Week 22 - Confusing Weather (3/27/2017)

Well the weather here this week has changed several times and we've had good days and bad days here with weather, but none of the less, the work moves on! To start off, I'd like to say I'm having to practice English again because I'm not very well spoken in it any longer. English is becoming a foreign language all of a sudden.... Kinda humiliating, but luckily the spirit is with me on this one. So if there is Spanish in here, I do apologize again. It's happened to me several times during the week where I'll be speaking English and switch into Spanish because it's a lot more natural for me now. And thinking in Spanish is a lot easier also. Well to start off this week we went on exchanges with the District Leader and I went into his area while he came into ours. I got to chill with his companion and had a blast helping out the families he has in his area. So on Wednesday we visited with some families and a YSA member because we now have permission to do so. We met with him and shared with him Alma 37:37 which talks about counseling with the Lord in all matters cause he knows what's best for us. We then visited with a Less Active family who wants to take the lessons to remember all of the lessons and things like that and it actually went over really well. It was awesome. We had dinner with a really cool family and then visited with the Hispanics!! YAY! So we met with the Morales family and we left with them a piensemento espiritual. We talked about the Brother of Jared and a little bit about the Book of Mormon and what it is for all man kind. We then ended the night correlating with a family and left them with a spiritual thought through song. This song is This is Gospel by Panic at the Disco and I learned the piano version and rewrote lyrics for it so it is Gospel related and aimed at why this Gospel is for everyone and not just for specific people. It's pretty awesome. Thursday came around and we had interviews!! It was pretty awesome getting to talk with President Bartlett and ask some questions about the mission and things that are happening. The only concern I had to tell him was about my allergies cause I apparently I'm allergic to horses too!! Found that out through experience. Stinking allergies... He asked me if I was allergic to cows too and I said I don't know. I'll find out and let you know. After interviews chilled at the church and did weekly planning, had correlation, English class (yes I am attending those to relearn English), then finally left to have a lesson with Augustina who got baptized!!! It was pretty awesome!! Her family is so ready for the Gospel it's crazy. And to think it's because of her that her Father got baptized a month ago. Anyways Friday came and we did service and actually took a Priest with us to go and do some visits so he can get the full mission experience. Saturday, the day of the Baptism. So we had the Baptism and before that, there was a wedding reception so since we were there, we dropped in on the wedding reception and said hi to the couple that got hitched. Then the baptism and wow, the spirit was definitely there. We then had a tight schedule after that. We did visit a family and shared with them the Restoration, dinner and then service right after that. We changed out of suits into more proselyting clothes and I jumped into jeans and a white shirt and tie to do service cause I just didn't care. I'll be one of those missionaries haha... We then met with Augustine to end the night and we talked with him and did some translating for him from Spanish to English. He spoke, I translated, and Elder Ethington wrote what was being said in English. We had fun doing all of that. Sunday came around and we were exhausted. Woke up to go to Ward council and then sat through 3 sacrament meetings. I miss covering only one ward/branch. We then did visits after that and called it a night. Oh and we also confirmed Augustina Sunday as well. We did rock,paper, scissors to see who would do it cause that's how she wanted it to go and I had the opportunity to do so. It was really amazing to everyone that heard the confirmation. It's the first one that I've done and I was nervous like so much. But that puts an end to my week. I hope all of your weeks were fantastic just like you!! I hope you all have an amazing week and just want to let you know I love you ALL!! 

Elder Ruesch Sosa

Elder Ruesch at interviews on Thursday

Week 21 - Long Week (3/20/2017)

Here is the video Jeffrey playing the piano that he talked about last week.  He uploaded it to Google but I did not have permission to get it until now.  I hope you enjoy it.

