HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
to celebrate, i have some little big news.
Last night my companion left on a bus, and right now im awaiting my new companion.
and he just flew in from Mexico City!
Im going to be his first companion in the ¨field¨
I feel sorry for him! No actually im really nervous. but in having sent me him God has told me that im ready (or as ready as ever will be) and i know that with faith, my personal lameness is of no importance. Its comforting you know? but if ever faith is tried, it is at times like these when God tells us something we ¨know¨ isn´t true.
Someone named Edgar was just baptized. When we explained to him of baptism a week ago, he said he didn`t feel ready, or worthy of such a large step, of such a covenant with God.
My companion told him that truly, no one is worthy of it. and yet God has told all to partake.
When He tells us we are ready, we are ready. and we know that he gives no commandment unto the children of men save he prepareth the way that they might accomplish the thing that he commanded. He couldnt, being just.
Edgar was being prepared long before we ever arrived. and im am blessed greatly to have been there as the light that he had within him met that of the fulness of truth that is the gospel. and they were and are the same.
I figure it is the same with all challenges that come before us. although we know we can do nothing, when our preparation and personal effort meets that help which is perfect a miracle occurs.
Edgar finds truth and we overcome.
well, i hope everyone has just a dandy thanksgiving,!
thanks for your super coolness! I going to go now!
bye! I love you!
Elder Albano!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
November 1, 2010
Hiya mom!
glad to hear everthing is dandy back home, with the homeless people burning down the malls and whatnot.Do i look good? i sure hope so! Do you need my address? no! you actually always send straight to the mission home, its the same address that you had, so dont worry bout that! otherwise who knows, i could be here 7 months or leave in three weeks, but i hope i stick around. theres a sister here in the ward that served her mission in santa rosa, and her last area was woodland, but i guess sacramento and our side were out of her area. o yeah, and the letters i got a few weeks ago...or last week...i dont know, were from when i was still in the mtc, so they resent them here. i thought that was right nice of them.How was Halloween? Im not sure what happened here but there was a lot of drum banging and dancing. Today is the first día de los muertos! day of the dead! I think theres two. and the only thing ive heard about in connection to this holiday is that there is this bread that everybody eats and is only made on this occasion. its called pan de muerto...i tried some too, and was alright with it, shoot! i dont have any complaints.hey mum? can you do me a favor, two? when you send the next package, (whenever you were going to!) could you toss in my harmonica and some finger nail clippers too? i dont know what happened, but i havent been able to find the ones i bought in the mtc since i moved, and and the situation is getting desperate! i could probably buy some here, but....i...dont know mom! i reckon i just dont trust mexico. they´ll arrive just fine! as far as what im doing down here,its not much! our missions president has asked us (as well as the prophets for like 15 years) to work with the members. there is a better way than knocking doors! said president Hinkley. but our mission is like stuck in the past, because you can teach a lot of lessons just by knocking doors, and everyone is accustomed to it. Well, we havent had much success. that is you can teach lessons, but the people dont go anywhere, they dont want to do anything, and so they dont progress.so we´ve been trying to adopt the ¨new¨ form.we put on this activity with games and a spiritual thought, and we even had the baker make us a bunch of sweet bread and another member make this chocolate drink that was super good, and we told everyone to come and bring friends and family and inactive neighbors (there are 700 members i think in our area and we see like 60 in the church every week)and hardly anybody came! it was fun, but also a bummer!but its alright, we´re learning. whats important, is that we all understand that we play a role in this work. an apostle told us that if we worked according to the will of the Lord, if we did his will as his church, the full time missionaries would spend all their time teaching, and not searching. right now we spend almost the whole time searching.So the spiritual thought is a challenge!Something that President Monson said is to think of the people who have recently suffered a loss, who are having difficulties in the home, people who in this moment in their life, need and have been prepared for the gospel. and then have the courage and the love for them, to share what has helped you so much in your life. can you do it? there are people in the life of every single person in this Church. God has put them there, has put us here to help one another! and i know, i dont have to tell you mom, you already know. so, ill leave you alone!
I love you! thanks for everything mom! have a nice week, please!
Elder Albano!
glad to hear everthing is dandy back home, with the homeless people burning down the malls and whatnot.Do i look good? i sure hope so! Do you need my address? no! you actually always send straight to the mission home, its the same address that you had, so dont worry bout that! otherwise who knows, i could be here 7 months or leave in three weeks, but i hope i stick around. theres a sister here in the ward that served her mission in santa rosa, and her last area was woodland, but i guess sacramento and our side were out of her area. o yeah, and the letters i got a few weeks ago...or last week...i dont know, were from when i was still in the mtc, so they resent them here. i thought that was right nice of them.How was Halloween? Im not sure what happened here but there was a lot of drum banging and dancing. Today is the first día de los muertos! day of the dead! I think theres two. and the only thing ive heard about in connection to this holiday is that there is this bread that everybody eats and is only made on this occasion. its called pan de muerto...i tried some too, and was alright with it, shoot! i dont have any complaints.hey mum? can you do me a favor, two? when you send the next package, (whenever you were going to!) could you toss in my harmonica and some finger nail clippers too? i dont know what happened, but i havent been able to find the ones i bought in the mtc since i moved, and and the situation is getting desperate! i could probably buy some here, but....i...dont know mom! i reckon i just dont trust mexico. they´ll arrive just fine! as far as what im doing down here,its not much! our missions president has asked us (as well as the prophets for like 15 years) to work with the members. there is a better way than knocking doors! said president Hinkley. but our mission is like stuck in the past, because you can teach a lot of lessons just by knocking doors, and everyone is accustomed to it. Well, we havent had much success. that is you can teach lessons, but the people dont go anywhere, they dont want to do anything, and so they dont progress.so we´ve been trying to adopt the ¨new¨ form.we put on this activity with games and a spiritual thought, and we even had the baker make us a bunch of sweet bread and another member make this chocolate drink that was super good, and we told everyone to come and bring friends and family and inactive neighbors (there are 700 members i think in our area and we see like 60 in the church every week)and hardly anybody came! it was fun, but also a bummer!but its alright, we´re learning. whats important, is that we all understand that we play a role in this work. an apostle told us that if we worked according to the will of the Lord, if we did his will as his church, the full time missionaries would spend all their time teaching, and not searching. right now we spend almost the whole time searching.So the spiritual thought is a challenge!Something that President Monson said is to think of the people who have recently suffered a loss, who are having difficulties in the home, people who in this moment in their life, need and have been prepared for the gospel. and then have the courage and the love for them, to share what has helped you so much in your life. can you do it? there are people in the life of every single person in this Church. God has put them there, has put us here to help one another! and i know, i dont have to tell you mom, you already know. so, ill leave you alone!
I love you! thanks for everything mom! have a nice week, please!
Elder Albano!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
10/25/10
Nick didn't actually email today, but we received this little note from the zone leader who's family is in my ward...
OK starting out Elder Albano, I love the kid. Of course i knew for like 2 weeks while i was his zone leader and did divisions with him and we figured it all out about his sister in the Smith family. He is a great missionary, he works really hard. He was with an Elder not so obedient but he handled it well and now he has a great companion who is Elder Javier. They are in a beautiful part of San Luis Potosi. It is a branch and they usually have tons of success out there, tell his family he is a great Elder and i love him.
Made my day : )
OK starting out Elder Albano, I love the kid. Of course i knew for like 2 weeks while i was his zone leader and did divisions with him and we figured it all out about his sister in the Smith family. He is a great missionary, he works really hard. He was with an Elder not so obedient but he handled it well and now he has a great companion who is Elder Javier. They are in a beautiful part of San Luis Potosi. It is a branch and they usually have tons of success out there, tell his family he is a great Elder and i love him.
Made my day : )
10/18/10
Guten nachte!
how art thou? i am glad to hear all is well. and mom, i hope you can forgive me!
who knows what happened last week, but i didn´t write and i am dreadfully sorry.
Wait no! i do know what happened!
I was on a bus almost the whole day, because i got changed from Irapuato to my new home in! Matahuala! Its the furthest area north for our mission, and actually, wasn´t even in our mission until about 3 months ago.
So! I have a new companion, Elder Javiere, who has about 8 or 9 months in the mission. he´s a neat guy.
I really like this place, not that i should care. Its really small, theres only one other companionship, and 2 branches. But i like it in the short time i have been here. Today we climbed a mountain, here! i will show you some pictures! in the last one is my companion, on my left hand side! closest to me! yep, thats him! neat huh?
ummmm
i´ll tell you a swell experience i had.
we went to lunch with a member of our branch, and her family.
well, we were about to eat these things that taste pretty good, but i always have a tough time downing, i think they´re called sope, and they´re basically tacos, but flat, and with a really thick tortilla. anyways,
i ate too many of them one time and now they give me this nauseous nostalgia (dont judge me for my spelling)of that occasion.
well, i sat down to eat them, with a little worry, as the hermana brought out more and more.
but then they turned on the tv and we watched this burned dvd of beautiful landscapes with smooth latinny mexican music, and i found myself at peace.
i don´t know why i felt inspired to tell you that. its just something about eating with members, and being in mexico, that i would like to share with you, because it brings me great happiness.
You have to eat what people give you! and its not a problem really, because you´re usually starving. did i tell you about the time the time the lady turned on the techno beats?
anyways, i wont waste more of your time.
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL!!!
i was talking about something two weeks ago, but i can´t remember what.
But i spoke in church yesterday, i dont think anybody was listening, because i probably didn´t make any sense,
but i´ll share a scripture that i think i shared yesterday, with you!
pablo dijo!
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves.
Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
this makes me think of something i started to learn, and i say started to learn because im still trying, about the scriptures, and about prayer.
really the purpose, and the way we aquire and strengthen our testimonies, our beliefs.
this scripture is in 1 john, 2:21
i have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it...
When i have read the scriptures, when i have read them with faith, really searching for answers, really pondering over what i have read, and praying beforehand to ask for help in this aspect,
I find i don´t learn anything new.
I feel as if i find the words that were already within me. I feel as if i remember something i already knew, or i am given hope in something i had already hoped for.
the testimony, for me, is that that which i find, mirrors the yearning of my soul. in the times when i have questioned everything, fought to find a way out of believing, i have lucked, (or better yet recieved a little help), i have remembered something.
You cannot cheat yourself.
