Week 8, 9 and 10!

{WARNING! this update is kinda long}

The last several weeks have been very exciting when it comes to hearing from Kyler.

Each week we have been on line when he sent his weekly emails, so we have been able to go back and forth with him and have been able to really talk to him. {If you can call it that!}

But first, his email...

 

Hey Everyone!

Week two in Cochabamba was great! We did the same old stuff!! A whole lot of door knocking! Elder Rodriguez is great! i really like him! we have two investigators right now. one is a man named Rodrigo and another is actually a family of 5! they seem perfect for the Gospel! so i guess we wll see how those go! we meet again with all them this week so ill let ya know how it goes.

 

This week we got to go to the temple!! that was awesome and beautiful!! ill send some pictures! its was nice because i got to see Elder Roth! I think we get to go every 3 months if we are in the Cochabamba area! i bought some church movies at the temple to entertain me in my free time! some of them actually arent bad!

 

My pension family is awesome! I love them! they live right across the street where they own a tiny little restraunt so we eat there everyday. im really learning to love the food! a little salt and everything is great!! hahaha

 

today we played Futbol for about 3 hours! We played our zone verse another zone! i scored twice! later we are going to La Cancha, which is like a huge flea market. apparently its cheap and they have good stuff! im going to look for a new backpack and pair of tennis or soccer shoes!

 

We made a nice trip to the store this week where i bought a lot of food! I now have a bunch of milk and cereal, bread butter and cheese (for grilled cheese sandwhiches!) and a whole lot of other snacks for the mornings and at night.

 

I hope all of yall got the chance to watch General Conference!! it was awesome! i have about 12 pages of notes hahaha i was so happy when they told us they would have it in english at the stake center. that was a relief. so about 8 of us North American missionaries sat in the kitchen of the stake center for two days and watched every single talk! we are so lucky to have a prophet and apostles to guide us.

 

Alright everyone. I love you so much. stay safe and ill talk to you next week!! only a few more weeks until mothers day!!!

Love Elder Berrett

 

and another email...

 

Hey mom :)

 

Im sending all those letters that i said i sent last week today. i thought we were going to the post office but we actually forgot. so im sending them today!! sorry!

 

also i didnt get an email from you this week. Im just making sure you sent it to the right address. and tell everyone to keep the dearelders coming! I got 7 the other day! so i still get those weekly here like the MtC.

 

Im doing really well. i miss you so much though. you will always be my favorite girl. i promise. you are literally the best mom in the world. im so greatful to have you. you mean so much to me. i dont know where id be without you. i love you so much. im so glad that we can be together forever with our amazing family. stay safe and tell everyone i love them.

{I may have read that last paragraph many times} 

 

Love,

Your Son, Elder Berrett

 

He also included two pictures that were very appreciated {by his momma}

 

 

This is me and my district at the temple! the red head is Elder Borden from Las Vegas. He's been out 7 months.  its been nice to have him show me the ropes. Next to him is Elder Roqriguez.

 

 

 

Cochabamba Temple. i like the action shot of the the bird.  hahaha

 

{This is where I log on and see an email from him}

Mom: 

Kyler, are you there?

 

Kyler: 

yes!!! hi!! 

 

Mom: 

Sorry, I didn't write you an email. I thought your p-day was Tuesday.  Yes, we watched general conference.   It was so nice and alot of talks about missionaries.   Then we had the missionaries over to gmas for dinner and finished with a game of scattagories.

 

Kyler: 

oh aswesome! Its okay!! Dont worry! my Pday is monday!! sorry if i told you wrong! how is everyone? i miss you!

Mom: 

 Kayden has a game tonight at Dawson Co.  Berkley has gym.  The boys planted some sunflowers today that will grow 8 - 12 ft tall. They are excited!  We are on spring break this week, so cleaning and organinzing for me!

 

Kyler: 

sweet! hows kayden playing and the team doing? aww spring break must be nice!! thats nice! you guys all have some plans or something?

