Monday, December 16, 2013

great miracles happen

December 16, 2013

so this week we have had some great miracles happen!!

first off... that family that is from El Salvador that we found last week... they are all getting baptized on the 28th of this month!!! soo sick!!! this happened due to the promise our mission president made to us that if we went and looked through our former book we would find 2-3 people who could be baptized in a week!!! now we didnt find them in there but we found someone else who when we went to visit them gave us the reference to go down the street a little bit!!! so that was super cool to see how god really is leading us to the people who are ready!!! she use to be super catholic and wouldnt lsay anything to the missionaries... now she is getting baptized and has stoped drinking coffee! (which is a big deal to the people from el salvador) the 13 year old girl has cancer and has to be in the hospital a lot but she and her sisters are super excited to be baptized!!! she loves coming to church!!! their grandpa turned out to be an inactive member of 30 years and now that he is going back he just tells his whole family how happy he is now!!! he told us all that when he was going to church he would always feel soo bad because he wanted his family to be there with him but his wife was super catholic. but now he says how happy he is that he is going back WITH all his family!! in just the two weeks we have been teaching them we have taught them about everynight and HNA O--- calls us her boys haha she is sooo funny!! its fun having someone to talk to from el salvador because she spanish is different so its fun saying things that my companions dont understand!! hahaha

texas is cool! there are aligators in the rivers... all the people here drive like my dad (love you)! haha jk they are worse!! it really stresses me out sometimes!!! i hate driving!! i want to be on a bike soo bad or just walking!!! or riding the bus!!! that would be better!!! 

i still love my mission soo much and im soo grateful for who im becoming because of these experiences. they have truly changed me!!  
 
thank you for all your love and support!!! 
-Elder Dennis!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

im here in Houston Texas

 December 9, 2013
hey everyone soo im here in Houston Texas as im Sure you know!!!

this week has been great!!! I love it here!! im really sad that I had to leave El Salvador and all the people that I grew to love!!! I feel like I left family down there with how our relationships were with some of the members!!! It was hard to leave!! I miss the simplicity of everything!! I feel out of place here having so much!!! having things like hot water carpet a clean house no bugs. down there we had so little and yet I was never more happy!! well maybe a few times can match it but yeah. haha here I drive around in a truck I have hot water and carpet! everything is clean and safe!!
I have some amazing experiences tho!! so basically everyone I talk to here is from El Salvador!!! we found this family this week who is from there and I talked to them a lot about that and then we taught them the gospel of jesus Christ!! cool thing is that after the lesson my comp elder case told me that it was so weird because he has never gotten into their house before!!!! because the mom is super catholic and didn't want anything to do with us!!! well they came to church yesterday... ALL of them and after church we asked them what they thought and they LOVED IT and they all told us that they were going to be coming everyweek from now on!!! Hna Ortega (the super catholic one) didn't want to leave!! she spend 30 minutes after church just talking to people!! haha ahhhhhh sooooo awesome!!! first family we have come to church here is Salvadorian!! =) the lord truly has a purpose!!! and truly is guiding us!!!

I know that im here for a purpose. I learned some great things in ES and im really sad that I had to leave but there are things I could not have learned there that I needed to learn obviously!!! I feel sooo happy still!!! i love WORKING in the mission!!! its not so much where you serve but how you serve in the place your serving!!!

i want to share one last experience that was really scary!! when i was in the hospital i almost died (im saying this because im fine now). i had a platelet level of 43,000 and a white blood cell count that was super low like 2% i think, i was thinking about how if i died i would miss doing all these things and i was really worried about that and kind angry!! i was thinking about it and i remembered about what we had been teaching everyone, about how this life is the time to prepare to meet god! and i was thinking about that and about how everyone says that if you die in the mission you go to the celestial kingdom. and i thought. if i died... wouldn't that be completing my purpose? this life is such a small part of the big picture and sometimes we get soo caught up in the things that don't matter. i realized that all of the things that i was worried about really didn't matter because that's not why im here!!! we all need to have an eternal perspective and realize that "things" in this life really don't matter!! the only thing we are going to take with us is our families and our knowledge!!! that's it!! so while i was laying there in the hospital i decided to accept god will and if it was his will that i continued my mission in another world then i would accept it!! i know that the lord has a plan for me!!! i know that im here for a purpose and that all i have in really a blessing from the lord!! he knows i don't need anything but my family... now i know that too!! im soo grateful for my family and for the love they have always showed me!!! im soo grateful im still working in THIS world!!

i love you all and thank you for all your prayers!!!
love you soo much!!!
-Elder Dennis
this is mauricio the guy that was a drunk on the side of the road!! when we left he hadnt been drinking and smelled lie soap!!!!!!!!!=) he had a date to be baptised dec 25 so!!! so excited for him

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Texas Houston South

December 5, 2013
Hello everyone,

I'm sorry for not sending an update about where Josh was transferred. I posted it on Facebook but forgot that not everyone is connected to our Facebook page.  Josh was reassigned to the Texas Houston South Mission and he arrived on Monday afternoon.  He was not able to write again before he left, other than a scanned Thanksgiving letter to the family that they did in a meeting they had that day.  We think his next P-day will be Monday so we should hear from him then. Our older son got a call that Josh had arrived safely so we know that much.

His mission president looks awesome and I have corresponded with him a couple of times by e-mail.  He said that Houston has the third or fourth highest population in the world of people from El Salvador and the stake president of the Spanish stake that is in the mission is from El Salvador, so Josh will be able to continue working with Salvadorans, which I'm sure he was excited about when he found out. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support of him.  We truly appreciate it as does he. We're very glad he's now able to get back to work. I'm sure he was going crazy being cooped up in the hospital and the house for those last three weeks. They did take them to the temple and I'm attaching a picture of that.  I'm not sure yet what his mailing address is, but I'm sure it's on a site with info on the mission.

Thanks again, everyone!
Anette Dennis


Monday, November 25, 2013

I'm alive and well!

 November 25, 2013
(Josh hand wrote a letter and had someone take a picture of it and send it to us to send out to everyone. He and his companion cannot leave their house yet as they are still recuperating from Dengue fever and they can't risk getting it a third time. So they will be there until they are reassigned, which we are told should be early this week. Thank you all for your prayers for him.  We'll see where they send him this time.)

Hey guys!

So this week I have learned so much with all the time I have had.  I finished the Book of Mormon again, read about a year’s worth of Liahonas, and learned about 10 hymns on the violin and learned to play the ukulele!!  I sorta knew how to play the violin before but I don’t really know where I learned to play like I can???  It’s weird!  I was just watching Elder Soto play for awhile, and then after that I played everything he played.  And then I opened up the hymnbook and could play those, too!!  Elder Soto doesn’t believe I only took lessons for a year in 6th grade!  The Lord has blessed me with a gift to use in my time of boredom!!  When I get home, I hope I won’t lose it!! This gift could have an expiration date!!  Either way, it’s weird but I love it!!
        
         I’m alive and well but still can’t leave the house.  So lame!! That’s why I’m writing like this. Hopefully I will be off to a new country in a day or so!!  Love you all!! 