Even though you feel as if you are completely crazy to believe in something or someone like God, shoot! people talking outloud with arms folded and eyes closed and nobody around, and no, they aren´t talking to themselves!!! really, Its crazy! its absolutely ridiculous!
IF you skip out on faith
Its a rule! its a huge rule! one that we like to try to ignore at times! or that we don´t understand.
God has promised each and every one of us, that if we ¨ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you...¨ Moroni 10:4
I have a testimony of Christ, i have a testimony of God, his words in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, and his words through living prophets today.
Search these things, and your life as well, with a hope to find, and you will. we all have the truth within us. align it with these gifts of God
I love you!
I wish you a nice week!
and have to go!
adiós
Elder Albano
how art thou? i am glad to hear all is well. and mom, i hope you can forgive me!
who knows what happened last week, but i didn´t write and i am dreadfully sorry.
Wait no! i do know what happened!
I was on a bus almost the whole day, because i got changed from Irapuato to my new home in! Matahuala! Its the furthest area north for our mission, and actually, wasn´t even in our mission until about 3 months ago.
So! I have a new companion, Elder Javiere, who has about 8 or 9 months in the mission. he´s a neat guy.
I really like this place, not that i should care. Its really small, theres only one other companionship, and 2 branches. But i like it in the short time i have been here. Today we climbed a mountain, here! i will show you some pictures! in the last one is my companion, on my left hand side! closest to me! yep, thats him! neat huh?
ummmm
i´ll tell you a swell experience i had.
we went to lunch with a member of our branch, and her family.
well, we were about to eat these things that taste pretty good, but i always have a tough time downing, i think they´re called sope, and they´re basically tacos, but flat, and with a really thick tortilla. anyways,
i ate too many of them one time and now they give me this nauseous nostalgia (dont judge me for my spelling)of that occasion.
well, i sat down to eat them, with a little worry, as the hermana brought out more and more.
but then they turned on the tv and we watched this burned dvd of beautiful landscapes with smooth latinny mexican music, and i found myself at peace.
i don´t know why i felt inspired to tell you that. its just something about eating with members, and being in mexico, that i would like to share with you, because it brings me great happiness.
You have to eat what people give you! and its not a problem really, because you´re usually starving. did i tell you about the time the time the lady turned on the techno beats?
anyways, i wont waste more of your time.
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL!!!
i was talking about something two weeks ago, but i can´t remember what.
But i spoke in church yesterday, i dont think anybody was listening, because i probably didn´t make any sense,
but i´ll share a scripture that i think i shared yesterday, with you!
pablo dijo!
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves.
Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
this makes me think of something i started to learn, and i say started to learn because im still trying, about the scriptures, and about prayer.
really the purpose, and the way we aquire and strengthen our testimonies, our beliefs.
this scripture is in 1 john, 2:21
i have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it...
When i have read the scriptures, when i have read them with faith, really searching for answers, really pondering over what i have read, and praying beforehand to ask for help in this aspect,
I find i don´t learn anything new.
I feel as if i find the words that were already within me. I feel as if i remember something i already knew, or i am given hope in something i had already hoped for.
the testimony, for me, is that that which i find, mirrors the yearning of my soul. in the times when i have questioned everything, fought to find a way out of believing, i have lucked, (or better yet recieved a little help), i have remembered something.
You cannot cheat yourself.
Even though you feel as if you are completely crazy to believe in something or someone like God, shoot! people talking outloud with arms folded and eyes closed and nobody around, and no, they aren´t talking to themselves!!! really, Its crazy! its absolutely ridiculous!
IF you skip out on faith
Its a rule! its a huge rule! one that we like to try to ignore at times! or that we don´t understand.
God has promised each and every one of us, that if we ¨ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you...¨ Moroni 10:4
I have a testimony of Christ, i have a testimony of God, his words in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, and his words through living prophets today.
Search these things, and your life as well, with a hope to find, and you will. we all have the truth within us. align it with these gifts of God
I love you!
I wish you a nice week!
and have to go!
adiós
Elder Albano
Saturday, October 2, 2010
9-27-10
Howdy y´all
Hows it going huh? I didn´t find glasses, because i can see close fine, its just distances that i have trouble. but it really doesn´t matter unless im trying to catch a bus and cant read where its going. No its not a big deal.
Horay! for street vibrations and the community show! did you catch a glimpse of grry? im sure he was there, ha!
Im not sure if im going to see much of general conference, i certainly hope so, but if we continue working like we are we won´t have any investigators to bring and we´ll probably be out in the streets!
the weathers dandy, it just started raining out of the blue, just now! I cant imagine having to knock doors in 101 degrees, and i hope it remains that way. Why do you think im discouraged? IM NOT DISCOURAGED!
I would be discouraged if i thought i was capable of this work.
im attaching photos, cause i don´t have anything to say!
the first is me after too many tacos. TOO MANY TACOS! no, this is when my face was swollen, before it started to puss, like a month and a half ago.
the second is called MAKING QUESADILLAS, i was in charge of the quesadillas while my companion created ¨frijoles puercos¨ i guess an authentic meal known only where he´s from...cinaloa, or something like that.Next is TORTA WITH PEOPLE SINGING, from today, when i ate a torta and people started singing.
luego, WALMART! i thought it was funny.
finalmente, a picture of part of CENTRO. where we ate the tortas! and where the mail office is!
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL
is following! we were walking, and i said to my companion, pointing to a hunched lady on a curb, ¿que le parece si placticamos con esta Señora?
how does it look if we talk to this woman...more or less, who turned out to be a member, selling peanuts and seeds, and whose two daughters were selling chicklets at a stop light. Apparently she had been a member for many many years, was teaching in Relief Society (she proudly noted) but felt as if she was judged by the sisters there, and decided to never return to the church again. She said she had learned much, but felt as if everyones words were beautiful but the actions ugly.
I tried talking to her, asking her why she was baptized, why she let these imperfect people get in the way of her following Christ, why she couldn´t forgive them, and a whole bunch of other things. But all in all, although she told me she had forgiven these people, it was clear she hadn´t, and she let this separate her from God.
i read once that pride is the universal sin. i reckon that means that everyone in the world has to overcome it. really, its the natural man we each have within us. the problem being its so easily seen in others and so difficult to see in ourselves.
but what do we let get in the way of our relationships with others, and what do let get in the way of our relationship with God?
really, this lady because of her pride, let other people choose for her. she let their actions stop her from partaking in the sacrament, from learning, overcoming, and following the Savior. Now her children suffer, and they don´t even know it. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that we can choose to be offended, or we can choose not to be. It is very much a choice, and one that decides to whom we give our agency, the only thing we truly own. THE MORAL!!! We must never cease to forgive, just look how the Savior forgives us
¨for behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the same Being, even God...? Mosiah 4:19
im gunna go, i love you, and forgive you for not sending more swedish fish.
o yeah! i got the package! and the swedish fish! and the stickers! nice work with the stickers! I got a letter from Sister Racconi too! and Riley! Thanks alot!
Let all learn from these good people!
thanks!
ok, im gunna go, i love you! till next time huh!?!
Hows it going huh? I didn´t find glasses, because i can see close fine, its just distances that i have trouble. but it really doesn´t matter unless im trying to catch a bus and cant read where its going. No its not a big deal.
Horay! for street vibrations and the community show! did you catch a glimpse of grry? im sure he was there, ha!
Im not sure if im going to see much of general conference, i certainly hope so, but if we continue working like we are we won´t have any investigators to bring and we´ll probably be out in the streets!
the weathers dandy, it just started raining out of the blue, just now! I cant imagine having to knock doors in 101 degrees, and i hope it remains that way. Why do you think im discouraged? IM NOT DISCOURAGED!
I would be discouraged if i thought i was capable of this work.
im attaching photos, cause i don´t have anything to say!
the first is me after too many tacos. TOO MANY TACOS! no, this is when my face was swollen, before it started to puss, like a month and a half ago.
the second is called MAKING QUESADILLAS, i was in charge of the quesadillas while my companion created ¨frijoles puercos¨ i guess an authentic meal known only where he´s from...cinaloa, or something like that.Next is TORTA WITH PEOPLE SINGING, from today, when i ate a torta and people started singing.
luego, WALMART! i thought it was funny.
finalmente, a picture of part of CENTRO. where we ate the tortas! and where the mail office is!
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL
is following! we were walking, and i said to my companion, pointing to a hunched lady on a curb, ¿que le parece si placticamos con esta Señora?
how does it look if we talk to this woman...more or less, who turned out to be a member, selling peanuts and seeds, and whose two daughters were selling chicklets at a stop light. Apparently she had been a member for many many years, was teaching in Relief Society (she proudly noted) but felt as if she was judged by the sisters there, and decided to never return to the church again. She said she had learned much, but felt as if everyones words were beautiful but the actions ugly.
I tried talking to her, asking her why she was baptized, why she let these imperfect people get in the way of her following Christ, why she couldn´t forgive them, and a whole bunch of other things. But all in all, although she told me she had forgiven these people, it was clear she hadn´t, and she let this separate her from God.
i read once that pride is the universal sin. i reckon that means that everyone in the world has to overcome it. really, its the natural man we each have within us. the problem being its so easily seen in others and so difficult to see in ourselves.
but what do we let get in the way of our relationships with others, and what do let get in the way of our relationship with God?
really, this lady because of her pride, let other people choose for her. she let their actions stop her from partaking in the sacrament, from learning, overcoming, and following the Savior. Now her children suffer, and they don´t even know it. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that we can choose to be offended, or we can choose not to be. It is very much a choice, and one that decides to whom we give our agency, the only thing we truly own. THE MORAL!!! We must never cease to forgive, just look how the Savior forgives us
¨for behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the same Being, even God...? Mosiah 4:19
im gunna go, i love you, and forgive you for not sending more swedish fish.
o yeah! i got the package! and the swedish fish! and the stickers! nice work with the stickers! I got a letter from Sister Racconi too! and Riley! Thanks alot!
Let all learn from these good people!
thanks!
ok, im gunna go, i love you! till next time huh!?!
Friday, September 10, 2010
September 9th, 2010
Vaca Santa!
I hope you all enjoyed that good ol´american holiday! Ya know, we´re going to be celebrating 200 years of pure Mexico down here the 15. I think ill be sleeping, but isn´t that neat!
Anywhom
Crazy, sorry for all of this nonsense of late!
