I've moved!

My dearest family, I guess I can't put it off any longer, here at last is an update with how I am getting along. I am trudging along, I guess that's the best way I can put it. I don't know what more I could say. I am doing my best to live every day, to be as usable as I can, but I don't know if it's the summer heat, or lack of people, but I am getting dry again. But these past two weeks have been well enough. Its been cooling off a lot, I think that fall is fast approaching, which I am not looking forward to. Either way it's going to kill, I am just glad that I am here. The biggest thing that has transpired in these past few days is that we moved. After the house flooded for the 3rd time with the rain we got, we were finally given permission to leave. We are now living with the other 4 elders who are in our same ward. We did the move today, so we will see how this week goes with them. I have not slept in 3 days, we have been cleaning so very much, well I won't give him credit, I have been cleaning so much. I still have bleach smell in my nose and on my hands. I emptied the house this morning while he was off at a meeting, so we moved from where we were to where we are now. In the past 5 months I believe I have handled more business like matters than teaching. I have set up rent contracts, I have looked for new houses, I have realtors on speed dial, and the best part is it's all in Spanish, so that's cool to handle. We are now living in a mansion, and I use that word very strongly, it is huge! Also very, very nice, so I am happy. We have farther to go to get to our area now, but it's all good. Our house has a body guard, 3 doors before you get to our house, surrounded by a 15 foot cement wall with barbed wire on top. It's a fortress, and that's where we are at, verses the last place that we had that was held shut by a padlock. ;) So that's fun ;) I am doing well enough, don't you worry about me, I am hanging in there just dandy. We are going to the temple this Friday morning. I don't know what hora, but that will be a nice escape to get to go. We also get to go inside, not just go, but participate, so that's what I am excited about. It's been just about a year since I have been, so I am content. I have received your letters, and they mean the world to me. I love the family picture of everyone making funny faces. I share that one with everyone now, so just think, your face is being shared with people from all the way down here, that's what happens when you send letters with pictures!!!!! Thank you for all that you are doing for me, and for the work of salvation, it's not our work, ni la obra de la Iglesia, sino que la obra del Señor. esta es que es importante al fin de día.  

Vayas Con Dios, 

Elder Brewer

P Day at the Beach

Santa Catalina with Me, Juarez, Contreras and Elder Davis 

Me at the Beach

No transfer this time

Oh how I love my Family.

God is good and he answers prayers. I cannot doubt that in the least. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have sent me, I needed every word. I needed that hope to keep going forward. I hit rock bottom this whole change, I have never struggled so much as I have this past change. It took all I had to get to this, the end of this change. Sunday was to be my goodbye Sunday, but on the way to the church, we got a text message for our changes, and you can imagine the surprise that comes to me when I read that  we stay together for another change. I was first mad, then infuriated, then I just gave up. But God is merciful. In Elders Quarom, which is the first hour down here, the opening song was Come Come ye Saints. I just started bawling during the second verse. I don't care what you call me Rudger, I was not in the mode in that moment. ;) Then during gospel principles, which is the second hour, we watched Jesus the Christ, which only added to the tears. Then the Mexican came, yes he is Mexican. It's amazing what a mission can do. But Elder Ignacio Juarez came to my aid. I have been with him since he started the mission here in this same area 18 weeks ago. He was my confidant when Draper left, he is still my everything while I am here, so I was glad that I had him. Then came sacrament meeting, I could not play to save my life. I even picked easy songs. The song for the sacrament I was ahead a whole verse, I stopped playing, and they kept singing, and I was like what! That just made me more tired. Then Juarez came and gave me a note, because he thought he was leaving, so he wrote me a note, which only added to my tears. But long story short, I was done, I could not keep going on. I came home, I began to pack to go home, I had reached a low that I did not feel I could get out. I tried several times to get a hold of president but he would not answer, so I was like fine. I woke Sunday, then Monday. Monday night I was in a lesson with one of our investigators, she was so very happy that I was still here, we had such a good lesson with her. I was overcome with such a peace, Mosiah 24:15. God did not remove the challenges, but he did remove the weight, and that is what God has done for me as of now. "Why should we morn or think our lot is hard, tis not so, ALL IS RIGHT." Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight? We cannot. So now it's Tuesday, we have another change together. Juarez is still here, he is not going either. Since the day I left, there has always been someone, if not my Comp with whom I am very good friends with, what a blessing that is Elder Nelson, then Clark, then  Draper, and now a Mexican. ;)  I will have a place to vacation when I get home. ;) 

