December 8, 2014

Hola personas!

sorry about last week, I know you were all crushed that you didn`t get an update on the amazing mission life of elder buma. Van a desculpar. Anyways, I`m writing this first so that i don`t forget this week.

So to catch you all up and the stuff that`s gone down. First off I learned some new words haha. So here`s the story. It was thanksgiving right and I, being the super nice missionary decided to buy some ice cream and oreos to make some milkshakes for the elders in my house so they could have an awesome thanksgiving. Well I went to the little market thing and there was only ice cream that`s called, ron con pasas. The picture on the thing looked like it was vanilla with chocolate chips or something so i was like PERFECT. Well Ron does not mean vanilla and pasas does not mean chocolate chip... Anyways, i`m getting ahead of myself. So i bring the icecream back, we put oreos in it, mix it up, and BOOM we got milkshake and started drinkin. It was a really weird taste though, just really weird and we kind of just thought that it was the bolivian ice cream wasn`t as high quality. Anyways, after downing our kind of disappointing milkshakes we went to our rooms and i heard ELDER BUMA! Elder robinson had looked at the empty ice cream thing and he informed me that i had not bought vanilla with chocolate chips, i had in fact bought RUM with raisins... I laughed. Haha so we all had rum raisin ice cream. hahaha. I told my president in my interview with him and he laughed too.

I had my first interview with the pres. It was awesome. Man whenever I talk to him I can just feel his spiritual power. He`s gonna be in the next avengers movie, i know it.

We also had a multi zone conference and guess who led that bad boy, ME! it was awesome, we felt the spirit and we talked about He is the Gift. MAN that iniciative is cool! Apparently you all have cards to pass out too so DO IT! the only problem with that initiative is that in spanish it`s el es la dadiva and no one knows what dadiva means so we have to explain that it means regalo. The people here generally aren`t super edumacated so that`s a little hard sometimes but it`s still an awesome iniciative.

So zone meetings are not my fave. Very long, just a little boring, and for the past three months instead of district meeting we`ve had zone meetings every week from 10 to 12:30 to basically retrain the entire mission. So they`re really long and not gonna lie, I`ve fallen asleep the past four times, mouth open, snoring, the whole shebang. So it goes without saying they always pick on me to do the practices at the end because i slept through the whole thing. They even had me teach the class one time so i wouln`t fall asleep. Haha ya that`s something i could probably improve on. hahahahahah

So the latino elders here are suposed to learn english right? well i dont know how but they always learn the words faggot and the n word very quickly and it`s all i can do to keep from laughing and tell them to stop saying that. I`m like Cam from modern family when he listens to kids swear. It`s fun.

We got Nine people to come to church this week and four of them have a date for the end of the month! Woo! man, it`s been a bit since my last baptism so i`m excited. We really work A LOT with less actives so sometimes we dont have a lot of time with investigators so i`m stoked. I`ll let you know how it goes.

Well i think that`s it. Hmmmm. what else, oH, i have a bug in my stomach that doesnt really hurt but i`ve gotten very bad gas to the point that my companion now sleeps with air freshener... poor guy... hahahahahahaha

Love you all. See ya soon fam.

Elder buma

Pictures!

11/10/14

Hola familia y amigos! Como estan. Todo bien. Claro que si todo esta bien aya! Ustedes estan en lo mejor pais del mundo!

AMERICA! man america`s awesome right? i was just thinking about that cause every bolivian here always talks to me about america. The weird thing is that they all think that japan and china are way more advanced than america... WHAT?! don`t you dare say that china or japan is better than america! They all think that america is fighting china right now and that china is just straight cities and there`s no country or anything... they all have interesting ideas about the world and sometimes i just have to keep my proud american mouth shut and nod and agree. it`s a little difficult sometimes haha.

Anyways, it`s been a little interesting week. It`s still got it`s really fun moments but everyone in the house is really stressed cause the work is kind of slow right now, companionship issues with some of the other elders, and stress. So in the house it`s been just a bit hard. Everyone keeps saying that they`re trunky which blows. cause when everyone just keeps talking about being trunky it makes you trunky, so that wasn`t very fun. But whatever missions aren`t perfect.

OH! i ate cow stomach this week! and guess what! I totally know why no one in america eats cow stomach... cause it`s nasty junk! hahahaha. and my pensionista knew that i`d hate it too! she handed it to me and just started laughing! that evil little lady. Still love her though. I`m totally gonna come home and make panza for you people. It`s great, i promise. You`ll only want to puke a little. 