Elder Dennis

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Reasigned

November 24, 2013
Elder Dennis ha sido reasignado a la misión Texas Houston South.  El viajará a esa misión el día Lunes 2/Diciembre.
 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Out of the Hospital

November 19, 2013

Hello e Dennis get out from the hospital yesterday! They need a week of rest, before any physical activity. They are doing fine, Prest will contact you to talk about what will happen.
Sincerely
Hermana C

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Update

November 17, 2013
Hello!! Today elder Deniss plaquetas 115!!! Maybe your letters were magic for him😊 will keep you informed.
Hermana C

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hospital

They like their nice room with a/c. They will be ok.
Hermana C

Note from Josh

November 16, 2013
Hello Everyone,

Attached is Josh's letter to everyone for this week. His mission president took a picture of it with his I-pad at the hospital and sent it to us.  Also attached is a picture. They say he's looking much better and is in good spirits. He's not pale anymore and the fevers have stopped. He will still have to be in the hospital until his platelet levels come up to normal, but he does look good. Thank you all for your prayers; they are working. We really appreciate them!



Hospital

November 16, 2013

Right now, he looks much much better, not pale and in good spirits! We are so happy!!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Elder Dennis in the Hospital

 November 15, 2013
Here's the latest update.  His platelets went down really low, but hopefully they will continue to come up. Sounds like his companion is not sick anymore.  I hope it won't take him long to fully recover.  I've read some people's experiences in which it's taken weeks or longer to get their energy back. 

Tell everyone there hello for us!  Love you!!


Good afternoon President and Sister Dennis, here is an uptade on elder Dennis health:
His plaquetas went down to 42, and white cells to 2,200
Yesterday his plaquetas came up to 54, and today they drop again to 49, his white cells today were 9,000
Since the virus its still in his system this is normal, he does not have fevers anymore and looks good, doctor said it will take a few more days in the hospital until his plaquetas come up to 150, his doing fine and elder Oliva is taking good care of him. Tomorrow will visit him.
Thats for today, hope you are doing fine in the mission.
Love,
Hermana C

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Josh has Dengue Fever

November 14, 2013

Hello everyone,

I don't know if all of you have heard yet that Josh is in the hospital with his second case of Dengue fever. We didn't know he had it in September because he didn't tell us. But because it's worse each time you get it, this time he and his companion (who also has it) had to be hospitalized and they were just transferred a few days ago to San Salvador to the best hospital in the country because Josh's platelet levels dropped quite a bit. He has to have IVs to replace the fluid levels in his body as well as drink 6 liters of water a day. It seems he wasn't drinking enough because he didn't like the taste of the water, but they've convinced him that he won't recover very fast unless he drinks lots.  We talked to him Monday night on the phone for awhile and he sounds good.  His Spanish is great!  He's sad because he was going to be a trainer and because he loves his mission and doesn't want to have to leave. But because of the risk of dangerous complications (internal bleeding) if he gets Dengue a third time, it looks like he will have to be reassigned to a mission where Dengue isn't a problem.  Both he and his companion will have to be moved.  But that is better than having to go home as one of the sister missionaries in his district had to do and who is still in the hospital. Even though he's very sad about it, he has a very good attitude and trusts the Lord.

His president wrote us with an update on his health a couple of days ago and sent a picture which I put up on Facebook. He told us Josh is an excellent missionary, very hard-working and obedient, always willing to do whatever he is asked and that he has a great heart.  He will do well wherever he goes, but hopefully he continues to be able to work among the very poor who he has come to love so much because he can feel the Lord's great love for them.

Please continue to pray for him and for his companion, Elder Oliva.  I know he feels those prayers.  We will let you know what happens.  Hopefully he is able to e-mail from the hospital tomorrow, but if he can't, you will know why.

Thank you so much for your love and support for Josh.  Our family really appreciates it!

Anette Dennis 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

we found a golden investigator!!

November 8

this week was awesome!!! first off

service! we went to cut the lawn of the primary president and we got there and found out that we had to do it with machettes!! haha that was fun!!! 
we found a golden investigator!!! first lesson he accepted to be baptised and he already has 2 church attendances!!! soo cool!!!
this week we also had a really cool experience for which im soo gratful to be on a mission!!! 
this guy named m---- found us and we went and taught him and he started crying in the middle of the lesson begging us to help him stop drinking and holy cow the most powerful lesson i have ever experienced!!! he came to church!! he didnt have money for the bus so he walked!!! after he went home inviting everyone to come with him!!! this morning he came to our house and brought someone he said needed our help!!!! he brought this guy who was just crying and saying that he felt soo alone!! he doesnt have any family or a house!!! it was a cool experience!!! this guy is being a missionary for our church and he isnt even a memeber yet!! he is aawesome!!! i gave the guy he brought a blessing and after he said that he didnt feel sad anymore!!! 
bad news my comp has dengue again
good news im training this next change!!! soo stoked!!! little bit nervous!! i dont feel ready but obviously the lord thinks im ready!!! 
love you alll!!!

This week was great!!!

November 1

hey everyone!!!
This week was great!!! E---- came to church again!!! he has sich a desire to follow christ and do what is right!!! he is soo excited for his baptism!!! the only problem is he has a super bad addiction to alcohol!!! he has been drinking for like 40 years!!! its super bad!!! he used to get drunk everyday but since we have been teaching him he has stopped drinking a lot and only been drinking a tiny bit so that his stomach doesnt hurt!!! he is super addicted but he is progressing!!! This week we had a super cool activity at mutual where we set up a representation of the plan of salvation!!! we set up an airplane simulation and everyone dies in it and then moves through the different steps of the plan of salvation!!! it was super cool!!! 12 non-members came so we got some good references!!! this week we also had our 2nd Multi Zone conference in 2 weeks!! i have learned soooo much about how to make our efforts show more results and how to plan better!!! its great!! we have started doing some new things that really help a lot!!! it is sweet!!!  

sorry this week is going to be short because i forgot to plan on what i was going to write about this week!! oh well!! we have 2 baptismal dates lined up so november will be great!! hopefully we can get people into the gates of heaven!!! 

love you all!!! thanks for all your prayers love and support!!! 
-Elder Dennis

Friday, October 25, 2013

working hard and always working!!! =)

 October 25
 
hey everyone!!!
 
we left the house this week!! yeaahhh!!!!
 
soo i would like to tell you about a few miricles we have witnessed so far!!! the first is about a little kid that is my best friend!!! he is 4!! one day we went over to his house to have lunch and we was asleep on the couch really sick!!! burning with fever!! his parents asked us to give him a blessing. 4 missionaries placed their hands on his head and gave him a blessing. after we went to eat. maybe 5 minutes later he comes out and starts playing with the other kids like nothing was ever wrong!!! we all just looked at eachother and were like woah. Power of priesthood and faith!!!
next, this shows how the llord truly is guiding us!!! our investigator E---- T--- is a guy who we found drunk on the side of the street. he is homeless. we have been teaching him for about a month now but how we find him everythime is soo incredible!!! in our planning sessions we just put down a time when we want to find him. then we go out and just start walking. everytime with out fail we find him in the most random of places!!!! that is a testimony to me that the lord is leading us and he wants us to teach him!!! =)
 
i know the lord answers prayers because he answers mine!!! twice we were getting out of a lesson late and we were far from our house!!! i prayed directly for the lord to send us a member to tak us home, about a minute later a member pulled up!!! that happened twice!!! sooo cool!!! also this past week when we were in the house we wernt ablt to go find e---, i prayed that he would come knock on our door even tho he doesnt know where we live!!! he came and knocked on our door!!! i was soooo stunned how directly my prayr was answereed!!!
 
this week was great!!! working hard and always working!!! =)
love you all!!!