Im just now finding the time to write (though i shouldn´t be...) its ok, its a rule that we write home and i was throwing up all monday morning! who knows why, but i humbled myself and took some of the pink stuff for the stomach, you know that pink stuff with the jingle, and im ok again! and the week before, we had changes, and i got a new companion! Hooray! When he pulled up in the bus station with all his luggage he had like a big wooden ship model with a paper mache bird perched atop, and a teddy bear. and i was like, shyeah! Im afraid thats the coolest thing about him...
no! He´s cool, though in my evilness i always find a way to be just annoyed to all heck with my companions, i was hoping it was just with my first, but it appearsas if it is going to be a trial that i have to overcome.
no, all is well, i just have to learn more patience or something.
Other than that, not much is happening.Almost all of the people that we have been helping of late are starting to slip away. when sacrifices enter the scene, or when someone has to make a change in their life, in order to come closer to christ, you find out if they really do belive.
its a bummer, but i guess we just have to find other ones, which isn´t a bummer. entonces, tally ho!
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL!!!
the spiritual thought today is a quickie (yeah i know, shocker) but a good one!
Why? because nobody wants to talk to us! I first stumbled upon this scripture like a year or two ago, and found great solace in the righteous justification that it brought to the attitude i had had about schooling ( which i don´t expect anyone to understand, because im that smart or something)
but i heard applied again one day when i was on splits with another elder, when a lady told us she was too busy to talk about God.
Lucas 10
María and Marta! because i don´t have my english scriptures!
We find Jesus with these two in their house, Marta busy as all getup and mary sitting listening to the words of the Savior.
Marta, as one of those busy people would do, complains to Christ, desiring to have her sister help sweep or something super important like that,
and Christ says to her
Marta, Marta, afanada y turbada estás con muchas cosas. Pero sólo una cosa es necesaria; y María ha escogido la buena parte, la cual no le será quitada.
Basically (forgive my translation skills)
Martha, you a worried about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good part, the which will not be taken her.
Weve got alot of junk to do, as people in this world stricken with unnecessary junkpiles, but we should never get caught up in it. Sift the junk, and find the good.
Its all too easy to get caught up in things ya know? no, its hard to know, but know it! even as a missionary, especially as a missionary! but it goes the same for everyone(forgive the deathly general wordage, its with purpose no doubt!)
Real things, lasting things, truth.
I like it.
but have to say goodbye. I LOVE YOU! forgive me!
goodbye!
o yeah! i got the letter! yeah!!!!!
sunday i believe! from July 11th
It was so cool you shouldve been there!
ok thanks mom, and dad, and everyone! ok bye!
I hope you all enjoyed that good ol´american holiday! Ya know, we´re going to be celebrating 200 years of pure Mexico down here the 15. I think ill be sleeping, but isn´t that neat!
Anywhom
Crazy, sorry for all of this nonsense of late!
Im just now finding the time to write (though i shouldn´t be...) its ok, its a rule that we write home and i was throwing up all monday morning! who knows why, but i humbled myself and took some of the pink stuff for the stomach, you know that pink stuff with the jingle, and im ok again! and the week before, we had changes, and i got a new companion! Hooray! When he pulled up in the bus station with all his luggage he had like a big wooden ship model with a paper mache bird perched atop, and a teddy bear. and i was like, shyeah! Im afraid thats the coolest thing about him...
no! He´s cool, though in my evilness i always find a way to be just annoyed to all heck with my companions, i was hoping it was just with my first, but it appearsas if it is going to be a trial that i have to overcome.
no, all is well, i just have to learn more patience or something.
Other than that, not much is happening.Almost all of the people that we have been helping of late are starting to slip away. when sacrifices enter the scene, or when someone has to make a change in their life, in order to come closer to christ, you find out if they really do belive.
its a bummer, but i guess we just have to find other ones, which isn´t a bummer. entonces, tally ho!
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL!!!
the spiritual thought today is a quickie (yeah i know, shocker) but a good one!
Why? because nobody wants to talk to us! I first stumbled upon this scripture like a year or two ago, and found great solace in the righteous justification that it brought to the attitude i had had about schooling ( which i don´t expect anyone to understand, because im that smart or something)
but i heard applied again one day when i was on splits with another elder, when a lady told us she was too busy to talk about God.
Lucas 10
María and Marta! because i don´t have my english scriptures!
We find Jesus with these two in their house, Marta busy as all getup and mary sitting listening to the words of the Savior.
Marta, as one of those busy people would do, complains to Christ, desiring to have her sister help sweep or something super important like that,
and Christ says to her
Marta, Marta, afanada y turbada estás con muchas cosas. Pero sólo una cosa es necesaria; y María ha escogido la buena parte, la cual no le será quitada.
Basically (forgive my translation skills)
Martha, you a worried about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good part, the which will not be taken her.
Weve got alot of junk to do, as people in this world stricken with unnecessary junkpiles, but we should never get caught up in it. Sift the junk, and find the good.
Its all too easy to get caught up in things ya know? no, its hard to know, but know it! even as a missionary, especially as a missionary! but it goes the same for everyone(forgive the deathly general wordage, its with purpose no doubt!)
Real things, lasting things, truth.
I like it.
but have to say goodbye. I LOVE YOU! forgive me!
goodbye!
o yeah! i got the letter! yeah!!!!!
sunday i believe! from July 11th
It was so cool you shouldve been there!
ok thanks mom, and dad, and everyone! ok bye!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
8-16-10
*Warning: This is a bit gross...
It just started dumping out of the blue last night, so yes, on and off at the flick of a switch are monstrous thunderstorms that pass in a few hours.
I don´t have everything I need! My face right now feels as if it is on fire, and i just got back from the pharmacist. I guess i had an allergic reaction to a bite of some sort or other, or food, or something, but there is like pussing bubbles around my lips that i can feel spreading up the side of my face and to my eyes! I feel like there is poison oak on my face (cause there is a little on my wrist as well) but we´ll see how the doctors orders work out.
i just took some medicine, and ate some fruit (all i can eat) and am fighting the urge to touch my face as i type. I guess i have to wear a hat and sunglasses or something, so im gonna have to get those!
Other than that all is well! Im not going to buy a harmonica here though, im thinking more a guitar, but we´ll see about that too. Letters had arrived from the stake president that were awaiting me when i got here from utah, but still not yours...You know im serious about the pictures of the virgin right? a couple of white missionaries just got some packages with pictures of Jesus on them, so there you go!
Speaking of gringos, i feel like im finally starting to look like the americans that serve here. they all have a distinct walking dead look to them, with like burned faces and red eyes... and they are all balding. I hope it is just the temporary inflammation that is causing my zombie appearence however, we´ll find out.
Excuse the brevity, but i think im going to lose my mind sitting here, typing and swatting flies, and dying to itch my face!
ill have to have two pensamientos espirituales next week.
I hope all continues to be super well with everyone,
I love y´all
ok bye!
It just started dumping out of the blue last night, so yes, on and off at the flick of a switch are monstrous thunderstorms that pass in a few hours.
I don´t have everything I need! My face right now feels as if it is on fire, and i just got back from the pharmacist. I guess i had an allergic reaction to a bite of some sort or other, or food, or something, but there is like pussing bubbles around my lips that i can feel spreading up the side of my face and to my eyes! I feel like there is poison oak on my face (cause there is a little on my wrist as well) but we´ll see how the doctors orders work out.
i just took some medicine, and ate some fruit (all i can eat) and am fighting the urge to touch my face as i type. I guess i have to wear a hat and sunglasses or something, so im gonna have to get those!
Other than that all is well! Im not going to buy a harmonica here though, im thinking more a guitar, but we´ll see about that too. Letters had arrived from the stake president that were awaiting me when i got here from utah, but still not yours...You know im serious about the pictures of the virgin right? a couple of white missionaries just got some packages with pictures of Jesus on them, so there you go!
Speaking of gringos, i feel like im finally starting to look like the americans that serve here. they all have a distinct walking dead look to them, with like burned faces and red eyes... and they are all balding. I hope it is just the temporary inflammation that is causing my zombie appearence however, we´ll find out.
Excuse the brevity, but i think im going to lose my mind sitting here, typing and swatting flies, and dying to itch my face!
ill have to have two pensamientos espirituales next week.
I hope all continues to be super well with everyone,
I love y´all
ok bye!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
8-9-10
Hola!
another one down! How are ya´ll? good? good!Its just me again, yep! from mexico! yea!but YELLOWSTONE?! what a time! Tell me all about it when you can huh? Welp, not much new round here....So im going to tell you more super cool things about mexico and my journeysprimero-the muffins here are called mofeens, and it cracks me up everytime my companion says he wants one.segundo-is like unto the first, the doughnuts are called donas, with a nice suavy finish! tercero-a few weeks back, we were running late for an appointment, and were with a member family. the son, a 15 or 16 year old kid offered to give us a ride, so we saddled up on the back of his moped...three guys on a moped!... Its not weird here in mexico, though i still felt a little ashamed.the worst/best part, i didn´t have anywhere to sit, nor put my feet (its hardly a two person scooter) and i had a great big backpack on, and the kid was insane, as are all the drivers here, so i was pretty positive i was going to die... but we popped the back tire after like 7 minutes and my life was saved.
Lastly, i ate tamales the other day, and have included a picture for your viewing pleasure. it was really good.but i dont want you all to think that all i do here is eat and hitch rides! So its time for this!
Pensamiento Espiritual!Im reading the old testament, and trying to make sense of it, and while i was trying i stumbled upon something that i could understand and think is pretty neat! We´re talking about the children of Israel, during the wilderness wanderings...The Lord had commanded his people to bring offerings in order to build the tabernacle, and ¨every one whose heart stirred him up and whos spirit made willing¨ brought offerings. Every morning they came out to give. and those who were building the tabernacle recieved so much that they had to tell moses that the people brought more than enough for the Lords work.in Exodus 36:6 Moses gives a commandment unto the people ¨Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary¨ and the verse goes on to say ¨So the people were restrained from bringing¨Can you imagine a commandment to stop bringing? to stop giving because it was too much? I don´t know, I thought that was something special. i reckon it goes in the category of magnifying your calling, or going the extra mile, or simply being Christlike. Serving, really serving, with a stirred up heart and a willing spirit. I figure i just thought it cool that they were so willing they were commanded to stop, and how neat it would be if i was more ¨willing¨ and someone was like, Hey! cut that out, you´re giving that person way too much! and the person was like, hey! stop! you´re giving me way too many hambugers, or tacos, or nuggets of evangelical wisdom! wouldn´t that be neat?Thats my thought....anywho, greetings from mexico and best wishes to all of you!
