it today but i will be able to get it from the other elders so I will send it next week. 

I liked what you said about the plateau effect. I have felt it a little bit but every time I start to feel like I am plateauing we have an awesome zone conference or we go to the temple. Things like that just boost our excitement and our spirits a ton. 

I got a bunch of B-day packages when we went to the temple! Thanks so much! I needed a lot of that stuff.....those Reeses pieces m&m things are divine. I also got Sam's picture and it is in plain sight so that I can remember how bad I need to beat up on him in IGP when I get back haha! I also got that paper with Proverbs 3:5 on it. Such a good scrip. The Farleys also sent me a package with some good stuff in it. Thank them a ton for me! There packages are always a good time. 

I also received a good amount of letters I haven't had time to read them all yet but I know I got 2 from G&G Larsen and a couple from G&G Steinagle and 1 from Luke! Thank you guys! 

It actually would be a really good idea to send me some socks. Mine have kind of shrunk a little bit so it is really hard to put on in the mornings haha I really like the gold toe socks but could you get the ones that are more stretchy?

The mission is the best! I learn every day something new about life.I love in Alma 17:2-3 where it talks about how they studied the word of God, prayed and fasted and then they could teach with power and authority from God. Studying the scriptures everyday is definitely something that I am going to be doing for the rest of my life. Sometimes I just wish I had a whole day to read the scriptures. Right now I am about to finish the Book of Mormon! For everyone who wishes that there was world peace, go read 4th Nephi. If only we could all study the scriptures and keep pride out of our hearts we could all live in peace. Anyway, that is what I have been learning lately. I am glad that I have parents that have always taught me about the things that they have learned. You guys are great examples.

I love everyone!

Elder Lacey

Our Ultimate Goal is to Become Like Christ

after we ran through that crazy big storm.

We were on the bus a lot and pretty much everyone got hit with some really bad diarhea..... there wasn't any toiletpaper sooooo some sacrifices had to be made

February 17, 2014

Dear Family,

The mission is the best! 

This week went by so fast, but when I look back at the last time that I wrote you guys there is so much that has happened. Elder Rae and I are feeling really good about our area right now. We have found some really good new investigators and we are planning on having 2 baptisms this week. One is a guy who is super, super poor and he used to drink really heavily. He got really sick like a year ago and so he quit drinking. (Thank goodness for sicknesses) He can't read either and so when we first met him we didn't think he would come to church or anything but he has already come 3 times now! It is amazing to see the changes in people if they are just willing to accept Christ. The 2nd baptism is a friend of a member who is 12. He is so awesome! Even though he is young you can see his willingness to follow Christ. 

This week we had to travel to Melo for a multi zone conference. I always love these zone conferences because we always learn a ton and are always really excited to work afterwards. The only problem is that we left at 4:30 pm on Thursday and got home at 9 am on Saturday. Even though we lost so much time working in our own areas, our district still got some really good work done. Did I tell you that there  was another special change? Anyway, the new elder that came in, Elder Massey, is awesome. We are really good friends and he is helping out Lascano a ton. Basically our whole district is doing really good right now so we are all excited.

Andrea is still doing well. She has gone through some rough times but the elders down there in Montevideo are helping her out a lot. The ward down there is supporting her very well too. I am so glad that no matter where you go you can always have good church members to help you out. 

The weather has been pretty crazy here. it hasn't been really hot but it has rained a ton and it is really humid. We are eating well and so I am gaining some good weight back. Yesterday we had to run a good distance and it was the best run of my mission. I felt like I could run a 49 second 400! Maybe not..... but I felt really good. So all is well health wise. 

Lucky! St George is the best. I hope you guys had a fun time rolling down the sand dunes. Say hi to everyone up there for me. Thanks for all of the pictures! I love seeing everyone so happy. Luke looks like He is growing a ton! But yes we can watch videos that have the Church logo on them. We can download them off of the church website and put them on a thumb-drive so maybe I will have to do that. I have recently realized the power of media in conversion. A big thing that helped Andrea was the video of the restoration we also gave her the video of finding faith in Christ. I think she watched both videos like 3 times! But for us as missionaries church videos are the best. There are a couple that always get us feeling the spirit really strongly and ready to work. 

