Familia Mia. August 15, 2011

Alright, wow. i have zero time and so much to say. ill be concise.
transfered today! spent yesterday being very sad and saying
goodbye to so many people that i love. Elder Moeller and i both left,
because the zone leaders are splitting, and one is going to train in
our area. so hes off in the boonies now, and im smack dab in the
middle of Cordoba Capital, a 25 minute walk from downtown. everything
is huge here, except my new apartment, which is funny its so small. i
guess ill get used to that, cause ive now lived in i think the two
smallest in the mission. my comp seems really cool, i think we´ll get
along great. hes a short man from peru that loves his mission and says
this area is great. weve been talking all morning and he doesnt know a
word of english, so im excited to start learning faster. he also says
hes down to run in the mornings so thats good.
cant tell you much about the area except its got tons of
people and aparently a really good ward so im ready to tear things up.
my best buddy from the mtc is headed to rio cuarto this transfer, so i
got to see him in th bus terminal and we talked for a bit, hes doing
real good. everything is great and also, the elders in capital recieve
the bolsa every wednesday! so if anyone is gonna mail me stuff, this
transfer is the time to do it, ill be getting stuff once a week
instead of every month or month and a half, so all good news. brandon,
youre in my prayers, hope you nail the test. everyone else, you too,
but lets focus on bran this week eh? ont be selfish haha.
I love you all so much and will write the
group letter first next week.
Love Elder Bridge
p.s. mom expect a call from someone in washington. an elders
mom came to get him when he finished s mission and i talked to her for
a bit and asked her to call you and gave her your number, so that
should be fun, she was really nice.
p.p.s im gonna do whatever i can to get that referance to the
right elders for the temple square sister, so if she calls im making
it happen.

¡Que Barbaro! August 8, 2011

FAM!
Imma keep it short, because i dont want to waste your time. i
mean you must be soooo busy right? right. (daniel, thats a cane drop).

For reals though i am just all talked out. I heard about the amazing
weekend you all had and i am so happy that it went the way it did. things like that dont just happen you know? I am doing really well, my
second transfer is this coming weekend, and were all pretty sure Elder
Moeller is out of here, which means ill be getting a new companion
here in old Rio Cuarto, and theres no place id rather be. i am getting
really attached to the people here, so ive decided im not gonna get
transferred for at least 6 months. simple. if anyone has specific
questions about the work or anything, hit me up. also, id love to hear
about how everyone is doing. to drop names, Kassidi, i miss ya. how is
albaquerque? i bet things are crazy with brandon doing all that
studying. you guys are in my prayers. Also, Christal, are you glad to
be a bridge yet? if youre not after this weekend, i dont know if you
ever will be, that sounds about exactly like what we bridges are all
about. Jean Marcell, my brother, how is work? Do you ever go hang out
with Jordan? Im sure hed love to take you guys out shooting while
youre still in shelby. how much longer will you be there? let me know
how the Domguias are doing yeah?

...Sara. 3 of my siblings have served
missions. 1 of them is studying 24 hours a day and cant write. one of
them... wrote me. and one didnt. guess which is which?
that said, i miss you like crazy and i want to hear from you.
Love, ELDER BRIDGE!

The Life of Condor, the Missionary. August 1, 2011

FAMILY!

