Received a letter from Bailey because today is his P-day. Here is what he had to say:
So we got the new missionaries last Thurs and they
are really annoying and cocky. There's a couple that I like, but most
I´m not to fond of! There's this one, Elder Luke, that is honestly the
exact same as Cam! It's really weird. He's actually probably my favorite
missionary here, outside of my district. Proselyting was definitely the
most awesome, crazy, best thing I've ever done! The drive out there was
the scariest because people drive like maniacs!!! And as we were
driving we realized how ghetto it is. We finally got dropped off at our
area with a map, a sack lunch and a time to be back at the bus. It was definitely a little scary, but I'm glad one of my companions is a big
hockey player who used to fight for fun! I'm also glad that I wasn't a
sister missionary cuz that would be way scary!!!! We definitely did the
best out of all of our district though, we had 27 contacts, 3 lessons
and got 4 references. It was so fun!! Besides being ghetto, having HUGE
stray dogs running around everywhere, being hot and sweaty, and not
understanding people it was a great experience!!! We talked to everyone
we saw and most people were super nice!!! Everyones Catholic so they're
not usually interested. Plus from like 3-5 is Siesta or "nap time" So we
had 0 luck then. We talked to about 7 people worth mentioning. 1. This
old man was getting stuff out of his trunk and we asked if we could help
him, he said no, but we could talk. So we talked and found out he was
Catholic and his grandpa was from Jerusalem and he tried to teach us
Arabic. It was pretty fun, but we gave him a BoM and went on our way. 2.
We've learned a couple 3 minute lessons for teaching people at bus
stops and we actually used one! this guy was in a hurry, but willing to
listen and we gave him a BoM as well. 3. We found this little farmers
market thing and we were like that's cool, but all those people are
working, but I felt like we should go down there so we went and this guy
was like "misioneros misioneros!!!" so we talked to him for a while and
he knew a bit abt José Smith, so we taught him some more and then
another guy came up and we couldn't understand him, like most people, so
the guy we were teaching taught him!!! and then another lady came up
and he taught her!!!!!! Unfortunately we only got 3 BoMs so we didn't
have enough, but we gave them all the directions to the capilla and
hopefully they go!!! Our teacher told us he would give us more BoMs
since we destroyed out there! 4, This guy was limping on a cane and we
asked if we could help him, but he just wanted to talk as well! So we
talked and he said he was really close to Dios, but hated religion cuz
he said its corrupted by people, which is mostly true. But we asked for
his address and he said no, but he gave us his work address. He just
doesn't want us to interrupt his kids study, which i understand. 5. was
this drunk guy having a bad day. he kept falling asleep on us, but I feel
like we made his day better. 6. the last guy we talked to, I don't even
know... Down here they slur there words together and don't finish them
completely and this guy happened to have no teeth, so we pretty much
listened to him for 30 mins and then had to go cuz the buss was there. I
don't think I understood a word. I don't think I understood really
anything from anyone, except no I'm catholic. It didn't matter, we just
bugged them, and bugged them until they let us share a message or
closed there door. We actually had 0 success knocking doors... Oh well!
That was definitely my favorite part of the week and it'll be my favorite
until I leave!!!! We had fast Sunday this week and it sucked!!!!! But oh well, it was good
for me! My teachers say my Spanish is coming along really well, I kinda
feel like that, but the past couple lessons have just overloaded my
brain. It doesn't help that I've been sick with a cold or something for
like a week straight. I think its finally getting better, but I dunno.
The other day though, we learned 5 new, hard, grammar principles in 3
hours and it was just ridiculous!!!!! It's going great here though! I
love it here, but I really just wanna get out into the field!!! This Saturday it's supposed to rain, but I think it'll add to the adventure
of proselyting!
I´ve learned so much this week gospel! Pretty much all
i learn about the gospel comes from our genius spiritual giant of a CCM
pres. He taught us about the aaronic priesthood in a way that I've
never even heard! It's an aaronic priesthood duty to bring the people
unto Christ, by bringing them to the Atonement... I've never been taught
that. He also had a spectacular lesson on the Atonement and Priesthood.
But what he said about the Atonement got me, " We must go through
anguish, like Christ did, to become a god. To fell anguish we must have
charity," He talks a lot about becoming like gods, because that really
is our goal. He also told us in priesthood, talking about the aaronic
priesthood, that everyone in that room WOULD become a bishop sometime in
their life. I thought that was way sweet. And then Sunday
we had pres Eccle, i think that's the spelling, come in and teach us
about sacrifice and the blessings that come from it and a mission. He
talks every Sunday,
hes super cool. Hes the FBI liaison??? for Uruguay, Argentina and
Paraguay. Yesterday we watched a devotional from last month by Richard G
Scott about prayer, but what stuck out to me the most was he said every
good thing in his life has been because of a mission. I've heard that
from a few people and its really stuck out to me!
I'm glad you guys are all doing good! I'm excited to
here about the hotel!!!! I've been given Clara some assignments if you
haven't noticed so she should be able to pray and at least start to bear
her testimony in Spanish! I miss you guys and love you all! I'm glad
at least Ethan is learning Spanish and that you guys are studying more
about the gospel! I really wish I would've learned to love it like i do
now before i came, but at least I have that for the rest of my life. The
shipping stuff should be in the welcome email I got from my mission
pres and his wife. You cant stuff to the CCM, but you can start sending
it to the mission home.
Love,
Elder Oliver
Because many of you have asked, here is some information regarding mailing things to Bailey:
Mission office: after 3 weeks, until a new address is posted (letters or packages)
Elder Bailey OConnor Oliver
Uruguay Montevideo Mission
Dalmiro Costa 4635 Bis
Malvin
11400 Montevideo
Uruguay
Phone 598 2-619-4534 (you will need this to ship through a private carrier)
The recommendations are these:
Send small things (pictures, thumb drives, memory cards, etc...) in padded envelopes
Uruguay does not allow ANY personal hygiene products to be shipped
Do not send anything expensive
If you send something that my require a duty to be paid, include a prepaid visa card so Bailey will have the money to get it from customs
Pouch mail:
Elder Bailey OConnor Oliver
Uruguay Montevideo Mission
Post Office Box 30150
Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0150
Pouch mail instructions: Write or type your letter on plain white paper (one side). Fold the letter in thirds and tape shut. Write both the regular mailing address and the return address as you would on an envelope and stamp it as regular mail.
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