Elder Brandon Richmond's Mission Blog: Brandon's Forty Seventh Email! June 27th, 2016

Elder Cristobal is my new comp!

So Chuy was super fun. I think we are going at the end of this change too.

Wednesday I got on the 4:30am bus alone to Montevideo and got off the bus in the city and walked to the mission home. We had a mini conference and then we met our new comps! Elder Cristobal is from Lima, Peru, and is 18, super nice, super calm! It'll be fun to be with him! He is really quiet so I am definitely talking a lot but I'll start forcing him to talk more as we move on this week!

So we returned and started working like normal. The work here has been really really hard to be honest! I have like my whole planner full from last change with people's direcciones and phone numbers and it's just a little bit of a bummer when it seems you can never get ahold of people or it's never a good time for them. If people only knew that they would be sooo much happier after hearing our message..... EVERYONE!

So something fun: President early last week was saying members told him that the missionaries talks were good the Sunday he wasn't there (when Elder Bauer and I spoke) and so he was super stoked on us. Kinda random, but it was like for sure the first time I think I've actually been able to speak normally in spanish in a talk-setting. Idk.

I talked to Elder Lockhart who just arrived in the mission also, he is the cousin of someone I know, and knows Travis S. (sorry, I can't spell your last name) and Chase (future brother in law) and Dylan.. super funny! Hopefully I'm in his zone sometime!

We ate Carpincho last night! So he takes it out of the wood oven and says, "The meat is great, and the fat is the best part, and doesn't do you any harm, so go ahead and eat it all!" Aka taking away any excuse to not eat the fat, and it was easily 1/2 fat! It was actually really good, but I felt like every second was a year melting off my life as the fat melted in my mouth.

We have walked A TON recently. My shoe has a pretty good hole so I'm just going to use it till it's completely dead because the sole inside had already broken, then I'll throw them away.

I don't know if much is new. We played soccer this morning, can't say that I love it but it's fun, it'd be more fun with indoor shoes. Running shoes are too sketch. Samba nation (father).

Anyway. Something I've been studying a lot this week is prayer, and anyone should look up George Albery Smith teachings of the prophets in the section about prayer! It's super good!!!!! Prayer is such an amazing principle that we are so lucky to have!! I am so grateful for prayer!

Top Ten

10. I've learned how to cook more food foods instead of only desserts

9. I am healthy (don't jinx it) It's a super big blessing that sometimes I overlook!

8. I traveled alone! Kinda weird, but something not common, so #8 this week haha

7. Friends that I have made in the mission. Like talking to Elder Ford in Maldonaldo makes me so happy, I've met some really rad people.

6. The Brasilian buffet, and Chuy in general was really fun!

5. We have a conference this Friday with our new mission president!!! Crazy!

4. I have so many cool friends out serving missions or who have recently finished. A lot of great examples

3. I get to be a missionary during this time in my life!

2. We can pray and speak to our Heavenly Father (God)

1. I get to be comps with Elder Cristobal!!!! He is really nice (Precious as Sheridan would say) and I'm looking forward to having a good start to his mission!!!

Love you all, be safe, be smart. I saw a picture of a wood lathe in one of those teachings of the prophets books and it reminded me: Father, I'm really sorry I broke the nicest thing you've ever made, still feel really bad about that.

Love you all, Elder Richmond