 

Mom: 

I love you and miss you so much.  But I am so proud of you, and that is worth it all!   I know you are doing wonderful things!   It is amazing to hear the leaders and prophet speak about missionaries and know that they are talking about you.   Grandpa wants to know more about the area you are staying in.  
How far to the temple? 
How far to the ward building? 
How far to the mission president?  
What is you street name or address so I can find you on google earth? :) 
That is awesome that your pension family owns a resturant!   Do you have to pay? 
How are you on money? 
No, we are stying around home.  Berkley has gym all week and regionals this weekend in Mississippi.  Kayden has practice everyday or games.   So no real big plans.  He is playing well.   He is pitching.  Have you got any packages yet, from any one?

 

Kyler: 

oh okay. well im sure they will come around. nice! hows the pitching going? and sweet! i hope Berkley does well!  tell her i said so and good luck!!!   no not yet. they said they typically take a two months!  so im just being patient!  they said not to worry it will come!

Mom: 

Kayden is doing good pitching.  Dad said he has a couple of relief appearnaces.   Now dad is writing here too from work!

Dad:

{logging on from work...}  Hey bud - it's Dad! I sure love you. I just logged in to mom's

account. You sound great. Conference was awesome, wasn't it?? There was a lot about missionary work.  Did you get to attend priesthood session??

Kyler: 

hey! i love you too. but yeah it was awesome. i really enjoyed it. and yeah i was there for Priesthood. did yall go? it made me proud when they talked about mission work.

Mom: 

Not sure how much more time you have but I just want you to know how very proud I am of you and your decision to serve the Lord! You bring so much joy to my life and now you are bringing a little different kind of joy to the people of Bolivia! Can you imagine the impact that you can have on so many lives for generations to come! I love you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you tons, but I know you are where you need to be!

Kyler: 

thanks mom! that makes me so happy to hear! I love you guys so much!! I hope you guys can feel the blessing that ive been feeling!!

 

Mom: 

Kayden is at Petes but wants me to tell you a few things.  He loves and misses you.   And he wants me to tell you that the Upton brothers are doing awesome.   Last week the older one hit a HR to tie it up and the younger one hit a walk off home run. (my version of the story....hope I got it right) He loves you and wants you to know. He got your letter and I think it did him good.   Dad translated your testimony.  Wee are so blessed!   I can't give a specific example, but can feel it every day!

 

Dad: 

Work hard bud! Always be asking the Lord for direction and guidance.  Ask him to lead you to people searching for the gospel. He WILL!  I've got to get back to work! Until next time!! Love you so much!!

 

Kyler: 

awesome! Tell him i miss him so much!! I cant wait to hear from him! I cant to hear more braves updates!! tell him i love and miss him so much. Thanks dad, i love you so much!

Mom: 

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kyler: 

Love you too!!!! :) ill talk to yall next week!!! :)

 

And from April 15th....

 

Mom:

HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kyler:

Hi!!!!

 

Mom:

How are you doing? I love you!

 

Kyler:

im good! I love you too!!! :) can i just talk to you through here and you can sum it all up and put it in the blog??  also i got gradmas package.

 

Mom:

Sure! whats up?

 

Kyler:

nothing much!! We only taught about 9 lessons this week. its so tough. but the lessons we are teaching are awesome and led by the spirit. One night at 8pm we were going to dinner and i felt we hadnt knocked as many doors as we should have so i told Elder Rodriguez that we need to knock another door. and we typically start teaching the restoration but we were both out of pamphlets. so i started to teach the Plan of salvation. .......wait back up....before that a a woman answered the door and said no thanks, how about another time. but then her two boys ran to the door. so then i felt impressed to talk about the Plan of Salvation because i could tell she loves her boys. well she started to really ask questions and wanted to know about forever families. we bore our testimony and we have our 3rd lesson with them tomorrow. we will proabaly ask them to be baptized soon!!

 

Mom:

That is so awesome! I love to hear about stories like this. Are you able to email people now?

 

Kyler:

yeah i can email anyone i want!! its always been that way!!!!!!!

 

Mom:

How are you doing?
 Are you feeling okay?
 Are you sad or home sick? 
Did I give you Dallins email?
  I emailed im today to thank him for being such a good friend and to give him your information. So now you can email him.  I'm so glad you got grandma's package.

 

Kyler:

im doing well! i dont have time to feel sad or homesick really! but sometimes i kinda do. but its not bad. just a little sad. but it never lasts long. i really am doing well!! are you keeping your eye on Lexi?   so in conference last week they said that missionaries need to have a college decided before the mission! i think we should start applying and just be deffered. what do you think??