Monday, October 21, 2013

last saturday we had a great lesson

October 18

soo  this week is going to be short because we didnt leave the house because my companion has dengue!!! =(
last saturday we had a great lesson with E--- T---!!! we taught soo strongly with the spirit!!! we taught the gosple of jesus christ and he told us how much he wanted to change and soo mcuh!!! he is awesome!!! we invited him to be baptised and he ACCEPPPTED!!! this is the guy i found the 2nd day here in el salvador!!! soo glad i talked to him!!! we asked him to get on his knees and ask god to tell him if what he is doing is what he wants and if this church is right!!! he prayed and ohhh my gosh i have never heard a more sincere prayer!!! he couldnt finish because he started crying too hard!!! he just said amen and said that he would be baptised and that he never wanted to miss a day of church again!!! YEEESSS!!! this guy was a drunk on the side of the road when we found him!! he doesnt have a house. God loves alll his children and we helped e---- see that!!! he promised to stop drinking, and the last time we saw him he wasnt drunk!!!=)) haha ahhhh sooo awesome!!! i cant wait to get out of the house again!!! =))) haha everything is good tho!! pray for my comp and for me to not lose my mind!!! love you all!!! 
:)

Sunday, October 13, 2013

HEY EVERYONE!! THIS WEEK WAS GREAT!!!

 Oct. 11, 2013
 
HEY EVERYONE!! THIS WEEK WAS GREAT!!!
 
THIS WEEK I FELT THE LOVE OF THE LORD SOO STRONG FOR THE PEOPLE I HAVE BEEN TEACHING!!! ITS SOOO AMAZING I TEAR UP EVERY TIME I TALK TO SOMEONE WHO IS 'LOST'!! THIS PAST WEEK A GUY STOPED US IN THE SREET AND TOLD US THAT HE WANTED TO CHANGE HIS LIVE. WE TAUGHT HIM THEN AND THERE THAT HE IS A CHILD OF GOD AND THAT HE CAN ALWAYS COME BACK TO HIM!! THE SPIRIT TRUELY USED US THIS WEEK!!! AT THE END OF THE LESSON HE STARTED CRYING AND CALLED US HIS FRIENDS AND TOLD US TO COME TO HIS HOUSE AS MUCH AS WE CAN!!! WE HAVE BEEN PASSING BY EVERYDAY!!! HE IS SOOO AWESOME!! :) HIS NAME IS M----. THIS WEEK WE ALSO TAUGHT M-----, HE IS THE ONE THAT HIS WIFE LEFT HIM, HE IS PROGRESSING WELL!! HE TOLD US THAT IF HE WAS GOING TO BE A MORMON HE WANTED TO BE A GOOD ONE!!! TONIGHT WE ARE TEACHING A FAMILY WHO RECENTLY STARTED TO LIVE TOGETHER AGAIN AS A FAMILY!!! WE ARE TEACHING THEM ABOUT FOREVER FAMILIES!!! I CANT EVEN TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I AM HERE AND HOW MUCH LOVE I FEEL FOR ALL THESE PEOPLE!!! THE LORD TRULY LOVES ALL HIS CHILDREN SOOOOOO MUCH!!! I KNOW THAT BECAUSE I FEEL THAT LOVE!!!
ME AND MY COMPANION ARE WORKING HARDDD!!!:) THE PEOPLE HERE ARE A BIT RESISTANT BUT WE ALWAYS HAVE TO REMEMEBER THAT ALL WE CAN DO IS LOVE AND SERVE AND LET THE SPIRIT DO THE REST!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!! HOPE ALL IS WELL WITH YOU ALL!!!
-ELDER DENNIS
ESTA OBRA ES MARAVILLOSA!!!
 
I WAS INFORMED I HAVE BEEN OUT FOR 100 DAYS NOW!!!:) SWEET!!! THANKS TO MY INFORMANT!! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE;) HAHA

Friday, October 4, 2013

this weeek was good!!

Oct. 4, 2013

hey everyone!!

this week is going to be super short because i got herre super late!!! 

this weeek was good!! we taught some great lessons and commited one person to baptism!! no date yet! we found a guy who is super ready for the gosple and needs it more than ever in his life right now as he is going through divorce :( satan is hard at work. we have commited a ton of people to come to conference and hopefully after that they can feel that this is true!!! F--- and his wife dicided to get back together after living apart for 3 years!!! he is awesomme!! he didnt have any affairs during this time for the fear that he would commit adultery!!! sooo awaesome how strong is disire to follow the lord!! he is super knoledgeable in the bible and knows the history behind everything!!! soo cool!!! 
we went to some ruins last pday!!! super cool!!! 
everything is good here!!! 
love you alll!!! 
my lights and water are on and im learning the importance of doing chores haha like taking out the trash and doing the dishes!! if you dont do them you get bugs and flies and cockroaches everywhere!!! haha glad im learning this now and not when i have a wife and kids!!! haha 
love you! 
-ELDER DENNIS
oh and yesterday it was raining so hard that there was a river running down the hill... we had to hike up that hill...:P water was up too my knees!! soo much fun!!! haha just had to add that because it was sweeet!!! haha 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!!!

Sept. 27
HEY EVERYONE!!!

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!!! 

FIRST OFF.... SOMETHINGS THAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK

1. IF YOU DONT PAY THE WATER AND LIGHT BILLS... THEY CUT YOUR WATER AND POWER... HAHA YEAHHHHH.. JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS A RUMOR HAHA
2. MY HOUSE WHICH I THOUGHT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE BROKEN INTO...ISNT HAHA
WE LOCKED OUR KEYS IN OUR HOUSE AND OUR HOUSE IS SEROUSLY A CONCRETE PRISON TWO HUGE SOLID IRON DOORS LOCKED.... GLAD I KNOW HOW TO PIC LOCKS AND GET THROUGH DOORS... LETS JUST SAY WE GOT BACK IN THE HOUSE:) HAHA 

MORE THIS WEEK!!! WE HAVE HAD SOME GREAT LESSONS!!! TEACHING IS GOING GREAT!! WE SHOULD HAVE A FEW MORE PEOPLE ADMITTED INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD THROUGH BAPTISM IN A FEW WEEKS!! 
SOO WE HAVE CHANGES NEXT WEEK AND I THINK THAT SOMTHING IS HAPPENING WITH MY COMP AND I. I THINK THAT HE IS BEING MADE ZONE LEADER AND HE THINKS THAT IM GOING TO BE MADE DISTRICT LEADER....AAHHH!!! THAT WOLD BE SICK!!! ILL KNOW FOR SURE SUNDAY!!! HE DOESNT WANT TO BE MADE ZONE LEADER BECAUSE HE DOESNT FEEL READY BUT WELL SEE. WE TALK TO THE ASSISTANTS ALOT AND THEY ARE HINTING THAT SOMETHING WITH US IS HAPPPENING SOO WELL SEE... IF I DONT WRITE FRIDAY ITS BECAUSE MY PDAY IS NOW MONDAY!!! 