I love you! hasta luego! bye!
Elder ALBANO!
8-2-10
Wowee!
¿Another week already huh?
What a mind blower! Wow, everybodys off to yellowstone! im so jealous, you better not do all this cool stuff while im gone and then be all cool stuffed out on my return! But i guess im getting a tad more than my fare share of cool stuff, entonces...at ease. YELLOWSTONE! have fun huh?
good ol america!
anywho, thats pretty neat that kelly rhodes has returned triumphant, i remember when he left, as if it were two years ago! say hello to him! and to all those other neat people. k thanks!
i dont know whats happening with the letter! but we´ll be patient i reckon.
The Sam wolf celebration sounds like the best thing ever, with the cake, and william breaking the slide, and the minnesotans represented and all.
Happy birthday again Wolf! and happy Celebration and yellowstone to everybody else!
I have basically conquered the bathroom, i think i did so with the power of cereal. I command you all to count your blessings in flakes or balls or crumbs of cereal every day! The comforts we have back home! Carpet? what? water you can drink? huh? I dont know if the language is coming along, i think i have just gotten better at guessing what people are saying, i dont know, but what the heck, i guess ill keep practicing.
Fun stuff that happened this week...
one sunny happy day we hitched a total of 3 rides! to that little old ranch i believe i talked about before...and one of them was in a BIG RIG TRUCK! yeah, it was something. I totally sat on the bed in the back too. I couldn´t understand what the guy was dragging behind him, but it sure was cool.
Then after we got out, it started to pour (rain), and then hail, and we were days from our house, and by the time we got back we were drenched and had walked in streets with water up to our arrodillos! knees! But yeah, they have fat rain in mexico, that apparates out of thin air, or clouds, but you never know when its going to happen. My cousin JuanCarlos can be a second witness to that!
But its always a blast
Im going to tell you about someone!
his name is Julio, he´s old, lives with a ton of family in this little house on this little road of mud, has tubes coming out of his chest so when he goes to the doctors three times a week for 6 hours every time they can purify his bloodstream. We only found him last week, but he´s something. He always appears ticked off or just depressed, is always feeling cruddy, and told us that he believes in God, but only when he needs to.
He doesnt want it to be that way. he wants to change.
I reckon i was just thinking as i wrote this, that this man, who is going to die anytime, has reason to seek God. that he needs God. And then as im sure we all do, though me not quite as often as i would like, i realized how dumb that thought was.
Julio regrets much in his life, he expressed a little in words, even fewer that i could understand, but you can see it in the way he sits, with his shoulders slumped and his head bowed low, in his face, and most of all, in his eyes. More than just being old and stricken with this terrible sickness, he knows there is more, something that he has of yet missed out on, and for this, he welcomes us. not because we can help him, but because of He whom we are sent can.
How clearly can the atonement of Christ, the love of Christ raise this man in this life and in the next?
but what, are our necessities blurred?
how different are we? Waiting for a reason to come and lay our burdens down at the feet of the Savior? We need not wait so long. And i say this because its darn flustering, cause i do it all the time, forget the purpose of the gospel of Christ that is, the purpose of life. I don´t know why as humans we don´t desire happiness. We do, of course, and yet we are so resistent!
and he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind;
and this that the word might be fulfilled which he saith he will take upon him
the pains and the sicknesses of his people
alma 7:11
These things i have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.
Juan 16:33
The words of the Savior, probably like the most beautiful of all scripture, i don´t know, i like it a lot. Be of good cheer! dangit!
Its funny, in a way that is not funny at all, how tough it is for us to accept the gift of peace that Christ offers us. Christ has felt everything, has taken upon himself everything, our sorrow, pain, fears.
we are unhappy without the His hope.
and everyone everywhere is trying to fill these holes with all manner of garbage. but we can only fill holes with garbage for so long! It starts to smell really bad! (i live in mexico, where i don´t know why, but everyone, including my companion throws their trash on the ground, anywho!)
the really the holes don´t fill, until we come unto Christ. Seriously, we neednt wait. and there is never a time when we don´t have to, even after we have made an intial choice, or recieved a testimony, or been bapttzed.
Los doy mi testimonio!
I hadn´t planned on talking about this at all! (not that i ever plan on anything, but especially not on this!) Sorry its so long!
Anyways.
I love you all, know this!
and wish you all the best, and mi familia a super incredible trip to yellowstone.
until we meet,
adios!
Elder ALBANO!
¿Another week already huh?
What a mind blower! Wow, everybodys off to yellowstone! im so jealous, you better not do all this cool stuff while im gone and then be all cool stuffed out on my return! But i guess im getting a tad more than my fare share of cool stuff, entonces...at ease. YELLOWSTONE! have fun huh?
good ol america!
anywho, thats pretty neat that kelly rhodes has returned triumphant, i remember when he left, as if it were two years ago! say hello to him! and to all those other neat people. k thanks!
i dont know whats happening with the letter! but we´ll be patient i reckon.
The Sam wolf celebration sounds like the best thing ever, with the cake, and william breaking the slide, and the minnesotans represented and all.
Happy birthday again Wolf! and happy Celebration and yellowstone to everybody else!
I have basically conquered the bathroom, i think i did so with the power of cereal. I command you all to count your blessings in flakes or balls or crumbs of cereal every day! The comforts we have back home! Carpet? what? water you can drink? huh? I dont know if the language is coming along, i think i have just gotten better at guessing what people are saying, i dont know, but what the heck, i guess ill keep practicing.
Fun stuff that happened this week...
one sunny happy day we hitched a total of 3 rides! to that little old ranch i believe i talked about before...and one of them was in a BIG RIG TRUCK! yeah, it was something. I totally sat on the bed in the back too. I couldn´t understand what the guy was dragging behind him, but it sure was cool.
Then after we got out, it started to pour (rain), and then hail, and we were days from our house, and by the time we got back we were drenched and had walked in streets with water up to our arrodillos! knees! But yeah, they have fat rain in mexico, that apparates out of thin air, or clouds, but you never know when its going to happen. My cousin JuanCarlos can be a second witness to that!
But its always a blast
Im going to tell you about someone!
his name is Julio, he´s old, lives with a ton of family in this little house on this little road of mud, has tubes coming out of his chest so when he goes to the doctors three times a week for 6 hours every time they can purify his bloodstream. We only found him last week, but he´s something. He always appears ticked off or just depressed, is always feeling cruddy, and told us that he believes in God, but only when he needs to.
He doesnt want it to be that way. he wants to change.
I reckon i was just thinking as i wrote this, that this man, who is going to die anytime, has reason to seek God. that he needs God. And then as im sure we all do, though me not quite as often as i would like, i realized how dumb that thought was.
Julio regrets much in his life, he expressed a little in words, even fewer that i could understand, but you can see it in the way he sits, with his shoulders slumped and his head bowed low, in his face, and most of all, in his eyes. More than just being old and stricken with this terrible sickness, he knows there is more, something that he has of yet missed out on, and for this, he welcomes us. not because we can help him, but because of He whom we are sent can.
How clearly can the atonement of Christ, the love of Christ raise this man in this life and in the next?
but what, are our necessities blurred?
how different are we? Waiting for a reason to come and lay our burdens down at the feet of the Savior? We need not wait so long. And i say this because its darn flustering, cause i do it all the time, forget the purpose of the gospel of Christ that is, the purpose of life. I don´t know why as humans we don´t desire happiness. We do, of course, and yet we are so resistent!
and he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind;
and this that the word might be fulfilled which he saith he will take upon him
the pains and the sicknesses of his people
alma 7:11
These things i have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.
Juan 16:33
The words of the Savior, probably like the most beautiful of all scripture, i don´t know, i like it a lot. Be of good cheer! dangit!
Its funny, in a way that is not funny at all, how tough it is for us to accept the gift of peace that Christ offers us. Christ has felt everything, has taken upon himself everything, our sorrow, pain, fears.
we are unhappy without the His hope.
and everyone everywhere is trying to fill these holes with all manner of garbage. but we can only fill holes with garbage for so long! It starts to smell really bad! (i live in mexico, where i don´t know why, but everyone, including my companion throws their trash on the ground, anywho!)
the really the holes don´t fill, until we come unto Christ. Seriously, we neednt wait. and there is never a time when we don´t have to, even after we have made an intial choice, or recieved a testimony, or been bapttzed.
Los doy mi testimonio!
I hadn´t planned on talking about this at all! (not that i ever plan on anything, but especially not on this!) Sorry its so long!
Anyways.
I love you all, know this!
and wish you all the best, and mi familia a super incredible trip to yellowstone.
until we meet,
adios!
Elder ALBANO!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Week 3!
Hey mom! hey dad! Jess and Ton and all you other wonderful people!
How are you?
Im glad you enjoyed girls camp my mother dearest, and are super impressive at balancing on poles :), and thats pretty swell about Bishop Kersey, he´s great, though im pretty sure he thinks me a bum! thats ok, in actuality i prefer it that way! but im telling you stuff you already know!
Things continue to go splendidly down here. Just in the moment when i was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to thinking that i was alone in actually caring, i had a temporary companion switch with one of the zone leaders, who happens to rock, and happened to prove me wrong. the first thing he did when he saw my charla (ugh!) was rip it up and hand it to a garbage man!
But now im back with my trainer, and he´s a little peeved, and told me we´ll make new ones tomorrow....
So close!
Other than that, i was super excited when last week i was in the bathroom half the night thinking i had an infection! My first parasite! i thought to myself, but the fever that had accompanied me el baño then seems to have passed, and though i still feel like i spend half my life walking and the other half in the bathroom, all is well!
In other news, my companion told me that packages almost always arrive from the states, with one thing! a picture of the virgen mary!
so thats for all of you who have been waiting on the edge of your seats to send me swedish fish. Virgen Mary!
Umm....
We found a couple of cool families this last week that both accompanied us to church with their hijos, so that was super neat, and one of the dads was wearing an REO shirt when we visited his home the second time. I made an attempt at commenting that they are my dads favorite band, but either he didn´t understand me or he has know idea who REO speedwagon is...i dont know he just laughed alot...
anywho!
Pensamiento Espíritual!
The Book of mormon begins with the story of the family of this great guy Nephi. They live in Jerusalem, before the coming of Christ. Nephis father is a prophet, who goes around the city, warning all the jews to prepare themselves, and repent, or the city of jerusalem would be destroyed.