This week has been a really good one, but as always, as soon as i

start to write the big email, my mind goes blank. I will do my best.This week started off wierd, cause last monday i was reallyfrustrated with my Spanish. then i did what connor bridge never does,and i started working harder on learning Spanish, and i actually haveseen some pretty good results in a weeks time, and i mean yeah, withevery bad thing is more good it seems like. for example, Wednesdaynight i did not sleep. Not at all. I have wierd cold at i had a sharpand severe pain every time i swallowed, and one perpetually stuffednostril, so i didnt sleep. I had a bad headache and sore throat forthe next 3 days, and still have a sore throat, but back to my account.So thursday, not feeling great, but, ive been reading the ConferanceEnsign like every day, which not only gets me way excited for nextconferance, but teaches me a thing or too as well. The talks that havebeen sticking out to me are the ones that relate to ether 12, in thatwe have many trials of our faith, many challenges, and every singleone is an oppertunity to be stronger or weaker. I have been able tosee things in that light before they are a problem, and thusfar thathas been all it takes. So i just told myself, im sick,im not going tofeel good. thats it. i can still work, and i wont be sick forever.that gave me all the help i needed, but then we had interviews withpresidant thursday night, and that gave me more than i needed, sosince then i have just been stoked. I love talking to him cause itsjust like he reafirms everything i have been thinking and doing, heslike an encouragement machine, and it makes me just like so happy tobe doing what im doing, and i once again set some real goals to dobetter and its been awsome so far. I feel so lucky to have him for apresidant.         On the subject of pictures. im sorry, i know it sucks thatyou didnt get them. i sent them and recieved an email today that saidthey didnt send for some reason or another. yall will just have to bepatient and get the card in the mail when i get my other one, becausei cant afford to pay for the computer that i will no doubt smash inhalf trying to send pictures again.on that cheerful note, i think youll like the pictures, when youeventually get them. gotta wrap it up. mom, love you, wish i couldhave heard more from you. dad, christal and dan, thanks for theletters, because every week is an opportunity to help a missionarythat you will never get back. you guys took that opportunity, and forthat i am greatful ;)       Im full of excitment, and nothing can stop us this week. itsfreezing out and raining, but it isnt windy, so i dont really feel thecold. im a machine!Love you.              Elder Bridge   p.s. fyi the next transfer is in like 3 weeks and one of us willbe leaving. cross your fingers that ill get to stay here! im not doneyet.  

It's Windy Out Today. July 25, 2011

HEY FAM!
 its been a while. i am making a serious attempt to send a bunch of  pictures today. i dont have time to describe them or anything but if you have questions about any of them of course just hit me up. So good to hear that everyone is just kicking butt over in the real world. i had a bunch of great letters saying a bunch of great things. and i HEAR that sara and jean marcell are doing good too! by "hear" i mean i "heared" that from people other than them... but yeah ;)  This week was actually really awsome. Wednesday,  Elder Peterson (one of my buds from the mtc) and i went on a two day intercambio, because both of our companions were in Villa Dolores with the zone leaders for a splash, which means we worked together, and it was sweet. wednesday we were in centro in petersons hood and we got a bunch of good lessons taught. that night we stayed at my apartment,  and in the morning i made amazing omelettes that were amazing. i would win a prize with the food ive been making a swear. then we worked in my hood, and we were both just full of excitment, we walked fast, we had fun, and we got some important lessons taught, not to mention we put a baptismal fecha with a kids we have been teaching forever. lets hope it sticks eh? so yeah, i hope we get to be companions sometime.  there was zero "should we go here? idk, lets plan, or idk, i wanted to go here" or anything like that. it was like alright next? next? next?  bam bam bam we were on fire. that is how i want it to be every day, so thats what im going for. but i know that since i cant always be companions with elder peterson, i need to learn to work with everyone.  i know.  So moving on, friday Elder Moeller went over to Silvias  house, cause i told her i would make dinner for her family. silvia really wants to be baptized, but she isnt married, and her man doesnt want to get married, and he never listens when we go over to teach.  this is where food comes in. and it went well. i made hecka breakfast burritos, and it turns out they love hot sauce. we had tons of fun, it was delicious, and her husband was talking and laughing and asking us questions the whole night. tomorrow we are going over to help him cut block, and hes gonna cook us an asado. lets pray he listens to a lesson eh?  Speaking of asados, we had one saturday, and i ate intestine.  it was chewy on the outside and mushy on the inside. mmm.  Sunday, a slight variation. we had another asado, but this time the wierd thing was intestine, filled with some onion, and alot of cows blood, and then cooked. (theres always a bunch of good stuff and usually one wierd thing) but yeah, it had a bit of a funny texture as well. and then last night we had a dinner, and one of my favorite sisters cooked us armadillo, which tasted like really greasy rabbit, but with more bones, fat, and hair. yumm!  On the bright side, i took pictures, and shes gonna clean out the shell and give it to me later, because people make armadillo shells into banjos. so yeah, im going to have a banjo that i made out of an armadillo that i ate. thats pretty cool. and i guess they sound awsome. meybe brandon is the only one who understands.  Today im not sure what else we are going to do, but ill try to get some serious relaxing done if at all possible.   I love you guys and i miss you and i hope everything is awsome.  please send me music. 