So this week has been really long. To start off, I'd like to say that this week I don't have a mental bloke in my English and Spanish. Just have to do a lot of revisions. But anyways, on Monday we did a lot of service thanks to Daylight Saving. We cut down and moved some tree branches with a member. It was quite fun and we also had dinner with them afterwards which was really good. We had elk meat and that was delicious. On Tuesday we did the same thing. We helped out with some more service and it was quite fun. Same job just no dinner this time. Wednesday came around and we had Zone Conference. For Zone Conference we learned a whole bunch of cool things that for now, shall stay hidden...We also had a volleyball tournament against the Twin Falls South Zone and the Twin Falls North Zone. We played them as a Zone and individual Districts and the Rupert Zone came out undefeated!! We only had once close game, but other than that we swept the competition away. It was soo much fun and we all had a blast from it. So just before any of that we went to Shoshone Falls and wow it was breathtaking. It was quite amazing as to how it looked. The pictures will be attached so all can see. We got back into town and ran late to everything and all of our appointments fell through. We ended up going to the youth fundraiser and grabbed a bite to eat there as well. The next day came around and we did some more service. This week has just been packed with service. We helped cut another tree which was fun. Got to climb up into it and no I did not fall down. We then did some planning and went back to help do some more service with a member. Tearing down and putting up some dry wall. Which was fun as well. We then went to dinner after that and it was really good. I'm having a hard time remembering with who we ate though. After that came Friday and we tried contacting people and we got one which was nice. We talked to Suzanne who is an Eternal Investigator. As we were in our lesson with her two RM's who served here pulled up and came into our lesson. We ended up staying there a lot longer than I thought we would. And literally after that we left and went straight to dinner. We went to dinner and had dinner with a good family. We got talking with them about mission experiences cause they served as a senior couple missionaries awhile back. It was pretty awesome to hear those stories. We later tried contacting, but nothing fell through. So we called it a night. Saturday came around and this is when we changed gears.We had a baptismal interview for Augustina and it went really well. She'll be getting baptized March 25th by her father. It's awesome!! We then came back did our studies and we went back to teach Suzanne this time without the RM bombardment. We taught her how important it is to have relationships with four people. The first being our Heavenly Father, 2nd with our Family, 3rd with Fellowman, and 4th with Ourselves. She really liked that and has been putting that into consideration a lot. We invited her to church, but didn't come. We then went and had a quick lesson with a LA family and it went really well. They are both trying to relearn the Gospel and change themselves for the better. It's pretty awesome!! We then went to dinner with somebody that Elder Ethington knew before the mission. It was pretty cool to see that. It was his old seminary teacher in Gilbert, Arizona. We later then went and visited with the Quintero family really fast and shared a message with them. And they invited us to come back and have dinner with them. We then went and got to see an RM from one of our wards who she is an only member of her family. She wants us to teach her family and she'll help us in anyway possible and we thought that, that is awesome! Sunday rolled around and we did a lot of sacrament meetings. We listened to the RM give her homecoming talk and then darted back to the Springdale wards we cover. They were having ward conference and they were talking about repentance. It was so awesome to hear all of that. During it all, we ran into some scheduling conflicts and had to adjust our day during sacrament cause some people could only meet at certain times and we had some cancellations. But none of the less, we worked it out. After church we went and planned for Augustina's baptism with the ward mission leader. Then we went and had first dinner with the Quintero Family and did some service  for them. Normally we wouldn't, but we wanted to demonstrate why and things like that. We then had dinner with the Darrington family and it was really good. We had some T-Bone steak and wow it was fantastic. We spent the rest of the night with them talking about the Gospel and sharing it with everyone. We love the members here it's awesome. For today we are going to have a NERF war which I'm excited for! But hopefully everyone has a great week and I love and miss you all!! Take care y nos vemos en dos anos!!

 Elder Ruesch Sosa

Shoshone Falls

Shoshone Falls

Rupert Zone

Elder Ruesch and his companion Elder Ethington

Week 20 - LOVE LOVE LOVE (03/13/2017)

Note from Dad: Elder Ruesch wrote a lot of his email in Spanish so I added my English translation in parentheses).