YESTERDAY... A GUY STOPPED US AND SAID THAT HE HAD A DREAM AND THAT JOSEPH SMITH VISITED HIM AND TOLD HIM THAT HE NEEDED TO TALK TO ELDER O---- AND ELDER DENNIS.... WEIRD THING IS THAT MY TAG WAS COVERED.... FREAAKKY... HE SAID THAT HE CAME FROM ´´UR´´ TO DELIVER US A MESSAGE. HE TOLD US TO STUDY GENISIS 1:26. LEVITICUS 15:2... AND PSALMS 82. HE SAID HIS NAME WAS ´´RYAD MOHAMMED ABDULAH HUSEIN IBN ALI´´... YEAH I WAS A LITTLE BIT SPOOKED HAHA HE SAID HE WAS A DESCENDANT OF THE PATRIARCH ABRAHAM 
YEAH IDK HAHA. 

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!!! I LOVE IT HERE!!! PUPUSAS EVERY NIGHT, EVERYTHING!!! PEOPLE ARE SOO LOVING!!! YOU SAY HI TO SOMEONE AND THEY TREAT YOU LIKE THEIR BEST FRIEND... UNTILL YOU START TALKING ABOUT THE CHURCH HAHA OHHH WELLL I LOVE THE PEOPLE!!!! 

THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE!!! IT HAS HELPED A LLOT!!! 
-ELDER DENNIS!!! 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

HEYY EVERYONE!!! SOO THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!!!

 Sept 20

HEYY EVERYONE!!! SOO THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!!!

OUR INVESTIGATORS ARE PROGRESSING REALLY WELL!!!  I HAVE A SCARY STORY ABOUT ONE OF THEM I WANT TO SHARE NOW...

S--- IS THE GUY WHO ASKED US WHICH OF ALL THE CHURCHES IS EL SAVADOR WERE RIGHT... WELL HE HASNT BEEN DOING SOO WELL... HE DRINKS A LOT AND HAS NOO DESIRE TO CHANGE... YESTERDAY  WE WENT AND VISITED HIM AND WE WERE ASKING HIM IF HE HAD ANY DESIRE TO CHANGE HE SAID NO AND TOLD US HE LIKES DRINKING AND THAT HE IS LOST BECAUSE HE IS A SINNER... WE TOLD HIM THAT ISNT TRUE AND THAT HE CAN COME BACK THROUGH REPENTANCE, AND THAT IT IS SATAN WHO WANTS HIM TO BELIEVE THAT... HE SAID HE NEW HE WAS FOLLOWING SATAN BECAUSE HE HAS SEEN AN EVIL SPIRIT WHO HE THINKS WAS THE DEVIL, HE SAID ONE DAY HE CAME OUT OF HIS ROOM AND THERE WAS A MAN IN BLACK STANDING IN HIS HOUSE, THE MAN STARTED TO LAUGH AT HIM AND POINT AT HIM, HE SAID HE GOT SUPER SCARED AND RAN BACK IN HIS ROOM LOCKED THE DOOR AND JUST STARTED PRAYING TO GOD. I ASKED HIM IF HE WANTED TO LIFE LIKE THAT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE, HE SAID YEAH, I LIKE DRINKING AND SINNING. I ASKED HIM IF HE WERE TO DIE TOMORROW DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE LORD LIKE THIS, HE SAID HE REALLY DIDNT CARE... UGH THIS GUY!!! HE IS SOO BLINDED BY THE LIES OF THE DEVIL HE TRULY BELIEVES HE IS LOST FOREVER!! IT MAKES ME SOOO SAD BECAUSE HES NOT BUT HE DOESNT KNOW THAT AND HE IS TOO STUBBORN TO BELIEVE IT!! I HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR HIM SOO MUCH BECAUSE I FEEL SOO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS MAN AND I KNOW HE CAN BE CHANGED!!! IM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP ON HIM... BUT YEAH WHEN HE TOLD US THAT I JUST GOT CHILLS ALL OVER, AFTER THAT HE TOLD US THAT HE LOVES WHEN WE COME OVER BECAUSE HE FEELS HAPPY AND AT PEACE, HE DOESNT BELIEVE HE CAN FEEL THAT WAY ON HIS OWN THO... :( 

MORE THIS WEEK...
I TALK TO EVERYONE!! AND THIS WEEK IT PAID OFF!! WE WERE AT A STORE AND I SAW THIS GUY AND HIS SON! I STARTED TALKING TO HIM AND I SAW THAT HE HAD A BIBLE, I ASKED HIM ABOUT IT AND HE SAID THAT HE IS STUDIING THE BIBLE!!! I SAID THAT I TOO HAVE BEEN STUDING SCRIPTURE BUT THAT I HAVE BEEN STUDING ANOTHER BOOK CALLED THE BOOK OF MORMON, I EXPLAINED TO HIM WHAT IT WAS AND HOW IT RELATED TO THE BIBLE, I GAVE IT TO HIM AND SET UP AN APPOINTMENT TO GO TO HIS HOUSE. YSTERDAY WE WENT TO HIS HOUSE AND TAUGHT HIM THE FIRST LESSON!! HE SAID THAT HE BELIEVED THAT GOD WOULD SEND A PROPHET. WE ASKED HIM IF HE HAD A CHANCE TO READ THE BOOK WE GAVE HIM, HE SAID THAT HE WAS SORRY BUT THAT HE HAS ONLY READ 5 PAGES!!! HAHA HE SAID HE WAS SORRY BUT THAT HE WOULD FINISH IT SOON!! HAHA HEE IS AAMAZING!!! GOLDEN!!! HAHA AFTER THAT LESSON I WAS SOOO GREATFUL I TALK TO EVERYONE CUZ IF I HADNT TALKED TO HIM WE WOULDNT HAVE FOUND HIM!!! AHHHH!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.

I NEED ADVICE... THERE ARE A LOT OF MISSIONARIES WHO FOCUS WAY TOO MUCH ON NUMBERS, I KNOW NUMBERS ARE IMPORTANT TO MAKE GOALS AND STUFF BUT I DONT WANT TO START LOOKING AT PEOPLE AS A NUMBER, BECAUSE THEY ARE PEOPLE AND SOULS, SOO MY QUESTION IS... HOW CAN I DO NUMBERS AND BE SURE THAT I DONT BEGIN TO FOCUS ON THAT?? THAT IS MY WORRY, BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME GOOD MISSONARIES HERE THAT HAVE HIGH BAPTISMAL NUMBERS BUT THOSE PEOPLE DONT STICK!! MY COMPANION TOLD ME THAT HE FELT THAT TOO AND THAT HE HAS BEEN FOCUSING ON CONVERTING PEOPLE NOT BAPTISING THEM!! HE HAS 11 BAPTISMS AND THEY HAVE ALL STUCK!!! HE IS AWESOME!!! 

MORE THIS WEEK... I HAD A SOUP THAT HAS WHOLE FISH, LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP IN IT. LIKE IT BONES SCALES CLAWS HEADS EVRYTHING HAHAH IT WAS REALLY GOOD!!! LOOKED SUPER WIERD THO!! HAHA WE ALSO GO SUPER LOST OUT IN THE JUNGLE WILDERNESS!! HAHA NOO HOUSES OR ROADS OR ANYTHING!!! JUST TREES, AND CORN HAHA THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!! THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS!!! LOVE YOU ALL!! 

-ELDER DENNIS!!!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

this week was good!!!