 

Mom:

Do you want or need anything from home?
 How are you doing money wise? 
I will keep her close! Don't you worry about that!   You just keep on doing what you are supposed to be doing and I will watch and take care of Lexi for you. :)

 

Kyler:

hahah thanks mom :) nope im good! Im good money wise this week. Ill let ya know next week too! 

 

Mom:

Just let me know when you need more money!  That is so awesome about the family owning a restaurant.   Do you have to pay for the food?
  Are they members?  
Do they own the home you live in? 
Have you read my email yet?  
I talked to Lexi about applying for colleges yesterday.   She is going to help me. You will write the essays and she will check them (and make any changes, as needed) :)

 

Kyler:

no they dont own the house. but they are members and no i dont pay! we pay a monthly amount from the mission!! its awesome!!  haha perfect!! I really want to apply as soon as possible!!! where are yall going to apply?

 

Mom:

That is awesome!  At least you know that every day you will be fed something good!

I just texted dad and he wanted me to tell you that he loves you so much.   He is so very proud of you and also, to work HARD!!  You tell me where you want to apply?

 

Kyler:

tell him i love him so much and i am! I study for 4 and half hours every day then i go knock doors for 7 hours! I promise im working very hard!! uhm....definently BYU, Utah, UVU, SLCC, Dixie St. and idk where else. i still really want to play baseball! but first lets just apply!!

 

Mom:

dad also said...

It's so easy to get frustrated.  But the harder you work, the easier it is to overcome that frustration. Because before you know it you will knock on that one door who is golden and it will all be worth it.

Get it.....golden! (that's from me) You're golden!!

Tonight is Judy Perkins day at the ball field!

 

Okay, I will get Lexi started on all this! :) jk I will do some work too! (with her help of course!)

Let's just get you accepted some where and then we will work on the baseball thing.  If I need to go to a showcase for you, I will!  I will wear your clothes and represent!! lol

 

Kyler:

haha yeah i try not to get frustrated. i cant wait for that day! and awesome!! gosh i miss those days so much. please do me a favor and tell coach wolfe that i do plan on writing him back and that im so thankful for his letter. tell him good luck and i miss the buford baseball days more than anything....

hahaha okay perfect! Im sure theyd take you! just put the catchers gear on like a fews ago!! hahaha when are yall applying for? what school year??

 

 k i have to go. please tell everyone i love them so much!!  i love you so much i think and pray for yall everyday. i love you!! bye bye! :)

 

Mom:

I love you so very much!  I am so proud to call you my son and miss you everyday.   I can't wait to hear about your advenctures each week. And I especially can't wait to hold you in my arms in 22 months!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

 

 

And Finally, April 22nd...

 

Kyler: {in response to my weekly email}

Hey!! Im glad to hear everything is going good!! sounds like everyone is super busy.

 

Everything is going great! This week seemed a little longer becasue i was sick for two days. Like legit sick. We didnt leave our house. i was throwing up for 2 days staraight!! it was awful! Im good now so dont worry!!

 

We went to this giant flea Market place this week and i bought a bunch of cool stuff that i needed/wanted and i only spent about $80 US dollars. I'll send a picture of everything i got! It was way fun to go there and see all the crazy things!

 

My companion and I are doing really well! He's awesome! We have a family of five coming to church with us this week! The dad is really interested. He is mentally depressed and says he has all this medication and what not but he feels like something is missing in his life. They are Catholic but love what we have taught them and honestly i think its going to happen. The spirit is there in those lessons more than anyone else we teach. I understand more with them and i teach more too. When the spirit is there literally anything is possible. thats one thing ive learned in the past 2 and a half months. thats why i believe its so important to have the spirit in our lives everuday.

 

Other than that everything is normal! Im loving my time here!! Hurry and type me back please!!!

 

Dad:

{I was not at my computer, so Rick kept checking throughout the day}

Kyler - you still there? It's Dad

 

Kyler:

hey!! yeah i am!

 

Dad:

I'm glad I caught you! I basically keep moms email up all day hitting
refresh trying to catch you. It sounds like all is well. Did you get
sick from eating something bad you think?

 

Kyler:

yeah me too! i dont know what it was. Sister Dyer said that it typical with new guys. for some guys its just off and on their whole mission. its just apart of the differnt food. hopefully i wont have to experiance it again haha

 

Dad:

How long do you get to use the computer?