I fasted for rain for you guys, but maybe I asked for it wrong in Spanish.  ;) These past two weeks we have been swimming. We have received so much flooding. Our house is practically under water, our nighborhood was stopped. Cars were pushed off the side of the road into ditches because of the current. We left Friday and did tons of service. We have one less active memeber, who just..... I can't even write it, I cry, but her sewer broke, then flooded, then with the rain it flooded her back yard, then entered her house. I just began to cry, just thkinking about it, ....... entonces I hope you get some of this rain before too long. Others got it way worst than us, but we take what we are given. It's stroming again, I have  not been dry for days! Oh well such is the life. ;) We had to hang our laudry in our house. I will send you pictures, and a video if i can. ;) 

 

I love you all so very much. I beg of you, don't hesitate in any prompting of the spirit. It kills to hear people say ( not just you, but in general ) oh I have been thinking about you for so long, but I never find time to say anything. That feeling is God saying, hey! I need an Angel, who will be willing to listen to me, and be a instrument in my hands to help me. 

I love you all so very much,. Thank you for everything, 

Vayan Con Dios Siempre ;) 

Con todo mi Corazón,

Elder Brewer

 Some flooding

 Elder Juarez, from Mexico

Hospital Stay and Musical Miracle

Wow, has this week been a roller-coaster. Never have I been so up, and so down, so all over the place. I have been better, I have been worse. I am keeping myself hydrated as best I can, sometimes it just gets ahead of you a bit- but now I am as good as new.

With all the experience I now have with the hospitals I am doing tours for the other missionaries. Today I came into Central because one of the missionaries did not know how the whole system worked, so I was more than willing to lend a helping hand to those suffering. ;) 

I am learning more and more about myself, some of the things I like what I am finding, but most of them no, so maybe I will be unrecognizable by the time I get home- who knows?  I am totally bummed that I can't go to the Gilbert Temple. I know that it will be just beautiful. It's the biggest one that the church has built in 15 years! That's pretty cool. While I was a bit under the weather this past week I got to watch some church news and one of them was channel 12 news and they had a bit on it. 

Speaking of fasts, this fast Sunday we are doing a special fast as well. It's for the reactivation in the stake. We have 1500 menos activos, entoces. We can use a little help getting them back on our side. More than nothing that is who we have been working with, just tons of menos activos. I love being a missionary. A hard part about it is listening to everything, the good and the bad. And with 1500 menos activos we listen to our fair share of bad stories. It's hard to go from house to house with animo, ready to share good news, when all they have is bad news to share. Drugs are still a problem here, we had few issues the other day on that topic, but we are making it. 

The work is going  well. I am immersing  myself in the culture, so that's nice. I love Spanish music, I love speaking it, (when i can) it's not given to me everyday. ;) I love writing in it, I love signing to it. I play every Sunday in the capilla, and here is a cute little milagro from the other day. On Sunday they come up to me so that I can pick the songs for Sunday. Well this Sunday we were late in our other classes so they picked them for me, and well I could not play one of them,. I did not know it. The others yes, but this one, the closing hymn I did not know. While I was sitting in sacrament meeting, I was thinking I have to work at and on my talents, not just be content with what I have. I prayed the whole sacrament meeting that I would be able to do it. Then when the closing hymn was announced, I got up, walked to the piano, and played the intro. I read the music, and I counted, and I prayed that it was what it was supposed to sound like. At the end of the intro, the music lady looked at me, smiled and nodded her head to begin. And so I played it, and they sang, and it was the same song! I was like ! yay!!! So that was super fun. It's now marked in my book of songs that I can play. It's awesome to developed our talents for the blessings of others. So all of you who are reading this, who have the talent of writing, who have yet to write me a letter, consider this a story you can use to give you courage to do the impossible, and be a bit daring, and write me. ;) 

I pray all is well with you and yours and the moisture comes soon. It's been cold and cloudy these past few days, so we are getting at least a break from the heat, that I am ok with. ;) 

I love you all so very much! I have completed 9 months. 3/8s of the way! Wow, that's pretty cool! 

Vayan Con Dios. 