Sept. 13

hey everyone!!!

this week was good!!! we taught a family and we did it right!!! it was just like that feeling you get when you doing something exacly right!!! i just wanted to jump up and down!!! this family is soo awesome!!! i love them!!! they ask ssooo many questions!! the spirit was soo stong and i could tell that they felt it!!! we helped them understand the importance of prophets and the book of mormon! i had the best examples come!!! i asked them what the bible was.. they said it was the word of god... i said yeah but what is it... they gave another answer... again i said yeah but what is it... they were stumped... i said.. isnt the bible just a journal the prophets kept about the teachings and signs and stuff? they said yeah!! soo i asked... so if your spouse is keeping a journal of the events of your life, does that mean that you cant keep a journal too? is that wrong or bad? they said no? i asked why? they explained. i said ok soo the bible is a journal or history of the people around jeruselem, the book of mormon is a journal kept by the prophets here on this continent about the same thing... jesus... soo why cant two different peoples keep record of the same thing, like you and your spouse recording the events of your life? they totally understood!!! they spirit tooottally gave me that one!!! i have never heard that before in my life!!! he committed to start reading it. AHHHHHHHHH SOOO SICK!!!!!!!! 

soo funny story... this is about a time i didnt quite follow through with the promptings of the spirit... sorta...

soo our investigator r-- that i told you about who is super awesome!! he committed to coming to church right... ok sooo we get to church and i had a really strong feeling we needed to wait out side for him so i told my comp and he said noo noo its fine, i didnt listen to him at first, then he got mad and said go in and sit down!! i asked him how he was supposed to know where to go.. he said he would find it, then i asked him what if he goes to the other church across the street, thats why i wanted to wait out side. no te preoccupes vos which is what he said which means dont worry haha (im learning to speak in vos). so i went and sat down really not happy... haha he didnt show up... after church we went and visited him and my comp asked him why he hadnt gone to church!! he said that he had and asked why we didnt and so we asked him which church he went to and he said oohh the one with the red neon sign out side!! the one on the road you told me!! haha my comp just looked at me haha luckily he didnt stay cuz we werent there but yeah i just thought that was a cool tradgedy!!! it was like a HOLY CRAP THAT REALLY WAS THE SPIRIT!!! hah thats why it was soo cool!!! i felt bad tho cuz i didnt follow through all the way but its ok, i didnt say anything to my comp but he got the message"!!! haha love him tho!

okkk thats all for this week!!! love my comp he is super cool!!! love my area!! love the people!!! love this work!!! the sprit that i have everyday is amazing!!! i love the book of mormon soo much!! i could read for hours!! yesterday i did read for hours!!! haha  love it!!! sitting in my hammock reading is the best thing ever!!! el salvador is known for their hamocks soo i had to get one!! they are legit!!! not crappy at all!!!! the member who gave it to me said his has lasted for almost 30 years soo he told me to give it to my wife when i get married!! haha he is a great guy!!! 

love you all!!! 
ELDER DENNIS OUT

Monday, September 9, 2013

so some pretty cool things happened this week!!!

September 6, 2013
 
hey everyone!!! 

so some pretty cool things happened this week!!! last friday after pday ended we were walking around in my favorite area!!!(the jungle) we were walking and talking to this lady and then she just kinda randomly said ok it was nice to meet you!!! bye! i was kinda just like... uhhhh ok thanks bye... que chaffa... so we kept walking straight. i saw this guy sitting out side down this one road, but i didnt think anything of it until we passed his street! i got a super stong feeling to go back!!! i found out why!!! we talked to him for a minute and asked him if we could teach him about our church!! he agreed!! i asked him if he had anything to do right now and he said no, so i asked if we can talk to him then!! he said yeah!!! we taught him the 2 lesson and after he asked where our church met!! we explained where the church met and he said okk.. well i cant go to church this week but i can next week!!! i was like... ok!!! haha sweeet!!! he is golden!!! he is coming to church this sunday!!! sick!! we taught him the 1 lesson 2 days later and he agreed to be baptized!!! yeaahhhh!! haha its crazy to look back and see how the lord has led us!!!! 

so more about this week.... i ate rat this week for the first time!! it was actually really good!!!  and i tried this fruit called anoni!!! holy crap it is this soft pink fruit from heaven!!! soo good!! idk what im going to do with out it in 2 weeks!!! yumm hmmm!! 

yesterday we were walking and we saw this guys he said hey elders preach to me!! this caught us by surprise because he said elders we talked to him and he coninued on to tell us how our church was full of lies and stuff!!! haha he told us all kinds uf stuff!!! ugh he was starting to make me mad,... my companion just said.. i cant wait to see you face to face in the next life!!! hahah he is funny!!! ok my time is up ill finish lext week!! love you all!! 

-eñder dennis

ps i found a place that sels mountain dew!! score!!! haha 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

sooo things here are going great!!!

 August 30, 2013
 
WHATS UP!!! 

sooo things here are going great!!! 
no one here knows there address!! it is kinda annoying!!! you ask someone where they live and they say over there somewhere haha its really hard to find some people sometimes!!! 
soo exciting news for this week... our first investigator came to church!!!!! yeahh!! his name is samuel... he is super poor. he tells us all the time that he goes to bed everynight and doesnt know what he is going to eat the next day.. he lives in a big house tho so at least he has that. he is poor but not humble. he thinks money is the second god of the world.... psh soo on sunday we found this guy who was super drunk!! he asked us to help him!!! i think he has potential!!! my favorite area to serve in is in an area that is supper poor... it is on the out skirts of town and dense jungle!! i love it here!!! it is soo amazing how the lord leads us to find the people who are ready!!! it is amazing to see how he uses us!!! so almost everynight we have a freak rain storm... its like jumping in a pool!! it is sooo crazy!!!! we were walking out in the jungle and had to cross several rivers which were roads haha thats the other thing... everyday is kinda like a hike!!! with all the hills and rocks we have to climb!!! if you know me real well you know that, that is the kind of thing that i love!!! soo i basically get to go hiking around in the rain and jungle everyday preaking the gosple to everyone i can find!! the other day we found thos group of guys sitting around drunk playing cards... we invited them all to church and then took all their bottles and dumped them out.... BAHAHAHA sooo funny!!! they were like yeah whatever you jumt want to drink.... we just dumped them on the ground in front of them and tossed the bottle!! they were kinda mad but of well. haha soo funny!! we commited two of them to church tho soo we will see. they might show up drunk!! haha hope not... =( i love my mission!!! it is already changing me soo much!!! 
i have become the cook for my house... i cook breakfast every mornign!!! for lunch we usually eat chips and for diner pupussas! we spend about 4 or 5 dollars a day on food!! i cannot believe how much i spent on food back at home!! or how much i took money for granted. people here scrounge the ground for pennys to buy pupussas!!! =( yeah im never going to toss pennies again!!! 
anyway!! thats it!!! i gotta goo buy grocceries!!! haha have a great week!!! 
-Elder Dennis!!!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

WHATS UP!!!