I love what you are studying though. Chapter 6 is one of my favorite chapters in PMG because that is our ultimate goal, to obtain the attributes of Christ and become like him.

I love you guys! Hugs all around!

Love,

Elder Lacey

Some sort of crazy red eyed devil dog that we saw in the street today.

Faith to be Baptized

Elder Lacey, Andrea, Elder Rae

February 10, 2014

Dear Family,

What another crazy week! I love it when we have weeks like this and then I get to write you guys because I get to look back on the week and remember all of the miracles that happened. We have been very blessed these past couple of days.

It started off as a normal week. Andrea was doing good for her baptism on Sunday and we were passing by everyday to charla (have a missionary discussion) with her. She is a single mom and she works a ton but she has such a strong testimony. There have just been a lot of obstacles in her way. She has been really sad lately because her Dad sold her house that she halfway shares with her him so she has to move. She also was going to lose her job anyway so she has to move to Montevideo no matter what. One day she was really struggling because she had no idea what to do with her life and she was crying a bunch. We shared some scriptures and good stuff with her and she felt a little bit better. The next day we gave her a blessing of comfort and it was a really espiritual experience. She felt a lot better after that. She then left to Montevideo for some job interviews. She came back and we had a lesson with her on Wednesday. She was so happy! She went and met with some really famous hair dresser people and they really liked her work so she has a lot of really good job offers. We were really excited for her until we found out that she was moving in the next couple of days... and she was going to move into the house where her boyfriend lives with his parents because she has no where else to live. Thats when the roller coster started. We were feeling really bad but then we talked with her and we thought we had it all worked out. But then there were some problems with our plan and so she wasn't going to get baptized. We went to bed thinking that she wasn't going to get baptized and we could not sleep. I was up thinking of other things that we could do to help her not live with her boyfriend so that she could get baptized. The crazy thing is that she is completely committed to live the law of chastity. That is how strong her testimony is. She made plans to live in the house but not break the law of chastity, but that just doesn't work. So in the morning we went over and had a really spiritual discussion where she committed to not live with her boyfriend no matter what. We were so pumped! At the same time that we were talking, her boyfriend was on the way up from Montevideo to help her move. We all put our faith in the Lord that she would be able to find a house to move into in Montevideo. She had the faith to tell her boyfriend that she isn't going to live with him. She got baptized that day! It was probably the craziest 12 hour of my life. All throughout that time I was on the phone with the zone leaders making sure that everything worked out well. And I was also on the phone with the other missionaries in Montevideo trying to find some sort of house for her to live in. She has such a strong testimony and it took so much faith for her to get baptized that day without knowing what would happen in the future. She chose to love God more then anything else. It was amazing. After the baptism we had to take a bus to Lascano to do a baptismal interview. We were late so Elder Rae and I had to chase the bus down! haha We were booking it but luckily it stopped and we made it. In Lascano the interview went well and then we slept on the floor in Lascano because we had to take a bus the next day to Threinta y Tres For Zone Conference. The bus schedules are really messed up here because it has been raining for 2 weeks straight and there are some roads that art flooded. So after the Zone Conference we had to stay in 33 so we did some splits with all of the missionaries there. Luckily it rained a ton on us so we got soaked :) We slept on the floor again and then woke up at 3:50 am to take a bus back to Chuy. All of this time we were on the phone with a bunch of people making sure that everything worked out well with Andrea.

That was 3 days out of our week. We thought everything was going to be tranquilo after that but then we had another surprise! One of the missionaries in my district has been struggling with a lot of things and so there is going to be another special change in my district.  I am sad to see this missionary go to another area but I feel like I was really able to help him in a lot of his struggles. He wanted to go home for a bit but I was able to help him feel better about the mission and everything. Anyway, the new missionary that is coming in is Elder Massey. we were in the CCM together and we were really good friends s I am excited to be able to see him again. So basically it has been a crazy week.