So in our pensionista their kids always watch disney movies while we eat and not gonna lie, sometimes in the corner of my eye i see what`s they`re watching sometimes while i`m enjoying my cow stomach. They watched frozen this week. Man i miss that... dang. oh well. 

this week me and my companion got so much food! literally everyone made us churazco which is like a barbecue basically so we almost died from too much food. that was awesome! Go BEEF.

Anyways we`re a little frustrated with investigators not keeping commitments but we`re still pushing along. Veimar already has a calling as ward missionary so he`s been accompanying us like every day haha. he looooves it. he keeps laughing and saying that two days ago he was the investigator and now he`s the missionary ahaha man he`s literally just the best guy ever. you people just got to meet him.

i can`t really think of anything else right now... dang! a bunch of other junk happened this week too but i can`t think! Hmmmm... sorry, just imagine me preaching powerfully, dripping sweat, and all that good stuff. 

i love your stinking guts, peace out

Elder buma

Baptism and pictures!

Alrighty so time for yet another chapter in the book of the missionary life of elder buma.

So this week was cool. Numbers wise it wasn`t as good cause we had to do some random junk but it was cool all the same.

First off. We had an intercambio this week! I totally forgot how to say that in english... It`s when two companionships switch companions for the day... anyways so I had a different companion for the day and it was another gringo! Elder Wade. He`s also from my group and when we found out we`d be companions we were just like... CRAAAAP! he`s awesome  and actually one of my besties here but you know, we still aren`t the best at spanish... But me being super smart planned an awesome day. So in our area there`s actually some pretty nice areas and in those areas there are some people who know some english! Also, there`s this one investigator from south africa named simon and he actually speaks better english than he speaks spanish! hahaha! So that day we actually taught two lessons in english and only one in spanish. Man am I good or what?! hahaha. Oh and the spanish lesson was actually pretty sweet too. We must have gotten something across to him cause he actually came to church yesterday. GO GRINGOS!

That was just such a good day too cause we got to speak in english, joke around, talk about stuff that we have in common and hmmmm... what else. Oh ya! a morbidly obese, COMPLETELY nude guy (seriously, totally nude, yucky) was just walking up and down the street we were passing by and he kind of started to follow us so we pretty much ran away. I`m all up for preaching the gospel to strangers but i got to draw the line somewhere. My personal line is that they at least have to have boxers on. You may say im discriminating but hey, that`s just me

So the intercambio weas great. We also had a baptism this week! Veimar Moreno. He`s 18 and not only is he awesome but he wants to go on a mission and is already helping us out get new investigators and junk. Man he`s cool. It was funny though he told me that when i finish my mission i have to come back and we`re going to do a tour of bolivia. He was telling us all about cool places in bolivia and it was awesome, there`s only one problem. Every single place he talked about is out of my mission haha. So i asked him where in my mission we`ll tour when I come back like riberalta or cobija or trinidad and guess what he told me. He said. Those places are terrible. They`re worse than the devil`s armpit and I never want to go to any of those places... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA so apparently my mission is like the stinkhole of bolivia... HAHAHA man that made me laugh... and cry just a little ;)

So Veimar`s baptism was awesome and guess who baptized him? ME! And I got it right on my second try! haha the first time he didn`t get the way under... But the second time i made sure that fool went all the way under. HAHA after the second time he told me. Dude i thought you were trying to drown me or something... HAHAHAHAHA so i guess i`m not the most graceful baptizer haha. But he felt the spirit and he`s awesome so it`sall good. HAHA I also kind of forgot to tell him that his confirmation wo0uld be during sacrament meeting the next day  so when they called him up to be confirmed he had NO idea what was going on. After we confirmed him he asked me. Was that where I receive the gift of the holy ghost and everything? I didn`t know it would be during sacrament meeting... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA so i taught him all the doctrine and everything and he`s got a testimony but maybe I should make sure he knows when exactly all the ordinances are going down... It was my first baptism without my trainer and I`m training so cut me some slack! HAHA i`m a goober

So Bolivia`s cool and I realized that popped collars and ripped jeans are still really popular here. haha that made me giggle. Also their testimony meetings are awesome here. There is NEVER a silent moment. Everyone wants to bear their testimony and theyre all way good testimonies too. I love these members.

