Nov 24, 2014

First off, I am learning some Imata and Cetchua words with my Spanish. All of the women here are Tracee`s height and the older women are Ally`s height. We have transfers on the 3rd of December. I write in my journal every single day. I haven’t missed a day. I feel very safe as long as we are following the mission rules and I listen to my senior comp. Drunk people bug us but it’s only to say hello because they are really drunk. 6 of us eat together. Elder Levi (Peru), Elder Marin (Colombia), Elder Tirado (Peru), Elder Mori (Peru), me and Elder Woolf (Arizona).  We are going to play soccer today. I love playing soccer now. The chicken heart scared me when I saw it. But it was really good you should try one. Me and Elder Woolf live in a different houde than the other 4.   Happy Thanksgiving

I want to share a poem with all of you

 ``He´s been there before´´

The alarm rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet

I grab my companion’s bedding, and pull off his sheets

A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?

It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes,

The morning activities follow, Study, Prayer and such

When its time to leave the apartment, we feel like we haven’t accomplished much

We have super day planned, my comp says with a grin

I lowly utter a faithless breath, Yeah if anyone lets us in

With the word of God and my faithful Schwin, we ride off in the street

prepared to face another day of humidity and heat,

Its 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through

my companion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox hoping to receive a lot

only to hear my echo reverberate in the Box

We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete

The only thing we have to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

Its past 10:30, my companion is fast asleep

Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep

On the midst of sadness I kneel down to pray

I need to talk to Father, but I’m not sure what to say

Oh Father, I begin, what happened to us today?

I thought we’d teach someone but everyone was away

My hands, my aching hands-worn, hurt and beat

If our area was any smaller we’d have knocked every street

Why on missions are the days so much a like?

The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike.

Will you send some cooler weather, the heat is killing me

I sweat so bad it gets in my eyes, it’s very hard to see

Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn’t your protection enough?

People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff

Please send us some investigators; I want to give them what they lack

I want to give them Books of Mormon; the weight of them hurts my back

And what about my family, they don’t have much to say

I’m sick of not hearing from them day after day after day

Oh Father why am I here, am I just wasting my time

Sometimes I just want to go home, I’m sorry but that’s on my mind

My companion Heavenly Father, what have you given me?

The way he rides his bike, I don’t think he can see

Now you have it, I can’t go on, I don’t know what to do

That my Father in Heaven is the prayer I have for you.

My prayer now finished I stand up then jump into bed

I need my rest for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead

Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away

Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day.

I’m standing alone on a hill, the view is very nice

Then a man walks toward me and says, ´´My name is Jesus Christ´´

Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to his feet

Arise, he states, Follow me to the shade, you and I need to speak

My attention is to my Savior, total and complete

He says, your mission is similar to what happened to me

I understand how you feel, I know what you’re going through

In fact it would be fair to say I have felt the same as you

I even know how you felt when no one would listen to you

At times I felt not quite sure what else that I could do

I know you don’t like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet

Just remember that the donkey I rode wasn’t equipped with 21 speeds

I understand you don’t like sweating, in fact its something you hate

I remember when I sweat blood from every pore, oh the agony was great!

I see you don’t like your companion; you’d rather have someone else

I once had a companion named Judas, who sold my life for wealth

It’s hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you

I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews

So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack

I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back

Your hands hurt from tracking and knocking on doors all day

I guess when they pounded nails into mine; I ached in a similar way

It’s hard to not hear from home when your family is not there to see

I lost communication on the cross and cried, Father why hast thou forsaken me?

We have a lot in common but there’s a difference between us you see

I endured to the end and finished my mission, now follow and do like me

He embraces me with his arms, and his light filled me with his love

With tears in my eyes I watched as he went back to the Father above

I stood there with awe and wonder when I heard a beep ring in my head

I listened and heard the alarm, and realized I was in my bed

My companion lets out a groan, 6:30 am already.  NO WAY!

I sat up and said, Come on I’ll even carry your scriptures today! 

No matter what we go through, when we feel we can’t take more

Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He’s been there before.

I am working hard everyday, but my first two weeks I felt this way. I cried during my prayers every night. But now I know that I am never alone even in the darkest of times. I love you guys and hope that you are working just as hard as me at home. You guys have each other so never have hate towards your siblings or parents or children. We are all in the same spiritual race together and if we don’t help one another we can’t be together in Heaven. I want to be in the Celestial Kingdom with you guys forever. I love you all. In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Nov 17, 2014

I have some pretty cool news this week. Last Thursday at lunch, we were eating soup like normal before the main course. I was stirring the chicken and rice and meat. While I was eating I came across this dark piece of meat and didn't know what it was. I looked at it closely and saw it. I was about to say to Elder Woolf when Elder Levi confirmed my fear. ´´Oh wow, el corazon del pollo, muy rico´´. Yep it was a CHICKEN HEART. I didn't know what I was going to do with it. So I popped it in my mouth. GROSS. JK It was really good actualy. A little tough because its a muscle that is always working, but I liked it. AWESOME huh?

I also have some other news. Last Saturday I baptized my first person! It was so great. Funny thing though. I haven't been teaching her. I was on an intercambio last Thursday with Elder Levi and she was his investigator, but while I was with him and we taught a lesson, she asked if I would baptize her on Saturday.

Here is a miracle from my past week.

