Salama-Aug 9, 2010

These are my sweet Sketchers...yep :) My comp was sick this whole past week, so I just pick axed for about an hour alone with some pilas members of the branch. Fun. I had to go change after. I was way dirty haha :) Elder Tanner got me a Dr. Pepper!!!! It was SOOOOO awesome. Anyways thats my clean room, my sick jersey, my cut jeans, and yea.. :) Fam! So...lately it's been ridiculously hot again...pounding out a good 105 degrees with 79 percent humidity today....don't be jealous I'm sweating as I type this. so..... Fam Pu and Fam Cang are both listening to us still...a little sad neither came to church but we are still working on that and testimonies with them. We have three pilas future priesthood holders we are teaching. Gustavo 21...his cousin Miguel also 21.. both want to be baptized and go on missions...but want a testimony first!!! :) also Marvin...he's progressing so fast! And we just found him last Wednesday! Cool! The work is going well! That's pretty much the latest on my area...Other then the fact that I've crazy dome rocked gaining the trust of the members and they are ALWAYS feeding us! Everyday now! Whoo!!! So awesome! Also, we have received an average of 7 contacts a week! Whoo!....I don't wanna leave... uh oh. Changes are in a week. I'm scared about that. So long story short, I basically am 20(Evan's 20th birthday is on Sept 1st)...You guys will never see me when I'm 20.. Sad for you guys. I'm gonna be really good looking. With a little head,too. (Evan's brothers always called him "little head", because he has my size head-along with his tall body) Don't be jealous. Speaking of my birthday...I want two things fam... Life cereal...just plain life cereal...and peanut butter m and ms! those two! Soo....yeah...just saying. So... cool stories for the week... I don't really have any! Well i do! because the whole week was awesome...It's just they're all about cool lessons and stuff. For example...the guy Marvin we are teaching first believed that Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Ghost were one... Now he is a firm believer they are three! Just from Matthew? I only know its Mateo in Spanish ahha. But, Mateo 3:15-17. And he believes it's necessary to have a prophet on the earth today!! Can it be any cooler then that!?? I love teaching about this gospel. Crazy how the simplest scriptures can bring the spirit so strong to lessons. Also... wow I've got nothing this week. sorry. That's super lame. Just know I'm working hard and I'm super grateful for all your emails.. You guys are the best for doing that for me.. I'm super excited to have all the new sobrinos running around!!!!! 4 more!!!!! holy crazy!!!! name them all Evan... or Evanina... whichever. I miss you guys like crazy. I think about you all throughout the week and all our good times...Especially at about 3 in the afternoon when everyone is slamming doors on my face and I'm dying of thirst haha. The best thing to do is result to those memories...for example... I miss playing "Mafia" or something like that and then no one laughs at the jokes except Mom and Melanie hahaha....Our family is awesome. Keep supporting each other! Love you all! Elder Fast! PS-My dear mother!!!! You are the best!! Your letter was amazing!! Yay!!! It felt so good to have a letter from you! Mom, I feel like I have a crazy lot to tell you! That's fun about camp!!! Believe it or not, it made me jealous thinking all those other people get to dis fruit (i dont know if that makes sense in english.....) like enjoy? Yeah, like-enjoy your presence...I've super been missing you. Te amo madre y padre. continuamente hacer que es correcto y dar un ejemplo a los personas en sus nuevo barrio. se que ustedes tienen un razon alli! Quiero que ustedes trabajen en esta obra siempre!!!