 August 23, 2013

WHATS UP!!!
 
soo this week has been super crazy!! and just awesome!!! first off my president is sooo cool!!! haha umm the first day we got here we went proselyting we got to ride the ghetto bus!!! haha seriously a super old school bus that has been paited blck!! people hanging out everyopen spoace!! haha the first day in my area me and elder o--- (super awesome comp love him) we got lost and had to call the bishop to come find us!! he just laughed at us!!! haha oh well!! we opened a new area soo we didnt have annnyy investigators!!! kinda sucked!! but yesterday we when to town (not literally) and we contacted EVERYONE we could!!! we spoke to about 27 people about the church out of that we got 6 new investigators!!  heck ya!! our goal for the day was 3 so we doubled it!!! yeah man!! the first day we met this lady who was jehova witness... she said we dont really teach about good things because we call jehova jesus not jehova and that if we really knew jehova like she did we would know that jesus isnt his name... ok?... also she said that we arent children of god because of the fall of adam...we asked her if her kids were her kids even when they sin... she said yeah but that it is different we asked her how... she changed the subject!! hahahhaha soo funnny!!! we have talked to a lot of people with a lot of really interesting beliefs!!! really cool to see other peoples views and super funny sometimes!!! on the plane ride from costa rica i talked to a guy sitting next to me and ended up sharing chapter 26 of alma with him... he said he would read it!!! soo stoked!!! hopefully he does!!! he lives in canada and doesnt speak any english.. not sure how that works haha oh well. our first day here we got sooo lost because there are tons of little streets everywhere!!! love it!!! some people live in little shaks with stick walls and tin roofs its really neat to see how poor all these people are and yet how happy they are!!! my house is really small too we havent moved in yet but right now we are living with the AP`s super cool!! i have some pretty good mentors!!! the aps are way cool!!! my companion is the district leader right now and i am learning a lot from him!!!
 
our house some times has running water!!! haha i have been taking showers with a bucket!! haha even when there is water is is sooo freezing that its better to just use a bucket!!! yeah... didnt think about the fact i was losing warm showers for 2 years!!! ohh welll i needed to be humbled anyway!!! haha the people here are so nice!!! everyone says hi and will talk to you usually!! some guy yelled at us yesterday because we tried to talk to him!! he was sitting in his house with the door open so we tried. he flipped and said how he was already a catholic and didnt need more religion!!! haha we said ok have a good day... he then said oh yeah you too!! have a great day!!! haha they are nice but... yeah its weird some times!!! my spanish has improved sooo much!!! i can speak pretty fluently now!!! well my time is up!!!! thanks everyone for all the emails and support!!! love ou alll!!!! i have to go buy a watch now!!! haha

Love Elder DEnnis!!! 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

This week has flown by!!

HEEYYY EVERYONE
 
 
This week has flown by!! it usually does!! this is my last P day in the MTC!!!! YESS!!! haha not thtat i dont love the MTC but... i really want to start teaching real people now!!! teaching teachers is kind of a lot different!!! haha but over all my MTC experience has been amazing!!! i have made soo many good friends here. This past week some of my good friends left! i was really sad!!! i have pictures with them all!! Me and my companion are getting along well!! My friend Elder Thomas who left yesterday reminds me so much off all my friends from home!!! he is soo funny!!! he would always come and hug me when he would see me in devotionals and stuff which at first was super awkward cuz im pretty sure everyone was questioning how we got thru our stake pres. interviews yeah thats enough said haha it reminded me of my friend Zac who would always give me hugs haha kinda weird but get over it. haha
 
Holy cow i had some really cool experiences this week with the spirit!!! sooo anyway... this past monday i was super unfocused the beginning of the day and i couldnt figure out why!!! it was driving me nuts. because we have to teach 4 times a day in spanish and when i dont have the spirit that is really hard!! my spanish just kind of slurs together when i dont have it. so anyway we were about to teach our 2nd lesson and i was really stressing out because i didnt have the spirit as strong as i usually do, i started praying. i explained my problem and asked that i would be able to feel the spirit more strongly amongst other things. after my prayer i just sat in my chair quitetly and just waited and stayed focused on my feelings. a few seconds went by and then all at once it came back, it felt as if a literal sheet or blanket was laid inside of me, i dont really know how to explain it but my focus just came right back and i remembered how to speak spanish!! this was really good because we were teaching chastity, which could have gone reallllllllyyyy bad had i gotten a few words wrong hahaha yeah im sure you can imagine!!! yikes.... yeah i dont want to think about that. especially this is our (fake) investigator who is lesbian. yeahh.... really hard lesson, could not have done what we did with out the spirit!!! She commited to live the law of chastity and to break up with her girl friend... HECK YEAH!!!!! ¨:) after words in class our teacher (which is also our investigator) told us how amazing we did!!! i felt pretty happy. but i know that it was not me teaching. In the strength of the Lord we can do all things!!! soo that was a cool experience!! another one happened on tueday and wednesdayTuesday during personal study i studied all about faith and how to get stronger faith, and i found several scriptures that talk about the trial of your faith and it really made me think because i couldnt think of one specific time in my life that i can specifically call THE trial of my faith. So i was praying really hard for help to find the answer to this. anyway i had a discussion with my District about Moroni chaper 7, because it talkes a lot about faith and how to get it. One of the Hermanas in my district brought up that she always wondered about how to recieve stronger faith and that she too has never had one specific trial of faith. and she brought up how in spanish the word that it uses when talking about trial of faith is Prueba which means trial or QUIZ. and that really hit me because she said that not everyone has a test but everyone has quizes haha soo that answered my question!!!
 
so more about this week... im hesitant to tell you all this but im going to anyway haha soo on tuesday the other elders who are going to El Salvador played a prank on me... one of the elders was an electrician before he came... well tuesday night after i finish writing in my journal i go to turn off my light and it doesnt turn off... haha im kinda freaking out and they all come in and are looking at it and laughing at me and stuff. After a while they all told me that they had played a prank on me... they wired the wires together... O_o yeah i wold never have thought of that haha so they fixed it pretty quick and we went to bed... well yesterday we got them back... we came back to the dorms early from Lunch and Took the Doors to their bathroom haha the doors come off really easy because they dont have pins so you can just lift up on them and they come off haha and the bathroom is set up so that you have a door to the shower and a door to the toilet haha sooo yeah after we all got back from gym they freaked out cuz none of them could take showers or really use the bathroom hahahaa it was really funny!!! we gave them back the doors after we got back to the dorms for the night... yeah
 
also this week i got my release date!! I will be getting home June 23, 2015!!
 
im soo excited to get to El Salvador or as some call it El Matedor (inside joke) . this will probably be the last Thurday i will be writing!! next time i write i will be in the Field!!! yeaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh im stoked!!!! welllll thats alll for today i think i have to go play soccer.. :) haha oh and do any of you know Tanner Mangam... welll when we get home he will be the starting quarter back for BYU haha he is pretty cool!!
 
Love you all thanks for all your prayers and support!!
 
-Elder Dennis- 
 









 
 actually... we just got our flight plans just now and i will be leaving monday morning at 3 AM!!! hahah sooooooo sickkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! ok just had to get on and tell you all!!! i have 3 days left!!! not 5-6!! sweeet!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

HHEYY EVERYONE!!!