We are teaching a Menos Activo named Heleman. His wife has been really sick and staying at her mother´s house for the past month so we haven´t been able to meet her until yesterday. We knocked on the door and Heleman came out with a big smile and said he couldn´t go to church yesterday because of a big surprise. His wife had come home and we were able to teach a lesson to both of them for the first time. It was probably the best lesson, and most spiritual that I´ve had since being here. Carolina is the shyest person I have ever met. She was so nervous just sitting there. We taught about the Restoration. We taught about prayer and being able to receive an answer to your prayers and questions. We taught that the Gospel is the way back to Heavenly Father and will bless her family. We both testified by the power of the Spirit and I felt that we spoke with absolute power and conviction. I know she felt the Spirit but her wall is probably tighter and thicker than Fort Knox. However, I know we at least cracked a hole through it. We then asked Heleman to offer the closing prayer and then if we asked to just sit in meditation and feel the Spirit answer our questions. Wow what a feeling that was! I don´t know if I´ve ever felt the Spirit more strongly than when we were meditating. I am so excited to continue to work with her and see this through to the end and when she gets baptized.

So a few quick tips. Any box that you send, make sure it is not too big. They will rip open big packages. I also think that you have to write what is in it on the outside of the box for customs. DON’T WRITE EVERyTHING THAT’S IN THERE ON THE OUTSIDE. Other than that, just refer to my last tips for packages.

The work is progressing here as quickly as it can. I am working like a fool. Sweating everyday and walking at least 5 miles a day just to get to the edge of my area. Its been great. I have never been happier. Thanks for all of you love and support. God bless you all. Love Always, Elder Kalen Indiana Jones

Nov 10, 2014

Como estan ustedes? So yesterday was Sunday the 9^th of November. That means that it was my 2-month anniversary of being away from home. Wow, it feels like a year. I'm having a lot of fun so far. We've had two baptismal services so far but I haven't done the baptism yet. I have given quite a few priesthood blessings though. It's been great being here. I know more Spanish than I ever have before. But I'm not very good still. Haha. It's coming along though. I am half way through my first transfer. That was quick. It felt like just yesterday I arrived in Bolivia and didn't know any Spanish.

Mom-I am crying in a public internet place while reading your email so be happy. I'm so glad that blessings are coming to the family.  I have included some pictures.  This is my kitchen with no microwave, dishwasher, toaster, oven or anything. I love it. We live on the second floor. Our house is actually 6 different rooms with keys for every room. It's pretty fun.  These two other guys Misael and Darwin are about to send in their mission papers. 

There are 6 Elders in my district. Elder Woolf, my comp, is our District Leader. There are 14 Elders and 4 Sisters in my Zone.  For breakfast I eat a healthy Ice Cream shake every morning. Milk, frozen bananas, wheat bread and oatmeal. The frozen bananas make it thick like Ice Cream.

If you want to send me packages find stickers of the virgin Mary and stickers of Jesus, that helps. Put them everywhere. Especially across the seams where you open the boxes. Colored duct tape helps too because they can't really cut it open and then make it look like it hasn't been touched. Then you gotta pray that I get it. The mission home is where you should send the package as well as letters.

I want to share a story this week. Power comes from emotion. I was on an intercambio this last Thursday with my Zone Leader. We taught two lessons on tithing and I hadn't taught a tithing lesson until then. I didn't know what to say or apply. Then some thoughts came to mind. One lesson I learned after we left, that the son was needing an operation this coming week. He has an infection in his throat and it's affecting his bones somehow. While in the lesson I was given the opportunity to talk or bear testimony. I bore testimony of when we were struggling financially, we couldn't do all of the things that we used to do and we were in debt. I said that I remembered that my parents were paying tithing. I thought, "Why are you giving money away when we need it?" I started crying while bearing testimony. But then our family was able to get back on track with money. I bore testimony that I knew that paying tithing saved us. They all readily accepted to pay their tithing. The lady never mentioned her son's upcoming operation. I found that out afterwards. That night at planning with my Zone Leader Elder Wilkinson he told me, "I know they accepted to pay their tithing because of your testimony." Personal experiences are the biggest conversion factors even if it's for members. We all need to be converted on a daily basis.

I love all of you and I have prayed for every single one of you in every single prayer that I have said since being here. I'm always thinking of you guys. May God bless you in all you do.

November 3 2014

First off I´m in the city of Santa Cruz but I am about 20 or 30 minutes out from the center. Our area is really just like Tijuana. Houses thrown together with a lot of barbed wire and pieces of plywood. The streets are just dirt except the main roads, those are concrete. We ride in Micros. That´s a small bus that everyone takes. Micro is pronounced Me-crow. I can´t stand up straight in most of them. I am really tall here. I think it´s the elevation. haha
 We talk to people in the streets and get references but no knocking doors, mostly because there are no doors. People have houses with some area around it like our yard and then a fence that´s thrown together with barbed wire, sticks to keep it upright, and a plywood gate.
Something that suprised me was that I thought I would be walking a lot more. By that I mean, maybe I´m just strong enough and prepared enough that walking all day doesn´t hurt.
We have a Pensionista, who is a lady from the ward who cooks lunch for us everyday. Big one too. We have breakfast every morning but sometimes not dinner. We workout every morning and I am staying in shape.
If people ask about how I´m doing just say, He´s being the best missionary in all of Santa Cruz. I am working hard everyday and I come home tired every single day. I talk in lessons, bear testimony and get baptisimal dates. I am being a Missionary.  You´re probably crying by now so  that´s good. I don´t have my camera today and it´s hard to send pics on this slow internet but I will try next week. Till then I love you and all of the family. 
Love 
Always, Elder Kalen Indiana