Salama-August 2, 2010

I made fried chicken for members!!! In honor of Daniel...but it wasn't as good (Evan's brother-in-law makes delicious fried chicken)... (That stove is AMAZING!!!!!! This family is amazingly rich here) This is a deaf guy in my area....I taught him the plan of salvation with my little pictures I have. He's awesome. He is already a member though! Cool! The little kid Aldo I baptized...I helped re-inactivate this family last change with Elder Vasquez and then he turned eight and asked me to baptize him. Awesome. His dad is in Virginia working to provide for his family(everyone in the photo except the two people on the very right.) I LOVE this family. The mom served a mission, the 9 year old almost 10 year old is the oldest son just thinks me and my comp are sooooo cool. Aldo, the one I baptized is SOOOO shy. Poor little guy. But I broke his shell finally :) And the little girl! OH my gosh! She is soooo cute. She's always talking and staring at me and my comp haha. so cute. My comp, Elder Anhder and the fam. This little kid is no Clarke (One of Evan's nephews)...but his body type reminds me exactly of him..He walked JUST like Clarke did with his arms down!!! It literally made my eyes water. I miss that little guy. I love this little guy here too :) His name is Henry! Those are the worms that fall into our water bucket... We use it to wash the dishes.... So lucky :) Elder Tanner and I drove President's car!!!!!!!!!! Me (on the left, being silly :)at Zone Conference. Mom!!! Woooo!!! The week of camp for you! How awesome!!! I hope youre rocking it! I'm super praying for you and Dad all the way throughout it. I wanted to tell you a little about the people we found, our baptism, and the story behind that, as well as all the menos activos I'm helping come back! First... I wanna tell you about our new investigators... Fam Cang first... They are a husband and wife MARRIED!!! That's so key here! And rare! They have a little 2 year old girl that's craaaazy but is quiet during the lessons! So cute! And a brand new son. About 2 months old. This family is religious...it shows that they are searching for the truth in their lives! Awesome... we have taught them twice and the third time will be tonight! Awesome! The first lesson we talk about families and Jesus Christ then we move on to the first vision, prophets Christ life so on so on....but for some reason I felt like I was running into a wall and I couldn't think of ANYTHING to say...It was killing me because they were both just sitting patiently listening to me.... I then said do you have any questions and they said no...So I asked the same question 2 more times...and nothing...so I basically was stuck...with no where to go. So I said we would come back in 2 days to teach them more...and I gave them a pamphlet about "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" and on the back is a tiny photo of the Book of Mormon... and as we were getting to leave after the closing prayer, I kept feeling to ask if they had a question...so I asked one more time as we were standing at the door...He then began to go on about what is the Book of Mormon...how do we have it...and what is it about!!! SO awesome!! so I let him know a tiny bit to get him to want to know more then said we would teach the rest in two days....2 days later they gladly accepted us back in the home...he began to say all his doubts..which i love :) Ihat means I get to resolve them through the spirit and their faith. so he listened then gave alllll his questions and we are going tonight to teach him about why we know there was an apostasy after the life of Christ! Cool! I'm very excited. We will see how they progress :) Now the family Pu (poo)....haha still gets me every time. (I'm still immature) We contacted them a week ago...and have passed by a zillion times but they are never home...and one day while walking to a cita (appointment) we saw the lady and she invited us over...we went, and her whole family was there! She is married as well!! Wow!!! And has 4 children-9,7,5,2 :) The husband was awesome and the whole time we just helped them build a chicken coop! We taught them about Jesus Christ and why we are here...Then we taught a little about families and who God is the next day! We also are going to their house this night!! I cant wait! It'll be a good night! Now...about the less actives... I don't know what it is... but i have had so much luck with all these kind of people my whole mission. I have been passing by allll the menos activos I can find through references, contacting and the area book. There are over 500!!! Can you believe that?!! 500!! Here in Salama! We are looking for a lot of them....It turns out all they need is a little spark of light and push to get back going and someone to make them feel welcome! It's so awesome! This last Sunday we had 13 go! What a blessing that was to see! So remember how we found Kimberly and baptized her through a menos activo family? Well while we reactivated them...it helped reactivate the Pacay Family! A mom, her son of 9 years,(the one i baptized), and a 5 year old girl. Turns out the kid turned eight and randomly asked me top do it! So cool. I felt so happy that little guy wanted me to do it. A little sad the dad couldn't because he isn't there. The scenario with them is he is an RM from serving in Honduras, but is working in The States in Virginia to provide for his family here...They are one of the wealthiest families I know...I wish the Dad would come back though. So that's how my baptism went down... I had to prepare everything.. Invite everyone and do everything at the baptism...No one came except like 20 kids 15 and under... :) They all came cuz they like me! And I convinced them... Only two other adults came... One priesthood holder luckily too be a witness with my comp....But over all it was awesome. It really went smoothly which was good for Aldo's mom... Hermana Candida... she is awesome. She served a mission in Chile... It was really sad to see because you could tell she was hurting without her husband being there for something so big... but that family is awesome... so thats how it went down! The mission is awesome and the work kicks my but everyday! The language still is slowly coming. I wish I was fluent haha but I'm not. I love it here. Thank you for your support! I love you mom...You're the best. Thank you for always emailing me no matter how much. Just to show me your care. I'm proud of you! Hope you got the photos!! I love you, my mother!! You guys are the best!!! Elder Fast P.S. How was camp? boring? or crazy?

