Week 15:  ¡Elder Gong vino!

Holaaaa hola everybody! Hope all is going well and that christmas is coming well for everyone! Christmas is for sure different here, as it is in the summer and super hot during december.  This past week was a great one! We had another Apostle come talk to us here in Uruguay! Elder Gong, and he is amazing. He gave such a great talk. He talked to us about why we are in Uruguay right now. 

As missionaries, you are called to the place you are supposed to serve for several different reasons. All of it is designed to help you become the person you are meant to become and to help the people you are suppose to help and talk to and teach.  He also talked to us about "speaking other peoples languages" (no, not just spanish) Haha he meant to speak to people about what matters to them. You can show your love for people just the way you converse with them.  As missionaries it's very important to talk to people about what makes them happy. I think its very important for everyone to speak in that way. If you want to show someone you love them, just talk to them and show your love for them by listening to them.  I think the greatest problem with communication in the world today is that we listen to reply, we dont listen to people to understand them. Just conversations with people seems like a very simple thing that we probably don't think twice about usually....but if you really try to take the time to understand someone you could change their life without even realzing it.  

Elder Gong shared a story where that happened when he was talking to a lady just about art...and after the conversation she broke down in tears because she said she felt like the loneliest person in the world and that she could feel Elder Gongs love for her. We never know when we can change someones world, just by choosing to talk and understand them! I love you all and miss ya tons, but life is going good here in Uruguay! Have a great week and take the time to understand someone!!

Beautiful sunset near the bridge in Delta Del Tigre.  Braxton said he could stare at this sunset all day...it is so beautiful!

P-Day Activity with his Zone today! 

A little Water Balloon Volleyball for Pday today! 

Week 14: Las pruebas que tenemos


Hola hola everybody! Hope everyone is having a great week! La vida de un Uruguayo es bien.¡La oportunidad ser un misionero en la obra del señor durante esta época es buenaso! Lots of things are happening in the work right now. This week was a good one, and to cap it off, tomorrow we are having a conference with Elder Gong! Right after that we are having a multi misión conference with the Montevideo misión! Its gonna make for an awesome day! 

This past week was really good. We found some great people and are making some good progress with some. One person I would like to talk about today is Maria Rosa. She is a 70 year old lady who is just awesome. She has lived through some insanely difficult trials in her life. Just to name a few, she was abanded as a newborn and grew up living with nuns, her husband abused her, she has had one child die, and another child with cáncer. This lady has been through it all let me tell ya...but her attitude was perfect about it all. Most people say "why me?" when things like that happen to them...it's just natural human instict to do it, but Maria Rosa is the exact opposite! She has the mindset of, "why not me?!!" She said if other people have had to go through difficult things in their life, why wouldn't she have to too? She also repeatedly mentioned how she was able to survive it all only through Jesus Christ. Man she is awesome! Maria Rosa will be getting baptized on the first day of December and I cant wait for it! I thought about her a lot over the past few days and in personal study I read some awesome scriptures that pertain to trials that we face while in this life. First one is Helaman 3:34-35. The people in these verses were beginning to get persecuted for being followers of Christ. They were much like Maria Rosa. In verse 35 it says they just increased their faith and humbled themselves before the Lord even more and for that they were blessed with joy and comfort. 

This is the same for everyone when we have trials in our lives. God gives us trials to make us better and it is also a test, to see how we react to see if He can trust us to be His true disciples. We learn in 2 Nephi 26:23-24, that The Lord never does anything in the world save it be for the BENEFIT OF THE WORLD.  Because He loves the world, and each of us living in it, everything we go through in this life is only for our benefit, even if it doesn't seem like it is. Gods way is always higher than our way! I am thankful for the trials I have in my life, because they have made me stronger than before. I am trying to learn more everyday to thank God for the difficulties I have in my life. I love you all, have a great week! 

Braxton and Elder Smyers enjoying some churros filled with dulce de leche. 