Crap! We were also a trio for one day. Elder camargo`s comp was in the hospital with another missionary so he came to work with us and he pretty much is awesome. He know`s how to teach and he also just took my clothes out of my hand at night and washed my clothes for me! I didn`t have to wash clothes for the first time in like a month! It was a great day. The title of that story is called, Enjoy Laundry Machines.

Alright, I`m out of time so until next week ya? alright it`s a date. ;)

Love you people

Elder Buma

10/27/14

Hello everybody! Just another week spreading the good news.

So anyways you guys know that I sweat a bunch right? Ya, well it´s been quite the sweaty week. It´s quite interesting haha. So we were in district meeting right and we´re in the chapel and no one is sweating... That is except for me. I was literally dripping into my eyes, clothes, everything. Everyone was asking me. Are you sick or something? Haha and then during lunch my pensionista commented while we were eating our soup that i was eating more sweat than soup cause i was sweating in it. HAHAHAHA the sad thing is that it´s true. Haha oh man enjoy feeling dry cause that is something that i took for granted.

So I was taking a shower this morning right. Anyways while I was singing T Swift at the top of my lungs all of a sudden I smell smoke. My first thought was. I know I´m smokin good lookin but I don´t smell like smoke. So I looked up and the shower head wires were on fire! I only screamed a little. I put the fire out then me and elder zaldivar spent like 20 minutes stripping wires and stuff to fix it. it looks like a piece of junk but we still have hot water! We´re pretty amazing.

I apologize that i haven´t sent a bowel movement story for a few weeks. It´s actually been pretty normal. That is until like two nights ago... I was sleeping, dreaming about my lovely life when all of a sudden in my dream i really had to go... ya know. And that made me wake up and I realized i didn´t dream that i needed to... you know. So in the middle of the night I had to BOOK it to the bathroom and it was quite the experience. I don´t think I´ve ever run faster. I didn´t get any in my pants though! The commotion woke up my companion too so when I got out we had a nice laugh and went back to bed. Everything´s good now though. 

Man Bolivia is just interesting. So we were walking to an appt. right? Then we turn a corner and there´s like four horses in the dirt road on their backs scratching their backs, kind of like what sophie does. So we had to do some ninja moves to get past them and we made it to the cita on time so no worries.

You know cock fighting? Like how it´s illegal and stuff. Well here it´s LEGALISSIMO! HAHAHA we went over to a members house and he was talking all about it forever. Man it was awesome. He also has a cock fighting chicken that he is very proud of and he let me hold it! That bad boy has had like 5 fights and it still hasn´t died!... apparently that´s really impressive. I wouldn´t know but it was awesome. That chicken could probably kill me too if it wanted.

We ran into a white guy from the US this week! He´s Bahai... Interesting religion but super nice guy. We talked in english and it was just amazing. he´s lived in south america for like forty years and just doesn´t want to leave. Wow. Bolivia´s awesome but I don´t think i´ll want to live here my entire life. Utah´s just a bit better haha. Anyways I have an intercambio with elder wade this week and he´s only been out one transfer so his spanish is pretty eh too so we´re totally gonna teach that guy. IN ENGLISH!

Speaking of english we also contacted this dude from south africa and he knows english too! And he´s gosh dang rich too. He´s got like four houses in santa cruz, two in south africa, and one in france or something. He´s such an interesting guy. He told us that he just owns a factory or something so he never does anything. He doesn´t drink, smoke, or even leave his house, he just sits in his house all day. He also told us that he just wants to learn everyhting from us. His only belief is God. A very firm belief in God, and he also reads the bible like crazy. So that´s gonna be interesting teaching him. Totally gonna teach him thursday too.

anyways, now to spiritual stuff. Beymar´s getting baptized! This saturday! Not only that but he was talking to us during a lesson and he told us. You know, lately during my prayers I´ve felt like I really want to serve a mission... My heart just soared. I´m doing my job! He is just the stinking best. He told us that from when we first started teaching him to now he´s changed a lot and he´s so much happier! That just reminded me why I´m here. To help people be happier. That was just awesome.

We´re working a lot more with members this week which is awesome cause they help with teaching soooooo much. My spanish is still a little eh and my comp still doesn´t know everything so lessons with members have just been golden.

Training is better but still interesting. My comp still thinks I know everything which is good when really I´m just learning with him. Don´t tell him that though. he´ll lose the respect he has for me. And I demand respect.