I am so grateful for all of the blessings that we have received. Elder Rae and I are working great together and we were able to see many miracles with Andrea. Right now she is working with the missionaries down in Montevideo and everything is going well. She thinks she is going to dump her boyfriend because he got really mad about this whole situation. But you can only serve one master! And Andrea picked the right one. There were a few verses in the Bible that we shared with her that really helped her a ton but right now I can't remember where they are exactly. It is in Matthew somewhere. They are some of my favorite verses. I will share them with you next week.

But I am so glad that you guys are helping this family out. it sounds like a good opportunity to serve. 

Man! I am just so grateful right now. There are so many things in the mission that can bring you down so that you lose your excitement but there are so many things that bring you up, higher then you think you can go. I am so grateful for the mission and everything that I have been able to do to help others. This is the best!

I love you guys and I hope everyone is feelin good!

Love,

Elder Lacey

4 Musketeers

Birthday Letter to the Destroyer of Evil!

Elder Lacey for Heisman

Letter from Elder Lacey to Mom for her birthday

Letter from Elder Lacey to Mom for her birthday part 2

February 3, 2014

Dear Family,

I have good news! As of today the Boo officially stopped! ¡Vamos Arriba! I am feeling really good now. It is interesting, when I was sick I was wondering why I had to get sick because there was so much work to do. But when I was getting better I learned a valuable lesson. Because I had felt so bad, feeling normal felt so much better. It also helped me feel a new boost of excitement for the work because I wasn't able to work as well as normal, so when I finally got feeling 100 percent I was just happy to be able to work again. The Lord gives us weaknesses to make us stronger so I am actually grateful for the opportunity to have felt the pain so now I can feel good.....And I feel good, REALLY goood.(Nacho)

But I am really glad that you got your B-day letter and I am glad you liked it. The new mission president is going to get here the 3rd week of March so we have a temporary president for now from Uruguay. But I am really excited to get to meet President Cook. 

Way to go Luke! Keep draining those shots! I can't wait to see you play in 2 years! 

That is to bad about what is happening with Gay marriage up in Utah. Satan really is hastening his work in these últimos días. Sometimes it is really sad to walk down the streets and see so many people that are lost in the craziness of the world. It is so interesting to have the perspective of a missionary and see small little things that draw people away from God. We really need to constantly watch our thoughts, words and deeds porque si no, está bravo. I read a verse the other day about how quickly sin drags us down. There is no time to mess around these days. We have to always keep our focus on what is most important.

Andrea didn't get baptized.....you might ask why? The answer is Satan. Gosh dang! Never have I seen such a hard attack on someone. Andrea really is an awesome women and so Satan really doesn't want her to get baptized. Since we have known her there have been many things that have happened to her that could have potentially brought her down but she is staying strong. She is committed to get baptized this Sunday no matter what. We have been praying and trying to do everything so that she can make this huge step in her life but it is so interesting to see how Satan tries so hard to stop people from getting baptized. We are really happy that Andrea is staying strong and fighting off the temptations of the devil.

It is also interesting to think that many of the problems that she has had in her life started because she didn't have this knowledge of what a family should be like. We have given her a lot of material about the family and she eats it all up. I have a testimony that the family unit is one of the biggest things that we have to protect us against the world. And it is also the biggest thing that Satan wants destroyed. We need to fight for the spiritual and physical welfare of America! Because it is so clear down here in Uruguay. Without the family we are toast.

I am so glad to be down here to help these good people learn about the plan of God. The mission is the best! I love all of you guys so much and I hope you have a good February! I forgot to tell you, I received a letter from Sam and Annie, ,and 2 from Grandpa and Grandma Steinagel and Grandma Larsen. So thank them a ton for me. I love reading about how everyone is doing. Spread the Love!

Love,

Elder Lacey