The Elders playing a little soccer with some of the youth in their branch. 

Dogs are EVERYWHERE in Uruguay! Braxton said this dog is always on the roof barking at them! 

 

Week #13: ¡Halloween en Uruguay!

Hola hola everybody! Hope things are going well for everyone back home. Things are going great here in Delta Del Tigre baby! I had my first Halloween here and it was sweet! Lots of kids running around truco o dulce -ing here! Haha it was nice to see just some kids running around doing that, reminded me a little of home and brought a smile to my face! It was a great week here as far as the work goes. We have some seriously awesome people we are teaching right now. We are hoping they all progress really well in the coming weeks. So many of them are just so interested in the Book of Mormon, and its so fun and awesome to teach them about it and help them understand what the Book of Mormon really is. My testimony of this book just keeps growing by the day!

A scripture that I really love that Id like to share with ya'll this week is John 14:27 (might be wrong on the verse sorry) but it is Christ talking about the peace He gives each of us. "My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." Thats from memory so it might be wrong haha, but I really love what the Savior was teaching in this moment. We can all find peace in Christ. You might think you can find peace from the wordly things of society, but none of them will ever give you peace like the Savior can. Life is tough, dont make it harder by not taking what Christ is offering you! Jesus Christ performed the Atonement so that we can all rely on Him and come unto Him! He has descendth below them all, no one is out of reach of His arms. I love you all tons and miss ya. I hope you each have a great week! Ciao ciao!!!

Braxton's newest "convert" ;)

Halloween is a bit more gruesome in Uruguay...Braxton posing with a random fake 'dead body'. 

Braxton and Elder Smyers with the Hermanas heading to church on Sunday. 

The Elders with some of the "jovenes" (young men) in their ward. 

 

 Week #12: ¡EL PROFETA VINO!

What is up everybody! Hope you all had an awesome week! I for sure did!! This week was an amazing one! The work is going great and on top of that, we got to hear from the Prophet and also an Apostle!!! Best day of the mission so far, of course. It was such a spiritual experience. The spirit that those men have with them is real. We each got to shake their hands and Wow that was sweet. I couldn't even get out any words when I shook President Nelson's hand, I was just fumbling the words around in my mouth and didnt know what to say! It was funny, but he just smiled and was so nice. They each spoke to us with their wives and it was amazing to learn straight from the Prophet of the church.

 I wish i had his talk recorded so I could go back and listen to it again and again. He talked about the awesome opportunity we have at this moment to be living during the time when scattered Israel is being brought back into the true fold of God! It is not by coincidence that we are living right now at this time! We each have our jobs to do to help prepare the world for the coming of the Savior...don't just leave it up to us misisonaries!!! ;) It was truly an experience that I will never forget. Hearing from the man that recieves direct revelation from God is not an everyday experience. 

I know without a doubt in my soul, that Russel M. Nelson is the Prophet of the church at this time period. He is the the spokesman for the Lord. He is called by God to direct this church in these latter days. I know this church is true down to my core. If you dont have a testimony of the Prophet, I simply invite you to ask the person that does...Ask God. Pray to God and ask your questions and I can promise that He will answer you. That is simply what I am teaching people here to do. Learn about His church and Gospel and then ask Him if it is true. I testify in the name of His Son Jesus Christ that when you do, with real desire, you can know all things.

 

 I love you all and miss you. I am so thankful for the opportunity of a lifetime that I have right now to be a representative of The Lord Jesus Christ. Que pasa bien yall

Elder Shoemaker shaking hands with the prophet. What an amazing experience this week for him. 

Braxton with some members in Delta Del Tigre. 

Braxton & Elder Smyers with their newly baptized friend, Christian.

Beautiful sunset view of the bridge they cross everyday when tracting in Delta Del Tigre .

The front of the house Braxton & Elder Smyers live in.  

Beautiful sunset from the doorway of the church in Delta.