Love, Elder Bridge

Salutations! July 18, 2011

okay well geez, i can only send like five pictures at a time i guess. this is a problem because i have like so many. so i guess 5 a week will have to be fine, and then when i send christal the card there will still be alot more, since i take at least 5 a week. 

  These ones are old. the first one is my first night, right when i walked into my apartment. the second is elder lagos and crespo, who were the zone leaders. now lagos is home and its elder crespo and nitta, and we all live together, but yeah, thats them. theyre chilanos. then i think i attached a picture of our old nasty pan, and the new pan i bought, the next of me using it. there are so many pictures i wish i could send. i guess with time you will get to see them.

       So fam, sounds like youre all having a great time, and thats what i like to hear. daniel asked me to go over a typical day, so thats what i will do for this weeks letter. Today, i woke up, read some talks from the conferance ensign i have, which is one of my most valuable things. i love it, and its all marked up cause i keep finding stuff i love. this was an awsome conferance eh? its wierd to think were closer to the next one. then i read scriptures, right now im reading the acts, and jesus the christ, and i love both, even though alot of the time i read stuff that i dont quite under stand, i just take it as a grain of salt and say ill ask daniel about it, and then dont have the ganas to when im actually writing because its really not that important. then i have a shower, followed by a freezing shower, which i do every day because i love it. then i cook breakfast, this morning was a fried egg sandwich with two eggs, and tons of cheese and tobasco sauce. cheese here is so expensive but i need it. i think i should recieve a weekly cheese allowance for how much i use it. then i talked to elder moeller about what we both read, and relax a bit, before heading to the computer place, where i am now. after this, were going to this place like a block away from our apartment for lunch. its owned by a guy that doesnt want to hear our message at all but he still loves missionaries and always waves and tells us that if we have any problems "on the streets" to come to him. its easier to find people like that than people who want to listen and help themselves, but hes still pretty cool. his place is like a kiosko but you can buy like chickens that he cooks in this giant open stove that has a wood fire under the grate and a big chimni. and the chicken is really good, but the location is bad so he doesnt get much business. for like 3 weeks hes been saying "anytime you guys have a monday where your not busy, come here and ill teach you how to make chimichurri and well cook chicken and pizzas and all that" so yesterday i was like lets do it, went and talked to him, and its on for today at 1, with the 4 of us. chimichurri is like a sauce here, with garlic and spices and its delicious. i will make it for you. i dont think the lunch is gonna be free but i actually hope its not. the poor dude words his butt off, he just doesnt know how to advertize. i think were some of his only costumers. yesterday when we walked by he had change the sign from "pollo, 40 pesos" to " super pollo, 40 pesos" it was the same chicken, hes just getting desperate. and who knows, meybe hell have so much fun he wants to come to church. his dads wife is a member but theyre seperated now and both of them love us but dont want to hear anything except chit chat, so whatever. 

      Then i think were gonna go to roque to play some football, and the 4 of us have a family home eveneing with a new member tonight.

               other days are similar schedule wise. study till 10.30, work till 1, lunch, work till 9, with usually 3 good solid appointments and the rest just follow ups or contacting. the zone is having a bit of a rough time but well pull out of it. 

   One cool thing is that Elder Petersons companion is going with Elder Moeller and the zone leaders to villa dolores (where im pretty sure sean served for quite a while if i remember right) for tuesday and wednesday, so tuesday will be me and peterson in my area, and us in his wednesday. he and i still have that excitment that everyone seems to be losing, and we push each other and get along great. we had an exchange friday and worked together for the day and we got tons done so i think it will be a really good few days. with Elder Peterson its like wanna go there? yeah, okay lets do it. which is awsome because im so used to having to wait and sit for my companion to make a decision. with peterson, there is no senior companion, and we both just want to go, so we waste far less time. and i like that.