So I've been experiencing brain difficulties so bear with me in this email. Hay veces que no puede recordar cosas en (There are times when I can't remember things in) English so Spanish just comes in to save the day. So...sorry. Well to start off this week we have had a lot of success in the area. Aside from my brain not wanting to trabajar en Ingles, esto es todo (work in English, that is all). We had a lesson with one of our most promising investigators que se llama Augustina Gularte. She has been a golden investigator and she is the reason why her father is a member. But anyways, she received an answer to the Libro de Mormón y que es verdadero (that it is true)!! She totally felt the spirit which is amazing!! She has a fecha de bautismo este mes (baptismal date this month) on the 25th!! She has been progressing the most en nuestro (our) area. Es fantástico (It's fantastic)!! As well we've had a lot of good visits with members and getting member support to venir con nosotros a visitar familias que estamos ensenando (come with us to visit families that we are teaching). The five wards we cover are really awesome at ayudarnos cuando necesitamos esto (helping us with this). To start off on P-Day we went and had a zone P-Day cause those are allowed once per month and we played volleyball which was really fun! I'm excited for Wednesday for Zone Conference. Vamos a jugar (We are going to play) volleyball then. Also, cosas secretas (secret things). Shhh... But yea. We've been doing a lot of visits con miembros de los barrios y también con servicio (with members of the Wards and also service). (I'm really hating my brain at the moment so sorry) We've been working muy duro aqui (very hard here) and it's really paying off. We've had a lot of good visits, a lot of good food, and just pure member love and support! This area is really awesome!! Just no one get any crazy ideas para visitarme (by visiting me). Yo quiero a enfoquarme aquí en mi misión (I want to keep focused on my mission). This week has just been very spiritually uplifting and creative. I've learned a few more songs and I rewrote a song that is not approved for missionaries, but with my version, it should be. I don't have the lyrics recorded pero yo tengo la cancion en video (but I have the song on video). So it will be sent and uploaded here. Hopefully. But I love you all and I hope you are all doing great at home. Just want to close with a spiritual thought from my readings. In Helaman 13:18-19 and 3 Nefi 13:20-21 and Helaman reads "And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God, that whoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up onto the Lord. 19 For I will, saith the Lord, that they shall hide up their treasures unto me; and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures unto me; for none hideth up their treasures  unto me save it be the righteous; and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he, and also the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of the curse of the land." Y 3 Nefi leemos, " But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through not steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." I know that when we put our talents (treasures) towards our Heavenly Father, El va a bendicirnos (He will bless us). Yo se que esto es verdadera y que El tiene amor por todo de nosotros (I know that this is true and that He loves all of us). Te amo muchissimo a ustedes (I love you very much)!! Tiene un bien Semana (Have a great week)!!

Elder Ruesch Sosa

Zone Conference on Wednesday

Zone Conference on Wednesday

The Rupert Zone was victorious in Volleyball!

Chillin after the win.

Where's Waldo (I mean Jeffrey)?

Do you see him?

Week 19 - The Declo Change! (3/6/2017)

So the change to Declo was a lot different. To end my week in Boise, I got to say goodbye to some of the families that I had gotten really close with and I plan on going back after the mission to see them again. I do truly miss those families. I got packed and ready to go. It took awhile, but I got packed as much as I didn't want to leave. I got to drive down to Twin Falls with Elder Martin who is an English Elder and talked with him on the way down. It was a fun experience cause that is the first time I've ever driven that long of a distance on the Freeway. It was quite fun! I got to Twin and started talking with some Elders and Sisters and catching up with them before I met my new companion Elder Ethington. He is my uncle in the mission so it's pretty awesome!! I find myself serving with Twin Falls missionaries which I don't mind cause we can relate cause I learn all the Twin lingo and stories. So I'm practically a Twin/Boise missionary!! Anyways we got to Declo on Thursday and it is a small town. A lot of country and not a lot of stores. But the people here are amazing!! It's really amazing how welcoming they were when I got here into Declo. I got to introduce myself and get to know the members a lot. We cover 5 wards in one stake and I was right to presume it's a SpEnglish area (Yes I know I misspelled it I did that for a reason). We do a lot of teaching in English more so than Spanish :'( I'm going to miss just being a Spanish Speaking Elder, but I'll get over that pretty quickly. I got to meet a lot of the ward missionaries, ward missionaries, and some of the members these past few days and it's pretty cool. We live like right next door to a lot of members and a few investigators. It's pretty awesome! Our house is a little small, but I no longer have to deal with a bunk bed and climbing up stairs!! :D This week has been just really great kicking if off in a new area. We've met with some less actives, new convert, and one investigators all within the few days I've been here. It's been pretty awesome!! I will miss you Boise!, but I'm loving Declo right now!! A quick spiritual thought to end the email, something that I've learned through my 6 months (I officially hit 6 months yesterday!) is that we need to not fear time. For time is just an aspect. A little quote regarding this that I love and implement everyday of my mission is "Don't just fill time, make time." When we make time to do the things that matter most, our Heavenly Father will bless us for those things we make time for. I know that this Gospel is true and that our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us. I know the church has been restored on this Earth for all mankind. I leave you all with these words and my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK!!! 

Elder Ruesch Sosa

Me and my companion Elder Ethington.