Elder Shoemaker's smiling face in the crowd of missionaries.

Week #11:  Vida De un Uruguayo!

Hola everyone!! Hope yall are doing great! Twas a good week here in Delta Del Tigre of good ole Uruguay! My time here is starting to go by really fast and Im feeling much more comfortable being here in a different country and all. The Spanish is coming along...the Gift of Tounges is a real nice gift that God thankfully blesses missionaries with. 

This week was great here. We started off with Divisions (splits) on Tuesday. That is always an awesome chance to work with another missionary for 24 hours and learn new things from them and get to know more missionaries here better! I went with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Lopez. He is such an awesome guy and I learned a ton about how to connect with people and have good conversations with them from him. He is from Bolivia and has learned English very well. He doesn't really speak it too much, but he can understand everything so we both got to practice our 2nd languages!  I spoke in English to him in the streets and he spoke to me in Spanish. Haha!! It was kind of a weird experience talking in 2 different languages, but it was fun. He speaks very clear and is easy to understand in Spanish, so that definitely helped me alot. 

This week was the week of asking people to be baptized and running into tons of less active members of the Church!! Now we have dates for a family and another man to be baptized in the coming weeks. We are so excited for both of them!! We really think they will progress well and will soon enter the waters of baptism. It's an amazing thing to watch someone be baptized. To make a statement to your Heavenly Father that you are willing to be His disciple and live the way He wants you to live. 

We also found tons of members of the church who don't attend the church anymore...and we're really excited to help them regain their testimonies and bring them back into the fold of Christ! We actually have tons of non active members here in Delta, sadly. I am really hoping to continue finding them and help as many as possible find the love of Christ again in their lives! 

Thats all I got for this week! We are going to see The Prophet this week....so next week expect me to be writing some good stuff!!! Its gonna be one of the coolest experiences ever! I love you all and am thankful for all your influences on me! Ciao Ciao yall!

Braxton and Elder Lopez enjoying an 'amazing dinner' after doing splits this week. 

Braxton's favorite food/snack so far in Uruguay!! They are called Alfahores!  He says they are keeping him from starving! ;) 

Brax just trying to be obedient to all the mission rules, so the blessings keep coming! ;) 

Week #10: ¡Dos bautismos!

Que pasan todos! I hope everyone back home had a great week! I had an awesome week, especially this weekend! But first, some big news we recieved this week. On October 25th, next week, President Nelson and Elder Stevenson of the 12 and their wives, are coming to speak to our mission and the other mission here in Uruguay!!!! It feels like Christmas is next week! We are all super excited for them to speak to us! I think the Prophet knows Spanish, not sure about Elder Stevenson, so I think it'll be in spanish, which will be really awesome. My spanish is coming along nicely. I am very happy with the progress Ive made in the language, but not the least bit content with it! It is easily the most difficult thing I have had to do in my life so far, but I know it will also be one of the most rewarding and coolest things Ill do with my life once I get it down! 

Okay, now to the baptisms! Christian and Sebastian got baptized this past Saturday and recieved the Holy Ghost in Sacrament meeting the next day. It was an amazing experience for the both of them and they were so excited for it all! I got to give a talk on the Holy Spirit after the actual baptism and it was a great experience. They are some of the coolest guys I know. Our hope is that they choose to serve missions in the futures and just keep the chain reaction going and bring more souls unto Christ! We will be teaching Sebastians family a lot more now and are hoping they choose to become disciples of Christ like Sebastian has done! 

I love you all and miss everyone back home a lot, but I got some important work to do here that I am starting to love a lot more every day. I testify that to return to our Heavenly Father we have to be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost and make and keep those convenants with God. I promise that by this we will achieve the most happiness in this life that we can! Ciao todos!

First baptisms for Elder Shoemaker! Christian & Sebastian

Braxton with Elder Smyers, Christian, Sebastian and Sebastians family.

