Week number 40 something.. lost count

Dear Family, 

So this week has been really interesting.. Let's start with the good news!

So my area is kind of the armpit of our zone... We usually have the lowest numbers, that kind of thing. But this past week we finally we able reached the zone goals (and actually exceeded them a bit too). Not as good as when I taught 90 lessons that one week, but going from 20 lessons (on average) to 59 is an improvement. AND WE HAD A BAPTISM!! 3 to be exact. I was so happy. I absolutely love them (will include picture). Brother was kind of what we call a "palagpat" (puh-lug-put) which means he's basically the same as Jackson... (I forget the English for it, but this word doesn't really translate into English..). When we first met him, he was a little mad and told us that we cannot teach him, but he'll go to church that Sunday. He came to church, went through sacrament and classes, and after church apologized to us and asked us to teach him. Best part, HE'S OUR NEIGHBOR! :D So we can always follow up on him and see how he's doing. He's also one of those converts that you know will stay in the church. Every Sunday he brings a notebook and takes notes during classes, He gave his testimony last fast sunday (he was still an investigator at that time) and when he gave his testimony on his baptism, i think the spirit had a body because you could just feel it and you knew it was the Spirit... It's crazy, his wife (still an investigator) says he's changed so much, and so have their two grandchildren.. But they are my absolute favorite family EVER. 

So other than that I have like a bajillion pictures to send... 

Oh! I forgot! Elder Liquiran got transferred earlier today! And I have a temporary companion now (Elder DeGuzman) because on thursday I'LL BE TRAINING AGAIN! Woo! DLT! (District Leader-Trainer). So hopefully there will be pictures somewhere.. Even if it means I have to take them... We'll see.

Love to you all, be safe and stuffs.

Elder Archuleta

Pictures!!!!  FINALY! (No explanations or commentary on them)

Weekly letter

Dear Family,

Well finally Elder Liquiran and I have been making progress! We've been struggling lately but now it is finally paying off. usually we get like 10 or 11 member present lessons, but this past week we got 17!! and then there was the 12 other lessons we taught (meaning just the two of us) and then the 18 Recent Convert and Less Active lessons... SO it was a great week. 

So about the package, it still hasn't gotten here. I'm friends with one of the Elders who is in charge of delivering supplies and stuff, so I get an update like every other day. Apparently he's waiting on one too. 

So I think this week I'll keep my letter relatively short, I don't have much else to say. The mission is going through some hard times right now. President Lopez was flown back to the US yesterday to get "medical treatment." So we currently do NOT have a mission president... Kind of freaking out... So please keep President and Sister Lopez in your prayers, as they are in mine.

I will get on pictures so you have some. 

Elder Archuleta

**He never sent any pictures.  Sad face.

50...

Dearest Family,

So this week Elder Liquiran and I have been finally making some progress! Our church attendance is growing, we have more investigators coming to church, we have our Recent Converts coming to church... Woo! Faith!! One thing that we focus on here is our Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is dependent on our faith, and without it we can't move on. Sometimes it's really cool how things just make sense now. I have been writing down things like crazy, especially since revelation has been raining down on me like... well like the rain rains here.. :D But I really do enjoy it. Especially since it's been a year (legitly) as an Elder. Kind of weird too. Time hasn't been making sense, but I don't worry about it too much. Since I'm technically halfway done, I've been thinking about everything I've done in the past year, and what I want to accomplish in this upcoming year... Chapter 8 PMG!! Goals! :D So I've condensed it down to 3 main goals: 1. I want to be assigned in every zone (6 more zones)  2. I want to train again (because I've trained once so I know how to train even better) and 3. I want to become Assistant to the Mission President, or AP. (So I can teach and serve all the missionaries here in PBM)

WEll I'm going to break some peeps hearts by saying I have no pictures for this week. Partially due to the fact that Elder Liquiran and I have been trying to get our area going, and partially because I lent my card reader to a member yesterday and forgot to get it back. So maybe DOUBLE next week! (MAYBE)

Well other than that, I don't have much else. How is the ward? The YM and YW? Are they getting along for once? Are the YM studying PMG? Are the YW? 

Welll times almost up and I still have to reply to Elder Casper, Elder Dykstra, a few other friends, and some dork named Kara... 

Love you all

Elder Archuleta

51 Na Lang

Dearest Family of Mine,

So this week has actually been kind of slow. We were supposed to have a baptism, but while our investigator was being interviewed we found out that he was still smoking... So he was given the 24th.. He is our perfect investigator. He does everything we ask, he gets it all. It's just that we failed in teaching him about smoking, so that fault is on us. But we have been having some success, here a little and there a little.. Which is what we need now. Our area is... Well it's hard. WE went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and they said our area is hard.. So that was encouraging. But I have been trying my hardest to get things going.. but it always ends up being the same. 