July 26, 2010

Family"! Pretty much all of you wrote me this week! You guys all rock seriously!!!! So, to answer all your questions.... No our mission doesn't even have bikes...they would be stolen in about 5 seconds. My area is about 15 square kilometers. We have one of the largest areas in the mish...I think we cover about 3 percent of it everyday haha. Its hard. But I love it. Seriously. So we had a really rough week. We have a fecha or date for baptism with a guy Jeroldo Tenny for the 14th of August. But he is always gone Sundays for work in the capital about 3 hours away...So we aren't too sure...but we have faith :) Gustavo the 20 year old-we couldn't find him to teach him... but this coming week our plan is to put a fecha with him. We will see how he takes that. If he read what we gave him he will accept. It really is that simple Ive found. If you take the 15 minutes a day. You will progress. It's a fact. I love it. The mission rocks. So later tonight I have interviews with President Torres. We will see how those go. Usually hes tired from all his work and he will probably fall asleep during mine haha. j/k. I love that man. So....I honestly don't ever want to leave the area I'm working in. I've never been this happy on the mission. I'm now friends with everyone in the area and gaining trust up the wazoo from the members. For example this past week we received 9 references and 4!!! 4!!! were families!! I'm soooo excited to contact them all. We will see how that goes. I'm kinda weirded out by my language... When I speak in English I could swear to you I don't even know Spanish. But when I start speaking it and teach lessons I swear I don't even know English. It's so weird. But I love it. I felt I guess like a sudden change in the language. With my last comp I had confidence but only to say HI haha... now I can have a conversation about almost anything....except the other day some dude was talking to my about wind surfing....who the heck knows the verbs for that in Spanish?? not me :) haha So cool story... I made myself an honda...a sling shot...can't remember if I told you that. and I bought marbles. And every time we go out in the boonies I bring that and try and hit stuff.... turns out I am terrible with it. So I pretty much got over that phase quick. So have I ever told you about all the dogs here? Cuz there are a million....and disgusting. haha. It makes me laugh cuz I'm so used to this place now. The drunks sleeping, the fireworks, the deathly hot sun, the random pours of rain, the dogs, the rats, the bugs, the sweat, the food, and the culture. I really am forgetting what its exactly like in the states. I don't ever want to leave here. The people here just love the missionaries....or hate them.... but hey :) story about that....hope it makes you laugh...Dad might think I'm a punk :) Anyways... the other day Elder Anhder and I were walking and on a two story building (rare) there was a guy above us and I looked up and said Buanas!! (hello!) and he said Adios hijos del diablo (bye sons of the devil) and I turned around and said austa luego papa!!! (see you later Dad!) hahahaha totally tooled that guy. He didn't know what to do. Good times. So, that's about all I'm gonna go write single letters now. I hope all is well, fam. I'm praying for you all. Keep chuggin' along. Last thing.....I had this cross my mind as I was feeling sorry for myself because we had no luck for about an hour..... "If we knew how close the second coming was and how many people wouldn't make the Celestial Kingdom we would be running to every-ones house preaching with all the earnest of all hearts".....I know I'm a natural man and will succumb at times to that. But that's the attitude we need cada dia. Seriously. I love this work. I love you fam. Seriously. I can't wait to see you in 17Fast Sundays :) Elder Fast Mom! Guess what??? I made eggs with cheese and potatoes and it made me miss the ones you'd make with onions....oh!!! And your coffee cake! And pancakes.... dang... :) I miss your food. You make the best food. G2G-I love you mom...I really do :) And my dear papa!!! (I tried uploading the pictures that Evan sent this week, but it wouldn't work)

Gotta Love the MMS!!!

Gotta love the Missionary Moms!! Anytime we get a picture of each other's son, we share it with the Mom of the Missionary. It's so fun! This week I heard from Elder Toolson's Mom, Cheri. She sent me these 2 pictures of our sons. These were a few weeks ago when Evan had to go to the capital to have an in-grown toe nail removed. (I know-TMI) When both of our sons wrote their weekly letters, the highlight of their week was spending time together. Elder Toolson was Evan's Companion in the MTC. They have become great friends! Thanks for the pictures, Cheri.

Handwritten Letter-July 12, 2010

Mommy! So, my time for email just ran out, and now I am home. I was laying on my bed thinking about all I read and replied to. But, I really didn't reply well! I read all about how you've been thinking about me. About you putting my name on the prayer roll. How you have been walking laps. And your testimony. Mom, your letters are the best. I really do read them even though a lot of times don't respond well, or acknowledge things well. I DO think about them through the week. It's hard to read and respond to all my emails with full attention in just one hour. As silly as it sounds, 1 hour is short. So, to make up for my last lame email I am sending you a letter and photos :) First, I think my mom is dope for doing exercises as much as she can. Second, Camp stuff still sounds boring. But the Young Women always talk about how cool you are. It makes me proud when a girl in the Stake would come up and talk about you. You're awesome for putting in all of that energy into them. Also, sorry about the cockroach problem. I know how you feel. But, I am getting to the point where they don't phase me anymore. They will always be gross though. Mother, the mish is awesome. I couldn't imagine doing a cooler work. Thanks for being such a good missionary mom and helping me make friends in the mish through that. Tell Elder Smith's mom she is awesome for the M&Ms. Seriously. She rocks :) Tell Elder Anhder's mom she would be proud of him. And, Elder Schone said thank you for the ties...I guess you sent him some when he got robbed. I am really happy out here. And with the mission. It could only get better. You're the bestest ever Mom! OH one last "Mom" thing! Tell Elder Toolson's mom,"He is super happy and loving the mission. He's become a big example to me. And he is and WILL BE my best friend after the mission. He always talks about how cool and awesome his mom is." Thanks mom! Hope that gives you some good chattin' with the other MMS :) I love you. Hope all is well. Take care. And be safe, k? Your son, Elder Fast P.S. It's hot here.

Bert and Ernie Shirt

 

I wore this as a joke, but the joke is on me :) I cut my pants to make shorts, a member gave me the shoes. I bought the shirt for 10 cents. It says "Be Bert. Be Ernie. Just Be." Snazzy.

Kimberly's Family

 

This is Kimberly's family. She was baptized about a month ago. Her family was inactive until she got baptized, and now they all are strong in coming to church. Her mom is very happy working with the women in the Branch.