The people, as they tend to do, are infuriated to the point of seeking to kill Lehi. (nobody likes to hear they are wrong) So Lehi and his family are told by God to flee the city and head for the wilderness, leaving behind all their worldly treasures and whatnot.
The thing is, Nephi has these two brothers, who you know, maybe they´re just teens or something, but they just can´t stand their father. They call him a visionary man, being led by the foolish imaginations of the heart. Anyways they get to the point of wanting to kill their dad, like the jews in the city.
But lets get to the point. because Nephi, on the other hand, though he was younger than his brothers did not follow in their footsteps, and we learn why!
In Nephi 2:12, we read about laman and lemuel (the brothers of Nephi) that they did ¨murmer because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them¨ Laman and Lemuel could not understand why their dad would do all these crazy things, all these marvolous things. Because they didn´t know the very being who had created them.
This goes hand in hand with my last spiritual thought!
God exists. And if God exists, he created us, And if God created us, he loves us, And if God loves us, he wants us to love him. Just like any other good father, save He is perfect.
But can we love that which we don´t understand?
Now, yes, because i love God though I could never possibly understand Him. But it is a yes only to a point. As we come to understand our Heavenly Father, and i hope im not repeating myself from last week, but i just feel like this is the point where so many people lose their way, just like Laman and Lemuel, who never returned from their wrong ways. As we come to understand our Heavenly Father, we come to love Him. like Enoch, we come to see like Him, love like Him, be a little more like Him.
Now, the difference between Laman and Lemuel, and their brother Nephi?
in verse 16
i Nephi, being exceedingly young, (and i would add to this humble, an important part!) nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God (desire!), wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; (prayer, he asked God for help!) and...
behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart
that i did believe.
Mi Familia, Mis Amigos!
I am going to be the crazy Lehi to some of you right now!
We all know how blessed we are, if not, come to mexico! Come to have a testimony, as Nephi of old. Why? because! because life, our relations with others, our relations with ourselves, are better when we have a relation with God, when we have a testimony of truth.
As Nephi, we must be humble enough to have faith, we must have a desire to know the truth, who doesn´t? only the prideful! none of you! I know!
Then, we must act! ask! and ask believing, because i promise you will not ask in vain, and more importantly, the Lord promises you.
And this goes for all. there are none who know their savior enough, there are none who can ever think they know enough.
These things, i am beginning to know for myself, and desire that you all know as well, because they are the most important things.
I love you!
I hope all is well!
Im sorry for my hardcore preaching, but im not! its too easy in english!
Have a nice day!
and a week!
adios!
How are you?
Im glad you enjoyed girls camp my mother dearest, and are super impressive at balancing on poles :), and thats pretty swell about Bishop Kersey, he´s great, though im pretty sure he thinks me a bum! thats ok, in actuality i prefer it that way! but im telling you stuff you already know!
Things continue to go splendidly down here. Just in the moment when i was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to thinking that i was alone in actually caring, i had a temporary companion switch with one of the zone leaders, who happens to rock, and happened to prove me wrong. the first thing he did when he saw my charla (ugh!) was rip it up and hand it to a garbage man!
But now im back with my trainer, and he´s a little peeved, and told me we´ll make new ones tomorrow....
So close!
Other than that, i was super excited when last week i was in the bathroom half the night thinking i had an infection! My first parasite! i thought to myself, but the fever that had accompanied me el baño then seems to have passed, and though i still feel like i spend half my life walking and the other half in the bathroom, all is well!
In other news, my companion told me that packages almost always arrive from the states, with one thing! a picture of the virgen mary!
so thats for all of you who have been waiting on the edge of your seats to send me swedish fish. Virgen Mary!
Umm....
We found a couple of cool families this last week that both accompanied us to church with their hijos, so that was super neat, and one of the dads was wearing an REO shirt when we visited his home the second time. I made an attempt at commenting that they are my dads favorite band, but either he didn´t understand me or he has know idea who REO speedwagon is...i dont know he just laughed alot...
anywho!
Pensamiento Espíritual!
The Book of mormon begins with the story of the family of this great guy Nephi. They live in Jerusalem, before the coming of Christ. Nephis father is a prophet, who goes around the city, warning all the jews to prepare themselves, and repent, or the city of jerusalem would be destroyed.
The people, as they tend to do, are infuriated to the point of seeking to kill Lehi. (nobody likes to hear they are wrong) So Lehi and his family are told by God to flee the city and head for the wilderness, leaving behind all their worldly treasures and whatnot.
The thing is, Nephi has these two brothers, who you know, maybe they´re just teens or something, but they just can´t stand their father. They call him a visionary man, being led by the foolish imaginations of the heart. Anyways they get to the point of wanting to kill their dad, like the jews in the city.
But lets get to the point. because Nephi, on the other hand, though he was younger than his brothers did not follow in their footsteps, and we learn why!
In Nephi 2:12, we read about laman and lemuel (the brothers of Nephi) that they did ¨murmer because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them¨ Laman and Lemuel could not understand why their dad would do all these crazy things, all these marvolous things. Because they didn´t know the very being who had created them.
This goes hand in hand with my last spiritual thought!
God exists. And if God exists, he created us, And if God created us, he loves us, And if God loves us, he wants us to love him. Just like any other good father, save He is perfect.
But can we love that which we don´t understand?
Now, yes, because i love God though I could never possibly understand Him. But it is a yes only to a point. As we come to understand our Heavenly Father, and i hope im not repeating myself from last week, but i just feel like this is the point where so many people lose their way, just like Laman and Lemuel, who never returned from their wrong ways. As we come to understand our Heavenly Father, we come to love Him. like Enoch, we come to see like Him, love like Him, be a little more like Him.
Now, the difference between Laman and Lemuel, and their brother Nephi?
in verse 16
i Nephi, being exceedingly young, (and i would add to this humble, an important part!) nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know the mysteries of God (desire!), wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; (prayer, he asked God for help!) and...
behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart
that i did believe.
Mi Familia, Mis Amigos!
I am going to be the crazy Lehi to some of you right now!
We all know how blessed we are, if not, come to mexico! Come to have a testimony, as Nephi of old. Why? because! because life, our relations with others, our relations with ourselves, are better when we have a relation with God, when we have a testimony of truth.
As Nephi, we must be humble enough to have faith, we must have a desire to know the truth, who doesn´t? only the prideful! none of you! I know!
Then, we must act! ask! and ask believing, because i promise you will not ask in vain, and more importantly, the Lord promises you.
And this goes for all. there are none who know their savior enough, there are none who can ever think they know enough.
These things, i am beginning to know for myself, and desire that you all know as well, because they are the most important things.
I love you!
I hope all is well!
Im sorry for my hardcore preaching, but im not! its too easy in english!
Have a nice day!
and a week!
adios!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Week 2
Pues, ola again!
how are we all? Sorry to hear about that accident, thats quite a bummer!
With the money, once a month we hit up an atm machine and withdraw the amount that we are issued. Neat huh? I use it to hitch taxies when we don´t have time, and buy bread and soda, and these yogurt drink things. Im going to talk about food, since im hungry and we`re on the subject. last week, just after emailing my beloved friends and family, i had what the ``locals`` call my `` baptism by fire`` it is apparently like the hottest taco ever, piled in like the hottest salsa ever, and everybody fears it! but almost all the missionaries experience it here in Irapuato. I was like balling, and sniffling, and whatnot, and about half way through, i got these huge, bulging, hiccup things, that reminded me and awlful lot of an episode of the Magic school bus, where Ms Frizzle and her class is stuck inside a volcano, trying to escape out of the top in an explosion of hot liquid magma. Anyways, thats basically what was happening in my stomach/throat/esophagus. The good news is i didn`t throw up like alot of elders, i downed like 2 or 3 horchatas, and the next day suffered the aftermath! Which it sufficeth me to say sucked! But all is well, and now i don´t need to fear any comida picante! i hope!
Other than that, not much happened, i just baptized a 93 year old lady. Shes awesome, and lives with like a family of twelve out by some ranches. We`ve been talking to her greatgrandaughter, the last of her family to be baptized, but she doesn´t want to because she wants to have her first ``communion`` shyeah! whatever that means!
Basically though, im in just a big pickle!
Its odd, but i don´t really feel as if i am here for the same reason as everyone else. I spent 3 months trying to learn how to teach by the spirit, and i get here and am told by my trainer to memorize these horrid ``charrlas`` or memorized statements like they used to do back in the day of mi hermano! And i don´t know, it sure is a challenge to invite the spirit to touch these people individually when you say the same thing to every single one of them. I don´t know, maybe im being a brat or something, but i feel like all the elders here have found a way to baptize a couple people a week, and now are just on a monotonous repeat thing, not growing, not loving, just kind of doing. The worst part is, because i can´t communicate very well, its all too easy, almost necessary, to just memorize. I just worry about falling down this ``winter slide`` as they say and forgeting what really matters, though i think its summer, i don´t know it breaks out in crazy lightning storms all the time...
All in all, i feel like i am learning what kind of missionary i want to be. What kind of disciple of Christ i want to be. I reckon there is only one.
i dont mean to bring negativity, on the contrary its a very positive thing, so don´t take it the wrong way, we are always learning! I love this place, the people are great, my companion is nice, we teach a whole lot of people every week, we played fùtbol los estados unidos vs mexico (of missionaries) today, we lost both times, by one point mind you, and the games reminded me an awful lot of when the kings would play the lakers in the playoffs, with all these outrageous calls, and cheap shots!
but im not going to do this, im sorry i failed you all back home
As far as the breakfast ordeal, it is still a battle, though one night this incredible sister brought us these incredible baked goods, and then like ten minutes later, the nice lady downstairs brought us some more baked goods. they were incredible. they have really great baked goods here, and beverages! though i am eating terribly, terribly unhealthily. and i only say this to warn you of who might be stepping off of the plane in a few years!
finally, i close with a spiritual thought. Something that i read in the MTC, that i still enjoy flipping through these days.
In the book of Moses, we read about the story of Enoch (the full and incredible story!) Enoch is chosen by God to preach to the people of the world who had forgotten their Father in Heaven, who had forgot His love, and had turned away from him ``hating their own blood`` Enoch is taken up into heaven, to stand and view the world as God sees it. He watches the wickedness of the world, with Jehovah at his side, and bears testimony of the Lord weeping for those of the earth. the creations of His hands. And Enoch cannot understand, how the greatest, even God, stretching from eternities to eternities, whos creations are limitless, could weep. Power, weeping. Enoch questions the Lord, and comes to see as He sees, with eyes of love, his bowels strecthing wide as eternity with the love of the Lord. And then he understands.