Elder Brewer

Christmas & New Year's Celebrations

Ok, so this will be my overview from the holidays. wow! I have never had such a roller-coaster then these past 2 weeks. I guess I will start form Christmas. So we skyped and that was so sweet and awesome to see you all. Christmas here sure is not like back home. It is a day off of work, it is not a holiday to celebrate for its true meaning. So that was super sad, but something Vonda said, that it's better to be in a place were you're not thinking of home. I could not believe it was Christmas, because it was to hot, I could not believe that it was Christ's birth because of all the drunks. That night at midnight, I have never seen so many fireworks. They are very very legal here, and at midnight, the whole city just blew up. It was totally cool to see, our neighbor was blowing them off, and they were like legit 4th of July fireworks. All over the city, it was seriously like daylight it was so bright. So that was all really very nice, they tried cooking a type of cut from the pig, but it was the nastiest I have ever tasted. I could not believe it, so we did not eat Christmas dinner. I took tons of pictures with Draper. Friday we got the call for changes and I did not like them. Draper was to leave for Artigas, the highest place north in Uruguay. I really do love Draper, we were together for two changes, 3 months or 12 weeks. Sunday we had a good day in church, he gave his testimony, and it was super sad, he left at midnight Sunday night, last week. I was crying so hard like the baby I am. It was so hard to let him go but it has to be. My new Comp is Elder Contreas, he is from Chile. He is definitely Latino, and I don't know how I feel about that. ;) He is cool enough but he is not Draper, so that's sad. But I will be ok. We had a good week, we did a lot of showing around, where everything is, who everyone is, so that was fun. We are in week two of this change, only have 4 more to go, I can make it.  We speak only Spanish, so that's super fun. I speak it just to have fun. All my stories are in Spanish, and all my jokes and everything. My vocabulary is spreading rapidly from things just not of the church, but how to have conversations with people, when I am shopping, what every little thing is, that is what I am learning now. I can service pretty nicely down here, but I will not stop learning Spanish, it's a beautiful language. For New Years we did the same thing as Christmas. It was more like Christmas part 2 and again at midnight, it was the biggest firework scene I have seen the whole county lit up. I am sure all of South America had a festival to celebrate.

  Iam doing well. Thank you for all the strength you are giving me, and for all the good that you're doing. I need it and feel it, keep sending me cards, letters and photos. I love you all and they mean so very much. Thanks for everything. 

Vayan Con Dios

 

Merry Christmas from the other side of the world!

Oh my goodness the time is going by so very fast! What is going on? What can I say for this last week? Nothing comes to mind my Wow! It's a good thing that I write in my Journal every day because if not I would forget everything. Right now I am doing good. My birthday was quiet and uneventful. As per usual, ;) so that was that. We had a stake Christmas party thing so that was fun. An Elder from Columbia made me a smoothie from his homeland for my birthday so that was fun. What else, I have a video of fireworks, not ours so don't worry, but our neighbors. Here you can have whatever you want, yes everything is legal here, but I am at least ok with the fireworks. If you have luck, it will be sent to you. It's super hot, so that's not new. I love Elder Draper. Yes it is sad the state of the world, politics plays a huge roll down here. And the people only know what is important to them, the more I talk to the poeple about what is going on, the more I am disgusted with the state of the world. Uruguay I love, but boy oh boy is it in a state of iniquity. I can't spell that word so use your imagination.

Merry Christmas to all, here from the other side of the world. I have revieved the packages and the letters, so thank you a million for them. I will wait till Christmas to read them, so I will have Draper take pictures of me opening them, and I will send them to you next with my new comp. Wow the time is just flying. I love you all so very much. Enjoy every moment of "A Christmas Story: and eggnog, a pumpkin pie, and lasagne and every other delicouseness that is on this God Given Green Earth that does not exist down here. ;) God Bless all and don't forget me down here. If you say you read this, but you sit at home saying to yourselves, oh we need to write him, but I'll do that tomorrow, that is Satan, he is working on all of you to not write me, so be better than Satan!!!! Write

 WRITE ME!!! WITH PICTURES.

I love you,

Basos and brasos

xxooxxooxxooxxo to everyone!

Elder Brewer

Vaya Con Dios

It's called the Rosedal. This man loved his Wife so much or something, that he made this plaza for her. I think they are dead now, but look it up, its a cool story.

HOT, HOT, HOT

Oh what can I say for these past few days. HOT HOT HOT- oh my good goodness. I have never been so hot before. It's so cool to be here. Last week we got to see Presidente Gonzaloz from the Seventy. We got to meet him, talk with him, 5 zones came down, so I got to see all my friends from Rivera. So I was very happy. We have been working a lot with the menos activos to just get them to go to chuch for Christmas but no one wants to do anything down here. They would rather just stay home. So its been very frustrating these past few weeks. This Friday, my Birthday Cough Cough, we are doing an activity as a stake, we are doing a food from around the world. So we are making food from our home country. We are just going to make brownies, with peanut butter on top, it will be excellent. It's just so hard to get ingredients, but it will be fun. 

I believe it speaks for its self 

It's just a PARROT!! it's whatevs. ;)

Our little Christmas Tree