 

The streets of Delta Del Tigre Uruguay

Some adorable Uruguayan kids

Week #9: ¡Conferencia General!

Como andan todos de ustedes?! Hope ya'll have had a great week! Mine was great and it was especially awesome to listen to General Conference!! Wow! 2 hour church?! Thats gonna be weird, but my testimony of the prophets has really been strengthened from watching this Conference. It is a different experience to watch it as a missionary. I told my comp that I felt like it was Christmas Eve on Friday night! But it was so cool to listen to all the talks and the words of the apostles and the prophet and others! 12 new temples is going to be such a blessing for so many people! But anyway, my week was great! We had a zone conference which was awesome. The spirit was very strong in the different lessons we had that day. My spanish is getting a little better everday and every week. I will shed tears of joy the night when I can understand everything I heard that day, but it is coming along nicely! 

So this week we're going to have some baptisms! Cristian and Sebastian are super excited for their baptisms this Saturday! I get to give a talk at their baptism and I am so excited for that. These two kids are seriously the best. They went to every session of General Conference just on their own free will basically! Man when I was 16 I definitely wouldn't have done that. They loved it and just love feeling the spirit. I wish I had some pics with them to send you guys, but after this weekend I will for sure take some to send to ya'll!  I can testify of the importance of baptism and keeping the covenants you make on that day with God. That is something that you will forever be grateful for in this life and the next. I love you all so much and pray for you daily. I hope you all have a great week! Nos Vemos!

Braxton in front of the river and bridge they cross over everyday to get to their area. 

A beautiful sunset in Delta Del Tigre.

A nice selfie of Braxton and Elder Smyers. 

View from another elders house in Montevideo.

A picture of Braxtons shoe/pant leg after an unfortunate slip & fall in a river. 

Braxton and his companion have made friends with this dog. He said its the only dog in Uruguay he loves because he never barks at them!

WEEK 8: Rain, rain, and some more rain!!

How is it goin everybody! I hope ya'll have had a great week. My 2nd week here has been awesome! A lot better than the first week. I think it is like that with all missionaries, haha, but I am getting much more adjusted to the life of a missionary! 

This week it rained and it rained a whole lot. I should probably get used to that now that I am living in Uruguay haha. One morning it rained so hard that it was just rivers on the sidewalks and lakes around everyones houses. We still went out to work, but sadly didn't get much done during it as most people didn't want to even open their door because they'd get wet haha!..but thats alright, we still got to do the Lords work! 

This week our zone had a big goal of how many new people we wanted to find and start teaching. Our zone is full of some studs and we did it! We got a nice breakfast as a reward from President Olsen this morning because of it! We all worked our tails off for it and as a result so many more people now have, and are having, the chance to hear the message of Jesus Christ that we share. Two of the people we are teaching right now are two 16 year old guys. They are awesome and so fun to teach. Their names are Cristian and Sebastian and they just love coming to church and seminary and having lessons with us. They are a huge example to me. I thought to myself when I was their age I would not be doing the things they're doing just out of their own free will and desire like they have. They are going to be baptized in 2 weeks and I couldn't be more excited for the two of them! 

Missionary work really is such a satisfying job and it helps and blesses so many people. I am just thankful that I get to have this opportunity right now! Sometimes while sitting in a house teaching a lesson all of a sudden I think to myself, "Am I actually here right now? Like am I for real sitting in some random cement block house talking to some dude about Jesus right now?" haha it is a weird feeling that is hard to describe. But it has been such a good time as a missionary and I cant wait for the future, especially once I am fluent in Spanish!!! Ciao!

Braxton with his companion Elder Smyers earlier today before District Conference. 

Braxton & Elder Smyers receiving a surprise package from home on Saturday! 

Elder Shoemaker last week in Montevideo.

A 'selfie' of Braxton in his bedroom. 

A picture of the bridge at night, near Delta Del Tigre, that Braxton
and his companion cross over multiple times a day.

Braxton with his first package from Home on Saturday!