I guess i am moved by this, i am. God watching Satan laugh binding the earth with chains, weeping.
The point is, as the good book says, this is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Christ, whom he has sent. Oh how we don´t understand he who made us! like laman and lemuel of the Nephite times, we cannot follow Christ if we don´t understand him. Luckily, or perfectly, the end the story, the happening, is happy, as God tells Enoch to take cheer, for the Savior will come to save the world.
And this flows in with what i feel my purpose is, invite people to truly know God, truly know Christ, not because i do, but because i know the way how. It is a truth that only can be found in this gospel. And as we try to understand, what i have found, we find that we are only remebering what we already know. I invite you all to read the story of Enoch! In the book of Moses, Chapters like 6 through 8 or something. and i invite you all to be joyful, in your blessings, in the blessing that we have, the opportunity we have to understand the love of God in every one our lives.
and I invite you, to know the blessing that you are to me. Truly! Verdaderamente.
and alas, for now it is time for us to part!
I apologize if I have not made sense, or if i have accidentally skewed the image of the pure happiness of serving the Lord and serving others in your eyes. It was not my intention at all. This is the best. You all are the best!
I love and pray for you,
Elder Albano
captains log:
Irapuato, Mexico
how are we all? Sorry to hear about that accident, thats quite a bummer!
With the money, once a month we hit up an atm machine and withdraw the amount that we are issued. Neat huh? I use it to hitch taxies when we don´t have time, and buy bread and soda, and these yogurt drink things. Im going to talk about food, since im hungry and we`re on the subject. last week, just after emailing my beloved friends and family, i had what the ``locals`` call my `` baptism by fire`` it is apparently like the hottest taco ever, piled in like the hottest salsa ever, and everybody fears it! but almost all the missionaries experience it here in Irapuato. I was like balling, and sniffling, and whatnot, and about half way through, i got these huge, bulging, hiccup things, that reminded me and awlful lot of an episode of the Magic school bus, where Ms Frizzle and her class is stuck inside a volcano, trying to escape out of the top in an explosion of hot liquid magma. Anyways, thats basically what was happening in my stomach/throat/esophagus. The good news is i didn`t throw up like alot of elders, i downed like 2 or 3 horchatas, and the next day suffered the aftermath! Which it sufficeth me to say sucked! But all is well, and now i don´t need to fear any comida picante! i hope!
Other than that, not much happened, i just baptized a 93 year old lady. Shes awesome, and lives with like a family of twelve out by some ranches. We`ve been talking to her greatgrandaughter, the last of her family to be baptized, but she doesn´t want to because she wants to have her first ``communion`` shyeah! whatever that means!
Basically though, im in just a big pickle!
Its odd, but i don´t really feel as if i am here for the same reason as everyone else. I spent 3 months trying to learn how to teach by the spirit, and i get here and am told by my trainer to memorize these horrid ``charrlas`` or memorized statements like they used to do back in the day of mi hermano! And i don´t know, it sure is a challenge to invite the spirit to touch these people individually when you say the same thing to every single one of them. I don´t know, maybe im being a brat or something, but i feel like all the elders here have found a way to baptize a couple people a week, and now are just on a monotonous repeat thing, not growing, not loving, just kind of doing. The worst part is, because i can´t communicate very well, its all too easy, almost necessary, to just memorize. I just worry about falling down this ``winter slide`` as they say and forgeting what really matters, though i think its summer, i don´t know it breaks out in crazy lightning storms all the time...
All in all, i feel like i am learning what kind of missionary i want to be. What kind of disciple of Christ i want to be. I reckon there is only one.
i dont mean to bring negativity, on the contrary its a very positive thing, so don´t take it the wrong way, we are always learning! I love this place, the people are great, my companion is nice, we teach a whole lot of people every week, we played fùtbol los estados unidos vs mexico (of missionaries) today, we lost both times, by one point mind you, and the games reminded me an awful lot of when the kings would play the lakers in the playoffs, with all these outrageous calls, and cheap shots!
but im not going to do this, im sorry i failed you all back home
As far as the breakfast ordeal, it is still a battle, though one night this incredible sister brought us these incredible baked goods, and then like ten minutes later, the nice lady downstairs brought us some more baked goods. they were incredible. they have really great baked goods here, and beverages! though i am eating terribly, terribly unhealthily. and i only say this to warn you of who might be stepping off of the plane in a few years!
finally, i close with a spiritual thought. Something that i read in the MTC, that i still enjoy flipping through these days.
In the book of Moses, we read about the story of Enoch (the full and incredible story!) Enoch is chosen by God to preach to the people of the world who had forgotten their Father in Heaven, who had forgot His love, and had turned away from him ``hating their own blood`` Enoch is taken up into heaven, to stand and view the world as God sees it. He watches the wickedness of the world, with Jehovah at his side, and bears testimony of the Lord weeping for those of the earth. the creations of His hands. And Enoch cannot understand, how the greatest, even God, stretching from eternities to eternities, whos creations are limitless, could weep. Power, weeping. Enoch questions the Lord, and comes to see as He sees, with eyes of love, his bowels strecthing wide as eternity with the love of the Lord. And then he understands.
I guess i am moved by this, i am. God watching Satan laugh binding the earth with chains, weeping.
The point is, as the good book says, this is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Christ, whom he has sent. Oh how we don´t understand he who made us! like laman and lemuel of the Nephite times, we cannot follow Christ if we don´t understand him. Luckily, or perfectly, the end the story, the happening, is happy, as God tells Enoch to take cheer, for the Savior will come to save the world.
And this flows in with what i feel my purpose is, invite people to truly know God, truly know Christ, not because i do, but because i know the way how. It is a truth that only can be found in this gospel. And as we try to understand, what i have found, we find that we are only remebering what we already know. I invite you all to read the story of Enoch! In the book of Moses, Chapters like 6 through 8 or something. and i invite you all to be joyful, in your blessings, in the blessing that we have, the opportunity we have to understand the love of God in every one our lives.
and I invite you, to know the blessing that you are to me. Truly! Verdaderamente.
and alas, for now it is time for us to part!
I apologize if I have not made sense, or if i have accidentally skewed the image of the pure happiness of serving the Lord and serving others in your eyes. It was not my intention at all. This is the best. You all are the best!
I love and pray for you,
Elder Albano
captains log:
Irapuato, Mexico
Monday, July 5, 2010
He Made It!!!
Ola! yep, im just sitting in an internet cafe in mexico, you know, the usual. i arrived i guess tuesday night in leon, at like 11:45 with one other elder where the mission president picked us up. It was his second day. and i arrived two days ago aqui, in irapuato. So far we have done pretty much everything, knocking doors, teaching lessons...i guess i should say my companion has done everything, while i stand around and look confused. But its great, l love it. My companions name is elder Ramirez, from mexico city. he´s been out about 15 months, so he pretty much knows what he is doing, and though he knows a tiny bit of english ( words here and there), we manage to communicate pretty well. with each other that is. the people here are nice! for the most part. there was a little kid in leon that was screaming f u over and over again, and there are people who sit on there porches and shout gringo, or guerro, or other stuff, but its funny, and everyone else is really nice. I think i might be in a place where juan carlos was, because you cross this funky little valley and the houses are on like a big hill of mud, whereas on the other side, they are on streets of dirt! and whatnot! Very humble. i met a man in leon who lived in a house kindof similar to the one in charlie and the chocolate factory, but smaller, and there were children on the beds and he was super old. but anywho, all he would talk about is how blessed he was. He told us that he had everything he needed. He had his wife, he had his kids, and he was happy. It was awesome, and true! I believed him.
Pues, i live in a little green house on a floor above a nice old lady, a member, but ive only seen her once.
But its just me and my companion in there. I like it, other than the "cucarachas" but they aren´t so bad. the mosquitos are worse! but there arent so bad either.
the city is pretty cool. i guess its known for its strawberries, but i haven´t seen any. apparently they deport a bunch to the states.
the food is awesome. the first day in leon i was crying it was so hot (though it really wasn´t) everyone else seemed fine, but i was downing the fanta the whole time. We don´t really it breakfast, it kinda t's me off, but im gratetful later when we eat at the members houses and i want to look grateful, because i am.
We played futbol and basketball this morning! that was a blast, i was a little worried cause just over half the elders in our district are mexican, and i was fearful they were just going to school me the whole time, but i held my own. for my country of course.
the language flusters me a good deal, because suddenly we´re sitting in peoples living rooms, real people, teaching them the thing that they need, everybody needs most, and i cant understand what they´re saying. but, i understand that i have only been here for less than a week, and though my companion thinks im depressed because i always look so frustrated, im fine. Estoy fantastico!
people (other missionaries from the states) are always asking me about this thing called culture shock. i dont believe in it, but maybe it hasn´t hit me yet. but breakfast! ay carumba! i´ll adjust, or buy some cereal today, we´ll see.
That is true i guess about that baptismal rate here, being the highest i guess. i don´t know, they really pounded that into me the first day, and i have difficulty imagining one, but we´ll see about that too. One of our investigators, a super awesome guy named Raul, is getting baptized this week, so thats pretty awesome! he works...i dont know where he works, but he has like a big garage in front of his house full of boxes, and gigantic boxes (like you could swim in) of little tiny pieces of plastic. I guess he exports the boxes to a whole bunch of places, but i don´t know what he does with the pieces of plastic. But he´s super cool, with a big laugh and crazy teeth, and a family too.
The weather here has been awesome, either raining or overcast. which sounds bad, but its a whole lot better apparently then the heat. and i believe it ya know?
But, yep, its the life!
We walk everywhere, all day long, in the streets of mud and whatnot. i like it! i can´t wait until i can communicate, because i give alot of people blank stares (and though the members tell me i speak well, i don´t believe them)
My area in Irapuato is Espanita (for Juan Carlos)
Yep, its something. Hey! it just started pouring!