HHEYY EVERYONE!!!
 
soooo this week was rally good!! and went by soo fast!!! this week my pal Trever Mccleery got here!! this is the kid i almost got cicked out of preschool whith!!! haha we wont be getting cicked out of the mtc tho! dont worry!! haha there are a lot of my friends here now!!! Dallin, Mark, Conner, Ethan, and Trevor!! haha sooo this week was just like last week basically!!! we had a ginormous rain storm and all the side walks were floodded with 2-3 inches of water!! it was nuts!!! there is soo many people here now! it is soo crazy!!! i think they said we will be reaching 800 next week!! yeah it is crazy!!! my scripture study is going well!!! i am continually finding new things that i love!! the newest thing is Alma 26:27-30!! holy cow i love that scripture!! i love alll of Alma 26!! it is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon!! :) i a soo sad that the first group of elders are leaving next week!! i have made soo many good friends. sorry todays letter is kinda rambling im kinda rushed!! haha gotta go play soccer!! hahah my ankle is completely better tho!! im happy!! im still being careful tho!! HOLY CRAP OK soo the natives in our dorm, well the last ones, had the craziest sleep schedule!! they would go to bet around 1 and wake up at 5 they are nuts! haha the last night they were here they didnt let me sleep cuz there were 4 of them in the room together so i got up and talked to them for a while. they are pretty cool!!! they have all given me some pretty cool ties!! haha its soo fun!! . ok soo this week i startded the coolest thing!! i made a scripture index!!! it has all the topics of the lessons and then tabs to where they all are!! soo cool!!!
 
well thats all i have for this week!!! SORRRYYY!! haha thank you to everyonne for writing and for your love and prayers!!!
Love Elder Dennis
 
 
 the sky was red!!! soo cool!




 This is basically were i spend my life right now!!! haha
 This was a joke we played on the new latinos!! their faces when they saw that there was only one bed!! haha priceless!! haha we just pushed the beds together haha but they were kinda worried when they walked in!! haha

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Hello everyone

Hello everyone
first offf thank you everyone for all your emails i love reading them!! this week has been soo amazing!!!  i dont even know where to start!! hopefully i wont forget anything!! soo the week started off good we just had our usual schedude which is... wake up get ready, eat, personal study for an hour, class for 4 hours, practice investigator, lunch, language study, study time, gym, dinner, personal study, class again for 5 hours, home by 945, lights out around 1030 yeah it is exhausting! the days go by soo fast! but this week i have been praying so hard that we will know how to teach our progressing investigator who is lesbian... it has been like walking on ice!! i know that the spirit has directed me soo much because we broke her open and got her to tell us all about her life and her past and her problems and as soon as she did we were right there to put the savior and his atonement right into her life!! it was really cool! because at first she would hardly talk to us and she wouldnt tell us anything, after this one lession we taught she just opened right up, all we did was show we genuinely care and there we were there for the sole purpose of helping her and bring her back to christ. the next lession we taught her about the plan of salvation and she just broke down and revealed more about her life to us and said she wanted to change and she told us she was going to start going to church and break up with the pareja haha which means her partner, she thanked us over and over for helping her and not rejecting her when she told us about her partner. she has a lot of problems. it is really weird how our teacher playes the character because she really starts crying when we address the problems even tho they are not really her own!! its way cool. this week a sister in my district got sick and she asked me to give her a blessing! that was tuesday... annnddd she is better now!! haha priesthood power is real!!! its soo cool!! i got a blessing the day i jacked my ankle up and the lord told me that my ankle would heal quickly and that it wouldnt be a problem to me!! im back to playing soccer now... yeah priesthood power rocks!! haha
 
so this week i have been reading in Alma, i finished Mosiah on sunday. holy cow i love so much reading the scriptures there are so many sweet things all over the place, things that i have never noticed before. i was reading about alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah and their change of heart, i love that story so much because the were "the most ville of sinners" and yet a few chapters later they are some of the lord most mighty instruments! i love so much Mosiah 28: 3, this scripture just hits home so much with me because i feel the exact same way!! i know what it feels like to not be living with the spirit, that feeling is sooo awful, i was always irritatated and upset about something and yeah i was messed up, but im soo grateful for the oportunity i had to repent and for that experience i had because it taught me so much about the atonement and what it means, i can realate so well to people who are in the same place i was that i just know exactly what to do. im soo grateful that im not perfect and that the Lord has given me temptations that he knew i would fall for knowing that i would repent and comeout of it knowing who he is soo much more than i did before. i love my savior and i dont know where i would be with out him. im so grateful for all the opportunities i have had to repent and im so glad i know that i always can!! there is another scripture i love because it talked about my investigators... Alma 31:35 this scripture is awesome.
can you guys believe that it has already been about a month!! holy cow it has gone fast!! 23 more!! haha i can do this!! i have 2 and a half weeks left here!! yay!!! so stoked!!! my companion and i have been getting along good!! i can totally see why im with him... for me and for him.
 
i love being district leader! i have finally got the hang of all my duties i think!! i love teaching my district what i am learning and in return they teach me more. i love the discussions we get into after our tuesday night devotionals. if you havent seen any of elder hollands talks at the mtc go watch one haha holy cow they are good but soo forceful!! haha he reminds me of alma in chapter 5 haha especially verse 39 haha yeah alma kinda goes hard at the people of zarahemla!! haha he is soo cool haha Alma the younger is a beast!! haha
 
soo i have finally got to know our new latios this week!! they are super cool! and i think that i met one of my cousins!! his last name is Ibarra but the first time i saw him we were both like dude!! i know you!! haha i think dad (my dad) is uncle in some way because i remember going to visit his family a few years ago when we were in hermosillo!! haha i call him Primo now haha he is so funny!! i will send pictures later!!
 
HOLY CRAP the mosquitoes here are nuts i probably kill like 15 in our room everynight last night i kept waking up cuz they would be buzzing in me EAR!! ughhhhghgh so i got up at like 3 this morning flipped on the light and  WENT HAM!! i killed soo many with a towel i was soo mad!!! haha but look at it this way they can have all the animal blood they want now in heaven!! creatures from... not heaven... haha ;) well thats all i got for now i think!! if i think of more i will add it on next week!!! i love you all!! thanks for all the prayers love and support!! if anyone wants to read with me this week i am starting chapter 13 of alma today!! talk to you later!!
 
Elder josh!!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

hey everyone!!