               Well fam, youre just great. i look forward to hearing from you next week. love you!

      p.s. no answer about the running shoes? we were gonna start tomorrow but it will be much harder in my soccer shoes with their souls that are oh so flat. i saw a store here that has the reebok zig... just sayin.   

Hurray for me! July 11, 2011

 Hey family, how are you all doing? 
 I havent read any of your emails yet because i didnt want to be writing this when im totally out of time at the end, so this is my first besides my letter to presidant. Ive had a really good week, except for this morning, in which i was in the state of rage that anyone who knows me, knows i reach when i wait for 20 minutes in western union line, to be told i dont have the right form, to fill it out, wait in line some more, to be told that since my middle name isnt on the transfer, i cant have my money. even if i have my passport AND the pin number that only i would have. i came the closest i have to losing my temper in a long time. no worries though, i kept it. but dang. yall can picture it im sure.
         other than that. we had a great zone meeting. its always fun to get with the whole zone and get excited and play some mad football (only two goals today) and the like. I also learned how to do a rubix cuve and completed it for the first time. which reinforced my newish belief that its not the best idea to give up on things right away. i actually kept at it and i can do it now, just like the yo yo tricks, and hopefully soon the language of castillano.
     so yeah, i actually wrote down a list of things i wanted to say so here goes. 
number 1- friday we went on splits with the zone leaders since we have a new one whos way cool in our area so he wanted to know it better, so thursday and friday were splits. anyway, friday both teams got lunch appointments for the four of us, so saturday we had two lunches, since it was important for both of the families to have that contact with us. saturday was their independance day, where they make the national delecacy...dont know how to spell that anymore. its called locro, and it has just about anything in it., from intestines to eyeballs sometimes, but we were pretty lucky, no eyeballs. but yeah, at 1 we went and ate tons of locro, and then at 230 did it again, and wanted to die. hopefully they only have one independance day. 
number 2- we went into the house of an old lady that lived alone and was  blasting rhianna on her stereo. that was pretty funny
number 3-i want to start jogging, we should talk about me getting some runners
number 4- in case someone was gonna send a package, people here love good american church music. like cds of orchestras playing hymns, and meybe tab choir singing some of my favorite hymns (consider the lillies, be still my soul, and come thou fount, none of which are in spanish) i also would love the conferance dvd of when elder holland gave the talk "safety for the soul" since ive heard so much about it and skipped that conferance. and he is just so much better in person (that said, if someone emailed it to me in english so i could print it that would be nice too.
        Okay, these are my demands. i love and miss you all, and now im going to go read all your emails because you wrote me this week! and that makes me feel so good! 
      Love, Elder Bridge

Well hey. July 4, 2011

Family! 

ive got two missionaries breathing down my neck telling me to get off the computer, but you know how well i react to pressure. It was good to hear from yall! love hearing about everyone in shelby having the fun time they deserve, everyone in washington, and of course canada on the 1st of july. a great time indeed, but i can honestly say that i didnt even think about it till today when i read it. i miss yall, but im hear, and im busy. WE have some fat goals this month and its gonna be awsome. Presidant called the other day and asked me about how my morning study was going and stuff, and they might have me go up and talk about planning with investigators in mind this wednesday so i hope its fine if i do it in English. every thing i learn, i find three other things i need to improve on, so it keeps me more than busy, but i love it. 

    To reply to something daniel said, the food here actually isnt that good. it isnt that bad, when its cooked, but in a word, its just kind of bland. But theres always lots of it so its cool. our zone leaders changed today, cause one of them got home, and he was way trunky so good riddance, our new guy is gonna help us alot, since hes in our area. im just really excited about the coming week. i think about you all a ton, and miss you. i promise next week ill write this first so its longer and more fun. promise.

 chou, elder bridge