Welp, i love you all very much! i hope that all is well with you! Im doing great, so mom, dont worry yourself, thinking im not getting any food because of that breakfast deal, im dandy! The work is true! those of you who don´t know that, figure it out!
this is my direction...address...
well not mine, but my companion told me that this is where you should send me letters.
calle torre vieja # 128 col arbide, Leon, Guanajuato cp 373608i don´t think ill be able to write letters for a while, im sorry, im just so darn confused, but i will as soon as i figure out what is going on. (the word on the streets is three months [until i should be able to understand people when they are talking...for the most part], it sounds unreasonable as it is, but im gonna try and beat it)
well, i think ive gone over my 30 minutes, and i still have to email presidente Del Valle, So,
Adios mi amigos, hasta ver! I love you!
Pues, i live in a little green house on a floor above a nice old lady, a member, but ive only seen her once.
But its just me and my companion in there. I like it, other than the "cucarachas" but they aren´t so bad. the mosquitos are worse! but there arent so bad either.
the city is pretty cool. i guess its known for its strawberries, but i haven´t seen any. apparently they deport a bunch to the states.
the food is awesome. the first day in leon i was crying it was so hot (though it really wasn´t) everyone else seemed fine, but i was downing the fanta the whole time. We don´t really it breakfast, it kinda t's me off, but im gratetful later when we eat at the members houses and i want to look grateful, because i am.
We played futbol and basketball this morning! that was a blast, i was a little worried cause just over half the elders in our district are mexican, and i was fearful they were just going to school me the whole time, but i held my own. for my country of course.
the language flusters me a good deal, because suddenly we´re sitting in peoples living rooms, real people, teaching them the thing that they need, everybody needs most, and i cant understand what they´re saying. but, i understand that i have only been here for less than a week, and though my companion thinks im depressed because i always look so frustrated, im fine. Estoy fantastico!
people (other missionaries from the states) are always asking me about this thing called culture shock. i dont believe in it, but maybe it hasn´t hit me yet. but breakfast! ay carumba! i´ll adjust, or buy some cereal today, we´ll see.
That is true i guess about that baptismal rate here, being the highest i guess. i don´t know, they really pounded that into me the first day, and i have difficulty imagining one, but we´ll see about that too. One of our investigators, a super awesome guy named Raul, is getting baptized this week, so thats pretty awesome! he works...i dont know where he works, but he has like a big garage in front of his house full of boxes, and gigantic boxes (like you could swim in) of little tiny pieces of plastic. I guess he exports the boxes to a whole bunch of places, but i don´t know what he does with the pieces of plastic. But he´s super cool, with a big laugh and crazy teeth, and a family too.
The weather here has been awesome, either raining or overcast. which sounds bad, but its a whole lot better apparently then the heat. and i believe it ya know?
But, yep, its the life!
We walk everywhere, all day long, in the streets of mud and whatnot. i like it! i can´t wait until i can communicate, because i give alot of people blank stares (and though the members tell me i speak well, i don´t believe them)
My area in Irapuato is Espanita (for Juan Carlos)
Yep, its something. Hey! it just started pouring!
Welp, i love you all very much! i hope that all is well with you! Im doing great, so mom, dont worry yourself, thinking im not getting any food because of that breakfast deal, im dandy! The work is true! those of you who don´t know that, figure it out!
this is my direction...address...
well not mine, but my companion told me that this is where you should send me letters.
calle torre vieja # 128 col arbide, Leon, Guanajuato cp 373608i don´t think ill be able to write letters for a while, im sorry, im just so darn confused, but i will as soon as i figure out what is going on. (the word on the streets is three months [until i should be able to understand people when they are talking...for the most part], it sounds unreasonable as it is, but im gonna try and beat it)
well, i think ive gone over my 30 minutes, and i still have to email presidente Del Valle, So,
Adios mi amigos, hasta ver! I love you!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Next stop...MEXICO!
Hey there mom! your welcome! y muchos gracias mi madre! Welp! im glad im not discouraged tambien, besides, i should be leaving for mexico monday anyways! Yay! yep, on wednesday i was walking to another meeting like any other day when an excited elder jumped out of a building......the door that is...... and asked me if i had heard yet.... now let me preface this tale with a......preface.. there are intercoms in all the buildings through which several times a day you will hear a loud beep and have someone say something like...." excuse me, is anybody there? im looking for an elder ...... we need him to come to the travel office immediately" and then everyone gets excited or upset (if it isn't them, which it normally isn't) and the lucky elder is off to get his visa......entonces (so) these depressing occurences have be occuring to us for the last 3 weeks, where we honestly jump out of our seats and race to the door only to turn back muttering threats for that lucky elder, be depressed for 1 minute and then return to our work. but i guess my name was called when i was outside, so i did a heel clicker in celebration and headed off with one other elder going to the same mission. So yesterday ten of us mexican bound missionaries boarded a van to Salt Lake City and the infamous Mexican consulate. they took some pictures of us, had us print our fingerprints, told us we're probably leaving monday, and sent us back to the good ol MTC.. So! here we go huh? Sad note, my two companions didn't get called, but i would give them two weeks, so all is well.. other than that, its not life as usual (as life usually is and as life usually is in the mtc) because all of the new mission presidents are here being trained by the general authorities, so that is pretty cool. and tonight and sunday we have special devotionals which im sure will be amazing experiences.. but, ill tell yall more when i know more! i love you! hope all is still well! thanks! adios! Elder Albano
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pictures!
We finally got some pictures:
This picture is of me, drinking my very first red creme soda while my companion was getting his hair cut. I like red creme soda.
This is my district! We all look insane! I'm the third from the left, and the two directly behind me are my companions, Elder Lemmon and Elder Blackhom (sp?).
This picture was intended to be a plea for more Swedish Fish (the solitary fish being the last of my supply) but it took me too long to develop the picture and I got impatient.Friday, May 21, 2010
May 21, 2010
So!
At mealtime, i normally get like one tray and a dessert and am just right. One of my companions gets like three platters all the time. i don't know how he does it, maybe its because he fidgets hard core all day long, but even so hes just lanky. So anywho, its always been funny to compare what we've eaten, becuase he's conquered probably four times as much food as i. One day however, the options were a navajo taco (we know how good those are!) and a grilled chicken sandwich on a kaiser roll. well i had to get the taco, which i ate quite successfully. but as i looked on some passerbys' trays, i longed to also have the chicken sandwich, and you know, they might not ever have that again, so i got it, and conquered that. Feeling quite good about myself, having matched my companions food amounts in every way (though they had 2 tacos as opposed to 1 and 1) i was ready to go. just then though, my companion from utah gets an idea, get the scone, thats right, scone from the bottom of the taco, and put icecream on top of it! knowing how proud dad would be of me, and how delicious the scone would undoubtedly be, i had know choice but to accept the idea. Plus, not only was it a big deal to have scones ready at hand, but we get ice cream but twice a week, so to have the both fall on the same day, the same meal was quite an occurence. we were the talk of the cafetiria that day, and it was a huge step for all mankind.and, it was probably the best thing ever.Ive documented some of the glory that i will later send for your viewing pleasure!And be ready, cause ive got another story coming your way tambien!It is even more exciting, believe it or not. other than that, ive got like two more weeks, though the spooky stories of missionaries being here for 2,3,4 extra weeks are multiplying like cockroaches! but have fun everybody!
i love you!
adios!
At mealtime, i normally get like one tray and a dessert and am just right. One of my companions gets like three platters all the time. i don't know how he does it, maybe its because he fidgets hard core all day long, but even so hes just lanky. So anywho, its always been funny to compare what we've eaten, becuase he's conquered probably four times as much food as i. One day however, the options were a navajo taco (we know how good those are!) and a grilled chicken sandwich on a kaiser roll. well i had to get the taco, which i ate quite successfully. but as i looked on some passerbys' trays, i longed to also have the chicken sandwich, and you know, they might not ever have that again, so i got it, and conquered that. Feeling quite good about myself, having matched my companions food amounts in every way (though they had 2 tacos as opposed to 1 and 1) i was ready to go. just then though, my companion from utah gets an idea, get the scone, thats right, scone from the bottom of the taco, and put icecream on top of it! knowing how proud dad would be of me, and how delicious the scone would undoubtedly be, i had know choice but to accept the idea. Plus, not only was it a big deal to have scones ready at hand, but we get ice cream but twice a week, so to have the both fall on the same day, the same meal was quite an occurence. we were the talk of the cafetiria that day, and it was a huge step for all mankind.and, it was probably the best thing ever.Ive documented some of the glory that i will later send for your viewing pleasure!And be ready, cause ive got another story coming your way tambien!It is even more exciting, believe it or not. other than that, ive got like two more weeks, though the spooky stories of missionaries being here for 2,3,4 extra weeks are multiplying like cockroaches! but have fun everybody!
i love you!
adios!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Just a short one...
Umm! thanks again for the goods, and yeah any cool ties! Time is flying! i cant believe it either, its been a month, one more and im outta here! Ive taken some pictures...they are being printed now, but wont be done til monday. Sorry its taking me so long, Its just kinda a pain and they will probably be blurry. but soon enough! The weather is all over the place here, today is beautiful, yesterday it was way cold, and a couple of days ago it was snowing...but its always really beautiful with the mountains. But yeah! have fun in Minnesota! and I'll welcome some pictures, i dont like to post them up but they are nice to have. If you email i can see them once a week, so either way. and any cool ties are more than welcome...(that cloudy one!) its not a big deal.
Alright, time is running out (brett emailed me!) You have a nice day too, bye! I love you! Everybody!
Elder Albano
Alright, time is running out (brett emailed me!) You have a nice day too, bye! I love you! Everybody!
Elder Albano
Friday, April 30, 2010
Nick's News
Hello!
It is nice to here from you as well. Thanks for the letters and the package, those swedish fish will last me a good while. I have been saving my last piece of toblerone, so that is good as well.
Im glad to here that you're sending me more ties, cause i have been acting like im pretty cool, but my ties aren't. (ties are the basic currency among missionaries here, they are power) So needless to say i am regretting my decision to strive for absolute plainness in all that i have.
I ran into Elder White on Wednesday, and chatted with him for a little bit, but other missionaries also recognized him from byu, so i cant quite share my "i don't know anyone here" attitude with him. but it was nice seeing a familiar face. I also saw Elder Hollingsworth at the same time, so that too was swell.
I've a matter of saddening gravity for my mother...I will not be calling home on mothers day.It is no choice of mine, but it is the truth. I figure they just can't let 2,000 missionaries call on the same day. i dont know though. Im sorry!
