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







Friday, July 12, 2013

The purpose of this blog is to share some of the experience that Elder Josh Dennis has on his mission in El Salvador.  Hopefully, it will be updated weekly! 

Final Goodbye!

Way to early the next morning, we met Josh at the airport.  He got his last phone call with mom and dad until Christmas!

Time for last pictures and hugs!
Josh and Megan
Josh and Gaby
Josh and Mason
Josh and Cameron
Josh and Aaron

Josh and Kayla
Kayla is so funny!  She absolutely loves to play with Josh until Josh picks her up...then she wants her mama!

Josh and Tyler
Josh and Micah
Josh and Jorge and Makenzie
Josh and Kelly
Josh and Kate and Grace
Josh and Jackson
Josh and Monica
Group hug!!
They pretty much tackled him!
They absolutely love him!!

Last hugs!!


Final Goodbye
Then Josh got in this line!  All the people around him were immediately interested in him and his upcoming journey.  We watched him all the way through the line, through security, and up the escalator.  Then he disappeared....
And we just turned around and walked away....

Setting Apart

On Monday, July 8, Josh was set apart as a missionary.  Before that happened we had dinner and Skyped with Josh's parents in Ecuador.  During this time there were lots and lots and lots of little hugs!!  Hug it up!  You won't be doing that for quite sometime!!
Skyping!
Josh's friends!
Josh and Kelly!


After everyone arrived, we all had a chance to give Josh a last bit of advice or testimony, or just tell him we love him!  Grandma and Grandpa and Sarah watched on Skype and then had their chance as well.
Josh listening to his mom and dad!
Then the Priesthood holders all gave Josh a blessing and set him apart as a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!


Grandma Patsy and Makenzie!
Josh talking with his mom and dad.

We hung out until way too late, and then gave Josh our second to last hug!

We sure do love Josh!!  It's going to be so weird not having him around!!