hey everone!!
holly cow this week went fast!!! the week has been good!! we have just been doing a lot of practice teaching and we started our trc teaching yesterday!! i love it here!! you are constantly feeling the spirit!! its that feeling that you have that when you take a deep breath you cant help but smile!! ahh its great!! soo more about this week. first off im going to telll you guys about some pretty funny things that have happened!! first, idk if any of you have ever eperienced a chili cerrado but they are more spicy than habaneros!! they are nuts! some of the natives here gave us few and told us to only eat tiny tiny peices!! so i tried them... yeah they are soo hot!! soo i had a great idea haha... i took it over to my friend elder rowberry, he told everyone a feww days before that he loved hot things. i dared him to eat it, but i told him only to take a really small bite.. he bit off about half an inch haha at first he was like ohh yeah this isnt that bad then all of the sudden his face flushed red and he started panting and was telling everyone to get him water we brought over a pitcher of water and he downed the whole thing!!!! and because of that he threw up!! hahaha yeah they are pretty hot!! just the look on his face was sooo funny!!! his nose was running his eyes were watering yeah it was really funny!! ok next thing... this happpened yesterday. we got new missionaries in our dorm and i had a wheelchair in our dorm (i,ll explain why later;) haha so Elder brown gets in it before the new elders walk in and he folds his leg beind him and im just pushing him around, they elders walk in and look at him and are trying soo hard not to look down at what looks like a missing leg haha so we play that the whole day!! we were talking to them after all our classes and they were asking how he is going to be able to go down to el salvador and he just says that he has faith haha soo right before bed they new elders our our ironing their shirts and elder brown just walks out with the wheel chair and leaves it by them and says good night... they both take a double look.. then just start busting up laughing haha it was pretty funny!!
ok more about why i had a wheelchair... haha sooo remember how i have been playing soccer everyday... well me companero me golpeo, my companion kicked me and i sprained my ankle pretty bad haha im sending a picture!! haha soo i had a wheel chair but for the most part ive been able to walk on it... the plus side is that i can now play soccer with my left foot!! hahaha kinda.. not really.
after that happened the lations in our dorm took care of me and did all that stuff that dad use to do!! it was really cool!! they are way cool i,m sad they left on monday!!
more about the CCM. i never realized untill about a ffew days ago how much all the people who speak and all of the videos reference marriage... its like ever meeting they say something like "a few months to a year from when you guys get home i imagamine that most if not all of you will be getting married", or they will talk about hi how awesome their wedding day was or stuff like that... lotttttsss of subliminal messinging here haha i asked my teacher about that and she said they do it on purpose because so many missionaries go home and dont want to get married haha .
the language is still improving, im getting to the point where i can hardly remember words in english i,ll be speaking and then all of the sudden i wont be able to rememeber a word but i,ll know it in spanish so i say it in spanish and everyone laughs haha oh well i guys thats cool.
now to my spiritual experiences... this week has been great!! after the first big others dont have as big of an ipact but they are still cool!! with teaching our new investigators this week one (they are fake) but her name is rammona and the other is miriam... we got one of the hardest investigators ever!!! miriam is lesbian and has a partner.... super awkward... wasnt really sure how to start out with that one. i have been praying soo hard to know what to teach her and how to confront her with this... i know the spirit will guide, it always does as long as you are intune. the spirit here is amazing!! i cant bare my testimony with out just breaking down. being district leader i have to conduct discusions and stuff and tuesday night after our devotional i was telling my district how i know that all of us have been called to the places we have been for a reason. there are missionaries in our missions right now but we were called to find the people that have been prepared specifically for us. they are our investigators. we are called to bring them back to christ, and noo other missionary will be able to help our investigators, i know that is true. i cant wait to get down there. i loved our trc teaching because we taught real people not fake investigators, i was able to talk to them about there lives and about what was really going on and just get to know them and share a message with them!! thank you all for your prayers i have definitly been able to feel them!!
love Elder Josh
i have been reading the book of Mosiah this week!! holy cow!! i get so much more out of the scriptures now!! i went from reading like 10 minutes to reading 1-2 hours a day!! i love it!! your understanding of things is soo incredible!! sorry i dont have a specific scripturre right now!! next time!! thanks for all the thoughts and scriptures!!













Thursday, July 18, 2013

1st Letter Home!


hello everyone!! sorry for not writing sooner i thought i would have a p day sooner. well im safe and well haha well this week has been good! full of amazing experiences. sooo i have made a ton a new friends whoo are becoming my really good friends. most of them are going to el salvador!! and all but 2 are from utah! isnt that sweet!! there are 15 of us going to the same mission in el salvador!! im sooo excited!! the food we have every day is amazing!! papaya, guayaba and apples everyday! i have never eaten a guayaba before in my life but oh my gosh it is amazing!!! we have beans and rice everyday along with some kind of meat! it is sooooo good!! and freshly sqeezed juices too!! soo good!! soo idk if you guys remember Markk allen my friend who was at my farewll talk. i introduced most of you to him. well he is here now that was a nice surprise!! yesterday a lady came up to our table and said "is there a Elder Dennis here" i shyly raised my hand... she said WHY DIDNT YOU WRITE HOME WHEN YOU GOT HERE!! haha soooooorrrrryy guyss i meant to but it was kinda crazy that first day. haha anyway... soo yesterday i had the most amazing experience with teaching an investigator. i was prying soo hard for the lord to direct me and lead me. and he did. the lesson started out and we were just talking to her and asking her about her life and stuff. she told us that she felt like something was missing in her life and that she a lot of times felt soo alone. as soon as she said that i had all of these scriptures coming to my head, i shared with her alma 26. 7 which says that we are in the lords hands and we are his. and i asked her if she was looking for happiness, joy, peace and all the other gifts talked about in galations 5. 22-23 and she said yeah and so i told her that i have felt the same way that she has and that one of the things that helped we was reading the scriptures and having the spirit. at this point me and her were both just crying our eyes out because of how strong the spirit was. i invited her to be baptized at that point and she accepted. i was way happy. we found out after in our class that she was already a memeber and that she was just acting as an investigator. but the experience was still real. i cant wait to get out to el salvador and teach the people there i am soo excited. i feel soo much love for them. i have truely been touched by the pure love of christ. after my companion was kind of upset because he seriously said like 2 sentances haha and he just started crying also. i asked the lord to help me help him and right after my prayer i just knew what he was thinking, and what to do. it was the weirdest thing. i thanked the lord soo much for that experience. oh and all of this was in spanish. the gift of tounges is real, i was able to speak sooo fluently and just knew the words and how to say them, i knew the words, like i had studied them. but in no way did i KNOW them. but when i needed them i knew them.

my other roomates are cool, two are from utah and the other two are from chiapas, they are soo cool!! i have talked to them alot. the first few days i was really struggling trying to comprehend two years away from everyone i love, then i remembered the quote at home, "missionaries leave their loved ones for 2 years so that others can be with theirs for eternity", just have to remember that it is not about me. i was greatly blessed in my life, so that i could bless others. i am the lords. i was also struggling because i felt so physically unprepared because i forgot a bunch of uneccessary things like hangers, a watch, bug spray, and hair gel. haha dont worry i bought some (i did not forget socks or belts tho, thanks megs). after talking soo much with these elders from mexico i found out that they came from broken homes, one didnt even have a home. they had 4 white shirts 5 pairs of garments, 4 ties and a pair of shoes. i felt soo bad cuz i had been stressing over stupid little things like hair gel. i gave each of them a ton of ties and some new pairs of garments, i wanted to give them white shirts too but they were huge on them!! i am sooo greatful for what i have. i definatly have taken for granted my way of life. like just having everything i need, when i want to take a shower or do my hair or not get eaten by mospuitoes i can.

did i mention that i was made district leader!! haha cool huh. i just have to go to 6.00 meetings and conduct lessons and class and discussions and stuff soo thats fun!! i have an awesome class!! we are learning soo much spanish! everyday we have a huge game of soccer! i am getting way good at that too!!

soo the weather iss sooo crazy right now!! when it rains (which is about everyday around 5) it pours!! haha like i have never seen before, its like jumping in a swimming pool. hahah

i went to the temple this morning!! that was a beautiful experience!! the mexico city temple is sweet!!

thank you all for your letters i loved them, i love it here. i love serving the lord. the time is going a lot faster than it was the first 2 days. thanks for all your prayers. i can feel them

LOVE YOUUU ALL SOO MUCH
ELDER JOSH DENNIS
ALMA 26.6-8 when the storm beats you down, know that you are in the lords hands and that you are never alone.





 my companion