Hey! This week was a really exciting and interesting one. I worked really hard and had the opportunity to work with some other elders that don't have very much experience out here in the mission either. I had 3 mini-cambios (being with a different companion for the day) this week and 2 of them were with elders that speak about the same as I do...! It was difficult and we struggled but I lead most of the teaching and was able to get what we needed to get done while my companion was in a different sector helping some other missionaries out. Everything is going by so fast now and I can't believe that I have already been out here for as long as I have. I am learning so much right now and I am getting better at every aspect of the mission.
We had conference with our President this week and we got to hear form him and I got to see a few of my friends from the MTC. It was nice and they are all doing pretty good. We talked in conference a lot about the love that God has for all of his children and that we need to search for that same love for the people around us. We talked about how the atonement (Jesus' sacrifice) doesn't have nay affect on peoples lives if they aren't taking the steps to use it and making those ordinances in their lives such as baptism...I am doing good and am on a spiritual high, I feel so blessed for everything I have and all of the knowledge that I have gained out here. I love the life that I am living and the experiences that I am able to have at this young age of my life.
On a non spiritual note guess what!!! I weighed myself today and ....I weigh 165 lbs. I have officially gained 20 lbs out here in the mission field! the food here is really good and there is a lot of it, but I know I need to be careful and start watching what I eat a little better. But...No fears I'm still not fat, I'm doing my exercises. Not much else is going on here just working hard and trying my hardest to keep learning this impossible language. I am doing really good and I am so thankful for all of the support that I have from everyone. Have a good week and keep praying. Elder Dastrup
Monday, September 27, 2010
September 20, 2010
sorry about not posting this last week...I didn't realize I hadn't posted it til today....cody's mom
Hey everyone!
I had a really good week but it went by really fast and for some reason I don't remember much. This week was 18 de septiembre which is their version of 4th of July. It was pretty interesting and a lot of fun, but nearly impossible to work. The festivities lasted all weekend and are ending today. Well I have some really, really bad news.....mom don't kill me but... I lost all of my mission pictures! I know mom told me like 50 times to make sure I save them onto discs and sent them home but I never did and now I have none. I let someone use my camera to take pictures at the ward party and she erased all of my pictures on accident when she was trying to erase 1!!! I almost got really mad at her but then I realized that it wouldn't help the situation so I am just trying to be happy with everything but...if anyone knows a way to recover photos that have been erased off a memory care I would love to know because I lost about 400 photos...HELP!!!
We are working hard to find more people to teach but we haven't had too much success. We got a lot of references from the members in that ward that should be good but we are going to have to find all of the houses and try to get in. I got to see President and his wife on Sunday which was nice and Hermana Humphrey said that she has been talking (emailing) to mom a lot which was really cool, kind of weird but cool...haha. (mom is helping build a blog for my mission). We have conference on Friday so I will try to take a picture with her to send it to you. My Spanish is getting better everyday and I still struggle with it but I can understand pretty much any conversation that people are talking about and I usually can say what I want to. I need to study grammar and vocab more, but I definitely see an improvement. I love the work out here and we are trying to do everything that we can to get the Lord's work going a little better down here in Chile. Keep praying for the people here...Love you guys!!!
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Hey everyone!
I had a really good week but it went by really fast and for some reason I don't remember much. This week was 18 de septiembre which is their version of 4th of July. It was pretty interesting and a lot of fun, but nearly impossible to work. The festivities lasted all weekend and are ending today. Well I have some really, really bad news.....mom don't kill me but... I lost all of my mission pictures! I know mom told me like 50 times to make sure I save them onto discs and sent them home but I never did and now I have none. I let someone use my camera to take pictures at the ward party and she erased all of my pictures on accident when she was trying to erase 1!!! I almost got really mad at her but then I realized that it wouldn't help the situation so I am just trying to be happy with everything but...if anyone knows a way to recover photos that have been erased off a memory care I would love to know because I lost about 400 photos...HELP!!!
We are working hard to find more people to teach but we haven't had too much success. We got a lot of references from the members in that ward that should be good but we are going to have to find all of the houses and try to get in. I got to see President and his wife on Sunday which was nice and Hermana Humphrey said that she has been talking (emailing) to mom a lot which was really cool, kind of weird but cool...haha. (mom is helping build a blog for my mission). We have conference on Friday so I will try to take a picture with her to send it to you. My Spanish is getting better everyday and I still struggle with it but I can understand pretty much any conversation that people are talking about and I usually can say what I want to. I need to study grammar and vocab more, but I definitely see an improvement. I love the work out here and we are trying to do everything that we can to get the Lord's work going a little better down here in Chile. Keep praying for the people here...Love you guys!!!