In response to my lovely sister's letter, family picture, and bookmark-Thanks a whole bunch, my district leader gets the mail, and was excited for me when he saw the blue card with the hearts on it. I was excited too. ummm...I feel like i have told the majority of those things! perhaps it was in one of the illegible letters that i wrote though....
so...I have two companions. One is from here in Utah, and the other is from Tennesee. The class that i study with, as well as live on the same floor as, is comprised of 9 elders. Of the 9, 5 are heading to Leon, including my two companions, and the others are heading to elsewhere in Mexico. We study spanish, and practice teaching, from 7am to 9pm. Once a week we go to this activity as a companionship where we meet "investigators" and get to know them for 10 minutes, in espanol, plan a lesson and teach it for 30 minutes in english. Not this week, but the next we will be teaching entirely in spanish...We'll see how that goes. We have activities similar to that throughout the week, so that we can test and improve our abilities.
Something that is really great, is the devotionals we get to attend twice a week. Just last Tuesday L. Tom Perry spoke to us. Its pretty sweet to sing "called to serve" with a couple thousand other missionaries as well. I've only a few more minutes! Thanks for all that you do/ have done for me! I enjoyed williams scriptural contribution and ivys book mark!
Muchos Gracias,
Love, Elder Albano
It is nice to here from you as well. Thanks for the letters and the package, those swedish fish will last me a good while. I have been saving my last piece of toblerone, so that is good as well.
Im glad to here that you're sending me more ties, cause i have been acting like im pretty cool, but my ties aren't. (ties are the basic currency among missionaries here, they are power) So needless to say i am regretting my decision to strive for absolute plainness in all that i have.
I ran into Elder White on Wednesday, and chatted with him for a little bit, but other missionaries also recognized him from byu, so i cant quite share my "i don't know anyone here" attitude with him. but it was nice seeing a familiar face. I also saw Elder Hollingsworth at the same time, so that too was swell.
I've a matter of saddening gravity for my mother...I will not be calling home on mothers day.It is no choice of mine, but it is the truth. I figure they just can't let 2,000 missionaries call on the same day. i dont know though. Im sorry!
In response to my lovely sister's letter, family picture, and bookmark-Thanks a whole bunch, my district leader gets the mail, and was excited for me when he saw the blue card with the hearts on it. I was excited too. ummm...I feel like i have told the majority of those things! perhaps it was in one of the illegible letters that i wrote though....
so...I have two companions. One is from here in Utah, and the other is from Tennesee. The class that i study with, as well as live on the same floor as, is comprised of 9 elders. Of the 9, 5 are heading to Leon, including my two companions, and the others are heading to elsewhere in Mexico. We study spanish, and practice teaching, from 7am to 9pm. Once a week we go to this activity as a companionship where we meet "investigators" and get to know them for 10 minutes, in espanol, plan a lesson and teach it for 30 minutes in english. Not this week, but the next we will be teaching entirely in spanish...We'll see how that goes. We have activities similar to that throughout the week, so that we can test and improve our abilities.
Something that is really great, is the devotionals we get to attend twice a week. Just last Tuesday L. Tom Perry spoke to us. Its pretty sweet to sing "called to serve" with a couple thousand other missionaries as well. I've only a few more minutes! Thanks for all that you do/ have done for me! I enjoyed williams scriptural contribution and ivys book mark!
Muchos Gracias,
Love, Elder Albano
Monday, April 26, 2010
Nick's latest
So, we've yet to receive this letter he said he was going to write and send. This is the latest email:
Its still going dandy! I haven't seen anyone cept ricky and some girl i didn't really know from my institute class. i'll look out for Elder White though, that would be super cool. Well thats nice of Jess to give yall that opportunity. It rained today for the first time. only as we were returning from the Temple. other than that its snowed like twice and the weather has been beautiful. I suits are holding up well, even though somehow there was ink inside tons suit jacket pocket and i got it all over the missionary handbook ( the "white bible") No biggie. I havent heard yet about my visa, most dont find out until much later. the food still rocks, and still makes me feel weird, but the affects are far worse in other missionaries, i still have a little of that iron stomach dad told me i had in the bmw that day we took it for a spin.I love you too!Adios!
Its still going dandy! I haven't seen anyone cept ricky and some girl i didn't really know from my institute class. i'll look out for Elder White though, that would be super cool. Well thats nice of Jess to give yall that opportunity. It rained today for the first time. only as we were returning from the Temple. other than that its snowed like twice and the weather has been beautiful. I suits are holding up well, even though somehow there was ink inside tons suit jacket pocket and i got it all over the missionary handbook ( the "white bible") No biggie. I havent heard yet about my visa, most dont find out until much later. the food still rocks, and still makes me feel weird, but the affects are far worse in other missionaries, i still have a little of that iron stomach dad told me i had in the bmw that day we took it for a spin.I love you too!Adios!
Monday, April 19, 2010
numero dos
So, this is most of the latest email from Nick to my mom. He is silly. My mom realized that he never had to take a typing class in school, so we're pretty sure just typing this much was a challenge:
...I am going to write all the cool details in a letter, because i am slow at typing and short of time. i will also include a super important request. and maybe some pictures, probably later rather than sooner.
please tell oma that I am still enjoying her last toblerone and mi companeros are as well.
Um!
I miss you all!
Sorry if my emails are boring, i would love to spice them up a bit. If i write cool letters in cursive, which I will, perhaps Jess could scan them and put them up on the super sweet blog. also, I need the minnesotans address, jess's address, and garys address, so i can have him distribute any letters to my friends.
I love you mom!
I love you dad!
I love you... many many others.
Elder! Albano!
I sent him 2 emails last week and he was able to write back on Friday, but he doesn't want anyone to be offended with his brief responses. He said he is really short on time to check his email, but he can read his actual mail any day of the week, so once I get a decent address from him I'll post it.
...I am going to write all the cool details in a letter, because i am slow at typing and short of time. i will also include a super important request. and maybe some pictures, probably later rather than sooner.
please tell oma that I am still enjoying her last toblerone and mi companeros are as well.
Um!
I miss you all!
Sorry if my emails are boring, i would love to spice them up a bit. If i write cool letters in cursive, which I will, perhaps Jess could scan them and put them up on the super sweet blog. also, I need the minnesotans address, jess's address, and garys address, so i can have him distribute any letters to my friends.
I love you mom!
I love you dad!
I love you... many many others.
Elder! Albano!
I sent him 2 emails last week and he was able to write back on Friday, but he doesn't want anyone to be offended with his brief responses. He said he is really short on time to check his email, but he can read his actual mail any day of the week, so once I get a decent address from him I'll post it.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Elder Albano Made it Safely!
Hello to everyone who has discovered this blog, this is the first email Nick has sent. His P-Day (preparation day, or day to get all your own needs taken care of) is on Saturdays, so I'll post his emails soon thereafter. Also, I'll maybe figure out how to copy and paste them without all the type-o's. Enjoy!
Iyeee! Indeed I did make it mother, and others?! weird huh? I just started washing my clothes, but i think that I put the soap in before the water. We will see how that works out! I am having just a swell time here in Provo, where the air is crisp, the mountains are in your face, and there are like a couple thousand other missionaries who are attempting to learn far too much in far too little time, and somehow succeeding in doing so. does this thing have spell check? o well. Cool though right? I hope all is well on the beautiful palazzo, and elsewhere back in the california. Is all well? Im sure it is, nothing ever happens there. Let me tell you about hereWe study from 7:00 am to 9:30 pm with meal breaks and some gym time, lights out at 10:30 and start over again.It is basically way more work than I have done in ages (intellectually!) and the cool part is i dont mind it at all. In fact its a blast, a tiring blast! I thank my friends for contributing to my having only two hours of sleep for my first day, during which I was dying...hard!Shyeah! no! its super great. Muy Bien! I would miss everybody, but theres not any time, and its only been a couple days.I better get some letters soon, i feel like a real bum since me companero just got like 4 and a package.I guess it would help to give you my address, but, i don't have it. I will send a letter as soon as I can though. Ummm I have 12 minutes and 15 seconds left! I love you all, Im sorry I didn't message dad, Im sure he will get this. I say hello to my friends and my family, I love you all very much. yeah! I wish you could all be here, but you can't...maybe someday huh? its a good work, and Im glad to be a part of it8 minutes! Um yeah, that took me four minutes! Hi dad! Hi mom! Hi ton y familia! Hi jess y famila! Hi amigos! Hi other relatives I would bless with my personal greeting if i had more time! this place is pretty neat I know that what I am doing is the best thing in the world, I thank the Lord and my friends and family for getting me here and giving me the opportunity. I am getting scared now cause the numbers are flashing and I only have 2 minutes and 22 seconds. until we speak electronically again!Farewell!me amor?!
Iyeee! Indeed I did make it mother, and others?! weird huh? I just started washing my clothes, but i think that I put the soap in before the water. We will see how that works out! I am having just a swell time here in Provo, where the air is crisp, the mountains are in your face, and there are like a couple thousand other missionaries who are attempting to learn far too much in far too little time, and somehow succeeding in doing so. does this thing have spell check? o well. Cool though right? I hope all is well on the beautiful palazzo, and elsewhere back in the california. Is all well? Im sure it is, nothing ever happens there. Let me tell you about hereWe study from 7:00 am to 9:30 pm with meal breaks and some gym time, lights out at 10:30 and start over again.It is basically way more work than I have done in ages (intellectually!) and the cool part is i dont mind it at all. In fact its a blast, a tiring blast! I thank my friends for contributing to my having only two hours of sleep for my first day, during which I was dying...hard!Shyeah! no! its super great. Muy Bien! I would miss everybody, but theres not any time, and its only been a couple days.I better get some letters soon, i feel like a real bum since me companero just got like 4 and a package.I guess it would help to give you my address, but, i don't have it. I will send a letter as soon as I can though. Ummm I have 12 minutes and 15 seconds left! I love you all, Im sorry I didn't message dad, Im sure he will get this. I say hello to my friends and my family, I love you all very much. yeah! I wish you could all be here, but you can't...maybe someday huh? its a good work, and Im glad to be a part of it8 minutes! Um yeah, that took me four minutes! Hi dad! Hi mom! Hi ton y familia! Hi jess y famila! Hi amigos! Hi other relatives I would bless with my personal greeting if i had more time! this place is pretty neat I know that what I am doing is the best thing in the world, I thank the Lord and my friends and family for getting me here and giving me the opportunity. I am getting scared now cause the numbers are flashing and I only have 2 minutes and 22 seconds. until we speak electronically again!Farewell!me amor?!
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