All in all everything´s good. Just sweating and trying to figure everything out. Suggestions are welcome haha. Sorry these are always so unorganized. I just write whatever´s in my head, which isn´t much, hahahaha. Loving life. Be good!

Love ya

Elder Buma

It's getting hot!

Hola Amigos! well that`s all the spanish i got so there ya go. Anyways this week was good. Fun stuff. Hard training but i`m learning a lot. Haha it`s kind of funny my comp always looks to me whenever there`s a problem or something that we have to do and on the inside i`m like, I have no stinking idea! Your guess is as good as mine, and on the outside i have to be like, It`s ok here`s what we`re gonna do, and i just wing it hahahahahaha! Oh man am I the greatest trainer or what! Oh goodness.

anyways during lessons is interesting cause my comp knows spanish but he doesn`t know what junk to say so i`m pretty much the only one who talks still. Sometimes I refuse to talk and i make my comp teach and so he gets something out and then looks at me and i take over again. He gets super ticked at me when i do that but he`ll never learn if i`m the only one who teaches right? Ya, Im right. Oh! And also we`ve had like four lessons this week where all the investigator does is quote random junk from the bible and random crazy questions and I just have no idea what to say. Even if i get an answer to one he just brings up another random question and he doesn`t even care about my response... That`s frustrating. Ni modo.

Anyways it`s fetchin hot. Like holy goodness. Every bit of clothing that I have gets completely soaked with sweat it`s ridonculous. Haha i start the day with grey pants right, but by the end of the day they look charcoal cause my sweat... Hahahahahaha! It`s kind of gross....ni modo. Apparently if bolivian newscasters and members are to be believed this week has set heat records for santa cruz. So ya... it`s hot... Enjoy air conditioning you piggies!

In general the food here`s actually decent. Except it`s all just rice and chicken and bread. It makes you fat pretty quick... You guys remember the really chucky stephen right? Well he`s back, chunckier and more loveable than ever! I just feel bad for my pants... Oh and there`s also this one food here called chunyo and members love to give it to us and it be nastay. it`s just gross and the members are always like. It`s so hard to make chunyo but you missionaries are worth it... Uh... It`s ok hermana, don`t worry about it. Thank you so much for thinking that we`re worthy to eat food that looks like swamp water chunks but don`t worry... that`s what I want to say but i don`t. 

Anyways that`s kind of this week in general. Stress from training. We have a baptism the first of november, and i`m getting really fat. Good update? I think so. ya. Love you all so! See ya later.

Elder Buma AKA chunky hunky monkey 

Training!

What a week! So full of emotions! I felt like a girl for a little while, not gonna lie. Why so full of emotions you ask? Great question. Let me tell you.

So the week started and it was really weird cause my comp was dying (Going home) in like two days so we spent a lot of time saying goodbye to people. HAHA it was so funny several times my comp said his last goodbye to investigators and it was sad and stuff and then i was just like. Hey so when can I come back to teach ya? HAHA I`m such a goober. It was weird and funny.

Anyways after that we got our transfers! And I don`t know How to say this so I`m just going to say it. I`M A PAPA! That means I`m training. When I found out that i`d be training I almost puked. Which was actually kind of a nice feeling cause i usually feel like I`m gonna diahrea but i`m getting off track. HAHA so my comp is from Honduras, he`s 23, and he knows like nothing about Preach my gospel and the scriptures and stuff. Just like me! haha so we`re learning them together. haha it is so weird thinking that he`s five years older than me. It`s weird thinking that I`m training haha...

Anyways being a trainer is stinking hard. I have to teach him literally everything from the schedule, to how to plan, to getting to know the area, just everything. I`m still learning that stuff too haha! We`re having lessons though and they`re spiritual so that`s awesome. 

Yesterday was elections so we couldn`t leave the house so we just chilled out, it was AWESOME. So much fun just talking with the other elders in the house. time passes way slower though when you`re not working so that was interesting.

Oh! There`s also this elder from argentina in our house and he is so orgulloso (this means proud)! He is pretty stinking rude to me and is super upset that I`m training. He basically called me a sinner and a bad missionary yesterday which felt pretty good haha. He is really upset that he has eight months and he`s only been the junior comp. So I told him that I didn`t choose to train, I`m just trying my best. He`s still pretty rude but we`re working it out. Oh Well. that`s really the only thing right now. He`s a great elder, just hard to get along with. I`ll work on that. Anyways so it was an eventful week. Thank you all so much for the updates! Keep them a comin. Love you all!

Elder buma