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
August 13, 2010
Hey everyone! I don't have a lot of time this week so I am going to do it quick! (I wrote president in Spanish and it took a little longer) haha. I am doing good and like I said I had transfers this last week. My new companion is Elder Bastow and he is from Twin Falls, ID. He is an awesome guy and an even better missionary and he will help me a lot with all of the things that I struggle with right now. His Spanish is good and when we teach eh likes to do it with 100% power and spirit and 0% amor! He teaches extremely different than Elder Garcia did but I am learning a lot and we should have some really good experiences. We worked a lot with the members this week and obtained 10 references on people to teach! We want to work with the members a lot more and help them to help us find and teach more people. The weather is changing a lot here and it is slowly starting to warm up. At night it is still really cold but the days are warmer. My new cop want to do some really fun activities on our pdays so I am excited for that and he wants to do more miny transfers with the other sectors in the district which means I will be working a lot more with missionaries that don't have much time in the mission. It's kind of scary but it will be good for me and for my Spanish because I will have to step up and teach more. I love all of the blessings I am receiving from being out here on the mission and I hope that you all are doing well. I love you all so much and hope that you all are doing alright. Choi
Yours truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Yours truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sept. 6, 2010
Hey! So I had a crazy week!!! I finally go the package mom sent me with the stuff from Jess and the letter from AJ. Thank you guys for everything, I was super excited when I got everything. Ok sooo the funny or the bad 1st?... I will start with the bad. My comp Elder Garcia is getting transferred and he is leaving to be a Zone leader in the Zone where Elder Reed and Stermetz are. (My 2 best friends from the MTC). It's like 4 hours away and it's possible I might not ever see him again because he is so far. I am having a tough time with it because I have really grown to love him and I will really miss him. Also I am losing my Zone Leader Elder Moulton, he is done with his mission and is going home. Both Garcia and Moulton were such great examples to me and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve with them. If I have any sort of success on my mission I know it will have a lot to do with the good start that I have gotten and the good examples that I had laid in front of me. Tomorrow I receive my new companion at like 10 or 11 in the morning and for the next 2 weeks or so I will be helping him get comfortable in the sector. I am a little nervous but not too much because I know the sector and our investigators really good, I am just more sad to be losing my Papi (1st companion in the mission field). Ok enough sobbing!
So last night was horrible but super, super funny! Next time you have the missionaries in your house for dinner ask them if this has ever happened to them....So we kind of knew that Garcia was going to leave this cambio so we have been visiting members and saying bye for the last 2 days. First of all we had a huge and late lunch at like 2:30, it was really good but a lot of food. Afterwards at like 6 we had a family home evening at like 6 with a family in the ward. They made a bunch of pancakes and I ate more then anyone and after the pancakes they brought out a pastry thing and cut me a huge piece. I literally have never been so full in my life. I am not exaggerating when I say I couldn't hardly walk. Afterwards we went to another families house to say buy and take a picture. They insisted we ate something but I physically couldn't and after they gave me a huge drink of this nasty melon juice. So after this we went to an appointment that we had at 9 to reschedule for today but when we got there he insisted to give us a drink of papaya soda. I shouldn't have drank it....but he was persistent so I tried. I got like half way done with it and realized it wasn't possible, we kept trying to leave but he kept talking and talking and talking! I thought I was going to die. I finished the drink painfully and we left his house. I got 2 houses down and threw up all over the front of their patio and it wasn't a little throw up, it was epic. But it gets better, I threw up all over my shoes so I walked and found a patch of thick grass to wipe my shoes off. As I was wiping my shoes off "cleaning" them you will never guess what happened....I stepped in a huge pile of dog crap! And about an hour later I found out my companion was leaving me. Probably one of the top 5 worst nights EVER!!! I found humor in all of it and am truly trying to be optimistic about everything. Well I have got to go but wish me luck this next week and keep me in your prayers! Love you guys all so much and hope you have an amazing and joyful week.
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
So last night was horrible but super, super funny! Next time you have the missionaries in your house for dinner ask them if this has ever happened to them....So we kind of knew that Garcia was going to leave this cambio so we have been visiting members and saying bye for the last 2 days. First of all we had a huge and late lunch at like 2:30, it was really good but a lot of food. Afterwards at like 6 we had a family home evening at like 6 with a family in the ward. They made a bunch of pancakes and I ate more then anyone and after the pancakes they brought out a pastry thing and cut me a huge piece. I literally have never been so full in my life. I am not exaggerating when I say I couldn't hardly walk. Afterwards we went to another families house to say buy and take a picture. They insisted we ate something but I physically couldn't and after they gave me a huge drink of this nasty melon juice. So after this we went to an appointment that we had at 9 to reschedule for today but when we got there he insisted to give us a drink of papaya soda. I shouldn't have drank it....but he was persistent so I tried. I got like half way done with it and realized it wasn't possible, we kept trying to leave but he kept talking and talking and talking! I thought I was going to die. I finished the drink painfully and we left his house. I got 2 houses down and threw up all over the front of their patio and it wasn't a little throw up, it was epic. But it gets better, I threw up all over my shoes so I walked and found a patch of thick grass to wipe my shoes off. As I was wiping my shoes off "cleaning" them you will never guess what happened....I stepped in a huge pile of dog crap! And about an hour later I found out my companion was leaving me. Probably one of the top 5 worst nights EVER!!! I found humor in all of it and am truly trying to be optimistic about everything. Well I have got to go but wish me luck this next week and keep me in your prayers! Love you guys all so much and hope you have an amazing and joyful week.
Yours Truly,
Elder Cody Dastrup
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