So the missionary vocab? If someone is "trunky", it means they want to go home or will be going home soon.. SO there are 2 kinds of trunky. The good and the bad, the good meaning that you want to go home sooner so you work harder so the time goes by faster.. and the bad meaning you want to go home so you become lazy. Or at least that's what it usually means here. Every mission is different. 

So I keep forgetting to take a picture of my shoes, so I will make sure to remember this week. But I will be fine for shoes. I could use some nice inserts though, my current ones are flat and hard now after being walked on for a year (haha.. I feel old now). But if not I will totally live, so don't worry about it. 

I'm not sure about the package, I texted the office but no reply. WE have Zone Training on Wednesday, so if it's here I'll get it then. 

Wait wait wait.. I thought Gibby and Cracker broke my phone.. Did he get a new one? What happens when I get home?! OH THE INHUMANITY!! Just kidding. I had to make a joke or something. 

Well I think that's all for this week. I will get on pictures in a second.

Elder Archuleta

PICTURES!!!

Yep

I have 52 of these emails left...

Dear Family,

Well this week was okay I guess. It was kind of a drag up until Christmas, when I was able to call you all! And this keyboard works! Woo! So After the call, we actually went straight home, because our schedule got changed. IT was supposed to be that we had the class thing first, and THEN the baptism, but it got flipped, and so we had to go and get our candidate and the bishop and then get everything ready and then take a picture (woo.. picture) AND then we had the class, and that took forever, but it was cool because we did it like it was the MTC, so yea awesomeness!! But after that it was just work as usual. 

So other than that I will get pictures going... Somehow the baptism pictures got erased or something... Seriously angry about that... But it's okay. I can get it from someone else next week.

Love 

Elder Archuleta

PICTURES!!!

My gingerbread house, dinner, and one time like half the ward worked with us (in that order I think)

Where are you fools.....

i'm waiting for your emails... 

so this keyboard is slightly broken, so expect no capitalization at all. 

last week as i was waiting for your email... i waited.. and waited.. and waited some more... emailed some friends.. waited some more... and then all of a sudden boom time was up. still no email from you guys... so i spent the whole past week thinking you guys didn't love me anymore. it made this week hard. but hey, you did eventually email me, i read them earlier. yay family..

so in the past 2 weeks, i got stepped down. i was a trainer, but now i'm a district leader. everyone said it's hard being a trainer or a district leader or even a zone leader.. but I've been both a trainer and a district leader, meaning i was a dlt for like 2 days, and i had no problems whatsoever. hopefully things will just keep going as it is. 

well i really don't have much else to say for now, i get to call you guys on Thursday, Wednesday for you all. probably in the morning here, so late-ish afternoon for you. i love you all

elder archuleta

Picturessesses!!

boom awesomeness

Dearest Family

As I write this, there is a baby crying. Profusely. I will probably make a few baby-eating jokes somewhere...

SO anyways, time for my email! Woo! 

So the super typhoon. That was fun! I don't know what the outside world called it, but here it's name was "Ruby." I saw Dad called it something else. It did affect the work, we were stuck inside for like TWO WHOLE DAYS AND IT WAS SO BORING!!! SO we did what they advised: Cleaned the apartment, updated teaching records and the area book, you know, missionary shtuffs. In some areas it was storming hard, but for us it was just rain and wind.... well a LOT of rain and then some wind. Which was nice, made things cold :D But anyways, last week was zone training, and I was like "okay well HOPEFULLY at least one is here..." So were going through the training, and all of a sudden, some Elders show up. I was like, woo, mail! Then the party starts. One package walks in, relatively small. Then another, some stuff I ordered from the LDS store (a big pmg and some more g's), then yet AGAIN another package, some stuff from the office (pamphlets). I was like "WOOO!" 

But that's not the best part.

They come back like 3 minutes later, HUGE package. They set it on the floor. BOOM. You can feel it hit the ground. "Elder Archuleta, one more." I go to pick the thing up, first thought is "Well great, how am I going to carry this thing home? They probably sent me like rocks or something..." (because I love my family and is the first thing I think of). So we head home, and the party keeps going. Opened up the small one, BOOM. LAFFY TAFFY'S FOR DAYS. Then BOOM. CAMERA! CAMERA STAND! CARD READER! C.O CONTAINER! Best part: 

"From: yo mamma"

Still laughing. Oddly I miss 'Murican jokes. They don't make sense sometimes. Especially pick up jokes. 

I am going to kill the computers here... this one is freezing so I will end here and send some pictures.

Love

Elder Gwapo (Archuleta)

Only one of the two pictures he sent turned out, but I will include both because it shows his smiling face!

Me in my current area.  (Apparently his area is black and gray.)

Brother, me, Brother and Elder Liqurian.

That's all because I'm almost out of time. I'll get more next week.