 Did you do anything fun today?

 Why are you emailing so late compared to last week?

How often do you have district/zone meetings?

 Have you seen your president since you've been out?

How is your weight holding up?

Have you lost, gained or staying the same??

Do you get a chance to workout at all?

 

Kyler:

we get an hour and half or so. its more up to us. they tell us just not to waste our Pday. im later bc this morning we had a general authority com speak to our mission! it was a big deal and and really good!! I understood a lot of what he said!!

 

Dad:

Mom's not by a computer. She said she LOVES you more than anything!!
She hopes you are feeling better!!

 

Kyler:

I love her too more than anything! tell her hi and i miss her! thanks! his name was elder Christiansen! i dont know how you spell it, the spanish is good! It really is getting better everyday. when the spirit is there its even easier!

i really think ive gained about 8-10 lbs! i work out every night for about 40 minutes!! an elder in my district has the whole INSANITY workout program so i watch it when i go to his house and get different workout ideas!! I really think im getting bigger!

 

Dad:

Do you remember the general authority's name?

How is your Spanish?

Do you feel like it's improving?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just typing as I'm thinking.

Do you feel safe when you go out?

How is your ward?

How many people are in your ward?

 Do they treat you good?

 

Kyler:

The ward is great!! its huge!! about 250 people! almost the same at back home! theyre great!! i love eating at memebers house on saturday and sunday. yeah i feel really safe i havnt had any problrms at all!!!

 

Dad:

Are you writing in your journal? Make sure you keep that up. You will
regret it if you don't. As tired as you are each night, make sure you
spend enough time capturing your thoughts for the day.

 

Mom:

Hi my big boy!

I love you and I'm so glad you're feeling better

Kyler:

hi mom :)

yeah i do everynight!! I have 51 pages written! Ive only forgotten a few nights

 

Dad:

If you get a chance, tell us about a normal day for you?

 Wake up at 6:30, etc......

Do you knock a lot of doors?

Talk to people in the streets?

Do you know your address there?

It would be fun to look youup on Google Earth.

What is Cochabamba like?

Are you enjoying the weather?

Is it a little nicer than what you experienced in Lima?

You mentioned in one of your earlier letters that you would be there for 3
months. How do you know that?

Do you ever go on splits?

Or are you with your comp always?

How are you shoes holding up?

The rest of your clothes?

Everything good with that so far?

 

Mom:

Dad is asking all the questions. I'm just enjoying reading what you have to say. Is there anything you need or really want me to send you? I'm getting ready to send a package .

Kyler:

A normal day....I wake up at 630. typically do laundry or just orgainze my things and eat breakfast. you know..typical preparacion stuff. then we have study time from 8 to 12. i get an extra hour for 3 months because im new. so we use that for language study. then we go to lunch from 1 to 2. then the rest of the day is citas or knocking doors until 8! yes i knock a whole lot of doors! But we are starting to get a whole lot of appointments so that is good! then when we get home arounnd 9. i work out, shower and do whatever! thats a typical day. sometimes we have zone or district meetings but those are only an hour long. Cocha is great! i dont know how to describe it. im already used to it so it doesnt seem too different to me. the weather is beautiful!! Spring time all the time just like we read! Im here for 3 months in this area bc im in training. training new missionaries is a 12 week program set up by the church. its actually pretty legit how they do it all. but my companion is my trainer so im with him in our area for 3 months. no we dont really do splits unless its needed. Presidente doesnt really like it. my shoes and clothes are fine!!! ive only used 4 shirts!! I think my shoes will last all 2 years!!

 

Dad:

Alright Kyler! We love you so much.  I've got to get back to work.  Wish I could talk all day.  Keep doing what you're doing.  Sounds like all is well.  Please know that Mom and I know, with all our hearts, that what your doing is the most important thing in your life right now.
Everything else will work out, it just will!!  Give 110% to the Lord!
Until next week!! Love you so much!

Well, there you have it!  I know it was a long one, but there was so much information packed into those three weeks.
{yes, mom, I will be better at updating the blog a little quicker in the future}

Just a reminder to send him a letter if you have a minute.  He loves to hear the lastest from home!
Until next time!